The developer also obtained a zoning bonus, allowing him to build a taller tower in return for including an additional 16 apartments for poor and working-class tenants.

Some existing residents of projects like Allegheny Commons qualified for the bigger subsidies, but the Terrys and many other working-class tenants did not, because their incomes were too high.

But in rushing to move the children into public housing projects, the city has pitted their families against working-class tenants of those projects.

Real estate agents say that gentrification is under way as working-class tenants are forced out of the south shore when landlords take houses off the rental market to sell as second homes.

The apartments draw working-class tenants because of their relatively low rents in areas where housing is in short supply.

In rushing to move children out of welfare hotels and into public housing projects, the city has pitted their families against the working-class tenants of those projects.

Still, housing advocates are concerned about the potential loss of housing for poor and working-class tenants.

The buildings, well-maintained and popular with retired and working-class tenants, directly overlook the ocean and are just minutes from the Long Branch train station.

The city's Housing Authority, by far the nation's largest, has long been considered the most successful because it was able to maintain a better balance of working-class and poor tenants than other cities.