The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Ridgewood NJ, Citing their need to preserve the appearance and structural integrity of a “magnificently beautiful structure,” Village Council members have opted not to install protective fencing of any kind at the Hudson Street Parking Garage.
Continue reading No protective fencing for Hudson Street Parking Garage
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Ridgewood NJ, the Village of Ridgewood announces changes to Village parking regulations effective May 1st . In an email the Village Manager Heather A. Mailander explained the changes:
RESIDENTIAL PARKING AND OVERNIGHT RESIDENTIAL PARKING
Effective May 1, 2021, all residential parking regulations will be enforced. This also includes the prohibition of overnight parking on the street, throughout the Village, from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Continue reading Village of Ridgewood Updates Parking Regulations
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Ridgewood NJ, this morning a pedestrian was almost injured crossing the street on Broad Street near the Hudson garage. It seems the outdoor dinning fixtures are obstructing the view of both drivers and pedestrians.
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Ridgewood NJ, bike flash mobs are back. The word is that many people do not want to park at the Hudson garage because of vandalism. It seems packs of kids on bicycles have been terrorizing parkers and damaging vehicles .
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Ridgewood NJ, the Hudson garage’s new elevator is flooded and not working ,making the parking facility non ADA compliant. It has also come to our attention the the roof top was not plowed after the recent snow and there are some concerns over the quality of the construction of the facility .
Once again we “circle back” ,to wonder how the Village is planning on paying for this thing ,given the global pandemic , the raise of “remote work” and limited hours and capacities of Village retail and restaurants?
To matters worse it is going to be in the 50’s today melting even more snow.
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Ridgewood Nj, readers made plenty of suggestions as to what to do with the nearly empty Hudson Garage . Some readers including the Ridgewood blog suggested some sort of tourist attraction on the top deck , overs suggested a turf field, pickleball courts , a rooftop food court and moving the farmers market to the roof top of the Hudson garage .
“The root of the problem is the failure of our Village Council to distinguish between their Narrow interests and the underlying drivers of value for Village residents. Their self-interests are reflections of important aspects of Village business; but however important and useful for Village planning, they should not be used in a self-congratulatory list of “accomplishments” as surrogates for the underlying value of the Council’s work. Genuine value creation fur residents requires a Council culture that compels our Governing body to pursue projects that promise to improve life for all residents, whether it be property tax reduction or paving our third world roads – while not treating their own narrow self-interests (Schedler, Elks HQ, Hudson Garage) as ends in themselves.”
Continue reading Application for Ridgewood 2021 Parking Permits Shows Lack of Non Resident Parking
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Ridgewood NJ, some disturbing news from Central Business District the roof deck on the Hudson Street Garage has been plowed, but parking isn’t permitted there , that means 25% of the new Hudson Street Parking Garage can’t be used after it snows?
Continue reading Ridgewood ‘s Hudson Garage Roof Deck Not in Service After Snow
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Ridgewood NJ, since 1927 Village moms and dads have complained about inadequate parking in Ridgewood’s central business district . In the late 1960’s parking meters were added to the CBD to pay for a future parking garage , the chance was misplaced . Plans were drawn up over and over and finally after much debate in early September of 2019 the Village Council pushed forward with the Hudson Garage . Progress came quickly ,but in March of 2019 COVID19 struck , wiping out the demand for commuter spaces . then restaurants were shut down leaving the Village with a great white parking garage elephant . While things have started to return to some semblance of normal with outdoor dinning ,now partial indoor dinning . Al Gore’s internet continues to steal retail sales ,restaurants are struggling to survive and commuters may never return . At lest the massive high density housing projects will now have access to more parking .
Continue reading The Best-laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Awry…the Hudson Parking Garage
“I passed by Broad St last night. The garage is HUGE. This garage reminds me of the monsters they have built in Yonkers and other areas in Westchester County. Even half the size would have been more than sufficient. The apartment complex is more than huge. Ugly sh!t all around. And it is just a start. They should rename Broad St to Broad Ave.
This downtown is not my downtown anymore. I will stay out of it.”
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Ridgewood NJ, The Village of Ridgewood has launched all-new smart parking kiosks in partnership with Flowbird Group. The 85 new CWT Touch kiosks replace older coin-operated single-space meters and will assist in opening up congested streets in the Downtown Business District.
Continue reading Village of Ridgewood Says Goodbye to Old Meters,Welcomes Kiosks
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Ridgewood NJ, Tony Loving made some interesting comments in the It takes a Ridgewood Village Facebook group, “During an April 22nd Village Council discussion about allocating spaces in the new Hudson Street parking garage, not a single Council member mentioned the potential long term impact COVID-19 may have on the demand for parking spaces throughout the Village’s Central Business District and at the train station. Whether we like to admit it or not, demand for parking spaces in Ridgewood may never be anything like it was pre-pandemic. Many Village residents may be working from home permanently, or commuting to their NYC offices very infrequently. Demand for parking by shoppers and diners, particularly diners, may never reach pre-pandemic levels. Village Council members need to immediately revisit their plan for the allocation of parking spaces, and make revisions based upon current events. Allocation proposals developed in the garage’s pre-construction phase should be thrown out of the window at this point in time. Unfortunately, when the dust settles, there may be an excess number of parking spaces. If that’s the case, consideration should be given to re-purposing one or more surface parking lots.”
Continue reading The Time is Now for Post-Pandemic Planning in Ridgewood
file photo by Boyd Loving
Many for YEARS !! repeatedly posted real honest concerns as to the direction that the towns elected officers were taking us.
We have arrived at a that poor place ..just look up and down to the shoddy roadways and it is looking like
RIDGEWOOD As we knew it -and invested in the form of time ,efforts & cost to maintain nice homes and paying high : school & local /state taxes -is well on its way to another cheesy mess of a poorly run town.Roads are also a disgrace,
Time to get out..sadly..Last one please kick the last can of
regrets over onto VOR CITY HALL/ship of fools .
unlikely anyone there gives a damm about anything.
photo courtesy of Ramon Hache
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Ridgewood NJ,The crane at the Hudson Street Garage construction site is up. You will begin to see the assembly of the vertical panels today.