Even if no crime, it's time for Christie to bow out

Federal and state investigators are trying to determine if a crime was committed when members of Governor Christie's inner circle closed two of three access lanes to the upper level tollbooths of the George Washington Bridge, above, causing four days of gridlock in Democratic Fort Lee, The Record reports today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Can we really believe a governor who claims he was kept out of the loop when his lieutenant governor, members of his inner circle in Trenton and his Port Authority cronies engaged in a pattern of political retribution against Democrats who didn't support him (The Record's A-1 today)?

Do we really want a governor who has been unable to deliver federal aid to shore residents who were driven from their homes by Superstorm Sandy nearly 17 months ago (A-3)?

Even if no federal or state crime was committed when lane closures caused four days of gridlock at the Fort Lee end of the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie shouldn't survive the prolonged crisis over the Bridgegate scandal.

Narrow focus

Today's Page 1 story by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, one of the paper's stars, focuses narrowly on what laws may have been broken by all of the political machinations in the Governor's Office and at the Port Authority, the bi-state transportation agency and patronage mill.

Akin omits any discussion of how the majority of state residents have lost confidence in their governor, and would like to see him resign. 

Drugs and guns

Is there a story today about the full-page ad from the Bergen County prosecutor, warning residents that he won't hesitate to go after anyone who gives even one Oxycodone pill to a friend of a friend with a drug problem (A-7)?

A letter to the editor today states clearly how some gun-rights advocates believe local police cannot protect them from crime (A-10). 

"We are in a war," claims Don White of tiny Prospect Park, which shares a border with Paterson, the city that is often demonized by The Record as a drug bazaar.

More flawed reporting

On the Local front today, Road Warrior John Cichowski wrings his hands over the failure of a non-profit car service that could help "non-driving seniors and ambulatory disabled people navigate inexpensively" (L-1).

Of course, Cichowski makes the problem even more dramatic by omitting any mention of NJ Transit's Access Link service, which takes thousands of people to supermarkets, and to and from doctors and hospitals every month.

In his last paragraph, the confused reporter asks "how many fewer deaths, injuries and crashes" would there be "if seniors and disabled people had convenient, inexpensive travel options"?

But they already have that with NJ Transit's Access Link minibuses. 

This story smells

Another L-1 story says Hackensack residents complained that uncollected trash "attracted vermin and gave off a bad smell in the sweltering heat" of summer.

So, why did city officials start twice-a-week pickup on March 17, when it is still wintry, and ignore how a recycling-education campaign and compost pickups could have accomplished the same goals?

Gondolas on River Street?

A Business page story finally identifies multimillionaire developer Fred Daibes as a partner in a deal to buy The Record's former headquarters on about 20 acres of land along River Street in Hackensack (L-8).

The story doesn't say whether Daibes and partner James Demetrakis plan to provide gondolas to residents of the luxury apartments they intend to build in one of the city's worst flood zones.