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The order, which goes into effect immediately, will allow 56 planes to take off and land each hour while runway work is ongoing

The order, which goes into effect immediately, will allow 56 planes to take off and land each hour while runway work is ongoing

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Federal Aviation Administration issued an order Tuesday decreasing the number of arrivals and departures allowed at Newark Liberty International Airport after weeks of delays caused by air traffic controller staffing shortages and runway construction.

The order, which goes into effect immediately, will allow 56 planes to take off and land each hour while the runway work is ongoing. The renovations are scheduled to run daily until June 15, and then on Saturdays through the end of the year.

When construction is not taking place, 68 arrivals and departures each hour will be allowed until October 25.

"Our goal is to relieve the substantial inconvenience to the traveling public from excessive flight delays due to construction, staffing challenges, and recent equipment issues, which magnify as they spread through the National Airspace System," Acting FAA Administrator Christopher Rocheleau said in a statement.

At one point, the FAA had targeted 77 total arrivals and departures at Newark each hour, but at the start of construction on April 15, they requested airlines cut that down to 70 total during the day and 62 during specific hours in the late afternoons and evenings.

Tuesday's order to cut flights comes after a three-day "delay reduction meeting" held in Washington with airlines, the FAA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark airport.

The FAA added it will update the numbers if "capacity exists to accommodate more flights without a significant increase in delays, or that further flight reductions are necessary."

Besides runway construction, Newark Airport has been hit hard by a staffing shortage and telecommunications problems.

The air traffic control facility that handles flights arriving or departing the airport has a target of 38 "certified professional controllers," but only has 24 on staff, the FAA said in the order cutting flights.

The 63% staffing rate took another hit on April 28 when radio communications were lost for 30 seconds and radar went blank for 90 seconds during a busy afternoon. As a result, five workers took a 45-day trauma leave.

The facility has continued to see additional telecommunication outages since then.

The FAA says plans are in place to install three new "high-bandwidth telecommunications connections," replace copper lines and increase staffing at the facility.

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Newark, NJ (May 21, 2025) – Emergency crews were dispatched Tuesday evening following a reported vehicle collision in Newark.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:31 p.m. on May 20 in the 400 block of Springfield Ave. Authorities responded to 492 Springfield Ave after receiving reports of a crash involving at least one vehicle. First responders arrived on scene to assess the situation and provide necessary aid.

At this time, details regarding the number of vehicles involved, the cause of the crash, or the presence of injuries have not been confirmed. Emergency personnel worked to manage traffic in the area while conducting a preliminary investigation. Any injured individuals were likely evaluated on-site or transported to local hospitals for further care. Officials have not yet released further information as the investigation continues.

We hope everyone involved in this incident recovers quickly and safely.

Car Accidents in New Jersey

Car accidents are among the most common causes of injury in New Jersey, especially in densely populated areas like Newark. Statewide, there are over 270,000 reported crashes annually, many resulting in injuries or property damage. The risk of collisions rises in areas with heavy traffic volume and multiple intersections.

For those involved in vehicle collisions, it’s important to know what steps to take next. Here’s what drivers and passengers should understand:

If you’ve been hurt in a car crash, a car accident attorney can help you take the necessary steps to protect yourself and seek compensation. Whether you’re dealing with medical bills, missed work, or lasting injuries, acting quickly is important. An attorney can help gather evidence, guide you through the legal process, and fight for what you deserve.

At Metro Law, we have been helping accident victims in New Jersey for over 40 years. Our lead attorney, Robert Solomon, brings decades of experience to every case we handle. We’re proud to serve clients in Newark and beyond with dedication and compassion. We offer free consultations, flexible appointment scheduling, and in-house multilingual support. Call 800-469-6476 today to get started with a team that cares about your future.

Newark, NJ (May 20, 2025) – Authorities responded to a vehicle collision in the Ironbound section of Newark on Tuesday afternoon that disrupted traffic and brought emergency crews to the scene.

The crash was reported at approximately 12:36 p.m. on May 20 near 135 Christie St. Emergency personnel arrived quickly and assessed the situation, though specific details about the vehicles involved or the number of people injured have not yet been released. It is unclear whether any occupants required hospitalization. The area around the crash site experienced temporary delays while responders worked to clear the scene and investigate. Police are continuing to look into the cause of the accident.

We hope all those affected by this crash recover quickly and fully.

Car Accidents in New Jersey

Car accidents remain a daily concern on New Jersey roadways. Heavily populated urban areas such as Newark experience a higher number of incidents, particularly in busy neighborhoods like Ironbound. According to transportation data, New Jersey sees more than 270,000 reported collisions each year, a significant portion of which result in injuries.

Being involved in a vehicle crash often raises many questions. Here are some common issues victims may face in the aftermath of an accident:

If you were injured in a recent crash, don’t wait to contact a qualified car accident attorney. Legal support can help you understand the full value of your case, gather essential evidence, and meet important filing deadlines. The sooner you act, the stronger your position will be.

At Metro Law, we have more than 40 years of experience helping injured victims across New Jersey and New York. Based in Newark, our team—led by attorney Robert Solomon—offers personalized legal guidance tailored to your situation. We provide free consultations and can meet on weekends or evenings. Our multilingual staff is also ready to assist. Call 800-469-6476 today and take the first step toward recovery and justice.

Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

There had been warning signs before radar and communications systems went dark at the facility that manages the airspace around Newark Liberty International Airport, according to an air traffic controller who was on duty during one of those failures.

Still, their first reaction was shock.

"It was like disbelief. And then it was just like fury, honestly, like how could they have us working this, you know?," said the controller, who works in Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which manages the airspace around Newark. They asked NPR not to use their name because they're not authorized to speak publicly and are worried about retaliation from their employer, the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We had had other outages prior to that point that demonstrated to us that our equipment was unreliable," the controller said in an interview this week. Those earlier incidents were alarming enough, the controller says, that controllers handling Newark asked the FAA to reduce the number of planes in the airspace.

"We would ask them for less airplanes, and they would tell us no," they said.

Now regulators are taking those concerns more seriously. This week the FAA capped the number of flights in and out of Newark at 56 per hour, a cut of about 15%.

The new limits in Newark come after a harrowing month for travelers at one of the nation's busiest airports — and for the air traffic controllers who work the airspace around it. Radar and communication systems stopped working on at least three occasions, once for as long as 90 seconds, since April 28.

The incidents have raised big questions about how the air traffic control mess in Newark got as bad as it did, and what it will take to fix an aging air traffic control system. And they prompted one air traffic controller to share their perspective in an interview with NPR this week.

"We're overstretched, we're understaffed, we're all stressed out. Our equipment doesn't work," the controller said. "It's just not sustainable."

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insists that limiting that pace of arrivals and departures in Newark will help.

"I believe the system is safe. There are multiple redundancies throughout the system that keep people safe," Duffy said during a Senate committee hearing last week. "The key is not efficiency, the key is safety."

In a sense, Newark is suffering from the same problems as the entire air traffic control system in the U.S.: decades of underinvestment in aging communications systems, and a staffing shortage of more than 3,000 air traffic controllers nationwide.

But according to this controller, the recent problems are also unique to Newark — and many of them stem from the way the FAA moved the air traffic controllers who work the Newark airspace from Long Island, N.Y., to Philadelphia last year.

"We have issues FAA-wide. Those things are true. However this particular situation was a self-inflicted FAA decision to move us out of New York. We did not have these issues when we were in New York," they said. "So you're trying to make it seem like, well, the FAA is in shambles and that's why Newark is this problem. No, Newark is this problem because you moved us out of New York without a real plan."

The FAA did not respond directly to the controller's allegations. But the agency says moving control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia was necessary to keep up with demand in some of the nation's busiest airspace.

"This has been meant to get us healthy on a staffing level," said Michael Whitaker, former FAA administrator during the Biden administration, said at a press conference in November. "With this move, we're able to relieve the stress in New York and improve controller staffing levels by recruiting and training controllers in Philadelphia."

For years, the FAA had been talking about moving control of the Newark airspace out of New York TRACON on Long Island, which handles the airspace around LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, the other two major airports in the area.

The FAA was having trouble hiring enough controllers to staff the facility on Long Island, due in part to the low rate of training success there, according to the agency. And the controllers who did work there consistently earned a lot of money through overtime.

Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

Eventually, the FAA decided to move the air traffic controllers who handle Newark to Philadelphia, where the cost of living is lower and it would be easier to recruit. The agency offered bonuses of $100,000 to incentivize controllers to move. Still, some did not like the idea because they had friends and families in New York.

"I get it in a sense why they're like, well, let's move it somewhere else," the controller told NPR. "But I feel like the way that they went about it was really haphazard. It was really reckless, honestly. And it was also a little bit cruel to us as people, as the controllers who they moved."

There had been 33 certified air traffic controllers working the Newark airspace on Long Island, and two dozen of them made the move last summer to Philadelphia.

From the beginning, there were concerns about how the move would work from a technical standpoint, one of the controllers told NPR.

"It didn't seem like they had thought out all of the elements of the move and how things would work fully because, you know, we would start asking them questions. Well, what about the equipment? How are you hooking this up? How is this going to work? And we did not get satisfying answers," they said.

Still, the controller says they tried to keep an open mind. But even they were surprised at how badly it's gone.

"It's been worse of a disaster than even the most cynical people in the union predicted," the controller said. "It's been a debacle."

The FAA says it is working on an expedited plan to install new fiber optic lines to replace the copper wires that are still in use in some places, and is also adding new backup systems to help with technical issues in Newark.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Secretary Duffy has announced a plan to "supercharge" the hiring of new air traffic controllers, but the reality is it takes years to train them. And the shortage of controllers is especially acute in Philadelphia, where some controllers have taken trauma leave to recover from the psychological impact of the recent outages.

"We are at our limit. Our families are telling us, you need a break. Like our friends are telling us, you don't seem OK. We are all at that point," said the controller we spoke to. "You can tell that people are breaking down. You can see the misery when people show up to work. There have been grown men crying in the parking lot on their breaks because of our work conditions."

The combination of technical outages and staffing shortages has forced airlines to cancel, delay or redirect hundreds of flights. The problems have disproportionately affected United Airlines, which has a major hub in Newark. And United CEO Scott Kirby put some of the blame on air traffic controllers in a public message to customers.

"Unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20% of the FAA controllers for EWR walked off the job," Kirby wrote.

The union that represents air traffic controllers disputes that any walked off the job, saying they are entitled to take time off before going back to work on equipment that failed.

"What we must do now is modernize the system, give the air traffic controllers the equipment they deserve, and not blame them for the issues that they're seeing," said Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, in an interview.

Other air traffic controllers took issue with Kirby's comments, too.

"I don't expect for anyone to weep over us," said the Newark airspace controller who spoke to NPR. "We get paid more than a lot of people get paid to do this. But we are under immense stress every single day."

Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

Since these recent outages, aviation experts have insisted it is safe to fly in and out of Newark. But Transportation Secretary Duffy says he'd advised his wife to change her flight from Newark to LaGuardia — not because it was unsafe, Duffy said, but because she needed to get where she was going on time.

The Newark controller told NPR they would not use the airport, either.

"My best friend asked me the other day, like, 'I got a Newark flight, is it going to be fine?,'" they said. "I was like, no, don't fly out of Newark. Like, at the very least you're going to be delayed. But no, like, I've had to book flights and Newark is the cheapest and most convenient option, nine times out of ten. And I'm not going to do it."

Essex County recently completed a series of improvements at Independence Park and Branch Brook Park in Newark.

Patch Staff

|Updated Wed, May 21, 2025 at 1:10 pm ET

NEWARK, NJ — Upgrades to two county-run parks in Newark have crossed the finish line.

Essex County recently completed a series of improvements at Independence Park and Branch Brook Park. Learn more about each renovation below.

INDEPENDENCE PARK

Two projects totaling more than $4.8 million have been finished at Independence Park in Newark. The improvements were funded with grants from the State of New Jersey and the American Rescue Plan as well as funds from the Essex County capital budget.

County officials released some details about each project (see photo above):

Find out what's happening in Newarkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

SOCCER & BASEBALL/SOFTBALL – “The first project included the revitalization of an existing soccer field and existing Little League/softball field with new synthetic grass playing surfaces, enhanced drainage systems, new fencing, benches and trash receptacles and sports lighting, and landscaping. The field upgrades were designed in-house by the Department of Public Works. The Landtek Group from Bay Shore, N.Y., was awarded a publicly-bid contract for $1,181,245 to perform the construction work.”

SOCCER FIELD – “The second project included the resurfacing of an existing soccer field with a new synthetic playing surface and the creation of a new soccer field with a synthetic playing surface. Site improvements including new drainage systems, concrete sidewalks, pathway lighting, fencing, benches, lighting and landscaping also were completed. PS&S architects and engineers from Warren was awarded a professional services contract for $525,000 to design the new fields and the Sheriff Armando and Mary Fontoura Community Center that opened last year. Turco Golf Inc. from Pompton Lakes was awarded a publicly-bid contract for $3,636,765.”

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said that even though Independence Park is one of the smallest parks in the county system, it is one of the most heavily used.

“Because of the density of the population and development in Newark’s Ironbound, this park literally is the backyard for our residents,” DiVincenzo said.

BRANCH BROOK PARK

Meanwhile, upgrades were also recently completed at Branch Brook Park, which is located in Newark and Belleville.

Here’s what to know about the work, county officials said:

“The Patricia Chambers Grove is located in the Northern Division of Branch Brook Park at the entrance on Heller Parkway in Newark. The open area was modernized with a stone-paved walking, ornamental pathway lighting, formal sitting areas and enhanced landscaping. In addition, across the street by the Althea Gibson Tennis Complex, sidewalks and steps were renovated to make access safer. The improvements transform a long overlooked and underutilized area of the park into a welcoming gateway and formally link it to the adjacent North Ward neighborhood.”

Officials said that Rhodeside and Harwell from Newark designed the improvements. ZN Construction from Elmwood Park was awarded a publicly bid contract for $1,344,000 to perform the construction work. The design work was funded with a grant from the Branch Brook Park Alliance. The construction work was funded with a grant from the NJ Green Acres program and through the Essex County capital budget.

A dedication ceremony was held at the park earlier this month, with officials recognizing the “numerous contributions” made by Chambers as a founding member of the Branch Brook Park Alliance.

“Patricia Chambers – along with Pat Ryan and Barbara Bell Coleman – took the initiative over 25 years ago to form the Branch Brook Park Alliance and create a partner that the county could rely on to assist with the revitalization and care of Branch Brook Park,” DiVincenzo recalled.

“Naming this beautifully designed and landscaped grove in her honor will remind present and future generations of her numerous contributions and hopefully inspire them to care for our parks as much as she did,” he added.

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