With Christie the Bull, traffic and transit are political

Times Square in Manhattan on Sunday night, when shoppers and tourists packed city streets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

After more than three months of prodding and probing by Democrats and the media,  sworn testimony by Port Authority officials suggests closing Fort Lee toll lanes on the George Washington Bridge was political payback by the Christie administration.

The story on Page 1 of The Record today reports Christie appointee David Wildstein ordered the lane closures in September, presumably to punish Fort Lee's mayor, a Democrat who didn't endorse the GOP bully's bid for a second term (A-1).

No surprise here, given the Portly Authority's lack of support for traditional Democratic initiatives, such as expanding mass transit, curbing air pollution and providing affordable health care (A-1 and L-3).

Railroading Democrats

Now, Governor Christie's 2010 decision to kill the Hudson River rail tunnels can be seen in political terms:

The project to expand the number of train seats into Manhattan would have benefited commuters from Bergen and Hudson counties, where Democrats have a big edge in voter registration.

Another A-1 story today, decrying the metropolitan area's uncoordinated transportation system ahead of the Super Bowl in February, is likely the first time The Record has even mentioned that in more than a decade of reporting. 

Transportation reporter Karen Rouse, who wrote today's story, and Road Warrior John Cichowski have done their best to ignore the lack of coordination, as well as packed buses and trains, and mounting traffic congestion, in the past 10 years.


Failed editors, too 

Indeed, an editorial today condemns NJ Transit -- "which remains firmly under the thumb of the Christie administration" -- for not changing "despite its massive failure of leadership during Superstorm Sandy" (A-10).

But NJ Transit failed commuters long before that by not being able to provide enough rush-hour seats into Manhattan.

The same lack of leadership is evident in the performance of Editors Marty Gottlieb, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, whose assignments also ignore major commuting issues.

Another issue the editors have ignored is Christie's role in sabotaging the enrollment of New Jersey residents for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Today, the editors buried a story reporting the anger of Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, who said Christie "stinks on this issue."

Pascrell said Christie's refusal to set up a state marketplace left unspent $7.6 million in federal funds that could have been used to educate and enroll New Jersey residents (L-3).

Stuck in line

Staff Writer John Cichowski appears to be stuck in line at the Motor Vehicle Commission, just one of the many driving -- not commuting -- issues he has obsessed over in the last decade.

Cichowski, hand-picked by Sykes to take over the column in  September 2003, mostly has demonstrated RWI -- reporting while incompetent -- as his three-times-a-week farce demonstrates.

Here is a brief description from the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers of errors in his Sunday column on DWI:

"In his Sunday column, the Road Warrior stumbles through mistakes about penalties and statistics for driving under the influence and new devices to prevent a car from starting for drunk drivers.

"Road Warrior indicates penalties are greater for driving under the influence, if blood-alcohol concentration — the ratio of blood to alcohol in the body — reaches beyond 0.08 percent.

"Actually, the penalties are greater, if the ratio of alcohol to blood reaches 0.10 percent and beyond.

"Anyone with a blood to alcohol ratio of 0.08 percent would have 99.92 percent alcohol in their blood stream. How absurd is that scenario!"

See:

Reporting While Under the Influence of Error 

Hackensack news

On the Local front, Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono (pronounced LOW-yack-a-no) has agreed to step down this Friday after holding the job since 2005 (L-1).

Critics charge Lo Iacono didn't do enough to stem problems in the Police Department under the corrupt rule of Ken Zisa, who served as police chief and as a state assemblyman.

They noted that he kept Zisa in the job, despite numerous lawsuits alleging the chief ruled by intimidation and retaliation, including forcing officers to support his candidacy for political office.

Zisa remains under house arrest during his appeal of his 2012 conviction for official corruption and insurance fraud, and a 5-year prison sentence.

Cowardly Rothman is heading for a fall

Image via Wikipedia
Many Democrats will be voting for Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, above, if Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, opposes him.

In two straight days of Page 1 coverage, The Record didn't bother to interview any rank-and-file Democrats who think Rep. Steve Rothman is a coward and a traitor to his party by slinking away from a fight against the conservative values that are destroying the middle class.


I am not the only Democrat who plans to vote for his rival, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, to teach Rothman the 2012 election isn't about him staying in office now that a new congressional map was approved for New Jersey.


President Barack Obama is engaged in a titanic battle against Tea Party Republicans, racists and other arch-conservatives, such as Rep. Scott Garret, R-Wantage, and Rothman is a coward for not going head-to-head with Garret.


What chutzpah. Rothman even plans to move, possibly back to Englewood, where he was mayor and where visitors entering the city from Route 4 and Grand Avenue are greeted by a big "ROTHMAN REALTY" sign.


The editors, who have been in bed with Republican Governor Christie for nearly two years, love the prospect of Rothman facing Pascrell in the new 9th District, instead of Garret in the 5th District. 


Editorial 'glop'


An editorial, likely written by Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, calls Rothman's decision "an interesting development." How lame.


On the front of Local, Road Warrior John Cichowski ran out of ideas for his commuting column so long ago he has to repeat himself endlessly, as in today's piece on roof snow (L-1).


Curiously, Cichowski doesn't ask why trucking companies aren't installing equipment to clear roof snow, which he refers to for the umpteenth time as "dangerous glop." 


And though roof snow killed only one driver in recent years, he has written far less about older drivers who have killed far more people.


Filling space


The assignment desk under Editor Deirdre Sykes is so desperate for copy, it doesn't care what Cichowski writes, as long he faithfully fills a lot of space three times a week.


Meanwhile, one assignment editor has another transportation reporter, Karen Rouse, reporting lane repaving on Route 80 rather than telling readers why NJ Transit refuses to replace decrepit, decades-old local buses (L-2).


However, the assignment desk is doing a great job of keeping readers abreast of utility pole news -- even when there are no injuries or power outages.


On a presumably busy news day, it found room for an L-2 photo reporting repairs to two poles knocked down by a truck in Lodi.


Wait for the handout


On the first Business page, a story reporting the closure of Sears and Kmart stores doesn't say whether the downtown Hackensack Sears is among the 100 facing extinction (L-8).


The Business editor is waiting for the next press release and not even bothering to list the number of employees at North Jersey stores that might be closed.


Cholesterol editor


On the Better Living front, Food Editor Susan Leigh Sherrill managed to corral several killers for her weekly recipe from one of those free cookbooks she loves to promote -- three and a half sticks of butter, nine egg yolks, nearly two cups of sugar and nearly one cup of heavy cream.


The result is "Crack Pie," which probably would be more harmful to your health than crack cocaine.