Even when Christie is traveling, his many failures haunt us

After burying us in thousands of words about a blizzard that never materialized, The Record hasn't reported on the challenges this week's snowfall poses for drivers and pedestrians. At Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, parking was especially tight around noon on Wednesday, but one visitor in an all-wheel-drive Toyota SUV wasn't going to be denied, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie's three-day trip to London helped take the focus off of his many failures at home.

This morning, WNYC radio -- not The Record of Woodland Park -- reported "less than 5 percent of the 8,000 New Jersey Sandy victims eligible for aid through the state's largest grant program have received funding to finish rebuilding their homes."

True, The Record's columnists have been fretting over how New Jersey is going to extend the state fund for road, bridge and rail improvements.

But the editors haven't blasted Christie for bringing the crisis to a head by refusing to raise the gasoline tax, which is the second-lowest in the nation.

And an editorial today focuses instead on ethical questions raised by the corporate group that pays for Christie's foreign travels in pursuit of the GOP presidential nomination (A-8).

Tracking Christie

WNYC is the New Jersey and New York Public Radio Station that started "The Christie Tracker" to tell listeners where the GOP bully is hanging his proverbial hat.

Today, for a change, Christie is in New Jersey, where he is scheduled to meet with the Canadian premier.

But the Web page also lists Bridgegate costs of $9,965,449.89 as of Dec. 9, 2014 -- $7.2 million of that racked up by the Governor's Office.

See: The Christie Tracker

Property taxes

The Record often uses the front page to promote Christie's White House ambitions, but buries the governor's excuses for why New Jersey is so screwed up since he took office in 2010.

Today, an e-mail from a Christie spokesman blames steep increases in troubled Atlantic City for why the average property tax bill in New Jersey went up by 2.16 percent in 2014 despite the 2 percent cap enacted in 2010 (A-4).

When is the last time The Record reported Christie actually promised to lower property taxes when he ran for governor in 2009?

A pedestrian struggling to cross the uncleared corner of Euclid Avenue and Main Street in Hackensack on Wednesday morning. A few blocks away, a snowbank continued to block the bus stop on Anderson Street, between River and Main streets.

On Cedar Lane in Teaneck on Wednesday, I saw two police officers on duty where traffic was funneled into one lane, but neither was directing traffic.

Potholes and more

Road Warrior John Cichowski has been so busy chasing phantom cracks in bridge supporting columns, he's completely oblivious to all of the potholes that have appeared on streets and highways such as Route 4.

On top of the potholes, last summer's utility work in Hackensack and other towns left crudely patched trenches that produce a rough ride for motorists, including a stretch of River Street in front of The Record's old headquarters.