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Posted on April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 by James — 9 Comments

Is American Retail at a Historic Tipping Point?

Is American Retail at a Historic Tipping Point?

By MICHAEL CORKERY

APRIL 15, 2017

Along the cobblestone streets of SoHo, Chanel handbags and Arc’teryx jackets are displayed in shops like museum pieces, harking back to the height of the neighborhood’s trendiness. But rents there are softening, and the number of vacant storefronts is rising.

Today, some of the most sought-after real estate by retailers is not in SoHo, but five miles away in Red Hook, a gritty Brooklyn enclave with a shipbuilding past. E-commerce merchants are vying to lease part of a huge warehouse space, spanning 11 acres, that would allow them to deliver goods the same day they’re ordered online.

The profound reordering of New York’s shopping scene reflects a broad restructuring in the American retail industry.

E-commerce players, led by the industry giant Amazon, have made it so easy and fast for people to shop online that traditional retailers, shackled by fading real estate and a culture of selling in stores, are struggling to compete. This shift has been building gradually for years. But economists, retail workers and real estate investors say it appears that it has sped up in recent months.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/business/retail-industry.html?referer=https://www.bing.com/search?q=historic%20tipping%20point%20retail%20ny%20times&form=MB10782&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US

Posted on April 18, 2017January 21, 2019 by James — 4 Comments

Brush fire at the Ramapo County Reservation

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

April 18,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Mahwah NJ, A Monday afternoon, 04/17, brush fire at the Ramapo County Reservation on Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah required the services of mini pumpers and fire personnel from Mahwah, Ramsey, Hillburn NY, and the NJDEP’s Forest Fire Service. Mahwah EMS and PD also responded to the incident. Hiking trails throughout the Reservation’s “upper area” were closed as crews fought the smokey blaze. A Forest Fire Service helicopter was also called in to assist in the fire suppression efforts.

Posted on April 18, 2017January 21, 2019 by James — 11 Comments

Rutherford, Ridgewood awarded Safe Routes grants

Meghan Grant , Staff Writer5:51 p.m. ET April 17, 2017

Rutherford will receive $368,000 and Ridgewood $400,000 in funding intended to make bicycling and walking to school safer for local children. The Department of Transportation announced its Safe Routes to School grant recipients last week.

Intended to encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school as a transportation alternative, the grants program facilitates the planning, development and implementation of projects that improve safety, reduce traffic and improve air quality through decreased fuel consumption around schools.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/rutherford/2017/04/17/rutherford-ridgewood-awarded-safe-routes-grants/100342234/

Posted on April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 by James — 1 Comment

Ridgewood Scores 24th for NJ High School best SAT scores

The 51 N.J. high schools with the best SAT scores

Updated April 18, 2017
Posted April 18, 2017

By Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TRENTON — The average SAT score among New Jersey’s public high schools was a 1,075 out of 1,600 last school year, but plenty of schools posted significantly more impressive scores.

Statewide, 19 high schools achieved an average score higher than 1,300, including five with an average score above 1,400, according to state data.

Specialized schools with selective enrollment and run by county vocational districts once again dominate the list of highest average scores, taking home the top 12 spots.

Here are the 51 New Jersey high schools with the highest SAT scores. The list begins with number 49 because of a three-way tie.

24. Ridgewood High School: 1,262

Location: Ridgewood, Bergen County

Reading score: 628

Math score: 634

42. Glen Rock High School: 1,210 (tie)

Location: Glen Rock, Bergen County

Reading score: 604

Math score: 606

https://www.nj.com/education/2017/04/nj_best_sat_test_scores_2016_high_schools.html?ath=9c46bfc08d76232bb5a5e00eeaf0bfa2#cmpid=nsltr_stryheadline

Posted on April 18, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 3 Comments

Access Link ADA Van involved in Pedestrian Incident in Ridgewood

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

April 18,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD, FD, and EMS personnel responded to aid an adult female who was struck by a motor vehicle at the intersection of East Ridgewood and South Maple Avenues, Ridgewood on the afternoon of Monday, 04/17. The victim was alert and ambulatory after being struck, but was nevertheless transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital. The vehicle involved in the incident was an Access Link ADA paratransit van owned & operated by NJ Transit.

Posted on April 18, 2017April 18, 2017 by James — 19 Comments

DUMP TRUCK LOADS OF SNOW DUMPED AT SCHEDLER PARK

photos by Boyd Loving

April 18,2017

by Boyd Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Employees of the Village of Ridgewood’s Streets Division transferred several dump truck loads of snow from the “North Graydon” parking lot to the Schedler Park property on Monday morning, 04/17.

The snow, removed from streets and parking lots in Ridgewood’s Central Business District and trucked to the “North Graydon” parking lot several weeks ago, is presumed to contain rock salt and other chemicals likely to be found on the surface of streets and parking lots.

Trash (e.g., plastic bottles and newspapers) was visible to several people walking along West Saddle River Road near adjacent to the Schedler property.

In an e-mail response to a resident who inquired as to why the snow was transported from Graydon to Schedler, Village Manager Heather A. Mailander wrote: “The Village had to move the snow from the Graydon Pool parking lot to another location, due to the fact that the paving contractors, who have begun their work, need a place to stage their operations and are now doing so in the Graydon Pool parking lot.”

Posted on April 18, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 3 Comments

Retiring in New Jersey? Good luck

By Dino Flammia April 17, 2017 2:51 AM

New Jersey residents who are on their way to retirement, or are already enjoying their golden years, would be better off in 37 other states.

According to a recently released analysis from Bankrate, New Jersey is the 13th-worst state in which to retire.

“The cost of living … is very high,” Bankrate data analyst Claes Bell said of New Jersey. “High taxes in the state of New Jersey were another issue.”

New Jersey’s cost of living ranked fifth-worst among the 50 states. Only two states — Connecticut and New York — registered a higher tax burden

Read More: Retiring in New Jersey? Good luck | https://nj1015.com/retiring-in-new-jersey-good-luck/?trackback=tsmclip

Posted on April 18, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 14 Comments

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll Shows Trump at 50% Approval Rating

Monday, April 18, 2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in the most recent Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 50% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.

This is the first time the president’s overall approval rating has been back in the 50s in nearly a month. Just after his inauguration, Trump’s job approval peaked at 59% and remained in the 50s every day until early March. It’s gone as low as 42% since then.

The latest figures for Trump include 30% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 39% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9.

Posted on April 17, 2017January 20, 2019 by James — Leave a comment

NJ lawmaker thinks towering wood-frame buildings are too dangerous

By Joe Cutter April 17, 2017 3:00 AM

Smoke rises from an Edgewater, NJ apartment complex Jan. 22 as firefighters battle a fast-spreading blaze. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Legislation to improve fire protection and safety in multi-family dwellings has been rolled out by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.

It was prompted by a massive blaze at a multi-family luxury apartment complex in Edgewater in 2015 that displaced over 500 residents. The fast-moving blaze spread through sealed spaces in the building that didn’t have sprinklers.

Prieto wants to require fire suppression in those spaces.

“I think it will add minimal cost and that way it will still be able to be built.”

There are three main provisions in his two-bill package of legislation, which is co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez, Assemblyman Tim Eustace and Assemblyman Joe Lagana.

Read More: NJ lawmaker thinks towering wood-frame buildings are too dangerous | https://nj1015.com/nj-lawmaker-thinks-towering-wood-frame-buildings-are-too-dangerous/?trackback=tsmclip

Posted on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 3 Comments

OPINION: WHY I SUPPORT BETSY DEVOS

Betsy DeVos as Secretary of the Department of Education

DICK ZIMMER | APRIL 17, 2017

The issue is school choice. The opposition is the teachers unions

Shortly after Betsy DeVos was sworn into office as U.S. Secretary of Education, I was invited, as a trustee of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), to meet with her at the Department of Education. I accepted the invitation with pleasure.

When I posted a picture of myself with DeVos on Facebook, it got some likes from conservative friends and some acerbic comments from others, including my sister, who asked me, “When did you start drinking the Kook-Aid?” I replied to her that I’ve supported school choice for decades and was the only member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation to vote for the first school-choice floor amendment in 1994.

Dick Zimmer and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos

I am a product of New Jersey public schools, K–12, as are my parents and my children, but ever since I read Milton Friedman’s proposal for school vouchers in “Capitalism and Freedom” as a college freshman, I have been convinced that parents should be allowed to have the government pay for the school they choose for their children, whether it be traditional public, public charter, private, or religious.

There is no reason why all parents shouldn’t be given this choice, but the stakes are particularly high for the poorest families in the inner cities, including those in New Jersey where, despite tens of billions of dollars of supplemental state funding, traditional public schools have abjectly failed to prepare several generations of children for college or a career.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/04/16/opinion-why-i-support-betsy-devos/

Posted on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 1 Comment

Opposing immigration wasn’t always racist

Opposing immigration wasn’t always racist

By Peter Skerry APRIL 16, 2017

T oday, the battle lines over immigration policy are sharply defined. In the last two years, Donald Trump’s rise has drawn attention to the Republican Party’s lurch toward the right. Opposition to current levels of immigration, illegal and otherwise, has taken on a tone that is stridently populist, even reactionary.

Meanwhile on the left, big-city mayors and blue-state legislatures are declaring sanctuaries for undocumented residents. Democrats have criticized not just Trump’s limitations on refugees, travelers from Muslim countries, and H-1B visas, but also his stepped-up enforcement of existing immigration laws. While liberals and progressives have stopped short of endorsing open borders, they’ve come to treat opposition to illegal immigration and constraints on illegal immigration as unacceptable, even racist.

In academia and the media, Trumpism is receiving plenty of attention. Yet the Democrats’ new default position — that opposition to illegal immigration and constraints on legal immigration are virtually unacceptable — is just as extreme, certainly by historic standards. The shift in the liberal perspective has just received far less scrutiny.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2017/04/15/opposing-immigration-wasn-always-racist/ZToPxnulS41s95cP53PdHM/story.html

Posted on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — Leave a comment

THE LIST: TOP 10 PUBLIC CONTRACTORS AND THEIR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

COLLEEN O’DEA | APRIL 17, 2017

Complexity and confusion about the law may have discouraged contractors from contributing directly to candidates and parties last year

For more than a decade, New Jersey’s pay-to-play laws have provided a check on businesses’ ability to contribute money to politicians in the hope of getting a government contract in return.

Last year, political contributions by public contractors dropped to the second-lowest level since restrictions took effect, according to a report released by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission earlier this month. The $8.1 million in contributions from businesses was 11 percent lower than in 2015 and less than half the high of $16.4 million reported in 2007.

Jeff Brindle, ELEC’s executive director, said the lack of gubernatorial or legislative elections in 2016 may account for some of the decline, but the complexity of the law is also discouraging contractors from contributing directly to candidates and parties.

Under pay-to-play laws, all businesses that have $50,000 or more in public contracts and have made political contributions must disclose both contract and contribution details to ELEC by March 30th of the previous year. There are some exceptions, but most firms with state contracts totaling $17,500 or more cannot give more than $300 to candidates, political parties, and legislative leadership committees. A business that violates the prohibitions must either ask for a refund of any excess contribution promptly or relinquish its contracts for four years.

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/04/16/the-list-top-10-pay-to-play-public-contracting-firms/

Posted on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 by James — 2 Comments

Unused sick days are costing us billions, as Democrats dawdle

Updated on April 16, 2017 at 3:31 PMPosted on April 16, 2017 at 3:30 PM

BY STAR-LEDGER EDITORIAL BOARD

[email protected]

Sick pay is for those who get sick. If you don’t get sick, you shouldn’t get sick pay. Period.

The same goes for all fringe benefits. If you’re not disabled, you don’t get disability. If you’re not unemployed, you don’t get unemployment. This is not complicated.

Until you put politics into the mix.

New Jersey, the state with the highest property taxes in the nation, still allows public workers to collect big payouts for their unused absences. It’s a perk unheard of in the private sector, but we’re all paying dearly for it.

https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/04/unused_sick_days_are_costing_us_billions_as_democr.html#incart_river_home

Posted on April 17, 2017June 27, 2021 by James — 1 Comment

Ridgewood Family in the “George to the Rescue” spotlight

Ridgewood Mayor Susan Knudsen’s photo
April 17,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A loving and deserving Ridgewood family in the “George to the Rescue” spotlight today! Congratulations to the England family and may their beautiful home always be filled with much love and happiness!

https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeToTheRescue/

NBC’s George to the Rescue. We pair George up with contractors and designers to Rescue the homes of deserving people.

Know someone that needs a Rescue? Send an email to [email protected]

Posted on April 17, 2017April 16, 2017 by James — 8 Comments

Reader says The Bike Lane needs to go !

The Bike Lane needs to go. And regardless of what Mr. Ruthishauser says and our past VM, we had two lanes at that location which worked very well for the previous 40 years that I have lived in town.

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