Sandy, Chris, Marty, Charlie, John and Denisa

A jitney at Main and Thomas streets in Paterson, in front of Aleppo Restaurant. The jitneys appear every 5 minutes or so, providing more seats to and from New York than NJ Transit buses. Some argue the jitneys' success can be traced to the inability of the state public transit agency to meet the demand from commuters and others.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The anniversary coverage of Superstorm Sandy dominates Page 1 today and Sunday, and I challenge any reader to get through all of it.

The Record's editors and columnists love anniversaries, which allow them to endlessly rehash the past and ignore contemporary events in North Jersey.

But does the upbeat coverage of the recovery from Sandy reflect reality -- such as the still-shuttered storefronts and boarded-up homes in Sea Bright and other shore communities nearly a year after the storm?

Today's Sandy story on A-1 is full of fractured English, leaving readers wondering about the fluency of the copy editors and Staff Writer Charles Stile, who delivers yet another adoring column about Governor Christie.

The front-page banger headline declares:

From despair,

hope triumphs  

Huh?

Then, the sub-headline invites readers to meet "area families." What area? And the headline insists the families "bask in their hard-earned normalcy."

Readers shaking their head over those headlines will find more awkward language in the Political Stile column, which calls the post-Sandy Christie "a worried crisis commander in triage mode."

And that's in only the second paragraph. This and past columns about the GOP bully show Stile probably has more come on his face than any other staffer.

Brainwashed

At the end of his shameless column, Stile notes Christie's "communication staff runs the most aggressive and creative marketing machine that has ever operated out of the State House."

"Almost on a daily basis," Stile says, "it casts Christie as the savoir of Superstorm Sandy."

But isn't that what Stile, Editor Marty Gottlieb and The Record's adoring staff have done, too?

On A-7 today, a story by transportation reporter Karen Rouse declares NJ Transit train service "has largely returned to normal," but she doesn't say "normal" is standing room only -- on both buses and trains -- during the rush hour.

Hackensack dreams

In Hackensack news today, Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports city officials envision the development of hundreds of apartments, and tenants patronizing shops and restaurants on a revived Main Street (L-1).

That's a gamble that Engelwood took and lost, as the shuttered storefronts on Palisade Avenue demonstrate, including those on the ground floor of a luxury apartment building.

Of course, that didn't stop Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, who lives on Englewood's East Hill, and North Jersey Media Group from signing a contract with a luxury apartment developer who wants to purchase nearly 20 acres in a flood zone along River Street in Hackensack -- former headquarters of The Record.

Price up, quality down

Meanwhile, a reader on the northern fringe of the circulation area reports the price for a 52-week subscription to The Record of Woodland Park  has gone up, even as the paper appears to be on a crash news diet:

"The 52-week subscription price for The Record has gone up more than 13 percent, as the paper grows skinnier and skinnier, while new names appear daily and valued bylines disappear. For example, the byline of Denisa R. Superville has been missing for a month. Has there been a purge of established reporters and a wave of hiring of novices? Even the cachet of Tatiana Schlossberg has been missing for months."

Superville's byline appears today on one of the Sandy stories (A-7), but Schlossberg may have gone on to bigger and better things, as have legions of Record staffers before her.

Schlossberg's mother, Caroline Kennedy, has been confirmed as ambassador to Japan.

On the road?

Someone else who appears to be missing is Road Warrior John Cichowski, who hasn't had a column in the paper since Oct. 20, according to a concerned reader, who adds:

"The Road Warrior is either in the doghouse, the nuthouse, ICU, or hung out to dry."

In his column on Oct. 19, Cichowski committed a multitude of sins, according to the reader, who has set up a Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

"In his Saturday column, the Road Warrior put children, teenagers and drivers at risk with his contradictory and confusing explanations about safety and New Jersey or New York laws regarding seat belts, stopping for school buses and graduated driving licenses (GDL).

"I feel sorry for all New Jersey parents and teenagers who believe the Road Warrior's false premise that New Jersey GDL laws are applicable in New York and his failure to mention that New York GDL traffic laws, which in some cases are more restrictive than New Jersey's, are applicable to New Jersey teenagers with Graduated Driving Licenses.

"Road Warrior's confusing, illegal interpretations of driving laws contradict New York and New Jersey state police and traffic safety agencies.

"After their teenagers receive unnecessary tickets, fines and points for their violations in New York, perhaps New Jersey parents can send their bills and legal fees to John Cichowski."

Click on the following link:

Road Warrior's mind is on vacation