Ridgewood NJ, It’s taken a little while to get the Friends of Schedler facebook page started but it’s ready.
You are all invited to come take a look, join and better understand where This neighborhood is, what situations the local neighbors are facing and what situations the kids would be facing if a field were built here. Come see the exposure to Rt 17 and the close proximity the children would be playing to that busy highway.
“Our mission: To promote the responsible development of the Schedler parcel, the last open space in Ridgewood, with consideration of the environment, neighborhood, and town.”
Ridgewood NJ, Sources in the central business district continue to voice concerns that the Valet Parking is exacerbating the very parking problem it is attempting to alleviate .While Roots Steakhouse was already offering valet parking 4 additional Ridgewood restaurants have joined forces to offer valet parking to their customers.
The is issue is most acute on Oak Street were Fish Urban Dining, It’s Greek To Me and Roots have virtually monopolized most of the spaces near Ridgewood Avenue ,leaving little room for customers of retailers such as Luck Brands any available spaces to park.
Retailers have for years complained of parking access for their customers , the Ridgewood blog reported earlier this year that as early as 9am spots on Oak Street are full and now most retails report that after 430 ,because of the valet parking they can just go home .
I was in charge in N.J. on 9/11 and Trump’s claims never happened
From my vantage point at New Jersey’s Command Center in Liberty State Park, I looked directly across the Hudson and saw the 22-story-high flames and the black and white smoke billowing from where the World Trade Center had collapsed. John Farmer Jr., Star-Ledger Read more
One retired FBI agent says Donald Trump’s claims of seeing Muslim celebrations following the attacks on 9-11 are absolutely plausible.
Jim Burkett was an assistant special agent in charge with the FBI’s office in Boston during 9-11 and afterward. He says during that time the office received tons of phone calls from people who feared more attacks and others reporting suspicious activity.
Many of those calls, said Burkett, came from concerned and angry Americans reporting Muslim’s celebrating over the destruction of the twin towers and damage to the Pentagon. The calls were logged, reports were made and there were “stacks and stacks” of them, he said.
Burkett says somebody in the office began labeling them “Happy Muslim Calls.” Most of the calls he said were deemed unimportant and the agency didn’t see fit to initiate investigations.
A train delay for the ages; increasing service in Bergen County among several stalled plans
NOVEMBER 29, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015, 12:27 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
In May 1928, a group of forward thinkers in New York City drew a map of North Jersey that envisioned passenger trains running from Englewood to Jersey City on an existing set of railroad tracks, part of a network they confidently named the “Ultimate Suburban Rapid Transit Plan.”
At 1 p.m. on a Thursday this month, 86 years later, three powerful New Jersey senators gathered in a conference room overlooking the same tracks to demand a return of passenger trains to the line.
“This is a project that should have happened years ago,” state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, said of the project, known as the “Northern Branch.”
Bringing more rail service to Bergen County may be North Jersey’s most stubborn transportation dream. Even now, depending on how one counts, there are between six and 11 efforts to return passenger service to historic train lines. And although passenger trains, bus lines and highways have spread across the region in the post-World War II era, people here have pushed, planned, schemed and begged for even more commuter rail, either to reduce traffic congestion or to connect places that are difficult to reach by mass transit. And the problem grows more acute the closer one gets to New York City. For densely populated towns in eastern Bergen County, like Englewood, Fort Lee and Tenafly, trains simply are not an option, as state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, often points out.
SCIENTISTS claim we are in for a decade-long freeze as the sun slows down solar activity by up to 60 per cent.
By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 03:07, Sun, Nov 29, 2015 | UPDATED: 15:42, Sun, Nov 29, 2015
A team of European researchers have unveiled a scientific model showing that the Earth is likely to experience a “mini ice age” from 2030 to 2040 as a result of decreased solar activity.
Their findings will infuriate environmental campaigners who argue by 2030 we could be facing increased sea levels and flooding due to glacial melt at the poles.
However, at the National Astronomy Meeting in Wales, Northumbria University professor Valentina Zharkova said fluctuations an 11-year cycle of solar activity the sun goes through would be responsible for a freeze, the like of which has not been experienced since the 1600s.
From 1645 to 1715 global temperatures dropped due to low solar activity so much that the planet experienced a 70-year ice age known as Maunder Minimum which saw the River Thames in London completely frozen.
Yazidi Women Tell of Rape and Enslavement at Hands of ISIS
by KELLY COBIELLA, YUKA TACHIBANA and BEN ADAMS
KHANKE CAMP, Iraq — The grandmother lifted her face to heaven and let out a high wail.
“I pray for this hell to end,” the 64-year-old said before crumpling onto the floor of her hut.
Kimy Hassan Sayfo. Yuka Tachibana / NBC News
Kimy Hassan Sayfo’s daughters and granddaughters have been held captive by ISIS. Two daughters recently escaped but extremist fighters have kept her young granddaughters “for themselves,” she said.
Her story echoes those of countless others across this vast tent city full ofYazidis, a tiny and ancient religious minority reviled and persecuted by ISIS.
More than 3,000 women and girls were taken captive when ISIS attacked ancestral Yazidi villages around northwestern Iraq’s Sinjar Mountain in August 2014. Nearly half-a-million people have been displaced since, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Yazidi Affairs Directorate.
Today, community leaders say around 2,000 women and girls are still being bought and sold in ISIS-controlled areas. The young become sex slaves and older women are beaten and used as house slaves, according to survivors and accounts from ISIS militants.
“SOME ARE SOLD FOR WEAPONS, OR FOR JUST $10, OR 10 CIGARETTES.”
“Aveen” was among the countless who were taken. She told NBC News how ISIS fighters separated the men from women and children when her village was attacked.
“They took young girls, seven, nine and 10 years old,” said Aveen, whose name has been changed and face hidden to protect her identity.
The women and children were held in a school where, she said, the guards would come at night to take away women and rape them.
Aveen said she spent most of her time with ISIS in Raqqa, held by a fighter who raped and beat her repeatedly. The 23-year-old escaped after nearly a year in captivity.
Paris climate talks: Through the smog, coal-hungry India sees ‘carbon imperialism’ in the West
As Delhi rushes to boost its coal generation to satisfy rocketing energy demands, John Kerry’s decision to single out India as a “challenge” provokes fury
Andrew Marszal in New Delhi
6:56PM GMT 28 Nov 2015
It’s rush hour in the world’s most polluted city, and just visible through the dense blanket of smog is an electronic billboard informing motorists that the air quality has dropped from “very poor” to “severe”.
If this were Beijing an emergency would be declared, with schools closed for the day and production at factories halted. But here in Delhi, judging by faces barely visible behind anti-pollution masks, nobody seems to have noticed.
When John Kerry, the US secretary of state, last week singled out the country most likely to pose a “challenge” to climate change talks at Paris, it wasn’t China he named – it was India.
• Paris climate change conference: everything you need to know about the UN summit.
The UN wants to limit global warming to 2C, but international co-operation has been slow in coming
Tom Bawden Environment Editor
@BawdenTom
Almost 150 heads of state, including David Cameron, Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are heading to Paris for the start of the most important environmental meeting for decades.
Ahead of the summit, more than 175 countries have tabled pledges (known as intended nationally determined contributions, or INDCs) to cut their carbon emissions which, if enacted, would be enough to limit global warming to 2.7C. But the United Nations has pledged to limit climate change to 2C – and would much prefer it to be 1.5C.
This means there is much work to be done in Paris. Although nobody is expecting an agreement that will guarantee to limit global warming to 2C, the UN climate chief Christiana Figueres is determined to enshrine a process that paves the way for the world to be able to meet that target further down the line. Here are some of the different interest groups and what they want from Paris:
NOVEMBER 28, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015, 1:21 AM
BLOOMBERG NEWS |
WIRE SERVICE
Could Americans be losing their holiday spending spirit? More than 20 years of retail sales data suggest it’s a distinct possibility.
U.S. retailers have come to rely on a shopping frenzy toward the end of the year, as the annual gift-giving season compels people to open their wallets. That holiday bump, though, appears to be shrinking.
Last year, December’s share of annual retail sales (excluding gasoline) amounted to 9.9 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares with a high point of 10.6 percent in 1993 — a difference worth more than $30 billion. Although the holiday boost tends to fluctuate with economic cycles, the trend is down. Here’s how that looks:
What’s going on? Black Friday could be partly responsible, if retailers have pulled some of the holiday action into November with deep discounts and special opening hours. However, that particular shopping event is on the wane. And even combining sales for November and December doesn’t do much to change the long-term trend.
Another potential explanation is that the kinds of items people buy around the holidays — Xboxes, iPads and the like — have become relatively cheap, because of the efforts of Chinese manufacturers. This would make the dollar value of December’s spending look smaller, even if people were purchasing just as many items. That said, prices on imports from China are higher than they were a decade ago, so maybe not.
There’s also a more troubling possibility: Declining incomes may have left a large portion of Americans less willing to splurge. The median U.S. household income has fallen more than 3 percent over the past decade in inflation-adjusted terms. December’s share of spending tends to suffer when budgets are tighter, as evidenced by the sharp drop during the 2008 recession.
“see those empty spaces thats where the new Parking Garage is going to go ,bigger is better”
Time to build a parking deck
NOVEMBER 27, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
‘Time to build a parking deck’
To the Editor:
On Nov. 3, Ridgewood residents voted in support of the financing and construction of a parking deck on the Hudson Street lot. Although the referendum was “non-binding,” the message from the 3,236 residents who voted in favor of the parking deck – a full 65 percent of the vote — was loud and clear: After decades of discussion, it is time to act. It is time to build a parking deck.
Therefore, the questions now before the Village Council are not “whether” to build a parking deck or even “where” to build it; rather, the questions are “what size” and at “what cost.”
So, on Dec. 2, the Village Council will take up these two questions and decide on “what size” and at “what cost.” Then, a week later, on Dec. 9, I plan to introduce a bond ordinance that corresponds with those decisions and moves this process forward.
To facilitate these decisions, our design team has put together three options – at different sizes and at different costs — and although the referendum allowed “up to $15 million in public funds” to be expended, each of the options comes with a considerably lower price tag. (Please visit the Village Hall lobby and Village website for pictures and relevant information.)
Our design team will be on hand at the Dec. 2 meeting to outline the three options – pros and cons – and take questions from the council. We are also making special arrangements to allow members of the public to ask questions of the design team, too.
I encourage all residents to let us know their thoughts about “size” and “cost” – either by email or by showing up at the Dec. 2 meeting. We are at a critical, albeit exciting juncture in this process, and we want all residents to be a part of it.
Ridgewood NJ, Residents are really hoping that the village officials did not put in an electronic sign right by a dangerous intersection. The consciousness seems to be that they are more of a distraction . It seems that people have trouble making the turn with the new bike lane put in and it is very hard to see pedestrians crossing in the crosswalk at night. If people are now reading a sign adding another distraction I hate to see pedestrians get hit. If it is an electronic sign it should b moved 150 feet down where drivers are past the crosswalk. I hope I am wrong and it is not an electronic sign.
Residents have voiced the same concerns at Ridge School when they considered an electric sign in its red zone and the biggest reason it was never put in was concern that it would distract drivers from children in the red zone. This sign makes an already congested and difficult intersection more dangerous. There is also the blinking sign warning of the 11ft height restriction. An intersection that was fine is now visually and literally congested.
A big round of applause for Ridgewood Council members Gwenn Hauck and Albert Pucciarelli and Mayor Paul Aronsohn for successfully stewarding the parking garage project for downtown, culminating in voter approval earlier this month. Decades of no progress on this topic finally have been broken.
There are many positives to this project, with the most important being to strengthen our central business district by addressing the No. 1 challenge: parking. As the mayor recently pointed out, the “only real negative aspect was the disinformation campaign that sought to confuse and undermine the public conversation – a disinformation campaign represented in part by an anonymous mailer.”
The mayor noted that “no one was willing to take responsibility for the mailer, [but] the language was strikingly similar to that used by some of the parking deck’s most vocal detractors.”
The next challenge for the parking deck is to secure financing. In order to bond, four of five council members are needed to vote yes. Will those who did not support the project vote no? That would be in direct opposition to the overwhelming voter support for the project.
Ridgewood NJ, This afternoon around 1 PM we were on the horse-drawn carriage, part of the Ridgewood Guild Winter Festival, which was an absolutely wonderful event. As the carriage headed west on Hudson toward Broad, lo and behold there were many empty parking spots in the Hudson Street lot. Yes, indeed, on a holiday weekend, less than a month until Christmas, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, with a big event occurring in the park, with people going out to eat because they are sick of turkey……all of that, and still plenty of spaces.
Moreover, as we headed north on Broad and looked back, we saw the beautiful spires of Mt. Carmel and United Methodist churches……these will no longer be visible, not even close to visible, if the gigantic garage is built on that corner. Food for thought.
Ridgewood NJ, BFJ Planning is a consulting firm providing professional expertise in planning, urban design, environmental analysis, real estate and transportation since its establishment in 1980. Led by founding partners, Paul Buckhurst, Frank Fish, and Georges Jacquemart, BFJ serves public, private and non-profit clients throughout the country and overseas. The firm’s philosophy is one of integrated planning and hands-on, senior-level leadership.
BFJ has successfully completed more than 1,000 projects in the U.S., East Asia, Europe, and South America. Our range of services allows us to bring a project from the initial feasibility stage, through planning and approvals, to site design and implementation. Principals and staff provide expertise in a range of areas, bringing together informed, innovative thinking from different professional points of view necessary to the success of complex planning and development projects. This inclusive approach ensures that BFJ’s planning and design recommendations are realistic and achievable within project constraints.
In all the work we do, from master plans through environmental reviews and resiliency planning, BFJ is committed to participatory planning. We have a depth of experience in consensus building, public participation and community liaison programs and understand that early and consistent public involvement in the planning process is crucial to the development of plans that will be supported by the community and can be effectively implemented.
BFJ is supported by its affiliate, Urbanomics, which provides public- and private-sector clients with an array of economic development planning services, including market studies, tax policy analyses, program evaluations and economic and demographic forecasts.
BFJ Planning is a consulting firm providing professional expertise in planning, urban design, environmental analysis, real estate and transportation since its establishment in 1980. Led by founding partners, Paul Buckhurst, Frank Fish, and Georges Jacquemart, BFJ serves public, private and non-profit clients throughout the country and overseas. The firm’s philosophy is one of integrated planning and hands-on, senior-level leadership.
BFJ has successfully completed more than 1,000 projects in the U.S., East Asia, Europe, and South America. Our range of services allows us to bring a project from the initial feasibility stage, through planning and approvals, to site design and implementation. Principals and staff provide expertise in a range of areas, bringing together informed, innovative thinking from different professional points of view necessary to the success of complex planning and development projects. This inclusive approach ensures that BFJ’s planning and design recommendations are realistic and achievable within project constraints.
Lawmakers in both chambers are racing against the clock to extend health and compensation benefits for the responders and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Parts of the James Zadroga Act expired last month — and funds for the health benefits program will begin drying up early next year — but the effort to renew the law has been hampered by ongoing disagreements over spending levels, the window for reauthorization and which offsets will cover the multi-billion-dollar price tag.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who supports the reauthorization effort, has called on a pair of committee heads — Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) — to iron out those details.
“We should get this done by the end of the year,” Ryan said last week.
The request is in line with Ryan’s promise to stick to regular order in moving bills through the lower chamber.
But with the clock ticking down on 2015, the champions of the Zadroga renewal increasingly see their best chance in attaching the measure to a larger legislative package. The highway bill is one option, supporters say. But the better odds might lie with the omnibus bill, a year-end spending package Congress must pass by Dec. 11 to prevent a government shutdown.
“That appears to be the vehicle,” Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), a lead sponsor of the House bill, said Wednesday by phone. “The problem is we’re coming down to the wire here.”
