Baristanet Profile: Sandy Block

BY  |  Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011 3:30pm  |  COMMENTS (16)

Name: Sandy Block
Town: Bloomfield
When did you move there? 1982
How do you make a living? I was in the automobile business for 30 years and now retired.
Coffee, tea or … ? Old Fashioned Royal Crown Soda !!
What’s your idea of a perfect Saturday? Springtime and going to a car show.
What’s your favorite local restaurant? Senoritas (Bloomfield) or Eppes Essen in Livingston
What’s on your nightstand? Radio, Lamp, Tissues, Phone
Your iPod? Don’t have nor want one
Your TiVO? Ditto Above
What’s the worst-kept secret about your town? The taxes are too high.
What do you hope they say about you at your funeral? He was a really good friend and a great person, and I wonder if his wife will be selling any of his collectable cars?

Sandy Block, a regular commenter on Baristanet and an avid car collector, is the first subject of our new Baristanet Profile series. Have a suggestion for a profile? Write us at tips.

Occupy Du Jour

BY  |  Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011 2:12pm  |  COMMENTS (187)

A new poll shows 43 percent of Americans agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement, CBS news reports. Take our poll below and tell us what you think. Continue Reading

Aroy-D! Thai Elephant Truck Comes to Montclair

BY  |  Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011 12:16pm  |  COMMENTS (4)

Aroy-D means very yummy in Thai and it’s what the Thai Elephant Truck wants you to say after tasting its Thai food truck fare, inspired by the freshly prepared street food you can find on any given street corner in Thailand.

Thai Elephant Truck “officially” opened yesterday (you might have spied the truck last week, but they had to stop and get a fire suppression system installed). Look for the truck at Walnut Street every night this week (4:30-8:30 p.m.). Continue Reading

Back to the Drawing Board for Snow Ordinance

BY  |  Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011 11:00am  |  COMMENTS (2)

Pathmark wasn’t the only thing trashed at Renee Baskerville’s 4th Ward community meeting last night. Planning Board member Carole Willis took the podium at the end to express concern about a parking ordinance that passed first reading at the last council meeting, which would have imposed heavy fines on any car parked on a Montclair street during a snow. The measure would have imposed a fine of $500 for a first offense and $2,000 for subsequent offenses. Moreover, the proposed ordinance didn’t distinguish between light and heavy snowfalls.

Continue Reading

The Dinosaurs Cometh

BY  |  Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011 9:39am  |  COMMENTS (3)

The check-clearing department at the old American Savings Bank headquarters on Broad Street in Bloomfield was never quite this interesting. It now houses Field Station Dinosaurs, an audacious project by Bloomfield resident Guy Gsell to open a dinosaur theme park in Secaucus in May 2012.

When we talked to Gsell last spring, his plan — which will feature 24 full-size animatronic dinosaurs — was pretty speculative. But earlier this month, the Hudson County Freeholders granted Gsell a lease for tourism and educational purposes to set up his theme park on land adjacent to Laurel Hill Park. And on Monday, the first dinosaur was actually delivered to Broad Street — not one of the animatronic monsters, but a 9-foot-tall, 90 pound dinosaur puppet created by an Australian puppeteer, who also showed up to train Gsell and his crew how to operate it. Continue Reading

Major Renovation Planned for Lackawanna Plaza

BY  |  Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 9:40pm  |  COMMENTS (51)

At least 100 people listened tonight as Robert Ambrosi,  CEO of ARC Properties, described a bold plan to redevelop Montclair’s troubled Lackawanna Plaza shopping mall into a multi-use facility with 20 residential units, a glass-enclosed art gallery, a new restaurant with a liquor license and outdoor seating, a rooftop solar farm, revamped parking and improved landscaping. But the key to the project is getting the center’s anchor tenant, Pathmark, to either invest $5 million to renovate its store or leave. Continue Reading

Hockey Alert: New Jersey Outlaws Hit The Ice – Friday Oct. 28

Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 4:17pm  |  COMMENTS (2)

Win tickets to the season open this Friday night!

Professional hockey has come to New Jersey and has made its home at The Ice Vault in Wayne. Federal Hockey League’s newest minor league team, the New Jersey Outlaws will play its home opener against the Danbury Whalers from Connecticut on Friday, October 28 at 7:35 pm. Continue Reading

Montclair High QB Khalif Herbin Gets Strength From “Mom”

BY  |  Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 2:43pm  |  COMMENTS (1)

Go read this beautiful, moving story from the Star Ledger on Montclair High School quarterback Khalif Herbin and the amazing woman he calls mom, Linda Jones. Congratulations to Herbin and his mom on the big win Saturday against East Orange that drew a crowd of 6,000 to Woodman Field. Vote for him here as Star Ledger Player of the Week.

House of Gone

BY  |  Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 2:00pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

Montclair musician William Mallory put down his axe long enough to pen a debut novel, “House of Gone,” with a troubled narrator and a haunted house — inspired by an actual house in his neighborhood.

“It all came to me at once,” he says. “The actual house next to mine looked very haunted, and it was unoccupied for a while, so I created a plot between my house and the neighbors house in which both houses and their ghostly occupants have a paranormal relationship. It’s based literally on my surroundings but given a fictional storyline.”

The book is available at Montclair Book Center, Trend Coffee House and as an ebook.

Archie’s Weird Mysteries in Bloomfield

BY  |  Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 1:00pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

Just in time for Halloween, Bloomfield comic writer Paul Castiglia will make two local appearances to promote Archie’s Weird Mysteries, a newly-released collection of the best stories of the series that casts the famed Archie Comics teens in spooky situations. Continue Reading

Featured Comment

Oh I get it now ....A meat and greet.
Posted by
johnqp

Tip, Follow, Friend, Subscribe

Links & Information

Baristanet on Flickr

Browse all photos...