So did Tommy “coin boy” Rica ever even pay the Village back the $230,000 he’d agreed to as part of his plea conviction in 2014? The forensic accountant said more like $850,000 was stolen, so where is the other $620,000? And why weren’t his supervisor Chris Rutishsuser or the the cops who saw Tommy boy coming and going from the room in their part of the building with 50lb coin bags ever implicated? Was this mob related ? James, what is the update?
So far we have about $13mn in debt obligations related to parking garage bonding’s… given the historical pattern of delays, expensive ‘change orders’, and cost overruns associated with any project the Village has financed ($500K golden toilet anyone?), my guess is this will come in over $20 million and run at an operating loss of more than $1 million annually. And that’s without ‘coin boy’ and his enablers stealing our quarters. All this, just as interest rates spike. It adds up to more financial lunacy from the Village, and taxpayers get screwed again.
The garage loses about a million dollars a year for the life of the garage. Rate increases everywhere are not up for debate- they are the only way to come close to paying for the garage. Wait until the math wizards who voted ‘yes’ see that the garage rate will have to be lower than the street rate just to spur demand for the garage. This is just the start of the self imposed retail implosion from liberals, wait until they get the minimum wage hikes they want. What do you think $15/hr does to the CBD where the stores are tiny and the required revenue per square foot is already sky high to pay the rent? A rent that the village council wants to nearly double which was the whole reason to build the garage, increase the tax haul from the CBD. Only the ‘no’ voters did the math.
Everyone should be focused on the rates required in the future to pay the debt service on the garage. Meter rates will be too high, the majority of retail businesses in town will suffer only a few nearby restaurants will benefit. A pending fiscal disaster, being backstopped by residents.
The 2-1 YES vote did not sufficiently outline the costs of the garage. The NO voters likely considered the costs. The majority of the YES voters thought it was “free”, of would be totally self sustaining.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood ran a story titled “Ridgewood Council considers parking rate hikes to finance garage, as plans get a face-lift” , in the article the News claimed that , ” As plans for the Hudson Street parking garage received a face-lift, the village is considering additional parking rate increases in the downtown to finance its construction and operation ”
Continue reading Mayor Contradicks Ridgewood News ,”Parking Rate Hike” Story
The restoration of a house (maybe not even historical) which is a piece of junk is not merely a joke, it’s a crying shame. Have the voters in Ridgewood been offered any place to express their desire not to have this forced down their throat? It could even have been on yesterdays ballot but that might have revealed that barely anyone in Ridgewood wants this. Where is the proposed funding grant? Still lost in someone’s mind? What are we going to use it for? It’s not in “a desirable location” according to realtors about the surrounding development. West Saddle River Road is such a narrow street that it cannot be striped into 2 halves. Cars ARE going to park on the street. That will immobilize all traffic going there. How did this get authorized without the village having a say in the useless expenditure of even more money and lack of thoughtful preparation?
file photo by Boyd Loving
But, but, but . . . didn’t we need more parking becuase there is no where to park and shop in the downtown??
Face it, the regimes of Aronson / Pucciarelli and Knudsen / Hache sold off our downtown to developers. The costs of an overcrowded downtown, the needs for improvements for the hundreds of new families, the needs for more school rooms and teachers, more police and fire fighters, etc. etc., are all being placed on the backs of the taxpayers by these politicians.
We didn’t need parking and hundreds of apartments to “save” our downtown. Our downtown businesses needed to modernize with the times and appreciate the market forces around them in order to save themselves.
Our council needed to take a firm stance in the courts, with the legislature and in all other ways possible against overdevelopment and the destruction of schools, our property values and other attributes. Instead, they chose to pander to a few special interests, tear down paradise and put up a parking lot and leave us all with the tax bill.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The entire block Hudson Street aside Park and Churches has not One parked car in any meter 25 spots in commercial district Tues 6 th late afternoon .
Continue reading Lots of Open Meters in Central Business District
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Authorizing access to your parking spaces or into your entire complex has traditionally been a complicated matter. Further, making sure that everyone who is granted access has a place to park and can move around efficiently has commonly carried some snags. The good news about that is the process has become far simpler, thanks to new technologies offered by Nortech.
Continue reading Your Authorization and Parking Have Never Been Simpler
What part of this equation don’t you understand?
Employees are not parking any further away. The empty spots are a direct result of the increased meter rates. any merchant in town can tell you how bad the numbers are of late. We understand that the social gadflys are aghast at the sight of a parking garage and the above article tries to float the issue without directly addressing it. Cute. Boneheaded move for the village as usual as they simply drove all the customers away. Lots of options out there and Downtown Ridgewood is not one of them.
The merchants I’ve spoken with in the Broad Street area have said business is off since the kiosks came in. In my experience, I see drivers u-turning all over the place into and out of spots – in front of cops, to boot. Safety has dropped below meter revenue & leaf fines in priorities of the VH and police department.
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, it looks like the Village Council has solved the parking problems in the Central Business District once and for all . Since the new meter rates went into effect and the Ridgewood Police became more active in ticketing repeat parkers and employees taking up street parking , parking spots now abound .
Several recent trips to the Central Business District we have noticed plenty of parking even on Chestnut street a notoriously difficult street to park .
One reader suggests that perhaps some employees are parking father away searching for free parking or finally using the employee parking .
Employee parking has been a major point of contention during all the attempts to solve the parking problems .
Continue reading Higher Meter Rates Solve Ridgewood’s Central Business District Parking Issues
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that patrol units responded to the area of 47 East Ridgewood Avenue on October 17th on a report of a verbal dispute. Upon arrival, a person reported he was harassed and assaulted by a male party over a parking space. The male identified as the actor reportedly made harassing statements and assaulted the victim by spitting in his face. The victim did not wish to pursue criminal complaints at this time.
file photo by Boyd Loving
The increased parking fees are to pay for the new garage, pure and simple. No other explanation for them. The new parking garage is to cater to the new housing projects and restaurant owners who want the taxpayers to bail them out of their otherwise poor investments. Council never should have built the garage, shouldn’t raise our taxes and parking fees to do so and shouldn’t pander to the real estate interests.
20181010 – Village Council Regular Public Meeting
VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE COUNCIL REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING OCTOBER 10, 2018 8:00 P.M.
With all the hooplah over the parking rates, new meter hours, kiosks, cops for utility work, etc, it seems like the casual scofflaw is being missed – and they are the ones that create the dangerous scenarios for pedestrians. Cases in point: u-turns into parking spots on Broad, Chestnut & Oak, speeds in excess of 25 going into and out of the CBD, and blatant cellphone use throughout the village by drivers. Until the police take a hard look at these motor vehicle infractions and ticket the offenders, pedestrian safety will be second to revenue production to fund Garagezilla. (Note to pedestrians…pay attention! You do not have a force field around you for protection, so take a break from your phones and don’t jaywalk.)
