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| The doors to Hackensack City Hall were locked on Tuesday evening, shortly before a scheduled City Council meeting, as they were when this photo was taken on Feb. 18. Unfortunately, some residents didn't see the cancellation notice on the city's official Web site. The lame-duck Hackensack City Council met on Monday night, canceling its scheduled Tuesday meeting, and The Record didn't cover the meeting, leaving some residents in the dark. The big Hackensack news today is Tuesday's ceremonial opening of the Alfred and Mary Sanzari Garden on Main Street, opposite the Bergen County Courthouse (L-6). More big lies Road Warrior John Cichowski apparently lied to his editors to get his column on Page 1 today, and is lying to readers about a transportation crisis that existed only in his own feeble mind. His lead paragraph reports that "for six long years," commuters have "dodged four lanes of speeding traffic" to reach the NY Waterway ferry in Weehawken. But that's only true for jaywalkers, because there is both a crosswalk and a traffic light there, Weehawken police said today. Neither is mentioned anywhere in the column, which also refers to "the dangerous pedestrian crossing that Weehawken's mayor has been complaining about since 2007" (A-1). What's the truth? A Weehawken police sergeant I spoke with this morning said that since 2007, not a single pedestrian has been injured or killed by a car in that crosswalk. It's likely Cichowski also can't be believed that "hardly anybody" is using the new footbridge to cross over Port Imperial Boulevard between the light-rail station and ferry. Cichowski and The Record apparently missed the ribbon-cutting last Wednesday, and there was no mention the footbridge had opened in Thursday's paper. So, he apparently is trying to hide his refusal to leave his comfortable chair in front of the computer to cover important mass-transit developments. Analyze this Staff Writer Melissa Hayes strung together a bunch of quotes from boosters of Governor Christie's bid for a second term, and Editor Marty Gottlieb put the so-called ANALYSIS on the front page. Stick with this story for some unintended hilarity: "The message is sent that the Democrats are staying home on this governor's race ... [an apparent reference to shut-ins]." "Christie is incredible, he takes all the air out of the room [not to mention all the food]." The story reports the endorsement of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, a Democrat, but not that Christie got only 27% of the vote in that county in 2009. Local news on A-1? For the past 3 days, the central element on Page 1 has revolved around local news. It's a hopeful sign that Gottlieb has given up trying to impose his Times-like world view on readers with tons of international and national news on the front page. Of course, that means that head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local news section will continue to languish. Cardiac cook-off The Record has a new food editor, but continues to run recipes that are guaranteed to give readers heart problems. An artery clogging recipe for BLT Pasta appears on the Better Living cover today (BL-1). A recipe for Strawberry Shortcake in on BL-2. The bacon recipe is from Kate Morgan Jackson, a food blogger from Upper Saddle River whose recipe for Steak and Blue Cheese Salad appeared on May 29. Jackson apparently doesn't even know enough to recommend uncured, additive-free bacon or beef that isn't raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones. |
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tear up your Hackensack City Council schedule
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My personal opinion: Hayes is a Christie sycophant who enjoys being in the aura of his celebrityhood.
ReplyDeleteYes. A lot of her reporting is one-sided, and seems more public relations than news reporting. She is another reporter who is under the mistaken impression her job is to stay in the governor's good graces or maybe she wants a job flacking for him, if he wins the election.
DeleteIf police indicated no accidents since 2007, can you find out what was the mayor talking about when he stated (as per the Road Warrior column) items below. Why would he liken the situation to dodge ball if there is a cross walk and traffic light? Was the mayor exaggerating what has occurred and the need for this overpass to justify spending close to $10 million on a walkway overpass?
ReplyDeleteCan you also check with your source and find out if these accidents happened much earlier than 2007? When was the last time there was an accident and any injuries or fatalities? Were pedestrians ignoring the crosswalk and light and simply jaywalking?
“We’ve had several accidents there,” Mayor Richard Turner told reporters last week just before he cut a ribbon and led council members and other officials across the span. “It’s been like dodge ball down there … and I keep getting calls from commuters and newspapers. Everybody wants to know when the bridge will open — or why it hasn’t opened.”
John's column includes quotes from officials at the ribbon cutting ceremony and what took place on that day. Is it possible that John or someone from The Record was actually at the ceremony?
The mayor refers to accidents, not pedestrian injuries. I called the police and spoke to a sergeant who said no pedestrians have ever been injured there in the 12 years he has been on the force.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was clear there is a light and crosswalk at the ferry.
As for the quotes, he could have been working from an NJ Transit press release.
It's more dramatic to liken it to dodgeball. As for the footbridge, it may have been required by laws on handicap accessibility.
ReplyDeleteWrong again on the council meeting schedule Mr. Sasson. The rescheduling of both of the June meetings was discussed at a COW meeting and was also published in the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteWhat paper and when? If you mean legal ads, few people read those.
ReplyDelete