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$3 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 FINAL EDITION AFFILIATED WITH NJ.COM ++

THE PENTAGON SAID A DRONE STRIKE THAT KILLED MULTIPLE CIVILIANS IN AFGHANISTAN LAST MONTH DID NOT KILL AN ISLAMIC STATE EXTREMIST, AS FIRST BELIEVED. A4

STRIKE A‘MISTAKE’

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

With Schiano at helm, RU game revenue on the rise

Rodrigo Torrejon For The Star-Ledger

The torrential rain seemed like it’d never stop.

The unrelenting downpour quickly caused the Elizabeth River to overflow, flooding the streets of Elizabeth, over-whelming a city apartment complex that abutted the river with stormwater, a mix of rain and sewage overflow.

The f loodwaters tore through the nearby apartments, destroying homes and submerging cars in murky brown water.

The Elizabeth mayor at the time esti-mated the city had suffered millions of dollars in damage, with “massive destruc-tion” at the apartment complex. Three people died in New Jersey.

It was late August 1971 when Tropical Storm Doria wrought a path of destruc-tion in the state, with much of the damage in Elizabeth, a riverside city. Few places saw as much damage as the Pierce Manor apartments, now known as Oakwood Plaza apartments, an affordable housing apartment complex.

Almost exactly 50 years later, the rem-nants of Hurricane Ida tore a similar path of destruction in Elizabeth and at the apartments, with four residents killed in the flooding at the same complex.

As many as 600 residents of the apart-ments are now displaced, bouncing from hotel to hotel as they wait for a new home and to salvage what’s left of their belong-ings.

Several residents and family of the peo-

ple who died in the flooding at Oakwood Plaza say that the city’s search and rescue response was far too slow and nowhere near enough, likely costing lives. Steps away from the apartment complex is the Elizabeth Fire Department headquarters, itself flooded with several feet of water.

“It was really crazy that there wasn’t more firefighters there to help,” said Yvette Baker, a displaced resident of the apart-ment complex. “Any given day there’s 10 to 20 firefighters just hanging out. Any given day. But the day of the flood, they were nowhere to be found.”

Multiple calls and messages left with the Elizabeth Fire Department and chief were not returned. Members of the fire department at the headquarters declined to speak to a reporter Thursday afternoon, referring questions to City Hall.

After multiple calls and emails, Mayor Christian Bollwage sent a short statement that did not answer most of NJ Advance

Media’s questions regarding the city’s rescue response at Oakwood Plaza.

“The City is in the process of helping all the families affected by this disaster,” Bollwage said in the Thursday afternoon email.

City spokeswoman Kelly Martins said the first call from Oakwood Plaza asking for help came in at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 1 and that despite what residents suggested, the fire headquarters was not evacuated and was operating out of the second and third floors the night of the flooding.

No details were released on how many rescue units were sent to Oakwood Plaza.

Since the flooding swept through the apartment complex, local activist Salaam Ismial has been accusing the mayor and city officials of “dropping the ball” in helping residents. On Bollwage’s Face-book page, Ismial, who is also the direc-tor of the city’s National United Youth

Members cite lack of data

in rejecting them for others.

Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard Associated Press

Dealing the White House a stinging setback, a government advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected a plan Friday to give Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots across the board, and instead endorsed the extra vaccine dose only for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease.

The twin votes represented a heavy blow to the Biden administration’s sweeping effort, announced a month ago, to shore up nearly all Americans’ protec-tion amid the spread of the highly conta-gious delta variant.

The ruling came from an influential committee of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration.

In a surprising turn, the panel rejected, by a vote of 16-2, boosters for almost everyone. Members cited a lack of safety data on extra doses and also raised doubts about the value of mass boost-ers, rather than ones targeted to specific groups.

Then, in an 18-0 vote, it endorsed the extra shot for select portions of the U.S. population — namely, those most at risk from the virus.

That would help salvage part of the White House’s campaign but would still be a huge step back from the far-reaching proposal to offer booster shots of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Ameri-cans eight months after they get their second dose.

Friday’s ruling was just the first step in the process. The FDA itself is expected to make a decision on boosters in the next few days, but it usually follows the com-mittee’s recommendations.

The offering of boosters is also sub-ject to review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A CDC advisory panel is expected to take up the ques-tion on Wednesday. The CDC has said it is considering boosters for older peo-ple, nursing home residents and front-line health care workers, rather than all adults.

The FDA and CDC will most likely decide at some later point whether people who received the Moderna or J&J shots should get boosters.

During several hours of vigorous debate Friday, members of the panel questioned the value of offering boosters to almost everybody 16 and over.

“I don’t think a booster dose is going to significantly contribute to controlling the pandemic,” said Dr. Cody Meissner of Tufts University. “And I think it’s import-ant that the main message we transmit is that we’ve got to get everyone two doses.”

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Panel backs booster shots for those over 65, at high risk

INSIDE

A devastating lossFamily and community members mourn the death of a father from Maplewood who drowned in Ida floodwaters while trying to clear a storm drain. A3

NATION & WORLD

Durst found guiltyA jury convicted Robert Durst of murdering his best friend 20 years ago. He faces a mandatory term of life in prison without parole. A5

ELIZABETH

City’s response questioned after Ida overwhelmed area previously flooded

Several residents, family of

people who died in flooding

at apartment complex say the

search and rescue efforts were

too slow, likely costing lives.

A memorial is seen Tuesday for the four people who died at the Oakwood Plaza apartments in Elizabeth this month. Aristide Economopoulos, for The Star-Ledger

An early look at earnings

this season shows opener

proved to be a big payday.

Keith Sargeant For The Star-Ledger

It’s a little behind schedule, but the Schiano Effect might have finally arrived at Rutgers.

After a year’s delay because of COVID-19’s empty stands in 2020, the Scarlet Knights might be on the verge of escaping a five-year downward spiral of shriveling ticket sales and game-day revenue that has plagued a football program desperate for wins while bleeding millions of dollars.

For the home opener against Temple on Sept. 4 — a celebration that was kicked in the teeth by the remnants of Hurricane Ida — Rutgers collected game-day revenue of roughly $1.8 million and cleared approxi-mately $1.4 million, an NJ Advance Media analysis revealed.

To many, that’s more of a reason to rejoice than scoring eight touchdowns against Temple in a 61-14 victory.

And the Scarlet Knights are hoping a 2-0 start and the promise of a competitive Big Ten team coached by Greg Schiano

mean the athletic department can begin to dig out of its massive debt, estimated to be more than $200 million.

As Rutgers prepares to play its second home game of the season today against Delaware, NJ Advance Media analyzed the revenue from its opener and what that could mean for the season and a free-spending athletic department whose

debt and criticism continue to mount.Rutgers announced 52,519 tickets

had been distributed for the opener, but roughly 33,000 fans actually walked through the gates, according to Rutgers officials.

Documents obtained by NJ Advance Media show the school reported a bot-tom-line profit of $1.4 million, with that figure including revenue from ticket sales, concession sales, parking fees and seat-license fees and expenses such as game-day personnel.

It marks a 425.2% increase from Rut-gers’ average per-game profit in 2019, the final season under Chris Ash, when Rut-gers was 2-10. Rutgers rehired Schiano, the architect of its football renaissance in the previous decade, predicting he would rejuvenate the fan base and increase rev-enue for a heavily subsidized athletics program.

An NJ Advance Media analysis of financial documents from the season opener — the first game played with fans in attendance since Schiano’s return — shows why school officials are optimistic: › Rutgers sold 20,141 season tickets

for 2021, according to a document obtained Sept. 10 through an Open Public Records Act request. That total

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is seen earlier this month. Andrew Mills, for The Star-Ledger

SEE ELIZABETH, A3

SEE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, A4

SEE COLLEGE FOOTBALL, A6