Midland Park police failed to shield mom who was slain

At Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon, a valet put a visitor's car in a parking space reserved for the handicapped, inconveniencing the truly disabled. This wasn't an isolated incident. Complaints to employees of Millburn-based Country Club Services, which supplies the valet parking at the hospital, have fallen on deaf ears.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's lead story today documents how a Midland Park woman appealed to police for protection against her ex-boyfriend over a 16-day period before she was murdered in her driveway.

A shocking Page 1 story reporting "a fearful series of events" leading up to the Oct. 22 stabbing death of Suzanne Bardzell doesn't explain why police couldn't protect her (A-1 and A-8).

The victim was the mother of two teenage boys and a private-school teacher in Teaneck. The suspect, Arthur Lomando, 44, is a former New York City police officer. 

Yet the story is silent on whether his being an ex-cop influenced police and municipal courts to allow him to remain free more than two weeks after he "allegedly broke into Bardzell's home on Oct. 5 and threatened to kill her with a pair of scissors" (A-1).

Many stories

The slaying of Bardzell, 48, has received extraordinary coverage in the Woodland Park daily since her death was first reported on the Local front Oct. 23.

Lomando's alleged threat to kill the woman, two massive manhunts, a restraining order and more were reported on the front page the next day.

Four more stories about the case appeared before today's piece, which documents the failure of police, courts and other agencies to protect Bardzell, a victim of domestic violence.

Those failures might be why the newspaper had to file an Open Public Records Act request with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Bardzell's murder in the driveway of her home also raises a question about the effectiveness of a small, local police force to protect residents.

If Midland Park had more police officers, would Suzanne Bardzell be alive today?

GOP news

You have to wonder what the A-1 photo caption writer at The Record was smoking when he or she described "the division between mainstream and conservative wings of the party," a reference to Republicans in the House of Representatives.

A more accurate caption would have described "conservative and radical wings of the party."

One of Governor Christie's chief boosters and apologists is Charles Stile, The Record's political columnist, as readers can see on Page 1 today.

Don't bother with Stile's so-called analysis. The headline says it all:

Still an
uphill
fight for
Christie

Needs buzz from
debate to bring
bump in polls

Under six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, standards for headline writing have been thrown out the window.

Before Houlton was promoted about seven years ago, lines in headlines ending with "an," "for," and "from" would have been spiked, and the copy editor ordered to write another.

An A-4 photo from this week's GOP debate, showing Christie with a flushed face, clearly says the GOP maniac isn't presidential material.

Local news?

In Local, Staff Writer John C. Ensslin insists for at least the second time that Christie's decision to remove John Molinelli as prosecutor was "sudden and surprising" (L-2).

This despite reporting Christie acted to replace the Bergen County Democrat as long ago as January 2013.

Why now?

The Record apparently hasn't reviewed the overpriced Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in the dozen years since the mediocre restaurant opened in Edgewater (BL-14).

So, why did Staff Writer Elisa Ung bother now, wasting hundreds of dollars on some of the unhealthiest food on the planet?

Ung willingly paid $48.95, $51.95 and $54.95 for fatty steaks that apparently weren't grass-fed or raised naturally.

This week, the World Health Organization said red and processed meats cause colon cancer, setting off a media storm.

The Record played the story on Page 1, then followed with columns promoting processed and red meats from clueless Food Editor Esther Davidowitz and Ung, the chief restaurant critic.