Don’t let Valley bully Ridgewood
Cathy Benson
Ridgewood, June 11
At this week’s Ridgewood Planning Board meeting, representatives of The Valley Hospital made clear that the village of Ridgewood is its opponent. The gloves are off. Valley’s attorney, Jon Drill, attempted to deliver blow after blow.The opening salvo was Drill’s attempt at intimidation by reminding the Planning Board of its loss in court to Valley back in 1985. This was followed up by his threat that Ridgewood would lose $1.7 million in property taxes from properties owned by Valley due to conversion to non-profit status and that the hospital would withhold money for improvements at the intersection of Van Dien and Linwood avenues despite the fact that Valley is a major contributor of traffic, if the amendment is not approved.
Next was his assertion that the single bus line stopping in front of Valley (20 trips a day, no service on Sunday) carries the full significance of “access to public transportation.”
