If you have to park anywhere in downtown Montclair any time in the next 10 months, you better plan on getting an early start. The Crescent parking lot* — the first place most shoppers and movie-goers looked when going downtown — was closed on Monday.

The good news is that construction is being started for a 430-car parking deck on the site. The bad news is that it won’t be done for months.

At a meeting at the Soda Pop Shop, downtown merchants, professionals and restaurant owners complained that they got little notice of the closing, and what they did get came awfully late. And they were far better off that the general public. As of 11:53 pm tonight, the news of the deck closing — and the town’s suggestions for where to find metered parking now — were still not posted on the Montclair website.

We’ll have more coverage of that meeting — and of another Monday night meeting, about fumes in Bloomfield High School — on Baristanet tomorrow. Until then, goodnight.

*Crescent lot, in blue, now closed. Lot with arrow pointing to it, closed last summer, prior to Hahne’s demolition. Church St. lot, with question mark, still open — but slated for Plofker hotel project.

The Montclair Health Department is giving out flu shots today until 4 pm. to residents of Montclair and Glen Ridge. You don’t have to be in a special risk group to qualify. A limited supply is available. Call 973.509.4974 for more information. The health department is located on the 3rd floor of 205 Claremont Ave.

With all the talk about construction of a new Montclair public elementary school building, LEEDS and other issues, another area school quietly acquired this historic property, the W.I. Lincoln Adams House, circa 1907.

Continue Reading

Deer contraception studies, illegal transportation of deer, and passing the buck, literally, so cute whitetails can become another state’s problem. It’s the topic of an editorial in the Star Ledger. We’re just wondering why our Baristaville deer expert Pat Kenschaft wasn’t contacted.

It’s no Montclair Watercooler, but we found this strange query on NJ.com’s Montclair forum. Would this post have passed through the Benevolent Despots’ elaborate screening process…

Continue Reading

Torn auditorium seats — despite mansions on Ridgewood Ave. and an average household income of $105,638. Oh the humanity!

The Star-Ledger writes today about Glen Ridge’s school funding crisis. Sure. True. It’s patently unfair that Glen Ridge only gets 5 percent of its school budget paid for by the state, compared to an average of 42 percent for all other school districts. And we agree that the plush red seats in the Ridgewood School auditorium are deplorable. But we have to take issue with the description of the rest of the auditorium.

The walls are badly discolored. There’s an old glass-enclosed ticket booth in the lobby, seemingly a remnant from another era. Half of the auditorium’s chairs, in fact, are originals, dating to 1953.

A remnant from another era? The whole town is a remnant from another era. Dating to 1953? That wouldn’t even qualify for historic status in Glen Ridge! Falling apart is one thing, but old? That’s like complaining that the architecture of Williamsburg dates to the Colonial period.

Besides, that enclosed ticket booth is cute. Now the school e-mail system that works sometimes and doesn’t work other times, on the other hand, that’s a problem. And the property taxes…

Jerry Mosier, in an Unmod post, complains of all the Christmas decorations that remain up around town. Which leads us to an important question, when should Barista start issuing Seasonal Decorating Violations for reindeer and Santas who overstay their welcome?

Brooke, the lost mutt,who was padding around Montclair for two and a half weeks, through snow and ice, with a hurt foot and a cone collar, was found on Saturday. And in a heartwarming twist on the old Lassie story, where the dog rescues the human, in this case the internet may have helped rescue the dog. Brooke’s mug has been on the home page of Montclair Unmoderated, which spread news of the AWOL canine.

Ah, the great blizzard of 2005. It seems so … one week ago.

Remember those insane grocery store lines? The frantic compulsion to stock up on milk and toilet paper? Those long hours stuck inside with only books, tv, dvd’s, cd’s, the internet, Monopoly, Scrabble, knitting, making fires and sibling rivalry to entertain us?

Well, it’s all just a memory now, but if you want to relive it, go follow this thread on eGullet, a discussion site for foodies in north Jersey. In the middle of the storm, moderator Rosie Saferstein asked the crowd what they were eating. And it wasn’t macaroni and cheese.

Continue Reading