Month: February 2013

Reader says we simply cant afford the current Village compensation/benefit structure

2012 Census data shows that state and local workers cost employers over 50% more (in dollar terms) per hour than non-union private sector workers and almost 8% more than private sector union employees. Further, state and local workers’ “retirement expenses” cost employers over 300% more than non-union private sector employees and almost 26% more than private sector union employees.

https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0655.pdf

A Ridgewood employee, who retires at 55 today is expected to live at least 26 years after retirement. Thus, if this employee receives a $100K annual pension, the retiree can be expected to receive $2.6mm in pension payments, excluding any pension benefits received by his or her spouse beyond his or her death. This is more than 90% of Americans will earn in their entire working lives. In fact, many of Ridgewood’s police officers are among the 5% of highest wage Earnes in the US. One does not have to perform these jobs to know that there is something wrong with this.

https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0105.pdf

Nor does One does not have to have performed a job to understand that when the average Ridgewood police or fire officer receives dramatically more than their peers in NJ and that more than a few of them receive 100% more than the average, they are over-paid.

More importantly, we can’t afford the current compensation/benefit structure for our police and fire contracts. The idea of increasing the number of employees under the current contracts is ludicrous.

There are a number of variables that contribute to whether a pension fund is fully funded or under-funded. The contributions are only one element and the meager contributions by employees is not compelling. A more important variable is the performance of the investments in the fund, which have underperformed for some time, creating a massively greater under-funded condition than you suggest.

NJ Transit Authority Should Bring Us E-Tickets, Not More Paper

Andrea Smith2 days ago

Mashable OP-ED

To expand its fare payment technology, New Jersey Transit will now give you paper dollar bills in some of those vending machines that sell paper tickets. Yes, they’re finally moving away from using $1 coins (which no one wants as a form of change anyway). But here’s a thought: Why not bypass the change and the paper tickets altogether and move to e-tickets?

I take NJ Transit trains to commute into New York City every day. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve likely read my grumblings about how insane it is for conductors to make their way through cars — filled with people standing shoulder to shoulder — taking and punching holes in paper tickets.

Last week I needed to purchase one of those paper tickets as a “step-up” to my monthly rail pass. I asked the conductor for a ticket and he told me he was out of paper tickets and couldn’t sell me one. Out of tickets!

https://mashable.com/2013/02/15/nj-transit-should-move-to-e-tickets/

NJ Transit didn’t pay for Super Bowl tickets
Agency defends sending 4 employees as planning for Super Bowl XLVIII
Feb 16, 2013

NEWARK — NJ Transit defended spending $14,505 to send four employees to the recent Super Bowl in New Orleans, saying they were there to learn in preparation for Super Bowl XLVIII and that the agency did not pay for game tickets.

The news that NJ Transit paid to send the four employees, two from its police department and two from rail operations was first reported by the Record of Bergen County. A Middlesex County lawmaker criticized the agency for exhibiting “poor judgment” for sending employees on the trip while it still is recovering from superstorm Sandy.

An Oct. 25 NJ Transit memo said that the governor’s office signed off on the request to travel to New Orleans from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4 “to observe Super Bowl transportation, security, stadium and event operations in preparation for Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife stadium.”

NJ Transit has also “been in discussion” with officials in Dallas and Indianapolis, which have hosted past Super Bowls “to learn from their experience” said agency spokesman John Durso Jr.

“NJ Transit did not cover the cost of any tickets to the Super Bowl,” Durso said. “This was a trip designed for employees to learn and bring back best lessons in public transportation and safety planning.”

https://www.app.com/article/20130216/NJNEWS10/302160025/NJ-Transit-didn-t-pay-Super-Bowl-tickets

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisas-Mediterranean-Cuisine/224704114209433

Starters: Lisa’s Mediterranean Cuisine in Ridgewood
Monday, February 4, 2013    Last updated: Monday February 4, 2013, 2:53 PM
BY  JOYCE VENEZIA SUSS
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

After seven years doing business as Lisa’s Turkish Kitchen on Chestnut Street in Ridgewood, Lisa Mayisoglu closed that location in July and reopened in December on Oak Street with a new name: Lisa’s Mediterranean Cuisine.

The days of belly dancing events are over (although Mayisoglu will provide them for private events if requested), with a new focus on an expanded menu and making her customers feel like they are in her own home.

A new pizza oven added to the kitchen lets Mayisoglu bake Turkish breads daily. She has several new dishes on the menu, including beef kebabs to supplement the many lamb and chicken specialties.

https://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/189610221_Starters__Lisa_s_Mediterranean_Kitchen_in_Ridgewood.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joels-Malibu-Kitchen/265140926835462

The sequel to Joel’s Malibu Kitchen
Sunday, February 17, 2013
By ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT REVIEWER

Joel Scheinzeit, the former owner of Joel’s Malibu Kitchen in Ridgewood, talks with Carol Bishop of Saddle River as he teaches a Valentine’s Day cooking class.

Joel Scheinzeit has discovered that there is life after restaurants.

That there is life after his restaurant, the spirited Joel’s Malibu Kitchen in Ridgewood. Exhausted and wrung-out, he closed it in 2008 after almost 13 years.

“I’ve lived with this impression that you have to kill yourself in order to survive,” he says. “And being a chef and working in the restaurant business, that’s the norm. If you’re not working and not killing yourself, then you’re not going to last.

“But I don’t want to live with that philosophy anymore. Now I want something different.”

We are lunching at a familiar address, 14 Oak St. in downtown Ridgewood, where all hints of the Malibu Kitchen’s purple-splashed hippie decor (and its basement drum set) are long gone, replaced by an elegant panini cafe.

“Do I seem different?” Scheinzeit asks.

https://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/191574491_The_sequel_to_Joel_s_Malibu_Kitchen.html

Networking event file photo

Young Professionals Networking in Ridgewood
Thu, February 21, 2013
Time: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Pompanoosc Mills – furniture store*, 257 E. Ridgewood Avenue

RYPE – Ridgewood Young Professionals Exchange

Want to create new business realtionships with Young Professionals?

RYPE is offering a 40 and under networking sub- chapter of Chamber Networking..this will give younger individuals an opportunity to get involved with like-minded professionals and to help create business for you!

Details to follow asap –

*Pompanoosu Mills offers a relaxed atmosphere for meeting and greeting.
For more details call – 201-445-2600.

Open Houses Sunday February 17
February 15, 2013 By Michael Shetler Leave a Comment

Open Houses
Open Houses in Ridgewood, NJ
Starts: 02/17/2013 01:00 pm
Duration: 3 hours:
Ridgewood, NJ
07450

Michael Shetler is a local resident and NJAR Circle of Excellence recipient (2009, 2011) who is happy to serve you in this area. For more information about any of these local homes for sale please call Michael at 201.421.0506 cell or 201.445.4300 office.

Address     List Price     Bedrooms     List Broker
1     610 ROBERT ST     $450,000     4     WEICHERT REALTORS RIDGEWOOD
2     490 VAN EMBURGH AVE     $549,000     3     WEICHERT REALTORS RIDGEWOOD
3     21 E GLEN AVE     $565,000     3     COLDWELL BANKER, RIDGEWOOD
4     557 LYNN ST     $567,000     3     COLDWELL BANKER, RIDGEWOOD
5     440 NORTHERN PKWY     $589,500     4     RE/MAX PROPERTIES-SADDLE RIVER
6     669 ARCADIA RD     $639,900     4     VENTURE VR REALTORS
7     42 ETHELBERT PL     $749,000     4     TERRIE O’CONNOR REALTORS/RIDGEWOOD
8     186 MCKINLEY PL     $789,000     3     TARVIN REALTORS
9     175 MELROSE PL     $885,000     5     TARVIN REALTORS
10     252 MIDVALE ST     $899,000     4     COLDWELL BANKER, RIDGEWOOD
11     252 LINCOLN AVE     $929,000     4     COLDWELL BANKER, RIDGEWOOD
12     429 MEADOWBROOK AVE     $1,135,000     4     TARVIN REALTORS
13     330 BEDFORD RD     $2,399,000     5     KELLER WILLIAMS VILLAGE SQUARE REALTY
14     175 MELROSE PL     $5,250     5     TARVIN REALTORS

For Glen Rock open houses visit Glen-Rock.com.

https://ridgewood-nj-real-estate.com/open-houses-sunday-february-17/

Valley Hospital to offer new plan for expansion with dismissal of suit
Saturday, February 16, 2013    Last updated: Saturday February 16, 2013, 11:36 PM
BY  MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Hearings on new plans to expand The Valley Hospital are expected to start next month, now that a lawsuit filed by a citizens’ group against the hospital and the Ridgewood Planning Board has been settled.

Hospital officials are expected to appear before the Planning Board beginning March 11 with a new design for the 451-bed facility — likely a scaled-down version of the $750 million Renewal plan under which Valley would have doubled in size.

That proposal had sharply divided the community for years, played a major role in municipal elections and even resulted in Ridgewood police calling for backup from several other towns during a heated meeting that left hundreds of residents shouting outside a packed middle school auditorium.

Hospital officials had said the expansion was critical to its staying competitive, and opponents of the expansion had said its size would seriously harm the quality of life in the residential neighborhood.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn was hopeful that the sides could find common ground with a new start. “My hope and expectation is that everyone involved learned lessons from the last go-around,” he said Saturday.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Plans_for_Valley_Hospital_coming_back_to_board.html