Tag: Parking meters

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Ridgewood considers valet system to ease downtown parking problems

Parked_cars_theridgwoodblog.net_

Ridgewood considers valet system to ease downtown parking problems

JULY 21, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JULY 21, 2014, 2:06 PM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER

Ridgewood officials believe they have found a way to free up “potentially hundreds” of parking spaces in the Central Business District (CBD).

A policy is being written that would allow restaurants to valet cars to non-metered lots, providing a benefit for businesses and patrons.

An ordinance for valet parking “supports the public good,” said Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.

Under the valet policy, restaurants would pay $250 to apply for a valet permit, and, if approved, would pay $1,000 for an annual operating permit.

The permit application would have to detail such things as insurance, the seating capacity of the business, hours and days of operations, a map of routes to the offsite parking lot, and a copy of the agreement between the business and the owner of the offsite parking location.

The restaurant would also be charged with displaying valet parking signage and would not be allowed to park in any metered spot, and would have to employ a sufficient number of valet parking attendants so that cars do not queue up and block the road.

The village engineer would review the permit application to determine whether the plan is “workable and safe” and possibly consult with the police and fire departments on the plans.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/valet-parking-viewed-as-viable-in-ridgewood-1.1054871#sthash.87uxyRB9.dpuf

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10 Year Old Ryan Leo Kamm asks ,How did coin thief get away?

pile-us-quarters-19060569

10 Year Old Ryan Leo Kamm asks ,How did coin thief get away?

Leo many in Ridgewood continue to wonder that same thing , the Village had for many year rejected modernizing its parking meters and even after a $40 million dollar renovation to the Ridgewood train station  the old fashioned coin operated meters remained intact .Past mentions of upgrading parking meters were met with fallacious and hostile comments on this blog .


Ridgewood Parking Problems: oh those new fangled meters will never work here

https://theridgewoodblog.net/ridgewood-parking-problems-oh-those-new-fangled-meters-will-never-work-here/

Passion for Parking Meters

https://theridgewoodblog.net/passion-for-parking-meters/

Parking Economics 101 : Its called the Supply and Demand Curve

https://theridgewoodblog.net/parking-economics-101-its-called-the-supply-and-demand-curve/

Regarding “Crime pays” (Editorials, July 11):The editorial says that Thomas Rica stole $460,000 in quarters. According to my math, that’s 1,840,000 quarters.

I am only 10 years old, but I am wondering: If Rica stole 23,000 pounds in quarters, how could he walk out of a building carrying that amount with no pickup trucks available — even if he did it over several years — without being detected?

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/the-record-letters-tuesday-july-15-1.1051331?page=3#sthash.tr4vM13O.dpuf

Microsoft Store

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Man who stole $460,000 in quarters from Ridgewood to be sentenced

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Man who stole $460,000 in quarters from Ridgewood to be sentenced

JULY 9, 2014    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

The former Ridgewood official who confessed in March to stealing $460,000 in loose parking meter quarters from a storage room inside Village Hall is to be sentenced this afternoon.

Hawthorne resident Thomas Rica, who is Ridgewood’s former public works inspector, is to appear before state Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Roma in Hackensack.

It is expected that Rica will receive no jail time.

Under the terms of a plea deal struck by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and his lawyer, Robert Galantucci, Rica will be sentenced to five years’ probation.

Additionally, Rica will be ordered to make full restitution to the village, authorities have said.

“Thanks to the Prosecutor’s Office, Ridgewood residents will get back most, if not all, of the money shamelessly stolen from them,” Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn said on Tuesday.

“That’s important,” he added. “That’s key.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime-and-courts/sentencing-today-for-man-who-stole-460-00-in-coins-1.1048167#sthash.7eIaqApx.dpuf

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So How Many Quarters is $460,000 ?

Roger Herrin

So How Many Quarters is $460,000 ?

Readers weigh in on “Coin Gate “

One reader says let’s do the math;
$460,000 over 25 months
25 months = 760 days
760 minus weekends = 544 days
544 days minus paid holidays = 524 days
524 days minus 3 weeks vacation = 494 days of work in 25 months
1.8 million quarters divided by 494 days = 3643 quarters per day!
If $100 in quarters equals 5 lbs, then $1000 = 50 lbs,
then 3643= approx 180 POUNDS PER DAY!!
But feel free to check my math.
Either way, this is WAY too much to be a one person job!

but some differ in their mathematical

To put this in perspective, and bearing in mind that $100 in quarters weighs 5 pounds, taking $460,000 in quarters requires carrying 31.5 pounds out of the building every single day. If he didn’t go to work on weekends or holidays, and was there 250 days per year, he’d have to carry out 46 pounds a day. If he missed a day, he’d have to carry out over 90 pounds, more than a sack of cement. You don’t put that in your pants pockets and converting that many quarters to cash would be a full time job by itself.

quarters-bag

most think that he didnt act alone

I don’t think he took 12 tons of quarters. He stole some, and others stole some too.He got caught, and copped to it once he knew he wouldn’t go to jail. The trick will be watching his finances to see where he gets the money to pay it back. My guess is he will be getting lots of bank envelopes full of cash from various people over the next few years.

Esurance

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Reader feels a a bad Precedent has been set for Ridgewood coin thief

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Reader feels a a bad Precedent has been set for Ridgewood coin thief

All I know is there should be people lining their pockets with municipal funds nationwide by now. Apparently, all you need to worry about is paying it back, and that’s only if you get caught. And, they’ll let you use your vacation and pension to do it! Precedent has been set.

I want to see a separate account established to receive his monthly payments, and I want to see it made public so that anyone who is interested can know the day he falls behind in payments. And when this gentlemen declares bankruptcy (which he will, trust me) to get the debt expunged, I want him in jail the next day. But that’s not how this is going to happen. He will file for bankruptcy, keep his house, and never have to pay a cent. You will see him at Raymonds with a BMW parked out front.

This is fucking bullshit, and I get angrier every time I read about it.

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Readers divided over No-jail plea deal for Ridgewood coin thief

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Readers divided over No-jail plea deal for Ridgewood coin thief 

I suspect that during the course of the investigation, it became evident that others were helping themselves to the coins. Whether Rica himself provided this information or not, it might be a case of the prosecutor wanting to keep this additional thievery out of the public domain as it would certainly have surfaced had Rica gone to trial. This was probably the crux of the no-jailtime plea deal. Even if Rica was the only thief, a trial would have brought up a lot of information about supervisors not carrying out written control procedures.

and some think …

If he gets charged with a federal charge…say tax evasion, then if he is convicted, a judge could impose paying back the $480,000 as part of sentencing. If that happens, then filing bankruptcy does not allow him to discharge that debt.
I am not sure if the state statutes allow him to file a bankruptcy if part of his sentence is to pay back the money.
Also, if he had ‘info’ on others as the original post stated, then he wouldn’t be sentenced until AFTER he testifies so I’m thinking he doesn’t have anything on anyone else in the Village. He just got a great once-in-a-lifetime deal due to a very good lawyer.

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No-jail plea deal for Ridgewood coin thief dismays officials

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No-jail plea deal for Ridgewood coin thief dismays officials

MARCH 23, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014, 9:52 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Questions are being raised over the plea deal with a former Ridgewood official who was convicted of stealing nearly a half-million dollars in parking meter quarters but is likely to be spared any jail time.

“It’s startling to see that type of plea bargain,” said defense attorney Frank Lucianna, of the deal given to Thomas Rica of Hawthorne. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The deal, which was orchestrated by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and Rica’s attorney, Robert Galantucci, calls for the former Ridgewood public-works inspector to receive five years’ probation when he is sentenced June 6. Rica also will have to repay the $460,000 in parking meter quarters he stole over a two-year period.

The proposed sentence also caught village officials off-guard.

In a statement, Mayor Paul Aronsohn said that “the Prosecutor’s Office was clear with us that this was their investigation and their decision, and that we had no say in the matter.”

Aronsohn added: “We were surprised and disappointed that he wasn’t going to get jail time, but I appreciate the prosecutor’s determination to recoup all of the money stolen from Ridgewood taxpayers.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/no-jail-plea-deal-for-ridgewood-coin-thief-dismays-officials-1.749904#sthash.5DCrnoHf.dpuf

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Readers find it hard to believe Ridgewood meter thief acted alone and went unnoticed for so long

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$460,000 in quarters thats a lot of quarters

Readers find it hard to believe Ridgewood meter thief acted alone and went unnoticed for so long

Shocking! And as expected, no comment from our illustrious mayor on the one thing he should be commenting about. What a joke Ridgewood is becoming. But, Roberta will fix everything, Paul promises.

No way he was the only one. The only way he even gets to the point where he is comfortable stealing a half million dollars in quarters is if there is a pre existing culture of entitlement that facilitates this kind of behavior. Same thing happened in Hoboken about 10 years ago (only it was $1M). And we all know how squeaky clean that city is.

$460,000 is 1% of our Village annual budget and no one noticed ? Makes you wonder what else goes missing every year ?

He took the money over a 2 year period. Someone in finance didn’t notice a quarter of a million dollar shortfall 2 years in a row?

How can this be, he must of paid some one off, what a scam. and don’t tell me that no others new about this. bull shit. right ,right, come on .he is lucky that he did not meet big bubba . he would of never lasted in the joint.

But Village officials steadfastly refuse to offer any other payment option for meters and parking kiosks other than cash, thus making it easier for employees to continue helping themselves. There are so many security breaches in the collection process, none of which officials will admit to in public.

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Ridgewood inspector admits to stealing $460,000 in quarters from village

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Ridgewood inspector admits to stealing $460,000 in quarters from village

As predicted by this blog 

MARCH 19, 2014, 10:20 AM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014, 12:00 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

HACKENSACK — A Hawthorne man long employed as Ridgewood’s public works inspector was in court this morning to admit he actually stole nearly half a million dollars in quarters from the village.

Thomas Rica, 43, of Hawthorne, lost his job with the village in January of 2013 following his arrest for taking $500 in coins from Ridgewood’s meter collection room.

But a year-long investigation into his crime by Bergen County authorities revealed Rica, in fact, stole a much larger chunk of change from the village than initially thought.

Instead of hundreds, he took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ridgewood, in quarter form.

Authorities claim Rica stole $460,000 in quarters from the village.

Rica, authorities said, took the 1.8 million quarters over the course of 25 months, by entering a room in Village Hall where collected parking meter quarters are stored and walking out with full pockets. –

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-inspector-admits-to-stealing-460-000-in-quarters-from-village-1.745520

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ex-ridgewood-inspector-admits-to-stealing-460-000-in-quarters-from-village-video-1.745520