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Cool Hand Luke easily tops the poll

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It’s clear which Paul Newman film RR readers prefer. I’d say the top three in our latest poll are the ones he’s probably most well known for generally, although I was surprised how poorly The Hustler and The Color of Money fared.

Each option garnered at least one vote, and I tried to offer a smattering of choices, from old to newer to comedy or drama. There were a few that I wanted to squeeze into the list (The Hudsucker Proxy, probably one of his least known and most underrated), but we got to 10 pretty fast.

As always, our polls are anything but scientific:

“If the UCPAC were to screen Paul Newman films, which would you like to
see?”
Cool Hand Luke, 52 percent (18/34)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 38 percent (13/34)
The Sting, 35 percent (12/34)
Slap Shot, 20 percent (7/34)
The Hustler, 17 percent (6/34)
The Long, Hot Summer, 17 percent (6/34)
Fort Apache the Bronx, 14 percent (5/34)
Absence of Malice, 8 percent (3/34)
Hud, 8 percent (3/34)
The Color of Money, 5 percent (2/34)

The poll was borne out of an earlier post in which we suggested the arts center show some Newman films since he passed away in September. Maybe take a slow weekend and show a movie Friday and double features Saturday and Sunday?

We’ll try to get back to posting a poll every couple of weeks. Watch out for new ones, and maybe even some repeats since we have more readers lately, and don’t be shy about suggestions. Enjoy.

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Commercial, Retail, St Georges Avenue

Salon finds another space

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A beauty salon that was rebuffed in an attempt to gain space on Irving Street has found a new home on St. Georges Avenue. Heavenly Hair Styles plans a grand opening this month at its new location near West Grand/Westfield avenues.

The Redevelopment Agency last month failed to approve a zoning overlay, by a 3-3-1 vote, that would have exempted the salon from a city ordinance that prohibits personal service businesses within 1,000 feet of each other.

Commissioners are expected to memorialize a resolution on the overlay at their next meeting (Nov. 12), according to Cynthia Solomon, director of community development and secretary to the agency.

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No surprises but here are Rahway’s unofficial election results for anyone interested, which do not include absentee ballots.

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City Council

Budget hearing on Monday

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A public hearing on the municipal budget will be held during the City Council’s regular meeting next Monday night after which it’s expected to be approved [CORRECTION: A public hearing will be held but a vote will take place after notification from the state on the city’s request for $1 million in extraordinary aid, which could come by the end of the month].

The city’s net valuation is up about $30 million, which is only for nine months of the year, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier, but a full-year assessment would be about $41 million next year. Last year’s valuation was up about $10 million, or 0.67 percent.

But it’s still not enough to avoid a tax increase. It’s unclear how much of a tax hike the $43-million budget for 2008/09 will carry but the city is awaiting word on a $1 million request to the state for “extraordinary aid.” Just about half the budget ($21.4 million) is allocated for salaries and wages for 344 city employees. Though the budget is down about 3 percent from last year’s $44.3 million, the amount to be raised through property taxes is up 7 percent, from $26 million to $27.8 million.

Although last year’s budget saw a mild drop in municipal taxes ($2,276) for the average assessed home ($133,000), it was the first time that sewer fees were separated from the local property tax bill. The annual sewer fee for a single-family home is $245 and it varies for other types of residences and businesses.

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Happy Birthday Rahway Rising

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First and foremost, thanks to everyone who’s been reading the blog over the past 365 days, and for commenting and sending e-mails. Hard to believe it’s been a year, but in the time since I started the blog, Hotel Indigo and SkyView at Carriage City Plaza have both opened and Hamilton Laundry finally was demolished. The economy has tanked altogether as well, forcing changes to two projects in town.

I started the blog because I’m interested in what goes on in my neighborhood and in my town, and I figure most people are as well. Unfortunately, while there are plenty of cable news channels screaming about the presidential election (granted, it’s important too), there’s precious few media covering what’s happening at a local Zoning Board or Planning Board meeting. What can I say, I’m a community journalist at heart, from my days as, well, a community journalist for a weekly newspaper.

You’ll notice there’s no advertising on the site. I’ve thought about messing around with Google AdWords but I thought it probably wouldn’t be worth the four cents a week I’d rake in. The blog isn’t what pays my bills either, so it’s really more a hobby/community service.

For those who are curious, here are some random readership statistics about the blog. I started tracking blog traffic in earnest with Google Analytics in mid-January, so these figures are for the last 8 1/2 months or so, and not a full year:

30,408 Visits
57,605 Page views
1.89 Pages per visit
2:23 Average time on site
8,384 Visitors

We have 151 subscribers by email, compared to 68 after six months (and 156 just yesterday…?). It’s been around 150 for a few weeks now. The highest number of visits in a day (226) was July 7; perhaps after a post about the number of units closing at SkyView. Not surprising considering SkyView is among the most popular key word searches that end up on the blog. We also get a number of visitors searching for Luciano’s and Cubanu, with a few looking for The Savoy. The most widely read posts also are still the ones about Luciano’s and Cubanu.

Goals for the second year? I’d like to hopefully spice up the blog graphically, but sometimes it’s tough to find the time after writing a few posts a week. I’m also hopeful of “marketing” the blog a bit more and getting the word out. It’s just been word of mouth and Internet searches so far that have pointed people toward the site. I’m also hoping to get a regular poll back up and running more frequently; that kind of petered out a few months ago. I also might be open to finding a new name for the blog if anyone has suggestions. I’ve explained the title before but I get the impression people think the blog is a totally pro-redevelopment, positive-only place to visit. I’ll write about anything going on, but good or bad is for readers to decide.

As always, I’m open to suggestions for improving the blog. Feel free to tell me what you like or don’t like either via the comments section below or by email. There’s been talk amongst the inner circle for some time about hosting a Rahway Rising happy hour or some kind of get-together. Maybe I’ll just have everyone over for some Karaoke Revolution.

Thanks again for reading.

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Auto body shop plans expansion

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The Planned Board finalized preliminary and final major site plan approval Tuesday night for an expansion of Quality Auto Body at 810 New Brunswick Ave. (Block 282, Lot 1.021).

A 22,000-square-foot, 26-bay facility would rise to complement the current facility across the street at 811 New Brunswick Ave. The business, which has been in Rahway since 1978 and handles high-end cars like Ashton Martins, will leave space on Elston Avenue once the lease expires.

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I’ll be running a 5K on Saturday morning at Rahway River Park with some friends. We didn’t whip up any Rahway Rising team shirts in time so you’ll just have to recognize us by my devastatingly handsome good looks (or just look for the guy getting dragged across the finish line). We can all celebrate the one-year anniversary of the blog — thanks to all for reading and helping out in various ways the past year!

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Downtown

Permanent pedestrian-only possibilities?

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Something for y’all to chew on while I work on a few posts I’ve been meeting to get to. I was in Denver last week for the first time and it reminded me of one of my favorite urban planning concepts: the pedestrian-only street (something about the feeling of sticking it to the man by legally jay-walking? The marriage of sidewalk and street sans curb?)

The 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver is chockful of restaurants, shopping, movies, etc. The only vehicles are buses that can take you from one end to the other. It’s not quite as offbeat as Burlington, Vt.’s Church Street Marketplace but it is a flurry of activity day and night. There also was the Summer Streets experiment in Manhattan this past August as well as a recent push in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to make the main drag there (Bedford Avenue) pedestrian-only.

By no means am I comparing Rahway to any of those cities. For one, Denver’s mall is 16 blocks long — though it is only 1.25 miles, not much longer than the stretch of Irving Street. But these are major metropolises that also draw on a big tourist population. The closest thing I can think of in New Jersey is Cape May’s Washington Street Mall, which is credited with “rescuing” that downtown in the early ’70s.

On with my point for discussion: How about making East Cherry Street pedestrian-only? It’s closed for some downtown events but would making it permanent be an improvement (I only say East Cherry because it seems like it’d make the most sense of any downtown street)?

I’m not sure that “pedestrianisation” is necessary for East Cherry Street as it’s not exactly dominated by vehicles and you’d lose parking spaces at a time when they seem to be at a premium. There would be an issue of adequate access to Lot B behind The Waiting Room, where a parking deck is planned, and hopefully future residential development. But ped-only areas also generate foot traffic, a primary goal of Rahway’s redevelopment. What do you think, would it help or hurt local merchants?

Regardless, it’s just food for thought. In the meantime, here’s another interesting New York Times story about various concepts to draw people out into the streets.

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5/8/12 UPDATE: I came across this recent piece from Atlantic Cities, “The Uncertain Legacy of America’s Pedestrian Malls,” which is a good read — and check out all the comments!

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Work under way on Essex Street park

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The new park along Essex Street near Riverwalk is taking shape, with work having begun several weeks ago. Installation of fitness stations began last week (although you can’t see them in the photo above). The City Council approved a $1-million bond ordinance for park improvements back in March.

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This has nothing to do with anything but, is it just me or does anyone else think of the guy from The Shield whenever “Joe the Plumber” has been in the news lately?

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