>
Celebrate with Project Pride, planting downtown from 12noon to 2pm on Sunday, May 17th.
This is a new date that has been changed from the date published in the 2009 Village calendar.
Tag: Ridgewood Moms and dads
>Massive Tree Removal Project Underway in Central Business District
>
80-85% of Trees on Ridgewood Avenue to be Removed and Replaced?
Approximately 80-85% of the trees along Ridgewood Avenue between Maple Avenue and Broad Street now have orange ribbons tied around their trunks.
The Fly believes that these ribbons designate trees scheduled for removal and replacement in conjunction with a “streetscape” project recently approved by Village Council members.
The Fly wonders if Village Council members knew exactly how many trees would be removed before approving the project.
Also, exactly what is the purpose of removing so many trees, and why are taxpayers being asked to foot the entire bill for this initiative?
Shouldn’t property owners along Ridgewood Avenue be assessed for this work and the other streetscape enhancements? If a sidewalk in front of my house should need replacement, I’ll pay for it out of my pocket, correct?
>Letter: A life sentence on Mother’s Day
>
Letter: A life sentence on Mother’s Day
Sunday, May 10, 2009
NorthJersey.com
A life sentence on Mother’s Day
On Mother’s Day last year, my husband and I went out for brunch with my mother and our 24-year-old son, Dan. Afterwards, Dan planted his gift to me: a tea rose bush. Then, he washed my car. It was a lovely day.
In the afternoon, as often happened, Dan went out for a walk. As dinnertime approached, three Paramus police cars pulled up to the house. The policemen were subdued and respectful as they told us that Dan had been hit by a car in Ridgewood. And that he had died of his injuries.
On a Sunday afternoon, in full daylight, crossing with the green light, he was struck in the crosswalk with enough force to put him on the hood of the driver’s car, carried 40 feet and then thrown off the car. The head injuries killed him. Dan never saw what hit him.
Eyewitnesses with a clear view of the scene said that the car, turning, cut the corner and was speeding. Yet the driver was charged only with “failure to yield to a pedestrian.”
Ultimately, the driver was fined about $300 and his license was suspended for three months.
Our son was killed, and “failure to yield” sounds like a case of bad manners, not an act that resulted in such tragic consequences. We are amazed that no greater charges, not even careless driving, were brought. The Ridgewood Police, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office and the state Motor Vehicle Commission all have minimized the consequences to the driver for a careless, negligent act that resulted in a death.
Failure to impose any greater penalty sends a very bad message, one that trivializes one’s responsibility to drive carefully and to be held accountable for one’s actions. We appeal to the state lawmakers to strengthen pedestrian safety by passing a law with a mandatory penalty when a pedestrian injury or death occurs.
Dan’s life did matter. He was a kind, hard-working young man, engaged to be married and with a bright future ahead. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone. The driver has his driving privileges back, and we’ve received a life sentence.
Andrea DeVries
Paramus, May 7
>Sorry about the Sign…..
>
“I think it is rather crass of you to use a sign as your logo that was put up and paid for by Gilsenan and Company – – – and you photo shop out that company’s credit. Think about it – as you pretend to be Ridgewood’s Socrates”
A correction :
I recently posted this pic of a “welcome to ridgewood “sign I have been informed that the pic had the donors of the sign Gilsenan and Co.’s logo photo shopped out of the picture.
First I want to apologise I pulled the pic off google images with my blackberry :
You will notice it has been stored with the logo removed ,which you may or may not be able to figure out who did it by the image code.
2nd the pic is not meant to be a logo ,the Ridgewood Blogs logo is bicycle(see above), due to a program virus weeks ago we had some issues with our header and logo ,which we are still trying to resolve.
Happy Mothers Day!
>
>Yep its an EXPANSION
>In a recent interview with a reporter, for the first time, a hospital spokesperson referred the to the “Renewal” project as an EXPANSION of the hospital campus.
It looks like the truth is finally coming out.
From The Record: “We will not be going forward with any plans to open a fitness center in Mahwah,” Fraser said. Instead, Valley will focus on getting a change in Ridgewood’s hospital zone ordinance, in order to pursue its proposed $750-million EXPANSION of the hospital campus, she said.
https://www.northjersey.com/health/Mahwah_fitness_center_plans_scrapped.html
>Welcome to Ridgewood New Jersey
>
the Ridgewood blog is the number one local news blog in New Jersey with over 13000 readers a month and over 30,000 comments .It covers news for Ridgewood NJ ,the state and national news if it affects the village .
The Village of Ridgewood is a scenic upper middle class town in northern New Jersey ,filled with Victorian style homes ,a population of 25000, top rated schools ,a train and bus station and over 60 restaurants in the down town area .
Contact me if your looking to advertise your business.
I am available by contract to set up a blog for your business and help you build brand identity through blogging and social media .
CONTACT : onlyonesmallvoice@gmail
or call me 201 966-7788
>Stile: Republican primaries? Perish the thought
>thttps://www.northjersey.com/news/bergenpolitics/Republican.html
Republicans pound their chests with pride, and even tear up on occasion, when preaching the virtues of free market competition — except when it comes to intraparty politics.
Mere mention of a primary this year in the governor’s race or in the North Jersey contests for the state Assembly and the free-marketers suddenly shudder in fear and disgust. It means forcing calcified incumbents to get off their cash hoards and defend themselves. It means forcing the party operatives to take sides.
It means — God forbid — giving voters choices.
Joseph Caruso, a Lyndhurst businessman and party operative chafing at conventional party wisdom, says he’s startled by all the fuss he has caused by pursuing a challenge against the incumbents in the Assembly’s 40th Legislative District.
“Should insiders hand-pick who is best, or should the voters make the decision? I don’t know what the problem is,” said Caruso, who lives in Wayne.
Caruso has rankled party regulars who believe his candidacy is part of a complicated two-county strategy to knock Assemblyman Scott Rumana out of his other political job, the Passaic County Republican Party chairmanship.
Critics say Caruso is being propped up by a cabal of Passaic County hardliners aligned with Peter Murphy, the former GOP party boss and determined Rumana foe. Caruso strenuously denies the charge.
Party officials also fear that a 40th District primary could force Rumana and running mate David Russo of Ridgewood to needlessly spend money that would better be spent waging war on Democrats in November. Caruso served as the Bergen County Republican Organization’s finance chairman last year, helping it stockpile cash. Now he threatens to indirectly drain the very fund he helped build.
“They create dissension,” said BCRO Chairman Bob Yudin, who has tried, unsuccessfully, to dissuade Caruso from running. The district includes parts of Essex, Passaic and Bergen counties.
Yudin says primaries only “make sense” when there is a
vacancy or if an incumbent “does something egregious,” like get indicted. Challenging “popular incumbents &hellip is not conducive to party building.”
The Internal Party Argument sounds sensible, at first. Yudin and other chairmen are cobbling together campaigns on shoestring budgets in a Democrat-dominated state. State party coffers are nearly empty. And past party squabbles, particularly in Bergen, have left the party in disarray. And why should the Bergen organization waste its resources on what is essentially a Passaic County turf battle?
All this might be true, but why should Republican Party voters be denied choices because the insurgent’s motives are suspect or because he doesn’t fit nicely into the statewide strategy? Legislative primaries in New Jersey are lame, low-turnout rituals. Incumbents generally yawn their way through them, flecking off the occasional gadfly with little effort. Voters stay home because they generate little interest.
Caruso is a member of the conservative wing of the party who believes the New Jersey GOP has become too liberal, too amorphous, too much like generic Trenton pols. “Where, for instance, are the Republican rallies to overturn the socialist edicts of the Council on Affordable Housing that even many Democrats think is a disastrous idea?” Caruso railed in a recent release.
Personally, I don’t think this kind of rhetoric will sway too many voters in the 40th, but who really knows unless it’s tested on the trail? If Rumana and the laundry list of party officials who endorsed them believe they represent the GOP base, then, in theory, they have nothing to worry about. The cost will be minimal. Will they really waste that much money? And what better way to test Caruso’s claim to independence than a vigorous Jersey campaign fight?
A similar impulse to minimize the competition in the governor’s race surfaced at a recent meeting of county chairmen in Princeton.
GOP officials asked the four Republican candidates not to run slates of local candidates in counties where they failed to win the party’s endorsement. Former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie agreed to the idea and so did Brian Levine, the mayor of Franklin Township in Somerset County. But former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Assemblyman Rick Merkt refused.
“I’m not going to unilaterally disarm,” Lonegan said. “If the establishment Republicans are trying to rig the system against me, then I intend to beat them.”
What Lonegan didn’t say is that he probably won’t get many of the counties to support him anyway. But he remains a curiosity in this race, a wily self-promoter who can deliver a sound bite and raise money.
His attacks on the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce train to Washington as the “tax and spend” express (and a similar salvo from Merkt), led Christie to snub — and criticize — the same trip. It became Christie’s first position of the campaign, brought about by old-fashioned competition.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergenpolitics/Republican.html
>Happy NO Pants Day!
>the Ridgewood Blog wishes everyone a Happy NO Pants day
https://www.lalawag.com/zomg-no-pants-day/
Some of you may not have heard, but yes it is in fact global No Pants Day. People from all ages and professions are being encouraged to dress like they would each day but leave off their pants. Ladies if you were planning on wearing a dress or a skirt that means you leave them off too.
The organizers behind No Pants Day say that you should also carry on in public as if nothing is different. Embrace the fact that your ass is showing to the world. Let them know that you don’t care, pants are wrong, and for one day you’re going to celebrate it!
lalawag crew will be out and about in LA today, celebrating properly, and looking for you. @reply us on Twitter and leave your location so we can come party with you in our panties. Fair warning we will be armed with our flips and if you’re in public it’s fair game.
Get some inspiration from the participants of last year’s LA No Pants Day. Acceptable no pants day attire: thick, appropriately modest boxer shorts, bloomers, slips, briefs, and boxer-briefs
https://www.lalawag.com/zomg-no-pants-day/
>Mark Bombace for the 40th District Assembley seat
>I hope The Fly and other TRB will join me in supporting Mark Bombace for the 40th District Assembley seat.
Let us review the reasons Mr Bombace is eminently qualified for this position:
“John Agostinelli and Mark Bombace will bring real representation to the residents of the 40th District. They have a record of getting things done in their communities, and once elected, will bring a fresh perspective to Trenton. Scott Rumana and David Russo have not been accountable to their constituents, and are more interested in political partisanship than solving the problems facing our families and residents. In these tough economic times we need Assembly Members who are more interested in getting things done then fighting political wars.”
>Mayor David T. Pfund – Sour Grapes over Death of Parking Garage?
>At the conclusion of last night’s Village Council Work Session, Mayor David T. Pfund directed that the resolution which will cancel a $3 million bond intended to partially fund construction of the now defunct parking garage project be removed from the list of resolutions scheduled to be approved by a “single vote – consent agenda” process during next week’s Village Council Public Meeting. By doing this, the Mayor has signaled his intention to vote “no” on the resolution.
What’s the matter Dave? Pissed off that you didn’t get your way? You requested a unanimous “yes” vote to approve the project; why can’t you suck it up and show a unified Council front now that the project is officially dead?
Give it a rest Mr. Mayor. Despite the last minute public plea made by your pal Mr. Jacques Harlow, the garage is now history! It’s over Dave; let it go. Be a man about it.
The Fly
>BOE Cancels Building and Grounds Maintenance Contract with Village – Layoffs of Village Employees Likely
>From BOE May 4, 2009 Meeting Agenda:
Approval: Award of Bid for Grounds Management,
Landscaping and Snow Plowing Services Contract
Whereas, the Ridgewood Board of Education advertised a bid for Grounds Management, Landscaping and Snow Plowing Services on March 23, 2009, Whereas, one bid was received and opened at 11:00 a.m. on April 2, 2009; now therefore, Be it Resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education award a contract to GCA Services, Pennsburg, PA, in the amount of $173,785.
Approval: Award of Bid for Landscaping and Snow
Removal Services Contract
Whereas, the Ridgewood Board of Education advertised a bid for Landscaping and Snow Removal Services on March 23, 2009, Whereas, five bids were received and opened at 11:00 a.m. on April 16, 2009; now therefore, Be it Resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education award a contract to Jacobsen Landscaping, Design and Construction, Inc., Midland Park, New Jersey, in the amount of $105,806. The hourly rates for snow removal are as follows: One Dump Truck $125 per hour One Front End Loader $130 per hour
>BOE Administrator Resigns
>From BOE May 4, 2009 Meeting Agenda:
Resignations
Administrator
DeSIMONE, Angelo – Assistant Superintendent for Business/Board Secretary, Education Center, effective July 1, 2009, with four years of Ridgewood service.
>Village Council Poised to Spend $500K on Ridgewood Avenue "Streetscape" Enhancements
>By a 4-1 vote (Councilwoman Anne Zusy cast the lone “no” vote), Village Council Members agreed last night to enhance the Central Business District portion of Ridgewood Avenue by spending an estimated $500k on the following “streetscape” enhancements:
1.) Design and installation of traffic calming bump outs at selected intersections
2.) Purchase and installation of pedestrian activated LED warning lamps for selected crosswalks and installation of decorative/brick print crosswalks
3.) Installation of electrical outlets in tree wells (to facilitate decorative lighting of all trees)
4.) Purchase and installation of light pole brackets (for kissing balls and banners)
5.) Removal of overgrown trees and replacement with new “decorative” trees
6.) Repairs to concrete sidewalks, brick bands, and tree wells
7.) Decorative sleeves and bases for parking meters
The $500K will be raised through the sale of bond notes.
>Closed NJ bank was cited for ‘unsafe’ practices
>https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZnHCegwMlJVSyJag5fH-4CipmTgD980BQH01
By ELI SEGALL – 1 day ago
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A small bank in northern New Jersey has been shut down by state banking regulators, and an industry advocate says he cannot rule out future failures.
Citizens Community Bank was shuttered Friday night. Banking regulators had ordered the Bergen County bank to stop a range of “unsafe or unsound” business practices, saying it had violated several state and federal regulations.
Among other problems, the 4 1/2-year-old bank had deficient management, an “unrealistic” budget plan and poor lending policies, officials say.
All of Citizens’ deposits were transferred to North Jersey Community Bank. Officials with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are working out of Citizens’ former office in Ridgewood to sell off its assets. The office is now a branch of North Jersey Community.
Dennis Trimper, the federal official leading the liquidation, said the main reason for Citizens’ closure was its failing loan portfolio. Many customers, he noted, weren’t making their payments.
It was the first time since 1992 that a state-chartered bank had been shuttered, said Ed Rogan, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. He said the closure was “an isolated situation,” as banks in the state are generally healthy.
At least one industry advocate says future bank failures are always possible.
“When you’ve got a deep recession, that affects banks that otherwise would be fine,” said James Silkensen, co-chief of the New Jersey Bankers Association.
Silkensen said he was not aware of any banks that could soon be shuttered, but said closures can happen in good and bad economic times.
The banking industry has been taking a beating. Layoffs have swept the industry, and several once powerful firms have been toppled, in part, by risky investments that soured, such as mortgage-backed securities. More than 30 banks nationwide have been shuttered this year.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s community banks largely avoided those risky ventures, making simple, traditional loans to their customers, state and private sector officials have said.
At a state Assembly hearing in February, bankers association co-chief John McWeeney said some of New Jersey’s community banks faced a grim future of loan defaults and thinned profits, despite performing well during the economic crisis.
Closing Citizens did not mean officials came to padlock the bank. Trimper and eight state and federal officials walked into its only branch, on East Ridgewood Avenue, around 4:15 p.m. Friday to say the bank had lost its charter.
Trimper said the bank was given no advance warning of the closure, which is normal procedure. However, state and federal officials had been openly monitoring the bank since September, when they issued Citizens a 39-page “cease and desist” order for a host of allegedly bad banking practices.
“They have this suspicion, all right, and they see us all walking in around 4:15 on Friday, they can draw their conclusions,” Trimper said.
https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iZnHCegwMlJVSyJag5fH-4CipmTgD980BQH01
