Friday, February 20, 2015

Christie has no solutions for problems of his own making

Cedar Lane and River Road in Teaneck, near the Fairleigh Dickinson University campus, would seem to be an ideal place for a Starbucks with a parking lot. Actually, anything would be welcome to replace the eyesore of a shuttered gas station and diner.


By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A defiant Governor Christie reiterated his inflexible no-tax policy, but "offered no clues about how he would address challenges like transportation funding and growing pension obligation," The Record reports today on Page 1.

"We have to grow this economy, not the government," Christie told New Jersey business leaders gathered in Washington after a drunken train ride from Trenton on Thursday (A-1).

The reporters don't point out the GOP bully still is talking about growing the economy more than five years after he took office.

And, of course, Christie wants to shrink the public sector, but not the shadow government known as the Port Authority, the bistate agency he has used as a patronage mill to retaliate against Democrats who didn't support his reelection.

The Record does quote Patrick Murray, Monmouth University's poll director, who said he was "struck by" all the "angst" he heard in discussions with people on the chartered train:

"I heard about how Trenton isn't going to tackle any of the big problems we have in this state because of the governor's presidential ambitions" (A-8).

Diet and health

Also on the front page today, The Associated Press graphic on a government panel's proposed new dietary recommendations is a model of clarity compared to the lengthy, jargon-filled Better Living cover story that ran on Wednesday (A-1).

And an editorial urges the state Legislature to override the GOP bully's veto of the Port Authority reform bill (A-18).

Crime, court news

One glance at today's Local section makes it clear head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, have frozen out municipal news in favor of Law & Order stories (L-1 to L-6).

Sykes and Sforza are two of the laziest newspaper editors in the Western Hemisphere, and on too many days, seem unable to inspire their staff to gather little more than police, fire, court and accident news.

One story on the Local front -- the ambiguous gender of a bank robber who got away with more than $100,000 -- raises a question that many Woodland Park newsroom staffers have asked repeatedly about a few of their colleagues (L-1).

Black bird?

Staff Writer Elisa Ung doesn't explain how the owners picked the name of the Mexican restaurant in Edgewater she reviews today (BL-14).

Paloma Negra -- black dove or pigeon -- seems an odd choice, and her lukewarm, 2-star review is sure to discourage readers, and perhaps turn their thoughts to bird droppings.

She found "shriveled, dry slices of steak and pork loin" in one of the most expensive dishes, and "dry and shriveled" chicken in both flautas and enchiladas.

Even after a big meal, Ung leaves room for a sugary dessert, but she criticizes a "rigid" flan and a "cloying" cake. 

Poor woman.

Second look

Last Sunday's Road Warrior column on the death of CBS newsman Bob Simon was one of Staff Writer John Cichowski's most misleading efforts.

Simon, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown forward and suffered fatal injuries when his speeding Lincoln Town Car limo crashed on 12th Avenue in Manhattan.

Cichowski asserted side curtain air bags might have saved Simon, but they are intended to protect the head and chest of an occupant "in the event of a serious crash" involving the side of the vehicle, according to safecar.gov, not in the case of a major frontal impact.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Road Warrior windbag is wrong on air bags

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