Today's edition is filled with problems from start to finish

First Presbyterian Church on Passaic Street in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You'll find plenty of amateurish writing and editing in papers put out by students at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Bergen Community College.

But on the front page of The Record of Woodland Park?

In today's lead Page 1 story, Staff Writer Christopher Maag should have said:

"Governor Christie's choice for Port Authority chairman told lawmakers who approved his nomination Thursday the agency is troubled and he promised things would change."

Instead, somewhat nonsensically, Maag has "Governor Christie's choice for chairman of the Port Authority" promising "that things would change in testimony to lawmakers who approved his nomination Thursday."

Of course, nothing is changing in his testimony.

Which border?

Just above the fold, a front-page headline declares:

"Possible deal on border crisis"

Given the tensions in Ukraine, you could forgive readers who think the deal is with Russia, especially because the word "immigration" is left out.

Shooting of Genesis

A brief on A-1 today sends readers to an L-6 story reporting the family of Genesis Rincon, the 12-year-old who was fatally shot in Paterson, said two others were involved in the shooting.

And the defense attorney for the lone 19-year-suspect said "his client has nothing to do with the shooting."

The arrest of Jhymiere Moore was announced on Thursday's Page 1, but questions from the family and suspect's lawyer are demoted to Local.

Minds on vacation

Another Page 1 story -- on school buses that failed inspections and drivers who falsified driving records -- should have run during the school year (A-1).

Why did Editor Marty Gottlieb put this on the front page during the summer?

A-2 today carries three corrections, including one about the suspect in the Genesis Rincon shooting.

Resident wimp

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, the resident wimp and ass-kisser, wrote an offensive opinion column about the shooting of Genesis and how Paterson should close public buildings and cut services to put more cops on the street (A-19).

Doblin, whose knees knock together at the thought of crossing Governor Christie, doesn't mention how Paterson and other cities laid off cops after the GOP bully slashed their state aid.

Web site has news

NJ Spotlight.com reports today Christie has sent state police to Trenton, where the number of murders this year set a record, and the acting state attorney general has asked prosecutors not to plead down "gun-related charges in exchange for a conviction as a way of increasing jail time for those convicted."

Why hasn't this been reported in The Record?

And why didn't Doblin suggest deployment of state troopers to Paterson or even call the governor for comment on Genesis' death and increasing gun violence in Silk City?

This kind of tortured prose from Doblin is sickening:

"The death of Genesis on a street named for Rosa Parks cries out to the heavens. It should stop us in our tracks, make us wail, rip our garments and steel our resolve to do more than talk. To do something. Something."

Hackensack news

On the front of Local, a story on a new high-rise development on Main Street in Hackensack carries a familiar byline, Hannan Adely, who was replaced by Maag.

But the story doesn't mention a cross street on Main, expecting residents to have memorized the addresses on a street that stretches from the courthouse to Route 4. 

More on Saks woes

Another story about the closing of Saks Fifth Avenue in The Shops at Riverside contradicts the first account, which cited "routine maintenance."

The retail reporter finally called the Hackensack City Manager's Office and found out "the shopping center was doing a routine inspection ... when it discovered a crack in an underground column that supports a portion of the Saks store" ((L-7).

"Hackensack City Manager's Office" is capitalized in a brief on Page 1, but not in the Business page story on L-7.

There are full-page ads in today's paper from Macy's, not Saks, and that probably has the bean counters at North Jersey Media Group shitting in their pants.

'Perfect' shortcake

In Better Living today, Staff Writer Elisa Ung pulls out all the stops to promote Park West Tavern, a Ridgewood restaurant that charges high prices for small portions (BL-16).

Appetizers top out at $16 and entrees cost as much as $44.

Ung, the paper's restaurant reviewer, continues to struggle with her writing, and appears not to get much help from Esther Davidowitz, the food editor whose run-on sentences take the wind out of many readers.

Christie and the Borgs -- perfect together

Image via Wikipedia

Isn't this rich? Governor Christie (photo)  has cut aid to towns, schools and mass transit, but is paying his staff hundreds of thousands of dollars more than Jon Corzine did when he was in office, according to a front-page story in The Record of Woodland Park today.

Doesn't that remind you of how Publisher Stephen Borg ordered his editors to create many new jobs with lower salaries or simply to slash veteran workers' pay by as much as $10,000 just months after getting a $3.65 million mortgage from North Jersey Media Group, headed by his father?

Doesn't that remind you of Stephen Borg's stated goal -- a newsroom where no one makes more than $40,000?

Even if you put Christie's explanation in the best light, his staff is being paid $600,000 more than Corzine's, the story says. The Associated Press figure is nearly $2 million more. Would that $600,000 save an after-school program in Englewood or cuts in train service slated for May 1?

Six days after the volcano erupted in Iceland and paralyzed air traffic, the story on stranded North Jerseyans shows up on the front page today. But there is nothing about the disruption of air shipments of food, fish and flowers from Europe.


In Local, there is a photo and a few words about Hackensack's recreation program, which is not being cut, unlike those in other municipalities, but that's it for residents of the former home of The Record and NJMG .I guess clueless head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her minions must be spending weeks at a retreat on how to cover local news.

There are six crime, court or accident pieces inside Local, including a photo and six paragraphs about a car chase and downed light pole in Paterson. Did editor Jim McGarvey, head of Passaic-Morris coverage, have to shout at a reporter to turn out that stellar piece of work?

This is McGarvey's second period of employment at The Record, and he has failed in every job he has had. Yet he seems to have found his calling -- terrorizing his staff.