December 2001 / January 2002 Edition

Letters to the Editor   Traffic Safety I agree with you that Fair Lawn Avenue is unsafe and additional traffic lights are needed.  However, I think the greatest need for a traffic light is not at the intersection with Chandler Drive.  There is a much greater need for traffic lights at the intersections of Fair Lawn Ave and both Radburn Road and Wells Road.  Ever try to make a left turn from Radburn Road or Wells Road onto Fair Lawn Avenue East in the morning?  Make sure you say a prayer before pressing on the gas pedal.  Thanks for providing Pat Shuber's contact information.  I'll send this request to him directly. Gary Kane   Heavy Backpacks In response to your article on backpacks being to heavy...have you ever picked up a History or Math book from the high school? What is a kid to do?  When my son brought his books home to cover for the new school year I couldn't believe how heavy his history book and his math book were. If they have homework for multiple subjects their backpacks do weigh a ton. Donna Bellofatto   Problem With Broadway The problem with Broadway is that there is not enough variety of stores. Too many pizzarias and nail salons.  We need to attract clothing stores and book stores to the area. Rite Aid was a good start in my opinion but much more needs to be done. Stores need to keep their areas clean and summons given to those stores that are not up to standards. Judi Z    Rite Aid It seems to me that this Rite Aid is not doing too well. It closes early, location is not great... Parking lot is almost empty most of the time.  Everybody I know goes to some other pharmacy, even those living a few blocks off Broadway. I guess people south of Broadway find it convenient, but for majority of FL residents crossing Broadway on the way there and again on the way back is too much of a hassle. The building looks OK, I hope they have enough business to keep it. Lora   Does Broadway Really Need Road Barriers? I can't help but wonder if the road barriers are really necessary since they only run through Fair Lawn and not Elmwood Park? It would be so much more attractive if there could be shrubbery and/or trees lining the roadway! Candice V.    Make Fair Lawn More Pedestrian Friendly Advocacy before the NJDOT, or any other governmental jurisdiction, especially in the face of changing long-held beliefs - such as primacy of vehicles and the smooth flow of traffic over pedestrian friendly or business district enhancement strategies – requires sustained and applied political and community communications beyond the initial formal, written communication. Hightstown - among other communities within my experience - won approval this year from NJDOT for the removal of dedicated right turning lanes and the narrowing of traffic lanes in favor of widening its downtown's (a busy state highway) Main Street.    Both long held policies by the state's traffic engineers, the communities strongly held belief that 'it's a downtown, stupid' (a statement, paraphrasing a well known recent political statement that succinctly captured a national common-sense conclusion, that united the community) and thus its orientation is supposed to favor people instead of high speed, commuter or commercial truck traffic, ultimately changed NJDOT policy. Others have successfully won the battle of the traffic cones with NJDOT, why not Fair Lawn. Don Smartt River Road Improvement Corporation Project Director   New Garbage Contractor The new garbage service got off to a good start this morning. The trucks came down my street in Section 2 around 6:30 AM. In addition to being prompt, no garbage was spilled in the street AND the cans were placed upright back at the curb! Our street was rarely done before noon with the former contractor so the new routes probably shuffled the order of the streets. Roscoe   Fair Lawners Talk Funny When I moved here from England in 1984, I really thought I was well-prepared .I had visited the country and knew families who had lived here. And of course it isn't like moving to Japan - we all speak the same language, right?   After I actually moved, I found that Americans and Britons do not speak the same language.  A few examples  are (American first, British second):  drugstore – chemist,  diaper      - nappy, hood  - bonnet,  truck -   lorry, trunk of car – boot, paraffin – kerosene, flashlight – torch, hosiery run- tights with ladders,  cling wrap- plastic kitchen wrap,  French fries- chips,  sausages- bangers,  cookies- biscuits, potato chips- crisps, eraser- rubber   Look what you" YANKS" have done to the English language. Keith Brown   River Road Count me in as another person that patronizes River Road businesses, including Lazon, Kuiken (and may I highly recommend them both as alternatives to those big box Depot stores, which I never patronize except as a last resort), Walgreens and Shoprite, the bagel store, the fruit market, Carvel, and I wish the dollar store were still there!   Tax dollars are only ‘wasted’ [improving River Road] if the taxpayers don't support their neighbors, whether you support the improvement district's existence or not.   By the way, someone needs to attend to the bricks by the corner at Fair Lawn Avenue, on the Bank of NY side. They are sinking, cracking and heaving all over the place, probably from the lack of a rail at the corner to keep large trucks from running it over as they turn. Raymond Street Resident             Great Civil War Weekend I want to thank Tom Metzler, Jim Hile and organizers for a very informative and impressive event that was held at Memorial Park this weekend.   I brought a group of Boy Scouts to the event and they really enjoyed themselves.  It was a great display of our nation's history.  They enjoyed themselves and learned so much that many of them were heard saying...""Oh yeah, I'm coming back tomorrow."" and ""How do I become a reenactor?""  It was very well done and a lot of great lessons learned.  Nice to See!!!   And yes...Scouting is alive and strong in Fair Lawn...Any boy ages 11-17 that would like information on joining Scouts in Fair Lawn, please come down to the Radburn Grange any Monday night that school is in session from 7:15 PM- 8:30 PM. Scout Leader                Tribute to Teacher That is a beautiful tribute you paid to Nancy Tuttle. [See article]  Teachers so rarely get the recognition they deserve--- from the community, I mean. Kids know a good teacher when they are lucky enough to get one, as those years - later Christmas cards attest.  Congratulations to her and many thanks to you for giving credit where credit is due.  Morton Stark   (Note:  Some of these Letters to the Editor were originally posted on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum)       What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.