Rest in Peace: Gwen Acree

We are very saddened to hear about the passing of Ms. Gwendolyn Acree, recipient of the 2011 Matthew Feldman Award for Community Relations, long-time resident and activist.

Our condolences to the Acree family and to the greater Teaneck Community she touched over the years.

Here is Ms. Acree in an interview with the Bergen Record in 2017:

Township Manager Announces Partnership with Holy Name for Vaccinations

Link to sign up for the Rodda Center location:  https://rodda.holyname.org/COVID19VAC

Update (1/20/2021):

Earlier today, a fiber optic cable belonging to OPTIMUM was damaged interrupting Internet services in many municipalities, including Teaneck. The outage map now indicates most of Teaneck is back online.

Because of the disruption of Internet services, the link to register for the COVID-19 vaccine was not in service. The link should be active by noon tomorrow (Thursday) for one thousand appointments of the MODERNA vaccine.

All vaccinations will take place on Friday, January 22nd only. Appointments will be available to Teaneck residents with Phase 1A eligibility.

Thank you,

Contact Information:
Dean Kazinci
Manager’s Office
201-837-1600
dkazinci@teanecknj.gov


Update (1/18/2021):

Please note that we have scheduled all available appointments for our current supply of the PFIZER COVID-19 vaccine that Holy Name Medical Center received from State of New Jersey. The vaccine was given to 570 residents today.

Due to the lack of available vaccine, the Richard Rodda Center Vaccination Site will be closed on Tuesday, January 19th. Holy Name Medical Center is awaiting delivery of additional trays of the vaccine which should arrive mid week.

I will release additional information when it becomes available. Thank you for your patience.

Contact Information:
Dean Kazinci
Manager’s Office
201-837-1600
dkazinci@teanecknj.gov


This is Township Manager Dean Kazinci with an important update on the Teaneck COVID-19 point of distribution at the Richard Rodda Center:

The public link to register for the COVID-19 vaccination is now open. There are a limited number of vaccinations available. Appointments listed on the link reflect the number of doses currently available.

Please visit rodda.holyname.org to register and make your appointment now. When all appointments are filled, the link will reflect that information. As additional doses of the vaccination are received by Holy Name Medical Center, the link will reactivate for appointments based on the number of available doses.

Please continue to monitor www.teanecknj.gov and www.holyname.org/covid19/ for updated information.

Thank you,

Dean Kazinci
Township Manager
Contact Information:
Dean Kazinci
Manager’s Office
201-837-1600
dkazinci@teanecknj.gov

Please listen below for a message from Township Manager Dean Kazinci

(this message went out as a reverse-911 yesterday, January 13, 2021)

 

Image may contain: one or more people and people standing, text that says 'STATION'Image may contain: one or more people and people on stage

Promise Kept: Code Update

There’s something new at the top of the online version of the Teaneck Code:

Available here: https://ecode360.com/TE0774

Includes legislation adopted through 12-08-2020.

Promise Kept:  When I ran for office, I pledged to work on making sure you could go to the website and see what the law is.

This may sound like something you’d take for granted, but for decades, this has not been the case.

In 2018, I wrote this post:

Why re-codification of the Teaneck Code is important

Well, it’s taken the better part of two years, but we’ve done it.  The code is now updated through all legislation passed by Teaneck in the last month.

Want to know if parking is allowed on your block?

You can go here and check: https://ecode360.com/13625579
(as a bonus, the streets are now in alphabetical order for easy perusing)

What’s next?

In 2019, a resident wrote me about a neighbor, seeming violating the code by not having a fence around an above ground swimming pool.  After extensive research and telephone calls with the Building Department, it turned out that the State modified guidelines and pre-empted our code.  The resident read the section correction, but it was no longer enforceable.  Yet, it was there.  Now, it’s not.

There were a lot of projects I’ve been wanting to pursue, but needed an updated code in order to get them done.

Those, are now on my radar.

As always, if you have suggestions, please keep them coming.

 

Because that’s the rule: Dog Licensing and early re-vaccination

Recently, a question was raised by a resident about the need to re-vaccinate a dog in order to get an annual license from Teaneck.  I’ve looked into the issue.  As with most things in NJ, it’s…. complicated.  I’ll break down the relevant rules below and discuss some changes that I’ll be suggesting.

Issue:

  • July 2020: You get a new dog
  • October 2020: You get your dog vaccinated for Rabies (expires one year later in October 2021)
  • January 2021: You attempt to register your dog in Teaneck

 

This is a common scenario that many people have faced, only to find a rejection notice.  Residents are being told to re-vaccinate for rabies.  It’s confusing to most dog owners, because the vaccine is good for a year and they received it only 62 days ago.

Why can’t a dog get registered and then get a booster before the October vaccination expires? Continue reading “Because that’s the rule: Dog Licensing and early re-vaccination”

Affordable Housing vs Rent Control

Affordable housing enables Teaneck to keep the promise of equality and equitable treatment in our real estate markets. It furthers the objective of what Teaneck has always been about. Rent control does not. And I want to take a few moments to explain what the difference is.

From the time NECO and Fair Housing activists put out “Not for Sale” signs in response to blockbusting efforts, we’ve held true to the creed that everyone* deserves to live here and that we should be a town that creates the environment that allows people to move here and live here.

Affordable Housing creates a lower than market alternative for those unable to afford to live here due to market rates effectively pricing them out. All modern apartments must comply with affordable housing requirements. The affordable housing units are given only to those that can’t afford them otherwise and the processes in place ensures that ONLY those needing affordable housing receive it.

Rent control on the other hand has no means-test. It applies to a mere subset of units here in town and it has a lot of drawbacks. Make $250k a year? You get the benefits of rent control. Continue reading “Affordable Housing vs Rent Control”