New flight path won't end those unbelievably noisy takeoffs

Planes low over South Hackensack as they landed at the Port Authority owned Teterboro Airport in 2014, above and below. The aircraft with the propeller in the nose, above, is one of the noisiest to use the airport regularly.

Business jets like this one are the biggest users of Teterboro, which is favored by the 1 percent, celebrities and corporate executives, and flights originating in Europe.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

What could possibly be noisier than a business jet landing at Teterboro Airport?

Any resident of Hackensack, South Hackensack, Teaneck, Englewood and other nearby towns will tell you it's the roar from those jets when they take off that can be even more annoying.

Today, Editor Deirdre Sykes again is making a big deal on the front page of The Record over a new fight path to Teterboro Airport -- after decades of ignoring the noise generated by the old one.

And at least half of that noise comes from jets and other aircraft that take off from the Port Authority owned airport -- usually at full power.

That roar or boom can be heard for miles around, and many of those ascending aircraft turn immediately over Hackensack's Fairmount section.

Borg and Teterboro

In the 1980s, the biggest complaint from Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg of Englewood, owner and publisher of The Record, wasn't airport noise.

He summoned the Port Authority's new executive director to lunch in his private dining room in Hackensack, and demanded to know when the bi-state agency was going to open an aviation museum at Teterboro.

Later, Borg, as chairman of North Jersey Media Group, used Teterboro as a base for the jet he owned with Jon F. Hanson, the real estate mogul who has advised and raised funds for Governor Christie.

I can't recall any articles about Teterboro aircraft noise in The Record's Local section during the many years Sykes was the head assignment editor there.

Atlantic City

After reading all of The Record's coverage of the casino bust and Atlantic City's financial problems, North Jersey voters are expected to resoundingly reject a November ballot proposal for two casinos here.

Today, Staff Writer John Brennan calls the state's attempt to take control of Atlantic City's finances "rhetorical crossfire among the three leading elected officials in Trenton" (A-4).

What else can you expect from a former sports reporter?

Affordable housing

Staff Writer Marina Villeneuve manages to write a long story about Bergen County towns opposed to affordable housing, and not mention that most of the people who would live there are black and Hispanic (L-1).

In her first paragraph today, she refers to them as "people of modest means." 

That sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?

Nor does she explore the racial motivation of officials who block the low- and moderate-cost housing, except for her last two paragraphs.

There, she cites a Mack-Cali Realty lawsuit that called Upper Saddle River "segregated" (L-6).

Significantly, the borough's response doesn't deny that, Villeneuve reports.

Westmont Station

A day after reporting another postponement of the opening of a new NJ Transit rail station in Wood-Ridge, The Record today says the building will finally be ready on May 15 (L-1).

Staff Writer Christopher Maag never explained why NJ Transit didn't provide bus shelters and ticket machines to commuters during the delay, as the agency did for those who used the station that burned down on Anderson Street in Hackensack.

Second look

Tuesday's first Business page was dominated by Staff Writer Joan Verdon's story on fast-casual dining chains eating the lunch of sit-down restaurant chains (L-7 on Tuesday).

What about Lavash City, a fast-casual Armenian spot on Main Street in Hackensack, and similar local restaurants?

When will The Record publicize them?