“Shut Up and Pay?” Furious Debate Erupts in Ridgewood Over Shocking $75M Theater Project Price Tag
the staff the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A heated online battle has erupted in the Village of Ridgewood, turning a simple question about taxpayer money and community spending into a full-blown town controversy.
When a local resident took to social media to question why a proposed local performing arts center renovation requires a staggering $75 million, the pushback was immediate—and aggressive. The resident claimed they were essentially told to “STFU” (shut up) for interrogating the budget, sparking a wider conversation among neighbors about transparency, local spending, and municipal civility.
Construction Experts Weigh In: Is $75 Million Too High?
While some commenters urged critics not to “yuck other people’s yum” regarding community arts, the jaw-dropping $75 million figure has drawn skepticism from professionals within the community.
One resident, identifying as a Vice President at a highly recognized union commercial construction company in New York City, stepped into the digital town square to back up the financial concerns. According to the industry expert, a theater renovation of this scope should typically land somewhere between $30 million and $40 million at most.
“Although I don’t agree with consistent knocking of the town, $75 million should be questioned,” the construction executive noted, pointing out that the current estimate is nearly double what standard commercial metrics would suggest.
Turf Fields Redux? Residents Demand Transparency
The unfolding drama has left many taxpayers feeling stonewalled, with some pointing fingers at local stakeholders who refuse to answer direct questions about the project’s scope. Observers quickly drew parallels to past contentious local infrastructure debates, including the village’s highly polarized turf field initiatives.
For many longtime locals, the breakdown in civil discourse is the most disappointing part of the infrastructure debate. “I still remember when Ridgewood was a class town,” one resident lamented, reflecting a growing fatigue over how local disagreements are handled online.
As the price tag for the performing arts facility continues to raise eyebrows, one thing is certain: Ridgewood residents aren’t planning to quiet down or stop asking where their tax dollars are going.
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lol , you made my day , time for some people to move back to the Bronx
another town bigot
legit question , the village manger should be able to summarize in one paragraph the project ,
like the turf field , i suggest the envelope is very thick
stop voting for democrats
change you name to Karen …lol
The attacker, Kelly Van Zile, teaches acting and runs the theater program at Ridgewood High School. She should be fired.
Kelly is fabulous and a treasure for our artistic children. Shame on you trolls and This town absolutely needs creative spaces.
LOL, trolls.
Did you read the lovely post from Fabulous Kelly?
I agree with Jen and work in the commercial construction industry. You can’t claim the budget is high or low without knowing the scope. Also, sounds like they are applying for a grant, so that is an estimated figure including soft costs. If the tax funding had to cover only 10% wouldn’t it be worth it to have a new theater that brings performers and business to the town? Maybe Kelly could have taken a softer approach, but maybe she had it with the responses. All the keyboard warriors that remain anonymous and critique everything but present nothing. Her job shouldn’t be in question for reacting on a blog page with an acronym with a curse in it. Most of you probably express worse on a daily basis and no kids are reading the Ridgewood blog. If this insults you are you ok with how the leadership of our country tweets? Also, just because they apply for a grant doesn’t mean they will get it. They are trying to save/preserve what we have instead of it being sold to a developer for more mixed use housing and commercial space.
STFU
She runs the theatre program and does an amazing job doing it. She posted a comment and then deleted it.
She deleted the comment. She is an asset to this community, more so than all these anonymous posters.
Telling someone emphatically to shut up doesn’t quite meet the standard for an attack in most cases. I think her post was in all caps though, so maybe it’s more like she yelled at him. It was like a one sentence yell… From what I can tell this was a single, isolated event. Unpleasant but probably not rising to the occasion of an attack by most definitions.
If we are going to call for someone to lose their job we should base it on facts, not exaggeration. Demanding people be fired has real world implications. She may have children or parents she provides for. She may carry the family’s health insurance and they may no longer be able to afford it if she loses her job. She may have a child on life saving medicine, or take it herself, and might no longer be able to afford it. It’s fine if you don’t like her. It’s fine if you even hate her. But if you are going to call for her to be fired there should be some well documented, fact based, fireable offenses that have taken place. In this case, I’m not sure the punishment fits the crime. In addition, unexpected job loss is understood to precipitate chronic stress, anxiety and clinical depression.
And if you still think that this woman deserves to lose her livelihood, it would probably be appropriate to include your name when posting to say so. If nothing else, this woman is entitled to know who she has so severely offended.
Totally agree.
Kelly Van Zile specializes in helping professionals make authentic connections in both business and life. She joined Exec-Comm in 2006 after extensive experience as an actor, producer, and educator, parlaying her passion for theater into a role as a Facilitator in Exec-Comm‘s workshops. Kelly teaches clients to stand with presence, speak dynamically, lead with confidence, and authentically negotiate in meetings.
Teaching authentic connections apparently doesn’t include resisting the urge to tell people to ‘STFU.
STFU
I think the problem is the number ($75M), not the actual project. It seems that these astronomical numbers are being tossed around like they’re just meaningless words. Every dollar represents a human’s effort and must be respected as such. I am a former resident who grew up in Ridgewood and still hold a high regard for the village.
It’s free money, that’s why they toss it around.
The Zabriskie House was free money also.
How did that work out?
I don’t know her but she sounds nasty….
In my corporate life I found the Dutch and Swiss to be the most difficult people to deal with.
The number should be questioned. That’s a big number.
The number should be questioned. That’s a big number.
To verbally abuse a neighbor for asking a legitimate question —-WHAT A VILE PERSON!
That’s how the manager and council behave and sadly now the people. Never before was there so much animosity until this council and manager
I agree with you. This council is so rude and the most defensive. Village manager is awful and the way he treats people is disrespectful and at times pretty shocking.
The Village is submitting a grant application to the state. Why wouldn’t we want NJ state funds to support this project? The grant is likely for more than just the renovation and construction. There was a time when Ridgewood had a Playhouse and performing arts center.
Ridgewood already has a playhouse.
Village Hall.
Post of the day !
Don’t worry. It’s Kelly!! She was probably drunk when she posted this. As per usual for Kelly.
She teaches kids at rhs.
Also- her sister Laura was the beneficiary of the undeserved job from her boyfriend when he was on the BoE. Remember???
*married boyfriend
For some reason I thought this project started out at $50 million with the village having to come up with 20% or $10 million. Does the new cost now mean the taxpayers will have to pay $15 million or is there grant money for the whole cost. Also who will fund the day to day expenses and what happens is this place doesn’t cover expenses???
A grant is a GRANT, whatever the dollar amount. If is not coming out of the Ridgewood taxpayers pockets, what is the big issue. Like most who post on here, most don’t even own real estate in Town, just renters who bitch and complain. James, please comment!!!
As a NJ taxpayer the money IS coming out of my pocket. Cut the fat. NJ should not be making grants like this. Focus on the basics!
What a stupid unnecessary article lmao
Pedro the correct comment is “what a dumb b$tch “
If you are going to call someone a bitch in a public forum you should at least have the guts to use your real name when posting.
STFU
It seems like Kelly is vile which seems fitting. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but her comment was rude and really unnecessary.
As an overtaxed NJ taxpayer I do not want my money going to projects like this. In any town in the state. Time to tighten the belt
The NJ PAC is doing just okay, not great as some people would like you to think. They run a deficit some years but they have a small fund to draw on. Their financials are online.
NJ PAC also has corporate sponsors and they do a lot of fundraising. It’s never over. Even if the state magically gifts Ridgewood the money how will the venue get ongoing revenue to cover expenses for staff and maintenance? There is a lot of magical thinking and no real business plan. We would be in competition with NJPAC, an established entertainment venue. How will the Ridgewood venue survive?
Residents think that the theater is somehow owed to the music/theater contingent. Nothing is owed. This is a money pit. Do it with private funds.
I for one am excited for more culture in this town. Being on the theatre!
You think that this entertainment venue = culture? Read a book.
Once again Ridgewood looks like we are moving towards refusing to take a GRANT from the state. This runs the risk of the same thing that happened when the state offered to build us a garage at Ken Smith’s. We insanely refused the state and end up building one on our own that the same people complain about. TAKE the State money and improve downtown.
The “state” money is every NJ citizen’s money. I don’t agree for the state beach replenishment for multi-millionaire homes in Bay Head or a needless $75 million performing arts center in Ridgewood. Rebecca Michelle (Mickie) would agree, because it’s not coming out of her pocket.
A Grant is not a gift from a genie. There are strings.
How many other towns in NJ are asking for grants for pet projects? As a NJ taxpayer I am paying for all those frivolous grants. NJ doesn’t have the money for this. We need to focus on health and education. A private organization should finance and run this.
Oh the irony—- a public school teacher cyber bullying. Will #ridgewood public schools do anything about it or look the other way as usual?
I don’t think I know this malcontent.
Can we get a picture of KVZ…?
This woman deliberately told a fellow resident to STFU. This was so uncalled for. And it was not a spontaneous accident. She had to type it and she had to then post it. Plenty of time to think better of such a rude aggressive response. The fact that she teaches in the school system is absolutely a factor here. Yes she was posting as a private individual, but she is a school teacher in the theater program and as such, she should model better behavior than this. Is this how she responds when one of the students upsets her? Is this a kind of language she uses around high school kids? She’s a paid employee, and she needs to be replaced by somebody who can control emotional bullying outbursts. This was absolutely cyber bullying. Steve Kim posted a question about the proposed price for the performing arts center. And one of Ridgewood‘s finest responded in this way. Horrible.
All we need is more traffic. Too bad this won’t be put to a vote. NOT ANOTHER MONEY PIT, PLEASE. We are still dealing with the parking garage and Schedler.
The town should not be involved in the development of the arts center. Not their job and way above their skill level. Many residents just see themselves or their children on the stage and are blind to the cost.
I am for the new field but the town fumbled this small project. Could you imagine how messed up this theatre would become?
Private investment.
Who is on the committee? Everyone who dabbled in Jamboree think that they could run this. They can’t.
Was a basic needs study completed? What does the market look like?
Where is the P/l projection? Has anyone sat down to figure out how to make a profit after the “free” money rums out?
What paid positions would be created? They love to talk about the Morristown PAC. CEO compensation package 1.3 million. Several other staffers make 200-300k
This is incredible. The lawn sign brigade in Somerville just couldn’t bring themselves to follow the theme. Shocking.
I would have expected a Ukraine/LGBTQ theme at the very least and Karl Marx on the head of the float if they really would have put in the effort.
LOL.
I think that the public needs to get involved and pay attention. What’s really going on in the village. This is a lot of money being spent. Lot of money being borrowed, Pauly they’re $80 million in debt. Now we understand that they have AAA bond rating, which is all well and good, but to keep on spending like they have in the past 34 years if they’re going to bankrupt the village, then what’s going to happen. Is the State gonna come in and over look upper management, and council and Manor, because this is getting to be concerning, for the taxpayers, you cannot just keep on raising taxes to pay for all these dream projects that they wanna do, it’s nice, especially they’re not getting that money from taxes from Valley Hospital, that’s a done deal. And now they want to spend this crazy amount of money at the old movie theater. Yeah the Grant is so nice. Seems very expensive. And yeah, don’t forget people we have village buildings that are in disrepair, I think we need to get an account on money what it will cost to replace repair these locations. You’re talking about the upper Dpw garage needs to repair work service building needs repairs like window replacement. Replacing a kitchen in the street department, sort, shed repairs, the old lower Dpw garage, that’s in shambles. Full of rodents, droppings, roof leaking, the water is shut off, bathroom is disconnected, windows need to be replaced at the upper garage that house equipment, so we’re talking about a lot of money here. And not many people are talking about this. Because keep on shuffling the deck.
Welcome to south of Route 4