Developers still have their hooks into Hackensack

NJ Transit's Jersey Avenue local left New York's Penn Station a few minutes after its scheduled 2:29 p.m. departure on Friday. Seats on this older rail car freed up only after the train stopped at Secaucus Junction and Newark Penn Station. The discomfort of many rail and bus rider is of little concern to The Record.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Even after a reform City Council slate is sworn in on Monday -- as reported today by The Record --Hackensack will be burdened for years to come by insider deals with developers.

A 226-unit development on Hackensack Avenue is now renting, a 222-unit building on State Street has broken ground and other developers have announced plans to replace The Record's old headquarters with hundreds of new high-rise and mid-rise apartments.

None of these developers have been asked to help ease the expected impact on Hackensack's badly crowded schools.

Ruling by veto

A heading on Page 1 today reports Governor Christie signed a "bipartisan" budget, but the full story on A-3 contradicts that with news of several vetoes the GOP bully used to get his way.

One of the vetoes killed $7 million in funding to Planned Parenthood and other women's health organizations. 

That's very "bipartisan" of Christie, just like his earlier vetoes of a hike in the minimum wage or a tax surcharge on millionaires.

Eat this

On Friday, in Eating Out on $50, freelancer Jeffrey Page managed to review a rare restaurant that uses antibiotic-free chickens, Flames Rotisseria in Ridgefield Park (Better Living, BL-24).

But when The Record reduced the number of people fed for $50 to 2 from 4, the review lost all value to readers.

If Page's cheap editor allowed him to spend $70 -- a little under $18 per person -- he could tell readers about plenty of places where they can get a decent meal for 4.

And even with only $50, he could make the money go further if he stopped wasting money on fattening, artery clogging desserts (BL-25).

Worshiping animals

Sunday's Travel section, delivered with today's paper, reflects Editor Jill Schensul's worship of animals over humans.

In her cover story, Schensul, a vegetarian and animal lover, reports on trips of a lifetime, complete with photos of some of  the four-legged and slithering creatures travelers can commune with.

I guess her way of dealing with all of the human misery in Africa is simply to ignore it.

Even though Schensul's section is down to only 4 pages on most Sundays, she continues to run vacation photos of readers in The Record on The Road feature -- a huge waste of space.

'Dangerous' Road Warrior

The Road Warrior column finally is starting to report that a lack of enforcement has resulted in growing abuse of cellphone use while driving -- not to mention speeding and numerous other traffic violations (Friday's L-1).

Red-light and speeding cameras may be the ultimate solution for the police.

The column, written by Staff Writer John Cichowski, no longer pretends to deal with commuting issue. 

It should be renamed to reflect an almost total focus on driving and reliance on reader e-mails.

In his Wednesday column, Cichowski didn't let a reader's question stump him; he simply  made up the answer, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

"In his June 26 column, the Road Warrior continues to endanger his readers with his contradictory, confusing, incomplete and inaccurate accounting of crosswalk laws.

"Readers are frightened and confused by his clear lack of knowledge about the confusing and poorly written, revised crosswalk statutes, which he has championed.

"He inferred that drivers would rarely be held accountable under the revised crosswalk laws for hitting pedestrians outside of crosswalks. 

"Unfortunately, the laws clearly state that it will be assumed the driver did not exercise due care for the safety of the pedestrian in the event of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian within or outside of crosswalks.

"In his responses to readers' questions about the requirements of the crosswalk laws, the Road Warrior simply made up answers, which are in contradiction to the crosswalk laws, or failed to provide key relevant information about the laws."

See the full e-mail a concerned reader sent to management:

'Our Dangerous Road Warrior'


A short break

Eye on The Record will return at the end of next week.