gdp's Comments

Teaneck Progress : New Blog and Facebook page on Sustainability

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 21:10:17 +0000

There's a typo in the link.

Teaneck Progress : The economy has claimed another Cedar Lane hallmark

Wed, 5 Jan 2011 18:41:20 +0000

Henry - Calling the Plaza "lively" is a bit of a stretch. I'd say, it's lively relative to how shabby it's been since I moved to Teaneck in 1967. Cedar Lane still appears to have slightly more going on than other local downtowns (Englewood excluded, although they have their troubles too.) I don't think it would take many more prominent vacancies though before Cedar Lane starts looking like downtown Hackensack. This problem is not only Teaneck's though. Last I checked, downtown Ridgewood had many vacancies, particularly as you get closer to the railroad tracks, where, presumably the rents are higher. In my opinion, the landlords are pricing themselves into a world of trouble and it's very possible that it will take decades of high vacancy as we've seen in the Plaza, for rents to adjust downward to a point that it's viable for business to survive.

Teaneck Progress : The economy has claimed another Cedar Lane hallmark

Tue, 4 Jan 2011 22:06:28 +0000

The problem with Cedar Lane is the disconnect between the type of businesses that are economically viable given current rents and the type of businesses that make Cedar Lane into an appealing and diversified retail hub. The loss of Animations is mourned as it was an attractive anchor that many people appreciated and depended on. At some rent level a store like Animations would be viable. The irony is is that many landlords prefer to rent to noxious 99 cents stores or a cell phone stores with brief shelf lives that can afford higher rents but whose presence ultimately devalues all property on Cedar Lane. I hope that Cedar Lane doesn't go the way of Main Street in Ridgefield Park or Washington Ave in Bergenfield but I'm not optimistic.

Teaneck Progress : Get ready to clean out those garages!

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:51:54 +0000

Michael - I'm intrigued by your comment that the town actually makes revenue from recycling. Perhaps if this were more widely understood, the people who bitch all the time about their taxes would take a keener interest in separating their trash.

Teaneck Progress : Au Revoir

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:47:49 +0000

Don't worry, I'm not going that far.

Teaneck Progress : Time to Move On?

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 21:14:07 +0000

Jeff - It's sweet to think that I've been helping to feed your cravings for crap for your warped enjoyment. Truth is, I've fooled all of you. I'm actually a undercover agent sent to Teaneck from Russia as a child in 1967 to learn your ways and eventually to use the blog as a medium to undermine civil discourse. Now that I've succeeded in my mission, I can move on to Leonia.

Teaneck Progress : The Tyranny of the Minority

Sun, 3 Oct 2010 21:30:01 +0000

How many people spoke up in favor of the reorganization at the public the day before the vote? How many spoke up against it? My sense from talking to people in town is that it's a controversial move for many reasons. Did the members of the Council majority have the right to vote the way they did? You bet they did. What's done is done. I reiterate that the important takeaway here is that they have the political power and can therefore call the shots.

Teaneck Progress : The Tyranny of the Minority

Sun, 3 Oct 2010 18:05:14 +0000

Perhaps this is a good opportunity for one of Teaneck Progresses famous non-scientific completely flawed polls.

Teaneck Progress : The Tyranny of the Minority

Sun, 3 Oct 2010 15:57:53 +0000

The point of post, which was perhaps too oblique for some to understand is that a disciplined approach to political organizing pays off.

Teaneck Progress : Toffler shows her true colors

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:30:12 +0000

Swiggle - I'm not entirely happy with the rush to reorganize the police and fire departments and other moves by the council majority that appear to be self-serving, power grabs and counter to many precepts of good government, however it is beyond the pale to suggest that their votes are somehow illegitimate because the majority of their supporters come from a certain neighborhood.

Teaneck Progress : David, Meet Goliath

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:09:12 +0000

The design is better.

Teaneck Progress : Uniting Teaneck Survey Part#2

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:03:37 +0000

Holy mackerel. Ok. So maybe he's not such a decent fellow in person.

Teaneck Progress : Uniting Teaneck Survey Part#2

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:33:21 +0000

Wow. By sending around this nasty "survey" Mr. Lerer comes off looking like a hostile creep. Although, I'm sure that in person, he's a perfectly decent fellow...

Teaneck Progress : What a world we live in....

Wed, 8 Sep 2010 15:41:03 +0000

Once a year only.

Teaneck Progress : What a world we live in....

Wed, 8 Sep 2010 12:43:49 +0000

Tom - this blog is somewhat of a living organism and one that operates strictly according to the principles of anarchy (if that isn't a contradiction.). Therefore no topic is off limits. Certainly discussions about tolerance are relevant to Teaneck since we claim to have invented the concept much in the same way that a discussion about Baseball would be relevant to a blog about Hoboken. And anyway, the fact that there are no local issues worth arguing about is a good thing, no?

Teaneck Progress : What a world we live in....

Tue, 7 Sep 2010 17:13:49 +0000

New Republic Editor in Chief Martin Peretz weighs in: "But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse." "Pretend" they are "worthy" of First Amendment privileges. Yikes.

Teaneck Progress : What a world we live in....

Tue, 7 Sep 2010 15:36:55 +0000

And I am particularly offended that the pastor shares a name with the funny, talented and thoughtful Terry Jones of Monty Python fame.

Teaneck Progress : What a world we live in....

Tue, 7 Sep 2010 15:31:18 +0000

Using US flag burning in third world as a justification for burning Korans is similar to justifying banning the Mosque near ground zero because Christian churches and Jewish synagogues are banned in Saudi Arabia. It's an awfully low standard to live up to as a nation.

Teaneck Progress : Is a shared service possibly on the horizon?

Fri, 3 Sep 2010 13:45:58 +0000

I think it's terrific. If Teaneck and Bogota can pull this off successfully we can serve as a local model for merging all types of duplicative agencies and activities. While I think it would never happen, it would be great to regionalize schools across the whole county, to eliminate duplicative services, to achieve greater economies of scale and move away from the linkage of student achievement on standardized test scores with property values.

Teaneck Progress : Free to Be You and Me

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:32:52 +0000

VCRT, It's a pretty low bar to hold the U.S up to the human rights standards of an oppressive theocracy like Saudi Arabia.