Category: Bergen County

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Big bet on Dream project; risk, reward weighed on $1B bond sale

xanadu

SEPTEMBER 5, 2015, 10:58 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015, 12:16 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG, LINDA MOSS AND JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

What does it take for a developer to borrow a billion dollars to build a mall in New Jersey?

It takes winning over people like Lyle Fitterer, an investor in Menomonee Falls, Wis., who controls $17.5 billion in other people’s money. He invests only in government bonds, including the type that Triple Five, a Canada-based conglomerate, expects to sell soon to complete American Dream, the long-stalled shopping and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.

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So what does Fitterer think of American Dream? Well, it’s complicated.

Demand for such high-risk, high-profit bonds is stronger now than it was two years ago, when Triple Five first received government support for a bond sale, Fitterer said, but the market remains weak. Whereas the original deal offered only tax-free bonds, the revised proposal includes both taxable and tax-free bonds, a mix that he said will broaden the pool of potential investors.

But because the bonds are not backed by taxpayers in New Jersey or the borough of East Rutherford, where the project sits, Fitterer would avoid losing money on the deal only if American Dream succeeds.

And since few have ever attempted a project quite like American Dream, that makes Fitterer and many of his deep-pocketed peers nervous.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/big-bet-on-dream-project-risk-reward-weighed-on-1b-bond-sale-1.1404658

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Tedesco calls for explanation after report details assaults by patients at Bergen Regional

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SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 5:14 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 5:22 PM
BY TODD SOUTH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

One day after a federal report showed workers at Bergen Regional Medical Center had faced waves of assaults by patients, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco called for the county-owned hospital’s private management company to immediately explain the incidents and present a plan to fix the safety problems.

In a statement released Friday, Tedesco said he’d contacted the hospital and was scheduling a meeting with its management staff.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration findings, released Thursday, detailed cases in which at least eight hospital employees were attacked this year by patients.

As a result of the citations listed in the OSHA report the agency has recommended a $13,600 fine.

Patients had barricaded employees in rooms, punched a lab technician who was trying to draw blood, kicked and bitten a security guard and pushed a nurse to the floor while the nurse intervened during one patient’s attack on another patient, according to the report.

The hospital has been run for the past 15 years by a private management company through a contract with the Bergen County Improvement Authority, according to Tedesco’s release. The company’s contract expires in March 2017.

Tedesco said he was “alarmed” at the OSHA citations of the “private management company for failing to protect the hospital’s employees.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/tedesco-calls-for-explanation-after-report-details-assaults-by-patients-at-bergen-regional-1.1404133

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Pilot in Cresskill crash bypassed fields with kids to find safe spot to land

cresskill plane crash

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 10:07 AM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015, 12:26 AM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The pilot who crash-landed a small plane into a Cresskill recreational field desperately searched for a safe place to land, passing by two other fields because they were filled with people before he finally made a dead-engine touchdown behind a local swim club, authorities said.

The pilot, Jack Rosenberg of Spring Valley, N.Y., and Erik Pearson were on a routine patrol for the Coast Guard Auxiliary over the Hudson River when the engine faltered.

When Rosenberg couldn’t make it to Teterboro Airport with his sputtering engine, he tried to make an emergency landing in Tenafly but decided against that because the field was full of people, Cresskill Police Chief Ed Wrixon said.

After finding a Cresskill baseball field occupied, the pilot crashed near Regan Field behind the Cresskill Swim Club late Thursday afternoon just hours before youth sports teams were due to practice.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ntsb-preliminary-investigation-blames-cresskill-plane-crash-on-mechanical-problems-1.1404010

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Small plane crash-lands in Bergen County, 2 seriously hurt

cresskill plane crash

A small plane crashed in Cresskill on Sept. 3, 2015, officials said (Courtesy of Marcelo DeMoraes)
By Noah Cohen | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on September 03, 2015 at 5:11 PM, updated September 03, 2015 at 9:21 PM

A small plane crashed in Cresskill on Sept. 3, 2015, officials said (Courtesy of Marcelo DeMoraes)
By Noah Cohen | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on September 03, 2015 at 5:11 PM, updated September 03, 2015 at 9:21 PM

CRESSKILL – A small plane on a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary patrol crash-landed in the borough late Thursday afternoon, leaving two people seriously injured, officials said.

The crash was reported near the Cresskill Swim Club, not far from an athletic field.

The plane was occupied by two people who were on a routine patrol of the Hudson River, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said Thursday. Auxiliary members are volunteers working on behalf of the Coast Guard, the spokeswoman added.

Officials confirmed that two people on the Cessna suffered serious injuries and were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Further information on their conditions was not immediately released.

Both occupants of the plane were alert and conscious when first responders arrived, according to Bergen County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Anthony Cureton.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said it received reports that a Cessna 172 aircraft “landed in trees” around 5 p.m. FAA officials did not immediately release details on the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the agency would investigate the crash.

 

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2015/09/small_plane_crash_lands_in_bergen_county_reports_say.html

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2 Vehicles Sent Crashing Into Paramus Wendy’s After Collision

paramus wendys

photo from CBS News

SUV Crashed Into Same Wendy’s In June

September 3, 2015 11:18 PM

PARAMUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Two vehicles crashed into each other, and then both slammed into a Wendy’s in Paramus, New Jersey late Thursday.

As CBS2’s Tony Aiello reported, the very same restaurant was also hit by a car back in June.

Workers late Thursday night were examining a support beam put in place to shore up the damaged restaurant, after the minivan and car crashed into it.

The drivers were both headed east on Route 4 near the Paramus Road exit just before 5 p.m. Thursday – on of them behind the wheel of a car, the other a minivan, Paramus police said.

Witnesses said the driver of the red Toyota Corolla was trying to get into the Wendy’s parking lot when it cut off the minivan, sending them both into the Wendy’s at 190 Highway 4, police told 1010 WINS.

Photos showed both vehicles jumped the curb and the minivan ended up inside the Wendy’s.

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/09/03/paramus-wendys-crash/

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Ridgewood Water Stage 4 Water Restrictions Now In force

B3HXXR

Ridgewood Water – STAGE 4 WATER RESTRICTIONS

Dear E-Notice Resident,

Due to the very dry conditions that we have experienced over the last few months, we have deemed it necessary to invoke a Stage 4 irrigation ban. Beginning immediately, there will be no irrigation allowed other than using hand-held spray nozzles – these hand-helds can only be used on Tuesdays and Saturdays for odd-numbered houses and Wednesdays and Sundays for even-numbered houses. No irrigation of any kind is allowed on Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of obeying these restrictions – this is a public safety issue – our firefighters need to have the necessary water and water pressure to be able to fight fires and we also need to maintain reserves for household use.

As you are aware we have ratcheted up enforcement over the last several weeks issuing over 50 summonses and hundreds of warnings. This has had some impact but unfortunately we need to take this further – so, I have taken the additional step of appointing more Village employees who will have the authority to issue summonses in order to achieve a higher rate of compliance.

We will continually monitor our water supply. Hopefully we will not need to also ban hand-held watering but this may still be a possibility…..let’s hope for some rain! For up-to-the-minute restriction status, please visit our website at water.ridgewoodnj.net.

It really does take all of us to address these types of problems. Thanks for your help and support,

Roberta

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Glen Rock council to vote on S-2 zone , multi family high density housing

glen_rock_theridgewoodblog

Glen Rock council to vote on S-2 zone , multi family high density housing

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY RICHARD DE SANTA
STAFF WRITER |
GLEN ROCK GAZETTE

With a final vote on a new age-restricted housing zone in Glen Rock now pushed to Sept. 16, the measure and its purpose were again challenged at the Wednesday, Aug. 26 Borough Council meeting.

Resident and attorney Ron D’Argenio ramped up his public opposition to the pending “S-2” zone ordinance, arguing that the existing zone for multiple-unit senior housing (S-1) is sufficient and saying the new one was conceived and advanced chiefly to accommodate an individual developer’s plan.

Disagreeing with building regulations to be permitted in the new zone, D’Argenio had also assailed the council at an Aug. 10 work session for recently “downplaying” what he called obvious links between the S-2 ordinance and a senior citizen apartment development planned by Glen Park Village LLC – and calling that stance “intellectual dishonesty” and “deception.”

He also criticized the absence of public council conversation around the project or the zoning question, over the period when the borough Planning Board was drafting the S-2 ordinance for its consideration earlier this year.

Mayor John van Keuren and Councilwoman Joan Orseck are also Planning Board members.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/vote-on-s-2-zone-planned-1.1403732

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Glen Rock to ramp up enforcement of water restrictions

glen_rock_theridgewoodblog

SEPTEMBER 2, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015, 2:41 PM
BY RICHARD DE SANTA
STAFF WRITER |
GLEN ROCK GAZETTE

Mayor John van Keuren has directed Glen Rock police to begin issuing warnings and subsequent summonses to property owners who do not observe the current Stage 2 watering restrictions imposed last month by Ridgewood Water.

The village-owned utility supplies Ridgewood, Midland Park and Wyckoff in addition to Glen Rock. .

In effect since Aug. 6, the restriction prohibits the use of above and below-ground water sprinkler systems at all properties on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Property owners with odd-numbered addresses are permitted to use the systems on Tuesdays and Saturdays only, while those with even-numbered addresses can irrigate lawns on Wednesdays and Sundays.

There is no restriction against the use of hand-held hoses at any time.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/glen-rock-to-ramp-up-enforcement-of-water-restrictions-1.1402398

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Suspicious Package found in the parking lot of the HoHoKus Police Department

ho ho kus bomb squad
photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

Suspicious Package  found in the parking lot of the HoHoKus Police Department

September 2,2015

the staff of the Ridegwood blog

Ho Ho Kus NJ, At approximately 9:45 PM on Wednesday, 09/02, a suspicious package was found in the parking lot of the HoHoKus Police Department, which occupies a portion of the HoHoKus Borough Hall along with HoHoKus FD and EMS. As a precaution, the entire building, including fire all fire apparatus and ambulances, was evacuated; all on-duty FD and EMS volunteers stood by at the scene.

The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad unit, including a explosive detection canine, was summoned to the location. All incoming telephone traffic to HoHoKus PD was rerouted to Waldwick PD and portions of Sheridan, Warren, and Sycamore Avenues were closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The package was inspected and examined by Bomb Squad personnel and determined not to be explosive in nature. The scene was cleared by 11:05 PM.

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Driver Transported to Valley Hospital after collision with Utility Pole

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photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

Driver Transported to Valley Hospital after collision with Utility Pole
September 02,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Glen Rock NJ, The adult male driver of a Ford Expedition was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital following an 11:45 AM crash into a utility pole at the intersection of Glen and South Maple Avenues in Glen Rock on Tuesday, 09/01. The victim’s injuries were reported to be non-life threatening in nature. A juvenile female passenger was uninjured in the mishap.

A traffic control sign was downed in the crash; there was minimal damage to the utility pole and no utility service outages resulted from the incident. Glen Rock PD and EMS responded to the crash. The vehicle was removed by a flatbed tow truck. Traffic on Maple Avenue northbound was rerouted at Rodney Street until the scene was cleared.

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Hasbrouck Heights neighbors puzzle over deadly shooting

hasbrouck hieghts police

AUGUST 30, 2015, 9:25 AM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015, 6:43 AM
BY LINDA MOSS, MINJAE PARK AND MARINA VILLENEUVE
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

By Sunday afternoon, only yellow police tape punctured the normalcy of passing traffic and children playing soccer along the usually tranquil Passaic Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights, but neighbors continued to wonder how a verbal dispute had turned deadly a day earlier.

John C. Wisse, an 83-year-old landlord and former Bergen County employee, was charged with aggravated manslaughter in the shooting of Gerald Velardi Jr., his 58-year-old tenant at the two-story home at 1 Passaic Ave. that the men shared, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said on Twitter.

Details about the two men and what prompted the disagreement that authorities say spiraled out of control remained unclear Sunday, but one neighbor described tension between the men over Wisse’s potential sale of the home, and Wisse’s ex-wife depicted a short-tempered man prone to physical violence.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/hasbrouck-heights-neighbors-puzzle-over-deadly-shooting-1.1401025

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Glen Rock council discusses police matters in closed-door meeting

glen_rock_theridgewoodblog

AUGUST 27, 2015, 6:04 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015, 7:28 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

GLEN ROCK — Before a closed-door council meeting last week, in which an investigation into “the general culture within the police department” was being discussed, the borough served its top two police officers with written notices that matters related to their jobs would be discussed, officials said.

Glen Rock Mayor John van Keuren and the borough’s attorney, Robert Garibaldi, both confirmed Wednesday that before the Aug. 17 meeting what are known as Rice notices were supplied to Chief of Police Frederick Stahman and his second-in-command, Capt. Jonathan Miller.

The notices, Garibaldi said, were issued “as a matter of practice,” provided “sensitive” discussions were scheduled for the private meeting and the names of both veteran officers “were going to be mentioned.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/glen-rock-council-discusses-police-matters-in-closed-door-meeting-1.1399687

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N.J. courses on the list as The Barclays announces future sites

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AUGUST 25, 2015, 12:31 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015, 12:41 PM
BY ANDY VASQUEZ
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

EDISON — The Barclays will be spending a lot of time in New Jersey over the coming years.

The PGA Tour tournament, which changes sites each year, is being played at Plainfield Country Club in Edison this week. Tuesday morning, tournament officials unveiled the future rotation through 2022.

In the next seven years, the Barclays will be played in Jersey four times.

After two years on Long Island, the tournament will next be played in New Jersey in 2018, at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus. That begins a  a stretch of three consecutive years in New Jersey.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-courses-on-the-list-as-the-barclays-announces-future-sites-1.1397925

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CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEW INTERACTIVE FLOOD WARNING MAPS OF HO HO KUS BROOK

RHSFfieldflood_theridgewood-blog

file photo by Boyd Loving

CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEW INTERACTIVE FLOOD WARNING MAPS FOR PASSAIC RIVER BASIN 

MAP DETAILS SIX-MILE STRETCH OF RIVER RUNNING THROUGH WALDWICK, HO-HOKUS AND RIDGEWOOD IN BERGEN COUNTY 

Ridgewood NJ, The fourth in a series of online, interactive flood-preparation maps designed to aid emergency management personnel and to inform residents in the Passaic River Basin about flooding events in real time has been launched, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today. The Ho-Ho-Kus Brook Flood Inundation Map, covering a 6-mile span of the river in Bergen County’s Waldwick Borough, Ho-Ho-Kus Borough and Ridgewood, is the fourth map designated for the Passaic River Basin in response to recommendations made by Governor Christie’s Passaic River Basin Advisory Commission.
The map was developed in a partnership between the DEP and U.S. Geological Survey. Fifteen additional maps covering critical areas of the basin will be produced in coming months as part of a cooperative effort between the DEP, USGS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Flood inundation mapping is among the recommendations in the commission’s 15-point plan for short-term and long-term measures to help mitigate flooding impacts in the basin. Governor Christie formed the commission in 2011 in response to a series of damaging floods in the basin, which covers significant portions of Bergen, Morris and Passaic counties.
Key recommendations of the plan called for better information to help prepare for and respond to flooding emergencies. “The Christie Administration remains committed to addressing flooding issues in the Passaic River Basin through mitigation, property acquisitions, de-snagging efforts and emergency preparedness and response,” Commissioner Martin said. “These easy-to-use online maps offer real-time information to residents about conditions during significant rainfalls and will assist local, state and federal officials in making critical decision to protect the public in the event of flooding.” “This flood preparedness tool highlights how our agencies and local officials are working together to create more resilient communities, and to provide better flood preparedness and responses to flooding,” added USGS Associate Director for Water Bill Werkheiser.
In addition to this latest map, flood inundation maps are being developed for Lodi, Ridgewood and Upper Saddle River along the Saddle River; for Little Falls, Pine Brook, Chatham, Millington and Clifton along the Passaic River. Maps are also being created for Pompton Lakes, Mahwah and Oakland along the Wanaque River; for two locations in Wanaque along the Wanaque River; for Pompton Plains along the Pompton River; for Riverdale and the Macopin Intake Dam along the Pequannock River; and for Little Falls along the Peckman River. Previous flood inundation maps were produced for a 2.75-mile reach of the Saddle River in Lodi; a 4.1-mile stretch of the river in Saddle River Borough; and for a 5.4-mile span of the river running downstream from Ho-Ho-Kus Borough through the Village of Ridgewood and Paramus Borough to the confluence with Hohokus Brook in the Village of Ridgewood.
To view the Hohokus Brook map, visit: https://wimcloud.usgs.gov/apps/FIM/FloodInundationMapper.html?siteno=01391000. A click on the map shows the stream flows and water depths for the stretch of the stream that extends from White’s Lake Dam in Waldwick Borough, downstream through Ho-Ho-Kus Borough to Grove Street in the Village of Ridgewood.
Monitoring tools include current stream gauges, which provide real-time data via satellites to the USGS and the National Weather Service. The flood inundation map shows where floodwaters are expected to travel. Emergency management officials and residents can use this information to evaluate the potential threat of floodwaters to property and infrastructure.
Through the website, users will also have the option to receive email notifications in real time of critical thresholds reached in the river via the USGS WaterAlert. To view the Scientific Investigations Report (SIR 2015-5064) documenting the development and methods used to create the flood inundations maps, visit: https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155064 For current conditions for USGS stream gauge 013910000 Hohokus Brook at Ho-Ho-Kus, visit: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=01391000
For information on the Governor’s 15-point Passaic Basin plan and the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission, visit: https://www.nj.gov/dep/passaicriver/
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Garrett tells Wyckoff crowd stopping Iran deal will be tough

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AUGUST 26, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Rep. Scott Garrett told a Tea Party audience in Wyckoff on Tuesday that he opposes the proposed nuclear arms agreement with Iran but said stopping the deal will be difficult under the rules that the Senate has adopted.

Garrett, R-Wantage, said he considers the agreement reached by the Obama administration to be a treaty that ought to require two-thirds approval by the Senate.

But he said a majority of his colleagues still consider it an executive action by the president.

Under the rules adopted, it would require a two-thirds majority of both the Senate and the House to disapprove the deal after a 60-day review period.

“The burden of proof has shifted from them to us,” Garrett said of the rules.

As an executive action, the agreement could be undone by the next president, Garrett said.

“But the problem with that is that the next president will not be here for another 16 or 17 months,” Garrett told a crowd of about 70 people gathered at a forum hosted by the West Bergen Tea Party.

While talk of the Iran deal dominated most of the evening, the mostly receptive audience also peppered Garrett with other questions on topics ranging from the GOP leadership in the House to trade agreements and housing discrimination legislation.

None of the questions dealt with presidential politics or the race for the Republican nomination.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/garrett-says-stopping-iran-deal-will-be-tough-1.1398254