safety is always third priority
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, at the April 3 Village Council worksession, the subject of dining corrals was discussed. The Village Manager indicated that there is a POSSIBILITY of switching from concrete blocks to more decorative bollards as a means of protecting diners.
During this discussion it was revealed that the concrete blocks that have been used do not have a 30 mph rating, and possibly only can withstand a 10-15 mph hit. Mr. Kazmark said they have looked at bollards that can withstand 30 mph. Mayor Vagianos said that the 30-mph bollards are EXORBITANTLY expensive (his words) and (in his words) the cost could “kill the program.” Bollards that can withstand 10-15 mph are more affordable, and would simulate, in the Mayor’s assessment, the same protection as the concrete blocks that have been in use.
Councilwoman Reynolds opined that there might be legal ramifications if less expensive (and less sturdy) bollards are used, and suggested that accidents occur all the time, although thankfully not in Ridgewood to date. The mayor repeated that the sturdier ones are exorbitant. (Note: The village would purchase the bollards so they would all be consistent, but the restaurants who would opt to use them would reimburse the cost.) A resident agreed with Councilwoman Reynolds that safety should take priority with whatever protective barriers are used. Kazmark was emphatic in reassuring the public that this is all a CONCEPT at this time, and that no one on the committee discussing this concept would ever agree to a less-than-safe form of barrier for the dining corrals.
But let’s build a 340,000 dollar pavilion for Healthbarn customers! Who cares about safety in town
We are going to rename the pavillion at Habernickle the Turtle Time pavillion and all of the turtles who see the signs can hang out at their new pavilion.
If you want safety, stop eating your dinner in the street.
The man in the photo is the true King of Con.
How did Ridgewood mayor Paul Vagianos, owner of its Greek to me restaurant participate in this discussion?
Isn’t that a conflict of interest if he is opining on the cost/expenses that he will have to pay as a restaurant owner?
It is COMPLETELY inappropriate for Mayor Paul Vagianos to opine on this topic since he owns a restaurant that erects a dining corral every year.
Oh they CARE. Vagianos an Winograd and Kazmark say it all the time. They CARE
Vagianos has moved on from I UNDERSTAND. Now he says. I CARE
Wait. What? The mayor is involved in this discussion and he directly benefits from the dining corrals? This is unbelievable.
Weasel
Paulie can just build more of his walls around town as needed.
I never tire of this image of the mayor flaunting the law
The dining corrals are greatly overrated. Covid is over. Who really wants to sit outside with car and truck exhaust going by and people walking by with their dogs and their kids and bugs and what not. Give me indoors anytime. This is just a money, grab by the restaurants, most especially the mayor
Dining Corral …
Perfect name since diners are treated like pigs at the trough.
Vagianos said that the 30-mph bollards are EXORBITANTLY expensive (his words) and (in his words) the cost could “kill the program.” So better to kill a member of the public vs. his shi*tty corral program, which benefits his businesses and pockets directly?
Didn’t we already by designer garbage cans that overflow? Now this?
Cash over public safety continues in RW
Water
Turf Fields
Illegal Dumping
Flooding
Central Business District
Corrupt Village Staff
Eating in the street, which is even grosser than eating on a sidewalk right next to traffic (and blocking foot traffic), was generally accepted as a way to help our restaurants stay in business during the height of the pandemic, when car traffic had slowed. **It was never intended to be permanent.** (Like the enormous baseball fences that made Vets a ballpark.)
Now the restaurant owners, led by a certain mayor with an extreme conflict of interest, expect to benefit indefinitely by expanding their serving areas into the street at no increased rental cost.
The program should be ended immediately. It looks awful and co-opts important driving and walking space. It will in fact end when somebody is hit by a driving texter or an out-of-control car. What about all the photos we’ve seen of cars that drove into plate-glass storefronts? What if a bunch of people had been eating outside directly in front of those storefronts?
Remove those hideous things now. Do not replace them with million-dollar lovelier ones!!!
Village Manager, Keith Kazmark, can stand up and say NO to the project. Let’s see if he has what it takes to do the right thing. Pay-lie puppet or legit public administrator?
#keithkazmark #newjerseycomptroller
nope, he owes his job to the mayor and is his puppet
#KeithKazmark pointing out what residents have been saying for 3+ years and nothing was done. But will he do anything to correct this?
Bigger problem is why didn’t the Village Building Department, VOR Engineer, RWPD, and everyone serving on the Safety Advisory committee allow this for the past four years?
Dog and pony show. Keith said this on record to eliminate liability. When something happens, they claim corrective measures were being taken. “Unfortunate timing.” #dontbefooled
Thank you Councilwoman Reynolds for trying to put the brakes on Vagianos’ cheapskate ideas for public safety
And now we are not allowed to laugh during meetings? I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard that on YouTube this morning.
Apparently there idiots are incapable of learning. The 10- month pedestrian plaza was canned way early because it was expensive and useless. Nobody showed up for it. People only enjoyed the plaza because the bigger idiots, higher up in government, shut the economy down for no good reason.
Once it was back to normal the pedestrian plaza failed for several reasons.
First, none of the council majority must spend any time in Ridgewood. The summer here, after July 4, is a ghost town. People go away on vacations and shore weekends.
Two, who wants to sit in the sun, baking in 100 degree days with 110 percent humidity? That’s why we like cool, conditioned air. Eating outside is nice, but not during a two-month, brutal heatwave like last summer.
Three, eating in a gutter over an oil stain is less appealing than indoor dinning.
These are the constant, ever-present reasons why outdoor dinning sucks in the summer. Then you have the fear that at any given moment some nut job plows through the dinning area and kills everybody. That’s a shitty way to end dinner.
So these dummies will bring back the dinning corrals. Sure you will see some seats filled this spring, but once the summer really hits they will be empty, and this will prove to be another massive failure.
100%
Not for anything, but I had coffee the other day with my wife on Broad Street, the place was great the food coffee desserts were great but the street was dirty. The smell coming out of street drain stunk cars going past kicking up dust ridiculous. I’m meeting inside for now on. I could see that you’re close the street and there’s no cars that’s different but they’re not properly washing down the roads with soap and water, just running the sweeper, picking up some debris. No one‘s washing down the sidewalks curbs in the roads like they do in Europe .
This ain’t about dining corrals, this is about extra commercial space for Mayor Pau-lie and friends (CBD landlord) to up charge rent on restaurant owners. Look what happened to Pearl restaurant.
NO MORE PAUL VAGIANOS! Election Day can’t come soon enough!
Well, Ridgewood voters are getting the level of incompetence they voted for. Paul losing his elections at the State level should have been enough to vote NO PAUL.
It’s never about doing the right thing for this Mayor, it’s about what’s right for him and his pockets.
Restaurants should not be allowed to have both, sidewalk seating and corrals. With Pedestrian Plaza, each of these restaurants get 10+ extra tables at taxpayers expense.
Take the burden off taxpayers and start charging commercial rent fees for use of public space, setup and maintenance.
Paul Vagianos, What an unethical man! Always profit over people with this guy!