….The problem with weekends after Labor Day is that everyone has pushed past summer and is I to soccer practice and birthday parties and lacrosse and cross country, you name it. Weekends are booked from the moment the school bell rings. Sad, but true……
Glen Rock pool is open after Labor Day on weekends. Correct me if I am wrong.What about adults who want to use Graydon Sept. weekends. Oh, I get it , I am a senior who would love Graydon open anytime in Sept. after Labor Day, but I don’t count. Why is it always the kids and not the adults and NEVER the seniors who are taken into consideration for fun things. That crappy senior center, with dottering exercise classes and trips where the main event is a fattening lunch, SCREW THAT. No healthy senior would join that. I sure in hell wouldn’t. And I am in my mid seventies.
I love Graydon. I have a bunch of kids, babysitter, etc. and end up buying like 7 badges every year. BUT clearly a change has to be be made. Not enough people like the pool. We need to find a compromise where we build at least a concrete section for those who dont like the pond. I talk to too many neighbors with young kids who wont go because they believe it might be unhealthy, unclean, etc. They are incorrect but it doesnt matter because they are still not going and not joining.
If we had more people paying for badges we could afford to be open in the morning in August and even weekends in September. The pool might even turn a profit instead of being a drain on the village budget.
Unfortunately, there is a contingent who wont change anything about Graydon. They even protested a handicap ramp so the elderly and handicap could enjoy the pool. So instead of a compromise like a concrete pool in the section of the pool that is not even used, we will keep trying to make the pond work which means fewer hours, fewer services and less people using the pool.
get your facts straight , there have been many changes at the pool over the years and people opposed the ramp because there were far better and less expensive alternatives , the ramp was another scam by the previous Ridgewood Mayor and his buddies
The reason Graydon is not open on weekends in Sept. is because “they” the bosses on high, say they can’t get people to train for special lifeguarding that Graydon needs for sept weendends when kids go back to college.
But there are local colleges around here. If ads were put up for summer training and made available Graydon could be open weekends.
7:50 excellent points and you left out that there is more and more of a drain on the financial resources of the whole community to support a resource only used by very few. And those very few hold that resource hostage to nostalgia and shout down any thoughtful discussion of thoughtful changes. Doubt me? Just watch what happens now.
Graydon is well past its shelf life. The buildings are outdated and in want of repair – especially the restrooms. It’s time to update the place or put it out of it’s misery.
The people who complain about anything related to Graydon will never join, no matter what changes are made.
Not to mention the festering duck droppings and related bacterial is at its seasonal high in September.
How about peaceful areas around town that are suppose to be passive remaining passive. Seniors are getting the shaft all the time for families with kids. Pop up camps at my peaceful habernickel now again change my old lady routine of a peaceful walk in the park!!! Bird watching turned into more kid watching!!!
7:50 is close to hitting the mark, although Graydon does not lose money. And even if it did lose money (which it doesn’t) how profitable are the other parks in town? Not sure why we expect revenue from this one vs. others…
Anyway to address the original poster, there clearly is not enough demand to support it being open in September even if the lifeguard availability was solved. This is nothing against seniors, just that there are not enough utilizing the resource for it to make sense.
All of you new arrivals are being subsidized by the seniors. They have no kids in school , many of us NEVER have, but enjoy th ambiance of the village and get nothing for our taxes.
If more seniors decide to bail out for the nice 55 and over communities , our former homes will be filled with new residents with school age children. As such, it will dramatically increase your taxes as the already bloated school budget rises to accommodate the new students.
Ridgewood is a nice place because those of us long time residents care about this place, unlike the new crop of temporary residents that come here for 10 years then bail out when their kids are out of school, and beat feet back to NYC….sticking the rest of us with the tab for all of your “Yes” votes on the school budgets and spending on soccer fields and water park dreams.
I have kids but don’t use Graydon. Have seen the pool in the early mornings on weekends all summer when I go out for a run. I do not like the water, the geese droppings, the color which at places looks like out of a bathroom, the concrete platforms from WWII, the rusty wires that separate areas. It is picturesque but that’s it. If like 7.50 says a part of it is turned into a real clear and clean pool then very likely I would buy passes for my whole family. I know there are people who swear by it but it has to appeal to all tastes in order to be accepted and used by more residents.
How do you know there is no demand for Graydon to be open weekends in Sept. until summer ends. around Sept. 21.
I know plenty of people at the pool this summer who want it open in Sept.
It could be a PART OF THE POOL that is open. Not espensive for one or two lifeguards.
There is a demand and a big one for Sept. weekends.
As for that handicapped ramp. No one uses it. The kids play on it. And that is dangerous. Climbing the bars.
No wheel chair has ever rolled down that ramp into the deep water . And that is a good thing. The wheel chair denizen would have drowned. I am at Graydon everyday and I see on one uses it. No one walks down that ramp either . It is slippery.
In Allendale at Crestwood they have moveable rubber MOBI Mats for crippled people and they work excellently.
That is what we wanted what I wrote a letter about in the Record and spoke about at town meetings. But Aronsohn gang won out.
Believe me folks, no one uses that ugly ramp. I know because I am at Graydon everyday.
Also concrete area around ramp is uncomfortable on your feet. not soft like sand.
@7:29 Ridgewood is a nice place to live because all homeowners pay taxes – new and old residents. Get over yourself.
“Graydon doesn’t lose money.” You are saying that there would not be a net savings to the village if we closed it altogether? You’ve got the GOOD Colorado gummy bears at your place don’t you!
close Graydon and taxes would go up to cover all the rec programs
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/nj-natural-swimming-hole/
James, please… read the mast head: Laissez-faire… If our government has distorted the economics such that Graydon somehow subsidizes the rec programs then we should simply raise the price of the rec programs. Direct consumption (having children in a completely optional rec program) should have direct cost. If the community wants to subsidize those that can’t pay the new costs then let’s have that discussion. But let’s NOT bury the true cost of rec programs, or Graydon for that matter, in some opaque accounting whose only goal is to make a nostalgic piece of Americana look like it’s not costing all of us money. We should have a transparent discussion about the value of each program given that program’s real costs.
once again you are totally wrong https://theridgewoodblog.net/it-is-true-the-village-of-ridgewood-actually-makes-money-on-graydon-pool/
your sounding like an Aronsohn flunky , you should pay far more attention, your argument has been recycled for over 15 years , Graydon is here to stay ,its a historical landmark , if you dont use it its your loss. There are far bigger issues ,in town , like destroying property values with high density housing ,a dilapidated water company , poor road conditions ,and a huge school budget and that’s not counting the state going bankrupt as for the masthead New Jersey is a relic of the welfare state and if it was not for the fact that NJ is a major suburb for both NYC and PHilly the state would be a Detroit or perhaps Venezuela.
That total did not include the out sized insurance premiums paid on the pool. If we didnt have the pool the Village’s total insurance cost would be much lower. I agree the Graydon cost is a drop in the bucket but it is wrong to call it break even.
Bottom line–no matter how many of us love Graydon, the new young families are showing with their feet (which aint sandy from Graydon) that they HATE it. There is no one using the pool. Almost all my neighbors are afraid to have their kids in it because you cant see the bottom and they dont like the duck poop. I can say how much my family loves it until I am blue in the face but it isnt getting any of them to go.
After seeing how crowed neighboring pools are and how empty Graydon is, I have reached the conclusion that we need to consider adding a concrete option over in some of the large totally unused areas. Create something that people want to supplement the sandy option. If you build it they will come.
Brian these silly recycled arguments have been made for years , yet membership has increased , sure its not the 6,000 it once was but neither are any town pools in Bergen County , many have even closed including cement pools .
Graydon is a bit larger than your 20×40 house pool,btw way you can always join the Y.
James–you got me wrong. I love Graydon. My favorite spot in ridgewood. I am there right now. But way too many people don’t like it. It’s an issue. I would rather a concrete option then no lake at all.