Christie's 'good job' is a blow job

Palisade Avenue in Englewood on Oct. 30, a day after Hurricane Sandy hit.

Editor Marty Gottlieb bounces the glacial pace of power restoration after Hurricane Sandy off of The Record's front page today.

But on Friday, the paper quoted Governor Christie on A-8 as saying the utilities are "doing a good job."

Tell that to the privileged but miserable residents of Ridgewood who didn't have electricity or heat for 10 days (A-1 on Friday).

Screwing the public

Of course, Christie's wet kiss or blow job is aimed at getting the votes of utility workers when he runs for a new term next year, because he knows he can't count on state workers, teachers or the other unions he's screwed. 

Contrast Christie's comments to the tough talk from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called the performance of the utilities in his state "unacceptable."


More bad copy editing


The copy editing of the A-1 story on prolonged outages in two towns, Ridgewood and West Milford, is just the latest example of how standards have slipped since Liz Houlton took over as production editor.

The text, from Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, appears under a headline with the word "Ridgewood" in it. 

But the first paragraph about Patti Peretti refers to "her town," as does the second. Later, the story refers to "residents of one of wealthiest regions of the richest country in the world."

Finally, in the third full paragraph on the continuation page Friday (A-8), readers are told Ridgewood is indeed the town the Perettis live in. 

That's not how news stories are supposed to be written or copy edited.

Odd political couple

I laughed until my side hurt when I saw the photo of an obese Christie shaking the hand of a fit President Obama, whose eyes are closed, on Friday's A-3.

Why did The Record use a photo from Hurricane Irene in 2011?  

More road kill

On Friday's Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski wasted readers time with a column on a red-light referendum in sleepy Warren County, which is far from the circulation area (L-1).

The paper doesn't even cover Hackensack, the heart of the circulation area.

I got another good laugh on Friday over seemingly dazed, disoriented Florida utility workers getting off a bus in the Garden State Plaza parking lot in Paramus (L-1).

Even with hundreds of out-of-state workers, Public Service Electric & Gas Co. can't get the job done, so why do state regulators allow the utility to staff repair crews at such low levels? 

From hunger

Sales of McDonald's crappy food are down, but readers can't find any actual revenue figures in the story on Friday's L-9.

In Friday's Better Living section, why did Staff Writer Elisa Ung bother panning Bel Posto, a pricey Italian-American restaurant in Hackensack?

A few paragraphs warning readers would have been enough.

The same could be said for freelancer Jeffrey Page's Eating Out on $5o appraisal of Pei Wei Asian Diner, an inexpensive chain fusion restaurant in Maywood (BL-18 on Friday).

Page was so disappointed in the desserts he mentions a "forgettable chocolate chip cookie" in the first paragraph.

Also forgettable is his review of a restaurant whose name (pronounced PAY-way, but looks like pee wee) seems to be belittling the short stature of many Asians.  

'Our Katrina'?

In Saturday's paper (A-8), Christie says of Hurricane Sandy, "This is our Katrina." Isn't that rich?

In 2005, George W. Bush, a white Republican president, thumbed his nose at the predominately black residents of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Now, a black president rushes to the aid of New Jersey, a largely white state ruled by a white Republican governor.

And, of course, far more people died and lost their homes in Katrina than in Sandy, and neighborhoods in New Orleans still haven't been rebuilt.

Houlton's curse 

More sloppy copy editing appears on A-10 today in a photo caption: "SBA representatives setting up shop at Bergen Community College on Friday."

The college is in Paramus, but the temporary business recovery center is in downtown Hackensack, as the first paragraph of the story reports.

Racist readers

Also today, The Record publishes letters from deranged racists who call Obama "a proven liar and a socialist," and compare Americans to "zombies" who are "so dependent" on government help (A-11).

None of the letters are from Mitt Romney.  

Hurricane Elizabeth 

Houlton continues to insist that all stories refer to lower-case "superstorm Sandy," despite other media using upper-case "Hurricane Sandy." 

"Superstorm Sandy" was coined by New York Public Radio (WNYC-FM).

Weekly v. daily

The Nov. 9 edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronical has more information about Sandy's impact on Hackensack than did The Record, which called the city home for more than 110 years.

But the cover photo of a car partially submerged in water near The Record's old headquarters refers incorrectly to "River Road in Hackensack."

The owner of the newish Honda is the latest driver to discover too late that cars don't float.