“This news article, about the increased number of storefront vacancies in an “upscale” Bergen County downtown, may be of interest to many of you, particularly since Joseph A. Banks Clothiers shut their store on East Ridgewood Avenue last week.” Boyd Loving
Editors note : “I am a Joseph A. Banks customer , yet I never set foot in that store , always shop on line ” PJ blogger
By Fausto Giovanny Pinto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 22, 2017 at 7:30 AM, updated January 22, 2017 at 7:32 AM
ENGLEWOOD — Signs that advertise available space are prominent on the windows of empty storefronts along Palisades Avenue in the heart of Englewood’s downtown shopping district.
A man walks by two empty storefronts on Palisade Avenue in downtown Englewood.Fausto Giovanny Pinto
Officials and realtors say the changing landscape of retail shopping has affected this area, filled with ritzy boutiques, chain stores and a host of eateries.
“Englewood is not the only one with empty stores,” said Carol Rauscher, president of the Englewood Chamber of Commerce. “Two things have contributed to the decline, online shopping and off-price stores, and that’s something we don’t have and won’t get.”
Recent departures from downtown include Victoria’s Secret, Chico’s, Nine West and Wendy’s. The downtown currently has a 5 percent vacancy rate, according to recent survey by the city’s Economic Development Corp.
I thought the Facebook comments about renting a house for a golf tournament or Super Bowl type event were also illuminating.
The reason NYC or Los Angeles are against Air B&B is because it kills hotel tax revenues. They lose millions yet even they cant actually ban short term rentals. There is no way this law holds up but it will cost some homeowner and all of us taxpayers to work it through the system.
These knee jerk reactions to public comment has to be tempered. The mess with that parking near Whole Foods is a similar situation (from the past council). It is great to listen to the public and to try to find solutions but elected officials cannot just react. They are elected to be a deliberative body that analyzes both sides of an issue and finds solutions. These mistakes are costly in time and tax payer money.
Those who attended the hearings could easily reach the opinion that Arohnson sold the Village out to the developers. He pushed for a a formula where the Village allowed land speculators and developers to build 85 regular market units for every 15 coah compliant units. Do the math – – under the Aronson Plan, if the Village was ordered by the Courts to build 150 units, then the developers would be allowed to build 1000 apartments in town. And because the Village may need to build as many as 500 coah units (or even 1,000 according to some attorneys) then under the Arohnson formula, the town would have to let the developers build 5,000 to 10,000 units in total. Think about it, that’s 5,000 to 10,000 new families moving into town. The developers were licking their chops over the stupidity of the Aronson formula and the opportunity to start to apply it to properties throughout the town.
The new council quickly moved to kill some of the enabling legislation behind the Aronson plan. But, frankly, its not clear they have done enough to prevent developers from continuing to buy up property and make the argument that they need to build, build, build in order to enable Ridgewood to meet its coah requirements. Our Council needs to take bold action to meet coah requirements while not allowing developers to re-make the Village.
A lot needs to be done and the process needs to be started quickly. The Council cannot ignore this issue. They need to starting acting now.
Ridgewood NJ, Monday 10.45 employee parking lots aside Town Garage extremely underutilized. These same spots held train pass holders who were moved into center crowded area of this same lot.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, With 31 percent of all nonretired adults having no retirement savings or pension because many simply cannot afford to contribute to any type of plan, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis identifying 2017’s Best & Worst States to Retire.
Over the past year and a half, the group Age-Friendly Ridgewood has taken steps to learn what the village can do to better serve its oldest population. Those 65 and older make up 12.5 percent of the village’s population, according to the 2010 census.
To help retirees find a retirement- and wallet-friendly place to call home, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 31 key metrics. The data set ranges from “adjusted cost of living” to “weather” to “quality of public hospitals.”
Best States to Retire
Worst States to Retire
1
Florida
42
Arkansas
2
Wyoming
43
Kentucky
3
South Dakota
44
Vermont
4
Iowa
45
New Mexico
5
Colorado
46
New Jersey
6
Idaho
47
Hawaii
7
South Carolina
48
Connecticut
8
Nevada
49
District of Columbia
9
Delaware
50
Alaska
10
Wisconsin
51
Rhode Island
Some of the finding included :
Mississippi has the lowest adjusted cost-of-living index for retirees, 85.6, which is 1.9 times lower than in Hawaii, where it is highest at 165.3.
Louisiana has the lowest annual cost of in-home services, $34,892, which is 1.8 times lower than in North Dakota, where it is highest at $63,972.
Alaska has the highest share of the population aged 65 and older working, 22.34 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in West Virginia, where it is lowest at 12.32 percent.
Florida has the highest share of the population aged 65 and older, 18.6 percent, which is 2.1 times higher than in Alaska, where it is lowest at 9.0 percent.
Vermont has the lowest property-crime rate per 1,000 residents, 14.07, which is 3.3 times lower than in the District of Columbia, where it is highest at 46.76.
Ridgewood NJ, A Porsche SUV was totaled when its adult female driver smashed into a utility pole in front of 239 Lakeview Drive, Ridgewood on Monday evening, 01/23. The driver was uninjured in the mishap. Utility service in the neighborhood was unaffected by the crash, but damage to the pole warrants its replacement. A flatbed tow truck removed the damaged Porsche from the scene. One (1) summons was issued by Ridgewood PD in connection with the incident. Midland Park PD assisted at the scene.
Ridgewood NJ, earlier Monday morning President Trump started his day by signing three sweeping executive orders:
1. Withdraw the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP.)
2. Reinstate the Mexico City Policy dealing with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and abortion access.
3. A complete freeze on federal workforce hiring – with the EXCEPTION of our United States Military.
The president then promised a busy week planned with a heavy focus on jobs and national security. Top executives coming in at 9:00 A.M. to talk manufacturing in America.
Board of Education Meets Tonight
January 23, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.
The Education Center
49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting tonight, Monday, January 23, 2017. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, or to watch from home on FiOS channel 33 or Optimum channel 77. Meetings are also streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Meeting webcasts are immediately available on the district website.
Ho Ho Kus NJ, Two (2) individuals were transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital following a collision at the intersection of Hollywood Avenue and North Franklin Turnpike in Ho-Ho-Kus on Sunday afternoon, 01/22. A 4-door Honda sedan was removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ho-Ho-Kus PD, FD, and EMS personnel responded to the incident.
Death Of Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen Latest Case Drawing Renewed Interest
January 23,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, America loves a good murder mystery, as evidenced by endless TV dramas, movies such as The Girl on the Train, and novels by writers such as Patricia Cornwell and Michael Connelly.
But the infatuation isn’t limited to fiction. The public is also riveted by every detail of real-life homicides, whether it’s the O.J. Simpson trial, the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, or the extraordinary phenomenon of the TV documentary Making a Murderer.
“People can’t help but be captivated with the human drama when another person’s life ends in violence,” says attorney and investigative reporter Mark Shaw, author of The Reporter Who Knew Too Much (www.thereporterwhoknewtoomuch.com).
Shaw’s own fascination these days is focused on the mysterious death of Dorothy Kilgallen, the Pulitzer-Prize nominated newspaper columnist and panelist on the popular TV show What’s My Line. She was a household name in 1965 when she was discovered dead in her home at age 52.
“With Dorothy, I think you have all the compelling elements,” says Shaw, who served as a legal analyst for USA Today and CNN during the O.J. Simpson trial. “We have a famous journalist killed in the line of duty for writing a ‘tell-all’ book and there are celebrity suspects galore who were never investigated.”
Officially, Kilgallen’s death was ruled accidental, caused by a fatal mixture of sleeping pills and alcohol. Shaw says his research uncovered new evidence that points to murder (posted at www.thedorothykilgallenstory.org.) The motive: Her book that would have exposed a mobster’s involvement in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Shaw has called on the NYC District Attorney to investigate since “murder is the worst form of censorship” and a main suspect remains at large.
Kilgallen’s own journalistic career serves as evidence that fascination with true-crime stories is nothing new. She wrote about seemingly every “trial of the century” of her era, including the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Dr. Sam Sheppard case that gripped Americans and inspired the TV series The Fugitive, and the trial of Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating Kennedy.
Why are we so enthralled by these cases? Shaw says there are several reasons:
• A belief in justice. Most people want to see justice served, whether they suspect a guilty culprit got away with murder or worry that an innocent person was wrongly accused. “In fiction, everything usually gets wrapped up very tidily,” Shaw says. “In real life, justice can be a whole lot messier.” • A natural attraction to mystery. People are captivated by the unknown, whether it’s the “whodunit” at the end of an Agatha Christie novel, the contents of the large package under the Christmas tree, or the very meaning of human existence. “This is probably one reason there’s still so much interest in the JFK assassination,” Shaw says. “There are elements of mystery all around it and we can’t help but want to get at the truth.” • A preoccupation with death. As gruesome as it seems, people have been drawn to stories about violent death for thousands of years. Even the Bible wastes little time working in a murder, with Cain offing his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy in one of the earliest chapters.
“One other reason may be that we have empathy for the victim and feel they deserve their ‘day in court,’ so to speak,” Shaw says. “And that’s true whether the murder happened five days ago or 50 years ago as it did with Kilgallen. She deserves justice today and I’m determined to get that for her at all costs.”
About Mark Shaw
Mark Shaw, author of The Reporter Who Knew Too Much(www.markshawbooks.com), is a former criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for CNN, ESPN and USA Today. He is an investigative reporter and the author of 25 books including The Poison Patriarch, Miscarriage of Justice, and Beneath the Mask of Holiness. Shaw, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, and the Aspen Daily News.
Educator Jim Trelease explains why reading aloud to your child, no matter what her age, is the magic bullet for creating a lifelong reader.
by: Connie Matthiessen | January 14, 2016
Jim Trelease is the author of the respected, Read-Aloud Handbook, which some parents have called the “read aloud Bible.” The book is packed with information — from what really makes kids love reading, to tips for luring kids away from electronics and onto the page, to hundreds of read aloud titles. The Handbook’s seventh edition will be published in the spring of 2013 and, at 71 years old, Trelease says it will be his last. We reached Trelease recently in his home in Connecticut and asked him to explain why reading aloud is essential for kids of all ages.
Can you explain the link between reading aloud and school success?
It’s long established in science and research: the child who comes to school with a large vocabulary does better than the child who comes to school with little familiarity with words and a low vocabulary.
Why is that? If you think about it, in the early years of school, almost all instruction is oral. In kindergarten through second and third grades, kids aren’t reading yet, or are just starting, so it’s all about the teacher talking to the kids. This isn’t just true in reading but in all subjects; the teacher isn’t telling kids to open their textbooks and read chapter three. The teaching is oral and the kids with the largest vocabularies have an advantage because they understand most of what the teacher is saying. The kids with small vocabularies don’t get what is going on from the start, and they’re likely to fall further and further behind as time goes on.
How does a child develop a large vocabulary even before school starts? Children who are spoken to and read to most often are the ones with the largest vocabularies. If you think about it, you can’t get a word out of the child’s mouth unless he has heard it before. For example, the word “complicated.” A child isn’t going to say the word unless he has heard it before — and in fact to remember it, a child probably has to hear it multiple times. (That’s not true with swear words, of course. If a child hears his parent swear he’ll remember it the first time, and happily repeat it whenever he gets the chance.) But kids have to hear most words multiple times, so it’s important that their parents talk to and around them from the time they are very young, because that’s how they learn words.
Paramus NJ, A 64-year-old, 12-inch, cast iron gas main cracked in Paramus last week. Traffic snarled on Rt. 17 while we made emergency repairs…again. That was the third time in two years we’ve had to patch up this section of pipe. Installation of a replacement gas main is underway.
After decades of freezing and thawing, unprotected steel and cast iron pipes can become brittle and crack, and the joints that tie them together can leak. Along that stretch of Rt. 17, nearby construction may be another contributing factor. We have 4,000 miles of this cast iron pipe, and another 1,000 miles of unprotected steel, in our system. That’s the largest inventory of any utility in the U.S. We have so much old piping because PSE&G has been serving customers for 113 years.
As part of a $905 million program approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, we’re replacing old pipes three times faster than in the past. Last year alone, we installed 189 miles of new gas mains across our service area, including nearly 6 miles in Paramus. And we’re replacing them with highly durable plastic piping and protected steel pipes that rarely leak and will ensure safe, reliable gas service now and in the future.
For us to replace all this pipe in Paramus, we are working closely with Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera. Mayor LaBarbiera knows the investments PSE&G is making in his town’s infrastructure ensure residents and businesses will continue to have safe and reliable gas service. By working together, we are minimizing disruption and able to complete the work safely. And we are all grateful to the residents of Paramus for their patience.
We expect to have the pipes along that stretch of Rt. 17 replaced by April. There is never a good time to close traffic lanes. So while the work is a one-time inconvenience, rest assured we won’t be back to make repairs on those new mains for a long, long time.
Bayonne, NJ according to WABC news a Controversy over building a mosque in New Jersey appears to be linked to vandalism.
A pastor opposing the plan was the target of a graffiti attack at his home in Bayonne.
Signs read, “Save Bayonne, Stop the Mosque,” at the home of Evangelist Pastor Joseph Basile. According to Pastor Basile ,
“Someone came and threatened us if we did not take the signs down,” That culprit was later arrested, but this past Saturday
expletives were spray painted on the pastor’s home.
All this comes as a year old controversy simmers. Bayonne’s Muslim community wants to build a mosque at a shuttered warehouse on East 24th Street at a dead end. The pastor agrees along with many of the neighbors that worry about traffic.
“It should be somewhere else in the center of town , this is a dead end, lots of traffic,” said Surinder Kumar, a resident, but other neighbors don’t seem to mind “If someone wants to build something where people gather, I have no problem with it,” said Sarah Ulm
Pastor Basile admits there is a lot of concern also about what will be taught at the proposed mosque and community center. Paster Basile said he has attended meetings and says he asked pointed questions.”My first question was, do you believe in Sharia Law. His lawyer jumped up and would not answer,” Basile said.
The attack on the Pastors home has gotten the attention of Joseph Rudy Rullo who is running for Governor of New Jersey , Rullo said ,” I condemn the recent attack on a Bayonne religious leaders home who recently questioned whether a proposed mosque would include the teaching of Sharia law. Sharia law clearly violates the US constitution!”
Waheed Akbar of Bayonne Muslims, first denounced the vandalism at the pastor’s home, and says the group has reached out to the community, offering a look at who they are, in the midst of their temporary home being vandalized with hate messages.
CAIR-NJ has asked the Feds to probe “Pro-Trump” hate graffiti targeting Bayonne Mosque.
I have had many airbnb visitors, all very decent professionals, staying for various reasons, TI Pros working 1-2 or 3 month contracts, people that had construction going on because of a fire-damaged to their home and were sick of staying a hotel, CEO”s come in for 3 days , but mostly guests visiting family members for a few days coming to see newborns of there kids having kids from the UK.,Israel, Denmark, Japan.
I have never had a problem with anyone of these guests. And this has helped me out tremendously since I lost a love one that contributed to my loving home financially, a home I don’t wish to lose…..
So to the ignorant person that has threatened to call the IRS on your neighbor, you are a despicable neighbor that “ASSUMES” we don’t pay our taxes , with no proof what so ever !!!! So please call them and rear your ugly head out to all of us. Think of us when your having your $500 spa day and stuff your face with tartare. and getting your manicure and hair colored, god it’s been so long for me Maybe you should try getting a job so you wouldn’t have so much time on your hands to judge everyone around you. Make no mistake about, YOU ARE the person people talk about in town behind your back, and rightfully so you play the role so eloquently, ponder that the next time your gossiping, we all see right through those people, they are the black sheep in our community’s !!!!!!!
Unlike the bloviators here, I actually spent the time to do some research regarding my concerns about liability coverage and Air bnb provides coverage. I doubt the ban will stand and if it does, you’ll have neighbors spying on each other and calling the cops when a stranger parks in a driveway or goes into a house. Kind of echoes some activities from 80 odd years ago… maybe we’ll have to carry our “resident” papers too…
Ridgewood Nj, according to George Becker, M.D., Director, Emergency Department, The Valley Hospital although most people are not in any danger from shoveling snow,(https://toyourhealth.valleyhealth.com/blogs/valleyblogs/january-2017/shoveling-snow-winter-chore-or-health-hazard) Doctor Becker tells us that the American Heart Association (AHA) still shares useful tips for anyone shoveling snow in the winter. To begin with, the AHA recommends that those who don’t exercise on a regular basis, those that have a medical condition, or those that are middle age or older consult with a doctor before shoveling.
The AHA also has the following general tips for staying safe while shoveling:
Take frequent rest breaks during shoveling.
Don’t eat a heavy meal prior or soon after shoveling.
Use a small shovel or consider a snow thrower.
Don’t drink alcoholic beverages before or immediately after shoveling.
Be aware of the dangers of hypothermia.
Learn the heart attack warning signs and listen to your body.
Some signs that you might be having a heart attack are pain in the chest, arm(s), back, neck, jaw or stomach. You might also break out in a cold sweat, feel short of breath, nauseated, lightheaded, or uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness in the center of your chest.
If you are concerned that you may be having a heart attack, Doctor Becker says you should not hesitate about seeking medical treatment—every minute is crucial when experiencing a heart attack. Call 911 immediately or head directly to the closest emergency room.
Valley Hospital Emergency Department, located at 223 N. Van Dien Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ is open 24/7, 365 days a year and is staffed with physicians who are board certified in emergency medicine
