Editors downplay Russian influence on election of Trump

The Port Authority Bus Terminal on Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan is the end of the ride for tens of thousands of commuters who board NJ Transit's No. 165 and other buses in northern New Jersey, below. 

Those commuters were ill-served on Friday by another in a series of Page 1 stories in The Record on the political battle over building a new bus terminal in Manhattan. Staff Writer Paul Berger should stop wasting their time and find out why the bi-state agency isn't adding more exclusive bus lanes at the Lincoln Tunnel to expand service in the decade or so before another terminal could be completed.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Gannett editors in a Neptune design center, where The Record and six other company owned dailies are put out every day, have a pretty weird idea of news.

Today, for example, a feature story on Manhattan carriage horses and a shrill column on carbon-monoxide poisoning dominate the Woodland Park daily's front page (1A).

At the bottom of the page, readers learn President Obama has asked intelligence agencies to review all cyber attacks in the last three presidential campaigns and elections, including the Nov. 8 Electoral College victory of President-elect Donald J. Trump.

U.S. intelligence officials are quoted saying they believe "Russia actively  attempted to interfere with this year's U.S. presidential election, including a hack of the Democratic National Committee's email system" (9A).

If Columnist John Cichowski is so concerned about carbon-monoxide poisoning, he could rail against the 53,000 deaths every year from auto emissions, but that might upset the auto dealers and automakers whose advertising keeps the paper afloat.

As it is, a photo with his Road Warrior column today suggests the carbon-monoxide deaths of a woman and two children last January in Passaic could have been prevented, if municipal crews did a better job of clearing the snow around their car.

Syrian refugees

On Friday's front page, the Newark Archdicocese welcoming 51 Syrian refugees against the wishes of Trump and Governor Christie was the only story of real interest in North Jersey. 

Inside the paper, another "food crawl" article in Better Living focused on Turkish restaurants, kebab houses and bakeries -- all relative newcomers to Paterson's South Paterson neighborhood (Better Living). 

Syrian families, including the Fattals and the Nouris, opened bakeries in the late 1960s that still flourish today, along with Syrian restaurants and markets.