In any White House bid, Christie is sure to be out at plate

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center held its annual Employee Appreciation Picnic for workers, volunteers and medical staff on Wednesday.

 

Englewood firefighters also were invited to the picnic, judging from the three fire engines parked across the street, and fire personnel on the field.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Most experts, pollsters and pundits are dismissing Governor Christie's bid for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

But Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record and Columnist Charles Stile aren't convinced, and continue to bombard readers with endless copy on the GOP bully's political image in the early primary states (A-1).

Today, a front page photo showing Christie throwng a ball at a Yankee Stadium softball game doesn't say whether he was booed.

Or, why he wasn't at a fundraiser for the families of slain police officers and state troopers in New Jersey.

Corrections

Two corrections appear on A-2 today, but The Record didn't bother fixing Road Warrior John Cichowski's latest screw-up.

On Wednesday, the clueless columnist gave the wrong intersection for where a woman's SUV knocked down a Leonia crossing guard on May 27.

That major error is the latest of literally hundreds of mistakes the veteran reporter has made since he began writing the Road Warrior column in September 2003.

Today, his column reports on efforts to stop accidents that cause traumatic brain injuries, suggesting it is too late to prevent his (L-1).

Cichowski's numerous errors -- and only an occasional correction -- also suggests fact-checking, and editing checks and balances have completely broken down.

For that, readers can blame local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, and six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, absentee supervisor of the news and copy desks.

A-1 horse racing, soccer and Christie -- but no real news

Hackensack High School students waiting for stretch limos and other transportation late Tuesday night after their senior prom at Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park. On the way there, the students passed 1 Garret Mountain Plaza, where The Record is headquartered, and heard loud snoring coming from the newsroom.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Readers find two asses on The Record's front page today -- American Pharoah, the one with the tail; and absentee Governor Christie, the one with the tall tales.

Horse racing, world soccer and another Christie campaign press release printed verbatim by Columnist Charles Stile doesn't make much of a front page.

Oh, endangered turtles and a dishonest Rutherford contractor fascinate you?

Editor Martin Gottlieb guided The New York Times' international edition in Paris and Hong Kong, but today and on too many other days, he appears to be the wrong person to run a North Jersey daily that once prided itself on its local news content. 

Major screw-up

Error-prone Road Warrior John Cichowski comes up with another boner on the Local front today, where he recounts how a woman driving an SUV knocked down a crossing guard trying to protect children in Leonia (L-1).

Charlie Lee was assigned to Broad Avenue and Fort Lee Road in Leonia when the incident occurred on May 27, but the confused Cichowski identifies the intersection on first reference as "Grand Avenue and Fort Lee Road," which is a few blocks away.

The error is repeated in the caption on the continuation page, even though the photo over the caption shows Lee on Broad Avenue, not on Grand Avenue (L-6).

And Cichowski betrays his readers by not asking the police chief why an officer isn't assigned to the busiest intersection in town during rush hours.

Last August, a 60-year-old woman was dragged to her death after a school bus hit her as she crossed Broad Avenue.

Local obits

One of Publisher Stephen A. Borg's major decisions after he took over from his father was to assign a full-time reporter to write expanded local obituaries.

But on too many days like today, the life stories of important, fascinating or controversial North Jerseyans are buried among the death notices in the Local section (L-6).

That doesn't make sense and betrays the paper's mission to deliver local news to readers.

And it's especially wrong because it was one of the few Borg decisions that served journalism, not commerce.

Behold Editor Martin Gottlieb's three-ring circus on Page 1

On Monday afternoon, road work on Main Street in Hackensack, above, and traffic restrictions on nearby River Street, had this Elmwood Park police officer looking for directions on how to get around the mess.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

An unflattering photo of Governor Christie on Page 1 of The Record today shows he is doing a good imitation of a circus fat man.

Flanking that is the Vanity Fair cover of Olympian Bruce Jenner, 60, who has been transformed by surgery, makeup and airbrushing, but apparently still has his male sex organs (A-1 and A-5).

Truly grotesque.

The third ring of Editor Martin Gottlieb's A-1 news circus is the spectacle of greedy hospitals, doctors and insurance companies trying to stop reform of surprise medical bills.

The story with Christie's photo is even more disturbing than the notion he's been able to defeat the weight-loss surgery he had in February 2013:

The 30 state troopers assigned to his Executive Protection Unit have rung up $975,000 in American Express credit card charges for food, lodging and travel since 2010 (A-6).

That was revealed not by The Record or another major newspaper, but by the New Jersey Watchdog Web site and its reporter, Mark Lagerkvist.

In fact, the story The Record carries on the front page today appears to be a rewrite of what was posted on that Web site on May 28.

Lagerkvist puts the credit card charges at "nearly $1 billion."

Crash story

The glowing tribute to Clifton newlyweds Jose Calderon and Ana Maria Perez makes no attempt to explain how they were killed in Sunday night's Route 3 crash (A-1).

Six reporters worked on the story, but apparently none asked investigators if Calderon was speeding or if his car aquaplaned in heavy rain before leaving the road and hitting a tree (A-6).

Were the newlyweds wearing seat belts? Your guess is as good as mine.

Local news?

Local editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza forgot to tell a layout editor that the obituary of Rochelle Shoretz, 42, of Teaneck, founder of a cancer support group (L-6), should have appeared on L-1 -- or even on A-1 in place of the "Caitlyn Jenner" farce.

Instead, on the Local front, readers got a gee-whiz, drive-by photo of a pickup truck and moving van collision in Rutherford, but absolutely no information on the possible cause or whether any summonses were issued.

I guess the editors wanted to make sure readers saw the sparkling photo over line:

"TRUCK CRASH TRAPS DRIVER"

The real news is that the unnamed driver was freed and apparently survived, not that he was trapped.

On L-3, some idiot wrote a caption for a photo of a goose walking in a parking lot, telling readers that it was "making the best" of the flood.

A human might make the best of a flooded lot, but a goose can fly over it or even float on the water, so what's the sense of that description?

Real gamble

Given New Jersey's disastrous experience with casinos in Atlantic City, why would anyone in their right mind approve a ballot question to build three more in North Jersey (L-1)?

Although Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton has covered the controversial expansion of The Valley Hospital for many years, she omits a crucial fact in today's story on a lawsuit filed against the village of Ridgewood, as she has in past stories (L-1).

The hospital's plan to "double in size" would be contained within the borders of its existing campus.

When will editors hit poor quality of life in Bergen County?

A business jet, above, and a noisy Italian-made airplane, below, roaring over South Hackensack as they prepared to land at Teterboro Airport last November.

Many of the jets that use Teterboro are flown over residential neighborhoods in Hackensack, Teaneck and other towns on their way to and from the airport.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Business jets and noisy single-engine planes roaring overhead around the clock. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle blasting past your house just before 7 in the morning.

Roads so antiquated that many lack turn lanes or proper drainage, leading to flash floods that threaten to swallow luxury SUVs (see Page 1 of The Record today).

Even though Bergen County residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, their quality of life often sucks, and The Record could care less.

Today, the Local editors celebrate a charity run by hundreds of lawbreakers riding motorcycles modified to make as much noise as possible (L-1). 

If police can set up checkpoints to catch people who don't buckle up, why can't they do the same to cite motorcyclists for violating anti-noise ordinances?

One reason may be that many Harleys are owned by cops and firemen, both active and retired.

Members of Fourth Watch, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle club exclusively for emergency medical personnel, firefighters, members of the military and police officers, at Englewood's Memorial Day Parade. The roar from their bikes was defeaning, and their fumes filled the air. What a poor example to set for spectators, including children.