the staff of the Ridgewood blog and the Ridgewpood Police Department
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Polis report that on 07/04/2015 patrol units responded to the area of 57 East Ridgewood Avenue for a report of a suspicious male. A further investigation revealed that a 37 year old Hackensack man was on the roof tops above 43 East Ridgewood Avenue.
The male party was found to be wearing a Captain America costume and determined to be heavily intoxicated. The male party was removed from the roof by officers in fire department ladder truck. He was transported to the Valley Hospital for treatment.
Enhanced North Jersey Coast Line express weekend service to beach towns
July 6,2015
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT is making it convenient and affordable to get to summer shore destinations with the return of express weekend rail service from Penn Station New York and northern New Jersey cities to shore communities along the North Jersey Coast Line this Sunday, June 21.
Enhanced Saturday, Sunday and holiday rail service on the North Jersey Coast Line will operate from June 21 through September 12 and utilize the agency’s dual-powered locomotives to provide a one-seat ride.
“This one-seat ride rail service from New York is a sound investment that not only gives visitors and residents easier access to some of our most popular beaches and boardwalks, it also helps take cars off the roadway and boosts tourism and the economy in our shore communities,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Chairman Jamie Fox.
“Our Shore service provides a safe and reliable way to get people where they need to be to enjoy time in the sun and expands transit options for travelers along the state’s costal region,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim. “NJ TRANSIT is grateful for the continued support of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) without whom funding for this service would not be possible.”
Four round-trip express trains will operate between Penn Station New York and Bay Head. This service also features hourly train service between Bay Head and Long Branch from approximately 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Two of the round-trips will be geared to beach travelers, with an additional two round-trips providing service during the early morning and late night timeframes.
The express service will serve Penn Station New York, Secaucus Junction, Newark Penn Station, Elizabeth, Rahway, Aberdeen-Matawan, Red Bank, Long Branch, Asbury Park, and then all station stops to Bay Head, without the need of a transfer in Long Branch. A travel time savings of approximately 25 minutes is expected from the normal travel time between New York and trains such as Belmar, Manasquan and Point Pleasant.
Seating will be limited aboard the express service. Customers are strongly encouraged to purchase round-trip tickets or discounted beach packages to Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach and Belmar (a savings of $6.50) prior to the start of their trip. NJ TRANSIT beach packages are available at some ticket windows and ticket vending machines. More information on beach packages is available on njtransit.com/summer.
Customers can also purchase NJ TRANSIT tickets using MyTix mobile ticketing.
Express trains will supplement NJ TRANSIT’s regular hourly rail shuttle service between Long Branch and Bay Head, and will operate using the statewide transportation agency’s new ALP-45 dual-powered locomotives. These specialized trains will operate in electric mode between New York and Long Branch and will switch to diesel operation for travel between Long Branch and Bay Head – allowing for the one-seat ride.
The announcement follows the May 11, 2015 endorsement of the service by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), which authorized a $273,000 allocation through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) to fund the new service.
Detailed schedules are available on njtransit.com.
JULY 7, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015, 9:42 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Village Council held a special public meeting last month in order to make appointments to the village’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment as well as hire a new labor attorney and special labor counsel.
The Planning Board will see plenty of familiar faces return as all five appointees served during the previous year. Mayor Paul Aronsohn, board member Nancy Bigos and Councilwoman Susan Knudsen each return for a one-year term as Class I, II and III members respectively.
Number two alternate Khidir Abdalla was given a two-year term and Chairman Charles Nalbantian will keep his seat for the next four years as a Class IV member.
On the Board of Adjustment, current Chairman Joel Torielli and Vice Chairman Hans-Jurgen Lehmann each received four-year terms to continue in their respective roles.
Jennie Wilson was promoted from alternate to full board member on a two-year term while Sergio Alegre was bumped up to the position of first alternate on a two-year term.
Ines Bunza joins the Board of Adjustment as the second alternate on a one-year term.
Appointments for these two boards will be effective at their respective reorganization meetings.
In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board will hold a special public meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, in the Village Hall Court Room, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ. The purpose of the meeting is to hold the Annual Reorganization Meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. A regular business meeting will follow.
All meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.
Whole Foods Market is apologizing to its shoppers for incorrect pricing, a week after a New York investigation found that the natural food grocer routinely overcharged for prepackaged fruits, vegetables and deli meats.
“Straight up, we made some mistakes,” said co-CEO Walter Robb, as he stood beside co-CEO John Mackey in a YouTube video posted Wednesday. “We want to own that.”
Robb and Mackey said that the pricing mistakes were unintentional and that the company will increase its training at stores around the county. Going forward, Whole Foods will give items away for free if customers discover they were overcharged. “We apologize to our customers for any discrepancies that may have occurred,” the company said in blog post.
Last week, New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs said it was expanding its investigation after finding that Whole Foods stores in the city regularly ripped customers off, including overcharging $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp and $4.85 for eight chicken tenders. The department tested 80 types of prepackaged items and found all of them had mislabeled weights. The investigation focused on eight stores in the city.
In a statement, Commissioner Julie Menin said that the Department of Consumer Affairs was “gratified” that Whole Foods admitted to issues with its prepackaged food labels.
Reader says the Morristown case is a clear precedent for Valley, USE IT
Why the Council hasn’t been protecting Village taxpayers is just stunning in the failure to uphold their fiduciary responsibility. Now they have a court ruling that establishes CLEAR precedent to go after Valley’s not-for-profit tax status and force them to pay the +$4.3 million they should be paying annually based on assessed value of their properties in Ridgewood, and yet they’d rather argue about an HR hiring and a parking garage that should be paid for in a public private partnership with the business owners in the CBD. Wake up and go after Valley, and stop pandering to biz owners. Taxpayers deserve your immediate attention to these issues, which can bring in millions in new revenue. Otherwise they’re not doing their job to protect the interests of tax paying Villagers.
Morristown just put in the effort for us, all you need to do is cut & paste and change the name of the defendant from “Morristown” to “Valley”. The Morristown ruling establishes clear precedent, it’s a lay-up tailor made for Ridgewood vs. Valley. They pay their supposedly “not-for-profit” CEO $2 mm a year but pay no Village taxes. But our Council has a bunch of people trying to start knife fights while our house is on fire. Very, very damning of the current five.
It would be great to see Ms. Hauck use her relationships and actually stand up against Valley Hospital and ask them to 1) drop their lawsuit; and 2) pay for the municipal services they consume like police, fire and snow removal. Or suggest that we use the Morristown Medical Center court ruling that it should pay property taxes on virtually all of its property in town, and go after Valley to pay property taxes in Ridgewood on ALL of their property. How can they argue they are a NOT-for-profit when they are paying their CEO $2 million a year and expanding in an arms race to become a “hospital system” with other regional hospitals? I would have a much stronger view of Ms. Hauck’s independence if she supported either of the above ideas without any form of quid pro quo on Valley’s expansion plans in Ridgewood .
If anything, Ms. Hauck is probably advising them on how to make sure it doesn’t happen. With no background or interest in public service except raising money for Valley, and no knowledge of how it works or most of the issues, she agreed (not decided–agreed–was invited–I know this) to run for council solely to help Valley–I would be a lot on that–in exchange for being the third vote for anything Aronsohn wanted. And she had to agree not to attend the social functions she had enjoyed for many years. This is conjecture, not inside information. It just makes sense.
When 2 of the 3 Council majority members are publicly pro-Valley? Where the 3 council bosom buddies always vote in a block (hmm, how do they do that without meeting illegally?)? When the Council majority doesn’t even allow discussion on an issue if they already have the votes to get their way?
Valley is not only going to continue to get a free pass from this Council – wait until they cut a deal on the Valley lawsuit that lets them double in size and still pay no taxes. We are going to be paying for the damage these 3 Council members have done for a generation.
Tonight Monday, July 6th @ 6:00pm , Founding Member of Slipknot and Stone Sour: Corey Taylor will sign his new book: You’re Making Me Hate You
Each Person attending must purchase one or more books.Books available July 6th
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.
Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.
First In Line Certificate use is the the discretion of Bookends. Blackout dates may apply.
Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to ensure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
JULY 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JULY 6, 2015, 10:27 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A longtime public employee has said goodbye to the Village of Ridgewood. Director of Operations Frank Moritz left his post last week for retirement.
A native of Hoboken and a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Moritz worked for the village for 23-and-a-half years at the Ridgewood Water utility and began in his current role in 2005. He previously spent 19 years working for United Water.
In addition to his work in the village, Moritz has been a member of New Jersey’s chapter of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) for 25 years, where he has served on the Board of Directors as well as chairman for the State of New Jersey. In 2004, he received the highest award given out by the AWWA, the George Warren Fuller Award.
During his time in Ridgewood, Moritz was responsible for the water utility and oversaw the Division of Solid Waste, Division of Recycling and Division of Public Works.
One of the biggest challenges he faced during his tenure was to simply keep the water utility evolving along with technological advances. Over the past few years, the utility’s 20,000 water meters were automated. Moritz also had to make sure the utility consistently met regulatory standards and that the village’s facilities continued to improve.
A PILOT program has been discussed and quickly pushed under the table several times. Perhaps a lawsuit directed at Valley would do the trick?
I am not anti-Valley (I prefer a modified, reasonable expansion, including locations on Rte 17NS). I believe Valley is an important part of our community. But I have never quite understood how they can be classified as a non-profit. To be fair, I think to expect them to pay +$4mio in taxes is aggressive. But clearly they are a consumer of Village services? Clearly “we” subsidize their activities through our own taxes. So there must be a compromise somewhere, i.e. the PILOT program.
I don’t like the idea of another lawsuit. It’s not productive. But the fact that Valley is suing the Village absolutely dips into our pockets, as the VOR has to pay legal fees. So where does it end? Regardless of where you stand on the Valley Expansion, I think it is reasonable to expect Valley to pay its fair share for the use of Village services.
MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, July 11
Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents on Saturday’s every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, June 11 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.
For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.
July 4th Information – Buy Tickets for July 4th Fireworks!
The Parade begins at 10am and is free. The Fireworks (Vets Field opens at 6pm for entertainment & skydivers) requires tickets for entrance to the Field. Donations for Fireworks Tickets is one of the Celebration’s largest sources of income. Tickets are available for advance purchase at stores for $10. Tickets are on sale at the gates for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-12. Buy your tickets in advance for big savings! Children 5 and under are admitted for free.
Tickets will be on sale at the following vendors for $10 each. Children 5 and under are admitted free.
•Backyard Living – 235 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood
•Bergen News Plus – 890 Prospect Street, Glen Rock
•Chestnut Catering & Deli – 25 Chestnut Street, Ridgewood
•Connect One Bank – 171 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
•Custom Cut Salon – 239 Godwin Avenue, Midland Park
•Daily Treat Restaurant– 177 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood – Open July 4th until 2:00 PM
•Drinks Wines and Spirits- 607 N. Maple Avenue, Ho-Ho-Kus – Open July 4th until 5:00 PM
•Goffle Brook Farm– 425 Goffle Road, Ridgewood – Open July 4th until 5:00 PM
•Hillman Electric Inc. – 133 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
•Hogan’s Restaurant & Diner – 20 Central Avenue, Midland Park
•Hoskins Propane – 523 Goffle Road, Ridgewood
•Ridgewood Auto Wash Co. – 450 South Broad Street, Glen Rock
•Ridgewood Cycle Shop – 35 North Broad Street, Ridgewood
•The Wine Seller- 6 West Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood – Open July 4th until 4:00 PM
•Town & Country Apothecary – 60 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood
At the gate tickets are $15.00 for adults, $10.00 for Children ages 6-12. Children 5 and under are admitted for free. Buy your tickets in advance and save.
Patrons and belongings will be subject to security checks by Police Department personnel when entering Veterans Field. Alcohol is not permitted. There will be 2 lines at the gates, one for those with bags and one for those without bags. Expect delays. All gates will close at 9:00 PM.
Please join us for the 105th annual Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration on Saturday, July 4th, 2015. The Theme for the Parade this year is “American Innovation.”
Ridgewood Fourth of July Celebration
Saturday, July 4, 2015 Schedule of Events
Flag Raising: 9:00 am – Wilsey Square
Speaker – Ridgewood Council Member
Recognition of the Grand Marshall and Special Guests
Flag Raising by American Legion Post 53 and Boy Scouts
“The Star Spangled Banner” sung by The Maroon Men
Parade begins 10:00 am (Rain or Shine) – North Monroe and Godwin:
Evening Entertainment: Gates open 6:00 pm – Veteran’s Field (Rain Date: July 5th)
Fireworks: Immediately following evening entertainment at dusk – Veteran’s Field (Rain Date: July 5th)
The Ridgewood Guild Presents Live Music in Ridgewood – July 3
Come enjoy the beautiful evening in downtown Ridgewood, NJ from 7pm to 9pm while listening to the following artists:
Bill Craig and Mike Casey – Mediterraneo / S. Egidio
Brielle Liebman – It’s Greek to Me
Dom Boresta – Ridgewood Coffee Company
Tim Gysin – Ben and Jerry’s
Take 4 – Malee / La Tour / Due
Johnny Horizon – Kilwin’s
JULY 3, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY EILEEN LA FORGIA
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood music legend Warren Grim, is being honored with a Tribute Concert Under the Stars on Tuesday, July 7 at the Kasschau Memorial Shell. The beloved founder of the Ridgewood Village Band died last September at 91.
“It seems fitting that his life and legacy be remembered in this special way,” said John Palatucci, music director of The Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus of Ridgewood. This week marks the 56th anniversary of the Village Band’s first concert at the shell. Many of Grim’s students, former students and other community-minded players became members of the band playing for the annual 4th of July celebration and also on every Thursday evening to large and enthusiastic audiences. Grim directed the band for more than 30 years.
The tribute concert will feature performances by the Orpheus Club as well as by their guests, The Ridgewood Choral and The Ridgewood Concert Band.
The program beings with five pieces by Orpheus: “The Star Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful,” Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel” and “We Sing As One” by Richard Lane, who had been the accompanist for Orpheus for 42 years.
Ridgewood Choral will sing “Aint Misbehaven,” “Duetto Buffo di due Gatti” by Rossini, “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera” and “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” from “Guys and Dolls.”
In choosing the program, Palatucci and Ridgewood Concert Band director Chris Wilhjelm thought, “What would Warren choose for a summer concert band – Broadway show tunes, great old classical overtures, marches, of course and patriotic music.”
Ridgewood Concert Band will play five compositions: John Phillip Sousa’s “The Invincible Eagle March,” followed by “Italian Girl in Algeria” by Rossini, then “Shenandoah.” “Pennsylvania Polka” was a special request by Grim’s wife Elisa, since he was born in Bethlehem, Pa. “Old Comrades March” by Teike honors Grim’s parents who served in the U.S. Army in World War 1. His father was a sergeant and his mother was an Army nurse.
