 |
| Room for two cars? On Euclid Avenue in Hackensack and on many other two-way streets in North Jersey, plows left snow that sets up potential collisions between vehicles. A few blocks away on Anderson Street, bus riders wait in the cleared driveway of a rental car business because a snowbank continues to block the bus stop itself. |
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
Two Page 1 stories in The Record today trace the webs of political influence spun by Governor Christie and Joseph Ferriero, a onetime power broker in Bergen County.
Staff Writer Shawn Boburg leads the paper with details of how United Airlines started a direct flight to South Carolina for then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson, a Christie appointee who is often described as the governor's mentor (A-1).
Samson, a former state attorney general, has a vacation home in Aiken, S.C.
"United Airlines was in regular negotiations with the Port Authority and the Christie administration during Samson's tenure over ... expansion of ... service to Atlantic City and the extension of the PATH train to Newark Liberty [Airport]," Boburg reports (A-1).
The story was picked up this morning by WNYC-FM, the New Jersey and New York Public Radio Station.
Boburg also traces the ties to Christie's new transportation czar, Jamie Fox, a former lobbyist for United Airlines and a close friend of Samson's.
Joseph Ferriero
Below the fold, Staff Writers Herb Jackson and Jeff Pillets report on the expected testimony of James Dausch, formerly a top Mills Corp. executive seeking approvals for a massive shopping and entertainment complex then called Xanadu.
Dausch is expected to testify in the federal racketeering trial of Ferriero, who once headed the Bergen County Democratic Party (A-1).
Jackson and Pillets report on newly public documents that "provide rare snapshots of a host of power players in New Jersey," including state legislators and congressmen, and campaign donations to them.
A key figure was Teaneck attorney M. Robert "Bob" DiCottis, who "helped the company [Mills Corp.] put together a team of consultants and navigate state politics" (A-7).
Ferriero is accused in part of extorting monthly $35,000 payments from Mills Corp., which is now defunct.
Christie junkets
Recent revelations of how Choose New Jersey, a corporate group, paid for Christie's foreign travel finally has knocked Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin off of his stump, admitting, "I was snookered" (A-11).
In his Opinion column, Doblin says:
"The latest revelations about the governor's trade trips -- lavish excursions funded through a non-profit governed by people with close ties to Christie and whose companies do business with or are regulated by the state -- blow the man-of-the people reformer image out of the water."
When readers catch their breath, they undoubtedly will wonder why it took Doblin more than five years to cut through all of the GOP bully's P.R. and B.S.
And why the journalist-cum-lapdog is allowed to write both an opinion column and help determine the paper's editorial policy on Christie's reign in New Jersey.
Jon F. Hanson
The Woodland Park daily still has not revealed the ties between real estate mogul Jon F. Hanson, one of Christie's chief fundraisers, and the Borgs, who own
North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record.
Last month, Publisher Stephen A. Borg announced that NJMG had turned to Hanson in a sale-leaseback deal involving the company's printing plant on 16.67 acres of land in Rockaway Township.
Borg said the agreement was with a fund sponsored by the Hampshire Cos. of Morristown, but didn't mention that Hanson is its chairman and founder or that his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, and Hanson had jointly purchased a private jet in 2011.
The printing plant at 100 Commons Way is assessed at $24,991,500, and the land is assessed at $1,979,600, Rockaway Tax Assessor Mark Burek said today.
Those assessments equal about 93 percent of the total value.
Bridge news
Another Page 1 story today reports on emergency repairs to two Route 46 spans (A-1).
But there is no mention of any of the Route 4 bridges cited in recent Road Warrior columns by staffer John Cichowski, the irresponsible reporter who tried to panic readers into believing they are unsafe.
Black history
Today's front page also appears to mark the first in a series of stories that will appear during Black History Month (A-1).
I couldn't find any Black History Month stories in the first five days of February, with the possible exception of a Thursday story on the homeless in Paterson.
When February is over, The Record will return to its usual policy of reporting mostly negative news about African-Americans, and the only way a black person can get on Page 1 until next year is if he or she is a suspect in a crime.
'Overpriced' Italian
The 80-seat dining room of Momento Italian Grill in Tenafly is "graciously decorated" with a crystal chandelier "dripping from the ceiling," Staff Writer Elisa Ung says in her lukewarm review (BL-14).
Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critic, sampled Momento's American rack of lamb -- which isn't likely to have been naturally raised -- but reports that it "arrived overcooked."
The price is an exorbitant $42.95.
In her data box, she explains the restaurant offers "value for the better items, otherwise can be overpriced."
That leaves Simply Vietnamese as one of the few reasons to eat out in Tenafly.
"United Airlines was in regular negotiations with the Port Authority and the Christie administration during Samson's tenure over ... expansion of ... service to Atlantic City and the extension of the PATH train to Newark Liberty [Airport]," Boburg reports (A-1).
The story was picked up this morning by WNYC-FM, the New Jersey and New York Public Radio Station.
Boburg also traces the ties to Christie's new transportation czar, Jamie Fox, a former lobbyist for United Airlines and a close friend of Samson's.
Joseph Ferriero
Below the fold, Staff Writers Herb Jackson and Jeff Pillets report on the expected testimony of James Dausch, formerly a top Mills Corp. executive seeking approvals for a massive shopping and entertainment complex then called Xanadu.
Dausch is expected to testify in the federal racketeering trial of Ferriero, who once headed the Bergen County Democratic Party (A-1).
Jackson and Pillets report on newly public documents that "provide rare snapshots of a host of power players in New Jersey," including state legislators and congressmen, and campaign donations to them.
A key figure was Teaneck attorney M. Robert "Bob" DiCottis, who "helped the company [Mills Corp.] put together a team of consultants and navigate state politics" (A-7).
Ferriero is accused in part of extorting monthly $35,000 payments from Mills Corp., which is now defunct.
Christie junkets
Recent revelations of how Choose New Jersey, a corporate group, paid for Christie's foreign travel finally has knocked Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin off of his stump, admitting, "I was snookered" (A-11).
In his Opinion column, Doblin says:
"The latest revelations about the governor's trade trips -- lavish excursions funded through a non-profit governed by people with close ties to Christie and whose companies do business with or are regulated by the state -- blow the man-of-the people reformer image out of the water."
When readers catch their breath, they undoubtedly will wonder why it took Doblin more than five years to cut through all of the GOP bully's P.R. and B.S.
And why the journalist-cum-lapdog is allowed to write both an opinion column and help determine the paper's editorial policy on Christie's reign in New Jersey.
Jon F. Hanson
The Woodland Park daily still has not revealed the ties between real estate mogul Jon F. Hanson, one of Christie's chief fundraisers, and the Borgs, who own
North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record.
Last month, Publisher Stephen A. Borg announced that NJMG had turned to Hanson in a sale-leaseback deal involving the company's printing plant on 16.67 acres of land in Rockaway Township.
Borg said the agreement was with a fund sponsored by the Hampshire Cos. of Morristown, but didn't mention that Hanson is its chairman and founder or that his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, and Hanson had jointly purchased a private jet in 2011.
The printing plant at 100 Commons Way is assessed at $24,991,500, and the land is assessed at $1,979,600, Rockaway Tax Assessor Mark Burek said today.
Those assessments equal about 93 percent of the total value.
 |
| On Euclid Avenue in Hackensack, drivers are thankful the street isn't heavily traveled. |
Bridge news
Another Page 1 story today reports on emergency repairs to two Route 46 spans (A-1).
But there is no mention of any of the Route 4 bridges cited in recent Road Warrior columns by staffer John Cichowski, the irresponsible reporter who tried to panic readers into believing they are unsafe.
Black history
Today's front page also appears to mark the first in a series of stories that will appear during Black History Month (A-1).
I couldn't find any Black History Month stories in the first five days of February, with the possible exception of a Thursday story on the homeless in Paterson.
When February is over, The Record will return to its usual policy of reporting mostly negative news about African-Americans, and the only way a black person can get on Page 1 until next year is if he or she is a suspect in a crime.
'Overpriced' Italian
The 80-seat dining room of Momento Italian Grill in Tenafly is "graciously decorated" with a crystal chandelier "dripping from the ceiling," Staff Writer Elisa Ung says in her lukewarm review (BL-14).
Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critic, sampled Momento's American rack of lamb -- which isn't likely to have been naturally raised -- but reports that it "arrived overcooked."
The price is an exorbitant $42.95.
In her data box, she explains the restaurant offers "value for the better items, otherwise can be overpriced."
That leaves Simply Vietnamese as one of the few reasons to eat out in Tenafly.
Well if it only took five years for Doblin to come to the conclusion he was snookered by Christie, can other sycophantic Record reporters and columnists be far behind in arriving at the same conclusion?
ReplyDeleteLet's hope so. But it could be too late to repair their reputations. Journalists who don't constantly challenge authority aren't doing their jobs.
DeleteVictor -- good post on Doblin. He is amazing. He is also a real Obama hater. He never looses a chance to criticize him. By the way, I think that there is an error on L-1 today in that the picture of Paul Fishman is not the U.S. attorney but someone else. Fishman grew up in River Edge so you would think that The Record knows who he is. I am pretty sure that it is the wrong picture.
ReplyDeleteThis reader was correct. The next day, The Record published a correction on A-2, acknowledging the photo "was actually of FBI Director James B. Comey."
DeleteIt's a wonder the Borgs continue to squander a six-figure salary on Production Editor Liz Houlton, who, as supervisor of the news and copy desks, is supposed to catch such stupid and embarrassing mistakes, which hurt the paper's credibility.
Houlton earned the title of "Queen of Errors" for all the screw-ups she presided over as head of the features copy desk, so her elevation to production editor just shows that at The Record, shit rises to the top.