A water bottle to hydrate. Headphones to unwind. A journal to escape.
June 11,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood bog
Ridgewood NJ, Cancer survivor Amanda Fredericks stored these essential items and several others inside of a purple, waterproof bag that, in spring 2015, usually remained tucked away in a corner of her home.
But every other Wednesday, Fredericks – who was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer – loaded the bag into her car and headed toward the hospital for chemotherapy treatment.
Her story is, unfortunately, not a new one, but her bag of “necessities” was unique. “I went into chemotherapy scared and unsure of how my body would react” said Fredericks, who spent 16-weeks in chemotherapy before undergoing a bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstructive surgeries. “A dear friend sent me a list of the things that helped her through her battle with cancer. I took that list and created the first ever Necessity Bag that went with me to every chemotherapy appointment – it felt like my little bit of armor against the disease. “
But now, Fredericks is packing Necessity Bags for more than herself. “After my experience, I recommended a similar bag to friends when they were diagnosed with Cancer. The reaction I got was so overwhelmingly positive that I wanted to help more people heal and get through the process. That was when I created the Necessity Bag.”
The bags themselves are washable, tip-proof BOGG bags, which are lightweight and waterproof and come in multiple color options.
Fredericks and business partner, Megan Leto, pack each bag with a cozy blanket, an aluminum water bottle, a journal, a bookmark, headphones, a cotton beanie, soothing essential oils, throat lozenges, hot/cold packs and organic lotion.
The pair is selling the bags online at www.necessitybag.com and plan on donating 20 percent of the revenue to grassroots organizations four times a year.
The bags are intended to be gifts to patients or a gift from patients to themselves.
Ridgewood NJ, Please join Dparz for their Grand Opening on Saturday June 11 at 1 pm 12 S Broad St.
Long gone are the times when shoes were just an accessory. Nowadays, shoes are the focal point, the stars, or should we say the “Dparz,” of every outfit. A sophisticated modern woman can easily put together a “traffic stopping” ensemble around a pair of killer shoes.
Shoes are our world. “Dparz” is an online boutique specializing in high quality, affordable, fashionable footwear; thus enabling the stylish ladies of the 21st century to fulfill their every fashion desire.
We are proud to be the first exclusive distributor in the USA of renowned Brazilian designers such as; Tanara, Raphaella Booz, Capodarte Maythe, and Dumond.
Our shoes are not only beautiful, but made of 100% genuine leather. Good looks and quality in every pair; for what more could a woman ask?
“Dparz” will be opening its’ flagship location in Bergen County NJ shortly.
Ridgewood NJ, This is the Hudson Street lot at 9:20 Friday morning. I do not know how many Village Council meetings I have attended at which members of the Chamber of Commerce stated that this lot is filled to capacity first thing in the morning every morning with commuters and restaurant workers. My crummy little camera does not show the scope of how empty the lot was. Please vote NO on June 21. We might (operative word is “might”) need a small increase in parking, but we certainly do not need the gigantic garage that Aronsohn, Roberta, Hauck and Pucciarelli are continuing to promote in the waning days of their time in “power.”
On June 21, the registered voters in Ridgewood will be asked to vote on the following referendum:
“Shall ordinance No. 3521 submitted by referendum petition providing for the Council of the Village of Ridgewood to issue $11,500,000 bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing the Hudson Street parking deck, be adopted?”
As those who voted for all three of us (Bernadette Walsh, Ramon Hache and me) know, we are in favor of a parking deck on Hudson. It is unclear however, whether this bonded amount addresses funding for the current garage design – Version D. The way this referendum is worded obfuscates this issue. I personally am not in favor of Version D which includes 5 levels/4 stories and; results in a diminution in the width of Hudson St from 3 lanes down to 2 (eliminating parking on the North side of Hudson) – it is just too large and out of character with the surrounding community. A smaller garage (e.g. one level and story less) would be more in keeping with the look/feel of the surrounding buildings and could fit the footprint better without taking away street width. The Financial Advisory Committee which studied all sizes of garage designs found a smaller garage (e.g. 4 levels/3stories) to be financially feasible.
Further, the Hudson Street garage should not be examined in isolation. One of the main purposes of this rather large garage (Version D) is to help satisfy parking issues that would result from high density housing being built at the Brogan and Ken Smith sites. This does not help other issues the downtown faces vis-à-vis parking in other areas of the CBD, traffic, and public safety. In other words, the Hudson St garage addresses a symptom but not the disease.
We as a community need to examine the totality of parking, traffic, and public safety within the CBD (i.e. a more comprehensive plan). A more comprehensive plan should include such issues as additional parking (including the Hudson St garage); possible diagonal parking on reconfigured one way streets in the CBD (which would increase the number of spaces and parking revenues); mobile apps for finding parking; and new lights and signaled crosswalks at some of the major intersections (for improved traffic flow and public safety). The new council should take this up at its earliest convenience and; my guess is it likely will.
I am voting no (to not adopt ordinance No. 3521) on June 21. As a Village, let’s put together something that makes sense, is clear as to what our monies are to be used for, and makes our CBD more user-friendly.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Elks Lodge, a long-standing village foundation established in 1922, has lost its charter recently. Our venture to restructure the lodge has come to an abrupt halt.
We provided countless charitable programs to our community, and many go unnoticed.
The Grand Lodge of Elks came in and took our charter off the wall and changed our locks, with no good reason other than a greedy property grab!
Sadly, our teen Antler volunteer program consisting of 22 youths can no longer function either, through no fault of their own.
We require substantial attorney fees to defend our positions, which we are asking all of our benevolent friends to assist us with.
Any amount donated is very greatly appreciated!
We hope to be back in our building and servicing our community with our wonderful charitable works, but will need your help!
With your kind contributions, we look forward to celebrating with you all on our beloved Fourth of July.
the staff of the Ridgewood with a little help from our friends
Ridgewood NJ ,According to Ridgewood resident Derek Schnure this Another Aronsohn propaganda piece — you’ll see if you drill into the info on the website. VOTE NO!
The word is the video was produced by a company that the son of the Hillman lighting company owns or works for. So there may have been no cost. However, was it filmed when Roberta, Chris, Bob, etc were working? Meaning that they were making this film and reading our mayor’s script when they were supposed to be actually working? Now there’s a cost
Dear Nattering Nobs of Negativity,
Earlier this week, I sent an e-notice reminder to vote in this week’s primary election. I also indicated that on June 21st there would be another election to determine whether or not to finance a parking deck at Hudson Street. There is background information on the website that you may want to consider while making your decision. Here is the link: www.ridgewoodnj.net
Best,
Roberta Sonenfeld Village Manager 201-670-5500, ext. 203
Two bills to drive voter turnout head to a Senate committee hearing after passing the state Assembly earlier this month. The bills, sponsored by Assemblymen Andrew Zwicker (D-16) and Craig Coughlin (D-19) repectively, would allow 17 year-olds to vote during primary season when they will reach the age of majority before the general election and allow voters to become automatically registered to vote when receiving a new driver’s license. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
Once again, we’re given a “take it or leave it”, “all or nothing”, “our way or the highway” choice on an important matter. I’d love a small parking deck at that location but this referendum gives us two choices: 1.) A 5 story garage which will never be full and doesn’t fit on the lot or 2.) Vote NO.
I had held out some hope that after such a decisive election, the outgoing Council majority would have stepped aside on this issue and left it to the new Council. Yea, maybe not. I can’t say enough bad things about how these 3 elected officials have acted over the past 4 years and they’re apparently trying to go out with one last deplorable bang. They are ignoring the clear will of the people for what can only be personal gain or the desire for revenge against those that have disagreed with them.
11.5 MILLION US Dollars of Ridgewood Taxpayer money.!
June 9,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Reader says , “Garage is not needed outside of a permanent record of the series of back door deals and shameful attempted hoodwinking of the community.Let the Garage plans Rot on exhibit at the new Mayors office as a reminder that government serves the community rather than the special interest restaurants with other people’s cash to spend.”
From the take back Ridgewood Facebook page ,”Please vote ‘NO’ on June 21st, and let the new council pick a contractor for Hudson Street Garage after July 1st. The new council can see through the project to it’s completion and can be held accountable for picking the right contractor.”
The same page points out , “NO BIDDING. Contractor is being decided with ZERO transparency and ZERO accountability, as they won’t be here to see through the project once the contract is awarded.
.
Which way are you going to vote on June 21? Do you trust Mayor Aronshon with our 11.5 Million and will allow him to award the contract with no bidding and zero transparency in his last 9 days or would you rather let the newly elected council pick the contractor, so they can see through the project to it’s completion and are held accountable for making the right decision?”
On Tuesday, June 21—in less than 2 weeks—Ridgewood will hold a special election for a binding referendum (unlike the nonbinding referendum on the parking garage last November) on whether the Village should bond $11,500,000 for a parking garage on Hudson Street.
Bonding…and binding.
See below for important information on voting by mail.
What the ballot will say
You will be asked to answer yes or no to this question: Shall ordinance No. 3521 submitted by referendum petition providing for the Council of the Village of Ridgewood to issue $11,500,000 [in] bonds or notes to finance the cost of constructing the Hudson Street parking deck, be adopted?
What the ballot doesn’t reveal
The $11.5 million bond was linked from the start to garage design “D,” consisting of 4 stories with 5 parking levels. The southern wall would extend 5 feet beyond the existing parking lot, over the sidewalk and into Hudson Street. The narrower street would contain two lanes rather than the current three: one for parking across the street from the garage and one as a combination “thru lane” and turning lane into the garage.
If the referendum passes
One might think that with a binding referendum coming up, garage-related activity would be “on hold”—but no. In their zeal to make this project happen and to fulfill promises made, the outgoing council “majority” of Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, and Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, aided by Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, are actively pursuing completion.
Their goal is to sign a contract just before leaving office, committing the Village to Design D and letting the new council cope with the fallout.
Progress toward a construction contract is well under way. A consultancy firm was recently hired to confirm cost estimates by the architectural firm that created Design D and to engage in preconstruction preparations. If the referendum passes, that same consultancy firm will go out to bid immediately. Legal advice has been sought at taxpayer expense as well. Yet a “no” vote on theJune 21 referendum would nullify all this. How’s that for fiscal responsibility?
If, as the “council majority” continues to insist, the bond is not tied to any design, why is a firm being paid $20,000 to work further on Design D, only weeks before the result of a binding referendum could stop the project in its tracks?
In addition, rumor has it that the contract would carry prohibitively steep penalties for making any changes (change orders), further tying the new council’s hands while committing the Village to this massive edifice permanently.
Residents who want a garage, please note: the three incoming and two continuing council members are not opposed in principle to building a parking garage, including on Hudson Street. All, however, acknowledge that the designs proposed to date are too big. They’d appreciate a chance to think smaller and to try lower-cost, less-disruptive ways to enhance downtown parking. They do “get it,” and they want to do something. But not this.
On May 10, voters made a clear statement of trust for the incoming council. The three new council members won in every district. A “no” vote on the referendum would allow them and their two continuing council member colleagues to do their job unshackled by “deals” of the past.
How to vote
If you want the new council to be given the chance to try comprehensive, achievable parking solutions designed to benefit commuters, residents, and the entire Central Business District, voteNo to the referendum.
If you approve of the amount of the bonding, have no problem with under-the-radar deals, and are willing to let garage design “D” rise noisily in the mist, you may wish to vote Yes—with the understanding that the three council members who have pushed so hard for this project will be out of office on July 1, leaving the new council members—and us, the taxpaying residents— holding the bag. A very big bag.
It may be of interest that Rev. Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak, P.A. (Father Ron), Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (down the street from the proposed garage), stated flatly in the church’s June 5 weekly bulletin: “the parish will never endorse the [currently proposed parking] deck.” (Full statement at https://www.olmcridgewood.com/images/pdf/bulletin.pdf.) The church’s traffic consultant, he continued, considers the planned reversal of direction of Passaic and Hudson Street traffic unnecessary.
Why that reversal? Because behind the scenes, an agreement with special interests was made to reroute the traffic.
The traffic-direction-reversal plan can be reversed. But the enormous structure that has been dubbed GarageZilla and GarageMahal, once built, would loom over us for a very long time, as would paying for it.
Please ignore whatever means may be used over the next two weeks to entice or confuse voters into approving the $11.5 million bond (and, unspoken, Design D) on June 21. Let’s recall the acres of “Vote yes for parking” signs that littered the landscape before last November’s referendum, when it was known but not divulged that all the garage designs under consideration at that time would have occupied a significantly larger chunk of Hudson Street than Design D. Many whovoted “yes” later wished they hadn’t. What else don’t we know?
Developers and others are desperate to build this thing. The lame-duck council members pushing for it would not be accountable for it.
Let’s JUST SAY NO.
Consider voting by mail
If you can’t vote in person on Tuesday, June 21, or if it would be inconvenient, consider voting by mail.
June 21 is the day after RHS graduation. Ridgewood schools will have closed for the summer. Many residents will be on vacation already or busily planning trips. You don’t even need a reason to vote by mail; if it appeals to you, do it.
If you or your teenage children (age 18+ by June 21) who are registered voters wish to have a say in what happens with this enormous and precedent-setting downtown project, but may be out of town or otherwise occupied or preoccupied and might not vote that day…you can vote by mail (now called Vote by Mail Ballot, no longer Absentee Ballot), if you start soon.
There are two steps: applying for a ballot and receiving it, then completing the ballot and mailing it in.
Or pick up a copy at the Village Clerk’s office during Village Hall business hours (8:30 am–4:30 pm, Monday–Friday). Or call and ask to have one mailed to you: 201-670-5500 ext. 201.
Indicate which election: Where you are asked in which election you wish to vote by mail, check “Special.” Where you’re asked to specify, write: Referendum. For the date, write June 21, 2016 (or 6/21/2016). (We have done this in the application form provided above.)
Your name: For your vote to be counted, you must write and sign your name precisely as it appears in the voting records. If you aren’t sure about a middle initial, spelling, or other item, you can check. Go to: njelections.org or voter.njsvrs.com. Click on “Am I registered?” and follow the simple instructions.
Remainder of form: Fill in your address, the date, etc. Fold, seal, and apply first-class postage (one 47-cent or Forever stamp).
If you mail the application form, the county clerk in Hackensack must receive it at least 7 days before the election (that is, by Tuesday, June 14). Therefore, it’s best to send the form promptly.
You may also submit the application in person at any time up to 3 PM on the day before the election (that is, by 3 PM on June 20).
If you mail the application, in due course you will receive a ballot for the election requested. On the ballot, check the desired box (Yes or No) and mail the form. A return envelope will be provided, but you must use your own first-class stamp (again, 47 cents or Forever). (Ballots for future elections may require more postage, depending on weight.)
Vote-by-mail ballots must arrive in Hackensack before the closing of the polls on election day (June 21). Mail early—at least five days before.
Once you have applied for a Vote by Mail ballot, you must vote that way.
If you have questions about obtaining or using a Vote by Mail ballot, you may call the League of Women Voters of New Jersey at 1-800-792-VOTE.
Dads Night Band concert at Graydon: Sunday, June 12, 3–6pmLifelong Graydon member and longtime Preserve Graydon Coalition supporter Pete Diamond proudly reports that the Somerville–Hawes Dads Night Band will play the first show in Graydon‘s all-new SummerConcert Series on Sunday, June 12, at 3pm.
Free to Graydon badge holders; $10 for others. Some of the proceeds will support the DadsNight Scholarship Committee.
Location: Park West Loft, 38 Oak Street Ridgewood, NJ 07450 Cost: $35 per person
You are cordially invited to attend
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce
Annual Installation, Membership,
Networking & Recognition Dinner
Monday, June 13, 2016 @ 6:00pm
Park West Loft
30 Oak Street-entrance next to Park West Tavern
Take elevator to second floor
Honoring:
Hillmann Lighting
106 years
“Community Business Award”
Ridgewood Public Library
“Community Service Award”
Ridgewood AM Rotary
“Community Giving Award”
RSVP by June 6, 2016 – [email protected] -201-445-2600
*$35 Chamber Members -*$45 Non-Chamber Members
*Dinner – Cash Bar
www.experienceridgewoood.com
Monday, July 4, 2016Alternate Date – Tuesday, July 5thVeteran’s Field, Ridgewood, New Jersey Entrance gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM
While the Parade is free, Fireworks Tickets are required for entrance to Vet’s Field. Donations for Fireworks Tickets is one of the Celebration’s largest sources of income. Tickets are available for advance purchase at stores for $10. Tickets will be on sale at the gates for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-12. Buy your tickets in advance for big savings! Children 5 and under are admitted for free. Tickets may be purchased online at https://www.ridgewoodjuly4.net/evening-entertainment-fireworks/buy-tickets/ for $11.00 each including shipping and handling.
Tickets will be on sale at the following vendors for $10 each. Children 5 and under are admitted free.
The Wine Seller – 6 West Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
Patrons and belongings will be subject to security checks by Police Department personnel when entering Veterans Field. Alcohol is not permitted. There will be 2 lines at the gates, one for those with bags and one for those without bags. Expect delays. All gates will close at 9:00 PM.
Gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM. No Dogs allowed – Village Ordinance 1689
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld will be available to meet with residents this Saturday, June 11 from 9AM to Noon in the Village Hall Court Room. While it is not required, appointments are helpful. Please contact Beth Spinato @ 201/670-5500 x203 or [email protected] to schedule an appointment.
Ridgewood NJ, Supervisor of Health, Dawn Cetrulo would like to remind Village of Ridgewood residents that 2016 dog license renewals are due during the month of June. A $20 late fee will be charged for all renewals received after June 30, 2016.
The health department will be sending renewals via email. If you do not have an email address please call our office and request a renewal to be mailed to you. Renewal applications may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.ridgewoodnj.net or coming in person to the Ridgewood Health Department, 131 North Maple Ave. The office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm. Please call 201 670-5500 ext 503 with questions.
New Jersey law requires owners of all dogs seven months of age or older to be registered with the town they live in. In order for the license to be issued, the owner must present proof that a licensed veterinarian has vaccinated the dog
against rabies and that the duration of immunity from that vaccination does not expire before May 1, 2017. To receive the discount for a spayed or neutered pet, proof must also be provided.
