Paramus NJ, A late Thursday afternoon, 06/15, fire in a computer server room at Bergen Community College’s Paramus campus forced the temporary evacuation of a building and warranted the response of Borough of Paramus and County of Bergen HazMat teams due to the activation of a fm200 chemical agent fire suppression system. A Paramus EMS ambulance crew was called to stand by at the fire scene, but was shortly released by fire department supervisors after it was determined that no one was injured when the suppression system activated. Damage was reported to at least one (1) computer server. Bergen County Sheriff’s officers were also observed at the scene. Paramus FD and Rescue Squad personnel were active within the fire building.
Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration, Inc. P.O. Box 140 Ridgewood, NJ 07451
June 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, 2017 Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration Launches 50/50 Raffle to Fundraise for its 107th Annual Celebration –
Grand Prize winner will have a chance to win up to $25,000 Ridgewood, NJ – June 14, 2017 – The Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration Committee today announced the launch of a 50/50 raffle to help fundraise for its 2017 celebration. The Committee will sell tickets at various community events now through July 3, 2017.
Tickets are $100 dollars each, with a maximum of 600 tickets sold. If the maximum number of tickets is sold, the Grand Prize winner will receive $25,000 dollars. There will also be ten $500 prize winners. Winners will be announced at 8:30PM on July 4th, prior to the fireworks display at Veteran’s Field. Visit www.ridgewoodjuly4th.com or contact 201-602-1922 for information on where to purchase tickets.
“We are grateful to have generous and committed sponsors, but we always look for new, fun ways to encourage the community to help Support the Tradition,” said Leigh Gilsenan, president of the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration Committee. “Few people realize this is an all-volunteer, community funded event that receives no direct funding from the village – and costs increase every year.”
The 2017 theme for the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration is “Honoring Those Who Serve.” The parade will be held, rain or shine, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. The day’s full festivities include:
• Flag Raising: 9:00AM Wilsey Square (Ridgewood train station parking lot) Short program followed by traditional flag raising: Although the parade and firework portions of the day have on occasion been cancelled, the flag raising has occurred without interruption since the start of the committee in 1910. • Parade: Beings at 10:00AM (rain or shine) Parade runs along Godwin Ave and onto Ridgewood Ave through downtown, turning right on Maple Ave past the grand stand at Village Hall and ends at Leuning Park Follow the line of chairs set up by residents securing their spot. Don’t miss the competitive elementary school float competition and the Grand Marshal for this year, Bob Paoli, American Legion Post 53 Commander.
• Evening Entertainment and Fireworks: Gates open at 6:00PM Veterans Field (on the corner of Maple Ave and Linwood) The field is the ideal place to see the fireworks, which have been named the best in Bergen County by 201 Magazine for 11 years running. Bands and food/beverage vendors keep you entertained until dusk. Tickets are sold in advance at various local stores for $10, tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children 6-12 at the gate. Children five years and under are admitted for free. NEW this year –tickets available for sale online. Check the website for more details, rules and regulations.
About the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration
The Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration is organized by the Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration, Inc., an all-volunteer, non-profit community group. All aspects of this annual celebration including fireworks, bands, evening performers, insurance, police and fire personnel are funded by voluntary contributions from local businesses and individuals. The Committee continues to require the generous donations from the community to keep the tradition alive. The Ridgewood tradition began in 1910 when the local papers, the civic section of the Woman’s Club and the Ridgewood Fire Department joined forces to create a “safe and sane” holiday with an emphasis on Patriotism.
Wyckoff NJ, Ambulances and police vehicles line the street in front a Carriage Lane, Wyckoff single family home on Thursday afternoon, 06/15 after responding to a report of a man in his early 90’s who was found unresponsive in a backyard swimming pool. Unconfirmed reports are that the victim was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital in critical condition.
Philadelphia PA, Philadelphia is redefining the LGBT pride flag.The city has a launched a new campaign, “More Color More Pride,” adding one black and one brown stripe to the traditional six colored rainbow. The new design will be, from top to bottom: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
“The black and brown stripes are an inclusionary way to highlight black and brown LGBTQIA members within our community,” said one source involved with the flag-raising event who asked not to be named. “With all of the black and brown activism that’s worked to address racism in the Gayborhood over the past year, I think the new flag is a great step for the city to show the world that they’re working toward fully supporting all members of our community.”
A spokesperson for the event would not confirm the new design, but in a statement described the flag reveal as “a special, can’t-be-missed unveiling and raising of a brand-new Pride flag which promises to be a step toward inclusivity, to spur dialogue within the community, and to impact the worldwide conversation.”
Lookin for input from the LGBTQ Black and Brown community. Will be inttoduced at Philly Pride this year.In 1978, artist Gilbert Baker designed the original rainbow flag. An iconic symbol of LGBTQ+ unity. So much has happened since then. A lot of good, but there’s more we can do. Especially when it comes to recognizing people of color in the LGBTQ+ community. To fuel this important conversation, we’ve expanded the colors of the flag to include black and brown. It may seem like a small step. But together we can make big strides toward a truly inclusive community. (Black Lives Matter Hudson Valley)
James Devine, a well known New Jersey Democrat operative and local newspaper publisher from Union County, responded to the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise and three others yesterday by creating the hashtag #HuntRepublicans and #HuntRepublicanCongressmenon his social media accounts. Devine declared that Democrats are “in a war” with Republicans.
James M. O’Neill , Staff Writer, @JamesMONeill15:54 p.m. ET June 14, 2017
As peak gardening season lures North Jersey homeowners to landscape supply centers, they buy and cart home many shrubs and trees that — just over the state line in New York — are prohibited in suburban yards.
Many Northeast states have cracked down on the sale of non-native plant species because they out-compete and suffocate native plant species that birds, butterflies and other insects rely on for food. Some environmentalists describe these invasive non-natives as if they were thugs marauding through area forests.
Washington DC, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement today about the seven bills the committee is considering related to the National Flood Insurance Program:
There are so many important voices in our debate today on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. Certainly the homeowners who have relied on this program — theirs is a very important voice because we go to their homes and we go to their household finances. Theirs is a very important voice. Homebuilders, they have an important voice. Insurance agents and companies, local communities — these are all important voices in this debate.
But as far as I’m concerned, perhaps the single-most important voice is the voice that remains underrepresented in the debate and that is the voice of the American taxpayer. The American taxpayer who has been called upon in the past to bail out a program that is currently drowning in $26 billion of red ink and suffers a $1.4 billion annual actuarial deficit.
Maybe that’s why I heard from Kathy in Garland, Texas in my district who wrote: “It’s just another reason the average person in this country is going under financially. Far too many programs are being funded by the average American but very few receive any benefits from what they are funding.”
In talking about the program, Steven of Larue in my district said: “This is just another instance of the federal government wasting the taxpayer dollars over and over and over again on the same problems. People that choose to live in flood-prone areas after receiving one payment benefit should be removed from the entirety of the program.”
Just two taxpayer comments. So again, we know for a fact the program is in debt. We know for a fact the program is running an actual annual deficit. So it begs the question: Should there be a permanent taxpayer subsidy? I say no. It cannot be, not when I’m sitting here looking at a national debt clock that continues to run out of control before us, which I continue to believe is a far under-appreciated clear and present danger to our republic. Part of those numbers spinning out of control represent the National Flood Insurance Program.
I don’t know if America will ever become a bankrupt society, but I know the face of bankruptcy is an ugly one. In Detroit, when it became bankrupt, thousands of street lights couldn’t afford to be replaced and ambulances did not run. Municipal retiree health care benefits were cut immediately. In Puerto Rico, hospitals had to lay off workers, ration medication, reduce services. In Greece, from 2008 to 2013 they became 40 percent poorer. Homelessness increased 25 percent in four years.
I don’t think America would ever become Puerto Rico, Detroit or Greece, but I don’t know, and it’s not something in good conscience I can ignore.
So I believe we need a National Flood Insurance Program that will make the program fiscally sustainable. I do believe that people should gradually – gradually – be expected to pay actuarial rates. They need predictability. We need to protect them from sticker shock, but the program must be made sustainable.
I believe market competition is important and we have heard evidence that in many places where there has been even limited market competition we have actually seen premiums decreased. And the industry is poised to come in. It’s a very different world today than it was half a century ago when this program was launched. Better risk assessment tools, better financing mechanisms to spread the risk globally. And so this is a bill that, perhaps, it would take as long as 15 years to fully phase in some actuarial rates. We’re talking today about bills that, if enacted, would increase premiums about $2 a month to put this on the road toward actuarial soundness where all will be protected, no one will be denied a policy, all will benefit from competition and the NFIP will be sustainable and the national debt clock will spin a little less rapidly.
With other important reforms of mapping, mitigation, claims processing protections and reforms, I commend all of the authors of the legislation that we will be marking up today and I look forward to the markup.
“I’m happy Ridgewood chose to fly the flag, but the basis of your article was not about the flag or why it is so important to so many, and how it might be a teaching opportunity about equality, fairness and just ‘not being an asshole’ tearing down another to raise yourself up. The point of your article appears to be that Ridgewood is great and Glen Rock is not. Kind of an asshole article, tearing down one town that has no dog in the Ridgewood debate, to attempt to elevate Ridgewood.”
Unfortunately there were a lot of ugly politics at play. The pride flag was being used as an attempt to undermine the Village of Ridgewood’s Mayor Susan Knudsen and several sitting council members. A group looking to put the previous council back in place used the pride flag to pressure the Ridgewood Village council by saying, look how great Glen Rock is ,they are wonderful and you are just a bunch of ignorant bigots .
The net result is many in Ridgewood felt they were being disparaged and it led to back lash which you see in that article . It is really not aimed at Glen Rock but at Alfred Doublin of the Bergen Record , Village Councilmen Jeff Voigt and members of CRAB , Jan Phillips as well as the former Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn . The unfortunate side effect or unintended consequence is an attack on Glen Rock and for that the Ridgewood blog would like to offer an apology to the Borough of Glen Rock and the Residents of Glen Rock. We did not in anyway mean to impune our neighbors ,who where simply caught in local Village political crossfire. Do not blame the Village , as editor and staff we should have made this far clearer in the article .
Ridgewood NJ, An ordinance regulating tree removals on private property was unanimously passed by Village Council members on 6/14. A permit will now be required to remove any tree larger than 8 inches in diameter. Any healthy tree removed must be replaced, or a payment made in lieu of replacement. Key provisions of the new ordinance are outlined below.
Chapter 260, Section 260-4, Cutting or Removal of a Tree No person, property owner, hired firm, or other entity shall cause to be cut or removed any existing tree, with a diameter at breast height (DBH) greater than 8- inches, upon any lands within the Village of Ridgewood, without a permit. Any such cutting or removal of a tree or trees, with a DBH greater than 8-inches, shall only be permitted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Exemptions to these requirements are set forth in Chapter 260-8.
Chapter 260, Section 260-7, “Permit Requirements for Tree Removal” Any Qualified Tree desired to be removed, with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of greater than 8-inches, in the Village of Ridgewood, shall require a permit issued by the Division of Engineering of the Department of Public Works, unless said tree meets the criteria for exemption from permit requirements in Chapter 260-8. No tree over 8-inches DBH shall be cut or otherwise removed from any lands in the Village without a tree removal permit, with the exception of those meeting the conditions of the exemptions as set forth in Chapter 260, Section 4 and 7. All such trees shall be referred to as Qualified Trees. All applications to the Village of Ridgewood Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Building Department, or Engineering Division that require, as part of the proposed work, the removal of any Qualified Trees, as defined in this Chapter, unless otherwise exempt pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, shall submit an application for a tree removal and protection permit. All applications for a tree removal and protection permits, whether in conjunction with a major or minor subdivision application, major or minor site plan application, or other development of property improvement action, shall be made to the Engineering Division of the Department of Public Works for review and subsequent action. The Engineering Division shall coordinate all applications with the appropriate land use board, the Village’s Shade Commission, and the Village Arborist.
Chapter 260, Section 260-8, “Exemptions from Permit Requirements” The following tree conditions shall be exempt from the provisions of this Chapter. If a tree is deemed exempt, its removal shall not require a replacement tree. B. Removal of any tree or trees which are dead, dying, or obviously diseased, as determined by a Qualified Tree Expert for those on private property or the Village’s Arborist if the tree is within the public right-of-way of any street or road, or public property, in the Village. Trees that have suffered damage, trees whose growth has been compromised, or are a danger or hazard to structures and human life as confirmed by a Qualified Tree Expert or the Village Arborist shall be permitted to be removed without the need to obtain a permit. A replacement tree shall not be required for such trees under the provisions of this Chapter.
Ridgewood NJ, Dog licenses are renewed during the month of June. One and three year licenses are available starting June 1st with a valid rabies certificate.
For 1 year licenses: Rabies Certificate that expires no earlier than May 1st of the following year.
For 3 year licenses: Rabies Certificate that expires no earlier than May 1st of the third year. (Example: a 3 year license purchased in June of 2012 will need a rabies certificate valid through May 1, 2015)
Beginning in the 2013 licensing year, renewal reminders will be sent via email. An application will be available on the website or in person at the health department. Renewal applications will be mailed upon request by calling 201 670-5500 ext 503. A Late Fee of $20.00 per dog will be assessed after June 30th.
It is the dog owner’s responsibility to renew the dog license when it expires. It is also the dog owner’s responsibility to maintain their pet with a valid rabies vaccination. The health department sends out reminders as a courtesy and to inform residents of our free rabies clinic.
Ridgewood NJ, Ellie Gruber thanked the current council for finally stepping up on the Schedler Property after years of neglect by previous Village councils. Gruber silenced critics on the Historic Preservation Grant Application and Restoration of Zabriskie-Schedler House as well as Schedler Park Property by pointing out that past neglect has only increased the cost to the current renovations and that costs are expected around the $400 thousand mark , the historical grant will pay for 1/2 of all the repairs .
Many residents from the east side spoke on the value of preserving local history and creating a community center . The Zabriskie Schedler House (circa 1825) is one of the last wood framed house from that time period . Preservation will further enhance the Village’s cultural assets.
On August 2012 ,three Bergen County Freeholders came to see the Zabriskie-Schedler house . Freeholders Mitchell, DeNicola and Hermanson wanted to learn about the history of the house and property and offered to help us save the house.
In October of 2012 “Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh favored preserving the house on the property and said the proposal needs to incorporate more than walking paths to cover the passive recreation component. Mayor Paul Aronsohn looked to Habernickel Park and said the process to complete that park should be used as a model.”
At the time as a result of these meetings held on the Schedler property, the Open Space Committee made a presentation to the Mayor & Council that will set the stage for the future design of one of the last open spaces in the Village.
Many who attended the three meetings and voiced their opinions. Some of you talked about safety, the importance of “true” open spaces, balance between sports facilities and park-like settings. Most importantly, nobody spoke against the demolition of the Zabriskie-Schedler house, the 1820’s Dutch wood frame farm house that greets all of us who exit Route 17 and enter West Saddle River Road. The demolition of this home should be prevented because it is one of the last remaining wood structures connected to our past.
At the time a group was interested in using the house. Such group, the Bergen Museum of Art & Science is proposing to house some of its antique collections in the Zabriskie-Schedler House.
However the council majority at the time took a different direction focusing on the clear cutting the park and building a 90 foot baseball diamond , but a new broom sweeps clean and at the RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE COUNCIL SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AND PUBLIC WORKSHOP SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING. MAY 24, 2017
17-56 Award Professional Services Contract – Professional Historic Architectural Consultant – Zabriskie-Schedler House Stabilization Project (Phase I)(NTE $50,000) –
This resolution authorizes the hiring of Connolly & Hickey Historical Architects to document the current conditions of the site, restore and stabilize roof, prepare and present nomination to New Jersey and National Register Nomination, and provide assistance for preparation of 2017 Bergen County HPTF Application.
Ridgewood NJ, the Village Council recognized the Ridgewood Art Ambassadors, Audrey Fink and Rosey Mccoe.
3rd grader Emilia Kelly and Madison Lenard a graduating senior was recognized ,for her work with the augmented reality virtual gallery.
photo courtesy of Ridgewood Arts Council
The mission of the Ridgewood Arts Council is to promote and support the vital part all arts play in enriching our lives, and the lives of our children and community.The Emerging Artist Gallery is still up along Ridgewood Ave. There are 51 pieces of art. Download the Wallame App and discover our virtual gallery.
Let us call out the rainbow flag wavers for what they are – racists.
No I am not kidding. And this is not a conservative accusation. PROGRESSIVES are calling the rainbow flag racist because it excludes minority LGBTs.
Philly has now added a brown and a black stripe to make the flag inclusive (see link below).
So let us call out those flying a rainbow flag sans black and brown stripes in a white town like Ridgewood for what they are – racists.
I sense a huge opportunity for 4 members of the council to seize the initiative, call out the flag bearers for their bigotry and install an inclusive version of the flag.
This entire debate is silly. I agree with previous posts that this Road has been in use for several decades with minimal issues. Traffic on this road is mostly local, and the hill is obviously used by those who are comfortable with it. Folks who get nervous about traversing lanes of normal width ought not to — and as a matter of practice don’t — use the hill. As far as I can tell, the “safety” issues all arise out a few anomalies where drivers of large trucks/buses have managed to get up/down the road without noticing the traffic signs. As with many other roads in the village, this is simply a matter of poor — or entirely missing — signage. Simply install PROPER and VISIBLE signs (“LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY”, “NO BUSES”, “NO TRUCKS”) and this will be quickly resolved. Turning the road into a one-way street is intellectually lazy and doesn’t address any of the true underlying concerns.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood high school is flying the LGBTQ community’s gay pride flag for the month of June, raising it in a short ceremony to signify and spread a message of acceptance for all.
Tyler Clementi , a gay student at Rutgers who came to a tragic demise was an alumnus of Ridgewood High School.
The rainbow or Pride flag will fly above Ridgewood High School for the rest of June . June is LGBTQ Pride Month. Students, teachers and residents were on hand to witness the flag raising ceremony June 1.
The staff went by Ridgewood High School on Wednesday and unfortunately it was no where to be found.
According to several sources Ridgewood High School is the first high school in Bergen County to display the flag.
