photos by Boyd Loving
the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, UPDATE: The Ridgewood Blog has learned that since these photos were taken, small red reflectors have been installed on some of the blocks. Despite this installation, we believe that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of drivers who will be passing and parking by these large obstacles.
In case you didn’t notice, several “dining corrals” are now in place on busy East Ridgewood Avenue.
No one on the staff of The Ridgewood Blog remembers this being discussed by the Ridgewood Village Council. At least not during an Open Public Meeting. Or did we miss something?
The corrals had previously been restricted to side streets (S. Broad, N. Broad, Oak, and Chestnut), ostensibly for safety purposes.
We wonder what, or who, was the reason for the change of heart.
I wonder how many meter spots they were blocking with us? And they wonder why parking revenue is down and will continue to plummet. But that’s OK, the residents of Ridgewood Continually get slammed with cost and tax increases. How does Wyckoff do it? Last I looked I thought Ridgewood had more industry, yet their property taxes are at least 30 to 40% less than Ridgewood.. just sayin…
Paul V. got his I see. Surprise, surprise!
Oh boy! Money talks, nobody walks.
All the rustic charm of a Soviet bloc prison.
Figures that It’s Greek to Me would get one.
Why aren’t the restaurants east of Oak Street eligible to have these?
Yes you missed something. This has been discussed during open Council meetings.
OPRA is there for a reason, use it!
Look like crap.
The $50,000 Glen PickleBall Courts are under utilized because of the hours and days imposed by the Village Council and the Villaage Manager. Mondays and Fridays these courts are locked. The hours that one can play is restricted to the hottest times of the day. Many of the residents are choosing to play at Wyckoff or Montvale at 8:00 AM. If you play Tennis in Ridgewood the courts are available 7 days a week. If you play Tennis you can play from 8 AM to dusk. We pay amoount the same for our badges yet our days and times are NOT equal. We all pay taxes to live in this Village of Ridgewood. Yet, PickleBall players are not treated equally. Many of the players are senior citizens and have lived in town for many years. This discrimination is an embarassment for the Village.
While I understand the need for restaurants to try to recoup for lost business during the pandemic, this is ridiculous. I know sidewalks on RW Ave are tight, but these concrete slabs are hideous and obtrusive. And it is just more parking spots eliminated for no good reason. How about getting rid of the “loading zone” spots in front of Felina.
Little by little the town looks less like a lovely destination for shopping and dining and more like it has no clue what to do with itself. Barricades, orange cones everywhere, drivers ignoring the law while cops sitting on their a?&es chatting with the parking officers who, ironically enough, are barely old enough to drive.
3rd world look and feel.
Ugly like my life
How bad do you need to eat outside, Really?
This looks ridiculous, the garden at Habernickel is disgusting who knows what is growing there, too many garbage cans in the parks and not emptied. What are we paying for concrete slabs so you can eat prison style and no one to keep the parks clean. Ridgewood sucks in my opinion. Get out while you can
Who is paying for all this. Those blocks are not cheap. Who’s paying the operator. Who’s paying to clean around these objects,
Why don’t you just shut down the whole road, or shut down the whole CBD and let everybody park in the parking lot in the story. This is fucking ugly. Who comes up with this bullshit. I want names now. The roads are falling apart. The town is filthy. Who the hell is In charge. What the hell is going on
And what budget is this coming from
Enjoy your overpriced pasta while passerby fart and stare at your food. Let’s not forget how wonderful flies and car exhaust add to the flavor of the special of the day. I do hope to see bank tellers and nail technicians on the street selling their wares. Ridgewood should let it all hang out!
Why can’t the people in charge take a quick little research trip to Hoboken or NYC and see how the sidewalk eateries became an enhancement of the environment. Let the restaurants build mini wooden structures within reasonable limits and let them decorate it for a nice decor and appeal. These concrete blocks and the orange barricades before them are absolutely embarrassing . It shifts the cost to the restaurants to build the outdoor area up and everyone wins. Instead tax payers foot the cost for eye sores in what is supposed to be a downtown that draws people in.
And anyone complaining about losing a few dozen parking spaces .. give it a park. The garage has MANY spots available in peak hours and parking anywhere else is not impossible at all.
Princeton – allows their businesses to paint the concrete and to build plant stands. What are the rules here in Ridgewood. Adding any concrete blocks in the streets where buses or large trailers speed, is an accident waiting to happen.
Princeton – allows their businesses to paint and decorate the barriers, what are the rules in Ridgewood. Also, allowing this on any street where buses commute is ridiculous
The whole town is a mess. Holy shit, we went for a ride so embarrassing. They should make the parking garage into homeless shelter. At this point nothing matters, we’re not going forward we’re going in reverse. The whole town is in one cluster mess.
So ugly so disturbing. A bunch of tree huggers are running the town. A bunch of liberals. Take a peek at that disgusting garden under lock and key at Habernickel park. What the hell is going in over there and in that house. So weird and mysteriously ugly They throw their garbage in public bins and then hide in the gross garden Towns a wreck and so are the parks
Obviously we the taxpayers pay for these ugly concrete box. What are we doing with all these concrete Cubes when we’re done with this. It looks like you can build a wall at a jail. Maybe we can have the members of the art council here in town and paint them
I can’t believe that these cubes are going to stay out until the fall. There’s got to be another way.
Thanks tax payers pay for these blocks? Or businesses? If businesses pay then they need to do a huge amount of business just to cover that cost and recoup nothing.
Just Why?
I travel a lot on business and I have seen many outdoor dining areas in Emerging Markets that look more attractive than Ridgewood these days. What Ridgewood resident would bring guests into Ridgewood to dine in a place that now looks so trashy???
Can somebody tell me what the Hells going on in town, is it that no one gives two shits. Because this town is not looking so clean. It’s dirty. The roads are horrendous. Maple Avenue, Franklin Avenue, Ackerman Avenue, Hillcrest, And some of the side streets in the business section what a disgrace. I’m getting the hell out of here we’re not going forward we are going in Reverse. What’s gonna happen with all these apartments awful oh my God. You’re gonna need a 24 hour seven day a week little patrol to keep the business section clean everybody walking around throwing litter on the floor a mess. Garbage cans are overflowing. Come on.