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Reader says We have something unique here and we have to be careful not to destroy it

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The full page ad from the Garage Cabal was an insult. It had Roberta’s exasperated catch phrase “enough is enough”. Well, I am fed up to, but I am fed up with our local government. Look at the list of signers in the ad. I recognize many of the names of business owners and residents who make their living working for these businesses (architect, PR guy). We also have some Financial Advisory Committee and Historic Preservation members. And then there are the hangers-on Don, Tim and Rurick. They did not make the list alphabetical because you would be able to see that entire families signed the petition just to make it look like a ground swell of supporters.

We are on the cusp of overdevelopment and everyone is grabbing for what they can get. The businesses care only about themselves. If business was not profitable they would have moved on to another town. They stay because they make a buck – good for them. I did not move to Ridgewood 27 years ago for the restaurants and banking opportunities. I moved because I liked the community as a whole.

Build the right-sized garage in downtown Ridgewood and limit high density housing. Thankfully we will soon have a new council and I hope that they can slow things down. I am not against change. Planned development can be a good thing. We are a community first, not a shopping center.

Look carefully at those running for a seat on the council. Two are FAC members (we need a separate thread just about this group – what exactly is their function?) who supported the garage in its original form. A third person seems to have nothing to do with the garage/development issue (The Manchurian Candidate). He is bff with Vaggianos and would like to help out his friend on the development side.

That leaves us with three other candidates. They have posted things on this site and social media. They are explaining their positions. I am listening carefully. We don’t want Englewood and Montclair as our models for a downtown. We have something unique here and we have to be careful not to destroy it.

23 thoughts on “Reader says We have something unique here and we have to be careful not to destroy it

  1. Big Yellow Taxi

    by Joni Mitchell
    play
    Printer-friendly version of this lyric

    They paved paradise
    And put up a parking lot
    With a pink hotel *, a boutique
    And a swinging hot spot

    Don’t it always seem to go
    That you don’t know what you’ve got
    Till it’s gone
    They paved paradise
    And put up a parking lot

    They took all the trees
    Put ’em in a tree museum *
    And they charged the people
    A dollar and a half just to see ’em

  2. Whats the plan Chief?

    Security for parking lots seems to be getting a lot of press lately. If you look at the statistics, roughly 80% of the criminal acts at shopping centers, strip malls and business offices occur in the parking lot. Lawyers make a good living off liability cases based on a lack of sufficient security measures or not taking “reasonable care” in the protection of employees and customers against criminal threats. The lawsuits often revolve around lack of sufficient lighting, surveillance and response. Once crime takes a foothold in an area it is difficult to break the trend, but there are some things you can do that can improve security, deter crime, reduce potential liability and make your customers feel safer. It’s interesting to note that where parking lot security has been implemented, customer use has actually increased because they feel safer. Increased customer use means increased profit which can be used to justify the increased cost related to any security improvements.

  3. There are some general problems inherent in parking facilities that make the security of patrons and employees challenging. A criminal’s vehicle most likely will not be noticed in a parking facility. Also, parked vehicles provide a hiding place for a criminal and can block the distribution of lighting to the area that a criminal may be located. Security is more problematic for parking garages. Parking garages allow more vehicles to be parked on the same amount of land. The ability to see and be seen in one’s surroundings, known as natural surveillance, is reduced in parking garages. This is because parking garages can be partially or fully enclosed, elevated above ground, having multiple levels, or have ramps that provide access to the multiple floors of the facility.

  4. Valet ParkingIt’s no secret that parking garages are a prime spot for theft. What could be more attractive to a thief than hundreds of unattended cars all together in one solitary place? In the hopes of eluding car thieves, many people are drawn to attended parking garages, and, here in New York City, these valet parking garages are an inevitability, since so few unattended garages exist (among Manhattan’s approximately 1,100 garages and lots, only about 20 are self-park). However, these garages are not exempt from theft. Instead, they are rife with a different kind of theft. Faceless, nameless thieves are not the enemies here, but rather the valets themselves.

  5. Why didn’t someone say this at a Ridgewood Council meeting? I would have if I had known about it.

    I did my best. I was up there telling them not to do it; telling them to preserve our charming village; writing letters.

    Maybe that poem would have made the difference.

    Really, I am very cynical . If you didn’t try when you had chance then you are part of the cause of what is happening.

    1. did you just move to Ridgewood ?

  6. I am sick and tired of hearing that phrase: I am not against change.

    Not all change is constructive; good, Now you folks are smarter than me. Don’t you know that? Why do you keep parroting that phrase.

    This is about change with negative consequences.

  7. I am 9:55 a.m. No I have lived here for decades. I didn’t hear anyone recite those lyrics.

  8. Big Yellow Taxi
    by Joni Mitchell
    You don’t remember the song from 1970?. There is more to it. Try google.

  9. $$$$$$$$$$$

    In addition to cameras placed within the garage footprint for safety, several 360-degree pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) units were installed on the top of the exterior stair towers. Not only does parking management have access to the feeds at will, but the external video feed is shared with the police department, explains Gray. It allows them to take advantage of the view from one of the taller structures in the vicinity as well as eliminate a dead spot at a busy intersection.

    Don’t overlook the human element of surveillance either. “Parking attendants are another indirect security measure,” Gray observes. “Having someone there 24/7 adds another level of comfort.” You can also tap them to pull double duty and monitor video between clients.

    If your garage or lot is unattended, try scheduling frequent patrols, particularly in the evening. If you have contract security, you can also have guards available to escort occupants back to their vehicles.

  10. Not every parking lot or garage is the same, nor do any have the same needs to mitigate risks.

    It all boils down to a fundamental but complex word that underlies most all security mitigation and litigation: reasonable.

    Did the building owner, facility manager, parking firm, chief security officer, security director or loss prevention manager provide a reasonable level of protection at parking lots and garages in the light of the history of incidents; type of business; history of clientele; physical location; application of procedures, policies, people and technology; and regarding immediate response and follow up reaction to situations that arise and alarm?

    The details and the devil are both in “what is reasonable,” which can vary among types of businesses served by the parking facility, typical levels of security around the location, past actions taken, history of crime at that location as well as other hard and soft factors.

  11. They didn’t recite it to the Three Amigos. I am trying to be clear. To refresh the memories of the Three Amigos and the lyrics relevance to Ridgewood.

  12. It is UN-f’ing-believable the damage that the three of them have wrought and now off they go into the wild blue yonder. They should all be arrested. Roberta too.

  13. frankly I don’t find the old Town Garage, Ken Smith Chevy or Brogan Cadillac to be “unique”…. More like eyesores. Develop them at 20-24 units to reflect current CBD densities after Ordinace 3066 is repealed

  14. Thank you 8:26am! I love that song and have quoted parts of it to the council. If I could, I ‘d play my ukelele and sing it for them!

  15. 12:06. The development will affect the rest of toen. Ther will be an impact if it becomes high density housing.

    We need limits. Any idiot can turn Ridgewood into Montclair.

  16. Would you feel comfortable hearing of or sending your loved ones up to floor three rear of that proposed enclosed garage,.. on some cold and dark winter night from the 10 pm train…
    Not likely ..perfect crime scene. With little proactive protection.A poor investment of money and trust of a safe structure.too big..too isolated..there are other better options rather than this railroading approach..

  17. Can we start a thread on the Financial Advisory Committee?

    What is their mission? Are they supposed to be a nonpolitical group? Is it the bull pen for council positions? How did the committee get so big? Who appointed all these clowns? Will their job ever be complete or will they hang around forever?

  18. All good questions 8:39.

  19. 4
    committee has outlined below. We sincerely hope that the current Village Council will have the wisdom and
    courage to act, thereby avoiding the urgency for another “independent” review of the Vil
    lage budget and
    management process in the future.
    Our committee focused only on the municipal budget and practices, not the Board of Education (BOE). Since
    the BOE budget represents 64% of the property tax burden in Ridgewood, we hope that this report wi
    ll also
    serve as a template for the BOE
    to establish a similar process for cost and efficiency improvements
    . Given the
    time and resource constraints mentioned earlier, the report is not an exhaustive study, but attempts to raise
    issues and make actionable
    recommendations for the Village Council’s immediate attention and further
    consideration. We held almost 50 hours of meetings, including with current and past Village representatives
    and various Village constituents. We met with consultants in municipal g
    overnment operational efficiency and
    studied all of the Village’s collective bargaining agreements. Finally, we carefully reviewed the Village’s
    budget trends over the past 10 years to understand key budget influences and, more importantly, what they
    tell
    us about Ridgewood’s future liabilities. Collectively, our Committee
    devoted
    hundreds of hours in an
    effort to deliver recommendations that we hope will have great value for Ridgewood taxpayers.
    While o
    ur committee has no authority to enact any of our recommendations
    , we appreciate and are honored
    to have the opportunity to serve our community in this manner. We took the responsibility of Mayor
    Aronsohn’s mandate seriously. We respectfully submit the following recommendations to the Village Council
    with the hope that you will make every effort to act on them fully and expeditiously. We wish to be clear that
    these recommendations do not, necessarily, represent the unanimous opinion of all members of our
    committee. However, they do represent
    the consensus of the committee. It is the
    opinion of the committee
    that the consequences of failing to act on these recommendations have never been more momentous or
    urgent for the sustainability of our Village, as we know it, and for the rising fiscal burden on Village taxpayers.
    Respectfully submitted,
    The Members of the 2012 Financial Advisory Committee (alphabetically)
    Rich Barclay
    Bayard DeMallie
    Ed Feldsott
    Nancy Johansen
    Charlie Kime
    John Maxwell
    Jim McCarthy
    David Saba
    th
    Jim Schimmel
    Fran Shovlin
    Roberta Sonenfeld
    Bob Zeller

  20. Nothing above gives the FAC authority to submit letters to the editor and promote the agenda of the mayor.

    That was the 2012 roster. Are they all still on? Some of them are just wanna-bees. No real financial expertise. A couple have oversized egos but can’t even manage their personal finances.

  21. How many FAC members does it take to change a lightbulb?

  22. Hoe much is the light bulb 4:43?

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