PSE&G ELECTRIC RELIABILITY IMPROVEMENTS UTILITY UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADE
WORK SCHEDULE UPDATE: February 20, 2017 – February 24, 2017 VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD
February 21, 2017 –February 24, 2017
Underground Pipe Installation
North Broad Street
(E. Ridgewood Avenue to Franklin Ave)
Traffic will be maintained in both directions
Metered Parking Spots will be used on both sides of roadway to allow all traffic to be shifted to the east side of North Broad St.
As part of our electric reliability improvements in Bergen County, PSE&G will be performing utility underground work in the Village of Ridgewood. As of February 2017, PSE&G will beperforming the following activities in your area:
Safety is our primary concern. PSE&G will work with the Ridgewood Police Department to minimize any traffic concerns or inconveniences to the public. During construction, please refrain from going near our construction work zones.
The upgrades will enhance your electric capacity, system redundancy, and service reliability within the Village of Ridgewood, as well as surrounding communities. If you have questions or concerns, please call our toll free number at 1-877-678-5784
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Emergency Services Director and Chief, Tony Lillo reported the Departments statistics for the year 2016. The volunteer department handled over 1797 requests for assistance. Chief Lillo stated that “call numbers alone don’t tell the story of our volunteers. Looking at the volume of hours the members donated, gives a better picture of the dedication of our volunteers who donated 20,593 hours to the Village.”
On the average, each volunteer donated 326 hours to the Village. There are of course a few who far exceeded the average. The following volunteers, who donated over 800 hours each to Ridgewood Emergency Services:
James Bigos, Robert Kearney, Jonathan Papietro, Steven Chiesa, Ryan Savaria
Liz Heberling, Eric Frielink
Those statistics only include time tracked while on Emergency Services duty covering the Village. It doesn’t count all the hours spent planning and preparing for events, as well as time maintaining equipment, vehicles and our headquarters as well as training.
Chief Lillo announced that Recognition Awards were presented to members of the Department.
Top Call Award – Eric Frielink
EMT of the Year – Mary Hefferan
Volunteer of the Year – Jonathan Hyslop
TIES member of the Year – Madison Murphy
Service Awards were presented to:
5 Years – Ace Antonio, Emily Benjamin, James Bigos, Eric Frielink
10 Years – Michael Butler, Murray Yang
15 Years – Lee Anderson, Ashley Mormino, Corinne Scarpa
25 Years – Dr. Robert Lahita
Chief Lillo, announced that the Departments 2017 Officers are:
Deputy Chief – Ryan Savaria
Medical Director – Dr. Bob Lahita
Public Information Officer– Bob Krane, Dick Breining
EMS Captain – Murray Yang
EMS Lieutenants– Ace Antonio, Robin Johnson, James Bigos, Emily Benjamin
Special Operations Captain – Lee Anderson
Special Operations Lieutenants – John Baker, Matt Hendrickson, Steven Chiesa, Rick Tarleton
TIES Captain – Corinne Scarpa
TIES Lieutenant – Kevin Scarpa
“Please consider supporting our organization with a financial contribution so that the community can continue to count on the volunteers to respond to all its needs,” said Director and Chief Tony Lillo.
Please make checks payable to F.O.R.E.S.T. (Friends of Ridgewood Emergency Services Teams), 131 North Maple Ave Ridgewood NJ 07450. Online at www.ridgewood911.org. F.O.R.E.S.T. is a charitable organization under IRS section 501(c) (3) so all contributions are tax deductible.
Should you be interested in exploring the idea of becoming a member, please call us at (201) 670-5570. The comprehensive training you’ll receive is free, and while rigorous, it is personally rewarding.
Property tax appeals in New Jersey fell for the fourth straight year in 2016 to their lowest level since 2008, an indication people were less stressed about the value of their homes and, by extension, the condition of the overall economy.
However, the number of appeals, 49,286, remained higher than it had been in any of the dozen years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008.
“Better” doesn’t mean fully recovered.
“It’s a combination of the market value of properties appreciating over the last few years, since the downturn in the market, and also you’ve seen more reassessments or revaluations completed in municipalities, bringing the values back to market,” said Martin Lynch, president of the Association of Municipal Assessors of New Jersey
Reader …“Who is so well connected on Sherman place?” Apparently not the residents! They are not in favor of a ban, and did not ask for one. The residents of Pomander had “friends” on the old council, were granted no parking on their street and that traffic is now on Sherman. Instead of recognizing they have created an issue on Sherman, the residents of POMANDER suggested no parking on Sherman either, despite the idea that residents on Sherman actually don’t want the limits there. Unbelievable.
and another reader ….Sherman place residents have long fought with evidence and diligence. Not connection. Someone should Ask about the connection on pomander that landed them in this mess to begin with.
What a joke. That last council bites us in the ass endlessly from beyond the grave.
Sherman place is a nightmare and an accident waiting to happen- even without cars parked there.
Valley hospital used local streets for their employees and visitors ruining the neighborhood. That shouldnt be allowed either.
Ridgewood NJ, someone commented on Facebook , “Yesterday a young man rang my doorbell and said he worked for a company hired by PSEG and asked me to check my bill to see if I was being charged for “dirty energy.” I told him it wasn’t a good time, so he said I should have my bill handy because they would send someone else next week. Has anyone else had this experience? It sounds really fishy to me, and I can’t find anything about it online. I messaged PSEG.”
Alarm bells go off in out head , the comments continued , “Other neighbors saw him walking through the neighborhood earlier. I should have called the police immediately but I was working and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I just got this from RPD: “Please call the police for a response if this happens again. 201-652-3900,” so sounds like fraud. Blatant, though- it was Saturday, early in the afternoon.”
PSE&G says , if you think you may have been a victim of a scam, file a report with your local police department, and contact us by calling 1-800-436-7734. Also, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint online.
Sales person perhaps, scammer or just casing your house more likely.
With milestone, bridge becomes the Port Authority’s first all-cashless tolling facility
The Bayonne Bridge’s new elevated roadway will open to drivers on Monday at 5 a.m., ushering in a new era for the 85-year-old arch bridge that will now become the Port Authority’s first all-cashless tolling facility.
The new roadway is 215 feet above the Kill van Kull and 64 feet above the original bridge deck. It is part of the Port Authority’s “Raise the Roadway” initiative to provide navigational clearance for the larger container vessels now using the expanded Panama Canal that are expected to arrive at all agency port facilities later this year.
The project represents a unique engineering achievement, during which the new roadway was built while the existing roadway remained in service with limited disruption to traffic.
When the new roadway opens, the existing toll plaza will be taken out of service and replaced with an overhead gantry, mounted with electronic toll collection equipment. Drivers will no longer slow down or stop at a toll booth, and will benefit from being able to continue driving through the crossing at the posted speed limit.
More than 90 percent of Bayonne Bridge drivers already use E-ZPass and they will experience no other changes. However, E-ZPass users must make sure their tag is properly mounted in the vehicle’s windshield, to ensure it will be detected by the electronic toll collecting equipment.
For the less than 10 percent of Bayonne Bridge drivers who do not use E-ZPass, an overhead camera will photograph the vehicle’s license plate and a toll bill will be mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner. These bills must be paid by the due date noted on the bill. Unpaid toll bills will be assessed additional fees and ultimately escalate to violations, with a $50 fee assessed for each violation.
Further information about cashless tolling at the Bayonne Bridge can be found at www.panynj.gov/BayonneToll.
The Port Authority aggressively enforces toll payment through a multi-pronged approach that focuses primarily on persistent toll violators. Unpaid toll violations are sent to a collection agency and may be pursued through litigation. Toll evaders also may face criminal charges and arrest by Port Authority Police. The agency also partners with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to seek the suspension of vehicle registrations for persistent violators with New York-registered vehicles.
When the new roadway opens, all traffic crossing Route 440 between Bayonne, N.J. and Staten Island, N.Y. will be directed by signs to the bridge’s new approach roadways and over the elevated span.
“On February 20, we will make history,’’ said Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s chief of major capital projects. “The Bayonne Bridge, a marvel of 20th century engineering, will become a groundbreaking innovation of the 21st century.’’
At first, the new Bayonne Bridge roadway will continue to accommodate one lane of traffic in each direction. The new roadway will reach its full width – four 12-foot lanes plus inner and outer shoulders, a median barrier and a 10-foot shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians – by 2019.
The Bayonne Bridge “Raise the Roadway” project will enable today’s larger, more efficient and more environmentally beneficial container ships to pass beneath the Bayonne Bridge when traveling to Port Newark/Elizabeth and Howland Hook. The project is under construction by the joint venture of Skanska/Koch/Kiewit Infrastructure Co. (JV).
Locke said tolerance was the chief characteristic of the true Christian.
Jon Miltimore | June 14, 2016
John Locke (1632-1704) was one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment. The English philosopher’s ideas are at the core of the American Founding; in fact, it can be argued that his thoughts shaped the minds of the American Revolution more than any single thinker.
While Locke is best known for his treatises on government, he also wrote on religion.
Locke was a Christian who grew up during the Thirty Years War (1638-1648), one of the most destructive conflicts in Europe’s bloody history. The war was largely a religious conflict, the product of the Protestation Reformation that divided European states into more than a thousand Protestant and Catholic states.
The conflict no doubt shaped Locke’s views and Christian philosophy.
A deeply religious man, Locke made the case for religious tolerance in a famous letter he wrote in 1689 titled “A Letter Concerning Toleration.”
“Since you are pleased to inquire what are my thoughts about the mutual toleration of Christians in their different professions of religion, I must needs answer you freely that I esteem that toleration to be the chief characteristic mark of the true Church.”
Locke said Christian tolerance (“charity, meekness, and good-will in general”) should be extended to all people, not just fellow Christians, and those who fail in this regard fall “short of being a true Christian himself.”
By what authority does he draw on to make this claim? The New Testament.
“If the Gospel and the apostles may be credited, no man can be a Christian without charity and without that faith which works, not by force, but by love.”
Locke closed his essay by stating that Christians seeking to advance the Christian Church through “arms that do not belong to the Christian warfare.”
Ridgewood NJ, Emmanuel invites children of all ages to join in a one hour blanket making session on March 12th at 10:30am-11:30am in Heritage Hall as part of the Sunday School Christian Education program. No sewing is required. Children’s scissors are used in making the blankets. Contact the Church Office at 201-444-7300 or via email at office@emmanuelridgewood.org to sign up.
Leslie Maltz Taylor, a representative from Project Linus, will lead the one hour blanket making session during Sunday school at Emmanuel. Emmanuel will donate the completed blankets to Project Linus, a non-profit organization that provides homemade blankets to children in need.
Women of Emmanuel are supplying the soft plush material for the blanket making project. Marilyn Clark, head of Women of Emmanuel, stated, “We are excited to bring this blanket making session to Emmanuel. With the use of children’s scissors, it is easy to do. Anyone can do it.”
Emmanuel, founded in 1891, is celebrating its 125th Anniversary Year and maintains a tradition of community outreach. Emmanuel is located at 14 Hope Street, at the corner of Hope Street and East Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ. The building is ADA accessible and all are invited to attend.
Updated February 18, 2017
Posted February 18, 2017
By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
With the Governor and the entire Legislature on the ballot this election year, New Jerseyans will likely hear numerous politicians promise to reduce their especially high property tax bills.
We pay among the highest property taxes in the nation. Last year, the average homeowner paid $8,500 per home, a 2.35 percent increase over 2015, according to the most recent state calculations.
Both the Christie administration and the Legislature agree the annual increases would have been worse had they not passed a 2 percent spending cap on most local expenses.
As unpleasant as it is to admit, there are several facts about the Garden State that make bringing down property taxes very difficult, according to Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director for the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers Center. (He previously helped manage six municipalities in central and north Jersey, then more than a quarter-century at the state office overseeing local government spending.)
“New Jersey has had property tax problem for roughly 140 years. We have been talking about this forever,” Pfeiffer said. “If we could have solved it easily, it would have been done.”
In no particular order, here are 7 reasons why they’re so high.
Glen Rock NJ, We are seeking chorus members and principals ages 16+ for our upcoming musical production of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, Patience! Whether you are professionally trained or plan to study theatre, OR you just enjoy choral singing for fun, we would love to have you join us! We have all types of singers in our casts. The show is in English, and will be performed both as concerts and as a full-scale production.
Thursday, February 23
7:30-9 p.m.*
Glen Rock Community Church
354 Rock Road
Glen Rock, NJ 07452
Stage Director: Milly Gonzalez
Musical Director: Paul Geidel
*Do not arrive later than 9, but we will hear people longer than 9 p.m. depending on turnout.
Drive to the back of the church, enter through the main door, and the audition room is the first door on the right.
Please prepare at least 32 bars of a song (if not the whole song) that shows off your voice. Singing a song from the show is perfectly acceptable, especially if auditioning for a certain role. An accompanist will be provided.
You may be asked to read from the script. There is no dance audition, though the show will be blocked. Bring a headshot and/or resume if you have them.
Rehearsals will mostly be on Mondays and Thursdays from 7:30-10 p.m in Glen Rock and Ridgewood (both down the street from train stations and bus stops for transportation to NYC). Most parts will be double cast due to our long performance season. Please check our website for our performance schedule and email ridgewoodgands@gmail.com or Facebook message us with any questions.
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Guild will be hosting a fund raiser for it’s Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival Oscar watching event.
Come walk the red carpet – Dress as your favorite movie star or movie character [optional] – DJ – Hollywood Trivia – Oscar Ballots – Prizes – Delicious Appetizers & Drinks! $50 Cash Bar or $65 for Open Bar. Join us at this Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival Fund Raiser!!!!
Join us on Friday, February 24 from 7:30 – 11:30pm at park West Loft (38 Oak St.) for an evening of fun on behalf of the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival.
Imagine you are attending the Academy Awards – Ladies can wear a gown, men can wear a tuxedo (or a nice dress and suit, black tie NOT required). Or, if you’re feeling festive come dressed as a character from an Oscar-nominated movies from this year, or any past year.
There will be a red carpet with an interviewer and photographers. There will be Oscar trivia and gift certificates awarded for best costume and whoever picks the most winners on the Oscar ballot (The Academy Awards are only 48 hrs later).
Hot and cold appetizers will be served, and there will be a pasta station as well. We will also have dessert, coffee, tea and soft drinks.
There are 2 ticket options, $50 (if you opt for a cash bar) or $65 (premium shelf open bar until 10pm).
Tickets can be purchased by sending a check to The Ridgewood Guild, 41 N. Broad Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.
Please, come out and support arts in our community. You will get a lot of bang for your buck, and have a fun and memorable night with your friends and neighbors! We hope to see you there!
Ridgewood NJ, recent letter to the editor of the Ridgewood news causes a furor on social media. Initially, the letter suggested among other things that the former “breath of fresh air ” Village manager was fired when in fact she resigned.
The misinformation in the letter was later edited out by the Ridgewood News but not before the damage was done.
The staff of the Ridgewood blog had noticed the letter but felt it was what we call a “put up job” where a local special interest, usually a supporter of the former mayor and his schemes puts up a relative or friend to promote garagezilla and to attack the current council.
The push for garagezilla now being framed as the end all to be all solution in Ridgewood guaranteed to solve all problems in town.
The killer line in the letter for us was,”there are plenty of empty lots in the central business district perfect for a parking garage “.The key words being “empty lots”.
Jacqueline Hone called out the Ridgewood News on Facebook claiming, “RIDGEWOOD FAKE NEWS OUTLET ⁉️ Why didn’t the Ridgewood News fact check? Why would someone write this, lie and stir up faux outrage? “
Even going as far as to post the resignation letter in the comment section, “Below, in comments, our previous Village Manager’s resignation letter. It’s proof our Mayor DID NOT fire her. This letter, Ridgewood News turning into a PR platform…Sad State of Affairs INDEED.”
Which came as a surprise to us after all, with the election Paul Aronsohn both the Ridgewood News and Bergen Record seemed to amount to nothing more than PR for the former mayor and his grandiose plans for the Village of Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, Reader pointed out that the owner, Ridgewood 120, LLC , the owner of the “Town Garage ” is either owned or represented by a Burton Dorfman, ESQ. Coincidentally, he was in the new four days ago.
Rockland lawyer Burton Dorfman gets prison for lying to investigators
Steve Lieberman , slieberm@lohud.comPublished 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2017 | Updated 5:04 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2017
Federal judge sentences Rockland attorney Burton Dorfman to six months in prison
A Rockland attorney was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for lying to federal Labor Department investigators looking into accusations he stole money from a profit-sharing plan at his former law firm.
Burton Dorfman, once a prominent development and investment lawyer, also must repay the fund $212.429, pay a $25,000 fine and $100 court fee under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel at the White Plains federal courthouse.
It sure sounds as though it might pay to rent out that extra bedroom.
Airbnb announced that New Jersey’s 6,100 active hosts earned over $50 million dollars in supplemental income in 2016 by welcoming approximately 257,000 visitors to the Garden State. This figure represents a 100 percent year-over-year increase in inbound guest arrivals, according to the company.
The company says a typical host in New Jersey earns $6,200 annually. The typical listing is occupied 44 nights per year and the average length of stay is 4.2 nights.
