In case you missed them at the post office, find him on Cedar Lane!

This can't be true. The cult that I try to avoid at the Post Office now has a supporter in the Assembely! Protests are being organized at Gordon Johnson's Cedar Lane office. Is it time he starts drawing on his two pensions?

The following is the link to todays article in the Bergen Record:

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjEzMjg5

Now its really time for the Suburbanite to go...

I rush home from work and run for this weeks Suburbanite, the highlight of my week. Almost like reading the Star magazine at the supermarket checkout.

In it we find the regular ranting of Ron Schwartz, this time in some silly sarcastic letter about donations from non-profits, as well as the regular weekly bash on either Gussen or Rudulph. Ever Since Rudolph got a quarter million for a handicapped playground they've laid off him.

So Prosnitz (did he work for the Sun or Star?) decides its Gussen's turn. He rips into him for his diversity comment which appeared in the Record (another winner of a paper) last week. He then want on to quote two township citizens using them as models to help his bash. Gussen can cure cancer and those two would still have a reason to be upset at him.

Prosnitz then said that Gussen claims the Record "terribly misquoted" him. Prosnitz goes a step further and then claims that Gussen makes the same statements about the Suburbanite. Prosnitz even points out an editorial that the Suburbanite wrote (10/11)about misquotes (you may have missed the editorial- its the first relevant one in years- most are about apple pie or the best way to hang a shingle on your shed).

So what's new??

I do not speak Hebrew other then a few token words, so I thought it was time to go to sleep. I get an email sent to me (teanecktruth@gmail.com) advising me to re-read the entire letter to the editor about Monica Honis and her nasty parking habits. It appears that Ms. Honis consistently blocks her sidewalk with the car, forcing people to walk (aka jaywalk) on the street. I do not doubt the letter writer's facts whatsoever, because it was very well documented, down to the type of cars in the driveway.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The letter was signed by " Ani Iparon". Who is that you might ask? Ani is Hebrew for " I am" and Iparon is Hebrew for "pencil".

Basically, this paper, which appears in our driveway every week, publishes a letter to the editor bashing a councilwoman (regardless if she was right or wrong that's not the point) and doesn't even bother to verify the existence of the write. Worst off it publishes it using as prank name!

Yet it defends its accuracy on all other issues............... Can we get this crap off our lawns now???

Next up....

I have been doing a lot of walking in the River Road/ FDU area lately- what can we do to make a college town setting in that area? Cafes, Restaurants etc.... Why are we not capitalizing on thousands of students?

Commuter Parking & FDU

I am back! After a few weeks of soccer and football, Teaneck politics is about to warm up with a return of an oldie but goodie- PARKING. This time, its the combination of parking meters in the business district, with many residents chiming in about commuter parking or lack thereof.

First- in regard to parking meters- the best line i heard from a township resident was if meters are on Cedar Lane they are just going to drive to the malls in Paramus. Hmmm, rather then park in the lots off of Cedar Lane which would not be metered (except Beverely Road & River Road outside of the district) or spend a quarter on Cedar Lane, these bitter citizens would rather drive in traffic miles wasting time and gas. My feeling- if you can't appreciate the turnover in parking that it would allow, or can't walk the 300 feet from the lots, you probably aren't needed on Cedar Lane and sure as heck not spending a whole lot of money.

Second- in regards to commuter parking. While i definitely understand the concerns of the residents who live on the blocks nearest the bus stops, there is undoubtedly some relief needed to those that need to get to the buses. How about the FDU lot? Anybody who drives through, to or from Teaneck knows there is a surplus of spots, and wouldn't this go great with the Councils non-profit give back initiative? Most major buses stop there, with the exception of the popular 167. My answer to that is the parking garage proposed for the Plaza district. Speaking of that, what ever happened there?

What belongs at 1280 Teaneck Road?

1280 Teaneck Road is the former gas station, now closed and fenced in. For those of you not following its recent going ons, McDonald's was interested in opening up a restaurant there, which of course requires a drive through. Being one of the top corporations/ franchises of all times (and a damn good place to get a burger) , they instructed their agents and attorney's to first hold a community meeting, held at the Rhodda Center (by the way, do they have to pay for that?)

Of course, the negative comments were running rampant at the meeting (and rightfully so!). So now what.

I feel that a mixed use retail/ condo development (like was was originally proposed 1/2 mile up the block at 1515 Teaneck Rd) is the perfect use for this Gateway District.

Without trying to be sarcastic, I sincerely hope the owners push this plan. The north east Teaneck residents (even though the boards and councils represent all of us at large!!! ) need to figure out what they want.

I understand why they do not want a drive through, but no idea why 1515 was turned down. They seem to want no density development, low taxes and all services. It doesn't take a master in public administration to realize that can't work.

I used the word "north east Teaneck residents" because I have a strong feeling the Teaneck Road business groups want these developments. After all ,this is our gateway block, surrounded by public administration with built in parking.

What will give first!!!

Keep on thinking...

So its been a rough two weeks- getting the kids back to school and myself back to work.

I recall reading a comment that was posted on one of the other teaneck blogs. I spent some time looking for it to no avail. (I think it was by "sky king")

The comment was some general ideas and opinions on how he/she would reduce the municipal expenses within the budget.

Included in his ideas (followed by my comments, some which may hurt) are:

Library- reduce hours (100% agree- I have not been to a the library in years but in today's electronic age, heck they don't publish encyclopedias anymore, I would think there is less of a demand. Regardless, it is an extremely costly building to run, especially with staff etc. Opening at noon several days a week can add to sizable savings and not contribute to the illiteracy rate in Teaneck)

Higher rates for the recreation department (100% agree as well- About a year ago I recall a comment in which someone said that for $25 a program, they can sign up there kids, and if they do not go after the first week, nothing much was lost. As a parent of children in some of these programs, they are worth far more then they charge and certainly more then they cost to run, so doubling the cost would still be a partial subsidy but would add sizeable revenue to offset the departments expense)

Volunteer Fire Department (need more info/ ideas here- not my specialty)

Free Senior rides- need based (I think the key words here are need based. While there are certainly a portion of Teanecks elderly that truly need and cannot afford transportation, I am also a little upset by the constant cry of the seniors who cannot afford this or the other thing. Many of our seniors are sitting on properties with no mortgage. Clearly assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's not taking into consideration any other assets. While not to sound harsh, I did say need based, if you cannot afford a ride it might be time for a reverse mortgage. Why should i subsidize your heirs? ) I did say that my comments would be truthful and that they may hurt- so note the "need based" portion.

More then just a building!

While I was gathering accomplishments of the current administration, Teaneck Progress beat me to it.

The only thing I can add to her list is a simple time frame. That is that her list was pretty impressive, especially since they have only been in office for less then 14 months! Most impressive is that this has been accomplished with the "dirty dozen" detractors killing a solid hour every meeting to rip the council on everything under the sun but progress.

I am excited for the future of Teaneck. I am confident that this Council will have a lot more allies now that the new tax bills have been mailed. One example is the recent vote on the Glenpointe building.

On to that subject. I received a few forwarded emails this weekend from the usual detractors about this property. I am quite the proponent of this project as can be expected, but not just because it is an $800,000 ratable. I believe the benefits are far greater and include:

A further contribution to the Township's coffers based on the new sewer ordinance for large users

As this building will bring thousands of new workers to the complex, it will not only increase the occupancy and revenue of the hotel (making for a higher assessment) but will also contribute further to the townships coffers via the hotel occupancy tax.

As this building will further make the complex an office park destination, it will further increase the occupancy and assessment of the other office buildings.

As all of the above take place, the surrounding new residential developments, many with high vacancies, will fill up and have increased value and assessment.

None of the above will further burden our existing Township services (so lets end that discussion before it starts) for the following reason:

Parking- there is plenty of it. Here is something you may not know- the top floor of the current parking garage has been leased to a car dealership for storage as the spaces are not needed.

School- obviously the office complex does not use the school, and the nearby developments are smaller units not child friendly. As a matter of fact, a larger business presence will increase the business/ school mentor programs, civic donations etc.

Police- the police presence/ response etc for the complex is minimal (even with the hotel) and as such will not require additional hires. Any increased calls can be covered with existing sector patrols.

Ambulance- does not cost the township

Fire- Not only will fire calls be minimal, but any new inspections, etc are covered by the associated fees for same. No new hires will be needed, and any calls will simply be a cost of fuel. Considering the response is from Station # 3 at Degraw and Teaneck Road, once again this does not drain the township.

As far as the three homes that border the site, unless they owned the property before the Redevelopment Agency began its work decades ago, there is no apologies needed. You cannot make an argument that they bought their home not realizing this would go up, unless they did not do their research. If you argue that they bought their house because they thought there would be only 6 story building and now there is a 13 story building, well, join the dirty dozen because that is outright sad. If you argue that this will ruin their view, consider they are at the intersection of two of the nations busiest interstates. Not nearby- directly AT!

See you at the ground breaking!

Thinking time

As we head into the last two months of August when folks traditionally head out of town, i ask everybody to put on their thinking caps and come up with ideas on how to improve Teaneck going forward.

But, (and while i hate to take a step back) did everybody notice that once again Ron Schwartz has a letter in the Suburbanite?

The witch hunt continues! How dare you think of progress at such times!

This is starting to get unbearable! As I have said here and on other blogs, continuing to talk about this just gives these people want they want- attention. Like dealing with a toddler.

Below is an email that was forwarded to me and is floating around town.

Once again I ask of these people- please use the creative juices that you apparently have to come up with some ideas (lets work off the recent sewer ordinances, budget trimmings etc) and lets get progress moving.

I stopped in at the Planning Board hearing regarding 1515 Teaneck Road- what a disaster. It was a free for all with people almost a half a mile down Shepard complaining about flooding in their basements! As I looked around the room, I felt sorry for the crowd- sorry because once day this week they will get a small simple notice in the mail- the tax man has cometh. And their tax bill of $5200 will jump to $9400- and what will their Block Association President (with her TCCP backers) say then? How will they somehow craft this scenario into an attack on the current Council?

Here it is:

Dear Friends and Community Leaders,
As you know, at a meeting with the prosecutor's office testimony was given regarding illegal election activity. Names were named and still no action was taken to interview those in question Further, it appears, mailings were sent to members of our community by bogus organizations asking the community to vote no on the school budget.

We are meeting Monday night at the home of Sandie Ekhause and Joe Harris, 267 Griggs Ave. (201) 801-0632 at 7:00p.m. to discuss ways of keeping pressure on the Bergen County prosecutor's office. We need to involve the entire community. The illegal interference in Teaneck's non-partisan electoral and voting process cannot be tolerated.

The agenda will be focused on developing a strategic plan long and short term. Please try to attend. Your input and perspective as community leaders is invaluable to the cause.



With appreciation,
Sandie Ekhause
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Neighbor's, This is related to our previous local election. Illegal literature was sent to resident's in the orthodox community only. The intention was to scare those residents with inflammatory anti orthodox rhetoric. This placed fear among that community. They(our majority male council members) allegedly violated state laws.The law is that all candidates must put a return address and the sponsors name on campaign literature. There is also allegedly some affiliation with the head of the democratic party and campaign contributions for pay to play. Pay to Pay and contracts given to special interest groups is at the forefront of this issue. The favors are given to developers in return for campaign contributions. This is why the resident's must protect the Town against all of this type of corruption. This is also related to the Birdsall group that our council hired to do an economic analysis of this town. They made $87.000 of our tax dollars. Their independence is in question. The question has arisen, can the public trust what they have recommended to be put in our Master Plan(for our future). Please read the opinion page of the suburbanite . This story was in last weeks suburbanite and this weeks as well(look under Zucker). They may run this story possibly soon in the Record. WE WILL BE VIGILANT. WE WILL NOT LET TEANECK TURN INTO FT LEE, EDGE WATER OR ENGLEWOOD. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. "THERE IS NO PROGRESS WITHOUT STRUGGLE" (FREDERICK DOUGLASS).

The Rag

The Suburbanite its getting worse and worse.

As previously indicated, I am a strong supporter of moving on- lets make Teaneck better, not talk about what occurred in the past.

So we had our "Pastramigate" conspiracy (as was emailed to me by a poster- keep them coming at teanecktruth@gmail .com )which i will not discuss here.

Just when I hoped it had died down, "The Rag" thinks its funny and publishes it again the next week!!!

And now, according to other bloggers, The Rag continues to talk about it!!

What can we do to get this garbage off our lawns??

And I leave you all with my one conspiracy theory- Why is the Suburbanite filled with so much alleged hate of the Orthodox? Is it because I have NEVER seem a kosher advertiser?? Is this all a game about money?

The time has come to move on....

Teaneck as we know it is about to change! Teaneck Tax bills are about to be mailed with the new assessments based on the "reval"

Some thoughts, predictions etc:

1- There will be an uproar in the northeast portion of Town. This was a result of the sharp increase in unimproved homes from the last reval until now.

2- The same detractors (or shall we call them the good and welfare buddies) will start screaming and accusing the new council of doing nothing

3- There will be cries of discrimination from the Shepard Avenue Association (discriminate if you build, and discriminate if you tax...hmmmm....). They will try to make a play to lead the Northeast, while the Northern Teaneck Road Alliance (Langford et al) who have been diligently working on stimulating economic development will hopefully prove victorious (for all of Teaneck's sake)

4- Hopefully Councilwomen Kates, Honis and Parker will start working with the other Councilmen (I broke up the group by sex, but that's okay since its not by religion) rather then fighting them and playing to the crowd. Hey Monica- its not too late for an Emmy! Get another performance in before the mail comes!

5- Teaneck continues to work on improving relations and fostering partnerships with the County (oh the big bad monster) and the State.

Where we buy our houses

Caution- this post will bring up some very serious issues that may offend people- but it is the truth and it must be said!

In the previous post a question was posed to me which asked if I would like the condos built in my neighborhood.

So here goes- When looking for a house with my spouse years ago, we were definitely attracted to the lower prices of some homes on busier streets. We decided however, that we did not want to live on a busy road. Why? We knew cars would be shooting down the street at all hours and speeds. We also looked at house off of Queen Anne Road, but I didn't want commuter parking on my block. I looked at a house next to a public school, but then realized that the empty lot was going to be used by the school for parking, recess and ball or possibly expansion.

I then moved to a slightly less desirable area, but was able to get a beautiful house. There were some warnings from friends as to what the downsides were to that area, but i knew about it going in and liked the price.

What i don't understand about numerous complainers in Teaneck is when they get a good deal on a home, say next to the Stop and Shop parking lot, or next to a closed soap factory, and then when the owner wants to utilize the property, whether it be building up or out, the homeowner goes crying how 1- his neighborhood fabric is being ruined, 2- how he moved to Teaneck for its beauty and its being destroyed 3- you get the point.

The American Legion (Stop & Shop) issue is really on point- for gods sake you bought a house next to a vacant industrial building adjoining a parking lot. In regards to the Teaneck Road condo- you bought your home 3 houses off of Teaneck Road next to a restaurant.

What did you expect???
(Told you it will be truthful, possibly offensive but most importantly a serious situation that must be discussed)

Whats going on in the northeast?

Am i actually reading correctly? Are people saying they want a McDonald's? Prefer a McDonald's!! At the old Stickeys Restaurant site (boy did they have some characters working there!) there are plans for a 22-28 unit condo with ground floor retail (separate site from the McDonald's proposal). This would help take our prime driving street, a gateway to Teaneck, and begin what all people agree is sorely needed upgrading.

All of a sudden, once word gets a around that progress is on the way, come a homeowners association opposed to the plans. Why? NIMBY! The Shepard Avenue residents claim traffic amongst many other complaints (exact quote from resident "are you gong to allow pedophiles to live there"). While these neighbors should definitely be part of the process, and I was told that meeting were conducted with the developers, how does the TCCP get involved? Seems like we are getting played again with hype. Discrimination? Discrimination is the strong concentration of nail salons, liquor stores and auto repair shops that the neighborhood is forced to live amongst. A 22 unit condo on a major township corridor ripe for a commuter dream- i don't think so! (and how much traffic will 22 units, deisgned for commutters, create on Shepard?)

Just wait until the Northeast gets hit with the largest tax increase! Who will help them- Bill Moring?

Welcome

So i decided to start a blog. Why? While Teaneck Blog and Teaneck Progress bring up some good points, I felt there is still lot of aggravating issues that needed to be discussed. I will warn you though, both Teaneck Blog and Progress have superior literary skills (and a whole let better grammatical skills) then me.

This blog will be more of bringing up a point, my view, and then discussion, as compared to the very detailed statements of my blogger friends.

The Suburbanite

While many people call this paper "a rag" and many more leave it at the foot of their driveway to disintegrate into the sewer system, I for one read it weekly. Yet week after week it disturbs me more and more. While I have never met the former staff writer/ editor Beverly O'Shea, the "Stuff" that Prosnitz puts out is pure garbage. His inaccuracies are rampant to a point that I for one think it cannot be unintentional. Then we get to the letter to the editor portion. Am i crazy or does it appear that Naomi Cramer and Ron Schwartz seem to get their letters posted on a alternating weekly basis. Do so few people write in or is this part of something a whole lot biger then me?