Editors hide Christie's brand of voter suppression

A Page 1 story in The Record today claims the developer and architect for twin 47-story residential towers in Fort Lee "spent nine hours sketching ... their vision" of what they hope will be the gateway to North Jersey. The account doesn't explain why the first building, above, resembles little more than an enormous, glass tombstone.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The all-seeing and all-knowing editors of The Record haven't bothered to explain the historically low turnout on Nov. 5, when Governor Christie won a second term.

Fewer than four of every 10 voters cast ballots after enduring months of distorted TV ads, and campaign coverage that ignored Christie's failed economic policies.

Now, researchers suggest that long commutes adversely affect being engaged in civic affairs, according to a report on National Public Radio.

"There's something uniquely stressful about commuting, and so when you get home after a hellacious day, you really have nothing to give to other people in terms of civic engagement, in terms of getting involved in your neighborhood politics," NPR Science Correspondent Shankar Vedantam reported on Tuesday.

In New Jersey, the commute -- by car, bus or train -- has become more of an ordeal since Christie took office in 2010.

First, he killed Hudson River rail tunnels that promised the biggest expansion of public transit in decades. Then, he rubber stamped higher tolls.

Instead of forcing the Port Authority to expand the PATH rail system and add a second reverse bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel, Christie packed the bistate transportation agency with his cronies.

After all those hours caught in massive rush-hour traffic jams or standing in the aisles on buses and trains, who wants to go to the polls and vote?

Today's paper

The front-page centerpiece on twin Fort Lee residential towers -- called The Modern -- doesn't explain why the design of such prominent buildings are so uninspiring (A-1).

You can't miss the first 47-story monolith, which is sheathed in glass that reflects the setting sun and blinds some drivers approaching the George Washington Bridge.

If this enormous, glass tombstone actually ends up causing accidents and killing drivers, developer Allen Goldman and architect Howard Elkus might want to rename it The Dead.

On A-2, The Record acknowledges misspelling the name of a restaurateur who paid big money to advertise in the 2014 Dine Out Guide.

Counting cars

The Road Warrior column on L-1 today claims "50,000 or so Manhattan-bound commuters" get caught in the Route 4 east bottleneck in Teaneck each day.

Given Staff Writer John Cichowski's reputation for inaccuracy, I doubt the figure.

On Sunday, Cichowski reported incorrectly that a red-light camera study had been performed by Rutgers University.

To read about that and other flaws in the column, see the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Road Warrior makes readers see red

Witness is mum

Photos of Samantha Perelman -- daughter of Revlon billionaire Ronald Perelman -- show her on the stand during her testimony in the Hudson News inheritance battle in state Superior Court in Hackenack.

In today's L-1 photo, she has one hand to her chin and her mouth is closed, yet the caption claims she is "testifying."

On Tuesday's Page 1, she is shown slouched in a chair with her mouth tightly shut, but the photo caption insists she is "answering questions."  

Also on L-1 today, The Record reports Joseph Mellone, the Hackensack "construction official mired in scandal over alleged sexual harassment and code-enforcement oversight," has told city officials he will retire.

Mellone, an ally of the Zisa family, heads one of the city's most unreponsive departments.