The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the high density housing continues to effect the Villager of Ridgewood central business district with taxpayers footing the bill. The main objection against the high density housing was all the ancillary coasts like police, fire, EMS, sewage , water, parking , schools and traffic .
photo of the Brogan development
The Brogan project is a disaster for the town. None of these high density projects will benefit anyone except the developers and their attorneys. Westfield is paying attention – it does not want to become Montclair or Hackensack which is where Ridgewood is headed. Where do the developers and their attorneys live?
What has started at Brogan will sweep the whole Ridgewood. In a couple of years it will be a brand new city. Oh, and for those who think new housing does not affect schools greatschools.org just lowered RHS grade to 9 from 10. It had been a 10 for many, many years. I can only imagine what the grade will be in a few years at which time we can all kiss goodbye our house values.
file photo by Boyd Loving the 3 amigos ; Gwen, Paul and Al the absolute low point in Ridgewood History
“Three Amigos is a racist term, ” you write. NO, IT IS NOT. Here is the origin from Wikipedia:
Three Amigos (marketed as ¡Three Amigos!) is a 1986 American western comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman. Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short star as the title characters,[4] three silent film stars who are mistaken for real heroes by the suffering people of a small Mexican village and must find a way to live up to their reputation.Critical response
¡Three Amigos! received generally mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 46% of 35 film critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.1 out of 10.[10] Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film one out of four stars and said, “The ideas to make Three Amigos into a good comedy are here, but the madness is missing.”[11] Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, writing that it was “likable” but lacked a “distinctive style”, and then certain jokes are crafted with “enjoyable sophistication”.[12] Caroline Wetsbrook of Empire awarded the film three out of five stars and wrote that it was “good-natured enough to sustain its ultimately thin premise”.[13]
Despite this, the film has since been reviewed more favorably and has become a cult classic. Neil McNally of the website Den of Geek noted that the film was “unfairly overlooked” when first released, and praised the performances of Martin, Chase, and Short; the comedic scriptwriting of Landis; and the “sweeping, majestic” score by Bernstein.[14] The film was ranked #79 on Bravo’s list of the “100 Funniest Movies”.[15
I actually took the film out of library and watched it. It is not racist.
What I hate is misinformed people jumping on a politically correct bandwagon, without thinking and using political correctness to the detriment of the issue. The issue here is RACISM. You probably don’t give a damn about racism or you would have taken the time and thought to research the term Three Amigos that has been so frequently used on this blog. Don’t you think , ASSHOLE, (how about that for an expression) that the intelligent , educated and well-informed Ridgewood residents who contribute to this excellent blog would not have already years ago called out the term by now if it was racist since it has been used for about four years or more on this Blog.
Do you think we need an idiot who thinks he is trendy and politically correct to tell us something about racism. I have a suggestion for you: Start reading excellent nonfiction in history and the classics in fiction. Are you even literate?
the concern is that the lot slopes from one side to the other and that when developers like these start building they can play games with the grade from which the building is measured. By measuring from the high point of the property, they can get away with more building.
The problem here is that just as they were being chased out of office, Aronson & Co. passed laws allowing for these multi-unit, multi-family complexes to be built throughout Ridgewood. We are all struggling with the legacy of these laws. This site, for instance, could potentially add a few hundred cars, students, etc to our budget. It is only one of several sites already in the works. Undoubtedly other land speculators and profiteers are lining up to try and build more. Saurabh and others are doing their best to try and either prevent the monstrosity from moving forward or keep it as curtailed s possible.
You should go to the planning board meetings where these projects are being discussed. See if there is anything you can do to prevent the damage that is about to happen. First and foremost you can write your council people and the planning board members to use the means available to them to undo these monstrosities before they are built.
Reader explains, “Actually, its not a petition but a formal motion asking the planning board to take action and correct the problems caused by the prior planning board. Those problems included conflicts of interest by board members and dramatic mistakes in the planning board hearings. In short, it is apparent that the residents of Ridgewood were denied due process because of transgressions. The new planning board has the opportunity to make amends.
The motion is not “in support” of the RCRD’s lawsuit. That lawsuit is independent and it seeks to undo the Aronson ordinance allowing multi-family housing.
In any event, while the motion is not a petition, any interested party can join in the request to the Board by signing on to a copy of the motion paper.”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/last-minute-petition-circulating-to-stop-the-ridgewood-planning-boards-high-density-housing-review-process/
September 20,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Reader says , “You know when Keith Killion lost by just 6 votes to that dimwit Gwenn Hauck, he exited with great grace and dignity. These three who were unelectable in any possible was are going out with absolutely no grace and no dignity. They are all so pissed off that their three replacement candidates were trounced and that their garage to save the world was voted into oblivion. Sore losers hardly describes their behavior. They should take a lesson from Keith, and other very fine council people who left office, and be classy about it.”
Definition of sore loser
: a person who becomes very upset or angry when he or she loses a game, contest, etc.
I don’t remember Tony, Rurik, et al trashing Paul/Al/Gwenn during their tenure. Sore losers just throwing mud. And yes, Tony is petty because no one chose him to be part of ANOTHER team. If I remember correctly, he couldn’t play nice with the COC so he left to start the guild. Never thought that him as president of the guild would be a lifetime gig.
To be fair, PSEG has been a pain in the azz this summer. That said, Rurik is stirring the pot and is coming across as the latest village troll. TD is a triple sore loser with the garage being voted down, the 3 amigos no longer on the council and now, he can’t play “historian”. All very petty.
Fool us once…Let them just go away. They will never return despite them still hanging around? Chamber of Commerce etc. Sore Loserman ran and lost and they eventually went away. So will these 3. The new Council is awesome and out of the ordinary issues will be attributed to those 3….so we will overcome. They are already off to a great start repealing Pfundwood! Can we get rid of that Gyro Wall next? Tell the sidewalk Nazi he may be next after the wall fall…wasn’t he responsible for the $750,000 coin guy? People have to be held responsible. Thank you 1st amendment…
Aronsohn’s recent op ed piece in The Record and Pucciarelli’s letter to the editor in The Ridgewood News suggest that their plan is to lob hand grenades into the Knudsen administration’s agenda with the hopes of inflicting casualties of some sort. SORE LOSERS.
Clearly, he is the sorest of the sore losers. The two websites, his and Gwenn’s, are pitiful testaments to their longing for a return to power. Good riddance to bad rubbish, the both of them.
He is just an angry sore loser.He needs a hobby.
Clearly, the sore losers are now out in force trying their best to disrespect (got that Gwenn?) those who were able to successfully bring their 4 year reign of terror to an end.
What a bunch of sore losers. Where were all of you when the dirt bag mayor, nit wit Gwenn, fatso Roberta, and full of himself Albert thought nothing of calling Susan every derogatory name in the book? You’re a bunch of losers who just can’t let it go
August 7th 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and readers
Ridgewood NJ, Dogs are permitted at Habenickel. According to ordinance 212-29, dogs are only prohibited at Citizens Park, Graydon Park, Maple Park, Pleasant Park, Twinney Pond Park, Van Neste Park and Vets Field. Of course the RWD News had a photo of someone with a dog in Van Neste a week or two ago. And Aronsohn and Hauck had their dogs at Van Neste for some dog parade thing. So the rules are broken all the time. Was the kid badly hurt at Health Barn? Dog bite wounds can be very nasty. Dogs who bite are nasty.
You are correct that the dogs are permitted at Habernickel – but watch this how Paul, Roberta, Albert everyone laughed at a neighbor in front of over 100 residents and told her that she was breaking the law by walking her dog in that park.
Roberta flip-flops more than GW Bush. When the neighbor complaint that permitting kids in the passive area will affect her dog walking, they laughed at her because that suited them at that time to silence her. When HealthBarn wanted to install a dog feeding station for their marketing, Roberta allowed her, and they responded to a resident that “read the code, dogs are allowed”.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Editor, The Ridgewood Blog:
On July 20, 2016, The Ridgewood Blog posted a link to an Opinion Editorial written by former Ridgewood mayor Paul Aronsohn in which Mr. Aronsohn endorsed the construction of additional multi-family housing in Ridgewood, and also defended his active involvement in promoting the erection of a now contentious, multi-level parking garage at the intersection of Hudson and South Broad Streets in Ridgewood’s Central Business District.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Aronsohn’s editorial failed to include several key facts with regard to his tenure in office as they relate to multi-family housing and the proposed parking garage.
Firstly; public records available on line from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission reveal that in 2012, Mr. Aronsohn accepted an “in kind” campaign contribution from a local real estate developer, Mr. John Saraceno, whose firm (Onyx Equities, LLC) has applied to construct new, high density, multifamily housing in Ridgewood. Undoubtedly, Mr. Saraceno, will profit handsomely once construction is complete and all units in his building are rented.
Secondly, Mr. Saraceno’s firm owns a large commercial/retail establishment located within the very block as the parking garage Mr. Aronsohn and his supporters wanted to build (exact address is: 54 East Ridgewood Avenue). In my opinion, the value of Mr. Saraceno’s property would have increased substantially if a several hundred space parking garage had been constructed within the same block as his property.
Finally, if you think that all of this wasn’t enough to raise the eyebrows of Ridgewood’s voters this past Spring, may I remind you that on July 3, 2013, Mr. Aronsohn, along with four (4) members of Ridgewood’s Village Council, attended a $1,000-a- head campaign fundraiser for Governor Chris Christie with free tickets to the event provided to them by Mr. John Saraceno. This incident subsequently became the subject of a lead editorial in The Record on July 17, 2013.
https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/the-record-pay-to-go-1.564876
Personally, I’d had enough of Mr. Aronsohn many, many months ago, and the results of a local election held in May, in which all of the candidates supported by Mr. Aronsohn for election to Village Council lost heavily, suggest that the vast majority of Ridgewood’s voters who cast ballots agreed with me that it was time for a big change in local government.
Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood Resident
file photo by Boyd Loving
Sore Losers plotting a come back?
Aronsohn’s recent op ed piece in The Record and Pucciarelli’s letter to the editor in The Ridgewood News suggest that their plan is to lob hand grenades into the Knudsen administration’s agenda with the hopes of inflicting casualties of some sort. SORE LOSERS.
Fool us once…Let them just go away. They will never return despite them still hanging around? Chamber of Commerce etc. Sore Loserman ran and lost and they eventually went away. So will these 3. The new Council is awesome and out of the ordinary issues will be attributed to those 3….so we will overcome. They are already off to a great start repealing Pfundwood! Can we get rid of that Gyro Wall next? Tell the sidewalk Nazi he may be next after the wall fall…wasn’t he responsible for the $750,000 coin guy? People have to be held responsible. Thank you 1st amendment…
file photo by Boyd Loving
I don’t understand how supporters of the majority council don’t have a problem that these 3, plus Roberta lied to residents to get that November vote. That is telling and shameful- all residents whether you want a garage or not should have no tolerance for such trickery.
Telling residents nothing has been decided with respect to design when indeed, the design has been decided, and we are not disclosing that our chosen design is 12 feet in the street was wrong and horrible leadership. Contracts to begin specs for design A were signed on October 28th – before the vote!!! It was deceitful and despicable, with no accountability and cost taxpayers $120,000 in change orders.
I can understand and be sympathetic to mistakes but not deliberate and deceitful plotting and scheming to get what you want. The current design is still too big. It is 5 feet in the street and 60’10” tall…not 46′ that they keep saying -which is frickin ridiculous they don’t count the towers when discussing height. Mt. Carmel (FYI is 50′ tall) will be here a lot longer than any restaurant or business. The way these people have disrespected the church and ALL residents is shameful, and to defend that behavior or turn a blind eye because you want a garage….what? Why?
file photo by Boyd Loving
First, the referendum in the Fall was non binding. Second, the Council majority has apparently spent over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS on a design the may very well be voted down next week. And you gripe about $45K? For the past 4 years, these 3 individuals, emboldened by a 3/5 majority on the Council which they won by 8 votes, have acted as though they know what’s best for the rest of us and had a mandate to do whatever they wanted.
They have ignored, ridiculed and threatened anyone who has presented an opposing point of view. Having done this to as many of their constituents as they have, they are now dealing with the backlash. While the backlash has not been kind, it has been more than deserved.
The past 4 years should be presented as a civics course at Ridgewood High School. This is why you vote, this is what happens when you vote for the wrong people, this is what happens when elected officials misuse their authority, this is what happens when you get caught insulting your political adversaries anonymously on social media, this is what happens when the tax payers revolt and take back their government. This petition and special election are a perfect example of what the People are capable of when they band together. Vote NO on June 21.
Ridgewood NJ, This is the Hudson Street lot at 9:20 Friday morning. I do not know how many Village Council meetings I have attended at which members of the Chamber of Commerce stated that this lot is filled to capacity first thing in the morning every morning with commuters and restaurant workers. My crummy little camera does not show the scope of how empty the lot was. Please vote NO on June 21. We might (operative word is “might”) need a small increase in parking, but we certainly do not need the gigantic garage that Aronsohn, Roberta, Hauck and Pucciarelli are continuing to promote in the waning days of their time in “power.”
Reader says ,Without the blog there is political retribution. Several residents have been TARGETED with tickets, summonses, investigations, and more because they spoke out at meetings or on facebook. On the blog you can speak your piece without fear of retaliation from Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck-Sonenfeld. Of course they try like hell to guess who the anonymous posters are, but they are never sure. And of course the four of them post often, and we can always identify them.
Since so many have felt the sting of political retribution perhaps its time to share the pain ?
Reader says , “I’m boycotting our central business district over these stupid signs and the chamber of commerce.village is a mess and I refuse to support them any longer”
Since so many have been targeted ,some think its time to target back by Boycotting “Its Greek to Me” . While some readers think “Boycotting Its Greek to Me won’t do anyone any good. It won’t change the minds of people, it won’t stop Paul from living his everyday life. That is beyond childish. If you want to speak up and say something go to the village hall meetings, ask questions, get involved. And PLEASE make your OWN decisions. Stop listening to articles that don’t have the best interest for the reader nor the actual people involved.”
while others say, ” Boycotting the Greek place is easy for the simple reason that the food is certainly nothing to write home about, As for the rest of the CBD, more than 50% of the time it looks like it’s already being boycotted, so you probably won’t even see much of a difference if people did. But moving a few homeless folks into the garage should help with that issue.
Wake up, Ridgewood ! These clowns, just like those at Valley, are nothing more than opportunists trying to capitalize on fulfilling their business fantasies at the expense of an entire town. The very least one could do is get out there and vote against people who are going out of their way to wreck the great things Ridgewood has going for it.”
Others say “No boycotting just don’t go, period. Let the council know that you are not going to spend your money in a town where your concerns are not being addressed.The out of town people will have to subsidize the CBD.
No signs, no formal making a scene. Just stop going. And let the council know through e-mails why and how you feel.
Money always talks.”
