7/25/2019 Asbury Park Press front page Sunday, June 26 2016

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LAKEWOOD

GOES LUXE

The news has spread quickly in Orthodox Jewishneighborhoods in Lakewood, Jackson and Toms River.

Brendas is coming to Brewers Bridge Plaza.For more than three decades, frum fashionistas

(frum is a Yiddish term for a member of the Ortho-dox community) have beat a path to Brendas, a go-todestination for designer-label womens clothing garb that meets their religions modesty standards.Its located in Brooklyns Borough Park, home to thelargest Orthodox enclaves outside Israel.

Word that Brendas is opening a 5,000-square-foot

store in Jackson in a shopping center thats getting amajor makeover geared for high-income Orthodoxshoppers is eliciting cheers from its faithful cus-tomers in the Lakewood area, and not a few groansfrom their fathers and husbands.

I like to joke that Im the most hated guy in thesynagogue, quipped Barry Mendlowitz, 50, whosewife, Alisa, is one of four siblings at the helm of Bren-das, a one-time dry goods store turned dress shopstarted by their late mother, Brenda Kamenetsky.

Chaviva Teichman is counting the days until the

How an influx of wealthy Orthodox Jewish families and

upscale businesses is quietly changing the towns image

PHOTOS BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

This home on Miller Street in Lakewood, seen Wednesday, is among the high-end properties popping up in the area.

Homes on Tori Court (left and right) and Hilltop Court in Lakewood.

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

See LAKEWOOD, Page17A

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VOLUME137

NUMBER 152

SINCE 1879

SUNDAY 06.26.16

Scallops and clamsand crabs, oh myEnjoy Jersey Fresh seafood and live music at this weekendcelebration.

Be Greekfor a dayat festivalAuthentic Greek food anddancing are some highlightsat this annual event.

Enjoywine andchocolateThe perfect combinationawaits at this gathering atMonmouth Park.

Baseballon thebeachCheer on the teams as theybattle it out at this beachbaseball tournament.

beacheditionYOUR WEEKEND GUIDE DOWN THE SHORE

All this and more inside! 2A

@ISSUE 1AA

BUSINESS 6AA

CLASSIFIED 1D

LOCAL 3A

LOTTERIES 2A

OBITUARIES 14A

OPINION 4AA

SPORTS 1C

SUNDAY BEST 1E

WEATHER 10C

INSIDE: COUPON SAVINGS UP TO $1,108

Gay rights efforts to winsame-sex marriage one year

ago fuels liberal causes. 1B

Jim Jablonski pays nearly $10,000 in property tax-es on his half-acre Millstone property, so when heheard that Gov. Chris Christie had proposed a plan toreduce property taxes by redistributing state aid toschools, he eagerly supported the idea.

Property taxes are ridiculous, Jablonski, 63, said.We need to lower property taxes and this is one com-mon sense way to do it.

Christie introduced a Fairness Formula on Tues-day that would redistribute school aid from urban andlow-income schools, which receive a majority of aidunder the current formula, and disburse those fundsbased on population, rather than financial need or lo-cation.

If the proposal were in effect for the coming schoolyear, every public district in New Jersey would re-ceive $6,599 in state aid for each student enrolled,Christie said. The formula would slash state supportin low-income districts, but be a windfall for affluent

districts, where local tax dollars make up a largershare of per-pupil spending.

The governor, under pressure to cut property tax-es, said the Fairness Formula would cut taxes forhomeowners across three-quarters of the state. None-theless, the proposal faces significant political and le-gal headwinds.

A groundswell of opposition rose almost immedi-ately from groups worried that New Jerseys needieststudents would lose important educational opportuni-ties as a result. Some policy experts said that the gov-

Can Christie tax plan pass?AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP Last year, some 14,000 New Jersey residents

signed an Asbury Park Press petitioncallingon state lawmakers and Gov. Chris Christieto cut the states highest-in-the-nationproperty taxes.

See SCHOOLS, Page 9A

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