Relegating Hackensack to the dumpster

Dumpsters at The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack on Monday.

On the first day of the new year, The Record of Woodland Park continues to gag readers with coverage of the highly hyped fiscal cliff, Republican House Speaker John Boner, Superstorm Sandy and all the lowdown on local fires.

Readers get their first good belly laugh of 2013 from the annual publication of the "Editorial credo" on A-8 today, signed by Chairman Malcolm A. Borg, President and Publisher Stephen A. Borg and Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin.

Recall all the news articles about the Borgs' friends, business associates and lawyers you've seen in recent years, and how many times Doblin has climbed into bed with Governor Christie, the GOP bully who is out to destroy the middle class in New Jersey.

Dumpsterville

Meanwhile, the parking lot of The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack is filled with dumpsters and trucks, but not much activity.

It's not lost on readers who drive by and see the big "ACCURATE" on the dumpsters how many errors they see in the paper, thanks to inept Production Editor Liz Houlton, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

When they abandoned Hackensack in 2009, the Borgs and their editors seemed to wash their hands of covering municipal news or publishing anything positive about the city, the paper's home for more than 110 years.

Heavy editing

On the front of the Local news section, a story on how North Jerseyans rang in the new year leaves out several large ethnic groups.

But at least Sykes, Sforza and Houlton managed to spell Colombia correctly, as opposed to the recent, embarrassing misspelling of that South American country.

Big condo fire

There is so little local news today Sykes and Sforza were forced to blow up a North Bergen waterfront condo fire photo to cover nearly half of L-1 and then had to run another large photo of the same fire on L-3.

Apparently, no one was injured.

If you read the story to the end, you'll discover that the million-dollar views didn't come with superior construction, which could have stopped the flames from spreading to other units (L-3). 

The story doesn't say how much residents paid for their waterfront condos. But I see a big lawsuit here.

Construction lowdown 

Noting that "gypsum board" was used to separate units, North Hudson Regional Fire Chief Frank Montagne added:

"But it's nothing like the old days, when the fire walls were made of concrete. Nothing is better than concrete in a fire. This is all wood-frame construction. It's a tinder-box in there."  

The complex is called Roc Harbour, suggesting that from a fire-safety standpoint, buyers had rocks in their head.

The 160 residents -- who were displaced by a fire that destroyed only four of the 70 units -- must feel like suckers.

They can join the club, which includes all of the suckers who live in Hackensack and continue to read The Record.