Editors ignore Christie role in housing and health-care woes

A Christmas Tree went up in the lobby of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center the day after Thanksgiving.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Staff Writers Lindy Washburn and Salvador Rizzo of The Record continue to give Governor Christie a pass on his bid to sabotage both President Obama's health-care initiative and landmark court rulings on affordable housing.

In fact, the conservative Republican governor's name is completely missing in Washburn's upbeat story on the Affordable Care Act (3A).

Nor does the GOP thug's name appear in Rizzo's piece on skeptical state Supreme Court justices hearing a plea from towns to forgive their affordable housing obligations in the past 17 years (4A).

Gee, it isn't news that Christie takes credit for an expansion of Medicaid in New Jersey -- thanks to an infusion of federal funds -- but refused to set up a state marketplace residents could use to buy health policies under the Affordable Care Act.

That has thrown New Jerseyans onto the overburdened federal marketplace, and reduced their choice to two insurers in 2017, compared with five this year.

Nor is it a secret Christie tried to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing, the state agency that is responsible for ensuring that all 566 municipalities in New Jersey provide their share of low- and moderate-cost housing.

Many of Christie's supporters live in largely white suburban towns that have refused to accommodate affordable housing and an influx of minorities.

Water on brain

The Record's so-called commuting columnist continues to diss long-suffering NJ Transit bus and rail riders to lavish praise on NY Waterway, a trans-Hudson ferry company that celebrated its 30th anniversary this week (1A).

Taking the ferry is the most expensive way to commute to the city with the exception of driving there yourself and paying exorbitant parking rates.

Page 1 today also appeals to high rollers who are willing to pay $10 for a reserved parking space at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus.

Gannett editors put this story on the front page to please one of the paper's biggest advertisers.

More Bridgegate

The story that belonged on Page 1 today is Superior Court Judge Bonnie Mizdol in Hackensack saying she will release a Bridgegate-related decision on Friday (1L)

Bill Brennan, a former Teaneck firefighter with a law degree, is asking her to appoint a special prosecutor in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal (1L).

Brennan wants Christie prosecuted for doing nothing when he learned about the Fort Lee traffic jams in September 2013.

Christie wasn't named in a federal indictment, but three of his former aides or associates have been convicted of conspiracy and other charges.

All said he knew about the lane closings while they were happening.

Still, the governor has somehow managed to avoid testifying under oath and in public on what he knew and when he knew it.

EPA mileage rule

An Associated Press story on a proposal to boost average fuel economy and emissions targets in the U.S. also appears to be slanted toward other big advertisers -- automakers and auto dealers (16A).

The U.S. Environmental Agency proposal is a victory for the environment, but the story doesn't discuss the impact of auto emissions on climate change or their role in the deaths of 53,000 people every year.

The EPA is standing by an Obama administration proposal for an average fuel economy of 50.8 mpg by 2025, compared to 35.3 now.

Each automaker would be required to hit that average across its entire model line -- including hybrids and EVs -- not for individual vehicles (the acronym CAFE stands for corporate average fuel economy).

Manufacturers are upset that to meet the targets, they would have to reduce the number of highly profitable but gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs they sell.

This year, both Ford and Nissan have ramped up production of big SUVs and pickups to take advantage of low gas prices.

Older readers are begging for an 'age-friendly' newspaper

A woman catching the spirit at a free concert Friday night in Hackensack's Atlantic Street Park, where a Colombian band played salsa and cumbia tunes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The predominantly older readers of The Record rarely see a story about themselves like the one that led Saturday's paper.

Staff Writer Colleen Diskin, who spends most of her time writing about the institutionalized elderly, reported that five Bergen County towns "are on a mission" to become places where residents "can grow old" (A-1 on Saturday).

The headline:

"Towns map an 'age-friendly' future"

Isn't that rich? The Record has never seemed interested in becoming an "age-friendly" newspaper.

Road Warrior John Cichowski consistently ignores the challenges facing older drivers -- his peers -- but writes column after column about teenagers.

(On Saturday' front page, Cichowski wrote about one of the most pressing issues facing older drivers -- tinted windows in cars -- and today on L-1, he goes on and on about license-renewal lines at the Motor Vehicle Commission.)

The No. 1 killer in the United States, heart disease, and dementia have consistently been ignored in favor of covering autism.

Editor Deirdre Sykes also ignores the biggest reason residents leave New Jersey -- a highly inefficient home-rule system of government supported by increasingly higher property taxes.

And The Record's editorial board has never urged towns to consolidate and lower costs by sharing services or to replace do-nothing police chiefs with police directors who are paid less.

Superficial story

In her superficial Saturday story, Diskin mentions high taxes in passing, suggesting more seniors "could cope ... by moving in together, sharing costs, rides and lives."

Then, on the continuation page, Diskin says Micki Shalan, 82, of Teaneck has used her home, her only asset, "to make ends meet, taking out a reverse mortgage and renting out a room to a number of different tenants over the past few years" (Saturday's A-6).

That's pathetic. A reverse mortgage means the poor woman will lose her home upon her death, and won't be able to pass it on to survivors.

Is that the best Teaneck and the other towns can do? 

The best solution isn't to force seniors into the sharing economy, but to make fundamental changes that will lower taxes and retain residents.

Today's front page

Except for photos from the Rio Olympics and several news briefs, Page 1 today is filled with politics:

The lead story is a deadly dull discussion of "Rule 3" at the Port Authority -- the patronage mill that keeps on giving to Governor Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who have vetoed reforms.

Record Columnist Charles Stile delivers yet another boring exploration of Senate President Stephen Sweeney positioning himself for the 2017 gubernatorial election.

And Columnist Mike Kelly seems to be the last journalist to report wacko racist Donald J. Trump has shot himself in the foot so often lately supporters are abandoning his GOP presidential campaign.

A second major article on Trump's racist supporters appears on A-4.

More Trump news

If you think Kelly said all he wanted about Trump on A-1, you're mistaken.

His second column appears on the Opinion front, predicting Tump's defeat on Nov. 8 and how that will affect Governor Christie, the head of the businessman's transition team (O-1).

Affordable housing

The Real Estate front today carries an upbeat story on the affordable housing that replaced Paterson's notorious Alexander Hamilton projects (R-1).

You haven't seen a similar story about a town in Bergen County, because many have fought units for low- and moderate-income residents, fearing an influx of minorities.

I'm racking my brain on what Christie has done for us lately

The Anderson Street Bridge has finally reopened between Teanack and Hackensack after crews worked to strengthen the span, but traffic still is restricted to one lane in each direction. Meanwhile, two major eyesores on Cedar Lane at River Road in Teaneck -- a shuttered diner and a long-abandoned gas station -- have been demolished.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today's Page 1 story in The Record on how Governor Christie has frozen $2.7 billion in NJ Transit projects sounds horrendous.

That's until you realize it's a bargaining chip in the road-and-rail funding fight between the GOP bully and the Democrats in the state Legislature, and will probably be lifted in a week or two.

Then, commuters will go back to fighting each other for rush-hour seats on buses and trains, and Staff Writer Christopher Maag will continue to completely ignore them.

Veto crazy

Meanwhile, Christie has executed more than 500 vetoes and cut transit subsidies, causing far more damage to New Jersey residents than a temporary halt in road and rail projects.

Yet, Editor Deirdre Sykes continues to cover his every word, burp and fart on the front page, especially when he stumps for wacko racist Donald J. Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee (A-1).

The Record is the only major daily in the state that declined to call for Christie's resignation when he first endorsed Trump.

The A-1 story on housing -- next to the Christie-Trump campaign appearance -- reports the governor also has refused to enforce the state's existing affordable housing laws.

An advocate is quoted as saying the laws don't just benefit low- and moderate-income families -- which opponents take to mean minorities -- but also help disabled and elderly residents.

Local news?

Sykes continues to rely on court and other Law & Order news to fill her Local section (L-1 and L-3).

On L-2, a story on downtown Englewood seems to be saying officials aren't alarmed by a recent survey that found 27 store vacancies, because that is less than "a similar survey three years ago ... that there were 30 vacant storefronts."

So, I guess readers can conclude city economic development officials have done little or nothing about vacant storefronts for three years.

Staff Writer Matthew McGrath is mistaken when he reports Palisade Avenue has "four traffic lanes."

There are only two lanes each way between the monument and Grand Avenue/Engle Street, part of the reason traffic in the small city is horrendous.

Not just typos

Friday's edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle -- one of the papers the Gannett Co. bought from North Jersey Media Group -- contained typos in two headlines:

On Page 2, a headline said:

"Dinosaur exhibit set
for more to Teaneck"

The story was from Todd South of The Record, and he made clear the word in the headline should have been "move," not "more."

On Page 8 of the weekly, another headline said:

"Work is delayed on
Hackensack ats center"

The story from Staff Writer John Seasly of The Record was about the city's Performing Arts Center, not "ats center."

Justice delayed is justice denied in slow New Jersey courts

The unmarked entrance to the polling place in Hackensack's Fairmount School, where poll workers far outnumbered voters early this afternoon. In the primary election, Democrats and Republicans chose candidates for president, House of Representative, convention delegates and county offices.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If the federal criminal trial in the George Washington Bridge case actually starts on Sept. 12 in Newark, that will be a few days past the three-year anniversary of the politically motivated lane closures in Fort Lee.

And that's a big "if," because U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman told The Record he didn't think an appeals court ruling on a conspirators list "is going to decide it," suggesting the U.S. Supreme Court may get involved (A-1 and A-6).

Meanwhile, two men who were racing Ferraris in the Meadowlands on May 13, 2012, just pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging them in the death of a Kinnelon man whose motorcycle was hit head-on (L-1).

And to fully realize how slow our court system is just take a look at the timeline in the battle to provide affordable housing since landmark New Jersey Supreme Court rulings in 1975 and 1983 (A-1 and A-6).

Our glacial court system, with layers of possible appeals, enriches lawyers, and often denies justice to plaintiffs and victims.

Today's front page

Editor Deirdre Sykes' front page does little to advance the cause of justice, serving up two long stories on the Mount Laurel rulings and the endless appeals since the Bridgegate indictments (A-1).

Most of the page is taken up by a lame feature on flag football.

Hackensack news?

The first Business page today carries the second story on Hackensack's Main Street in a few days, this one about the closing of a mom-and-pop jewelry store (L-7).

On Page 1, a brief on the closing of Gold Ray Jewelers carries this headline:

"Main Street losing more of its sparkle"

That's rich, coming from a publisher who has never acknowledged how the 2009 closing of North Jersey Media Group and Record headquarters on River Street devastated the city where the Borg family prospered for more than 110 years.

Whose health?

In Better Living today, the YOUR HEALTH feature contains little of interest to the vast majority of readers, who are older or retired (BL-3).

The major piece is about millennials and their suicidal eating habits. 

Two briefs involve the health of children with and without autism.

The Better Living front promotes three recipes with goat cheese -- the kind of full-fat, artery clogging dairy most readers try to avoid like the plague (BL-1).

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? 

Despite Christie, justice in New Jersey seems assured

Cross traffic is rare at this red light in the middle of nowhere. Stop signs would work fine. Welcome to the Bergen Town Center in Paramus. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You have to read between the lines of today's lead Page 1 story in The Record to find out Democrats have put the kibosh on Governor Christie's evil plan to remake the state Supreme Court in his own conservative image.

The A-1 headline is awkward and the story is poorly edited, making readers wait until the continuation page for the real news:

"For years, Governor Christie has railed against [Chief Justice Stewart] Rabner and the court he heads, both in New Jersey and at appearances across the country, calling the justices activists and decrying their decisions that disagreed with his" (A-6).

"Their decisions that disagreed with his"? Sheesh. And in the photo caption on A-6, the sitting chief justice is referred to as a "nominee."

Rabner, 53, who was questioned by lawmakers on Monday, appears assured of renomination and tenure until 2030.

Right after he took office in 2010, the mean-spirited Christie got rid of the only African-American on the high court, then set out to eliminate affordable housing and state aid to the state's poorest school districts.

The GOP bully also put forward several turkeys as his own conservative nominees for the high court, but most of them were rejected.

A progressive court

Imagine a high court that catered to Christie's wealthy supporters, and followed the governor's mean-spirited agenda to eliminate all social programs and taxes on the rich. 

That's what we avoid with Rabner at the helm of a progressive court that for many decades has been at the forefront on product liability, housing for low- and moderate-income residents and other important issues.

Unintended hilarity

Again on the front page, would you look at the stark contrast between the photos of aging TV columnist Ginny Rohan and the preening Kardashians, bimbos who probably have spent millions on plastic surgery (A-1).

Rohan's column is silly. Why waste all this prime space on the supposed impact of the two-decade-old O.J. Simpson case on TV reality shows?

That distracts from the sad fact that most TV --including CNN and other news reports -- is just crap. Why doesn't Rohan try to explain that?

50% error rate?

As usual, today's Road Warrior column is filled with numbers, but many of them are probably wrong, given Staff Writer John Cichowski's advancing Alzheimer's disease (L-1).

Is his error rate 50% or higher? With no editing or fact-checking of his column, it's anybody guess.

In his Road Warrior column last Friday, Cichowski said the replacement of upper-level road decking on the George Washington Bridge would take a "few weeks," contradicting a front-page story on the same day that reported the duration of the work as 12 weeks or a few months (Friday's A-9).

"The Road Warrior confuses the hell out of everyone by reporting that the upper-level lanes will be closed overnight for this work, when, in fact, one lane will always remain open in one direction and all four lanes will remain open in the other direction," according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

Cichowski also describes the road surface as "slabs of steel decking." That's also wrong.

"The steel deck panels support slabs of pavement," according to the Bloopers editor

See:

Disoriented Road Warrior can't find GWB

Clashing accounts of Christie's town hall meeting

This poor soul on River Street in Hackensack, and a counterpart on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, have been trying to steer business to a tax-preparation business during the bitter winter, including days with sub-freezing temperatures. How desperate do you have to be to take that thankless job?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The Record's front page today carries conflicting accounts of Governor Christie's community meeting in Mount Laurel, the South Jersey town at the center of court mandates on affordable housing the GOP bully continues to defy.

Editor Marty Gottlieb dispatched Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and political Columnist Charles Stile to Thursday's meeting -- in a familiar double teaming that accomplishes little more than to confuse readers (A-1).

Stile, with his endlessly boring analysis of Christie's every word, and other political columnists are probably most responsible for the voter apathy that led to the lowest turnout in a gubernatorial election in history last November.

Inconsistencies

More troubling are the clashing accounts of the meeting:

Christie is "losing the fight to control the message," according to the headline over Stile's Page 1 column today.

But Hayes reported:

Police removed student activists shouting questions about Bridgegate and bungled Sandy aid; Christie refused to address affordable-housing and environmental advocates, and the governor received "raucous" and "thunderous" applause.

Doesn't that sound like Christie still is firmly in control?

And the photo on the continuation page shows perhaps three dozen of his biggest supporters, presumably well-heeled residents, smiling broadly, with hardly an African-American, Hispanic or Asian Indian in sight (A-8).

Poor editing

The story is poorly edited: Bridgegate, the scandal over the George Washington Bridge lane closures in Fort Lee, is rendered as bridgegate, with and without single quote marks; and a word appears to be missing in a quote from Christie claiming the demonstrators only want "attention" (A-8)

Also on Page 1, I'm looking forward to the day when a photo of rifle-totting Shyanne Roberts, 9, lands back on front pages after she wipes out a middle-school class in Gloucester County (A-1).

Three more corrections appear on A-2 today.

P.R. octopus

An editorial on A-18 notes that Thom Ammirato, the $78,000-a-year spokesman for the city of Hackensack, also holds two other jobs, paying him more than $56,000, and does public relations for the Passaic County Republican Party and two Republican state legislators.

Now that's multi-tasking in the great New Jersey tradition of holding many public jobs at the same time.

Utility pole news

Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza again managed to squeeze in a gee-whiz photo of a utility pole shearing, by the same photographer who took the first (L-6).

As usual, the cause of the accident in Paramus is missing from the photo caption, as is the driver's name or whether he received a summons.

Stomach turning

With the rise in organic and naturally raised or grown food, readers want to know more about the origin of the meat, fish, vegetables and fruit they eat.

But since he took over as publisher, Stephen A. Borg has given them less, first killing the paper's award-winning Food section.

Then, he hired three lazy food editors in succession and a dessert-obsessed restaurant reviewer who spend most of their time promoting celebrity chefs and cookbooks.

Inviting Heimlich

In today's lukewarm, 2-star review of Vale Bar & Grill in River Vale, "thick, ropy calamari got caught going down my throat," wrote Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung, who apparently was so ravenous she didn't stop to cut the squid into bite-size pieces.

Last week, Ung didn't bother to report that the short ribs and other meat served at Terre a Terre in Carlstadt are naturally raised or organic and free of harmful animal antibiotics.

And the sea bass and shrimp she said "smelled and tasted past their prime" might have been smoked by the chef, Todd Villani, who worked in the kitchen of Aquavit in Manhattan, where smoking and pickling of seafood is common.

Editors continue to sanitize Christie's racism

A minor drama unfolded Wednesday afternoon on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, as captured in my car's driver-side mirror.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The Record's editors and reporters did a great job censoring any mention of race in today's two front-page stories about a state Supreme Court ruling on affordable housing.

A long news story,  an "ANALYSIS" and an editorial carefully omit any mention of minorities, who are the chief beneficiaries of low- and moderate-income housing (A-1,  A-11 and A-18).

Mention of Christie's 2010 dismissal of Associate Justice John E. Wallace Jr. appears twice, but readers aren't told he was the only African-American on the high court.

The Record mimics Christie's spin doctors in portraying the ruling as the work of liberal v. conservative members of the court, as well an attack on home rule.

More elitism

Christie's bid to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing is another in a long line of regressive policies that cater to the overwhelmingly white elite who support him.

This is the kind of dishonest journalism The Record has practiced for many years, especially in the work of such columnists as Road Worrier John Cichowski and Mike Kelly, who thankfully is on leave this month.

An A-3 story on NJ Transit's budget doesn't mention whether the agency will be providing more rush-hour seats for rail and bus riders, who frequently have to stand in the aisles -- a non-issue as far as The Record is concerned.

Law & Order

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section is filled with police and court news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Two Hackensack news stories and a photo appear on L-2 and L-3 today.

A photo of an actor in "Tracers," a movie being filmed in Hackensack, carries a puzzling overline: 

"HITTING THE WALL IN HACKENSACK"

The Better Living cover promotes Due, another overpriced restaurant in Ridgewood, without saying whether entrees costing up to $36 are made with naturally raised meat (BL-1).

Wrong again

In his column on Wednesday, Cichowski provided the wrong number for a bill that would penalize drivers who don't keep right, according to an e-mail from a concerned reader:

"For his July 10 column, the Road Warrior misinforms and confuses his readers about a recently passed New Jersey bill, which he identified with the wrong bill number.

"It would increase fines and surcharges for those who hog the left lanes and don't yield to passing vehicles or don't normally stay to the right, except when passing other vehicles.

"He compounds his mistakes by inferring that NJ commuters and cops should adhere to the requirements of the passed bill, which he failed to mention has several deficiencies.

"It is not NJ law since it has not been signed into law by Governor Christie, who may veto this measure, which has been described as a silly or dumb bill.

"He confuses and mislead readers with his lack of knowledge in response to questions about traffic circles and no-cash tolls on the GWB lower level during overnight hours."

Click on the following link to see the full e-mail to the editors and management on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

John Cichowski is making readers pay

  

'Spic Paterson' and other comments

Paterson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor's note: Whether you're a blogger or a newspaper reporter, one thing is clear. Many of your readers are racist or just out of their freaking minds. That's especially true of readers who hide behind the 'Anonymous' tag. Here are a few of the reactions I've received to posts at Eye on The Record.

In response to commentary on an affordable housing story, a reader who apparently lives in affluent Sadde River had this to say:
 

"Well, you can see the difference between all white Saddle River and all black and spic Paterson."

Later, I received another comment, apparently from this same racist, concerning my complaints The Record is doing a poor job of covering Hackensack:

"I am living in almost pure white luxury and you are in boogie land crying for coverage of a city no one cares about."

I cited this passage from the affordable housing story:

"New Jersey remains one of the most racially and economically segregated regions of the country."

 And got this comment:

"And lets hope it stays that way.

"My town, Saddle River, was one of the first to challenge Mount Laurel."


PSE&G 
  
On criticism of PSE&G's slow repairs after Superstorm Sandy hit:

"They did a great job who are you kidding? You do know it was a once in a lifetime storm?" 

Math errors 

On math errors in a Page 1 story:

"I guess math isn't the reporters/editors strong suit and the reason they decided to become journalists instead of mathematicians."

Other errors

As errors continue to mount in headlines, photo captions and stories, one reader claimed Production Editor Liz Houlton, supervisor of the copy desk, is "universally respected," but didn't say in which universe.

This kind of editing just doesn't add up

NJ Transit Waiting Room, New York Penn Station, Friday at 5:36 p.m.

The Record's assignment and copy desks continue to operate in meltdown mode with mathematical errors in the first paragraph of today's off-lead story on Page 1.

In reporting Hurricane Sandy damage to NJ Transit's locomotives and rail cars, the assignment and copy editors screw up again, and Production Editor Liz Houlton completely misses the errors and doesn't bother to correct them.

The lead paragraph reports, "A third of NJ Transit's locomotives and nearly a quarter of the agency's rail cars" were damaged by flood waters [italics added].

Off the tracks

Of course, readers wouldn't have known anything was amiss if the reporter, Staff Writer Karen Rouse, didn't include total numbers.

But there they are in the third paragraph: a total of 203 locomotives and 1,162 rail cars.

So, if 63 locomotives were damaged, that's less than a third, not "a third" (67.6). And if 261 rail cars need repair, that's not even close to "a quarter" (290.5), and doesn't qualify for the modifier of "nearly."

To avoid those errors, the actual numbers should have been used in the first paragraph.

Did the damaged rolling stock result in unusual crowding this week in the NJ Transit Waiting Room at New York's Penn Station and on trains?

The Record is silent on that question.

Remember the Crusades? 

There is another big error on Editor Marty Gottlieb's front page today, the headline over the lead story:

Rocket fire targeting

holy city unprecedented   

 

Jerusalem has been fought over for centuries, so "unprecedented" is the wrong word, unless Houlton's intention is to sell papers.

Remember Hackensack?

In Local, the drought on Hackensack news continues under orders from head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

Meanwhile, the Nov. 16 edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle is reporting the Hackensack City Council approved an ordinance creating the position of police director.

The council action came on Nov. 8, but hasn't been reported in The Record. 

Great accident photo 

Staff Photographer Tariq Zehawi, who has been reduced to the role of ambulance chaser, came up with an unusually good photo at the scene of a minor accident (L-3) -- a staple of local news coverage. 

Here's a real turkey

Today's Better Living section promotes another chef who apparently settles for low-quality ingredients, but tries to make them taste better.

The cover story on Session Bistro Chef Chris Holland and deep-fried turkeys ignores the healthy choice: a turkey raised without harmful antibiotics and animal byproducts (BL-1). 

Dining-out jargon  

In Friday's Better Living section, readers found a lukewarm review of an Indian restaurant, Kamal Palace in North Arlington, a tiny town not worth the detour when dining out.

But Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung continues to sling jargon at readers, such as service she says isn't "authoritative." 

Ung also says Kamal Palace isn't "appropriate" for "anyone looking for nuanced flavors."

She also complains Goa Fish came with salmon, but she would have preferred "a milder fish with the sauce."

Is there any fish blander than salmon, presumably the wildly popular, artificially colored farmed salmon used at Kamal Palace? 

Unaffordable editing

More serious editing problems were evident on Thursday in the A-3 story on the "future of affordable housing."

The Record's assignment editors continue to sell affordable housing as "one of New Jersey's most intractable political problems." 

Of course, they should describe how it pits Governor Christie and his supporters in wealthy, mostly white towns against low- and moderate-income residents, many of whom are black and Hispanic.

This is a racial story as the following sentence on Thursday made clear:

"New Jersey remains one of the most racially and economically segregated regions of the country."

But this was the last sentence in the poorly edited story. It could have provided context for readers, if only it had appeared much higher up.

And in the next to the last paragraph, a "Walsh" is mentioned, but his/her full name and title don't appear anywhere in the story. 

Editors' crystal ball

Finally, The Record falls into the trap of trying to predict from justices' comments during oral arguments how the New Jersey Supreme Court will rule on Christie's attempt to subvert the construction of more affordable housing.

Look what happened when the national media tried to do the same after oral arguments on the federal health care law, only to see the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the law.

And remember the alleged "statistical dead heat" in the presidential election: President Obama beat Mitt Romney decisively in both the Electoral College and popular vote. 

See previous post

on more Road Warrior errors