More to this JP Parking all most sounds....

[Upstream]

I was finally able to get through to the county parks department. The guy I spoke with said that it was actually the athletics department that decided they aren't using Johnson Park anymore. I told him that the ticket reps are saying it was the opposite, and that it was the parks department's decision. He was surprised about that and asked if I could provide the name of the person from Rutgers that I spoke with, but I didn't have the guy's name. He said the parks department is taking a lot of heat over this, and now that he is aware that Rutgers Athletics is falsely telling people it was the county's decision, he understands why.

I called the ticketing office back and told them that the parks department said that it was not their decision, and that it was the athletics department that made the decision. The person I spoke with said that all they know at the ticketing office is that they have been told by their management that the county isn't allowing parking at Johnson Park. He suggested contacting the facilities/operations department, but I called every number listed for them and they all went to voice mail. I called the number for Hobbs's office and the person I spoke with said she will have someone call me back.

So it seems like the talk on here about Green Acres and a lawsuit is just typical internet message board speculation by people trying to sound like they have all the answers. If anything, it seems like the theory that the athletics department just wants to sell more parking passes may not be far off after all. Hopefully I get a call back today with some real information.


EDIT: When I was on the phone with the parks department, I asked them if there is anything stopping us from just parking in a normal Johnson Park parking lot on gameday, and he said we'd just have to keep in mind that the park is only open until sunset, so we wouldn't be able to do that this week, and the 3:30 games might be on the fence depending on what time the game ends. Also, no tailgating.

Thanks for looking into this. Interesting information you provided. A couple of points to keep in mind when trying to decipher these conflicting stories:

• I would assume that the people who you talk to in the Rutgers Ticket Office do NOT know what they are talking about. They're not in a position to have real knowledge of what is really going on behind the scenes. They are just repeating what they have heard, which may not be official and may not be correct, and they may not be repeating it correctly.

• I would not assume that whoever answered the phone at the Parks Department actually knows what they are talking about. Like the people in the Rutgers ticket office, the person in who answered the phone at the Parks Dept may not be in a position to know what is really going on.

• Everyone you talk to has an incentive to deflect blame in an unpopular decision by blaming the other guy.

• You would need to talk to someone in charge in the Athletics Dept or Parks Dept to get the real answer. And that may require digging if both parties were involved in the decision and they are trying to deflect blame.

 

[WhiteBus]

I was finally able to get through to the county parks department. The guy I spoke with said that it was actually the athletics department that decided they aren't using Johnson Park anymore. I told him that the ticket reps are saying it was the opposite, and that it was the parks department's decision. He was surprised about that and asked if I could provide the name of the person from Rutgers that I spoke with, but I didn't have the guy's name. He said the parks department is taking a lot of heat over this, and now that he is aware that Rutgers Athletics is falsely telling people it was the county's decision, he understands why.

I called the ticketing office back and told them that the parks department said that it was not their decision, and that it was the athletics department that made the decision. The person I spoke with said that all they know at the ticketing office is that they have been told by their management that the county isn't allowing parking at Johnson Park. He suggested contacting the facilities/operations department, but I called every number listed for them and they all went to voice mail. I called the number for Hobbs's office and the person I spoke with said she will have someone call me back.

So it seems like the talk on here about Green Acres and a lawsuit is just typical internet message board speculation by people trying to sound like they have all the answers. If anything, it seems like the theory that the athletics department just wants to sell more parking passes may not be far off after all. Hopefully I get a call back today with some real information.


EDIT: When I was on the phone with the parks department, I asked them if there is anything stopping us from just parking in a normal Johnson Park parking lot on gameday, and he said we'd just have to keep in mind that the park is only open until sunset, so we wouldn't be able to do that this week, and the 3:30 games might be on the fence depending on what time the game ends. Also, no tailgating.

The Green Acres wasn't internet speculation. It was forwarded from another poster who got it from Rutgers Athletics.

Anyway. Rutgers can't demand the county not do it. If the county wants to make money there they can do the same as years past. There is nothing Rutgers could do about it. His story sounds like BS.

 

[robcac26]

Thanks for looking into this. Interesting information you provided. A couple of points to keep in mind when trying to decipher these conflicting stories:

• I would assume that the people who you talk to in the Rutgers Ticket Office do NOT know what they are talking about. They're not in a position to have real knowledge of what is really going on behind the scenes. They are just repeating what they have heard, which may not be official and may not be correct, and they may not be repeating it correctly.

• I would not assume that whoever answered the phone at the Parks Department actually knows what they are talking about. Like the people in the Rutgers ticket office, the person in who answered the phone at the Parks Dept may not be in a position to know what is really going on.

• Everyone you talk to has an incentive to deflect blame in an unpopular decision by blaming the other guy.

• You would need to talk to someone in charge in the Athletics Dept or Parks Dept to get the real answer. And that may require digging if both parties were involved in the decision and they are trying to deflect blame.

The person I spoke to from the parks department definitely sounded like someone who would be in a position to know about this. It wasn't some front desk receptionist. He gave me his name too, but I forgot what it was and didn't write it down. As for the Rutgers ticket office, I agree 100% that the guy I spoke with has no real knowledge other than what he was told by his managers. Like I said in my previous post, his response was something along the lines of, "all we know at this office is just what management told us--that the county isn't allowing parking at Johnson Park."

The Green Acres wasn't internet speculation. It was forwarded from another poster who got it from Rutgers Athletics.

Anyway. Rutgers can't demand the county not do it. If the county wants to make money there they can do the same as years past. There is nothing Rutgers could do about it. His story sounds like BS.

I did ask the person from the parks department why if the fans still want to park there and the county didn't mind the fans being there, what is stopping them from just continuing to allow parking. I wish I remember what exactly his response was, but it was something confusing about Rutgers contracting out some of the work to a third party, and that it wasn't just the county that they were dealing with, so for whatever reason it isn't as simple as the county just allowing people to park there. Still didn't make much sense to me, but he definitely seemed legitimately surprised and annoyed that Rutgers was blaming the parks department.

 

[WhiteBus]

The person I spoke to from the parks department definitely sounded like someone who would be in a position to know about this. It wasn't some front desk receptionist. He gave me his name too, but I forgot what it was and didn't write it down. As for the Rutgers ticket office, I agree 100% that the guy I spoke with has no real knowledge other than what he was told by his managers. Like I said in my previous post, his response was something along the lines of, "all we know at this office is just what management told us--that the county isn't allowing parking at Johnson Park."


I did ask the person from the parks department why if the fans still want to park there and the county didn't mind the fans being there, what is stopping them from just continuing to allow parking. I wish I remember what exactly his response was, but it was something confusing about Rutgers contracting out some of the work to a third party, and that it wasn't just the county that they were dealing with, so for whatever reason it isn't as simple as the county just allowing people to park there. Still didn't make much sense to me, but he definitely seemed legitimately surprised and annoyed that Rutgers was blaming the parks department.

Well someone isnt telling the truth. His story about Rutgers hiring a 3rd party doesnt make sense either. The county ran the parking and got the money for it.
It also doesnt make sense that the county is passing on easy money.

 

[Abro1975]

RU Ticket Office is smearing the Middlesex County Park Commission by spreading a false rumor about JP parking being cancelled by the Parks Dept when it is not true ?

One question. How did they ever expect to get away with such a lame excuse ? Sounds like they are trying to play RU fans as suckers again, as a way to sell more parking passes.

Until Hobbs or someone from RU makes an official statement, this scenario above will gain traction, heck, if RU needs to sell more Parking Passes, then I guess they could always sell mini plans for parking lots in select lots (non premium) to increase ticket sales and parking pass sales.

 

[RU#1fan]

I got an Email from the Middlesex County Director of Parks, Mr. Lear, and he clearly states it was the Rutgers Athletic Department's decision not renew their lease to have Parking at Johnson Park. He said the County wanted to maintain the arrangement but Rutgers said no.

Unreal . Some really fishing going with Hobbs and his Department.
Eliminating another option to ease ingress and exiting of Vehicles into Rutgers Football games ( see Fan Experience) makes absolutely no sense.

 

[WhiteBus]

I got an Email from the Middlesex County Director of Parks, Mr. Lear, and he clearly states it was the Rutgers Athletic Department's decision not renew their lease to have Parking at Johnson Park. He said the County wanted to maintain the arrangement but Rutgers said no.

Unreal . Some really fishing going with Hobbs and his Department.
Eliminating another option to ease ingress and exiting of Vehicles into Rutgers Football games ( see Fan Experience) makes absolutely no sense.

Rutgers had a lease on the land?

And if this truly is a RU decision its a stupid one. Made worse by blaming the county.
Just another Rutgers screw to their fans.
Those that praise Hobbs as different and really cares about the die hard fans are clueless. Just another attempt to squeeze every last penny out of the fan base.

 

[Knightmoves]

Rutgers had a lease on the land?

And if this truly is a RU decision its a stupid one. Made worse by blaming the county.
Just another Rutgers screw to their fans.
Those that praise Hobbs as different and really cares about the die hard fans are clueless. Just another attempt to squeeze every last penny out of the fan base.

Ding, Ding, Ding !

Is Hobbs truly that clueless that he was part of a faux blame campaign against the Middlesex County Park Commission for this story ?

Maybe RU FB is truly cursed, because this scenario stinks to the high heavens IMO. Hobbs is much better than this. I truly hope that he was not involved. But it's hard to believe that this scenario could go down without his approval. And so it goes in the words of Kurt Vonnegut.

 

[RULoyal]

I got an Email from the Middlesex County Director of Parks, Mr. Lear, and he clearly states it was the Rutgers Athletic Department's decision not renew their lease to have Parking at Johnson Park. He said the County wanted to maintain the arrangement but Rutgers said no.

Unreal . Some really fishing going with Hobbs and his Department.
Eliminating another option to ease ingress and exiting of Vehicles into Rutgers Football games ( see Fan Experience) makes absolutely no sense.

Wonder what the lease terms were?

 

[FanuSanu52]

Ding, Ding, Ding !

Is Hobbs truly that clueless that he was part of a faux blame campaign against the Middlesex County Park Commission for this story ?

Maybe RU FB is truly cursed, because this scenario stinks to the high heavens IMO. Hobbs is much better than this. I truly hope that he was not involved. But it's hard to believe that this scenario could go down without his approval. And so it goes in the words of Kurt Vonnegut.

Don't you live in Fla?

Maybe scale the outrage back a notch.

 

[WhiteBus]

Ding, Ding, Ding !

Is Hobbs truly that clueless that he was part of a faux blame campaign against the Middlesex County Park Commission for this story ?

Maybe RU FB is truly cursed, because this scenario stinks to the high heavens IMO. Hobbs is much better than this. I truly hope that he was not involved. But it's hard to believe that this scenario could go down without his approval. And so it goes in the words of Kurt Vonnegut.

You forgot signing away a home game to play at Yankee Stadium.

 

[Scarlet16E]

Wonder what the lease terms were?

I don't know but plenty of people posting speculation as fact here.

Rutgers paid the county a fee to use it as parking. Rutgers uses a third party event parking firm to run all the lots, including JP when they were using it.

 

[Knightmoves]

Don't you live in Fla?

Maybe scale the outrage back a notch.

Point well taken. Thank you and I agree w your statement. Now living in SW FL I am an RU FB fan living remote to Piscataway NJ. After many years as a FB season ticket holder I am not at the home games anymore.

But it's difficult to believe that the Middsx County Park Commission lied about rejecting RU Parking on gamedays ( if true ) because of the loss of county revenues and that most of their decisions are likely to go public thru the freedom of info act.

But how poor a strategy for RU to try to distort the story, if true ? Sounds like a pure revenue grab by RU, but didn't we already sign up for this when we joined the B1G ?

IMO If Hobbs signed off on this it may be possible that he was directed to go along with it by the higher ups at RU. I don't know that, but why would Hobbs sign off to such a lame money grab situation w parking that was based on a mistruth ? I don't get it.

 

[mikemarc1]

RU confirms it was a school decision.

 

[Tango Two]

Why is parking at Johnson Park off limits to Rutgers fans?

"There has been some confusion regarding our decision to no longer use Johnson Park for parking on football game days,'' Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs said in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media.



http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i...king_at_johnson_park_off_limits_to_rutge.html

 

[bethlehemfan]

Sounds like it wasn't a good deal for RU.

 

[RU#1fan]

I don't know but plenty of people posting speculation as fact here.

Rutgers paid the county a fee to use it as parking. Rutgers uses a third party event parking firm to run all the lots, including JP when they were using it.

True. County Parks Commissioner Lear said Rutgers leased the Park and was in control of all operations including Security and Police. Can't imagine the County was trying to extort a ransom from Rutgers for the 6 Saturdays a year the "space" is leased. Sounds like Hobbs is trying to minimize any Parking Options for Fans that are not associated with Donation Fees.

 

[Abro1975]

Why is parking at Johnson Park off limits to Rutgers fans?

"There has been some confusion regarding our decision to no longer use Johnson Park for parking on football game days,'' Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs said in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media.



http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/i...king_at_johnson_park_off_limits_to_rutge.html

Hobbs, or whoever is responsible, is going to take as much criticism, as paying big bucks for the pleasure of giving a Big10 home game to the NY Yankees.

Season ticket sales must be down a lot more than anyone realizes. As this reeks of desperation.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Hobbs, or whoever is responsible, is going to take as much criticism, as paying big bucks for the pleasure of giving a Big10 home game to the NY Yankees.

Season ticket sales must be down a lot more than anyone realizes. As this reeks of desperation.

Don't agree. I don't really care about Johnson Park. I'm a season ticket holder and I would guess that the majority of season tickets holders are already paying a premium for assigned parking in the university lots. I haven't parked in Johnson Park since 1992. The Yankee Stadium things sucks for a myriad of reasons some actually related to football.

 

[Block R]

Hobbs, or whoever is responsible, is going to take as much criticism, as paying big bucks for the pleasure of giving a Big10 home game to the NY Yankees.

Season ticket sales must be down a lot more than anyone realizes. As this reeks of desperation.

I agree it would seem to indicate season ticket sales are down and RU feels it is no longer worth the cost of providing the services necessary for people (including many visiting fans) to use prime parking right across the street from the stadium. I understand the frustration of having something taken away, particularly for those who are not season ticket holders, but it seems like a reasonable position for RU to take in my opinion. As a season ticket holder with a parking pass, I like this because if I don't need a pass for a game I would expect to get a little bit more on the secondary market for it. An easy solution to those upset by this decision is to buy season tickets with a parking pass.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Sounds like it wasn't a good deal for RU.

I'll say.. assume all the costs but NONE of the revenues? Makes me wonder if the costs were MORE than the revenues.. and did I read it correctly that the personnel used in the park was provided by the park.. that is, the park submitted a bill to Rutgers AND charged everyone parking?

WTH? Glad to see this GreeenSpaces nonsense had nothing to do with it.

 

[sct1111]

Rutgers was paying the county to use the park and saw none of the revenue brought in. Basically, rutgers football was making a ton of money for Middlesex County. It wasn't mutually beneficial.

 

[Tango Two]

I think ticket sales way down

 

[Tango Two]

Hobbs, or whoever is responsible, is going to take as much criticism, as paying big bucks for the pleasure of giving a Big10 home game to the NY Yankees.

Season ticket sales must be down a lot more than anyone realizes. As this reeks of desperation.

Seems like it

 

[S_Janowski]

Rutgers was paying the county to use the park and saw none of the revenue brought in. Basically, rutgers football was making a ton of money for Middlesex County. It wasn't mutually beneficial.

Post of the thread now can we shut this thing down.

The outrage and speculation about 200 spaces. Some people are unbelievable.

 

[RULoyal]

Rutgers was paying the county to use the park and saw none of the revenue brought in. Basically, rutgers football was making a ton of money for Middlesex County. It wasn't mutually beneficial.

If this is the case they should have never signed the deal in the first place.

 

[e5fdny]

Rutgers was paying the Yankees to use the Stadium and saw none of the revenue brought in. Basically, Rutgers Football was making a ton of money for them. It wasn't mutually beneficial.

The song remains the same.

 

[_dave_]

So, sounds like for day games people can park for free now instead of having to pay $45. Just like buccalech park, but closer.

 

[sct1111]

Something tells me Rutgers tried to renegotiate the deal but Middlesex wouldn't budge. These games bring in a lot of money to local businesses in Middlesex and hence a lot of tax revenue. It's a travesty they couldn't figure it out.

 

[Tango Two]

County should just go it alone and keep the $$

 

[Upstream]

Post of the thread now can we shut this thing down.

The outrage and speculation about 200 spaces. Some people are unbelievable.

Yep. Seems like a lot of outrage over the loss of 200 parking spaces, 2/3 of which were probably used by visiting fans.

And, by the way, if the county wanted to, there is nothing to prevent them from providing parking, and paying the expenses themselves.

But for 200 parking spots, it's probably not worth it.

 

[S_Janowski]

Yep. Seems like a lot of outrage over the loss of 200 parking spaces, 2/3 of which were probably used by visiting fans.

And, by the way, if the county wanted to, there is nothing to prevent them from providing parking, and paying the expenses themselves.

But for 200 parking spots, it's probably not worth it.

And anyone suggesting that Rutgers (or Hobbs) did this to increase Revenue as opposed to decreasing Costs needs to take a hike.

 

[robcac26]

So, sounds like for day games people can park for free now instead of having to pay $45. Just like buccalech park, but closer.

You're not going to be able to park where the Johnson Park football parking lot was. That area is grass. I think there's a pretty high chance you would get towed. You can park in regular parking lots in Johnson Park, but only for games that end before the sun goes down, and it's probably a longer walk than Buccleuch Park, and you can't tailgate.

Yep. Seems like a lot of outrage over the loss of 200 parking spaces, 2/3 of which were probably used by visiting fans.

And, by the way, if the county wanted to, there is nothing to prevent them from providing parking, and paying the expenses themselves.

But for 200 parking spots, it's probably not worth it.

I don't care if it was 20 parking spots or 20,000 parking spots. This was where I have parked for almost every game since becoming a season ticket holder, would you really expect the people who parked there to not be upset just because there is only a few hundred spots? There were a good amount of visiting fans that would park there, but there were also a good amount of season ticket holders. We saw a lot of familiar faces there at every game, and it's unfortunate that we probably won't be hanging out with them anymore.

I understand now it didn't make sense from Rutgers's perspective, but it is annoying that they sprung this on us just over a week before the first game and that they had their ticket reps basically lying to the fans, telling us it was the county's decision. Why did it take until today for the facts to come out?

 

[FanuSanu52]

Yep. Seems like a lot of outrage over the loss of 200 parking spaces, 2/3 of which were probably used by visiting fans.

And, by the way, if the county wanted to, there is nothing to prevent them from providing parking, and paying the expenses themselves.

But for 200 parking spots, it's probably not worth it.

My favorite part is that that the motto of this board could, maybe should, be "More Money for RU!" So RU does something to help balance the books, no matter how small, and people complain.

Also, posters who paid for parking passes used to be kinda mad that cheap, convenient parking at Johnson was a thing (why did I pay all this money for a parking pass!!). Now everyone's mad that it's not a thing and furious about the possibility that RU cut it out to help sell more expensive parking passes (which doesn't sound like was the case anyway).

I realize the RU screw is a real thing, but it's not omnipresent. Sometimes the real problem is that our fans are the whiniest group of grown adults on god's green earth.

 

[Tango Two]

You're not going to be able to park where the Johnson Park football parking lot was. That area is grass. I think there's a pretty high chance you would get towed. You can park in regular parking lots in Johnson Park, but only for games that end before the sun goes down, and it's probably a longer walk than Buccleuch Park, and you can't tailgate.


I don't care if it was 20 parking spots or 20,000 parking spots. This was where I have parked for almost every game since becoming a season ticket holder, would you really expect the people who parked there to not be upset just because there is only a few hundred spots? There were a good amount of visiting fans that would park there, but there were also a good amount of season ticket holders. We saw a lot of familiar faces there at every game, and it's unfortunate that we probably won't be hanging out with them anymore.

I understand now it didn't make sense from Rutgers's perspective, but it is annoying that they sprung this on us just over a week before the first game and that they had their ticket reps basically lying to the fans, telling us it was the county's decision. Why did it take until today for the facts to come out?

Took until now because of pressure from media I think

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Post of the thread now can we shut this thing down.

The outrage and speculation about 200 spaces. Some people are unbelievable.

200 spaces.. maybe 800 people.. 2% of the average 40K attendance... you don't think 2% is worth talking about?

If Middlesex County cannot find a way to make money allowing 200-300 cars to park there on game day they need to take offers from vendors to rent the space to do just that. Lets see.. lets say you can get 200 cars at $30.. that's 6K.. maybe 3-4 hires working it for 8 hours.. lets call that $1K.. portapotties.. lets call that another $1K.. insurance.. $500 maybe.. that's still $3500 leftover. Pay Middlesex County Parks $2K.. you clear $1500 for just putting the deal together... 6 games. maybe 7.. that's $10K a season... for nothing. I'm sure Rutgers is paying some cops for the parking lots.. but would an independent entity have to go that way?

 

[RUsojo]

Leave it to Rutgers fans to complain about the state not giving the school ample support or respect in the media to then complain about how they would rather pay the state to park for a Rutger game than pay Rutgers.

 

[fischy5000]

Let's ignore the should/shouldn't they do it aspect for a moment...how in the world did RU not figure it out until a week or so ago? It's not like the $ #s changed.
Strange that they thought confidently enough that they were going to be keeping the parking there that it was printed in the brochures...unless they thought they were better negotiators than they really are and tried til the last moment just assuming they'd get what they want before eventually not and deciding they had to spring it on the fans.
Right or wrong...just another scenario that leaves a bad taste in people's mouths that probably didn't need to happen.
While we're on the topic of negotiating , I can't wait til the team is doing really well and we (RU) eventually have the ability to be on the winning side of a negotiation whether it's parking or food or not paying a team/org. tons of money to use their stadium for a game.

 

[Knight Shift]

First we need some sort of official explanation as to why parking is no longer offered in Johnson Park. Right now all we have is speculation.

I agree it would seem to indicate season ticket sales are down and RU feels it is no longer worth the cost of providing the services necessary for people (including many visiting fans) to use prime parking right across the street from the stadium. I understand the frustration of having something taken away, particularly for those who are not season ticket holders, but it seems like a reasonable position for RU to take in my opinion. As a season ticket holder with a parking pass, I like this because if I don't need a pass for a game I would expect to get a little bit more on the secondary market for it. An easy solution to those upset by this decision is to buy season tickets with a parking pass.

You win the thread.

Some of our fans are the worst. Our parking situation is light years better than most of the B1G stadiums even without JP. These same "fans" will complain about our facilities and how far we are behind our competition, yet they will not pay RU the same or less to park in the black or purple lot or the RAC. They would rather give money to the County and continue to complain how we are losing the arms race.

 

[Knight Shift]

Rutgers was paying the county to use the park and saw none of the revenue brought in. Basically, rutgers football was making a ton of money for Middlesex County. It wasn't mutually beneficial.

Sounds familiar. Maybe the County helped negotiate the deal with the Yankees.