Fat-mouth Christie keeps us guessing on immigration

Closing one lane on River Street in Hackensack, even at 1:45 in the afternoon, causes a backup that might make you think you live in a far bigger city -- such as the traffic nightmare across the Hudson River. Time for some relaxing classical music.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie has never hesitated to speak his mind, such as telling the media someone should "take a bat" to Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the elderly Democrat from Teaneck.

But surrounded by reporters outside a Mexico City taqueria, the GOP bully with the big, fat mouth won't say a word about his position on immigration -- even though New Jersey is known for its diversity.

Gee. Do the media really have to play cat and mouse with this conservative Republican who wanted to be president before the George Washington Bridge lane closures blew up in his face (A-1)?

We know he'd just as soon as send the New Jersey National Guard to the border then actually show concern for the many Mexicans and Central Americans who have relatives in the Garden State.

Christie is supposed to visit Puebla on this so-called trade mission to Mexico, but he's never actually visited the thousands of the Poblanos who live in the city of Passaic.

Mi casa, por favor

A related story on the Local front today notes Christie met with Mexican-American business leaders from Passaic, but they had to travel to the governor's mansion in Princeton (L-1).

When Lilia Rios, an importer of Mexican pottery, told Christie one of the biggest obstacles faced by illegal immigrants is their inability to obtain a New Jersey driver's license, he basically told her to take a hike.

"He didn't respond," she recalled.

Hot-button issue

Actually, if Christie wanted to reduce illegal immigration, he'd urge reform of the legal immigration system.

That system is so expensive, slow and arbitrary many immigrants would rather enter the United States illegally, risking death and deportation.

But The Record and other media have ignored the dysfunctional legal immigration system for decades, preferring the hot-button issue of illegals they know will inflame the racists in their audience.

Sloppy editing

Today and  Thursday, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes' front-page stories on Christie in Mexico seem hastily written and poorly edited.

On Thursday, a dozen words placed awkwardly at the end of the first paragraph should have introduced the sentence.

Today, on A-3, Hayes' story seems to jump from immigration to trade to an exchange program and back again, and she never explains why he isn't shown eating a taco.

Page 1 stories

A day after The Record called a double slaying and suicide in Hasbrouck Heights "inexplicable," the editors now refer to the three deaths as "domestic violence" (A-1).

After Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall died, Columnist Bill Ervolino couldn't wait to dust off the ancient interviews he did with them, and present them to readers on the front page.

Today, with his tribute to Joan Rivers (A-1), Ervolino shows restraint, and if readers get to the continuation page, they'll find one quote that Rivers "told me" (A-10). 

Baseball or food?

A story on the first Business page notes Newark's minor league baseball team "didn't have a lot of community support" (L-7 and L-8).

That may be because residents of the Brick City put a higher priority on getting enough to eat and trying to survive drive-by shootings and other violence.

Cafe Panache

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung today raves about the three-decade-old Cafe Panache in Ramsey, where the fare "keeps the elegant BYO packed" (BL-16).

At dinner, she should have added.

When I met a friend there for lunch in August, the dining room was otherwise empty, and even though my soft-shell crab entree was good, I've had better at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood for much less money.

Ung's data box continues to state the obvious.

Right after she notes entrees are priced from $28 to $39, she tells readers the restaurant would be "less appropriate for those looking for bargain fare."

Instead of treating us like dolts, she could use the data box to tell readers whether the meat and poultry served there is organic or naturally raised.

Until now, the GOP bully has ignored or hurt N.J. Mexicans

Underground utility lines are being installed along three blocks of Salem Street in Hackensack, between River and State streets, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front page today and Sunday previewed Governor Christie's trip to Mexico, but there is only a passing reference to the tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans who live in the city of Passaic.

What has the GOP bully done for the working- and middle-class Poblano families who live in Passaic besides ignoring them and cutting aid to their schools and poor city?

Passaic, with a population of 70,000, is often called another Puebla, the Mexican city and state Christie is scheduled to visit, according to the Page 1 story today on the governor's purely political trip.

With dozens of restaurants, bakeries and manufacturers, the city has been a center of Mexican culture and food for many years, as noted in a 2003 Food section cover story in The Record, "Mexican Revolution in Passaic."

Voices of Mexico

The Consulate General of Mexico in New York said more than 40% of Mexicans in the tri-state area are from Puebla, and the majority of them settled in Passaic, VoicesofNY.org reported in January.

Yet, Christie didn't even visit Passaic city during his successful reelection campaign last year.

Melissa Hayes' story today appears two days after a Charles Stile column on Christie's South of the Border visit, and there was at least one other preview of the trip.

Broken Record

Doesn't The Record have anything else to say about the worst governor in New Jersey history than to promote his presidential ambitions?

Legal fees to defend Christie and his aides in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal now top $9 million, WNYC-FM reported today, with $7 million billed by the governor's legal team.

Surely, state officials will try to negotiate a smaller amount or even ask a judge if the fees are reasonable.

Why isn't The Record chasing that story?

Local news

Christie's Mexico visit was trumped this morning by the sensational murder of Karen Piotti, 63, of Ho-Ho-Kus, allegedly by her son, Nicholas, 24 (A-1).

On the Local front, a photo and caption makes light of an elderly woman who drove an Audi sedan into a pool in Wyckoff.

The photo over line is really imaginative: 

CAR IN THE POOL IN WYCKOFF

The "grandmother" and her passenger survived, but the photo only reminds readers of how The Record has ignored the challenges facing older drivers, and apparently has never reported on re-training courses that might be available to them.

You'd never know Editor Martin Gottlieb is 66 from the lack of reporting on how many seniors mistake the accelerator for the brake pedal and end up in a pool, crash into a building or hit a pedestrian, often with fatal consequences.

Mexican president should be wary of 'Christie's Revenge'

The owner of this Range Rover, seen at the 24 Hour Fitness in Paramus, appears to be getting rich off of other people's problems. Come to think of it, that's the model for the news media, including newspapers such as The Record of Woodland Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Mexico is the second largest market for New Jersey exports after Canada, but is that any reason for Governor Christie to visit Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto next month?

The Record's story today doesn't specify which goods are among the state's $2 billion in exports or the $3 billion imported from Mexico (A-3).

That's a lot of Mexican beer, tequila and Mole Poblano. 

Mexico also has a significant petroleum industry, and its wild-caught shrimp are sold in New Jersey markets.

U.S. trade officials say New Jersey's top export is chemicals followed by petroleum and coal products; computer and electronic products; transportation equipment and primary metal manufactures.

That should make for stimulating conversation between the GOP bully and Pena Nieto.

Someone should warn the Mexican president about "Christie's Revenge," the practice of visiting retribution on Fort Lee, Hoboken and Jersey City officials who didn't endorse the governor for a second term last year.

Viva Passaic!

If Christie has a political motive for the trip, he could cross the Passaic River, instead of the Rio Grande, and visit thousands of Mexican-Americans, who comprise nearly a third of the city of Passaic's population, many from the state of Puebla.

Democrats have another spin on the visit:

"Chris Christie is a failed absentee governor, and it matters little where he goes," says John Currie, chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party (A-3).

"What's significant is that he's an embarrassment to our state who promotes policies that have undermined progress and our economy."

Limited clarity

In a welcome change, political columnist Charles Stile gets to the point in his first paragraph today:

"A backroom tradition in Trenton explains why justice is slowing to a crawl in the courtrooms of Bergen County" (A-1).

Well, civil lawsuits have always crawled through the court system, and there is nothing in the thousands of words that follow about the impact of judicial vacancies on plaintiffs and defendants.

Stile spends virtually all of his time delving into the secret system of senatorial courtesy, and ignores the possibility the majority Democrats are striking back at Christie -- for vetoing most of their major initiatives -- in the only way they can.

The Democrats also suffer from a lack of support from The Record, and legions of apathetic voters.

A real loss

From the story on the Local front today, Leyla Kan, 60, of Fort Lee sounds like a loving mother and grandmother, a compassionate restaurant owner and a woman proud of her Turkish roots (L-1).

Kan was struck, dragged and killed by a school bus whose driver failed to yield to her as she was crossing Broad Avenue in Leonia, police said.

Missing from the story are whether Kan was in the crosswalk and walking toward or away from the vehicle when she was struck, and the time of the accident on Thursday morning.

The story also fails to make the connection between her death and a plea from Leonia Police Chief Thomas Rowe to Christie and the Port Authority for help in dealing with George Washington Bridge and turnpike traffic during the rush hour (L-6).

In the category of sloppy editing of the Kan story, Chipotle Mexican Grill in Englewood is referred to as "a chipotle restaurant" (L-6), and three men wearing "BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF" shirts are referred to as "authorities" in the L-1 photo caption.

Disoriented

Staff Writer Elisa Ung's sugar high must be affecting her judgement when it comes to the Good to Excellent review she gives Pizzeria Mandara in Wyckoff today (BL-16).

The pizzeria is noisy and crowded, but entree prices are what you'd find in a white-tablecloth restaurant: $26 for shrimp and $33 for steak.

As usual, Ung provides no information on quality that might justify those prices.