Tuesday Town Garage 12:10 5 24 2016
I wish people would take photos of parking spaces all over town on different days of the week, ordinary and holiday, and at different times to show in aggregate that parking IS AVAILABLE. A large number of photos documented at various times and days of the week would tell the story. Walking a couple of blocks is good for your health! And unless you’re going to a Hudson St. or S. Broad Street venue, you’ll walk a couple of blocks (or much more) from the garage anyway. Please VOTE NO on June 21 and get an absentee ballot if you can’t.
I wish people would take photos of parking spaces all over town on different days of the week, ordinary and holiday, and at different times to show in aggregate that parking IS AVAILABLE. A large number of photos documented at various times and days of the week would tell the story. Walking a couple of blocks is good for your health! And unless you’re going to a Hudson St. or S. Broad Street venue, you’ll walk a couple of blocks (or much more) from the garage anyway. Please VOTE NO on June 21 and get an absentee ballot if you can’t.
Ridgewood NJ, When it comes time to apply to colleges, we may not be serving our children well.
That’s according to a growing chorus of voices who work with youth and their academic endeavors. For example, Malcolm Gladwell, one of the most recognizable public intellects, regularly asserts that brand prestige from an Ivy League name doesn’t necessarily suit the needs of individual students.
Jeffrey Leiken, CEO of Evolution Mentoring International, agrees. He provides mentoring for teens and young adults, going beyond the typical work of a therapist by building a relationship so that they come to see Leiken as a trusted confidant who answers their late-night text messages and isn’t quick to label them.
“We continue to be obsessed with being associated with the top 1 percent of anything, whether it’s wealth, looks, social media followers or achieving that Ivy League status,” says Leiken, author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood” (www.Leiken.com).
“Far more important is not the school’s brand and our cultural obsession with it. Rather, it’s helping to ensure that every student who attends any school gets closer to reaching their potential.”
What criteria should students and parents look for when determining where to apply for college? Leiken offers some crucial guidelines to keep in mind.
• Seek a college with programs that may help with lifelong skills. Self-awareness, self-leadership, self-actualization – those qualities are often overlooked when considering higher education. Learning the tangible skills for a future job is important. However, those requirements change over time. Coursework, professors and other programs that speak to a student’s ethical intuition, however, make up the educational gold that is enduring. • Look beyond the typical menu of schools. There is a common denominator among millions of 17-year-olds: an anxious balance between their “reach” schools and their “safety” schools. It turns out that many college counselors guide these kids to a similar list of “reach” and “safety” schools – about 50 of them. Between public and private institutions, there arethousands of other schools to choose from! • Ask yourself, “Where will I flourish?” Learn more about the culture of these institutions. There are two distinct stages for young adults in college life: the time where students adjust to a new environment and, later, when students realize they are becoming independent adults. A name-brand school isn’t necessarily the best place for millions of kids to best reach maturity.
“Just as we don’t all wear the same size clothing,” Leiken says, “the intellectual development of young adults doesn’t always fit into the same small box of name-brand schools.”
About Jeffrey Leiken
Jeffery Leiken (www.Leiken.com) is the CEO of Evolution Mentoring International and is co-founder of HeroPath International. Leiken also is author of “Adolescence is Not a Disease: Beyond Drinking, Drugs and Dangerous Friends – The Journey to Adulthood.” He has presented at TED in Athens, Greece; guest lectured at Stanford University; and facilitated programs for teenagers on three continents and in seven countries, among other accomplishments. He has a master’s degree in educational counseling.
The over-developers paired with the Paul V.s of the village are playing the long game to draw families here to multi bedroom rentals with our schools as the magnetic force. It is very simple. Problem is, our schools are over capacity and our high school is well past capacity. So, how will our schools stay at the top? They can’t. That doesn’t concern the local developer, he’ll have sold by then. It will be someone else’s problem. It is simple and undeniably true. They lie about Brogan and Ken Smith parking spaces needing to be replaced, spots that are not a part of the public parking inventory. “Smiling faces with hidden agendas”.
The garage is the Trojan Horse. The village now admits, we don’t need more parking, we don’t even utilize what we have.
The full day kindergarten should be voted DOWN in Nov. When studies were presented for multifamily housing, the ‘expert’ assumed new staffing for full day kindergarten was already in place. If we vote the full day Kindergarten down, then the schools will not have funding for new teachers needed to serve newly built apartments. At that point hopefully the builders will be charged an impact fee, instead of sneaking the higher cost caused due to apartments in the name of the KG program.
Towns facing these dilemmas have turned to professional planning groups and we need to do the same. One was outlined in the auditions at BF for the multi-family studies the village did. The professional planners from BFJ Planning https://www.bfjplanning.com/ came and talked about how they worked with places like Bedford, NY as they talk about here:https://youtu.be/FEfkeQQJn4I?t=2h5m20s
Our planner is outgunned for the jump, he’s part time, has limited experience and has not seen the scale of assault that this village is under. We need to redirect our spend in planning to real pros who do this work at scale, have far broader experiences and deeper expertise. The answer to the questions is not the same old pap that Al and Paul and others use when they site the 1967 study. The future is coming, our village is lacking the expertise in planning and far too influenced by the local developer and the big CBD landowners to get it right with out outside expertise.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police are reporting that a Black Bear was spotted eating garbage from the garbage can of a Grove Street residence along the PSE&G right of way on the Glen Rock border at 3:30pm. The bear then disappeared into the wooded area that backs up to the Ridgewood sewage treatment plant.
Black bears by nature tend to be wary of people. However, if you encounter a black bear in your neighborhood or outdoors while hiking or camping, follow these common-sense safety tips.
Do not feed bears! Never feed or approach a bear!
Remain calm if you encounter a bear. Do not run from it.
Make the bear aware of your presence by speaking in an assertive voice, singing, clapping your hands, or making other noises.
Make sure the bear has an escape route.
If a bear enters your home, provide it with an escape route by propping all doors open.
Avoid direct eye contact, which may be perceived by a bear as a challenge. Never run from a bear. Instead, slowly back away.
To scare the bear away, make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn. Make yourself look as big as possible by waving your arms. If you are with someone else, stand close together with your arms raised above your head.
The bear may utter a series of huffs, make popping jaw sounds by snapping its jaws and swat the ground. These are warning signs that you are too close. Slowly back away, avoid direct eye contact and do not run.
If a bear stands on its hind legs or moves closer, it may be trying to get a better view or detect scents in the air. It is usually not a threatening behavior.
Black bears will sometimes “bluff charge” when cornered, threatened or attempting to steal food. Stand your ground, avoid direct eye contact, then slowly back away and do not run.
If the bear does not leave, move to a secure area.
Black bear attacks are extremely rare. If a black bear does attack, fight back!
If you observe the bear please call the Ridgewood Police 201-652-3900.
TRENTON NJ, Under a proposed bill customers would be required to pay 5 cents for every plastic or paper bag they use to carry their purchases .
An previous version of the bill (A3671) called for a bag ban by 2025, but sponsors discarded that idea. Efforts to curb plastic bag use have been under consideration since 2008 in the state legislature, including in 2012, although each time they have stalled.
California is the state that has a statewide ban on plastic bags and Hawaii has a de facto state ban because every county has adopted the policy.
If the bill becomes law, retail operators in New Jersey would begin charging 5-cent fee for each single-use carryout bag on June 1, 2017. Stores would keep a penny, as would the state Division of Taxation to administer the program.
The remaining 3 cents would be used to create the “Healthy Schools and Community Lead Abatement Fund” to support the testing of homes and schools’ water supply – a major cause of concern in the state.
While proponents of the ban claim “Plastic bags are a source of numerous environmental concerns,” We are still not sure how an additional tax is going to fix any environmental problems . Seems more to be another Trenton money grab using a “Feel good” ruse . Opponents say better yet to send the bags to Trenton so law makers can place them over their heads saving the taxpayers money and improving the quality of life in the state .
Eva’s Village a Paterson, NJ, anti-poverty, nonprofit organization, partners with local religious organizations to raise funds for its twenty integrated programs to assist those in need.
Ridgewood NJ, Eva’s Village was one of five mission partners chosen to receive a gift of over $20,000 from the West Side Presbyterian Church’s “10 x 10” Lenten Campaign. Nancy Simpson, Chair of Missions and Social Concerns at the Ridgewood church, explained that partners were selected because of their work with the homeless. Covenant House NJ, Family Promise of Bergen County, Youth Self Development, Paterson, & Pwojé Espwa Sud Orphanage, Haiti, were also chosen as mission partners. “These are all places where West Siders have had hands-on experiences helping and feeding people,” Ms. Simpson noted.
“West Side Presbyterian’s generous donation will have a tremendous impact on the hundreds of men, women and children we serve each day,” noted Marie Reger, Executive Director of Eva’s Village. In addition to supporting the Community Kitchen, the donation will support Eva’s 20 Food & Shelter, Medical & Recovery, and Education & Training programs. “We are also grateful to members of the congregation who volunteer regularly in our Community Kitchen,” Ms. Reger added. West Side Presbyterian’s congregation has supported Eva’s Village for more than two decades and has increased their commitment as donors and volunteers over the past several years.
Each mission partner was invited to speak to the congregation during the campaign. An Eva’s Village alumnus described how the food, shelter medical and recovery programs at Eva’s helped him find a path to recovery and a new life.
The congregation exceeded its goal, collecting more than $100,000 during the 40 days of Lent, between Ash Wednesday (February 10) and Easter (March 27). The amount represents 10% of the church’s income and re-establishes its tradition of tithing to serve those in need. Named “10 x 10,” the drive celebrates the 10-year anniversary of West Side’s sanctuary, rebuilt after a fire in 2002. Congregants were encouraged to participate by “tithing” – donating 10% of their income to the campaign. Children were encouraged to collect change to help meet the goal.
Well our town desperately needs a Master Plan of what it wants to be in the next 10, 20 years and how we will get there. Where will the open space be? how does multi-family housing intersect with garage parking and maintaining a safe “walking village”? What streets could have more parking quickly and cheaply (tree streets) and why don’t we try it first? More parking at a garage is one solution but until you lay out where everything will be it is foolish to throw in one monster garage and think problem solved.
The stores in Ridgewood that have a compelling business proposition do great and even expand: Rita’s, Hot Jewelry Box, Fox’s, Alex and Ani, Learning Express are a few examples. If you are a me too store, a la the GAP or Gymboree I can find you in the mall. There are a few business I will go to if I can find a spot out front (Dunkin, nail salons etc) but if there is not a close spot, I will visit Midland Park as it is just as close to my house. I will not park in the garage for those businesses. On a special Saturday night out in town, I can park by NY sports on the street for free or drive farther from the restaurants and always parking. I am of the opinion that the garage will not be that impactful for businesses, more so for commuters. If the businesses really had a push NOW for their employees to park elsewhere (graydon in winter, school in summer) and did some sort of COC busing for them that might help the store front parking.
Now a business such as Roots failing because of parking is NOT OUR PROBLEM. While it is a beautiful space, it is way too large and the owners were mistaken to think the client base in Ridgewood is the same as Summit. And I really hope the new council gets rid of that gift of a zillion spots to valet outside…Why doesn’t every business – regardless of what type of business – get the same valet treatment? Would be much more fair to have the small commuter lot set up as a valet depot for all businesses…could even add a second level on Hudson or Cottage for that purpose and be done with it. Again, if we had proper planning not patchwork planning.
Heroes Checking Debuts with Facebook Promotion for Military Appreciation Month
May 21,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , May is Military Appreciation Month and to honor local heroes, Boiling Springs Savings Bank (BSSB) has introduced a new checking account, Heroes Checking. The bank is also recognizing all military and emergency service personnel by pledging to donate up to $5,000 through a Facebook promotion encouraging local residents to share the faces of their local heroes.
BSSB’s new Heroes Checking was designed to show appreciation for the service of our active, retired, paid and volunteer service members. This account provides amenities including interest earned on all balances, no monthly fees, and a low $100 minimum deposit to open a new account. All you need is proof of service.
“For over 75 years, our customers have been our friends and neighbors,” says Robert E. Stillwell, BSSB President and CEO. “Boiling Springs Savings Bank is dedicated to maintaining our local roots and local values, and we are honored to recognize our local heroes and thank them for their service. Heroes Checking was created for them.”
For the month of May, area residents are encouraged to post and share photos of local heroes on the bank’s Facebook page. Boiling Springs Savings Bank will donate $1 for each photo that is posted, and an additional $1 for each positive reaction, up to $5,000 total to a local police, fire, first aid or military organization. All entries to the Local Heroes Photo Campaign must be submitted by May 31, 2016. Photos can include paid, volunteer or retired members of the police, fire department, EMS/first aid, or any branch of the U.S. military. BSSB is committed to support emergency service organizations throughout Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in New Jersey.
For more information on Heroes Checking or BSSB, visit the web site at www.bssbank.com.Official rules for the Local Heroes Photo Campaign can be found on the Boiling Springs Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bssbanknj.
Yes, the opening of Serendipity highlights the fallacy of the current council’s views on our downtown. Albert and Paul in particular kept talking about the parking surveys from 30 to 80 years ago. The “progress” and “2020” movements (which produced the 3 failed candidates) were similarly myopic. The leaders of these groups are all talking about and looking to solve Ridgewood’s problems from the 60’s and 70’s. Developers, land speculators, the owners of Fish and Greek to Me push for housing developments and parking garages solely for their own narrow minded view of increasing their profits over the next few years.
We live in the new millennium and we should plan for our century not the past century. Who and what is going to make use of our downtown. What brings in the most tax dollars with the least amount of expenditures? Is our future developing our downtown as the regions “restaurant row,” or should we be looking to bring more corporate dollars? Are massive parking garages and massive housing developments really the way forward or are they product of staid minds that don’t see or are afraid to look into the future?
This discussion has never been had because our current council “leaders” never asked themselves or challenged the public to debate what is good for Ridgewood as a whole and the future of Ridgewood as a whole. Instead, the “debate,” if one can call it that, has been over how many families should we squeeze into a downtown lot or should a garage be 4 or 5 or 6 stories tall. Let’s depart from this outdated way of thinking and move ourselves beyond the mire of the past. Let’s embrace our future. And to do that, let’s start by having a real discussion on what our future might be.
I can’t help but think a lot of the pro parking garage noise came from certain restaurateurs. I imagine diners having dinner at their “regular” restaurants and the owner does his meet-and-greet walk-through. He see his regular customer and say,”Hi. Where have you two been? I haven’t seen for for some time”.
Now the diners are sort of regular, and instead of admitting that their lack of attendance is mostly about cutting back on dining expenses, they save face by saying, “We have tried to get in here every week but we can never find a parking place. We had to head over to Ho-Ho-Kus.”
The restaurant bosses hear this so often that they not only believe it, but it’s in their interests to believe it. Most of them don’t live in Ridgewood, so costs of a garage are irrelevant.
The aforementioned absence of parking demand serves to validate how much the downtown has declined and businesses are struggling to survive. Lack of cars = lack of customers.
While many residents do not seem concerned over the possible demise of the CBD the fact is it WILL have a negative impact the value of their homes. Houses in Ridgewood have traditionally garnered a premium over comparable houses in other towns. The question is why. The answer is quite simple. Ridgewood has a wide variety of homes at varying price points in different neighborhoods all of which share a legendary school system and offer a convenient commute to NYC.
While there are other affluent towns in Bergen County which offer similar attractions Ridgewood is unique in that has all of the foregoing PLUS it has traditionally been home to a lively and walkable downtown with a wide variety of shops and restaurants This “trilogy” has proven to be highly successful in attracting newcomers to the Village who are willing and able to pay a premium for their homes.
The question is what happens if this highly successful formula were to disappear ? It is the opinion of the writer that the premium assigned by the market to houses in Ridgewood would gradually diminish and ultimately disappear. We would be just another affluent town in Bergen County that has nice neighborhoods and good schools. I say let’s keep what makes Ridgewood special. Let’s undertake to revitalize our downtown by building a garage …..albeit one that may be a little smaller. Let’s then work together to figure out a long term strategy that builds on our strengths and augments them so as to maintain our premier status as the town that “has it all”. Just my thoughts.
I wish people would take photos of parking spaces all over town on different days of the week, ordinary and holiday, and at different times to show in aggregate that parking IS AVAILABLE. A large number of photos documented at various times and days of the week would tell the story. Walking a couple of blocks is good for your health! And unless you’re going to a Hudson St. or S. Broad Street venue, you’ll walk a couple of blocks (or much more) from the garage anyway. Please VOTE NO on June 21 and get an absentee ballot if you can’t.
