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PRINCETON: Flood house is torn down

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The neighbors on Meadowbrook Drive knew it as the "flood house," a ranch design that flooded anytime there was a major rainfall.
The town stepped in, bought the property this year from the husband and wife owners with help from the federal government and then hired a contractor to raze the house on Wednesday — an event neighbors were getting emails about in advance to make sure they could witness.
"A long time coming," said Princeton resident Matt Wasserman, who came to watch before going to work.
Crews from Yanuzzi Wrecking & Recycling Corp. arrived around 7:30 a.m., as a man operating a track hoe excavator with a large claw attached got to work. Once in action, the machine looked like a dinosaur devouring its prey; the sound of breaking wood and glass was repetitive and noisy on a street that had been whisper quiet only minutes earlier.
Neighbors started coming by a little at a time. One man walked over with his dog. The previous owner came with her grandson. Some used their smart phones to take pictures, others watched with their arms folded. Years of headache for the town ended in less time than it takes to order a pizza.
In a matter of 18 minutes, give or take, it was over. The house had turned into a neatly stacked pile of debris.
John Mucha, a project manager with Yanuzzi, said the house material would be recycled at a facility in Trenton. Bricks, masonry and asphalt would be taken to a Yanuzzi facility and crushed for roadbed.
Resident Rob Emison, standing with his dog, called it "good closure" for a house that had caused many problems "to so many people."
"A dream come true," said Nira Lavid, the previous owner, who pulled up in her Mercedes and carried her young grandson in her arms.
Located next to a tributary of Harry’s Brook, the house sat in a low elevation compared to the other homes around it. Town engineer Robert V. Kiser, walking the property before demolition, said in his 31 years working for Princeton, the house had been a "headache" for 31 years.
Ms. Lavid and her husband, Moshe, bought the house in 1989 and used to rent it as a source of income. Residents would recall tenants putting their things out on the front lawn to dry after the house flooded.
In June, the council voted to buy the property for $625,000; all but $30,000 of that amount came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mayor Liz Lempert, who lives directly across the street but was not home Wednesday, had recused herself from the matter.
"I think it’s a win-win for everyone," Ms. Lavid said standing outside of where her home used to be.
The town, Mr. Kiser said, intends to leave the roughly 3/4 of an acre property as open space.