There are no recreational fields or open parks close by, so children resort to playing in the parking lot. Inevitably, they are chased away when a perturbed neighbor calls the housing authority or the police to complain. Ramapo Brae was planned and built by the authority, which completed the project in 1989. The units filled up fast, given the high demand in Bergen County for lower-cost housing. Because there is little turnover, rental units are available only infrequently.
Some people wait as long as five years to get one.
In 1991, the authority ceded control of the private units to the owners, who now manage their side of the neighborhood through a condominium association. The authority still manages the public housing portion of Ramapo Brae. Ceilings crumbled, pipes leaked, basements flooded. One resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, put her home up for sale after 11 years of trying to solve plumbing problems. She and her family had gone without heat at least five times every winter for the first six years they had lived there.