We should memorialize this caper with a village plaque to hubris and for the future generations to Trust but first Verify.Could have turned out quite differently without the hard and determined efforts to overcome those developers and some whom they called to dance to their opportunistic tune.
First of all why is Christopher Rutishause e-Mailing plans for the park to Bill Gilsenan? Why is Gilsenan getting involved in the park? Im tired of all the so called Demigod running this Village. Paul Vagianos, John Saraceno Ed Sullivan, Tom Hillman and now Bill Gilsenan. Their names were not on the Village ballot for council. This council has to watch very closely what goes on because there has always been a small group self proclaimed Demigod who try to run this town from behind the scenes. Simply voting out the 3 Amigos is not going to stop this because its Systemic.
VM, Assistant to the VM, HR, Village Engineer, Superintendent of Parks and Rec. and the above named are running this town not the new council. Poster just need to reflect back to some of the fiascos that have happen in the last 4 years to find the common thread. Wise up new Village Council and get a grip on this. Don’t let them distract you while they plan or plot.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Another bombshell uncovered as a result of a recent Open Public Records Act request –
In an e-mail dated July 27, 2016 from Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser to Bill Gilsenan, the Subject of which is: “Van Neste Park,” Mr. Rutishauser writes:
“We are thinking of renovating the brick walkways, relocating some of them, installing a small protective fence along the South Walnut Street wall area (so no one falls off the wall), maybe crate [sic] a small stage area, upgrade/add water fountains, and maybe even turn the monument eagle to the correct orientation.”
No “small stage area” was ever mentioned during the Village Council Work Session of August 3, nor during the Village Council Public Meeting of August 10, nor is a “small stage area” included as part of a proposed project plan diagram prepared by the Village of Ridgewood Engineering Division, Christopher J. Rutishauser, P.E. (initials J.M. also noted on the plan). However, the aforementioned plan does indicate that walkways now located in the center of the park will be removed, creating a moderately sized, circular shaped, open/vacant space.
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog surmises that this open/vacant space is the intended location for the “small stage area” referenced in Mr. Rutishauser’s July 27, 2016 e-mail, and that for some as yet unknown reason, this fact was kept under wraps – not mentioned to Village Council members, not included as part of a project plan diagram, and definitely not mentioned during two (2) separate open public meetings.
What is the intent of this “small stage area” and why was it never mentioned? Did Mr. Rutishauser himself come up with the idea, or was it brought to him by someone else? Fenced off park, small stage area – it would seem this sets the stage (no pun intended) for concerts/performances/shows to be regularly held at this location. If this is the case, what organization(s) will be sponsoring them? Might this explain the need to build an $11.5 million parking garage two (2) blocks away?
Ridgewood NJ, if have noticed your having trouble getting to work on time ,its true you are the NJT rail on-time performance data, found in NJ Transits annual report, calculates the percentage of trains that arrive on-time to their destination.
The current data shows that while the Main/Bergen County Line on time performance has actually improved from 2011 to 2015 , you connection to New York Penn Station at Secaucus Junction has suffered significant deterioration.
The Northeast Corridor commuter trains (NEC) are the now the most frequently late, and more of them are arriving later.The NEC has had the lowest percentage of on-time trains every year for the past five years. It’s been getting worse, falling to a low of 89.9 percent on-time in 2015 after reaching a five year high in 2013 of 94.4 percent.
NJT considers a train late if it arrives to its final destination six minutes after its scheduled time.The performance measures are in fiscal years, which for NJ Transit starts July 1 and goes through June 30.
Trump is successful because many many people are simply sick to death of politicians and want to try something new. Hillary Clinton is easily the most dishonest person to run for office in our lifetimes. She will say or do anything to push her profit-making agenda forward. Even if you by-in to the liberal/progressive/socialist agenda that she’s espousing, you have to be the most gullible person on the face of the earth if you believe for one second that she’s doing anything but spend YOUR money to keep poor people poor and voting Democrat. She wants to go down in history as the first woman President, and then make money from it. That’s it. Trump is just as much a narcissist, but at least might not immediately try and raise taxes or waste more money on Union-payout road building or funding more Solyndras.
The Ridgewood blog had heard that she did not submit a proposal in response to the RFQ and that she personally hasn’t attended a Planning Board meeting since her husband declared his candidacy for Village Council. At that time we had no resignation per se but it did appear that she’s done.
PLANNING BOARD AGENDA – AUGUST 30, 2016
PLANNING BOARD PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Village Court Room – 7:30 P.M.
(all timeframes and the order of agenda items below are approximate and subject to change)
Members: Susan Knudsen, Jeff Voigt, Joel Torielli, Melanie McWilliams, David Scheibner, Richard Joel, Kevin Reilly, David Thurston, Isabella Altano, Debbie Patire
Professional Staff: Blais L. Brancheau, Planner; Gail L. Price, Esq., Board Attorney; Christopher J. Rutishauser, Village Engineer; Michael Cafarelli, Board Secretary
The first election was presumably simply for a parking garage. Many of us voted “yes” because we do need a garage. When Aronson and crew decided that we voters “really meant” to vote “yes” on that monstrosity that he wanted, a second vote was held. On that we voted “No” because it was supposed to be “Did we want to bond money for ‘A’ garage” but Aronson inserted the amount for the largest garage that he wanted. He also set the vote on the earliest possible date, while he was still in office so he could presumably still break the ground for his dream. And yes, our new Council members did say they wanted a garage but not “that” garage. So, to me, what the voters wanted was still a garage, but not something of that size. And they wanted the new Council to handle the details with input from the residents of Ridgewood.
file photo by Boyd Loving
We voted against the monster garage.People were duped into voting for the monster garage in November. We were reassured that we were voting for A garage, not any specific design.
Then some hard working residents started a petition drive against the monster garage. No one ever said that they were against building a garage. They just want the right size in the right location.
Council members who were elected said that they would look into a redesign/relocation. No one running said that they were against a garage. There will be a garage.
file photo by Boyd Loving
One current council member admitted publicly during the campaign in the spring that he had been among those bamboozled by lies and omissions about the garage (he did not put it quite that way) and voted yes in the November referendum. He was among many. Had a true depiction and description been made available, including the fact that the thing was going to Occupy Hudson Street, and if it had been explained, as was the case, that a “yes” vote was not for a concept, but for the largest drawing–formally “approved,” by mayoral fiat, by the Historic Preservation Commission’s relatively new chair (appointed by the then-mayor), without checking with the members, and by the mayor’s personally created and hand-picked Financial Advisory Committee–how many residents would have agreed to it? Only those with something to gain, those who pay no attention, and those whose finger slipped in the voting booth. I think the “yes” votes would have amounted to about 150, including mistakes.
file photo by Boyd Loving
What school of management did this woman go to?
August 24,2016
the staff of the Ridgewod blog
Ridgewood NJ, In an undated e-mail obtained via a recent Open Public Records Act request, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld refers to taxpayers’ comments about the proposed Van Neste Memorial Park revitalization project as being “ridiculous” and “malicious.” The e-mail was sent by Sonenfeld to all members of the post July 1 Village Council.
The genesis of Sonenfeld’s bizarre, inappropriate, and offensive remarks can be traced to comments made during the Council’s August 3 Work Session by taxpayers Saurabh Dani and Jaqueline Hone, who both questioned a request by Sonenfeld for Council members to make an overnight (literally) decision with respect to applying for a Bergen County Open Space Grant in connection with the proposed Van Neste project in advance of any public hearing about the initiative.
In questioning the planned project at Van Neste and the need for an immediate decision from the Council regarding a grant application, Mr. Dani and Ms. Hone both cited the way in which “after the fact” public hearings were held during the Fall of 2015 in connection with Schedler Field and Healthbarn USA initiatives. In fact, in the case of Schedler, the grantor was falsely advised that a public hearing had been held, when in reality it had not.
The full text of Ms. Sonenfeld’s e-mail follows:
I would like each of you to get back to me individually as to whether you agree with submitting the attached intent. It is due by 4:00 tomorrow. A Council resolution is not needed to submit the Intent to Apply. A Council resolution will be needed once we submit the formal grant application and after we hold a public meeting on the subject. That submission is due in mid-October.
Additionally I would remind you that two residents referred to this grant process as unethical and/or fishy* I would expect that once you are behind this grant that you would publicly end such ridiculous and malicious speculation.
Thanks, Roberta
Best regards,
Roberta Sonenfeld
Village Manager
I have an observation that people around here are taking out their anger and aggression with their pet dogs.
I have been accosted by dogs on their leash on side walk!! when taking walks. The dogs will attempt to run up to me and jump on me. The owners are sloooow to pull dog away, physically or verbally.
Just last Sunday a man let his huge dog jump on me on Meadowbrook. I think this should be against the law and justifiable reason to call the police. I have never walked with cell phone before, as I only walk a few blocks, near my house, but for now on I will never leave house without my cell phone.
Please don’t say I don’t like dogs; I love love love dogs; I regularly dog sit a family dog from out of state, when it comes to Ridgewood, very well behaved dog; and I grew up with a dog.
Dog owners around here ARE NOT training their dogs not jump on people. And it is sooooo easy to do. They are not training dogs because they HATE PEOPLE and its aggression. They say, hey, it’s not me; it’s my dog. But it is you, because it is sooooo very easy to train a dog not to jump on a stranger, or run up to a stranger. And you guys aren’t you the smartest as well as the richest. You know better than me. Any dog that touches me or comes within one inch of me is going to get that police call, dog owner.
August 23,2016
Ridgewood NJ, While many Americans believe that the bison was the victim of the greatest mass slaughter of an animal in our country, many believe that that distinction belongs to the passenger pigeon
On September 1, 1914, the last known passenger pigeon, a female named Martha (after Martha Washington), died at the Cincinnati Zoo.
While extinct today, in the 1600’s the first settlers in North America stood in awe at the multitudes of these colorful pigeons on their migratory journey from the south to their breeding areas in New England, New York, Ohio and the southern Great Lakes area. As late as the 1800’s reports described flocks a mile wide for four or five hours at a time. A source of cheap food, flocks were so thickly packed that a single shot could bring down thirty or forty birds and many were killed simply by hitting them with pieces of wood as they flew over hilltops.
Live pigeons were bred and used as food and to barter. To transport these birds, farmers would make woven baskets such as the one in the photo. The basket had a narrow design at the top that kept the birds from flying out, and a wide bottom that prevented suffocation.
The pigeon basket in the photo is one of the few still in existence, and was found in Saddle River in 1888. This basket is part of the Ridgewood Historical Society’s “Farm & Home” Exhibit, with Artifacts from the 18th & 19th Centuries
To learn more about what life in Ridgewood was like hundreds of years ago” come to the Schoolhouse Museum and see how farmers, their wives and children lived off the land, cleared forests, harvested food, prepared meals and developed a prosperous economy in 18th and 19th Century Ridgewood.
The Museum is located at 650 E. Glen Ave., Ridgewood, NJ, and visiting hours are Thursdays and Saturdays; 1 to 3 p.m. and Sundays; 2 to 4 p.m. To contact the museum: 201-447 3242 or ridgewoodhistoricalsociety@verizon.net
August 23,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the incredibly talented & inspirational Ali Stroker, a Ridgewood native who has appeared on Broadway & TV. Ali made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-nominated Spring Awakening revival last year where she became the first-ever performer in a wheelchair to perform in a Broadway show .Ali also appeared on FOX’s Glee and as a finalist on The Glee Project.
Ali Stroker is hosting a series of special theater workshops for teenage performers in Ridgewood on August 26th and 27th with a few other Broadway & TV actors .
Ali Stroker’s been up to a lot this summer including being a keynote speaker in Boston at the American Alliance for Theatre and Education in addition to traveling across the country speaking at hospitals and other rehabilitation centers. Last month she was also a guest camp leader at an incredible camp for special needs kids called Camp Tatiyee in Arizona & earlier this summer did a reading of a new musical, Other World.
We should probably all accept that our form of government allows a small minority to rule the day. Whether you’re for or against parking that’s what essentially happened twice with four years in between events. Lost in these small minorities exerting their will is the fact that we cannot make progress on parking; an issue that, like it or not, a super majority of your neighbors and out of town shoppers/diners would say is the biggest problem in the CBD. So we fight over specific solutions.
Anyone that’s been here more than a week and a half laughed out loud when someone recently had the genius idea to build parking at the Town Garage site. Why? Because 10 or so years ago, we went through this same process with a design, bonding, etc. for a garage there. What happened? A small group of people objected and the project was killed. Fortunately our spasm this year happened before we bonded so we don’t need to service debt that won’t be used. Anyone care to go back into the meeting minutes to see if someone suggested Hudson Street as a better alternative then? Round and round we go.
So we may seem to be left with glacial progress on big issues. But maybe not. Let’s have the argument once and be done with it: let’s form a Charter Commission to review the town charter. Maybe we need a ward system, allowable under the terms of our charter, to ensure single issue (again, for or against, no difference here) council-people from one section of the village don’t rule the day. Perhaps a different charter altogether is in order. But something needs to change or we’ll find ourselves with a different kind of village leadership: leadership that wears black robes and doesn’t ever need a single vote for re-election. It’s already begun.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page
August 23,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood firefighters quickly extinguished a fire that occurred inside of a document shredding truck that was operating in the parking lot of The Valley Hospital on Monday morning, 08/22. No injuries were reported in the incident and the truck sustained very minor damage. Ridgewood Fire Chief James Van Goor, who was present at the incident, stated that firefighters and truck’s driver were unable to determine what caused the fire.
photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
August 23,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Both directions of Linwood Avenue east of Route 17 in Paramus to the border of Washington Township and Ridgewood were closed for approximately two (2) hours on Monday morning, 8/22 because of a fallen tree near 1127 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood. Ridgewood PD and FD, along with Paramus PD personnel, responded to the incident. A PSE&G trouble shooter disconnected electric service to a single family home in order to facilitate removal of debris on the roadway. Cable TV and telephone services to the same home, which sustained slight damage when the tree fell, were also disrupted. A Village of Ridgewood Shade Tree Division crew cleared the roadway. No injuries were reported.
