>These are some of the most ridiculous and selfish comments I have read on this blog. I am continually amazed by the arrogance and selfishness of people in Ridgewood, who tout the character of our town and demand the highest standards of service and resources, yet are unwilling to pay for them. Whether a it is a new field, a new service or a new building, how many times have we heard something like, “it wasn’t like that in the 1950’s, so we don’t need it now”.
That is an absurd rationale and illustrates a fundamental lack of understanding and appreciation of civic planning, municipal management and community responsibility.Any rational and thoughtful Ridgewood resident wants a local hospital that can offer the best medical care possible. There may be situations that require patients to seek specialists in NYC or elsewhere. But, that shouldn’t mean we force Valley to make due with antiquated and inappropriate zoning and require all Ridgewood residents to live with the consequences of long-term declining services. I hope my family never needs Valley’s services. But, I want to know that it is there if we need it and I certainly don’t want to “have to go” to Hackensack or NYC to get the best care, if my family has a medical emergency.
I live near RHS and the campus buildings, which overshadow our homes (and from some views have a very “institutional” look) have not diminished our neighborhood. Nor will Valley’s plans diminish the neighborhoods around the hospital compared to today’s appearance. It will certainly not diminish the view from BF field. The eye sore there is the back side of the school, BF’s parking lot, dumpsters and broken fences, not Valley Hospital. In fact, the trees that shield the field from Valley Hospital may be the most attractive view from the field.Like our school system, Valley Hospital is a valuable asset that enhances the quality of life in the community and distinguishes Ridgewood from less desirable neighboring communities. Also like our school system, it requires periodic improvements and upgrades and deserves our support for well planned fiscally responsible change.
>Nice try … but Valley Hospital does not get my support for this latest upgrade.
>I don’t mind paying for things in fact I expect to ,but I do mind paying for all the waste and screw ups ,I pay for EXCELLENT SCHOOLS so I want them not this TERC remedial crap . I want a nice Village hall with good facilities for the police and Village employees not a sunken drunken sink hole that floods now more than ever. As for Valley I am not against the hospital It just seems to me they have been a crappy neighbor. I want nice fields but when ever I ask did you get an engineering assessment as to the effects turf will have in the village flood zone I get told I am selfish and cheap,well kiss my arse I don’t pay all these friken taxes for this s*t .I will stop complaining when you start doing your job end of story !
>Doing what job? The taxes paid by 1:16pm cover police, fire, schools, local gov, etc… NO other residents are REQUIRED to make your life better, you clown. Start volunteering, or clam up yourself.
Even if you dont support Valley’s expansion (I’m on the fence) or TERC math (I hate it), that was an well-written and honest post.
>If your family has a traumatic medical emergency, you will not go to Valley, despite its location. You will go to Hackensack, which has a trauma center. When a Valley employee hit someone in the driveway of Valley this summer, the injured person was transported to Hackensack. You will go to Valley for uncomplicated births, minor injuries, perhaps chemo treatment etc, (once you have received a protocol from one of the state of the art cancer centers in Manhattan.) Valley can modernize. There is probably some validity for more private rooms given the rise of infections in hospitals. However, the “Valley Renewal” is not about modifications to modernize the hospital. It is about removing all meaningful zoning restrictions in the H-Zone forever. A change of this magnitude deserves to be an election referendum item.
>I KNOW ITS A SHAME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THIS TOWN WE NEED TO GO FORWARD NOT BACK UP IN TOWN.ITS ALL BS.WE NEED TO HIRE MORE WORKERS IN TOWN THE HOLE TOWN NEEDS WORK BUT THEY CANT DO IT WITH WHAT THEY HAVE.WE CANT KEEP CUTING BACK.THE TOWN WILL GO DOWN THE TUBES.AND WE CANT HAVE THAT.THIS IS RIDGEWOOD,WE ALL PAY FOR SERVICES AND NOW THEY GOING TO CUT BACK ON STAFF BS.AND DO YOU THINK MY TAXES ARE GOING TO GO DOWN.NO WAY FRENCH MEN.
>YEA ITS 1960 IN TOWN.LOOK AT ALL THE TOWN BUILDINGS ALL NO GOOD.
>fire jane for real this time and save $37,000.
the boe should do its own talking and writing. they can talk and write can’t they?
>There is a huge misunderstanding about the “expansion” of Valley Hospital in town.
Yes they want to expand and yes they want to modernize. OK They need to keep up to date and yes we need to have them in town I get it. What I don’t get is the fact that they want to build SO close to homes and to build something that is proported to be not aesthically pleasing. (no one knows what it will look like but the initial plans published by Valley look bad)
Coming into Ridgewood should be a pleasant experience – tree lined streeets and well maintained homes. I certainly don’t want Ridgewood to be known for its industrial looking buildings, but for its trees, and lawns and beautiful houses.
You can go anywhere in the state and see where hospitals have expanded and have not kept the character of their location in focus.
Sure it may cost the hospital a little more money to pay for an architect that respects the local flavor, but on a project this size it would be peanuts.
The hospital should grow but not at the expense of the flavor of the neighborhood.
Please keep the beauty of this town in mind as I’m sure all who bought homes here took the look of the neighborhood into consideration when buying whether you bought on a main road, a quiet dead end road, on the hill, near the railroad tracks or next to the hospital.
Please keep yourselves informed about what is happening in town and come to town meetings to get the truth as opposed to rumor and hearsay. Keep your emotions in check and make your decisions based on the facts and keep the identity of this town (a beautiful place to live) in mind.
>This original post at 12:59 was another very thoughtful comment. It is time we all start applying a little more common sense and realism to this conversation, as this person has. I agree with the original post and the ones at 1:33 and 4:26. I’m not sure what the other posts have to do with Valley’s renewal. BTW, if my family has a medical emergency, I WILL go to Valley.
>Please everyone responding to this go to any map/satellite website and look at the HSchool- if you believe this post that houses are in the shadows of this HS then you to are delusional. Most are far back from the structure SETBACKS THAT WE WANT AT VALLEY- so we are not in the shadows, you near the HS are not in the shadows – pictures do not lie. go drive down there at max 4-5 homes are near on beverly and then it is a short building (house is taller) and maybe 1 house is near the 3 story wing. get a grip and get out of the 50’s yourself and go view a computer satellite.
>”it wasn’t like that in the 1950’s, so we don’t need it now”.
????????
I have lived in this town for 21 years. I have been reading his blog for a year. Did I miss something? I never heard anyone say this before. If I missed this quote in a previous post, my apologies.
None the less.
What does it mean when you state “I live near RHS”? Do you live next door? Do you live 5 streets over? What is the relevance of this statement?
You mention BF. I would much rather triple the size of BF for the benefit of our children rather than increase Valley by 1sf so they can advertise in the NE market. If you are so pro Valley then perhaps you can convince them to move to Pascack I hear there’s room for expansion.
BTW, did you move to Ridgewood just for the emergency services of the Valley? If so, why do you live near the HS? Here’s a good experiment, let me buy a few houses directly next to yours, get the zoning changed, and build a nice big home (I’ll limit myself to 30 or 40,000 sf). I will only go up 80 feet or so and maybe I can lease out a cell tower or two. Or how would you feel if RHS came in changed the zoning laws bought the house next to you and went up 80 feet. I don’t think you’d be too happy. Maybe you would attend the zoning board meeting and start out with “it wasn’t like that in the 1950’s, so we don’t need it now”.
No, I do not live near the hospital or the HS, but I do agree with many of the other posts. If I ever needed specialized care (and I have) Valley isn’t on the top of my list (actually it’s not even on my list) and unless they can pick up a hospital like MT Sinai inclusive of all well respected staff I won’t be going to Valley (well maybe for an earache). I also understand that some physicians from top hospitals in NY already are affiliated with Valley.
So while your post was interesting I don’t think it was sufficient to sway anyone over to your side. Not even those on the fence. Nice try though.
>This post at 9:38 does not make any sense. It’s all over the place with no coherent point. The author clearly misread the original post which was objecting to the statement, “it wasn’t like that in the 1950’s, so we don’t need it now”. I can’t take you dolts any more.
>Listen Buddy – does the high school incinerate medical waste out of an 80 ft smokestack —Valley does
shut up and stop comparing apples and oranges- did they have those in the 50’s
>9:38 I think you misread the post
>I don’t know…do you have gangs of Valley nurses smoking cigarettes on you front lawn every day, smashing glass bottles on your sidewalk and littering it with their lunch trash? Those of us around RHS have that with RHS students. On top of that we get to look at high unattractive brick walls, facing our homes. What exactly are the “apples and oranges” that are being compared here?
>9:34 Actually we do have valley employees walking the nieghborhood on their breaks smoking cigaretttes and casing our neighborhoods perhaps. We also have valleys contractors taking pictures of our homes, surveyingour properties, drilling for water in neigbors yards – for what reason.
ACTUALLY WE ARE IN AGREEMENT- AND YOU ARE ON OUR SIDE- NO ONE WANTS BIG UGLY BRICK BUILDINGS THAT CLOSE TO THEM
sO LETS WORK TOGETHER HERE BECA– USE I SEE THAT YOU HAVE THE SAME CONCERNS-
>come on 9:34
how can you compare valley to the school ? have you ever had persons in white jump suites come up to two blocks past valley’s main entrance picking up hazardous waste… ? how about the car alarms that go off and can be heard, yes two blocks away. and guess what they are owned by the employees…and yes i moved hear in 1969… and i live two blocks in from the hospital… so it is not about the perimeter streets. it is about the whole town….
>I hope Valley gets bigger and bigger as time goes on!!! Expand Expand Expand!!!
>Valley Hospital should be able to expand from Linwood Avenue to Glen Avenue and from Van Dien Avenue to Pleasant Avenue (fuhgettabout BF Middle School and the homeowners).
This would put them right next to Valleau Cemetery. They could change their name to Death Valley Hospital and their motto could be “We take care of you from check-in to check-out.”
>10:23
Way to go!
I love the humor.
But just something to think about.
They could put BF on the 22 and 23 floor this way the town won’t have to heat or A/C the school and the tax base could be reduced for the whole town.