Keep in mind that any company that you use for electric locks must be a licensed alarm company or a licensed locksmith.

The license requires background checks and there are lots of companies doing this work unlicensed. Making sure that whatever company you uses is licensed should hopefully cut out a lot of the bad contractors.

You can do a search of NJ licensed companies here: https://newjersey.mylicense.com/verifi ... _6/Search.aspx?facility=Y

I recommend Bergen Protective Systems out of Bergen County. www.bpsalarms.com

2nd on Home Depot. I bought a 6' tree for $30. Way better than going to a shady pop-up location.

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Spot on, JCMan8! All publicly funded projects require workers to be paid prevailing wage (whether or not the company doing the work is a union company). So you wind up having workers performing the same work that they would normally be doing, only getting paid double, if not triple or more the wage that they normally would be paid.

Some may say that this is good because workers need to make a living. The problem is that there is so much less public work since projects are prohibitively expensive. There would be more work out there if these astronomical wage rates were lowered, or abandoned completely for a more quality-controlled mindset where the quality of the work is overseen. Just because someone is getting paid more doesn't mean that they are doing a better job.

Very few people are willing to perform manual labor these days and talented laborers are hard to find. Because of this, workers who are good at their craft are paid a premium due to so many companies vying for them.

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AMEN to that!

People love to be armchair entrepreneurs. If they don't want something to go in a particular location because they feel something else would be a better fit for the space, they are always welcome to put up the funds to buy / rent the property and open what they see fit.

I love it when people try to tell others how they should risk their hard earned money.

I've used SpeedPro imaging in Westwood for a few vehicles for my alarm company. It?s a small shop run by a husband and wife who are very nice. They?re a bit far from JC, but are great to work with and do great work. They were significantly cheaper than other companies that I had priced with.

41 Bergenline Ave
Westwood, NJ 07675
201-254-0641

Bergen Protective Systems in Englewood Cliffs 201-947-3114.

Whoever you get make sure that they are licensed. There are a lot of contractors out there doing stuff like this who are not licensed and don't know what they're doing.

Unfortunately, this is not a local issue tied to any sort of corruption or bribery. NJ follows the IBC (International Building Code). It is an international code that is adopted across the country. NJ does make some minor amendments to it, but it is widely left in its original form as published by the International Code Council. That's not to say that cities / municipalities cannot adopt their own local codes that go above and beyond this code; but most elect to follow the IBC. The main tipping point for construction is when a building goes from a low/mid-rise building to a high-rise building. High-rise building construction is held to a much higher standard with regard to construction materials, methods and fire safety. Many of the sprawling rental apartment buildings you see outside of cities like JC (which usually go high for lack of space) keep the building below the high-rise threshold and use the type of construction that the Avalon in Edgewater used. That?s why they are wide and not high.

It is unlikely to see this type of construction change until the ICC decides to change it. Unfortunately, you typically don't see such drastic changes unless there is a loss of life. I don't agree with it, but that's usually what drives sweeping changes to such codes.

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I think they're referring the a "9 bar" of pressure that is required to extract the perfect shot of espresso. At least that's what their website says: http://www.cafeninebar.com

Went in there today..it was good, but I am definitely a fan of Choc O Pain. They have great coffee, especially when paired with a chocolate almond croissant!

North East Fire & Safety Equipment in Northvale for fire extinguishers and Bergen Protective Systems in Englewood Cliffs for fire alarm.