The developers proposing high-density developments have said traffic shouldn’t be an issue and schools would experience minimal increases in enrollment. It appears that they might have succeeded in convincing some of the Planning Board members.
Before accepting developers’ conclusions, we need to decide on a proper analytical framework. To do so, we can employ the elementary concepts of statistics. The developers are showing us the average cases. Traffic should be fine most of the time. Schools should not be incrementally crowded for many of the grades. However, we know this is not the way to look at the problem. Instead of the average, we need to focus on the bottlenecks and the possible extremes the proposed plans could generate.
What the developers are telling us is analogous to a stranger telling us that it’s safe to walk across a lake because the average depth of the lake is five feet. Clearly, this piece of information is insufficient. What we should find out is the maximum depth of the lake, the worst-case scenario.
Using the worst-case framework, we can reach the following conclusions:
High-density development will exacerbate traffic when it counts the most — the commuting hours. These are compact few hours of the day, but the number of people affected and the amount of pain experienced will be exponentially higher.
High-density development will also create overcrowding at certain (not all) grade levels. Moreover, the volatility of student enrollment is likely to rise with ongoing tendency for spikes. Therefore, for students, being impacted by class overcrowding will be based on the luck of the draw.
Given these negative scenarios, why would we want high-density development? How could certain members of the Planning Board possibly think this is a good idea? Why are we playing a treacherous game of three-card Monte with the future of this town?
Central Business District Panel Discussions – January 21, 2015 at 7:30PM
Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli has scheduled another CBD Panel Discussion for January 21, 2015 from 7:30PM to 9PM. It will be held in the Village Hall Court Room. The two topics for discussion will be – CBD Parking and Blue Laws.
DECEMBER 3, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 6:13 PM
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A private sector employment report showing the nation has added jobs at a healthy clip since the start of the year also shows just how far behind New Jersey remains in the economic recovery.
The nation added 208,000 private sector jobs in November, taking the total added to 2.26 million this year, according to the monthly survey released Wednesday by ADP Research Institute, a division of Roseland-based payroll company ADP.
The employment increase of about 2 percent for the year so far, very close to the official government figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is the latest evidence that the recovery from the Great Recession is continuing at a good pace.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s private sector employment has increased by slightly more than a third of that amount – just over 0.7 percent – as several key sectors have lost jobs this year, according to the state’s latest employment report, which covers the year through October. The sectors in which New Jersey’s private employment has fallen this year included construction, manufacturing and leisure and hospitality.
New Jersey lagged in particular in the “goods producing” sector, which has fallen by just over 1.1 percent so far this year, losing about 4,200 jobs, compared to a gain of 1.86 percent nationwide, according to the ADP report.
November Jobs Report Gives Insight into Why Most Americans Think the Economy Is Lousy
James Sherk / @JamesBSherk / December 05, 2014
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November employment report showed solid economic growth, but also provides clues about why many Americans report unhappiness with the economy.
The headline figures contained mostly good news. The household survey reported the unemployment rate remaining flat (5.8 percent) at the lowest rate since July 2008. Labor force participation also remained flat at 62.8 percent as did the employment to population ratio—remaining 59.2 percent, the highest since mid-2009 but well below pre-recession levels.
The average duration of unemployment has remained stubbornly high, rising to 33 weeks in November.
The payroll survey reported employers created 321,000 net new jobs in November—the most in any month since April 2011. The professional and business services (+86,000), retail trade (+50,000), healthcare (+29,000) and food services and drinking places (+27,000) showed the greatest gains. The payroll survey also found the average work hours increasing a tenth of an hour to 34.6 a week—the highest level since early 2008. In more good news, revisions to the September and October surveys showed that employers created 44,000 more jobs those months than previously believed.
Nonetheless, polls suggest that most Americans consider the economy in poor shape. The exit polls from the midterm elections found that 70 percent of voters see America’s economic condition as either “not so good” or “poor.”
Over the past year, average wages have grown by 2.1 percent—only slightly above the rate of inflation.
The November jobs report gives some insight into why. The average duration of unemployment has remained stubbornly high, rising to 33 weeks in November. The median unemployed worker has been looking for work for almost three months—almost twice as long as before the recession hit. Unemployment has become more painful for workers; those who lose their jobs have much greater difficulty finding new ones.
Additionally, average hourly wage growth has slowed to a crawl during the recovery. In November, average wages rose just 9 cents an hour. Over the past year, average wages have grown by 2.1 percent—only slightly above the rate of inflation. Thus, the real buying power of American workers has hardly improved.
This also shows why claims that this represents the strongest economic growth since the tech bubble are misleading. Yes, the economy has added jobs a good pace – welcome news after the deep recession and anemic recovery. But wages grew far faster and the unemployed found jobs far more quickly in the mid-2000s. This does not feel like a booming economy because it is not.
All told, November’s employment report brought welcome news about labor market improvements—but the economy still remains far from a satisfying recovery.
Enter Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital’s Holiday Pet Photo Contest!
Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital
Enter Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital’s Holiday Pet Photo Contest!
3 HOLIDAY PET PHOTO PRIZES!! 3 WINNERS!!
Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital is hosting a Holiday Pet Photo Contest! Please “LIKE” our Facebook Page to enter, and submit your photos for the contest either by a Facebook message, or by emailing them to us at: [email protected]. Please make sure that you identify your pet’s first & last name when submitting the photo, and leave your contact information. You may only submit 1 picture of each pet; however, you may enter as many pets as you wish! You may also submit a group photo of your pets for consideration as well as individual pictures.
Once we have your photo, we will upload it to the Holiday Pet Photo Contest album here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…. Click on that link to find your pet’s photo, and feel free to share, comment and like it, because the photo with the most “likes” on our Facebook page wins!! This contest has already started, so hurry! And it will end on December 24th at 11am EST. Winners will be revealed by December 26th. ***Before entering the contest, please read the full rules, regulations and instructions in our “Notes” section here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ridgewood-veterinary-hospital/ridgewood-veterinary-hospitals-holiday-pet-photo-contest/824984030886736***
1ST PRIZE
$300 Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital Gift Certificate
2ND PRIZE
$150 Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital Gift Certificate
3RD PRIZE
$75 Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital Gift Certificate
***Remember, the photo with most “likes” on our page wins so please email us your photo entry today and share the Holiday Pet Photo Fun! Thank you!
YWCA Bergen County Now Offers Ski Lessons for Kids
YWCA Bergen County now offers ski lessons for children ages 4 years and older at Campgaw Mountain located at 200 Campgaw Road, Mahwah, NJ. Beginner & intermediate ski lessons will be held on Mondays or Wednesdays from January 5 through January 26,, 2014.
For ages 4 – 6 years, beginners and intermediate lessons are offered from 4:15 – 5:45 pm on Mondays and Wednesday. Program only fee of $88 is available for current season pass holders. For non-season pass holders, the Program and Daily Pass fee is $150 and Program, Daily Pass, and Rental Fee is $234. Daily Pass and Pass and Rental options allow participant to stay after lesson to ski closing.
For ages 7 years and older, all level lessons are offered from 4:15 – 5:45 pm on Mondays and Wednesday. Program only fee of $126 is available for current season pass holders. For non-season pass holders, the Program and Daily Pass fee is $177 and Program, Daily Pass, and Rental Fee is $234. Daily Pass and Pass and Rental options allow participant to stay after lesson to ski closing.
Beginner and intermediate levels are determined by description of program from Campgaw Mountain. Campgaw Mountain will have a rental fitting date, allowing renters to try on equipment prior to the start of class. Helmets are included in the rentals and are mandatory by NJ Law. Helmets must be Snow Sport Helmets. Bicycle helmets are not acceptable.
YWCA $50 Basic Membership is required. All registration forms and waivers must be submitted by December 15th. For more information or forms, please visit www.ywcabergencounty.org/LckpH or call the Membership Department at 201-444-5600 ext. 400.
Ridgewood is turning into a powerhouse in Taekwondo
Ridgewood is turning into a powerhouse in Taekwondo thanks to Taekwondo All In, an instructional school for the Korean martial art. The most recent case in point: The students of Taekwondo All In made a strong showing at the 2014 Garden State Cup on November 2, earning 47 medals, along with an award for best school and instructor.
The Tournament was segmented into sparring, forms and breaking. The categories are further separated by level (belt) and age. There were close to 500 participants, all New Jersey residents.
The details of the results from the Tournaments are as follows:
Lucas Woods and Alex Han each earned three Gold medals in the categories of breaking, form, and sparring. Tony An earned two Gold medals in form and breaking and a Silver medal in sparring. Brandon Son and Liam Woods each earned Gold medals in sparring and breaking and a Silver medal in form. Lucas Wang and Yeongyu Lee each earned two Gold medals in form and sparring and a Silver medal in breaking. Arjun Narang earned Gold medals in breaking and sparring and one Bronze medal in form. Jimin Kong earned two Gold medals in form and breaking. Connor Park earned a Gold medal in sparring and two Silver medals in form and breaking. Kevin Park earned a Gold medal in form and two Silver medals in sparring and breaking. Justin Wang earned a Gold medal in sparring, Silver medal in form and a Bronze medal in breaking. Connor Rojas earned a Gold medal in sparring, a Silver in breaking, and a Bronze medal in form. Louise Kim and Samuel Kang each earned a Gold medal in form and Bronze medals in breaking. Abhishek Narang earned three Silver medals in form, sparring and breaking. Michelle Chung earned 1 Silver in breaking and one Bronze in form.
The head coach Youngmin Kim commented “The result is a culmination of hours of dedication and sacrifice for our kids and their parents. I am very proud of our team.”
For Taekwondo All In, excelling at tournaments has become a pattern as the team surged at the US Nationals earlier this year (ranked second of all New Jersey based teams) and last year’s NJ Governor’s Cup. Next major test will be the Pan Am Open International Championships, which will take place in December in Oregon, in which six of Taekwondo All In students are scheduled to compete.
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and since 2000, it has been an Olympic sport. Taekwondo All In, located in downtown Ridgewood, started in 2012 by the head coach Youngmin Kim with the primarily focus of educating children, mostly Ridgewood residents, on the martial art.
Workers from Downes Tree Service place Ridgewood’s Christmas tree at the intersection of East Ridgewood Avenue and South Broad Street.
Ridgewood Christmas tree honors fallen Waldwick police officer
DECEMBER 4, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014, 2:09 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood’s Christmas tree will be lit this Friday at 8 p.m., as tradition dictates.
Adding to the tradition this year is a particularly special, and seasonally appropriate, gesture.
The tree was taken from the Midland Park home of the uncle and aunt of Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell, who was 32 years old and engaged to be married when he lost his life this past summer in a tragic car accident while he was on the job.
The tree is meant to honor the beloved police officer, ringing in the true meaning of the season.
In the same spirit, the Goodell family has been invited by the village to help light the tree on Friday night.
DECEMBER 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Shopping local and shopping online aren’t the enemies they once were perceived to be during the holidays.
Not since village mom-and-pop stores have harvested the power of online social media, in addition to their tried-and-true, customizable in-person service.
In Ridgewood and beyond, a Facebook page is now considered almost a basic necessity for owning a small business, in addition to or instead of a website. “Friends,” plus “followers” on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest have become the year-round best friends of many of the village’s small shops.
And they are naturally expected to help out during the winter shopping season, too.
“Absolutely,” said Marcia’s Attic salesperson Dana Miller, when asked whether the shop – which has been in Ridgewood for about 20 years, and is also in Englewood – was using social media.
Mysterious Statue Hidden for Decades Set to make Reappearance at Village Hall
December 4,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Authorize Expenditure of Funds for and Placement of Federrici
Sculpture at Village Hall ( $2,500.) plus.
Where did this come from?Where is this statue now? How long have we owned it? What is the statue of? Where is it going to place in or on Village Hall grounds? Is Village Hall going to be the surrogate Arts Center that our Mayor
promised during his re election?
After several decades of being hidden from public view a Village owned Federrici Sculpture will be placed on front lawn near flag pole at Village Hall (secured in place there).
Sources tell the Ridgewood blog that the statue has been in storage at a location that is being kept under wraps to prevent item from being vandalized or stolen (reportedly it’s worth a fortune).
Sources also tell us that the Village has owned it for over 50 years and it was formerly installed at the old fire house on Hudson Street. The statue was taken down when building was demolished in 1990’s and placed in storage.
We know a photo was held up at the Council meeting last night, but I was too far away to see it.
We also know that the Ridgewood News attempted to get a photo today but was unable to.
The council does not want anyone to know where it is because they think it will be vandalized or stolen to which a tax payer has suggested it be moved inside somewhere, but so far the council has not heeded this lowly taxpayer.
Sources say the Library’s Ridgewood History room has a photo when it was mounted on the old Village Hall.
Federici, Gaetano
b. 1880
d. 1964
By Joseph D. McCaffrey
Star-Ledger Staff
March 14, 1997
In front of St. John’s Cathedral in Paterson stands a statue of Irish priest Dean William McNulty, comforting a barefoot orphan boy. The statue, completed in 1923, has come to symbolize nationally the pastoral role of priests in a working-class city like Paterson. It is also one of the best-known works of sculptor Gaetano Federici, whose outdoor sculptures abound in Paterson and other parts of North Jersey.
Federici died in 1964, at the age of 84, leaving a legacy of hundreds of public works.
Shortly after Federici died, his studio collection was sold by his family to an old friend and admirer, Clifton contractor John Saveriana. The studio collection includes models for some of Federici’s more famous statues, including Father McNulty, and for a World War I memorial in Paterson.
In 1978 Saveriana sold the items to Joseph Randazzo, a collector. Four years ago, Randazzo decided to sell all 215 pieces, and got in touch with an art auctioneer. A group of Paterson residents formed the Federici Collection Inc. in the hope of acquiring the collection. The Martini Foundation bought it on their behalf.
Federici, Paterson’s unofficial “sculptor laureate,” was one of New Jersey’s few native sculptors, according to one expert, and an extraordinarily prolific one. The Encyclopedia of American Biography in 1966 called Federici “an outstanding American sculptor . . . who won international acclaim for his work.”
According to Meredith Bzdak, New Jersey coordinator for a project called Save Outdoor Sculpture, Federici’s Collection is well worth saving. His works, she said, “are of great significance to us as a state in understanding our historical past.”
At least 40 of Federici’s major statues are within two miles of Paterson’s City Hall. Federici’s sculptures also are found in Cuba, New York, Hollywood, and in churches and cemeteries throughout the region. Bzdak said the studio collection represents the majority of Federici’s life work. “I feel the studio collection should remain intact – because it is one of the only collections of its kind. And because of the significance of Federici to us,” she said.
Fiorina said she remembered her grandfather as always at work in his studio. She has family snapshots of him, a short, sprightly man with a carefully trimmed goatee and a beret. The pictures are of a grandfatherly figure smiling warmly into the camera while working on huge figures in his studio.
Gaetano Federici was born in Castelgrande, Italy, in 1880. In 1887, he and his mother left their mountainous village to join his father, Antonio, in Paterson. Antonio Federici was a stone mason who had become a successful contractor in the booming industrial city.
Federici showed artistic promise as a Paterson High School student. By that time, his father could afford to allow the boy to get artistic training. As a young man Federici was apprenticed to some of the leading sculptors of his time. He studied in New York with the Art Students League.
According to Bzdak, Federici was trained in the academic tradition and would never stray far from it. Experts called him a conservative sculptor: While European sculptors were doing avant-garde work, Federici stayed with classical themes. He was painstaking in his attention to detail, yet always attempted to capture the personality of the subject.
DECEMBER 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Enclave developer to hold open house
The development team proposing the Enclave upscale apartment building on Maple Avenue between East Ridgewood and Franklin avenues will host an open house beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 257 E. Ridgewood Ave.
The meeting is open to all village residents.
Developers for the 52-unit Enclave complex, as well as those proposing the Chestnut Village and the Dayton luxury housing projects, are seeking an amendment to the Ridgewood master plan that would permit high-density, multifamily housing in and around the Central Business District.
The master plan application is currently in the public hearing process before the Planning Board.
Jack Lorenz, former Ridgewood principal, remembered as ‘agent of change’
December 4, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 1:40 PM
By By Jodi Weinberger
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News
At the celebration of the Learning Commons last month, when the lengthy project to upgrade the high school’s library was deemed complete, Jack Lorenz was smiling from his home in Alabama.
“It was his vision and his dream,” said Tina Telesco, a parent involved with the Home and School Association (HSA). “When we called him for the ribbon cutting, he actually cried on the phone. He was pretty sick at the time and he said ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’
“So many other principals and leaders are so worried about their image and the politics and everything,” Telesco continued. “Jack’s only care in the world was about the students.”
Lorenz, the beloved principal who served Ridgewood High School from 2006-2011, died Saturday. He was 69. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and sons, Jake and Matthew.
To say that students and parents in Ridgewood loved Lorenz would only be telling half the story; Lorenz was an educator who truly loved the community back.
David Zrike first met Lorenz about four years ago when he was driving by a high school Sweet 16 party where many teens were being arrested for drinking.
“It was sickening, so I decided to call him to see if there was something we could do to stop that trend,” Zrike recalled. “Within 10 minutes he called me back, he asked for me to come meet him, and from there we established Backwoods.”
In 2 Charts: Why the ‘War on Poverty’ Should Be Renamed the ‘War on Marriage’
Kelsey Harris / @KelsRenHar / December 03, 2014
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.” Sort of.
I grew up singing the “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” jingle with my elementary school friends during recess. Now many of those same friends have the baby in the baby carriage and a boyfriend. They aren’t alone.
>>>REPORT: How Welfare Undermines Marriage
According to research by Robert Rector, an expert in welfare at the Heritage Foundation, more than 40 percent of all children born in the U.S. were born outside of marriage in 2013, and the number of single-parent families with children has skyrocketed by nearly 10 million.
Rector explains how the War on Poverty undermined marriage:
It is no accident that the collapse of marriage in America largely began with the War on Poverty and the proliferation of means-tested welfare programs that it fostered. When the War on Poverty began, only a single welfare program—Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)—assisted single parents. Today, dozens of programs provide benefits to families with children, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, child nutrition programs, public housing and Section 8 housing, and Medicaid. Although married couples with children can also receive aid through these programs, the overwhelming majority of assistance to families with children goes to single-parent households.
These charts breakdown exactly how much marriage and childbearing has changed since 1964.
