Another American legacy is on the chopping block—this time in deep-blue New Jersey, where local officials are ramming through a plan to bulldoze a 175-year-old family farm in the name of “affordable housing.”
NJ.com reported that Chris Henry stood before the Cranbury Township Committee, pleading with officials not to rip his family’s heritage from the soil their great-grandfather purchased in 1850.
The Henry family, whose parents both served in World War II and whose mother’s name is etched into the town’s war memorial, is now watching bureaucrats prepare to seize their 21-acre farm by force.
Their crime? Refusing to sell.
The family has poured over $200,000 into preserving the historic Middlesex County farm, which is currently leased to a local rancher who raises sheep and cattle.
Despite the property’s agricultural use and historical importance, the Cranbury Township Committee voted unanimously in May to move forward with seizing the land through eminent domain.
All of this—just to meet a state-mandated housing quota pushed by far-left courts and Trenton bureaucrats.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Cranberry, NJ to seize a 175 year old family farm to build affordable housing pic.twitter.com/5JPkeomTmP
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 13, 2025
NJ.com reported:
Cranbury officials are moving forward with plans to seize the 21-acre farm through eminent domain to make space for the construction of affordable housing. Town officials say they plan to pay the family a fair price for the land, even though the Henry brothers don’t want to sell.
The brothers are making a final push to save the land.
“We’re asking that the township committee look at other alternatives that don’t require this blunt force method of eminent domain against a family that does not want to sell their property,” Chris Henry said.
The family’s plea comes as Cranbury races to meet a June 30 deadline to submit its affordable housing plan to the state. The township is required to build 265 affordable housing units over the next decade — part of a statewide mandate that has stirred controversy in some towns.
By 2035, municipalities across New Jersey must add or renovate more than 146,000 affordable units under quotas established by the state. The mandate stems from the Mount Laurel Doctrine, a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings that require towns to provide their fair share of affordable housing in the region.
Read more here.
