Tag: Ridgewood Fire Department

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Ball Fields Back on the Table for Schedler Property in Ridgewood

Schedler Property in Ridgewood

November 16,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, once again the Schedler Property in Ridgewood seems to be in play. Rumors are swirling on the east side of route 17 ,that the current tree clearing is really  to make way for more ball fields .

Jacqueline Hone commented on Facebook on Ridgewood History, “There has been an ongoing debate about the Schedler property in Ridgewood. Artifacts dating back to the Revolutionary war were discovered on this property. Here is a British Lieutenant’s sword, dated 1747, found at Schedler. Also, a letter written by the same man describing his approach to battle on this site. Our Village Stewards are moving towards converting this historical, untouched, wooded area into another ball field. Many felt the area should be preserved historically and left as a nature/discovery walk. How do you feel about this? Does anyone have pictures, stories or artifacts related to Schedler?”

Mayor Susan Traina Knudsen  also commented on Facebook saying , “The previous plan for a 90′ field required clear cutting the lot to accomodate a 300′ outfield, plus a practice area, seating, parking lot, bathroom/concession and more. That plan also included the removal of the historic house plus a 60’H x 300’L errant ball net along route 17….my recollection of the size.

This Village Council unanimously voted to repeal the plan for the 90′ baseball field at the location and subsequently appointed an ad hoc committee to look at how to best proceed with the property.

It is fair to say the Schedler neighborhood is very well represented on the Ad hoc committee. Other members include two VC ,VoR staff, representation from both Wildscape & parks/rec, and residents.

This Village Council is committed to doing better and preserving one of the last remaining historic Dutch frame houses in New Jersey…the Zabriski/Schedler house has a Certificate of Eligibility for historic recognition and is listed in the Historic element of the Village of RIdgewood Master Plan.

To date, no new plan has been presented for VC review; however, I anticipate one or more plans will be forthcoming in December.

Matching grant money has been awarded for both the house restoration and property. Work on the house requires appropriate historic restoration and will begin early spring-ish 2018. Non-historic structures will be removed including the garage and severly damaged shed. Additionally dead and fallen trees will be removed allowing for new, healthier growth on the ground beneath the tree canopy.

I hope and anticipate a compromise will include a neighborhood children’s playground, a smaller practice/playing multipurpose field, and walking nature paths – all while maintaining a healthier, densely wooded lot.

Doing nothing leaves a blank slate for future plans. Development and implementation of a thoughtful plan, accomodating a variety of interests, is important for the entire community.

In closing, there has been significant resident input in this process including council meetings, public meetings, public hearings at both the Village and county level, emails, neighborhood meetings and more.”

 

Why Making The Schedler Property in Ridgewood Into A Ballfield Is Dumb

https://theridgewoodblog.net/why-making-the-schedler-property-into-a-ballfield-is-dumb/

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Village Engineer Gets Preferential Treatment with Parking at Village Hall

parking at village hall

November 16,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, looks like Christopher Rutishauser Village Engineer  has had his share of troubles parking in the Village Hall parking lot .  So in order to keep his special spot available an over night sign change was needed  and there we go special parking for motorcycles, even closer to the Village hall the handicapped spaces .

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The signs were not approved and parking has gone rogue with the entire Village Hall back lot has now been converted into a everyman for themselves.

Residents have to pay up to  $1500 a year for parking permits in the Village. The main question is should be why is Chris Ritishauser given preferential treatment and above the law? All employees should park at the rear of the lot or somewhere else. Across the field. What’s good for the CBD should be good enough for Village employees.

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Reader says “Fairness ” is nothing more than sticking someone else with the bill

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I get a kick out of all the liberals talking about “fairness”.
How is it fair that senior citizens on fixed incomes who never had children in the schools or singles with no children are supposed to pay for the education of someone else’s children?
I shouldn’t have to subsidize the education of the children of someone (typically a wealthy wall streeter) who earns a lot more then me,
I guess it become “fair” due to the liberal mantra of sticking someone else with the bill.

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Reader says when it come to Valley I do not advocate celebration nor letting our guard down just yet

Valley Hospital

Still need to digest this – the cynic in me says – read the fine print – are we truly getting what we want or is there a loophole/compromise in this solution that will end up leaving us worse of.
Agreed it looks good on the surface, but I do not advocate celebration nor letting our guard down just yet…

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Ridgewood Police rescued small dog that had been trapped on a roof

ridgewood police dog rescue
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
November 16,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Patrol Officer Brandon Donnelly rescued a small dog that had been trapped on the lower roof of a Queens Court, Ridgewood home for over eight (8) hours on Thursday, 11/15. A next door neighbor who reported that the dog had been barking since approximately 8:00 a.m. said she only realized the dog was trapped in the roof after returning home from picking up her children from school late in the afternoon. The roof’s condition prevented Officer Donnelly from climbing up on it, so he coaxed the dog over to edge by using two (2) crackers provided by the neighbor. The seemingly uninjured animal was taken into custody by a representative of Tyco Animal Control Services, hopefully to be freed from captivity when its owner returns home and finds a note that Officer Donnelly left behind on their front door. Access to the lower roof was likely made via a rear deck with missing railings.
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Ridgewood Water , can no flush Fridays be far behind?

toilet

November 15 ,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Water is reminding people that , “Your Toilet is a Water Thief”  – Check your toilet for leaks to save water and money. Free testing tablets are available at the office of Ridgewood Water.

Longer term readers of the Ridgewood blog know the Village  has had its fill of “Golden Toilets” .

Given the current state of water restrictions in the Village of Ridgewood and the rest of Ridgewood Waters service area begs the question, can no flush Fridays be far behind?

 

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Reader says We’ve had a decade or more of helicopter parents, participation trophies and general coddling of anyone who needs to be considered “special”

285-KidsHeadphones

We’ve had a decade or more of helicopter parents, participation trophies and general coddling of anyone who needs to be considered “special”. As a society we have failed these kids by not teaching them how to both win and lose with dignity or to be accountable for their behavior. Once the kid grows beyond his parents’ ability to fix everything for him, the kid is faced with the harsh reality of natural consequences to his actions. The real world is not a kind place and we have raised a generation of kids that are wholly unprepared to face it.

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Cold Out , Don’t Bother Warming Up Your Car

Ridgewood Police Snow

November 15,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, yes its that time of year again , its cold out there  . In an article 8 Facts and Myths About Warming Up Your Car in Winter https://www.yahoo.com/news/bp/8-facts-myths-warming-car-winter-201000465.html the writer admits old habits die hard, and one of the oldest-still rigorously enforced by many drivers-is that “warming up” the car for a few minutes is necessary to avoid some kind of unspecified damage.

Alex Scaperotta, created an anti-idling campaign with a classmate when he was in fifth grade in Wilton, Connecticut, and came up with a slogan that was used on bumper stickers and websites: “If you’re stopped for more than 10, turn it off and on again.” Sounds like good advice.

So we spelled out the 8 Facts and Myths About Warming Up Your Car in Winter :

1. Driving Warms the Car Faster than Idling.
If your concern is not the health of the car, but simply your own creature comforts, Bob Aldrich of the California Energy Commission points out that “idling is not actually an effective way to warm up a car – it warms up faster if you just drive it.” The coming electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, will incorporate a wonderful feature that allows the owner to use a cellphone to tell the car (which is plugged into the grid) to pre-warm or pre-cool the interior. No idling necessary. (Photo at right by Mika / Corbis)

2. Ten Seconds Is All You Need.
Environmental Defense Fund, which produced the Idling Gets You Nowhere campaign, advises motorists to turn off their ignition if they’re sitting stopped for more than 10 seconds. “After about ten seconds, you waste more money running the engine than restarting it, said Andy Darrell, deputy director of the EDF Energy Program. “Switch the car off at the curb and you’ll be leaving money in your wallet and protecting the air in your community.”

3. Idling Hurts the Car.
According to the Hinkle Charitable Foundation’s Anti-Idling Primer, idling forces an engine “to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine’s performance and reduce mileage.”

4. Idling Costs Money.
Over a year of five minutes of daily idling (which causes incomplete combustion of fuel), the “Anti-Idling Primer” estimates that the operator of a V-8-engined car will waste 20 gallons of gasoline, which not only produces 440 pounds of carbon dioxide but costs at least $60. (Related: How to Cut Your Gas Bill in Half)

5. Idling in the Garage Can Kill You.
Idling a car in a garage, even with the door open, is dangerous and exposes the driver to carbon monoxide and other noxious gases. If the garage is attached, those fumes can also enter the house. (Related: Learn these 6 Surprising Sources of Indoor Air Pollution)

6. Block Heaters Beat Remote Starters.
Lori Strothard of the Waterloo Citizens Vehicle Idling Reduction Task Force in Canada says, “Remote starters can too easily cause people to warm up their cars for five to 15 minutes, which is generally unnecessary. A block heater, which is designed to heat the engine and can cost under $30, on a timer set to start one to two hours before driving does the trick in very cold climates.

7. Quick Errands Aren’t Quick Enough.
Natural Resources Canada points out that “quick errand” idling is another way to waste gas and pollute both your town and the planet. “Leaving your engine running is hard on your pocketbook, produces greenhouse gas emissions and is an invitation to car thieves,” the agency says.

8. Idling is Bad for Your Health (and Your Neighbor’s Health).
According to Minneapolis’ anti-idling ordinance, “Exhaust is hazardous to human health, especially children’s; studies have linked air pollution to increased rates of cancer, heart and lung disease, asthma and allergies.” Isabelle Silverman, who runs EDF’s anti-idling campaign, says that car idling “is the second-hand smoking of the outdoors. One of the problems is that cars idle close to the

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Reader says the Ridgewood School Board should limit their dreams and focus on a good education

RHS_BEST_theridgewoodblog

If the parents and the School Board would limit their dreams to what is NECESSARY to get a good education, the taxes for schools would be reduced. Kids don’t care about windows (except to look through them when they are bored in class.) nor golden fixtures in their bathrooms. If the fixtures work, leave them until one actually needs fixing. (and the new low-water toilets develop problems much sooner than the older ones did. Particularly in costly water leaks.) The furnaces are obviously not being fed coal, so leave them alone. Small repairs can usually fix anything that is wrong with them. Concentrate on hiring good teachers, not an excess of “support staff”, and all would be well in our system. (Which has fallen from high national ratings to mediocre state ratings in the time we’ve been here and support staff has increased drastically!)

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Ridgewood School Board : The fights were mutually conducted and were fueled by social media, with a genesis dating to this past August.

Dan Fishbein 10

November 15,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood High School Administration has completed its investigation into the serious incident that occurred two weeks ago.  According to its investigation, the Administration has concluded there were two (2) fights between the same two (2) students: the first on Friday, October 27, 2017, and then on Saturday, October 28, 2017.  Both fights occurred after school hours on school property.  One student was injured. The fights were mutually conducted and were fueled by social media, with a genesis dating to this past August.

The District is aware that the Ridgewood Police Department has completed its investigation and has charged two students for their roles in the fights.
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

49 Cottage Place
Ridgewood, NJ
07450

201-670-2700, ext. 10530
[email protected]

The Ridgewood Board of Education and Administration are concerned that the students chose to resolve their dispute with violence rather than to report their issues to school officials or an adult who could have taken action.   Students regularly bring their concerns to school administration and that is why we have a low incidence of fighting and Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB). We are a school district and understand that students make mistakes in action and judgement and it is our job to administer consequences when necessary, teach better behavior, provide therapeutic counseling when warranted and accepted.  Our schools regularly educate and counsel our students to make good decisions.  We are proud of our students, but they need redirection when they make mistakes. Accordingly, the High School Administration will utilize it’s a variety of interventions, including the use of education, counseling and school discipline to discourage such behavior in the future.

District Administration is open and transparent whenever possible.  However, due to student privacy laws, the Administration is unable to discuss individual students and disciplinary consequences that may be imposed.

While an investigation is ongoing, every attempt will be made to dispel rumors, but our focus must be on a thorough investigation and certainty of the final determination.  Only the administrators and the police, when necessary, who are conducting the investigation know the pertinent facts.  We would like to remind the public to be aware that the misuse of social media impedes an investigation when misinformation and falsehoods are disseminated. When working with children and adolescents, serious incidents sometimes occur.  Our staff excels at dealing with serious situations and does so with compassion and care.  While people might point fingers and make false accusations when students make poor decisions, we assure you our administrators always work towards resolution and a goal that students will learn from the experience.  School officials and counselors are available to support and assist all students in learning from this unfortunate event.

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Reader offers a reminder of the initial demands that were made on posts across multiple groups on Facebook

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A reminder of the initial demands that were made on posts across multiple groups on Facebook. And there is evidence (in the form of Facebook comments) of a LOT of people agreeing with all of this.
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This is the position that should be taken
1. ALL kids that were involved in setting up the fight, especially the one that beat him and the pervert with the pictures, should be expelled immediately, whether they threw a punch or not (only one is known to have hit my nephew on the 27th and 28th, I don’t know if there were other altercations): and
2. ALL who have these/this photo of (this girl) a minor on their phone or other device should also be expelled. There should be ZERO tolerance.
3. ALL who attended either fight, whether friend or foe of my nephew, on Friday or on Saturday must be suspended. There should be ZERO tolerance for this sickening and barbaric behavior of gathering for a fight, if this were an arranged dog or chicken fight, all present would be charged: and,
4. I also believe the RHS wrestling season for 2017 should end today. It does not matter how many are involved, ALL should be disciplined.

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Concerned Residents of Ridgewood : The Valley settlement itself is a win-win for all those involved

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

November 14,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Pete Mckenna President of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood, commented on the Valley Hospital Settlement, “As I mentioned to the Village Council when this was on their agenda, our long local nightmare has ended.  Much of the credit for this outcome is due to the work of mayors Knudsen, Killion and Aronsohn over the past many years.  When this expansion was first introduced to then Mayor Pfund and his council it seemed like a done deal.  Fortunately for the people of Ridgewood, common sense and rational land-use planning have prevailed.  While this settlement is predicated on Valley receiving approval to move to Paramus from the State Department of Health, no obvious impediments to that approval happening have surfaced and it is expected to come in the months ahead.  ”

McKenna went on ,”The settlement itself is a win-win for all those involved.  The current litigation involved four parties, The Village, The Planning Board, Valley Hospital and CRR.  All of the preceding and current legal actions were essentially consolidated into a single action being heard in the Appellate Division in Trenton.  With the agreed upon settlement, CRR and all of the parties retain all the legal rights they have today should the state approval of Valley’s move not occur.  If Valley’s move to Paramus is approved, the underlying issues of the lawsuit will have been addressed and there is no reason to continue litigation.  Once approved to move the acute care hospital to Paramus, The Planning Board and Village will amend the Master Plan and Village Ordinances respectively to make the existing facility in Ridgewood “conforming”.  The Ridgewood property today is “non-conforming” as much of the building over the previous decades has been by variance.  By aligning the Master Plan and Ordinances with the existing facility size we provide the property owner and the community a greater sense of certainty about what can happen on that site. While the current facility has about 400,000 sq. feet of space above grade, the Master Plan that was being litigated would have allowed 1,000,000 sq. feet above grade on the same property.  Knowing that we are working with a baseline that is 40% of the previously approved Master Plan is a huge comfort to me and should be to all Ridgewood residents.  While there remains much work to be done to determine what health-related services will be performed at this location after the 2023 move to Paramus, I am optimistic that a workable compromise can be reached.  CRR needs to conduct what I hope to be our last fund-raising drive to pay the attorneys that helped make this settlement a reality. ”

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AMTRAK: Major Work to Impact New York Penn Station in January 

Ridgewood_Train_station_train _is_coming_theridgewoodblog

 

Two A.M. Peak and Three P.M. Peak Trains To Be Affected On NEC and NJCL Beginning January 8

November 14, 2017

Ridgewood NJ,  Upcoming Amtrak track work at Penn Station New York (PSNY) will impact select NJ TRANSIT peak period train service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and North Jersey Coast Line (NJCL) with scheduled service adjustments to begin on January 8, 2018 through May 28, 2018.

The work will mainly affect a total of five trains per day which includes two in the a.m. peak and three in the p.m. peak periods.  Of these five trains, one NJCL train in both the a.m. and p.m. will be diverted to Hoboken; one NEC train in both the a.m. and p.m. will terminate/originate at Newark Penn Station and another NJCL train in the p.m. will be cancelled.  Other trains may have adjustments made to the timetable or station stops, and customers are advised to check the service timetables carefully.

“While this impact is far less than what we experienced this past summer, we encourage our Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line customers to do their homework and adjust their commuting plans if needed,” said Executive Director Steven H. Santoro.  “I want to thank our customers in advance as we continue to support Amtrak’s efforts to renew critical infrastructure at Penn Station New York and avoid a repeat of the derailments we saw this past spring.”

The affected trains are as follows:

A.M.

NJCL train 3216, the 6:11 a.m. eastbound Long Branch departure, will now depart at 6:23 a.m. and will be diverted to Hoboken renumbered as 2604
NEC train 3122, the 7:06 a.m. eastbound departure from New Brunswick will terminate at Newark Penn Station renumbered as 5822.

P.M.

NJCL train 3267, the 5:25 p.m. departure from PSNY, will originate from Hoboken at 5:22 p.m. renumbered as 2609
NEC train 3171, the 5:43 p.m. departure from PSNY, will originate at Newark Penn Station at 6:03 p.m. renumbered as 5869
NJCL train 3441, the 6:51 p.m. departure from PSNY, will be cancelled
Customers are advised that trains prior to or following the affected trains may experience crowded conditions.

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Reader says lynch mob mentality in the Village is a sign of “affluenza”

torchMob

 

What does ‘severity of injury’ have to do with how one side went about riling up a lynch mob to take down half the high school? All because their precious kid voluntarily went into a fight and came off badly from it?
You realize what this kid is learning, right? I can get into a fight any time. If I win – great. If I lose, my extended family will use all their clout to take down any and everyone who did not protect me from my own decision.
There is a well-established term for that kind of situation.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/ethan-couchs-affluenza-explainer/story?id=36011293

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Reader says Suddenly there is talk of ‘community’ and ‘keeping thing out of press’ and ‘children and parents sorting it out.’

Reading_theridgewood_news_theridgewoodblog

Suddenly there is talk of ‘community’ and ‘keeping thing out of press’ and ‘children and parents sorting it out.’
Meanwhile just last week, a lynch mob was being riled up to break down doors, handcuff, imprison, institutionalize, expel at least 50+ high school kids.. err psycho animals and thugs. And a LOT of Ridgewood residents – both present and past – were in full agreement, whether they knew the first thing about the ‘incident’ or not.
I wonder what changed!