'Mayhem,' 'chaos' and other fictions

The Record's old headquarters on River Street in Hackensack.

The Record and other media are giving Governor Christie a lot of credit for stepping up and pressing President Obama for aid after Superstorm Sandy devastated the shore and other parts of New Jersey.

This week, he's been all over the front page, blasting House Speaker John Boner and other Republicans for delaying a vote on a $60-billion relief package for the Northeast.

But it looks like property taxes will be going up in many communities anyway (A-1 today and on Friday, and A-10 editorial Friday).

So, will the media now take Christie to task for breaking his original campaign promise to lower taxes, and criticize him for how little he has done to encourage money-saving consolidation or cap the salaries of police chiefs?

Newsroom mayhem

On Friday, readers stared dumfounded at the Page 1 text, graphic and photo package screaming "traffic mayhem" at a "normally quiet corner" in Fairview.

What corner in sleepy Fairveiw isn't "quiet"? 

Do three relatively minor incidents involving a truck "blocking traffic," a rolling car injuring the driver and a four-car fender bender really deserve to be on the front page?

A Fairview police SUV was involved in the accident, but none of the three police officers on the scene could describe what happened.

Waitress gives tip

Luckily, Point Diner waitress Maggie Martin had nothing to do, saw everything and gave extensive information to the reporters and photographer who hyped this story to the max, even selling it to former New York Times veteran Marty Gottlieb, the editor who put this nonsense on A-1. 

Talk about a slow news day, and the substitution of traffic mishaps  and downed utility poles for legitimate municipal news.

Recall last May, when Gottlieb and the local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, reported "chaos" and "havoc" in Hackensack after the conviction of former Police Chief Ken Zisa.

But nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Christie hits jackpot

Friday's A-4 reported Christie has already collected $2 million in second-term campaign cash from all those wealthy supporters grateful for hundreds of millions in business tax breaks and continued low income-tax rates on millionaires.

Bullshit pulpit

The cowardly Steve Rothman has a retrospective of his 25 years in elected office on Friday's Opinion page (A-11).

Rothman is the ex-congressman from Fair Lawn who ran from a reelection fight against Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, then lost to Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, in November.

Rothman's selfish bid to prolong his own career ensured another term for Garrett, an arch-conservative.

He mentions he served two terms as mayor of Englewood and helped set it on "its path to renewal."

Tell that to all of the parents whose children are still attending segregated schools in the wealthy community, which counts Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg as a resident. 

An A-11 photo of Rothman posing in front of the Capitol shows him with a Volkswagen. Should he or any Jew be buying a German car?  

Suicide watch

Many pedestrians appear to be suicidal or have a death wish, but Road Warrior John Cichowski doesn't seem to think they should be ticketed for jaywalking (L-1 on Friday).

This stance is in keeping with earlier columns denouncing traffic cameras and quoting all those lead-footed drivers who delight in running red lights, endangering others.

Copping out

A long story about Hackensack's civilian police director, who will be appointed later this month, doesn't say how much he will be paid or whether that will be less than the $200,000-plus Zisa made (L-1 0n Friday).

Another donut-fetching police chief is retiring, this one after 28 years on the Tenafly force (L-3 on Friday).

Police Chief Michael Bruno was paid $189, 361 in 2012, more than Christie made as governor.  

Stir-fried curries

In Friday's Better Living, Staff Writer Elisa Ung brings us her lukewarm, 2-star appraisal of another mediocre restaurant, an Indo-Chinese place in Edgewater called Chinese Mirch.

What does "mirch" mean? I don't think she says.  

Today's paper

Official excuses fill the front-page story on why no police officers in Bergen or Passaic counties carry a Taser or other device that could disable a criminal suspect with an electric charge (A-1).

The story also again mischaracterizes the actions of Malik Williams, 19, of Garfield, who was killed by officers in December 2011.

The second paragraph says he "allegedly rushed" officers with a claw hammer and handsaw, even though the prosecutor said Williams "advanced toward" the cops.

Dogged reporting 

On Sykes' and Sforza's Local front today, a dog who allegedly "saved" a Tenafly home from burning to the ground gets bigger play than the swearing in of the first Korean-American on the Ridgefield Borough Council (L-1). 

That's in keeping with the anti-South Korea policy of Travel Editor Jill Schensul, a dog lover and vegetarian who has never forgiven Koreans for eating dogs in their native country.  

On L-3 today, a caption with a photo showing two stores in Lodi doesn't explain what "smashed into" means, even though there is room for more words.

Neither store appears to be damaged.