May 4th 2016
Jeanette LaRocco
I have known Tony for many years and am a long time Ridgewood resident, am a member of the Guild from the beginning and I do NOT want Garage D, however, let’s put things into perspective. I believe that Tony was wrong to say it fits on the lot, but as a long time businessman, who by the way, has revitalized this town with the Guild when the Chamber of Commerce refused to do anything to make Ridgewood a destination, and who has done many generous things for the town, including Habitat for Humanity and having many charity events at his store, and has spent countless unpaid hours, to promote events that bring people in and keep businesses open, he has the right to want this garage built. When you think of the fact that he is doing this, NOT for political gain or financial gain like some promoters, except to keep his business going, I’m sorry but I can’t fault him for that. He is also a resident right in town and a parishioner of OLMC, and I just think of all the years he has had a business, he knows that he may not thrive unless we get some kind of parking. I think we must remember that we need to keep unique businesses in Ridgewood, instead of just banks and restaurants and chain stores. When I moved here nearly 28 years ago, there were so many wonderful and unique stores that are now gone and even now, there have been too many stores that open for a short time that can not sustain the rents and keep their businesses going and a big part of that is parking. What we also have to remember is that Tony didn’t start this mess, it was began because our Village Council members were not transparent about their plans with the garage and the developments. If they had been, we would’ve already begun building a garage that the majority of Ridgewood would be thrilled with, instead they made a mess of things, that many people, including myself, are trying to rectify. So let’s put the blame where it belongs. Just remember there are two sides to every story and lets act accordingly before we start throwing out conspiracy theories.
