With Christie, cops and more, editors won't place blame

On Tom Hunter Road in Fort Lee on Friday afternoon, the danger from sloppy municipal snow clearing was clearly evident on what is normally a two-way street, leaving no room for vehicles to pass each other, above and below. Behind the car were several more vehicles that had to squeeze past the school bus. This scene was repeated on many of North Jersey's narrow and not-so-narrow streets.

A story on The Record's Local front today -- "Wacky weather hangs on" -- makes no reference to how drivers and pedestrians have been put in harm's way by incompetent plowing and clearing in North Jersey weeks after the first big snowstorm.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's editors seem to tremble before authority, whether it's Governor Christie or the Police Department in Paterson.

An editorial today is only mildly critical of Christie's extensive out-of-state travel in pursuit of the White House, but praises the GOP bully for "a series of first-term accomplishments, including bipartisan deals with the Democratic-controlled Legislature" (A-13).

Christie's many policy failures, including Sandy recovery and the state economy; his record number of vetoes and his use of traffic to retaliate against Democrats are nowhere to be found.

Crime City

Then, in the second part of a series -- "IN HEROIN'S GRIP" -- Staff Writer Rebecca D. O'Brien only hints at Paterson's lack of resources and police manpower (A-1, A-6 and A-7).

For some reason, O'Brien doesn't mention the layoff of 125 officers in 2011, blamed on Christie's state aid cuts to poor cities and Paterson's own budget constraints.

Typical of how The Record criticizes authority, O'Brien quotes Charles Florio, a Ridgefield Park developer who owns 130 properties in the city.

"He blames the poverty, the addicts and the lack of police," the reporter says of Florio (A-7).

Later, Florio says, "at the end of the day, you have no police presence" and "police often take hours to respond to complaints about trespassing."

"They don't have the manpower or money to do real police work," Florio says.

This is a variation of how Trenton reporters politicize any criticism of Christie by quoting Democrats, and rarely ask readers for their opinion.

To better demonize Silk City, O'Brien reports:

"The Paterson of vibrant neighborhoods ... often exists in memory."

That amounts to a big lie, given Paterson's mansion-filled Eastside and South Paterson, a Middle Eastern bazaar of bakeries, food stores and restaurants.

Selling papers

Editor Marty Gottlieb's only interest is to sell newspapers, judging from more front-page play for an ISIS video showing beheadings, this time of Coptic Christians in Libya (A-1).

A full page in Local today is devoted to a house ad claiming The Record is North Jersey's "trusted sources for news, sports and entertainment" (L-7).

A photo shows part of a woman's face, but she looks too young to be a reader.

Sheepish

Hackensack readers are accustomed to sporadic news, but why does Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori freeze out Lotus Cafe in her story on Chinese New Year (BL-1)?

The Hackensack Avenue BYO is offering a four-course Year of the Sheep menu for $29.95 per person, including an appetizer, soup, main course and dessert.

Entrees include filet mignon, flounder, a half duck, jumbo shrimp or shredded roast duck served with buns.