A vacant apartment building along Route 440 in Hopelawn is being converted into supportive housing for residents with disabilities and high medical needs. A closing is expected in July.
Rahway's Tree Advocates Open Up A Fight on Two Fronts
As the city moves to remove mature trees on Cherry Street, the same residents are renewing a years-old push for a dedicated tree committee.
Mature cherry trees line East Cherry Street in downtown Rahway. City officials say most will be removed as part of a long-planned streetscape project. (The Central Jerseyan)
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.
Chris Howell | August 20, 2026
A push to save Rahway’s E. Cherry Street trees and a renewed call for a dedicated city tree committee are unfolding at the same time, driven largely by the same group of residents.
The issue surfaced at the August 3 council meeting, when Jeff Robinson, the former head of the Rahway Environmental Commission, described the mature cherry trees that shaded a recent World Cup watch party downtown.
“The cherry trees on each side, just reaching up and covering over the sky, creating a really awesome canopy that blocked out the sun and kept everybody cool,” Robinson said.
He said most of those trees are set to come down as part of a long-planned streetscape project.
DON’T LET AN ALGORITHM DECIDE YOUR NEWS
Sign up for The Central Jerseyan Newsletter for independent local news and events every week.
“Some of these beautiful trees are going to be taken out so we have a few more places to park cars,” Robinson said. “That’s what it really comes down to.”
Mayor Raymond Giacobbe said the project is about more than parking.
“The trees in question have raised the paver bricks, the sidewalks, the curbs,” the mayor said. “It’s also a quality of life issue for our residents who are handicapped and have mobility issues.”
The city has not stated a construction timeline for the removals.
A street sign marks East Cherry Street in downtown Rahway, where the city plans to remove most of the block’s mature trees as part of a streetscape project. (The Central Jerseyan)
A Facebook group called Save the Trees of Rahway has also raised the issue, writing in a post that “Cherry Street is often considered the gem of our downtown” and that the city’s plan “calls for the removal of the vast majority of these 45-year-old trees to create additional parking spaces.”
Two weeks later, resident Lorin Fernandez raised a related but separate issue at the August 17 meeting: a long-unfulfilled request to formally establish a city tree committee.
“For multiple years, we have requested the Rahway Tree Committee to be allowed to be formed in Rahway, and for some reason, I don’t understand why it’s not allowed,” Fernandez said. She said a petition supporting the idea was signed, including by the mayor, who called it “a great idea,” but nothing came of it.
She pointed to her own block as an example of the city’s inconsistent follow-through.
“When I moved here, it had 24 trees,” she said. “It’s up to seven trees, and not one has been replaced.”
Rahway holds an official Tree City USA designation and has participated in a countywide tree-planting grant program in recent years.
Public comment at council meetings is not a question-and-answer format, and no city official responded to Fernandez during that portion of the meeting.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.
More Headlines
Edison Council Rejects 50-Year Fiber Deal After Learning Company Serves Data Centers
Four council members voted no on a right-of-way agreement after the township's own attorney described the company as a provider of high-speed connectivity for stock exchanges, AI data centers, and large enterprises — not a consumer broadband provider.
Rahway Opens Wheatena Dog Park With Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
Rahway celebrated the grand opening of Wheatena Dog Park, the city’s first dog park, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Mayor Raymond Giacobbe Jr., Senate President Nick Scutari, and county officials.