Tag: Ridgewood

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Serendipity Labs Coworking Expands into Ridgewood

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Februray  10,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. –  The Pinnacle Companies announced today that it will open New Jersey’s first Serendipity Labs coworking location at 45 N. Broad Street, the iconic, totally renovated Lincoln building across from the Ridgewood NJ Transit train station. The three-story, 8,500-square foot space provides a vibrant coworking area, dedicated offices and team rooms. Members will also have access to an upscale lounge, ideation studio, work bar, event venue space and a café. The entire Lincoln building has been upgraded with a new lobby, modern elevator, new windows and HVAC systems.

“Independent professionals, entrepreneurs, remote and mobile workers working in and around Ridgewood will now have a premium workplace and meeting venue offering a level of hospitality that rivals boutique hotels,” says Brian M. Stolar, CEO of The Pinnacle Companies, an award-winning leader in urban redevelopment and the exclusive Serendipity Labs area franchisee for Northern New Jersey. “OurRidgewood coworking members can walk to great restaurants, fitness clubs, coffee shops and the train to Manhattan, which is just across the street. Corporate memberships will be available to provide access to the growing Serendipity Labsnetwork locations.”

Workstations Project Team Area KISP

Serendipity Labs has urban and suburban locations opening in nine states. It is one of the fastest growing coworking networks nationally and in the Tristate area.Serendipity Labs offers a range of membership options including day passes, monthly coworking lounge access, full-time dedicated private offices, and team rooms for companies needing project space.

“Serendipity Labs is a different kind of coworking provider. Our members come from a cross section of industries that include healthcare, finance and technology, many of whom have memberships paid for by their employers. Others are independent consultants or start-ups. Our IT infrastructure meets the highest standards. The upscale work environment is a lifestyle brand that is infused with hospitality and energy,” said John Arenas, CEO of Serendipity Labs. “As we expand across the nation, we are excited to help our new Ridgewood coworking members unlock their full potential and improve their lives.”

Serendipity Labs in Ridgewood will produce a full schedule of daytime and evening seminars and networking events designed for entrepreneurs, mobile workers and corporate members.

For more details, visit https://serendipitylabs.com/locations/ridgewood–coworking/

 

 

 

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SUV slammed into an occupied tour bus returning students to Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood

BF tour bus

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

February 5,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A Honda CR-V SUV slammed into an occupied tour bus that was returning students and their chaperons back to the Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood on Friday, 02/05 from a trip to Quebec. The incident occurred at 3:17 PM on Franklin Turnpike in Ridgewood, near the entrance/exit to Route 17 southbound.

Neither of the drivers, nor any of the 44 bus passengers, were injured in the collision, however the SUV was heavily damaged and had to be removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood PD investigated the incident and issued a summons to the SUV driver. After a delay of almost one (1) hour, the virtually undamaged bus continued on its way to drop off students and chaperones at the school. The driver of the SUV is reportedly a public safety officer at nearby Bergen Community College.

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SAT Test Center Closings

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Check your test center, and learn about makeup tests.

RegisterNext Tests:1/23 , 3/5

SAT Test Center Closings

Information about SAT test center closings for the January SAT administration date will be posted to this page as it becomes available. If a makeup date or alternate test center information has been confirmed, that information will also be included.

SAT Test Center Supervisors are instructed to notify local media outlets when their centers are unable to open due to inclement weather, natural disaster, power failure, or other problems. Please check your local media for test center closings in your area.

If your center is listed as closed:

  • A new center may appear in the listing. In this case, access your online account and print a new, updated ticket with the new center information noted on it. You must bring your updated ticket with you on test day to the reassigned center.
  • If no new center appears, please be patient while we work to arrange a makeup date — you will be contacted as soon as a makeup is scheduled.  Remember: don’t try to test elsewhere on test day — supervisors cannot admit standbys or walk-ins.

Please note: If you had a Waitlist Ticket for a closed center, your original Waitlist request was canceled, and you are not eligible for makeup testing. Please register for the next available date as soon as possible.

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What’s the most popular book at libraries in the Saddle River Valley?

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JANUARY 5, 2016    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016, 11:51 AM
BY KIMBERLY REDMOND
EDITOR |
TOWN JOURNAL

Based upon information provided by libraries in Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ridgewood and Upper Saddle River, 2015’s most popular books closely reflect the titles that appeared on national bestseller lists over the last year.

The most borrowed book from those four libraries was Paula Hawkins’ “The Girl on the Train,” a thriller that has sold 6.5 million copies since its January 2015 release and is being developed into a feature film starring Emily Blunt. Hawkins’ debut novel also ranked as one of the most checked-item items from the New York Public Library System in 2015.

Molly McKenney, Upper Saddle River’s adult services librarian, said there are generally two reasons as to why a book becomes popular with patrons – either they were written by an already famous author or it gets great word of mouth and “essentially becomes viral like a YouTube video.”

“People start hearing that other people liked it and they want to see what all the fuss is about. ‘The Girl on the Train’ definitely falls into that category. It followed in the footsteps of Gillian Flynn’s extremely popular ‘Gone Girl.’ Both are thrillers which center around female anti-heroes, a sub-genre which has exploded with popularity in recent years,” McKenney said.

At the Ridgewood Library, hold lists “were in the hundreds” despite there being multiple copies of Hawkins’ book, circulation librarian Lorri Steinbacher said.

“The Girl on the Train,” along with Ridgewood’s other top checkouts last year – Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” and Kristin Hannah’s “The Nightingale” – all “captured the imaginations of book groups and casual readers alike,” Steinbacher said.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/what-s-the-most-popular-book-at-libraries-in-the-saddle-river-valley-1.1485177

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Earthquake Strikes North Jersey

NJ earthquake

 

January 2,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to state officials an unusual and very mild earthquake struck in New Jersey on Saturday. The 2.1-magnitude quake with its epicenter in Ringwood, New Jersey, came at 12:58 a.m., according to the United States Geological Survey.

According to various police departments the earthquake could be felt in Sloatsburg and Suffern. There was no reported damage to people or property, according to Ringwood police and no reports in Ridgewood , Glen Rock , Paramus , Ho Ho Kus or Saddle River as far as we know .

According to Gary, Barbara and Collin,all residents of Ringwood who own and run the Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood & Davidoff Lounge , “they were asleep and didn’t feel a thing.”

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Ridgewood’s Social Service Association prepares for Thanksgiving

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NOVEMBER 19, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015, 3:29 PM
BY DIANA OLIVEIRA
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

When she was a first-year volunteer, Kathy Lops was “blown away” by the big production of Social Services’ annual Thanksgiving food drive.

Now, she is serving as co-chair of the “well-oiled machine,” as she describes it, this year.

“https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/turkey-day-countdown-in-ridgewood-1.1459149

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Paramus police hold emergency response drill at Westfield Garden State Plaza

Westfield Garden State Plaza

NOVEMBER 8, 2015, 3:26 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015, 3:26 PM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

PARAMUS — Borough police, using a plan that was modified in the aftermath of a shooter entering the Westfield Garden State Plaza here two years ago, held an emergency-response drill at the mall Sunday morning.

The exercise kicked off at 10 a.m., and lasted less than an hour, involving about 100 police officers, said Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg. The participating police departments included not only Paramus but the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department regional SWAT team as well as ,Maywood,  Hackensack, Rochelle Park, Fair Lawn and Ridgewood.

“It went well,” Ehrenberg said.

The drill was to test how quickly officers were able to respond to the mall in keeping with the plan that’s in place for any police emergency that occurs, including an active-shooter situation, Ehrenberg said. He described it as a “staging drill,” in which police reported to one of the shopping center’s parking lots.

“All we were doing was practicing and exercising our ability to call in mutual-aid towns to the Plaza,” Ehrenberg said. “It was more of a staging drill: how we could get people there and just practice our emergency-response time. … Even though it was at Westfield, the drill is to cover all our shopping-center infrastructure. … It’s a test of our reaction in case of a police emergency at one of our shopping centers.”

Local police have “enhanced” their emergency-response plan from the lessons learned from two incidents at the mall, according to the chief. In November 2013, 20-year-old gunman Richard Shoop entered Garden State Plaza and fired six rounds with a rifle, sending shoppers fleeing. He then killed himself. And in May last year, shoppers panicked and fled in cars and on foot when there were reports of gunfire inside the mall. It turned out that there was a car fire in a parking lot, and reportedly the sounds of the vehicle’s tires popping was mistaken for gunshots.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/paramus-police-hold-emergency-response-drill-at-westfield-garden-state-plaza-1.1451371

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Ridgewood family hosts Halloween maze

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OCTOBER 16, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

A Halloween experience like no other awaits those who are brave enough to step into a maze on Sheridan Terrace.

This free Halloween attraction, which is operated by Nancy and Greg Stewart out of their back yard, has been running in Ridgewood for 21 years and counting, 16 of which I have attended. Ever since the maze was over on Cliff Street at the Stewarts’ previous home, my family has made it our tradition to attempt to find our way through the maze, which is not an easy feat by any means.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/navigating-the-halloween-maze-1.1433859

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Clock is Ticking on High Density Housing for the Central Business District in Ridgewood

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September 28,2015
Lorraine Reynolds
Citizens for a Better Ridgewood

Ridgewood NJ, As you may or may not know, on September 30th the village council will be continuing the 2 night hearing and voting on the 5 ordinances regarding the high density housing. These ordinances would increase the density allowed from 12 units per acre (current) to 35 units per acre (UPA) in our downtown. Here’s a comparison as to what some other towns in our area allow: Fort Lee 50 UPA, Teaneck 28 UPA, Englewood 12 UPA, Hackensack 22 UPA. If passed, Fort Lee would be the only town in our area, similar in population, with a greater density per acre. I do believe the majority of the town is accepting of development, but on a smaller scale. Maybe 25 units per acre? Do we really want to be built up more than Teaneck? I certainly don’t want to be anywhere near Fort Lee’s density.
The planning board spent approximately 3 years in discussions and 1 1/2 years in a public hearing before voting. The village council had a small portion of their Sept 16 meeting devoted to this and now the council will be coming to the sept 30th meeting with their written statements prepared on how they are voting and why. The Ridgewood News had an editorial last week about “what’s the hurry?”. I have to agree with them. While I don’t want this to drag out, I do want the council to do their due diligence and get all of the facts before they vote. During the Valley hearings at the council level, the council brought in the traffic expert, planner, geotechnical engineer, etc and each council member asked questions of these experts and based their vote on what was discussed at council.
It appears that the majority of the council does not want to bring in any experts. They are ready to vote without asking any questions of any experts as to how this will effect Ridgewood. At the planning board level, a concern about the increase this would bring to our taxes was brought up several times by residents. The discussion was always shot down, because “it is not in the purview of the planning board to consider finances.” In fact, the village planner stated, “residential housing almost always increases taxes, we should not be doing this if we think taxes will go down, but there are other benefits to residential housing.” The council has a much broader scope of items they can discuss, finances being one of them. You may remember that Tom Riche voted yes to the Valley amendment at the PB level, but no to it at the council level. That is because the council is able to look at a broader range of issues. Finances should definitely be discussed.
I would like to see the council bring in several experts in addition to a financial expert. Water must be discussed. I know this year is an exception with the lack of rain, but we have mandatory water restrictions every year. Can you imagine an additional few hundred apartments to supply? I can’t.
Schools must be discussed. The planning board did not have a member of the BOE at their public hearings. The council needs to ask Dr Fishbein to appear at the council hearing to answer questions.
The traffic expert, the engineer, the planner, etc should all be questioned. I do hear the planner will be there, but that’s it.
I don’t know how anyone could possible vote on something so monumental without questioning all of these experts to see what the impacts will be for Ridgewood.
I urge you to e-mail our council and ask them to have these experts at the hearing, get the facts first hand, and then vote.
These people are our elected officials, and we have a right to make sure they have done their due diligence before they vote.
Whether you are for or against the increase to 35 units per acre, I think we can all agree that each council member needs to be able to ask questions of the experts to help them in their decision making process.
Below are the e-mails of all the council members. Please send them an e-mail today and forward this to friends. Thanks
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Village Council Caves on demands for a Second Meeting to hear public comments on the multi-family housing

Village Council

photo by Boyd Loving

September 14,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Mayor Paul Aronsohn and the Village Council has given in to the public outcry for a Second Meeting to hear public comments on the multi-family housing . On June 24 at a public meeting the Mayor basically told resident Boyd Loving to sit down and shut up when he suggested that more than one public hearing was in order.

Boyd was adamant that one night would make it difficult for some people to attend and that this one-night plan was completely contrary to the manner in which the Valley hearings were conducted.   At that time the Mayor was unwilling to listen to this reasonable suggestion.

Perhaps recent events such as the lawsuit brought by the CBR, as well as intense public outcry about the single meeting, and even the Ridgewood News editorial,  have caused a change of heart.   Boyd it seems, was dare we say it, RIGHT.

Now perhaps you will listen to Boyd’s other suggestion to secure a larger venue for the hearings, so that overflow citizens are not sequestered in the basement of Village Hall and are somehow shuttled up and down stairs to the microphone.

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“Rubber Stamp ” Approval of High Density Housing in Ridgewood

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Dear CBR friends and supporters,
 
The Ridgewood News editorial today highlights in the importance of the September 16 Village Council meeting for the future of our village, and asks the Mayor and Council, “What’s the Hurry?”   (see link below)
The Ridgewood News approached CBR to make a statement about how the Village Council intends to rush the vote to approve ordinances that would allow high density housing, and asked our opinion on holding the public hearing on a night that conflicts with many Back-to-School nights.  (see our statement to the Ridgewood News below)
 
We have asked the Mayor and Council to reschedule the meeting.  We urge YOU to also email the Mayor and Council and ask them to either reschedule the public hearing, or to schedule additional opportunities for public comment in the future on this very important matter.  The email addresses are below.  Also, please continue to reach out to friends and neighbors and encourage everyone to attend this vital meeting on Wednesday, September 16.
Thank you for your support.
 
Citizens for a Better Ridgewood
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Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Midland Park residents face severe water restrictions

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SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 5:41 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 5:58 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Sprinklers will be silenced around the village as dry weather has forced Ridgewood Water to initiate severe restrictions on irrigation.

On Friday, residents in Glen Rock, Midland Park, and Ridgewood learned they could face stiff fines should they opt to use anything other than a handheld hose with a spray nozzle to water their lawns.

Ridgewood Water has imposed its most oppressive restrictions, deeming the situation “critical.”

Related:   Hot, dry weather depleting North Jersey drinking water supply

Use of these spray nozzles will be restricted to just two days a week; those with odd numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays and Saturdays with even numbered homes able to irrigate Wednesdays and Sundays.

No irrigation is permitted on Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays until further notice.

According to Ridgewood officials, reserves need to be maintained for household use and for firefighters who’ll need water and enough pressure to fight potential fires.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-glen-rock-midland-park-residents-face-severe-water-restrictions-1.1404137

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Ridgewood will recruit more cops to replace those retiring

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AUGUST 12, 2015, 11:27 AM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015, 11:27 AM

BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — With several veteran police officers about to retire, village officials say they plan to recruit additional officers for the police department in the fall.

According to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld, six officers will be retiring from Ridgewood’s police department before the year ends

“Two have already retired and the others will retire between October and December,” Sonenfeld explained.

Ridgewood has 40 officers, and three new officers are being trained, Sonenfeld said.

“We will be actively recruiting trained officers in the fall with targeted start dates right at the beginning of next year,” Sonenfeld said. “We are also assuming some extra overtime will be needed as well as some shifting of functions from police officers to civilians, particularly at the police desk.”

Despite rumors suggesting otherwise, village officials said that the police chief, John Ward, is not retiring in 2015.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-will-recruit-more-cops-to-replace-those-retiring-1.1391064

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Bicycle Bandit goes on a one man crime spree in North Jersey

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July 29,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, A homeless man dubbed by police as the “bicycle bandit” is wanted in connection with a series of overnight break-ins in several New Jersey communities, including Ridgewood, Allendale, Closter, Norwood, and Ramsey.

On Monday July 20, 2015, a Ridgewood resident reported that sometime between 2:00 am and 6:00 am that date an unidentified actor entered his/her home removing cash from the kitchen counter and consuming some leftover food from the refrigerator. The matter is under investigation by the detective bureau. Ridgewood Police now believe the the actor as the “Bicycle Bandit”. The Police have identified the man, James Rainsford, 47, a homeless man authorities say lives in or near Paterson.

In Allendale home surveillance video from one of the burglaries captured the suspect, 47-year-old James Rainsford, calmly walking up to an Allendale home and trying one door after another. He bolts when an alarm sounds and runs across the lawn, and soon after, his bike reflectors are seen spinning away as he rides off.

Little Falls Police are also looking for Rainsford who they say is responsible for burglarizing multiple homes and taking food with him from the scenes.

Anyone with information or who may have seen Rainsford should either call 9-1-1 or the Ridgewood Police Department at 201-652-3900.