DECEMBER 13, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2014, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD
Picnic on the Square
26 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood; 201-444-4001
* A no-brainer: This is hardly chef/owner Christine Nunn’s first Picnic restaurant. Her first, which opened in Emerson in 2004, primarily as a catering firm, was “successful — people loved the food — but not financially successful,” Nunn said. It closed in 2010. On New Year’s Eve 2012 Nunn launched Picnic, the Restaurant, in Fair Lawn, which diners and critics loved as well – the restaurant received rave reviews, including three out of four stars from The Record — but it too closed, in January 2013. Then Alex Parlamis of Axia Taverna made an offer Nunn could not refuse. “I was lucky enough to have someone ask me if I want to start another Picnic,” she said. Picnic on the Square opened last month.
* The difference: There isn’t much difference between the last Picnic and this Picnic, Nunn said: “It’s the same Riedel wineglasses, same fish forks and knives.” She concedes the 32-seat Picnic on the Square is a bit less formal, “a little less stuffy-looking,” sporting brick walls and huge windows.
DECEMBER 21, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2014, 1:21 AM
WIRE SERVICE
Here’s the good news: Homes are selling. If you’re a seller, now is a good time to put your home on the market, as long as you’re realistic about your price.
Pricing a home correctly means understanding what kind of seller you are. We typically see three kinds: the desperate and anxious who must sell as soon as possible; the “pie-in-the-sky” homeowner with an inflated view of his home’s value; and the realist who understands what the market will bear and is willing to price his home accordingly.
Which seller are you? Before you list your home in 2015, figure that out. Then consider adopting my classic New Year’s resolutions for home sellers:
Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney Pushes for Gas tax Increase for unions ,criticizes Christie
DECEMBER 20, 2014, 11:55 AM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2014, 4:37 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Senate President Steve Sweeney has gone on offense, criticizing Gov. Chris Christie and calling on him to detail his plan for saving the imperiled transportation trust fund. But Sweeney has not said how he would pay for his own ideas.
As the Legislature wraps up the calendar year without a deal to address the fund, Sweeney along with Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Republican Gov. Chris Christie are still working behind the scenes to come to an agreement.
Thus far, Sweeney, the influential southern New Jersey Democrat, has been upfront in expressing what he wants the deal to look like: the fund should be beefed up to $2 billion from $1.26 billion, and money to municipalities should nearly double to $400 million.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Sweeney said his “bottom line” is the inclusion of rail projects in Hudson and Bergen counties, in Camden and Gloucester counties as well as freight rail infrastructure projects in the central part of the state.
“We are not gonna pit regions against each other,” he said. “The needs are great, they’re real and we have to advance them together. Too often it’s like us against them and that’s not how it should be,” Sweeney said.
While he says a tax increase is probable, he has not written or endorsed legislation detailing exactly what that tax would look like.
In part, that’s because talks with Christie and Prieto are still underway and no agreement would be possible without their support, Sweeney said. To publicly embrace a plan to pay for the fund — like an increase in the state’s 10.5 cent gas tax — could scuttle those talks, Christie said in an interview on 101.5 FM last week.
Some schools in North Jersey dropping midterms, finals
DECEMBER 20, 2014, 11:23 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2014, 11:28 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
It looked as if Wayne High School students would miss the equivalent of 30 days of new instruction this year because of tests, trips, assemblies and snow days.
So school officials did something radical; they got rid of midterm and final exams.
“Kids go to school because they enjoy learning; they want to explore and they want to learn about themselves,” said Michael Ben-David, assistant superintendent of Wayne schools. “That doesn’t come from taking [tests] that take up large chunks of the school year.”
Wayne is one of several North Jersey school districts that have dropped midterms and finals, a staple of education for as long as anyone can remember. The motive is partly to regain instruction time as standardized tests take up more days each year. But school officials say they’re also tossing out the traditional, high-stakes exams as they look at the larger issue of how to determine what students have learned.
Acting state Education Commissioner David Hespe said the decision to drop teacher-generated midterms and final exams is innovative and “makes perfect sense for districts.” All school districts in New Jersey, he noted, are already required to give end-of-course exams provided by the state, which could make midterms and finals redundant.
$749,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1429328
154 Claremont Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col
Gina Fierro, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 12/21
20
$1,200,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1442898
269 Lotte Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col
Barbara Nudelman, Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 12/21
25
Open Houses for Sun 12/28
$879,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1442807
442 Wastena Ter, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Col
Till Horkenbach, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 12/28
24
Open Houses for Sun 1/11
$1,360,000 in Ridgewood
MLS # 1445312
221 Bedford Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath, Col
Pam Christian, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 1/11
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.SyywpI7B.D1S5CKWP.dpuf
Reader says Brigadier General Abraham Godwin should be the Patron Saint of this blog
“You have to keep asking yourself PJ , what would Brigadier General Abraham Godwin do? “
Brigadier General Abraham Godwin Monument
E. Ridgewood Avenue and Van Neste Square
Ridgewood Municipal Park
Plaques on the monument tell the story of Brigadier General Abraham Godwin: [5]
“Brigadier General Abraham Godwin – Soldier, Statesman, artist, poet, engraver, musician and gracious host. Born July 16, 1763.
“His career began at the age of thirteen when his brother, David, aged eleven, he left home at Totowa to join Captain Woolverton’s Minute Men with the mother’s consent. The boys were musicians. Abraham playing a fife, David a drum. Their destination was a station at the corner of Partition and Horse and Cart Streets, New York City, now Fulton and William Streets. There the boys saw their father who had been commissioned Captain of Marines aboard the Lady Washington lying in port.
“Abraham went to Fishkill joining his brother, Captain Henry Godwin’s regiment, the Fifth of the Line, January 17, 1777, as a fife major.
“The regiment was ordered to Fort Montgomery to lay the chain across the Hudson River. He was in the Governor’s life guard at Schenectady protecting the frontier at Lake Otsego under General Sullivan during the Finger Lakes campaign and at Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis to Washington.
“After the war he married, settled in Totowa, now Paterson and devoted himself to the fine arts, and the pursuit of civil life; was elected to the Legislature 1803-07; Rose to Rank of Brigadier General New Jersey State Militia in 1814 marched a Company of Paterson volunteers to Sandy Hook was received with great acclaim and worked on the entrenchments; 1828 nominated for Presidential elector on the Jackson ticket.
“January 1st 1829 occurred the great event of interest to this community: its first name was Godwinville in honor of Abraham Godwin. This section covered Paramus, Newtown (Wortendyke) Midland Park, Ridgewood and Glen Rock and was known as Franklin Township.
“Godwin Avenue, formerly Godwinville Road is the only remnant of the honor conferred on him and was much cherished by Abraham Godwin.
“He passed to the greater life 1855.”
Sources:
1. ^ Sign Erected by the Cons. Story Body – Old Paramus Reformed Church 1966
2. ^ The official website of the Old Paramus Reformed Church:www.oldparamus.org/history/history.html
3. ^ Charles Lee, Sir Henry Bunbury The Lee Papers 1754 – 1811/ Volume 3 (1778 – 1782) (New York; New York Historical Society, 1874) pg 30 – 89
Available to be read at Google Books Here
4. ^ Sign placed by the Bergen County Historical Society
5. ^ Text from the plaques on the Abraham Godwin Monument, Erected by the Village of Ridgewood NJ 1951.
FACT : Midland Park Memorial Library hosted its Summer Concert Series, and featured a performance by the Jersey Blues Fife and Drum Corps, celebrating General Godwin Day, honoring Brigadier General Abraham Godwin on July 16.
Not just tolls: E-Z Pass keeping an eye on speeders
Warning to motorists: Don’t speed in the toll lanes. E-Z Pass is watching.
Several states, including New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania, say they monitor speeds through the fast pass toll lanes and will suspend your E-Z Pass for multiple speeding violations.
In all, five of the 15 E-Z Pass states have some kind of rules on the books for breaking the speed limit in the convenience lanes.
“You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass lanes,” says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York State Thruway Authority. “You get a couple of warnings. We don’t have the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z Pass, which we will.”
He and tolling officials in several other states say the issue is the safety of human toll collectors. “At most toll barriers, we have a mix of E-Z Pass lanes and standard toll lanes,” Weiller says.
Ridgewood Police remind Drivers to Drive Sober or get Pulled Over
While your out enjoying a holiday party Ridgewood Police Officers will be out on extra patrol looking for impaired drivers. We would like you to enjoy your party and get home safely. If you intend to consume alcohol please follow our advice.
Take mass transit, a taxi or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
Spend the night rather than get behind the wheel.
Report impaired drivers to law enforcement. In New Jersey, drivers may dial #77 to report a drunk or aggressive driver.
Always buckle up, every ride, regardless of your seating position in the vehicle. It’s your best defense against an impaired driver.
If you’re intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive or escort you to your doorstep
Special Holiday Hours Thursday December 18 10:00AM-8:30PM Friday December 19 10:00AM-7:00PM Saturday December 20 10:00AM-5:30PM Sunday December 21 CLOSED Monday December 22 10:00AM-7:00PM Tuesday December 23 10:00AM-7:00PM Wed. December 24 10:00AM-4:00PM Thursday December 25 CLOSED Friday December 26 CLOSED Saturday December 27 10:00AM-5:30PM
No Ridgewood restaurant screams luxury like the six-month-old Roots Steakhouse.
First, a valet parked my car, a relief on a busy Saturday night. A hostess escorted me into the clubby dining room, which featured dark wood paneling, a stunning engraved ceiling and charming prints of vintage fashions. All around me, well-dressed customers dined on gleaming seafood platters, brawny steaks and towering desserts.
And once my meal began, it was clear that Roots has much to offer, including some excellent red meat and a first-class crabcake. But while Roots has some steaks that are prime and some steaks that are dry-aged, it offers none that are both, which may turn off many steak purists.
State Republicans oppose increase hotel-tax bill Meadowlands
DECEMBER 20, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY DUSTIN RACIOPPI
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
Senate Republicans say that when a bill to overhaul the 14-town Meadowlands district comes to a vote Monday, it won’t have their support.
But their opposition to the measure will be merely symbolic unless they can convince a handful of Democrats to align with them in voting it down.
The proposal to restructure the district’s tax-revenue sharing and meld its two authorities had moved quickly since being introduced last week by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Secaucus. The Assembly passed the bill Thursday night in a late-running session that included lengthy amendment talks and an emergency vote. The Senate halted the pace that night when it would not allow an emergency vote, but instead passed the amendments.
Now the Senate will return Monday for a vote.
Republicans object to the proposal to shift the revenue-sharing burden from some of the district’s well-developed municipalities to its hotels by adding a 3 percent room tax. And although they do not disagree with the idea of consolidating the Meadowlands Commission and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, as of Friday they didn’t know the details of the merger.
When the Senate votes on the bill, Republican leader Tom Kean Jr. said, he doesn’t anticipate any support from the caucus. Because of the last-minute changes made Thursday night requiring an emergency vote, the Senate would not allow a vote on the bill, because, Kean said, it “was literally changing by the minute.”
“They’re still writing it as they’re asking us to vote for it,” said state Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest. “That is not good government.”
Since 1972, the 14-municipality Meadowlands district within Bergen and Hudson counties has operated under a complex formula in which tax revenues generated by development in individual communities is shared.
Each year, communities that have been allowed to more-liberally develop land send tax dollars from those ratables to the communities that are restricted to preserve open space.
In the past several years, though, the formula has become a sore point for local officials, who view it as inequitable and antiquated.
The legislation, sponsored by Prieto, would consolidate the two Meadowlands agencies and add the hotel tax, a move estimated to draw $7 million to $10 million a year. Last year about $7 million was distributed in the district.
Shifting the burden from the municipalities to the hotels would free up tax revenues for local budgets, which have become strained under increased costs and the need to stay within the mandated 2 percent cap on increases in most tax-supported spending. Prieto also said that any money left over would be used for infrastructure improvements, flood control and promoting tourism.
But Cardinale worries about the plan’s long-term sustainability.
“If that 3 percent hotel tax doesn’t produce enough, then what happens? Cardinale said. “If the cash flow doesn’t happen, then the taxpayers in the whole state” will have to make up the difference to fund the district’s costs to operate. For the past two years, Prieto has said, the state budget has either partially or fully funded the district because municipalities could not meet their tax-sharing obligations.
Credit agency: Declining Ticket Income with End of NJ’s red light camera pilot program is a ‘credit negative’ for towns
DECEMBER 19, 2014, 1:15 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014, 3:50 PM
BY MELISSA HAYES
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD
A Wall Street credit ratings agency called the end of the state’s five-year red light traffic ticket pilot program a “credit negative” for preventing local governments from implementing new revenue streams.
The controversial cameras, which allow municipalities to mail tickets to motorists who run red lights, generated millions in revenue for the 25 municipalities that installed them, including several in North Jersey.
Moody’s analyzed the end of the program in its weekly credit outlook report released Friday. The credit ratings agency said the New Jersey legislature could have acted to renew the program, which ended on Tuesday. Moody’s also took issue with New York legislators repealing a law authorizing the use of speed cameras near schools in Nassau County.
The “credit negative” designation is an analysis of an event and differs from a credit downgrade, which could affect the state’s ability to borrow money.
“These developments are credit negative because they further constrain governments’ ability to implement new revenue streams at a time when these governments are facing property tax limits, uneven sales tax growth and anti-tax sentiment,” the weekly credit outlook said.
New York man indicted for allegedly operating a brothel in Paramus
DECEMBER 19, 2014, 5:46 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014, 6:32 PM
THE RECORD
Print
A New York man was indicted this week for allegedly operating a brothel in a residential neighborhood in Paramus.
A grand jury in Hackensack charged Mei Zhi Zheng, 37, of Nanuet, N.Y., with promoting prostitution and transporting or possessing more than $2,000 believed to be derived from criminal activity.
The indictment said he promoted the prostitution of Feng Q. Liu by owning, controlling, managing, supervising or otherwise keeping a house of prostitution at 12 North Farview Ave.
Increased evening traffic to the home by men ranging in age from 20 to 50 prompted neighbors to alert police to the unusual activity. Police began surveillance at the small, pale blue house in August. Several weeks later, local and county detectives visited the brothel posing as johns and were allegedly offered sexual acts at the rate of $160 an hour.
Ridgewood emergency management to streamline alert system
DECEMBER 17, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2014, 9:18 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood will be consolidating its current SwiftReach and limited Nixle communication system into a single, expanded Nixle system.
The village currently uses three different communication platforms, and “the problem with having three different systems … is there’s no consistency over those three databases,” said Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Coordinator Jeremy Kleiman, who recommended consolidation at a Dec. 3 council work session. “The same people might not be getting [certain alerts]. It makes absolutely no sense.”
Currently, Ridgewood communicates via email blasts; the SwiftReach system, an annual contract of Ridgewood Water that provides email, text messaging and emergency notification call services; and the current Nixle system, a free but limited version of the recommended service, with which the OEM sends emails and texts.
The village’s e-notices, SwiftReach and Nixle programs have, respectively, about 3,500, 2,000 and 3,600 email addresses.
Many years ago, a previous council voted to place a sign in front of Village Hall to announce leaf pickups, recycling dates, meetings, etc. There was serious opposition, and some classic and funny letters to the editor of newspapers. The council relocated the sign to the Recycling Center where residents can take a minute to read it. The objections to a sign then are the same as this misguided proposal to place an LED sign in front of Village Hall.
Because people can park in front of Village Hall or the library, there are always cars leaving and arriving in parking spaces, as well as exiting and entering the Village Hall/library lot. With the King’s shopping center and general traffic along Maple, it takes concentration to drive there, especially at night. Now, to add a flashing sign will only add to the distraction.
We have signs all over town announcing leaf pickup schedule and street closings; these are temporary signs but distracting nevertheless. Drivers are distracted enough, between cell phones, people rushing across the streets, poor visibility during storms, etc. We have people being hit by cars, cars hitting poles, cars hitting each other. We don’t need more permanent distractions. Perhaps the council will reconsider this idea before someone is seriously injured.
