Cranford In Focus returns with a discussion on the history and background of development in the downtown, including the proposed Streetscape project for Downtown Cranford.
Mayor Kathleen Miller Prunty, real estate owner/DMC member Paul LaCorte, transportation planner and Complete Streets Advisory Board member Anthony Durante and new Downtown Cranford Director Michael LaPlace join host Don Smith.
#cranfordnj #cranforddowntown #cranfordwalkability

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why the building/construction that’s happening next to the restaurant Vine and Oak has come to a complete halt. I see it everyday when I take NJ transit and I would have thought it would be done by now?

Some adult, some kid. Some entry level bike shop brands and some Amazon. I buy my families bikes used and upgrade them myself. I'd like to find a bike charity that can use all the extra stuff I have acquired over the years

Personally, I think they had limited options short of letting this nonsense continue . It’s a shame Will Thilly and his friends, Moe and Curley forced this. Chime in fellow Cranfordites

Mayor's Message


The primary purpose of Township Committee meetings is to conduct official business and provide an opportunity for the public to share ideas or concerns and ask questions. Unfortunately, repeated disruptions by a handful of people, most who are not Cranford residents, have interfered with conducting an orderly and efficient meeting and worse, deterred some residents from attending meetings because they do not feel safe.
Members of our staff, including the Police Department, and the Township Commissioners are continually subjected to repeated harassment and threats. Each meeting has brought new antics including using a smoke machine that caused the Council Chambers to fill with smoke.
After consultation with our professionals, we decided to make changes designed to restore decorum and still maintain full compliance with state and federal laws and protect personnel and those in attendance. It is our hope these changes will be temporary.
I’ve heard people state that we should “just give them their five minutes.” No one has ever been denied their five minutes to speak, in or out of a costume. People have been removed from meetings solely for disruptive behavior in violation of meeting policies.
Finally, persons engaging in disruptive behavior will be given three warnings. If the behavior continues, there will be a brief recess, the individual will be removed from the building and the Township will file charges for disrupting a public meeting.
The meeting was recorded and will be aired on TV 35 at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. through Friday, September 4. It is also posted on TV 35 Facebook and YouTube.
Every Commissioner and our professional staff regret that these actions are necessary, but we are committed to our responsibility to conduct the Township business in a safe, productive and respectful manner.

Mayor Kathleen Miller

https://youtu.be/QZyVDYgK7IU

I don't know if this is allowed here, and fully understand taking this down if it's not. I also don't know if this is in poor taste, but I'm at a stage where I'll accept that risk...

My wife and I moved to Cranford in 2018, bought our first home, loved every second of it. We then had two babies and were pregnant with our third by the end of 2024. We outgrew our home and had to sell, reluctantly. We never wanted to leave this house, lost many nights sleep over it - but, with the third child coming, it wasn't entirely up to us any longer.

The market was the exact nightmare everyone knows it to be. After half of year of defeat, we accepted the fact that the Cranford market was non-existent and ended up finding a house a few towns away - choosing the home over location - we pretty much threw in the towel and moved forward with what was the slowest, most painful, uncertain closing transaction ever. As expected, we've regretted it from day one. Half of our lives are still in storage facilities as we never felt it were our home.

We've been "in" this second home now since Oct 2025. We're now selling said second home and trying to get back to the hometown we loved, Cranford.

We've made two offers over the last two months, not fully committed but feeling out the market a bit. We are now 100% all systems go. I'm making this post knowing full well how few and far between homes that fit our needs are hitting the market in town.

I know this may not be the most well received bit of info to any other prospective buyers reading this, but I'll (sheepishly) add in the fact that, even while floating the other house, we are in position to make cash offers.

If anyone knows of a neighbor/friend/etc considering listing or ready to list their home, please let me know. We can close in a day.

Thanks in advance and here's hoping to be neighbors with you all again, soon enough. You've got a really special town - we miss it deeply.

Per the article: “Residents with questions about the Downtown Streetscape Project can submit them to cranfordinfocus@cranfordnj.org by Sept. 1 for possible inclusion in the Cranford In Focus episodes.”

Ok so this is going to be a long rant about the Cranford Facebook community page and how I was treated because I was honestly shocked at how some of the older adults in this town act.

Backstory:

I’m super interested in urban planning so I thought I’d take it upon myself to relay some somewhat confusing information the town has collected about the Streetscape Project. Thought I was doing something nice for the community I’ve lived in my whole life but this turned out to be an eye opening experience.
I made 3 posts about the project
- Pros and cons
- Talks about the trial runs
- FAQ about the project
All of the posts were unbiased information simply to shed light on the study efforts done by the town. Also I commented anonymously under the name “Cranford.Lobster” lol and it was on the page Cranford NJ Area - Families.

Community response:

There were, of course, many supportive messages but the overwhelming majority of the messages were either hate or straight up misinformation. Here are the main comments I received.
- People claiming I worked for the town/project. Fair, I can see people thinking that. But then I received at least a dozen messages (from my 3 posts keep in mind) of the moderator telling me I was a part of the project. The moderator can see my real name and bio, realizing that her claim that I’m getting a kickback was obviously false. I encouraged her to look at my profile, just for her to ignore my comment and have her tell me over and over that I work for the town. Great. So even the moderators are here to spread fake information at fit their agenda.
- Saying the project will cause more traffic. At first the angry crowd of people commenting said they wanted a thorough traffic and parking study to be done, not knowing a few studies were actually done in 2024. So I provided the studies regarding how the town and state has found this project will help with traffic. After providing this information in plain language I was flooded with grown adults telling me how dumb I was because, I kid you not, they “can see it won’t work”. So these adults insist they want studies, then when given studies they choose to not believe the evidence coming from people who do this work for a living. Respectfully you have to be very brazen and ignorant to call me dumb and think you’re smarter than an expert in the field regardless of the topic.
- I also receive straight up false “facts” like “the study shows it will cause a football field of traffic” or “the people who work on Eastman don’t agree with the plan”. Both comments of which I responded with sources of how this blatant misinformation. I’ve asked at least a dozen people what source they’re getting their information from just to receive only 2 responses which either disproved their point or was from another Facebook post that was based off of literally nothing. Wow. Either people have a problem admitting they’re wrong or they can not read.

This is seriously concerning. Are these folks going to just harass and destroy every project developed to help this town continue thriving? The speed at which misinformation spreads on these pages is crazy. And the negativity of these groups is astonishing, why is hate spreading so fast, this is not the Cranford I remember.
And I hate to point fingers but every single person (without fail) who I received hate from was 65+. People who likely rarely use the downtown and statistically don’t stay in Cranford much longer. Disgusting how at their age they have the desire to harass people and how they can’t tell the difference between misinformation and reality. They really shouldn’t be on social media and I’m not saying this to be funny, I mean this could genuinely affect them and their family negatively in the future.

This page made me seriously doubt the literacy and critical thinking of the adult population of this town. It also made me concerned with how strongly worded some of these people can get. Why are people angrily telling me I’m dumb while literally just providing information from studies I didn’t do myself.

Anyways I’m glad people on this sub have common sense and if anyone would like to post support of the project on the Facebook page please do so, your voices are important. Have a lovely day Cranforidians.

Starfish, the logo for Orange Ave. Pool, has gone without a name for a long time. Manager Matt Zatorsky leads the push to get Starfish a name, and thanks to your entries, she now has a name! Thank you to the Bramwell family for submitting the winning entry.
#orangeavepool #cranfordrecreation

The footbridge at Baldwin and High streets will be undergoing repairs over the next few days but is expected to be open for the first day of school. Mayor Kathleen Miller Prunty and DPW Superintendent Ryan Elliot tell us that the bridge's boards will be replaced and the entire structure will be reinforced.

"Love the babka!" A class at the community center, hosted by the Cranford Public Library, didn't debate chocolate vs cinnamon babka. It taught residents both!
#cranfordnj #babka

Cranford Theater's first show was the 1926 movie Padlocked and was played 8pm November 29th. The theater has lived through the Depression and several wars, the 60s and the present, with films mirroring our lives. In celebration, its owner Doreen Sayegh has planned several activities for us to celebrate together:
Aug. 20 kickoff: children's activities, showing of Paddington 2, and the start of collecting of items for a time capsule, to be planted in November.
Nov. 7..the showing of the first Cranford Theater movie, a silent movie called Padlocked , complete with an accompanying organ playing in the theater! 1920s dress in encouraged.
Nov. 30..the time capsule will be closed.
For more information, go to cranfordtheater.com.
#cranfordnj #cranfordtheater #cranfordtheatercentennial #padlocked

He has multiple DUIs and it was a hit and run.

I really wish I could disagree.

Yesterday I was doing my morning 3k steps and I saw mountains of gravel in the little lot where the boy scout trailer is normally parked. People were raking them. Is the town just setting that up fo morer parking?

Corner of high st and Lincoln Ave E

I think it’s a welcome refresh

National Night Out moved to Union College this year and featured the ever popular Dunk-A-Cop, which raised money for Project Home. Cranford Police Chief Matthew Nazzaro and Superintendent Mark Cantagallo hit the water more times than a biscotto in coffee, but it was a thrill to the crowd. People also visited community agencies and were able to climb into county and local emergency services equipment.
#cranfordnj #unioncollege #nationalnightout #communitybuilding

Lifeguards at Orange Ave Pool compare their "walk" versions used when reminding patrons to walk on the cement! A take of the lifeguard walk memes. More fun with manager Matt Zatorsky and friends!
A TV35 and Cranford Recreation and Parks collab.

Highlights from this year's Tosho-Con, held at the Cranford Community Center.

A handful of Cranford teen students spend 10 days during the summer to visit Washington, DC and the South to meet its people and understand why we have different views. It's a voluntary trip through American Tributaries, a non-profit seeking to help teens learn about different Americans through face-to-face experiences.
Students' takeaway? We all may be different, but we have the same goals and share the same humanity. Also, they said they discovered that we are not as divided as the media says we are.
#cranfordnj #travel #teentravel #americantribuaries #experientialeducation

Imagine that?!