Ridgewood Nj, according to Nancy A. Bigos Director of Parks and Recreation for the Village of Ridgewood, the excessive rainfall throughout these past two weeks and the flooding created through the breach of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook all municipal ballfields inclusive of: Maple Park, Habernickel Park, Citizen’s Park ,Veterans Field, and lower and upper Hawes were closed Friday.
Ridgewood NJ, in 2015 the Gate House of the former horse farm at Habernickel Park was rented out to a new tenant. The Village Council approved a mulit-year lease with a local organization that teaches both children and adults about nutrition and healthy lifestyles, HealthBarn USA .
Ridgewood NJ, after successfully fulfilling its mission to deliver $1 million in economic relief to local restaurants and 100,000 hot and healthy meals to those facing food insecurity in Bergen County, the HealthBarn Foundation and its partners are committing to continuing the ‘Feed the Frontlines: Helping Those In Need’ initiative.
Ridgewood NJ, Village of Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce and Village Restaurants are backing a new lease for Healthbarn USA, the occupant of Habernickel Park Carriage House.
Seems this business is ruffling a lot of feathers. Maybe if questions were answered there would not be such negativity.
If the business did not misrepresent itself back in 2015 and was transparent about the activities it was actually offering the village may have all said NOWAY! But because of the BS that was fed to everyone it seems like the ones in the know are wrong
If the business had nothing to hide or worry about it would not need losers like Jeff and Roberta to advocate for it
The whole thing is a sham just like Jeff and his buddies and his lies to friends and neighbors to get office
It is an endevour gone sour. I agree with the above comment. Get out of the real estate business you are doing a poor job of it at the gate house. None of the activities bringing in major revenue for a private business are monitored by the village. When questions are asked to the village in regards to these activities they do NOT know the answers!!! It was never fair what was done to this neighborhood. No other active field or park also has a very active business in it! out of respect for all tax payers it should be at the absolute least monitored and controlled by the village. I was there yesterday with my small children after school and the amount of cars in the parking lot and in the street was ridiculous. All the fields were being used and the drivers had no respect for myself and my kids in bikes. I saw illegal parking, u turns on the street backing up from soccer moms just to get out of the driveway all the while more and more cars coming for classes or whatever at the gatehouse. Insane, unsafe and sad!!! It was a beautiful peaceful place to bring your kids but no longer. Lights or no lights it is a mess!!!!
Ridgewood NJ, After reading the letter former Ridgewood Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld sent to the Ridgewood news ,readers near Habernickel Park were furious. Many thought she had some nerve complaining about new tax & added fees when she was one of the main people who put a FOR profit business in Habernickel Park.
If you look back at neighbors complaints & concerns which were never considered when they went ahead with the plan to change the gatehouse to recreational & educational space you will better understand what they are talking about.
First off the owner of the business Stacey Antine & Roberta graduated Bergen Leads together even though Roberta denied helping Stacey get her business into Ridgewood everyone found it odd since the class was about 10 students.
Healthbarn only pays $3,700 a month for rent never increasing over her 5 year lease, way below the price of an average rental in Ridgewood. Plus in addition they got 12 parking spots & a garden the size 50 feet X 100 feet. The property tax alone on the size of her garden would be around $10,000.00 a year. The previous renter paid about the same for no extra land & no parking spots.
This business was given 12 parking spots for her employees & patrons yet every other business in town have to pay for meters. Basically she is given about $1,200.00 a month worth of parking for free & displacing parents from parking in the lot for sports practice & games….forcing them to park in the street.
This business is now at the tax payers expense having to under go $20,000.00 worth of construction to the entrance of the gate house to make it handicap accessible for the business. If this was still rented to a family this wouldn’t have had to cost the tax payers $20,000.00 it could of been a simpler fix to the all ready front steps.
This business was also given by the town through tax payers dollars
1. Stadium lights for the parking lot only since her classes go past 9pm on some nights
2. Security camera with direct feed to the police & village hall
3. Fire hydrant was needed because it is a business & a added hose for watering her garden
This business also get full garbage pick up & recycling from the village. No other business in town gets this service they have to use an outside provider.
Parks & rec maintain her property which they didn’t do when it was a rental property. Parks & rec advertises on the website for this business making it seem like this is a partnership & residents benefit from this business. That is NOT true we as tax payers get 0% from her business. The village doesn’t advertise for any other business in town so why must they do for her? When you see the ad on parks & rec it will directly you bring you to Healthbarn so then you can sign up for classes or buy her cookbook which none of it brings in revenue to the village…crazy how much we help her make money all the while residents keep having to pay higher taxes & getting charged fees.
Healthbarn USA offer classes that directly compete with the village classes offered thru parks & rec yet parks & rec continues to advertise for this business….a tad shady!
The present & past business manager ever took the time to punch the numbers he/she would realize the loss of rent the tax payers are incurring. The amount of tax payers dollars already spent to get this business up & running & the continued expenses (mentioned above). Police have been called more because of the added traffic & illegal parking of her buses so that I am sure is an added burden to the police.
The neighborhood got slapped in the face with this business. Neighbors keep sending photos to VC about all the violations to the lease but yet nothing has changed the Village continues to support her financially by advertising for her & giving her full access to parks & rec’s resources.
One would wonder HOW this happened……answer Roberts & her friends. Roberta should be careful what she is complaining about in the paper because her past isn’t perfect.
Ridgewood NJ, Questions where raised at Wednesday’s Village council meeting by resident Boyd Loving as to why the Village was agreeing to build a $70,000 ADA ramp for a building a private business HealthBarn in Habernickel Park.The council looked like deer in the headlights , clearly caught off guard by the question .
It currently appears that HealthBarn is making no contribution and leases the property for $50,000. So the question arises why is the Village paying $70,000 for a property we are only receiving $50,000 ?
Ridgewood NJ, A resident up by Habernickel Park reported that on Saturday night January 14, at 1:30 AM (so by then it was early Sunday morning) loud talking, trucks, and snow blowing was taking place in Habernickel Park. As we all know, it was a light dusting of powdery snow, not a snow storm by any stretch. Most of us got by with doing no shoveling at all, since it was warm today and melted. At best a little salt on the sidewalks at Habernickel would have done the trick, spread by one quiet employee. This could have been done Sunday morning after 6 AM, long before anyone might be walking in the park. Two trucks, two men, loud and obnoxious when people were sleeping. How much did this cost in overtime on a Saturday night??? Could this have been some kind of retribution for the complaints that have come from neighborhood residents over the past year or so regarding Health Barn, safety issues, etc?
It took over 8 months to get a fence repaired up there, even though it was reported repeatedly. Surely that was more urgent (and more of a safety issue) than a dusting of snow at 1:30 in the morning
Ridgewood NJ, The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood recently celebrated our opening Fall luncheon at the HealthBarn at Habernickel Park on Hillcrest Road in Ridgewood. Healthbarn founder Stacey Antine has done wonders with the facility and has installed an amazing vegetable garden which supports the beneficial healthy lifestyle programs she offers to the community. Check it out at www.healthbarnusa.com or stop by and see for yourself.
The Women Gardeners of Ridgewood maintain several gardens in town including those in Habernickel Park, Van Neste Square, the Library and the Stable, as well as co-sponsor the Green Kids educational program with Ridgewood Parks and Rec. Look for our signature colorful gift boxes in Van Neste Square this holiday season and a public lecture in April by garden historian and author Martha McDowell entitled “All the Presidents’ Gardens”.
I heard there was a big dog bite at HealthBarn last week? Can anyone confirm? I heard it was just under the eyes ON the face and it was BAD?
Yes if someone can confirm that would be great. It is not shocking that it happened since habernickel park is now filled with healthbarn private clients. By this I mean children paying healthbarn directly. Not Ridgewood. Yet Roberta calls it a partnership. Yet it is just a tenant/ landlord relationship. No reports of profits from healthbarns business coming to Ridgewood parks and rec. I hope because of her ” so called ” partnership Stacy doesn’t advise her client to sue Ridgewood too!
Ridgewood NJ, Click Here for the Quarterly Health Barn Report. The report is divided into a couple of sections. On-site programs are delineated in the first section including number of students and percentage of Ridgewood students.
Section 2 speaks to field trip visits. The details of these are in the separately attached bus report.
The third section details capital investments that Health Barn has made at Habernickel. Health Barn has already exceeded its $60,000 capital commitment.
The fourth section lists other community outreach, partnerships and sponsorships.
And, finally the fifth section speaks to any relevant issues.
Do people not understand that this is a green acre and open space funded park. In the green acre rules a FOR PROFIT / PRIVATE business just is not allowed. How on earth did this private business get the lease. And as far as usage, Habernickel fields are used everyday and all summer long by maroons soccer and Ridgewood baseball as they should be. The neighbors are not complaining about the traffic or noise from this usage. They are upset with a business in their neighborhood. People should know the facts before they comment. Also the name should be changed 100 percent. The land was purchased for millions not donated by any Habernickel.
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