Author: James

Local real estate conditions are changing and your Market Insider provides valuable, up-to-date information about the communities important to you. View critical information about what is happening now, so you can be a “Market Insider”!

Price Trends – Sold vs. Listed
The median list price in November for single family homes in Ridgewood is $774,900. The list prices increased by 4.85% from the previous month.
The price per square foot for listings in this area is $269.
The median sale price in August for single family homes is $600,000. The sale prices dropped by -4.38% from the previous month.

Buying or selling a home involves many factors. Stay on top of current community trends by viewing these listing and sale prices, demographics, school performance, area comparisons, and more. Of course, you can always call or email for help understanding what this information really means for you.

Ridgewood  $765,380 Median Listing Price ,61 Median Days on Market ,158 Active Listings,1.3% Distressed Listings (foreclosures and short sales)

Michael Fidanza

The Nuber Team
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Office phone: 201.445.4300 x 307
Cell / Text: 201.248.6605
Email: [email protected]
Website: YourNorthJerseyHome.com

 

Shop Small on Saturday, November 24th 2012
by Karen Mills, SBA Administrator

In between the Black Friday sales and the Cyber Monday deals is Small Business Saturday (November 24th) – a day set aside to support the small businesses that play a vital role in creating jobs and economic opportunities all across the country.

Small businesses are the back bone of our communities. And when we shop small, we not only get great products and services, but we support our neighbors and strengthen our local economies.

Over the last two decades, small and new businesses have been responsible for creating two out of every three net new jobs in the U.S., and today over half of all working Americans own or work for a small business.

Last year, Small Business Saturday gave a boost to many of these Main Street businesses, with more than 100 million Americans shopping at independently-owned small businesses. And this year we can do even better!

So what can you do to participate?

If you are a business owner, you can receive free Small Business Saturday promotional materials at www.shopsmall.com. You can also make sure you’re prepared for the holiday season by checking out SBA’s advice at www.sba.gov/saturday.
If you are a customer, learn which businesses in your community are participating in Small Business Saturday at www.shopsmall.com.  The website provides information on businesses currently registered and how you can rally your community to support the initiative.

By shopping small, we can help America’s small businesses do what they do best: grow their businesses, create good jobs, and ensure that our communities are vibrant.

I encourage you to join small business owners and the more than one hundred million people who were part of Small Business Saturday last year.

Help Write History!

The Bolger Heritage Center of the Ridgewood Public Library would like to add your Ridgewood experience of Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath to our Archive. What were your experiences during the Hurricane? Did you lose power? How did you manage? What did you do for fun? How did friends and neighbors help? Please share what you witnessed and experienced, through photos and words, on the Bolger Heritage Center Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bolger-Heritage-Center-Ridgewood-Public-Library/279348035520307?fref=ts

Or email stories and images to [email protected]. We can accept Word documents, pdfs and jpegs.

The Bolger Heritage Center keeps an Archive of Ridgewood History, and our oldest item is from 1698. Thank you for your contributions!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bolger-Heritage-Center-Ridgewood-Public-Library/279348035520307

Ridgewood Police Department and PBA local 20 with Bogg Bag pitch in to help the cleanup and recovery effort at the Jersey Shore.
November 23,2012

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood PBA has teamed up with Kim Vaccarella the creator of “Bogg Bag” – a beach bag created on and for the love of the Jersey Shore. The Vacarella’s have donated over 800 Bogg Bags, which are perfect for the elements the homeowners are facing since they are large, sturdy, tip-proof, waterproof, antimicrobial and washable. Local drives have been held to collect cleaning supplies, masks, cough drops, gloves, hand warmers, bleach, flashlights, batteries, paper towels, wipes, rags and more. The Home Depot also donated masks and gloves.

Today we are handing out the Bogg Bags and allowing the residents to take supplies as they enter their homes this weekend. The Ridgewood PBA has made a financial donation to offset the cost of shipping the bags from Seattle to the Jersey Shore. Members of the Ridgewood Police Department have donated their time to help unload the tractor-trailer full of the bags. After unloading the truck earlier this week they took the pallets the bags were on, broke them up and delivered them to the local Police Officers manning the checkpoints for use in their burning barrels which they are using to keep warm. We have spoken with several local Police Officers, some who have lost their own homes and they appreciate our support. The bags are being distributed in Ortley Beach today, Saturday and Sunday on 6th Avenue and Route 35 South near the (First Aid Building). For more information you can visit the Bogg Bag FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ridgewood-Police-Department/273366552726385?fref=ts

Bogg Bag for the beaches
Bogg bag has partnered up with family, friends, local businesses and corporations to bring over 800 bogg bags filled with basic necessities to those people affected at the beaches. Bogg bags will be filled with rubber gloves, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, paper goods, hand sanitizer and more….

https://www.facebook.com/boggbag

Governor Chris Christie estimates damage from Sandy costing at $29.4B
November 23,2012
the staff of the ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj ,Governor Chris Christie estimates it will cost an estimated $29.4 billion to pay for all of the damage that superstorm Sandy caused across the state . This figure includes making up for revenues lost by businesses and rebuilding the state’s transportation and utility systems. This comes after New York state officials estimated the storm’s damage there at $33 billion.

In a statement Christie issued late Friday the Governor said he plans to press the federal government for funds to help pay for the losses .“I stand ready to work with our congressional delegation and the Obama administration to get the funding support New Jersey expects and deserves in the aftermath of this catastrophe,”

Christie also said the storm’s impact on the state’s $38 billion-a-year tourism industry was still being measured and that the cost estimate is “preliminary,” and may increase “in the weeks ahead.

Christie has said he expects Sandy to be the second-most expensive storm in U.S. history, ranking just behind Hurricane Katrina, which caused $81 billion in damage in 2005. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday an estimate for Sandy’s total cost in all of the states affected was not yet available.

Not so fast on removal of meters
Friday, November 23, 2012
The Ridgewood News
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/180560451_Letter__Not_so_fast_on_removal_of_meters.html

Not so fast on removal of meters

The following letter was also sent to the Ridgewood mayor and council.

To the editor:

I am writing in response to the article in the Nov. 16 edition of The Ridgewood News titled “Meters on their way out?” (Page A1). This rebuttal is an opinion of mine as a shop owner, not as president of The Ridgewood Guild.

A more in-depth study needs to be conducted before it is decided to remove the parking meters within the CBD. Free street parking does not necessarily mean ample parking for customers. In my opinion, it gives the opportunity for commuters to park free of charge on the street the entire day. Streets such as North Broad, South Broad and Chestnut would be filled with commuters taking up much needed consumer parking.

Who wouldn’t choose to park free on the street instead of paying $12 a day for a commuter lot? I’m sure many commuters would walk three or four blocks to the train station if we offered free street parking, thus infringing on consumer parking spaces. Not to mention the shop and restaurant employees who would take advantage of this. Employees parking on the street are already a problem. I watch employees feeding the street meters all day long to prevent being ticketed.

Furthermore, all towns comparable to Ridgewood have metered parking. Montclair, Englewood, Westfield, etc. We cannot compare ourselves to adjacent towns who are a fraction of the size of Ridgewood. A more viable solution to the ticketing problem would be to raise the time span on the meters. If the meters had a three- or four-hour limit, our customers would spend more time shopping, dining and using our professional services with less worries about getting ticketed.

If we are going to promote ourselves as a shopping and dining haven, we need to be more “customer friendly.” We have frustrated enough locals and non-residents throughout the years, myself included. We are giving our customers the option of shopping in Woodcliff Lake and/or the many nearby malls where parking is free and ample. It is time to bring their business back to town so that we can all make a decent living and see the town thrive again.

Tony Damiano

Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/180560451_Letter__Not_so_fast_on_removal_of_meters.html

Sandy Seen Boosting U.S. With as Much as $240 Billion Rebuilding

John Cataneo is working his 20 employees overtime and still can’t keep up with demand from customers who need plumbing repaired after Superstorm Sandy. He says he’s hired two new workers and may need more.

“We’re just not getting to some people that are asking for help,” said Cataneo, co-owner of Gateway Plumbing & Heating in Manhattan. “But we’re doing the best we can.” (Kearns, Park & Buhayar/Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-23/sandy-seen-boosting-u-s-with-as-much-as-240-billion-rebuilding.html

Holiday Children’s Show – December 27

Come Enjoy a Children’s Show

“Marcia the Musical Moose”

The Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department has invited Marcia the Musical Moose to entertain preschool and early elementary children during the holiday recess, Thursday, December 27th, 11a.m. The show will be held in the Anne Zusy Youth Center, 131 North Maple Avenue.

In a nutshell (as Marcia’s friend Sally the Squirrel puts it), this variety show is filled with audience participation and includes music, sing-a-longs, silly magic, and puppets. You won’t want to miss it!

Tickets are $5.00 (ages 2 and up). As space is limited, it is suggested they be purchased in advance at the Recreation office at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue, weekdays between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

For additional information kindly contact the Recreation office at 201-670-5560.

Misreading the Fiscal Cliff

You can’t hike taxes on the rich enough to balance the budget
by Michael D. Tanner

This article appeared on National Review (Online) on November 21, 2012.

The fiscal cliff is now less than six weeks away. Negotiators are reportedly locked away behind closed doors working on a grand bargain to avoid the tax hikes and spending cuts that will hit on January 1. Most of the debate so far has centered on how best to raise taxes on the wealthy: whether to increase tax rates, as the president demands, or eliminate deductions and loopholes, as some Republicans seem to be open to considering. Unfortunately, these priorities are almost entirely upside down.

Therefore, let me offer some unsolicited advice for the negotiators:

You can’t hike taxes on the rich enough to balance the budget. President Obama has called for $1.6 trillion in tax hikes over the next ten years. While that is large enough to do serious damage to the economy, it would amount to just 16 percent of the combined deficits that we are projected to face over that period. In fact, the president’s proposed tax hike doesn’t even cover the $2.6 trillion in spending increases that he has called for over the next ten years. Obamacare alone will add $2.15 trillion in federal spending by 2022.

Worse, none of this accounts for the rapidly accumulating unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare. Washington tends to focus on our $1.1 trillion budget deficit or our $16.2 trillion national debt, but our real debt, including those unfunded liabilities, is somewhere between $78.5 and $128.2 trillion. As I have pointed out before, you could confiscate — not tax but confiscate — every penny belonging to every millionaire and billionaire in America, and still not have anywhere near enough money to pay for all that we owe.

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/misreading-fiscal-cliff

https://www.labottegaridgewoodnj.com/

Restaurant review: La Bottega
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2012
By ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT REVIEWER

The casual cafés that make up the La Bottega chain are tailor-made for shopping towns with foot traffic, offering people a place to set down their bags and, over a light meal, enjoy a respite from walking.

So Ridgewood was a logical choice to open the first La Bottega in New Jersey, says owner Frank DiMaiuta, who is eyeing Englewood as another possibility. His goal: to offer laidback dining, much of it aimed at women — a place “where people can come in and have a nice panini, a salad, get something light and fresh and not really be worried about, ‘Oh, I’m going to a fancy restaurant.’ ”

Therein lies the allure of this small, classy spot that opened on Oak Street last spring, offering simple, upscale fare for eat-in, takeout or delivery. Its menu is so enormous that a waitress came over to offer a tour when she saw us reading quizzically. And that’s the other thing — the service here may not be formal, but it’s more welcoming and attentive than I’ve experienced at many pricier restaurants in the village.

https://www.northjersey.com/food_dining/180562351_Restaurant_review__La_Bottega.html

femmebotclothing.com

Black Friday Sale at Femmebot!
Fri, November 23, 2012 – Mon, November 26, 2012
Time: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Femmbot Clothing, 203 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450

Femmebot is offering 20% off all merchandise and 50% off of all sale merchandise for BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND.
Nov. 23-Nov.24
Friday 9:00am-9:00pm
Saturday 10:00am-7:00pm