The Maroon Vol. 2… No. 23 March 22, 2022
“Bringing us all to a place we don't want to lose."
Observer: Permanent Daylight Savings
Macky’s New York: A New York Sandstorm
William Peay: Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame: Save The Date: Nov. 5th 2022
La Vita Cortellesi: 15 Minute Puttanesca
M + A NYC: Mighty Are We As One
James Stroker: Hope Coach
Jim Schoneman: Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd: Around The Village
Observer
Permanent Daylight Savings
I am old enough to recall our country’s last experiment with keeping Daylight Savings year round. During the imported oil turmoils of the 1970s I had the pleasure of waking and catching a bus to school in the dark. We all used more caution crossing the streets but otherwise it wasn’t terrifying to be out in the dark in our sleepy little bedroom community. I can’t say that would be true in every town, especially those without street lamps or sidewalks.
I am in favor of not switching our clocks twice a year. The positive effects on public health cannot be ignored, nor can the energy savings provided in the evening time when most people turn on more lights.
But what do we do about school children walking to school in the dark? Well, we could begin by starting school later. There is nothing written in stone or in the countless books on K-12 pedagogy that says school has to be a certain number of hours. When did we become so rigid?
We need to open a debate on the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time, especially since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. Times have changed and so has the general population. Not to mention the nature of work. Yes, some people need to work in person but not everybody. Let’s improve everyone’s daily commute by having fewer people doing it overall, and certainly not all at the same time.
Macky’s New York
Matthew Cortellesi Photography
March 20, 2022 - Meat Packing district.
A New York Sandstorm
The prevailing winds blow from the west and every once in a while they kick up enough dust over New Jersey that as the winds make their way towards Mahattan...they make for a spectacular visual as the sun reflects off the particles in the clouds - I've seen some of the best sunset standing right where I took this but today...it was a wonderful sunrise that made my day.
Shot on 9th Avenue just south of 14th looking north west.
Time 8am
#ny1pic
William Peay
Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
Save The Date: November 5, 2022
Visit The RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
La Vita Cortellesi
15 Minute Puttanesca
A week ago our sheep were blanketed in snow, today I was able to start the “2022 Outdoor Lunch Series.”
Stay tuned for further meals with more detailed recipes. The weather was too lovely, so I went with our standard 15 minute Puttanesca - this allowed me more time to take in the change of seasons.
M + A NYC
Mighty Are We As One
Inspired by art, designed in New York, and made by hand with love by artisans all over the world. Shop home décor and wearable accessories at www.mplusanyc.com
James Stroker
So special.
Karma occurs magically when you keep giving and forget about getting.
Jim Schoneman
Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd
Around The Village
It’s so frustrating to read such smart, well written pieces and then see the exact thing happen.
Ridgewood leaders, what planet are you on it when comes to our downtown? | Opinion
Bob Sommer
Special to the USA TODAY Network
Just this week, the Ridgewood Village Council voted to end the popular dining corral program, where restaurants place tables in the parking spaces in front of their restaurants. The response by residents of the Village was to start an online petition that garnered over 2,000 signatures in less than a week urging the Council to extend the program. A divided Council disagreed and the program will be ending on March 31. Mayor Susan Knudsen’s effort to end the program is based on a desire to “return to normalcy” and support a handful of retail stores that oppose the dining corrals because they have taken up 18 parking spaces.
Ridgewood’s dining corral program and pedestrian plaza — where the streets are closed to motor vehicle traffic on weekends in warmer weather — have reinvented the retail wheel. In an Amazon-dominated economy that has crushed the life out of malls and downtown shopping centers across the country, Ridgewood’s retailers and restaurants have found a way to thrive. (201) Magazine just voted Ridgewood the best downtown destination in Bergen County.
The dining corral program has given Ridgewood’s downtown a decidedly European flair. Everyone loves outdoor dining and Ridgewood is giving its residents and the surrounding communities exactly what they want. Many of the dining corals are adorned with flower boxes, fire pits, umbrellas and festival lighting. They’re sophisticated and adorable all at the same time. And the restaurants want to do even more by investing money into their dining corrals to make them an even greater outdoor dining destination.
And yet, the mayor and council’s “return to normalcy” is putting an end to that. No more European flair. No more sophisticated outdoor dining spaces. No more revenue to the retailers who rely on the restaurants to bring people into their stores.
Let’s face it, Ridgewood is a restaurant town. The restaurants are the locomotive that drive traffic and revenue to every storefront in town. Thirty years ago Ridgewood was on the cutting edge of outdoor dining in northern New Jersey. With its sidewalk cafes and trendy little bistros it became the envy of every downtown shopping district in the area. In recent years however, Ridgewood’s shopping district has been struggling to find its way, all while facing stiff winds from the juggernaut of online shopping.
But dining corrals and pedestrian plazas have changed all that. These programs have made Ridgewood’s downtown enviable again. It’s fun and festive, and that’s what brings people to town. Expanded outdoor dining is the tool that allows our retail stores and restaurants to face the Amazon economy with impunity.
No doubt, the mayor and council's action is more than dispiriting — it costs the residents, also known as taxpayers, as well. The village has a parking deck that is severely underutilized yet adds a material amount to our debt service. Let's use parking spots and thoroughfares to increase restaurant and shop patronage and push those downtown parking off the streets as much as possible into the parking deck to use those revenues to pay for it.
Evolution is a funny thing. Those who cling to the old ways inevitably go the way of buggy whips and kerosene lanterns. So come on mayor and council, let’s embrace the new normal — the one that allows Ridgewood’s shopping and dining to grow and flourish. It’s what your community wants, it’s what your constituents have demanded, it’s what our downtown needs.
Bob Sommer is a longtime Ridgewood resident.