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Ridgewood considers parking upgrades

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Ridgewood considers parking upgrades

OCTOBER 5, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Village officials unveiled several parking proposals they hope will attract visitors to the downtown business district and also ease parking for residents.

One proposal offered at Wednesday’s council meeting would standardize parking hours, fees and durations throughout the village.

“All downtown meters would run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” according to the proposal, altering the current 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. range.

Also, all downtown meters would offer three- or four-hour parking, as opposed to the current limit of two hours.

“All downtown meters will cost 25 cents per half-hour,” the proposal states, adding existing 15-minute parking spaces would remain.

“This will make parking easier and simpler for shoppers and diners, enhancing the overall downtown experience,” according to the plan.

Another proposal seeks to restrict long-term parking passes — currently sold to residents and non-residents on an annual basis — to Ridgewood residents only. At present, about 120 out-of-town commuters pay the same amount as residents for long-term parking passes, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said. An alternative proposal would have non-residents pay twice as much for the long-term pass.

“There is a parking scarcity in this town,” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said at the council’s meeting Wednesday, adding it has taken out-of-the-box thinking to determine ways of improving it.

The issue of parking in Ridgewood has been front and center in recent weeks at public forums organized by Deputy Mayor Al Pucciarelli. At these gatherings, residents and business owners have keyed in on parking as the village’s biggest hindrance.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/council-considers-parking-upgrades-1.1102744#sthash.HV1B1AFh.dpuf

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Ridgewood has new building official

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Ridgewood has new building official

OCTOBER 6, 2014    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The new chief of the village’s Building Department starts today, months after the unit was overhauled.

Thomas Yotka has more than 25 years of experience in code enforcement and administration, according to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.

Yotka possesses all of the necessary state licenses and holds a zoning official certificate from Rutgers University.

“Prior to joining Ridgewood, Tom has served as construction official, building and fire subcode official and building and fire inspector in several municipalities where he spearheaded efforts to improve processes, enhance customer service as well as increase efficiencies by implementing performance and software technologies,” Sonenfeld said in an email to the staff.

Since 1999, Yotka has taught building and fire code courses for the state’s Department of Community Affairs at the County College of Morris, and two years ago was retained by the agency to provide continuing education seminars to licensed code officials and design professionals.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/village-has-new-building-official-1.1103172#sthash.tIxwE4qn.dpuf

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Valley conveys a clear message to the Village of Ridgewood ” they want what they want

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Valley conveys a clear message to the Village of Ridgewood ” they want what they want

 feel that the lawsuit of Valley conveys a clear message to the Village of Ridgewood ” they want what they want” and will use their power and money to get it. The residents of this town have been go to meetings and spending their valuable time and money for 8 years. 

Valley has presented their plans twice to the Village and they were both rejected. The process was followed and people presented their views for 8 years about how they have felt about this expansion. It has been 8 years of peoples time!! Enough is enough. Valley has not made much of a compromise on their site plans. And as a result, it has been voted against both times because at the end of the day the hospitals proposal is too BIG for this site surrounded by residential homes and a school.
For those who are claiming people do not want it in their backyard I ask you to take a good look at the Valley plans because I do not think you would want it in yours either!! If your neighbor wanted to rebuild their home to be double its current size and it was going to take years of construction, I think you would be against it as well. If I wanted to double the size of my house on my property, I would be told my lot is too small for the site and to come up with a plan that works in the space or find a new space.
This Valley renewal is not a expansion. Look at the plans… it is a rebuild of a hospital. Can anyone really say that a 94 foot building belongs in the middle of a residential area? It does not fit in the space. People seem to forget that the houses surrounding the hospital were here before the hospital! The hospital was built in a residential area. I truly believe that the people against the expansion are not against the hospital updating but this plan is ridiculous. 10 years of construction and more than doubling it current size! If Valley really cared about Ridgewood and its neighbors they would have come up for alternative plan to address the size of the buildings and set backs from the homes. It is sad that this will never be over until Valley gets their way!

Microsoft Store

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Reader says The community is tired of Valley’s bullying, the wasting of our taxes and time .

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Reader says The community is tired of Valley’s bullying, the wasting of our taxes and time .

By this action, Valley has proven to me and to residents of this village that it is nothing more than a self interested business entity without any true integrity or competent leadership. This attempt will fail because the associated issues don’t support such a audacious over development. The community as a whole is now aware and tired of their bullying, the wasting of our taxes and time .It has become clear to many in all sections that fears of them trying to turn this town into Valleywood is coming true. The Board of Valley should be embarrassed by their lack of proper management planning,. their double talking and miscue on PV and their disgraceful approach and tactics agaisnt a host that has subsidized them for ages. Valley has lost its way and much of the goodwill that it once had. I personally will disassociate myself with the institution.

Microsoft Store

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A Bell-ringer in New Jersey

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A Bell-ringer in New Jersey
By George F. Will

Every 36 years, it seems, Jeff Bell disturbs New Jersey’s political order. In 1978, as a 34-year-old apostle of supply-side economics and a harbinger of the Reagan Revolution, he stunned the keepers of the conventional wisdom by defeating a four-term senator, Clifford Case, in the Republican primary. Bell, a Columbia University graduate who fought in Vietnam, lost to Bill Bradley in the 1978 general election, but in 1982 he went to Washington to help implement President Reagan’s economic policies that produced five quarters of above 7 percent growth and six years averaging 4.6 percent.

Bell, now 70, is back. He won the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Cory Booker, 45, the Democratic former mayor of Newark who last October won a special election to serve the last year of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s term.

New Jersey last voted Republican for president in 1988; in 2012, Barack Obama carried it by 18 points; it has not elected a Republican senator since 1972. Booker, who has raised more than $16 million, is a prodigy at siphoning money from Wall Street. Bell is running this year’s most penurious Senate campaign, having raised and pretty much spent about $300,000. And this is an expensive state: To reach New Jersey voters, candidates for statewide offices must buy New York and Philadelphia radio and television time, which Bell cannot do.

Yet Booker’s lead is only in the low double digits — 13 points in theRealClearPolitics average of polls. In eight Senate races (Delaware, Hawaii,New Mexico, Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Virginia), Republicans are less competitive than Bell is. If Republican groups had given Bell the money they spent dragging Sen. Thad Cochran to re-nomination in Mississippi, Bell might be hot on Booker’s heels. He could still get there with a modest infusion of campaign contributions: Several polls have shown Booker’s support below 50 percent.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-jeff-bell-would-offer-new-jersey-far-more-than-cory-booker-can/2014/10/03/c6591c12-4a5e-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html

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Paychecks for 2,900 NJ Transit employees delayed after payroll glitch

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Paychecks for 2,900 NJ Transit employees delayed after payroll glitch

October 3, 2014, 5:09 PM    Last updated: Friday, October 3, 2014, 7:28 PM
By JOHN CICHOWSKI
staff writer
The Record

Some 2,900 NJ Transit rail employees were unpleasantly surprised this week when they tried to access paychecks that usually are posted in their bank accounts at 12:01 a.m. each Thursday.

In the latest of several embarrassing blunders, the nation’s biggest statewide commuter rail system had somehow failed to transmit payroll funds to more than 25 percent of its 11,000 employees. Its executive director, Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim, blamed the glitch on an upgrade to a new electronic payroll system managed by a Canadian vendor, the Highline Corp.

“Unfortunately, we had a processing error with this new system that impacted our rail employees who received their paycheck via direct deposit,” said Hakim.

Adjustments to the system “resolved the issue” quickly, she said in her email, although payments were delayed until Friday in some instances. Only non-union operations employees were affected by the processing error. For example, police and executives, who are paid under a different system, were not inconvenienced, said an agency spokeswoman who attempted to downplay the oversight.

Some employees agreed.

“For some of us it turned out to be a small inconvenience,” said one man who asked not to be identified. “But for those who live hand to mouth, it was just another reason to complain about how the place is run.”

Hakim took the helm of NJ Transit early this year, replacing James Weinstein whose four-year tenure was marred by several management blunders including the loss of millions of dollars in rail cars and equipment during Superstorm Sandy, extra-long rail delays at MetLife Stadium following the Super Bowl, and a failure to renew federal registrations for the agency’s trademark logos.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/paychecks-for-2-900-nj-transit-employees-delayed-after-payroll-glitch-1.1102268#sthash.fQFQFq29.dpuf

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GOP edge grows in final stretch

Obama-Golf

GOP edge grows in final stretch
By Cameron Joseph

With one month until Election Day, Republicans’ chances for retaking the Senate and picking up seats in the House are improving.

The GOP has been buoyed by positive public polling, while red-state Democrats are still struggling to find distance from President Obama. There are bright spots and even some unexpected new targets on the map for both parties, but the overall national environment seems to have ticked a bit toward Republicans.

The GOP needs to win a net of six seats to retake control of the Senate, and Republicans seem better-positioned to do so now than they did through much of the summer.

Democrats must hold their own for a decent election night, and they’re putting their faith in their vaunted ground game for the final stretch.

Both sides say control of the upper chamber is still very much at play, and Republicans certainly aren’t taking a victory lap just yet.

“The Senate is up for grabs and the outcome is far from certain,” said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the pro-GOP American Crossroads. “There’s a lot of encouraging signs in many states and a good progression for us in many states. But at the same time many of these races are still up for grabs.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/219778-gop-edge-in-midterm-grows

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RIDGEWOOD BOARD OF ED MEETS ON OCTOBER 20

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RIDGEWOOD BOARD OF ED MEETS ON OCTOBER 20

The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, October 20, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
 
The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting will be aired live on FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77. Or it may be viewed live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Link in Live” tab.

Click here to view the agenda for the September 22, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the webcast of the September 22, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.


Board of Education Regular Public Meeting CANCELLED
Date:10/6/2014 (7:30 PM)
Calendar:Ridgewood Public Schools (Board of Ed Meetings)
Description: This meeting has been cancelled.

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Rep. Scott Garrett Reminds everyone that October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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Rep. Scott Garrett  Reminds everyone that October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Rep Scott Garrett
October 2,2014

Rep. Scott Garrett  Reminds everyone that October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. While most people are aware of breast cancer, many forget to take the steps to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages and encourage others to do the same. Take a few minutes to learn more here:

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Rutgers players soak in celebration, enjoy historic victory over Michigan

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Joshua Cruz enjoying the celebration of Rutgers first Big 10 win

Rutgers players soak in celebration, enjoy historic victory over Michigan

By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on October 05, 2014 at 12:38 AM, updated October 05, 2014 at 12:52 AM

PISCATAWAY — Betim Bujari has been on the winning end of 33 games since arriving at Rutgers, but the fifth-year senior center has no trouble ranking Saturday night’s 26-24 triumph over Michigan.

“Best moment of my life tonight, just being out there on the field, first Big Ten win, having the student section run out and celebrate with us, can’t describe it,” Bujari said. “It’s electrifying.”

Rutgers’ second Big Ten affair was not unlike its first: a tradition-rich college football powerhouse, a raucous capacity crowd, a lead for much of the game.

And then, in the time it takes to read this sentence, Michigan had rallied from a 26-17 fourth-quarter deficit, threatening to take the lead as it set up for a long field goal in the waning minutes.

It had all the makings of the 13-10 gut-punch at the hands of Penn State three weeks ago until Kemoko Turay jumped high in the air to bat down a 56-yard field goal attempt, preserving a 26-24 triumph that figures to live for the ages.

“It’s something you remember forever,” Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova said after throwing for a career-high 404 yards and three touchdowns on 22-for-39 passing. “The reason why you play college football is for moments like that.”

When it was over, after the Scarlet Knights (5-1, 1-1) moved within one victory of bowl-eligibility with their first Big Ten win, thousands of black-clad fans stormed the field to soak in the celebration.

https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2014/10/rutgers_players_soak_in_celebration_enjoy_historic_victory_over_michigan.html

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Nun from New Jersey declared ‘blessed’ in major step toward sainthood

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Nun from New Jersey declared ‘blessed’ in major step toward sainthood

OCTOBER 4, 2014, 11:50 AM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2014, 12:02 AM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

NEWARK – A New Jersey nun credited with curing a boy’s blindness was declared “blessed” at a beatification service on Saturday, a major step toward becoming a saint and a historic event for American Catholics.

Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, who died in 1927, is the only New Jersey resident to have been declared blessed. More than 2,000 clergy, worshipers and nuns crowded the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark for the first beatification service in the United States.

Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich

“The church is recognizing the extraordinary holiness of someone who lived in our time among us,” said Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli. “This shows us holiness is accessible to everyone and not just the most famous or most notable. It’s simple, good people who do God’s will.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-jersey-woman-declared-blessed-a-final-step-toward-sainthood-1.1102537#sthash.4fcpnUac.dpuf

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Parlance Chamber Concerts brings world-class musicians to Ridgewood

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Parlance Chamber Concerts brings world-class musicians to Ridgewood

October 3, 2014    Last updated: Friday, October 3, 2014, 12:31 AM
The Ridgewood News

Editor’s Note – Michael Parloff, former longtime first flute at the Metropolitan Opera House, will open his very popular Parlance Chamber Concert Season this Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church. Here he offers us some background on the music and the musicians.

The concert will feature an extraordinary international ensemble. I am delighted to introduce the Minnesota Orchestra’s celebrated concertmaster, violinist Erin Keefe, and esteemed music director, Finnish clarinetist Osmo Vanska, to our audience. They will be joined by the Swiss-born pianist Gilles Vonsattel, the fiery French violinist Arnaud Sussman, the elegant violist Hsin-Yun Huang, and the Metropolitan Opera’s dashing principal cellist Rafael Figueroa.

These six remarkable artists will collaborate on three of the most beloved masterpieces of the chamber repertoire, Mozart’s E-minor violin sonata, Bartók’s Contrasts for clarinet, violin, and piano, and Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/music/parlance-chamber-concerts-opens-season-1.1101707#sthash.H7ljVyVA.dpuf

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Wyckoff police investigating possible luring attempts

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Wyckoff police investigating possible luring attempts

OCTOBER 4, 2014, 4:39 PM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014, 4:39 PM
BY SCOTT FALLON
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

WYCKOFF — Police are investigating whether a man driving a white van attempted to lure two girls in separate incidences on Friday, authorities said today.

Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox said there is so far no evidence to suggest the girls were in danger, but cautioned parents to remind children to flee from strangers whenever they feel uncomfortable.

The first incident reported to police came around 3 p.m. when a 16-year-old girl was walking near the corner of Clinton Avenue and Lawlins Road. A driver of a newer model white van called to her and asked her to come towards the driver side of the vehicle, police said.

The girl became concerned and yelled to a friend who was also walking nearby. She then ran away. The driver drove away on Clinton Avenue, police said.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/wyckoff-police-investigating-possible-luring-attempts-1.1102570#sthash.F70gcjs3.dpuf

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A calmer Billy Idol owns up to wild days; signing memoir at Bookends in Ridgewood

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A calmer Billy Idol owns up to wild days; signing memoir at Bookends in Ridgewood

OCTOBER 5, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN PETRICK
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

BOOKS

INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Billy Idol in a spring performance in Atlantic City.

WHAT: Musician Billy Idol signing his memoir, “Dancing With Myself” ($28, Touchstone Publishing)

WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday

WHERE: Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood.

INFO: book-ends.com

A surprising dichotomy emerges in “Dancing With Myself,” the new memoir by ’80s punk rocker Billy Idol. There’s the well-spoken guy who’s had his nose buried in books from the time he was a suburban middle class Brit kid in his high school uniform. And there’s the crack-smoking sex maniac who nearly died several times on drugs or on a motorcycle.

Working on the book – without the aid of a ghost writer — forced him to take a good long look at his undeniable tendency of going to extremes. “I am my own nemesis,” Idol said in a husky voice during a telephone interview last week from Los Angeles, where he lives. “You try to come to grips with your past, and face up to yourself, for all of the good and the evil. There are sort of two disparate elements in my character that help me to achieve my art. There is a difference between William Broad [his birth name] and Billy Idol.”

The writing style in his memoir reflects Idol’s literate side. “I have always loved books. I gravitated to books from the time I was very young, gobbling them up. Especially histories, or biographies. There was always a dream of mine to write a book. So when this chance came along, I thought to myself, I’m in this place in my life right now where I can look back a long way, and hopefully, still look forward, too,” said Idol, who will be at Bookends in Ridgewood Monday. “Some of the memories were just beginning to become corroded, and so I thought, god, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never be able to do it.”

Friendly, witty and articulate, Idol, 58, is not exactly what you would at first expect. At least, not compared to the sneering, demented-eyed, spiked blond, black leather bondage guy known for pumping a fist into the air and crying, “More! More! More!” with a “Rebel Yell.” That was one of his many hits from the mid 1980s. Others included “Eyes Without A Face,” “Dancing With Myself,” “Mony Mony,” and “White Wedding.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts-and-entertainment/music/a-calmer-billy-idol-owns-up-to-wild-days-signing-memoir-in-ridgewood-1.1102730#sthash.h5Hbe34D.dpuf

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Ridgewood looking at parking proposals

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Ridgewood looking at parking proposals

OCTOBER 5, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Village officials unveiled several parking proposals they hope will attract visitors to the downtown business district and also ease parking for residents.

One proposal offered at Wednesday’s council meeting would standardize parking hours, fees and durations throughout the village.

“All downtown meters would run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” according to the proposal, altering the current 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. range.

Also, all downtown meters would offer three- or four-hour parking, as opposed to the current limit of two hours.

“All downtown meters will cost 25 cents per half-hour,” the proposal states, adding existing 15-minute parking spaces would remain.

“This will make parking easier and simpler for shoppers and diners, enhancing the overall downtown experience,” according to the plan.

Another proposal seeks to restrict long-term parking passes — currently sold to residents and non-residents on an annual basis — to Ridgewood residents only. At present, about 120 out-of-town commuters pay the same amount as residents for long-term parking passes, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said. An alternative proposal would have non-residents pay twice as much for the long-term pass.

“There is a parking scarcity in this town,” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said at the council’s meeting Wednesday, adding it has taken out-of-the-box thinking to determine ways of improving it.

The issue of parking in Ridgewood has been front and center in recent weeks at public forums organized by Deputy Mayor Al Pucciarelli. At these gatherings, residents and business owners have keyed in on parking as the village’s biggest hindrance.

The Village Council recently reached a deal to provide off-site parking for downtown business employees on Franklin Avenue, at the former Ken Smith site.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/council-considers-parking-upgrades-1.1102744#sthash.oGxHLntR.dpuf