Right now on NJ Spotlight News, in the tight race for New Jersey's next governor, the latest poll shows Democrat Mikey Sherrill is holding a slight edge over Republican Jack Ciatarelli.

Plus, the threat of dangerous waves along the Jersey shore as Hurricane Aaron makes a run up the East Coast.

Also, ice raids ramp up here in the state.

Last night in Edison, today in Trenton, as immigration authorities detain dozens of warehouse workers.

- There was no search warrants, there's no judicial warrants, so we definitely know that it was not somebody targeted.

Like they say, there's no criminal activity here.

- And the summer of hell for Path Riders continues, but in South Jersey, promises of expanding commuter services.

- So all these things have gone wrong since February, and it's basically led to them having to do emergency repairs, go back to the manufacturer, figure out what was wrong, try to correct it, and it's led to what's gonna be a five-day shutdown.

- NJ Spotlight News starts right now.

(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

- Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Thursday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top stories.

First, new polling shows one candidate in the governor's race has the edge, but the contest is far from settled.

A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll puts Democrat Mikey Sherrill ahead with a nine-point lead over Republican Jack Ciatarelli among likely voters, 44 to 35%.

But the contest changes slightly when you factor in voters who lean one way or another to a 47-37 split.

The big wild card?

That's independents, who are almost evenly split there, and a large share is still undecided.

Now according to the poll, Sheryl is dominating with young voters, voters of color, and college graduates.

Ciattarelli, meanwhile, is stronger with voters in the 50-64 age group and those with less formal education.

Geographically, Sherrill leads in urban and suburban areas, but when it comes to places like South Jersey, along the shore, or ex-urban neighborhoods, it's a dead heat.

Poll director Ashley Koning says party lines are holding firm, but turnout and late deciders could tip the balance.

Also tonight, Governor Murphy is declaring a state of emergency as the Jersey Shore braces for the effects of Hurricane Aaron, which won't make landfall here, but it's bringing hazardous conditions to the beaches with strong winds and life-threatening rip currents.

The National Weather Service says the storm is making its closest pass to our area today, issuing a tropical storm warning along the coast south of Long Branch down past Cape May, warning swimmers to stay out of the ocean.

Breaking waves will reach as high as 12 feet today, the biggest in years, then drop slightly to between 6 and 9 feet high on Friday.

Forecasters say to expect gale force wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour along the coast with a wind advisory in effect.

Winds will be slightly lighter inland, but still strong.

Coastal flooding is also going to be an issue with the biggest impact at tonight's high tide.

Officials in Cape May and Atlantic City today said they're preparing for local roads to potentially shut down and urging residents to take their cars to higher ground.

And in our Spotlight on Business report tonight, the latest setback for offshore wind developers.

Danish energy giant Ørsted, an underwriter of NJ Spotlight News, which constructed the first wind turbines in the U.S., is facing a financial crisis in a market it once helped pioneer.

The firm, which had planned to build the Ocean Wind Project off New Jersey but scrapped the effort in 2023, says it needs nearly $9.5 billion to complete its two remaining offshore wind projects in the U.S. Those are Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, and they need it to stay afloat globally, too.

- Well, Orsted blames growing uncertainty in the market, citing tax credit changes, red tape, and political instability under the Trump administration, which are just the latest in a series of setbacks for European developers after Shell exited its Atlantic Shores project in January.

But the challenges didn't start with Trump.

They've been building for years, thanks to inflation, supply chain, and permitting issues.

Now, Orsted may abandon U.S. investments altogether.

Meanwhile, President Trump this week blamed New Jersey's rising energy prices on offshore wind, despite the fact that offshore wind farms don't exist here.

And according to federal data, wind powers less than 1% of the state's energy grid.

- Support for The Business Report is provided by the Newark Alliance Presents the 2025 Halsey Fest, featuring the vibrancy of Newark's Arts and Education District and Halsey Street.

Halsey, a neighborhood built on hustle and heart.

The 2025 Halsey Fest schedule is available at halseynwk.com.

And coming up, transit troubles.

A summer of hell for North Jersey Path riders, but commuters down south are finally getting some much needed transit relief.

Funding for NJ Spotlight News, provided by the members of the New Jersey Education Association.

Making public schools great for every child.

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New Jersey Realtors, the voice of real estate in New Jersey.

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And Orsted, committed to delivering clean, reliable, American-made energy.

- Well, it's never easy being a commuter in New Jersey, but for PathRiders this summer, it may have been their worst season yet.

A series of fires and failures have led riders to call it the line's own summer of hell, a reference to the near constant disruptions New Jersey transit trains faced over the last few summer seasons.

Meanwhile, that rail agency is still facing its own issues statewide as the Murphy administration proposes new investments in South Jersey.

And it's unclear how the rail lines will hold up as we head into the post-summer return to work rush.

Joining me to break it all down are Colleen Wilson, transportation reporter for NorthJersey.com, and Larry Higgs, transportation and commuting reporter at NJ Advanced Media for NJ.com.

Colleen, Larry, always good to see you both.

Thank you for coming on.

Larry, let me start with the PATH system.

You wrote a piece aptly titled "Summer of Hell" for those riders, and we'll just refresh folks' memory in the last few weeks as you write, three fires, a train derailment, and then failures with this $31 million infrastructure upgrade.

What exactly is going wrong there?

Well, the problem is it's at a thing called the interlocking, which is a giant junction of track switches that allow trains to switch between the Hudson River Tunnel and the three tracks going into Hoboken Terminal.

That was replaced in February and unfortunately they had problems with it.

You know, they had problems with the ballast, which is the stones that support the tracks.

They had problems with things called switch points, which is exactly what they sound like.

They're pointy pieces of the track that allow the train to steer like your car does.

And then finally a thing called guard rails, which are rails that keep the train in place if it derails because they have very tight clearances.

So all these things have gone wrong since February.

And it's basically led to them having to do emergency repairs, go back to the manufacturer, figure out what was wrong, try to correct it.

And it's led to what's going to be a five-day shutdown starting next Thursday and lasting until September 2nd so they can make the final repairs to this interlocking junction and basically get the rush hour trains back on their regular every-eight-minute schedule.

Yeah, I mean, it struck me that they chose Labor Day weekend, which is typically a busy travel time.

But did you get the sense after talking to commuters that they're just steering clear of the path because of that reliability?

And what's the path and Port Authority saying about this?

Well the thing is the commuters, they probably have a grin and bear it sort of attitude.

You know when I interviewed some they said, "Ah, you know, it's better than the New York subway."

There were others who specifically said it's worse than the last couple of summers and they want to know what's going to be done to bring it back to at least that level of service.

You know, the Port Authority is saying, you know, they're taking a hard line saying we're not going to put up with any problems with this equipment.

We're going to hold the manufacturer, we're going to hold the company that installed the interlocking.

We're going to hold them accountable.

And you know, you can read into that what it may be.

But really, where the rubber meets the road is going to be September 2nd.

That's when everybody's back from vacation.

And they expect that system to function like normal so they can go to work and school.

Colleen, commuters told Larry this is like a summer of hell but on a different line.

Is that a fair assessment?

I mean, how did New Jersey Transit do this summer?

Yeah, you know, New Jersey Transit commuters didn't have the experiences that they've had the last one or two summers where, you know, Amtrak signal issues, pantograph falling down, catenary, those heat-enabled problems really weren't apparent as much this year.

There were still some of those problems.

There were still signal issues.

And those -- frankly, those things just will not go away until, you know, substantial repairs are made and updates to that infrastructure.

But they definitely did not have the experience that they -- the summer of hell that they experienced last year.

There was analysis out this week, as I know you've done your own, just about that reliability issue from Bloomberg Lab, which showed commuters here in Jersey face far more disruptions if they're on New Jersey Transit than they would on their counterparts in over in say New York or in Connecticut.

What did you make of that and about what we know is in the pipeline for some of the fixes for the agency.

Right.

Yeah I think if you spoke to any New Jersey Transit commuter they were probably not all that surprised to see that kind of analysis and its outcomes.

You know they are they expect I would say you know delays and cancellations from routine issues with like we just said.

I mean Amtrak signal issues portal bridge problems you know that sort of thing and it's worth saying and being very clear that New Jersey transit is on the busiest stretch of the Northeast corridor in the country.

That's the busiest stretch of passenger rail in the country.

And Metro North and Long Island Railroad don't share as many tracks as many miles of track as New Jersey Transit does.

So it you know they are beholden to another railroad that has to maintain and and keep their rail railroad moving as well.

But on the other hand New Jersey transit trains break down far more often than a Long Island Railroad and Metro North.

Metro North has a near 100 percent on time performance rate.

That is far from the experience of New Jersey transit commuters.

They're definitely well aware of that.

And it's extremely frustrating.

They are looking to replace.

Chris Calori has made it a priority to replace all of the aged rail cars and some of the locomotives.

So that should bring some relief.

But absent a really robust maintenance program to fix those, make those repairs as they need them and midlife overhauls and everything else like any kind of car, absent a good program and a routine maintenance program, you're going to continue to see those problems.

So it's the fixes are hopefully in route, but that's easier said than done.

Yeah, well said.

Larry, South Jersey got a moment this week when the governor announced that there would be some expanded transportation options there, long overdue.

Can you just tick through for us what those are and if they're really going to meet the needs for that region?

Well, the biggest thing about South Jersey is that it's heavily reliant on bus.

There is only one heavy rail line, and that's the Atlantic City line that serves South Jersey.

So what the governor announced is that he would be expanding the fleet of electric buses that are running in Camden.

So there will be a total of 16 buses running there.

That's still on kind of a pilot program.

They're evaluating those buses to see how they roll them out for the rest of the season and where they will be used the best.

NJ Transit's kind of taken a slow walk approach because the technology is changing and they don't want to wind up in the same situation as other systems like Indianapolis have wound up in where they bought a bunch of buses and they've been insufficient.

They actually wound up returning them.

The other thing is microtransit, which is something we see more in North Jersey.

I know people might be familiar with the VIA system in Jersey City and a couple of other systems where it's not necessarily a bus, but a smaller vehicle.

They pioneered some of that in Trenton, and it would be sort of a cross between mass transit and an Uber system, which, you know, works for South Jersey a little better because they don't have the population density to demand the kind of buses every 10 minutes you see in places like Jersey City, Newark or Elizabeth.

The question is, it's got to be geared to what he called the Ed and Med, the medical and the education employment centers.

So that's the real driver of ridership down there.

Larry, Colleen, grateful for you both.

Thanks as always.

Good to see you.

Thank you.

Thanks.

It appears ICE agents are ramping up enforcement in New Jersey again.

Federal immigration authorities hit at least two areas, Tretton and Edison, in the last 24 hours, detaining dozens of workers during a sweeping operation.

Details about the purpose and people targeted in the operation are still unclear, leaving many to wonder where agents will turn up next.

Our senior correspondent Joanna Gagas is standing by in Edison with the latest.

Hey, Joe, good to see you.

So what can you tell us?

Brianna, here's what we know so far.

Yesterday at around 9 a.m., Border Patrol agents came to this warehouse facility in Edison where they carried out one of the largest detention operations so far under this administration.

We know that dozens of individuals who were here in the country without legal status were detained by the Border Patrol agents.

I spoke to an employee who happened to be outside on a break when they first arrived.

He said several of the cars, dozens of cars, showed up.

The first several were unmarked.

He said that at the time that he realized who was actually here, he went inside.

By that point, there were already agents inside.

Employees were lined up against the wall to verify their identification.

He said that he saw dozens of people being arrested, being detained.

We spoke to some immigration advocates who were called to the scene about what they know took place.

At the beginning from what the security guard told us it was about 30 people.

Edison's mayor told the New York Times that 29 people were arrested and that the mayor's office and Edison police department were aware that the raid would take place.

The warehouse facility receives foreign goods, which CBP, Customs and Border Patrol, has said gives them the authority to conduct surprise inspections like yesterday's.

We reached out to CBP and ICE to confirm the details of yesterday's operation but haven't yet heard back.

Carlos Castaneda is with Dyer and Cosecha and says they're now working to track down who was taken and communicate with their family members.

We were able to identify one place which is the what we call the black site of ice in Freeling Heisen Avenue in Newark.

And as of today we still don't know if they've been transferred from Freeling Heisen to the Delaney Hall or the Elizabeth Detention Center.

Some would say that that's what happens when you come into the country without legal status or without going through the proper channels.

What do you say to that?

Well I say that most of these families have a legal process in place, again have asylum cases still going on.

As this administration has said in the past, it doesn't matter if you have an asylum case pending, it doesn't matter if you have an illegal proceeding pending, you'll still be taken, picked up and detained.

Even people with DACA, right, we've seen recipients of DACA being detained, arrested and being held in these detention centers.

New Jersey's two U.S. senators issued a statement today criticizing the Trump administration's actions saying yesterday's chaotic raid on a shipping warehouse in Edison, which resulted in multiple injuries, serves as yet another stark reminder that, despite Trump's pledge to go after the so-called "worst of the worst," his administration is instead just terrorizing workers and immigrant communities.

"Now we also know that there was a separate ICE operation that took place today in Trenton.

We know that Border Patrol agents approached three individuals who were day laborers.

They were undocumented individuals.

We know that one person was detained.

Two actually ran away from the ICE agents.

We spoke to some immigration advocates who arrived there and had more on what took place.

They fled.

We're not sure what they were about.

But there was no search warrants.

There's no judicial warrants.

So we definitely know that it was not somebody targeted.

Like they say, there's no criminal activity here.

>> The group that was arrested last night is the organization resistencia de acción.

One of their members was arrested during the incident for interfering with the operation.

That person has since been released.

>> Right now, we're really mostly concerned about the families.

>> These groups will now work to communicate with all of those who were taken and connect them to legal counsel.

In Edison, I'm Joanna Gagas, NJ Spotlight News.

- Finally tonight, we turn to the growing clash between local and federal governments, with several New Jersey cities at the center of it, including Hoboken, where Mayor Ravi Bhalla is standing firm in his refusal to rescind Hoboken's sanctuary policy, despite sharp warnings from the Trump administration and a direct threat from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Department of Justice has targeted Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, and Patterson, accusing their policies of obstructing immigration enforcement, threatening criminal charges if they continue.

Mayor Bhalla joins us now to talk about why he's not backing down and what's at stake.

Mayor Bhalla, thanks so much for coming on the show.

You've called the administration's demands about sanctuary apologies egregious, distressing.

Why are you taking such a strong stance on this?

We're taking a strong stance on this because this goes to the core of our identity as Americans and in Hoboken as a city.

We are a city based upon immigrants, based upon people who believe in equal rights under the law.

The fundamental precept of our constitution is that all people are to be treated equally under the law.

The immigration policies that are being enforced in various cities around the country by the federal government are not only unconstitutional, but they run against the very values of our country and the city of Hoboken.

So when we signed a sanctuary or a fair and welcoming city policy back in 2018, it was important to send a message that everyone is equal in the city of Hoboken, no matter your immigration status, race, gender, sexual orientation.

That's why we want to make sure that that fundamental precept is reaffirmed through these policies.

Are you concerned, though, about some of the threats that the Attorney General, U.S. Attorney General, has made, either professionally, personally, about facing legal consequences for going forward with these policies and the loss of funding that it could lead to for your city and the services that your residents rely on?

We're not concerned about the loss of funding because that has already been affirmed by federal courts that any loss of funding under the Fifth Amendment, the Tenth Amendment is unconstitutionally vague, violates due process.

That has been also challenged by the Trump administration much earlier with respect to the Immigrant Trust Directive.

And the Trump administration lost.

They also lost to Philadelphia when they tried to challenge the sanctuary policies there.

So we are not concerned.

But they are threatening, though, to withhold public safety, law enforcement grants and funding tied to some of these policies, which our attorney general is suing over.

Yes.

And if they do try to make that nexus, that will be challenged in court.

And we are very confident we will prevail.

We are not afraid to defend our city and our country.

What is happening across the country is unconstitutional.

It's un-American, and it's frankly disgraceful.

So we will fight tooth and nail.

We will not back down from the Trump administration and the federal government's policy with respect to immigration enforcement.

And I'll tell you, we will not devote local tax dollars and the city's local resources to enforcing unconstitutional, un-American policies.

I was going to ask you about your own personal concerns, but it sounds to me like you are putting this beyond that or above that.

You have said, though, Mayor, that you are willing to look at some potential changes to the policy.

Can you shed a little light on that and what those may or may not be?

Sure.

We adopted this policy back on January 1st, 2018, during the first Trump administration.

Since 2018, in the second administration or second term of the president, you've seen a much more aggressive approach towards federal immigration enforcement.

That gives me concerns.

I see ICE raids across the country.

I see families torn apart.

I see U.S. residents and lawful residents being detained in inhumane conditions and deported in a way that violates the law.

So we want to make sure that our protections at the local level are broad enough to speak to the current moment in our country where we have an administration that is completely unhinged and has no respect for the rule of law whatsoever.

When you have a government, a federal government that has no respect for the rule of law, it's mayors and cities that are on the front line of protecting communities.

You have an obligation as local mayors to make sure that our residents are safe and protected.

And that's why we're looking to revise our policies to make sure that they actually meet that current moment.

Let me just ask you quickly, Mayor, what do you say then to residents in your city who may support stronger immigration enforcement and who may believe that the city should comply with these federal demands?

Well, we say to them that we will and we have cooperated with the federal government and worked in a very productive way with the federal government in many respects.

And there are too many to name.

And we will continue to do that.

But with respect to the enforcement of federal immigration policy, that's the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.

And it's not appropriate for local resources to be devoted to the enforcement of federal immigration law.

That's simply the job of the federal government.

We will not impede, we will not interfere, we will not harbor, we will not obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law, but we will also not devote local resources towards that enforcement.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla thanks again so much for your time.

Thanks for having me.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

But a reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

If you want to help support the programming public media brings you and keep stations like this one thriving, head to NJ Spotlight News dot org slash donate.

I'm Brianna Vanosi for the entire team at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us.

Have a great evening.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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