The New Jersey housing market, which has been depressed since the Great Recession, is showing signs of firing up.
According to Rob Dekanski, a Realtor with RE/MAX 1st Advantage, inventory levels in the Garden State are now lower than they’ve been in the past 18 years, which is very good news for people selling their homes.
“There’s less to choose from and buyers are fighting over less inventory, enabling the sellers to ask for a little bit more money,” he said.
He estimated that depending on the specific town and the quality of the school district, homes are selling for 2 to 10 percent more than they were a year ago at this time
Ridgewood NJ , not sure weather to laugh or cry . Are we the only one that sees any irony in this? In what cant best to described as a collection of failed politicians with terrible environmental records ,or perhaps its a desperate attempt to remain relevant , a bi-partisan group of former New Jersey elected officials on Tuedsay announced that, despite differences in politics, they were joining together to push environmental advocacy issues in Washington, D.C. The group which includes former Governors Tom Kean (R), Christie Whitman (R), Jim Florio (D) and Brendan Byrne (D), as well as former Democratic Congressman Rush Holt and former NJ Assemblywoman Maureen Ogden (R) wants New Jersey’s current congressional delegation to fight to protect public land, water, air and wildlife.
In an air “its my party too” the former New Jersey elected officials on Tuesday released the “Principles to Protect our Public Lands, Water, Air and Wildlife.” Those principles claim that environmental protections are “fundamental to the economic success and vitality” of both the state and the nation, that the environment is fundamental to health/well-being, and that “environmental protection must remain a bipartisan matter.” In their letter the officials also call for support of environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Wilderness Act and Antiquities Act. Additionally, they push for protection of public land, promoting renewable energy, an acknowledgement of climate change and demand that “all federal agencies, policies and laws be grounded in sound science.”
This all from the women former governor Christie Whitman , who most notable contribution to environmental protection was misguidedly telling workers at Ground Zero the air was OK , when breathing it turned out to lead to health problems and for some death.
Considering New Jersey’s air is regularly ranked as among worst in U.S. by clean-air group the American Ling Association. In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011 New Jersey ranked as the 18th most polluted state in the USA. Also in 2011 was 5th least “green” state in the nation by a 24/7 Wall St. analysis of environmental issues facing the 50 state. In 2017 New Jersey education officials said 21 school districts have reported elevated levels of lead in drinking water and of coarse you do not want to forget about chromium-6 in the drinking water . The state of New Jersey also came in with the most EPA Superfund sites at 116.
Seems rather bold for any New Jersey politician to criticize anyone on the environment particular Whitman.
More people are leaving the New York region than any other major metropolitan area in the country.
More than 1 million people moved out of the New York area to another part of the country since 2010, a rate of 4.4 percent — the highest negative net migration rate among the nation’s large population centers, US Census records show.
The number of people leaving the region — which includes parts of New Jersey, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island — in one year swelled from 187,034 in 2015 to 223,423 in 2016, while the number of international immigrants settling in the tri-state area dwindled from 181,551 to 160,324 over the same period, records show.
The nation’s economy is improving, there are more jobs in cheaper places to live, and retirees are choosing to move to warmer climates, experts say.
Oral arguments before a Mercer County Superior Court judge are scheduled for May 3
March 31,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Six Newark parents yesterday opposed motions to dismiss HG v. Harrington, the lawsuit they filed last November challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey’s quality-blind “last in, first out” (LIFO) teacher layoff law. The motions to dismiss the case were filed earlier this month by local and national teachers unions, who intervened as defendants in the case last December. Oral arguments on the motions to dismiss are scheduled for 2pm on May 3 before the Mercer County Superior Court. Defendants from Newark Public Schools and the New Jersey Department of Education did not move to dismiss the case.
“The teachers unions clearly are not looking out for students’ best interests,” said Kathleen Reilly, attorney with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, one of the law firms representing the Newark parents pro bono. “With education budget deficits in the tens of millions of dollars, the court urgently needs to hear these parents’ concerns about laws that require schools to keep ineffective teachers while letting effective ones go. If students’ educational rights are valued, these laws cannot stand.”
In their answer to the lawsuit, defendants from the Newark Public Schools overwhelmingly conceded that the LIFO law harms students, acknowledging that enforcement of LIFO in Newark will remove quality teachers, which leads to lower test scores, lower high school graduation rates, lower college attendance rates, and sharply reduced lifetime earnings. They also admit that the current practice of keeping ineffective teachers on the district payroll, including those in a pool of “educators without placement sites” (EWPS) is harmful and unsustainable, and that the EWPS pool would be wholly unnecessary were it not for LIFO.
To learn more about the parent-led lawsuit to end LIFO in New Jersey, please go to edjustice.org/nj. All legal filings related to HG v. Harrington are available online here.
Fresh off of their victory in the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army led by George Washington, encamped in Morristown for the winter of 1780. For the months that the army rested, a widow named Theodosia Ford opened up her home to General Washington, his family and his aides, who used her home as military headquarters until the war could resume.
Mrs. Ford’s decision to share her home was not unusual at the time. In fact, from the time of the Revolution and the growth of summer vacation rentals on the Jersey Shore in the 20th century to Portuguese immigrants helping one another find a home and build a community in 21st century Newark, home sharing has a long and storied history in the Garden State.
Mike Kelly , Record Columnist, @MikeKellyColumnPublished 6:08 a.m. ET March 24, 2017 | Updated 3:23 p.m. ET March 24, 2017
The cramped, first-floor motel room on the noisy stretch of Route 46 in South Hackensack isn’t much to look at now. Just a double bed, a picture window, a dresser, a tiny bathroom. But in the coming months, this unlikely spot — Room 506 at the Congress Inn — may play a key role in helping to answer one of the most explosive questions that linger from the 9/11 attacks.
photo by ArtChick
Just before that fateful day more than 15 years ago, two Saudi Arabian men who were part of the 9/11 hijacking team rented Room 506. They forked over $19 a night, then waited. Investigators say the two suicide-killers — Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi — kept to themselves, offering no hints of the murderous scheme they were about to undertake.
Eustace & Houghtaling Bill to Encourage Municipal Consolidation, Rein in Property Taxes Heads to Governor’s Desk
March 25,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, Legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Tim Eustace and Eric Houghtaling to give towns better tools to pursue municipal consolidation and ultimately rein in property taxes gained final legislative approval from the full Assembly by a vote of 51-21-2 on Thursday.
The bill (S-690/A-2921) would promote municipal consolidation by increasing the flexibility, clarity and available tools under the “Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act” enacted in 2007. Although one of the primary purposes of this law is to promote consolidation by providing more procedural flexibility, to date, only one municipal consolidation has been effectuated since its enactment.
SADDLE BROOK — New York is known as the city that never sleeps, but across the crowded state of New Jersey, something’s always going on. That may be why a recent poll of 1,000 workers, both here and around the country, found many of them are practically dozing off on the job.
The Accountemps survey released earlier this month revealed 74 percent of all professionals admitted being tired at work, 43 percent of them “somewhat often” and 31 percent “very often.” Millennials led the pack, with 86 percent of respondents saying they felt tired, compared with just half of workers age 55 and over.
A gender split was almost even: 77 percent of men reported work sleepiness, as did 71 percent of women in the survey.
To “get to the root of the drowsiness,” said Ryan Gatto, Saddle Brook-based regional vice president of Robert Half, the staffing firm agency that runs Accountemps, managers should keep an open dialogue with their employees.
“Encouraging your staff to take their scheduled breaks, I think, is important,” Gatto said. “Workers also tend to follow their managers’ lead, so if a manager’s taking the time to rest and recharge, then more often than not the employee will follow suit.”
One avenue that’s been explored to help sleepy employees is the concept of a “nap room,” but 31 percent of those surveyed were wary of that, for a few reasons. They said it might make them even sleepier, it would reduce the amount of work they were able to complete, and they might be perceived around the office as slackers.
“It’s an interesting idea that some companies have instituted, but at the same time, many of the individuals that responded just don’t believe that that would be a good use of their time,” Gatto said.
We had a significant snow and rain storm across the Garden State last week, but the New Jersey Department of Environmental protection has not changed any of its drought warnings or watches in central and north Jersey — yet.
A drought warning remains in effect for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties.
However the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report for New Jersey shows 43 percent of the state (southern and coastal) is now classified as being drought-free, while only 6 percent of northern New Jersey is still listed as being in a “severe drought” situation.
The U.S. Drought Monitor report takes into account several hydrological indicators, including soil moisture and stream flow variability, while the DEP drought indicators strictly measure reservoir levels in New Jersey.
“This is definitely good news but we can’t get too excited because all it takes is a prolonged dry spell at the wrong time of year and we can quickly move back into drought conditions,” said Tony Broccoli, a professor of atmospheric sciences and chairman of the Department of Environmental Sciences School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University.
Ridgewood NJ, while Ridgewood residents were pretty happy with the Village response to Stella, a readers sentiments were that ” All the roads could use salt! Even schools are sheets of ice and still mounds of snow. Sidewalks not cleared. Should have been no school today too. Just sayin.” Many also felt the schools could have done a better job with the clean up .
Maybe next time the Village can take Pornhub up on its offer :
“Pledging to assist anyone who “wants to get plowed,” the adult entertainment site says it is sending out a fleet of branded trucks to clean the city’s streets and parking lots for free.
“The Pornhub team understands that by this time of year, most cities have run up their budget in snow removal,” Pornhub Vice President Corey Price tells Boston, “and we thought we’d lend a hand in getting our fans plowed.”
The cheeky service, which is only being offered in Boston and New Jersey, is slated to begin when the flakes start falling overnight and continue for the duration of the storm, Price says. Each of the trucks—he says there are more than two dozen of them—will have the porn website’s black, white, and orange logo on their plows and doors.”
New Jersey is known for having the highest property taxes in the country. In 2016, the average tax bill hit $8,549. But in many towns the average is well below that mark.
Here are the 30 New Jersey towns with lowest property tax bills — all where homeowners pay less than half the state average.
Governor Christie Amends Regulations on Individuals’ Right to Firearms for Self-Defense with Commonsense Reforms
March 10th 2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Private Citizens May Prove They Are Under “Serious Threats” For Issuance of a Permit to Carry a Handgun
Trenton, NJ , Governor Chris Christie today announced the adoption of a revised regulation regarding applications for handgun carry permits, after his administration considered input during an official 60-day public comment period.
The revised regulation will allow a chief of police or the Superintendent of the Division of State Police, who review handgun carry permit applications, to consider evidence of “serious threats” that are not directed specifically at an individual, but which establish more than mere generalized fears or concerns.
This action taken by the Division of State Police amends paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of the permit application by adding “serious threats” to the circumstances that could demonstrate a special danger to an applicant’s life that a private citizen may specify in a written certification of justifiable need to carry a handgun. The changes also clarify that a permit to carry a handgun may be issued based on a special danger to the applicant’s life that cannot be avoided by other “reasonable” means.
The amendment harmonizes the regulatory definition of “justifiable need” with the construction of that standard by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
The original proposal was published at 48 N.J.R. 377(a), which is available at https://www.lexisnexis.com/njoal/.
Today’s adoption does not change the process for obtaining a permit to carry a handgun.
Ridgewood Nj, according to the website Revolutionary War in New Jersey the state has over 650 Revolutionary War historic sites located throughout all twenty-one New Jersey counties.
Revolutionary War New Jersey is The ultimate field guide to New Jersey’s Revolutionary War historic sites!
Bergen County, New Jersey Revolutionary War Sites • Bergen County, NJ Historic Sites
The website is the brainchild of photographer Al Frazza and , “was created out of my love for history and for New Jersey. I began work on it on September 17, 2009, and completed it on March 1, 2017. During those seven-and-a-half years, I drove thousands of miles throughout New Jersey, locating and photographing Revolutionary War historic sites. In addition to getting to see and experience all of these historic places first-hand, it allowed me to get to know my home state in a way that I had never before imagined.”
In Ridgewood the site lists:
Old Paramus Reformed Church 660 East Glen Ave.
Historic Glen Avenue Marker East Glen Ave. Near North Maple St.
Abraham Godwin Monument E. Ridgewood Ave. & Van Neste Sq. Ridgewood Municipal Park
the site promotes American History and nothing creates an understanding of and excitement for history like standing in the actual locations where historic events occurred.
New Jersey played a central and crucial role in the events of the Revolutionary War. Throughout the state, we are surrounded by links to that history.
George Washington spent more time in New Jersey than anywhere else during the Revolutionary War. Many of the locations where he and the Continental (American) Army marched, encamped, and fought battles are still here to be explored.
Throughout the years of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the lives of New Jersey citizens were dramatically affected by the events of the war which went on around them. Some of their houses and buildings are still standing; each of these structures has its own story.
Think Your Property Taxes Are High? See the Most—and Least—Expensive States
New Jersey is the state with the highest property taxes in the nation
By Clare Trapasso | Mar 2, 2017
If your property tax bill is mind-blowingly high, just be thankful you don’t live in New Jersey. And if you do, well, that’s got to hurt your bank account.
For the third year in a row, New Jersey is the state with the highest property taxes in the nation, according to a recent WalletHub report, with an effective real estate tax rate of 2.35%. This totals about $7,410 annually on a nearly $316,000 home, the median price in the state.
WalletHub analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to figure out the real estate tax rates by dividing the median annual property tax payment for the state by the state’s median home price. Property taxes are typically levied at the county level, and go toward things like local schools, police and fire services, and parks.
70% more cops per capita than any other state, making 50% more than the average cop in the US according to FBI data, why?
Many of those cops are in our suburbs manning speed traps to help pay for the cost of so many cops. So it’s a vicious circle – we’re actually paying people to drive up our auto insurance premiums just so they can justify their job.
Cut the police force by 50% by not replacing retiring cops, and put them on bronze level health benefits and 401(k) style defined contribution pension plans.
Then perhaps NJ goes up the rankings, our auto insurance premiums and taxes go down, and maybe we can afford some new investments in bridges, roads, tunnels and our schools instead of overpaying for public safety and public sector pensioners?
