Answering a reader's question about the CLIPS blogroll

A question on the CLIPS blogroll.

Many thanks to a Plainfield Today reader who sent along the following email suggestion about the blogroll appearing at the bottom of each day's CLIPS --

Hey Dan -- Just a suggestion . . .  why not delete all those old clips in the "Recent Blog Posts" section.  August and September and October are not really "recent."  And they are old news.  Just saying.

So, is Dan just lazy or could there be another reason?

Way back in 2010, Courier reporter Mark Spivey noted the blog scene in Plainfield and that caused me to post review of the then 16 identifiable Plainfield blogs and their ranking in the webiverse (see here). That was in January; then in June along came two blogs published anonymously by teachers that focused on the Plainfield public schools (see here).

At a statewide conference on blogging and hyperjournalism, folks were astounded to hear how many active blogs there were in Plainfield. It seems that in most communities a single blog (or perhaps two) is the norm.

Folks wrote on a variety of topics, each blog with its own look, focus and voice. As time went by, some folks left Plainfield, some gave up blogging, some got busy with other things, some found ax-grinding too tiring, and several new voices were added.

We still have thirteen on the blog roll, though a couple haven't posted in months and maybe should be reviewed for removal.

How did there get to be a blogroll anyway?

In the beginning, I simply typed every entry into CLIPS every day and created a link. That got old very soon. It seemed easier finally to but a standard link to the blog in a template and just update the subject line whenever that author posted. Worked fine, but it was easy to lose trace of how long it had been since the last post -- so I started putting that date in parentheses at the end of the line to give readers a visual cue.

But the blogroll is not just a list.

It's a reminder that there is a long, ongoing conversation about Plainfield -- the good, the bad, the ugly -- that has been going on for over ten years, showing how passionate many of us are about our community.

Of course many Plainfielders are passionte about the Queen City and they show it in many ways -- from volunteering with community organizations to serving on boards and commissions to speaking out at Council meetings and much more.

But there are only a small number of those who toil by way of writing up their observations, suggestions and -- sometimes -- rants. I'm inclined to keep almost all of them on the blogroll -- no matter how infrequently some of them post -- as a reminder of the depth and value of this ongoing conversation.

Of course, I could also be lazy too.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Christmas and Mid-Winter Stories at Drake House today

David Emerson will explain where many of our
Christmas customs come from and more this afternoon.

Plainfield's Drake House Museum hosts a free program of "Christmas and Mid-Winter Stories" today at 2:00 PM.

History on the Hoof's David Emerson will entertain visitors with a lively romp through the origins of our holiday customs, the Victorian "invention" of Christmas as we know it, the popularity of the Christmas tree and more. You can learn more about History on the Hoof here.

Come and see the Drake House at its holiday finest. Light refreshments will be served. This program is made possible by a HEART grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The Drake House Museum at 602 West Front Street (at the foot of Plainfield Avenue) is open to the public Sunday afternoons from 2:00 - 4:00 PM, and at other times by appointment. For more information, call (908) 755-5831 or visit the website at www.drakehouseplainfieldnj.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Japanese department store's hilarious English gaffe (Warning: Adult language)

Being hip in Osaka (image from Gawker).

A little post-Thanksgiving Day marketing humor you might enjoy -- but be warned the language is "adult content".

Evidently reaching for the younger, hipper (and English-speaking) crowd, the marketing gurus at the Japanese store Gallerie mounted a blitz campaign with the above signs throughout the store.

The internet went wild (see Gawker stories here, and here), and the store management evidently was mortified, quickly changing the signage to a somewhat less graphic but still understandable form.

I am reminded of the high school French class joke about French-speakers being shocked at seeing signs in American stores declaring "Lingerie Sale" -- which, in French, means "dirty underwear".

Of course. And thanks, RW;)

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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A Thanksgiving message from sports writer Max Ogden

From Maxwell Ogden's Facebook post.

A Thanksgiving Day message for Plainfield Today readers from sports writer Maxwell Ogden.

Ogden posted the above photo on his Facebook page (see here) on November 23 and has received over 84,000 likes and 122,000 shares -- including my  niece Sue Foust of Tucson, from whom I cribbed it.

Think about it this Thanksgiving Day.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Recreation seeks vendors for Holiday Crafts Fair

Free vendor opportunity for Holiday Craft Fair.

 

Plainfield's Division of Recreation is seeking vendors for its Holiday Crafts Fair slated for Saturday, December 12 at duCret School of Art.

There will be no vendor fees to Recreation for this event, however vendors will be responsible for a one-day peddler's permit ($25, from the City Clerk's office).

Handcrafted items, with or without a holiday theme, as well as items suitable for holiday gifts are being sought.

Jewelry, ceramics and pottery, quilts, knit goods of all sorts, hats, scarves and hair accessories, homemade jams and jellies and holiday baked goods are among the items shoppers will be looking for.

The Holiday Craft Fair will run from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with vendors allowed to set up at 9:00 AM. The event will be in the auditorium at the rear of the school, entrance off the rear parking lot. duCret School of Art is at 1030 Central Avenue, Plainfield.

To register as a vendor or discuss your craft specialty, contact Beverly Calland at the Division of Recreation, (908) 753-3097 or by email at recreation@plainfieldnj.gov.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council gets a perfect score at special meeting

Patrick Torborg, developer of the proposed South Second Street project,
explains his proposal to the Council Monday evening.

 

After presentations on the proposed South Second Street and South Avenue redevelopment projects, Council got down to business with a perfect score of 39 unanimous votes on resolutions (two were withdrawn until the December meeting), and first readings on five ordinances -- including the PILOT for the South Avenue project.

Not that there weren't some painful moments -- the South Second Street property is a steal at $250,000 for 5 acres (the Park-Madison 4-acre parcel went for $1 million over fifteen years ago).

Councilor Gloria Taylor added un moment dramatique when she took a long pause on the South Avenue project before voting "yes".

And Councilors Diane Toliver and Vera Greaves got into a tiff over how clean downtown has become, with Toliver arguing it's pretty good and Greaves saying it's terrible.

I tend to side with Toliver on this one, though you can go downtown on Sunday after the stores close and find the trash barrels overflowing -- because the PMUA does not work on Sundays.

But that does not make Greaves right on the whole.

Municipal Clerk Municipal Clerk 'AJ' Jalloh's clever strategy of merging the double-header meeting into a single special meeting paid off nicely. Chairman of the Committee of the Whole Councilor Brown zipped along, asking if there was Council comment as she introduced each item. Thankfully, there was little.

Could this be a model of meetings to come?

Dream on.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Development: Land lust raising its ugly head again?

Since this map was made in 2010, the Sears project is
moving to completion with an addition containing more
apartments and retail, and the Red Cross Building renovation
on the other corner of Grove Street is under way.
Parking in Lot 9 is essential to the success of both.

 

Two items on tonight's Plainfield City Council agenda make me wonder whether land lust is raging again in the Queen City.

The first is a "discussion" item placed on the agenda by Council President Bridget Rivers and billed as "Conveyance of Block 47[sic], Lots 7 and 9 to Housing Authority."

This is the public parking lot at Central Avenue and West 2nd Street that snakes through to Front Street alongside the Pueblo Viejo restaurant.

I wrote about this public parking lot in last week's post on parking issues (see here), as public access to parking in this lot is key to residents who will be living in the Sears building renovation and expansion and the Red Cross building renovation -- both of which are currently under way.

As resident Alan Goldstein pointed out in a letter to Council members (see Olddoc's post of it here), there is a potential conflict of interest (the HAP chair is the daughter of an interested party) and HAP cannot purchase a property and the City cannot sell a property which is not part of a redevelopment plan.

We learned after the last go-round with this deal that HAP's executive director had not consulted his board about the proposal, and that it was all tangled up with HAP's so-called "independent" nonprofit CDC.

However suspect the conversation is, I do not think -- as Goldstein does -- that this is a quid pro quo.

However, there is a reason to worry, and that is found elsewhere in the agenda, with Resolution 446-15, the sale and developer's agreement for the South Second Street property between Plainfield and Grant Avenues.

The really troubling item here is the sales price, noted by Bernice (see here) as $250,000 -- that's for a parcel in excess of 5 acres.

You may recall that the Park-Madison parcel, which was only four acres -- though in a choicer location, was sold to the UCIA for $1 million, "as is", with the UCIA responsible for soil remediation.

And that was more than 15 years ago! Are we to assume that real estate values have gone down so much over the past 15 years?

Plainfield taxpayers have a right to know how this sales price was arrived at.

And to my mind, the real worry is that if some plan goes forward involving Parking Lot 9 on Central Avenue, the so-called "developers" will want a lowball price like that of South Second Street.

City Council's special meeting gets under way at 7:00 PM tonight in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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CORRECTED: New Muhlenberg SED Open House Monday evening

Grand Opening of the new $2 million ER at the
Muhlenberg campus is set for Monday.

 
CORRECTION: The Open House for the community is from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. The earlier one is for invited guests only.

The new Satellite Emergency Department (SED) at the Muhlenberg campus will host an Open House, Monday, November 23.

 
Visitors will be able to tour the new facility and learn about treatment options by JFK available to Plainfield and other communities it serves.

The new ER, which occupies the first floor of the old Kenyon House at the corner of Park Avenue and Randolph Road, replaces the state-of-the-art facility in the former hospital building which JFK wants to see developed.

Though the plan to replace the former hospital with 600 new apartments has not been brought up lately, I don't think that means JFK has abandoned the idea altogether. Meanwhile, I wonder about the tax implications of the Morristown settlement with Atlantic Healthcare for our local situation -- though, again, we have not heard anything about this from the city.

Be sure to read Dottie G's post on the new SED's opening (here), where she reavches out to thank the many people who have fought in support of Muhlenberg over the years.

If you're planning on going to the open house, the lot across Park Avenue from the building is available for parking.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Oil train blast danger in Plainfield?

Map shows a portion of the Plainfield County Club
lies in the 'yellow' oil train blast zone.

 

A city employee once told me that oil trains run through Plainfield overnight on the Raritan Valley Line.

I disputed the story, but was never able to confirm it one way or the other.

Oil trains are much in the news these days (Teaneck held a vigil last night, see here) because the Bakken crude that is shipped by rail is highly flammable and the pressurized tank cars in which it is shipped can rupture, setting off tremendous and deadly explosions (see more here).

So I listened closely when the Hudson Riverkeeper came on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show Thursday to discuss oil trains and the dangers they pose.

In the course of the discussion,  it was said that a website exists to show how close any community is to a so-called "blast zone" by simply typing in the ZIP code.

Since Gov. Christie keeps the routes of these oil trains throughout New Jersey a state secret (unlike other states), I wondered what I could learn about Plainfield and oil trains from the website.

The website (see here) does NOT show oil trains running on the Raritan Valley Line. Whew!

But, the rail line that runs through South Plainfield and Edison does carry oil trains. The map shows a red blast zone and a yellow one-mile zone that passes just south of West 7th and Clinton and also includes a portion of the Plainfield Country Club.

I suspect the real reason the Christie administration refuses to share the information on oil train routes is the pressure it would face from residential communities if they knew what was rolling through their backyards.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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A reminder on refugees from Middle East terror

Depiction of the Flight to Egypt, from a capital
in the Cathedral of St. Lazarus, Autun, France,
carved by Gislebertus 900 years ago.

Just in case Christians forget their primal connection to refugees from Middle East terror, here is the story of Mary and Joseph's flight as refugees to Egypt from Herod the child-slayer --

Matthew 2:13-16 (New Revised Standard Version)

13Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

16When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Cedar Brook Park improvements get bumpy start

Engineers for Union County discuss Olmsted plans
showing active sports use on the area under review.

Soccer enthusiasts lined the meeting room.
Pictured (l. to r.) Commissioner Larry Quirk, Chairman Bill Michelson,
and planner Scott Bauman.

 

Union County officials were perfectly prepared for a meeting to discuss proposed improvements for Plainfield's Cedar Brook Park.

Trouble is, it was the wrong meeting. The attorney and engineers making the proposal would have been right on target with, say, the Planning Board. But Tuesday evening's meeting was with the Historic Preservation Commission, which has quite different concerns and authority.

As resident Gerri Heydt put it to the County representatives well into the meeting -- the Historic Preservation Commission is concerned with "mitigating the effects" of adaptations to uses by the public.

The meeting got off on a shaky start when a Commission member asked the engineers to please orient the Commission and the audience to the area where the work was actually going to be done.

This is a common mistake I see at land-use board meetings. In fact, so common I am surprised someone doesn't tell applicants that the very first thing they need to do is give some spatial orientation to viewers by citing street locations or nearby landmarks. It is a simple step that would improve everyone's experience of the hearing manyfold.

The engineers discussed all the work to be done, from drainage improvements, the size and orientation of two new soccer fields, removable protective fencing, improved lighting and handicap access for the area which lies near the rear of the JFK-Hartwyck facility.

The adequacy of restrooms was discussed, as well as efforts to reduce or eliminate light spillage on surrounding residential areas.

But the engineers seemed flummoxed when asked what color the light poles would be, or whether the proposed poles could be somewhat lower than the 80' in the plans.

The Commission became extremely attentive once the engineers produced plans of the original Olmsted layout and demonstrated that active use (with ballfields) had been accommodated in this same area since the earliest days of the park.

To my mind, those plans were the county's trump card (and not the crowd of soccer enthusiasts they produced to fill the meeting room), and it should have been played first, not near the end of the meeting.

I have found that the Historic Preservation Commission -- though it can sometimes get really, really lost in the weeds -- is reasonable when approached properly.

In this case, the issue at hand is -- to my mind -- not only about trying to make the proposed changes as unintrusive as possible, but also to make recreation more equitable in the community.

Demographic changes in Plainfield over the last two decades are being shown in the immense popularity of soccer.

In addition to the fields under consideration, use was made for several years of the area between Randolph Road and Stelle Avenue, where there were an additional two soccer fields unitl the grass reached to point it could not recover from the sustained use.

The open area on Kenyon Avenue behind the high school is also used for soccer, as well as the field adjacent to Maxson and Woodland Schools.

In the West End, there is another heavily used soccer field at Green Brook Park (also a county park), as well as two informal areas in that park that are used for soccer.

In addition, the city has a soccer field adjacent to Rushmore Playground that is used evenings and weekends throughout the season, as well as Milt Campbell Field on East 3rd Street.

The pressure for more soccer space will not let up any time soon, and an equitable recreation environment must include addressing this need.

The county's plans are a step forward in this direction, but should be fine-tuned to meet the Historic Preservation Commission's concerns. The proposal will be continued at the HPC's December 15 meeting, 7:30 PM at City Hall Library.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Pondering parking

Out of order meters mean less revenue for the city.

 

Parking in front of Plainfield's City Hall Monday afternoon, I noticed a handwritten note on the windshield of the car behind me.

As I went to put quarters in the meter we shared, i noticed what it said: "Meters not working". So I saved 50¢, but it got me to thinking about parking generally, especially since I hear through the grapevine that the city got no responses to the RFP for a parking deck feasibility study on East Second Street.

One thing the late Mayor Al McWilliams was fierce about was making sure parking revenues were maximized. Noticing the number of (some apparently permanently) non-operating meters around town, along with some that have mysteriously disappeared (as on East Front where one seems to have disappeared for no apparent reason after recent street work), I wondered whether there has been a drop in parking receipts over time.

But there are plenty of other parking issues to look into --

• The condition and use of the public lots behind Front Street. Use of these has increased dramatically over recent years, especially with charter schools and active storefront congregations locating on Watchung Avenue between Front Street and the city line. But their maintenance lags their use.
  
  
• The public lot at Central and West 2nd. This lot also snakes through to Front Street between Pueblo Viejo and the fish market. PSE&G is currently using a corner as a staging area for its Second Street project, but that will come to an end at some point. The lot is not well-maintained or striped, even though there is permit parking and tickets are issued. In addition, the old Sear building and its new addition will be adding to permanent spaces in this lot, as will the apartments over the Red Cross building which is being renovated. Yet Messrs. Dunn and Sanders covet the lot for affordable housing.
  
  
• The Park-Madison parking deck. Will we ever resolve the issue of letting residents use the deck after-hours and weekends, as called for in the original development agreement? The steam seems to have gone out of the city's efforts to get this resolved. Why?
  
  
• Lot 7. This lot next to Scott Drugs on East 7th Street is sort of an orphan. Once filled with the cars of DYFS workers on a daily basis, it now sits weed-filled and forlorn most of the time. Will it get more use when Arkad Development completes the reovation of the DYFS building into apartments and shops?
  
  
• North Avenue parking at the train station. Though this area is currently disrupted because of ongoing work replacing the NJT overpasses on Watchung and Park Avenues, it seems to me that a lot of revenue is consistently lost because the striping is so faded people don't know where the spaces are to park.
  
  
• Netherwood Station area. On the North Avenue side, the streets are parked up all day long. This has been a neighborhood issue in the past, but does it need to be looked at again? And on the South Avenue side, the situation is similar, and now faced with new apartments across from the station (including an "illegal" floor the owner added). Though there is a lot for its use next to the fire station, will it be sufficient?

Besides all this, there are the advances in technology that make it easier to meter larger areas with fewer meters.

In Newark, the area around the Newark Museum has for several years now had meters that monitor four spaces, reducing the time and effort of parking employees to maintain and collect coins.

In Westfield, the lot near Trader Joe's uses a central meter that covers the entire lot and issues time-stamped receipts. This makes it really easy for parking employees to monitor the situation.

In Montclair, for years now the town has issued parking stickers for residents wishing to park on the streets overnight because that was becoming an issue that needed to be managed. Has Plainfield also reached that point?

Seems to me there are enough parking issues in Plainfield that maybe the next RFP should cover a study of parking citywide, looking to solve a lot of problems in addition to a deck's feasibility.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Historic Preservation Commission takes up Cedar Brook Park improvements

Union County's Cedar Brook Park is on the State
and National Registers of Historic Places.

 

Plainfield's Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) does its work mostly quietly and off the center stage -- working with residents in the historic districts on matters affecting the exterior appearance of their properties.

This usually means porches, windows, roofs, fences and such.

But, in addition to the historic districts, the HPS has responsibility for overseeing changes to the appearance of landmarked properties outside the historic districts.

Under new business, Tuesday's meeting will take up the largest landmarked property in the city, as Union County officials present a proposal for improvements at Cedar Brook Park, which is on the State and National Registers.

Designed by the famed Olmsted firm, Cedar Brook Park is one of the Union County parks they were commissioned to design in the 1920s. A portion of the site was formerly the town garbage dump.

Union County is proposing to construct two synthetic turf fields at the heavily used park, as well as spectator bleachers, lighting and fencing.

The public is invited to attend the presentation and may ask questions concerning the proposal.

The Historic Preservation Commission meeting is Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 PM in City Hall Library. Parking and entrance at the rear of the building.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Dust Bunnies: Toliver to PMUA, OPRA abuse, more

Dust bunnies may seem harmless, but cause people with allergies
great aggravation.

 

A few "dust bunnies" for today -- bits of news too small for a full post, found when cleaning up the Plainfield Today desk.

Toliver gets a gig. So, the buzz is that former PMUA commissioner and husband of First Ward Councilwoman Diane Toliver, Alex Toliver has a new gig at -- the PMUA. I am reminded of the last high-profile appointment to the solid waste agency, when the late Councilor Bob Ferraro, who had sued the city for creating the agency got a gig as an inspector, complete with a car for riding around. Don't know yet what Mr. Toliver's duties are.

OPRA abuse. A certain someone who often comes to the mike at Council meetings and has had a grudge against Recreation since the Robinson-Briggs crew got the heave-ho, has a stack of over a thousand pages of documents prepared in response to her OPRA request this past summer. It took many hours to prepare, for which the applicant was not billed. She has not coughed up the cash for the docs, so the cache sits waiting. OPRA abuse?

A Joe Black Baseball League twofer. I am told that the Joe Black League failed to report an incident at Milt Campbell Field this past summer when a parent jumped a referee. Though the parent was calmed down, it is said the referee threatened not to do any more games. However it was resolved, it was not reported the Recreation as rules require.

The other bit of news is that the season's trophies were ordered at a local supplier, but never picked up or paid for. Hardly any way to treat a small business, right?

For more about dust bunnies and some surprising places you might find them, check here.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Free concert at Crescent Sunday

The NJ Intergenerational Orchestra presents a free concert
Sunday afternoon at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

 

New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra (NJIO) debuts its season in Plainfield with a dramatic program, titled From Tragedy to Triumph, on Sunday, November 15th at 3:00 PM at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Admission is free.

Savor the music of NJIO’s Intermezzo and Symphony Orchestras. Admire the musicality of talented 13-year-old Heechan Ku, a winner of NJIO's annual Young Artists Concerto Competition as he performs Lalo’s virtuosic Cello Concerto.

NJIO’s Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Warren Cohen, will play intense pieces by Beethoven, Kalinnikov, and Lalo.

The Beethoven Coriolan Overture is a dramatic and terse work that suggests the tragic outcome of its story. Vasily Kalinnikov's 1st Symphony is a brilliantly melodic score in the best Russian tradition, where memories of Borodin and Tchaikovsky are wedded to a wholly original harmonic imagination.

The orchestra will accompany cellist Heechan Ku, a NJIO's Young Artists Concerto Competition Winner, on the Lalo Cello Concerto, a colorful compendium of glittering orchestration, virtuoso cello figuration and clever, memorable melodies.

The Intermezzo Orchestra, conducted by Gavin Davies, will play "Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee," the beautiful motet by Brahms. The orchestra will also perform five Schubert waltzes, orchestrated by Graham Cohen, an award-winning composer, violist and coach in NJIO.

Our cello soloist, eighth-grader Heechan (Alex) Ku began playing the cello at the age of 8. He attends Tenafly Middle School and began studying at Juilliard Pre-College in New York City this September. Mr. Ku has won many prizes, including First Place in the International Grande Music Competition. He has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall. The 13-year-old cellist currently studies with Clara Kim.

About NJIO

New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra, now in its 22nd season, has been recognized as a national leader in intergenerational excellence through its unique approach to teaching musical performance and as a model for intergenerational orchestras across the country.

Not only do the intergenerational members play together, but they also mentor each other. In addition to providing free concerts and outreach to the community, NJIO has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations, and was a finalist for the Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence. NJIO welcomes new members of all ages and abilities each concert period to one of its several orchestras - no auditions needed!

NJIO is committed to ensuring that all programs and concerts are accessible to everyone. For more information regarding the concert or to inquire about patron services, please contact Mary Beth Sweet at (908) 603-7691 or by email at info@njio.org, or visit NJIO’s website at njio.org/.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by a HEART Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Funding is also provided by The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, The Merck Foundation, The Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund, the Plainfield Foundation, Investors Foundation and The Stanmdish Foundation.

At Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street. Parking in the church lot on First Place, on the street, or in Swain Galleries lot.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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