BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – A citizen group was present at the village’s Twinney Pond this week, observing the removal of some invasive plants from a natural landscape that has been “in existence since the days of the glaciers.”
Cynthia Halaby, president of the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands group, explained via email that her organization is dedicated to tending to public lands that do not get enough care due to village budget cuts.
“Cynthia Halaby, president of the Conservancy for Ridgewood Public Lands group,” WOW our Mayor has his supporters on every committee in Ridgewood
A great initiative. They should put Dunham trail on the list. It’s falling into the Ho-Ho-Kus brook
Anon 12:28 The Conservancy is independent of the Village. It was started by Cynthia and a couple of her friends to revitalize the gardens and parks in town. She was NOT appointed by the Mayor. May I suggest you concentrate your energy into helping the Conservancy rather than spouting nonsense? They need people like Cynthia and other volunteers who walk the walk and not just talk the talk. People who are not afraid of getting dirt under their fingernails. People who are not afraid of sweat on their brows, and are willing to work hard rain or shine.
My problem with the Conservancy is that it took a public stance in favor of the 90 foot baseball diamond at Shedler which will result in the removal of acres of trees. it seems like a contradictory position. Planting daffodils is a wonderful thing but taking down trees is an assault on the environment.
(LIKE) fifty times, Linda McNamara.
Linda, have you ever set foot in Schedler? I will be happy to have James publish photos I took there. You talk as if it is a virgin forest. It is a third growth treed piece of pasture that is an usable dump. You are not talking about Twinney, the Dunham Trail, King’s Pond or Gypsy Pond all of which should be preserved at all cost. Everybody will be far better off with the property turned into 1/3 passive, 2/3 active park. The 1/3 active could be tirned into an arboretum of native plants and pollinator habitat that we we can al be proud of. Rurik
Daffodils, they are not the current thrill. What the cognosenti and big trenders are pushing is milkweed to attract butterflies and other plants to attract bees and organic vegetable gardens and local farms and saving and planting trees.
Mrs. Halaby is behind the times. I don’t care about her silly daffodils. And in addition she is doing damage to the environment. She is a phony.
‘Dear Rurik, I have been to Schedler many times. I see it so differently. We purchased it with Open Space funding. It has a beautiful historic home that is on the registry and will suit many purposes in the future. The trees are for the most part healthy. They are like any unattended woods: old.growth, new growth, fallen trees and branches and the home to birds and wild life. It borders Route 17 and served as a natural barrier to the community. There is one thing Ridgewood lacks snd that is open space. We are small in area. We just want to save it from over development. We have petitioned for many years to save the house and to have a smaller all purpose field. We’ll even fund raise snd secure grants. We no longer can take our environment for granted. The 90 foot baseball diamond will not benefit as many children as a smaller utility field. Did you know that there are revolutionary war artifacts buried there? Can you imagine how exciting it would be for the historians and our children to discover them? We just want the town to let us save it. There is money out there to do it. Happy Easter!
I grew up on Cambridge Road in the 1950s. At that time there was a dense woods from Glen Ave. near Travell School all the way to Twinney Pond. There was a steep hill from the open field down to the pond, and we kids would sled down the hill in the winter. Many kids skated on the pond on freezing winter days. Now in my seventies, my wife and I were driving on Franklin Turnpike on a trip up from Florida, and I was thrilled to see that Twinney had been preserved as a park.