Read all about Paterson's deadly present, glorious past

The Bergen County Courthouse, the fifth such building in Hackensack since the city became the county seat in 1710, has a dome modeled on the U.S. Capitol. Unfortunately, this grand building, a new Justice Center going up nearby and all other county property is tax exempt, shifting a crushing burden onto residents and business owners.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Where is Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale, who grabbed headlines as Passaic County sheriff, the No. 2 cop at the Port Authority and police chief of a bankrupt town in Alabama?

In fact, why can't the Paterson police do anything to stop rampant gun violence, which took another innocent "young life" late Saturday night, according to a Page 1 story in The Record today?

Nazareh Bugg, 14, "was walking with friends along Clinton Street, less than a block from the basketball court she dreamed would be her way out of Paterson," the lead paragraph reports (A-1).

The Woodland Park daily says Paterson added police officers after the fatal July shooting of Genesis Rincon, 12, but still had "about 100 fewer than were employed before a 2011 layoff of 125 officers" (A-6).

Lousy reporting

Tomorrow, readers can expect Mike Kelly to write a front-page column, trying to find the "lesson" in the 14-year-old's death, and an editorial writer will wring his or her hands over gun violence in Silk City.

But don't expect the paper to report Governor Christie has the blood of Genesis and Nazareh on his hands, because his state-aid cuts forced the poor, largely minority city to lay off the 125 officers.

Officials in hiding

The paper's reporters couldn't even get Speziale to comment on Saturday night's shooting, and Mayor Joey Torres "could not be reached for comment."

"Paterson police issued a news release with few details," said the story, which was reported and written by three staffers and the editor of the Paterson Press.

This kind of reporting is pathetic, but typical of The Record since Publisher Stephen A. Borg took over and cut costs and veteran newsroom workers.

Purple prose

The story is written to hide its many reporting flaws:

"Soon after gunshots pierced one of the last nights of summer, 14-year-old Nazareh Bugg lay dying in the arms of a friend, as police arrived at the scene of yet another shooting that took the life of a North Jersey youngster" (A-1).

What moron wrote that? "North Jersey youngster"? 

North Jersey largely repudiates Paterson, Passaic and other communities filled with black and Hispanic residents, and racists in Saddle River and other wealthy towns aren't shedding any tears over the teen's death.

City's glorious past

On the Local front today, a story reports Cooper family descendants gathered on Sunday to celebrate Paterson companies that made thousands of diners (L-1).

But there is not a single reference to the city's violent and bloody present or how Christie, other politicians, Speziale and the police have turned their back on residents.

Update

The story was poorly edited, and the day of the shooting wasn't mentioned until the continuation page (A-6), where "late Saturday" appeared in a caption.

Like many readers I assumed it took place on Sunday.

In the text on A-6, the time of the Saturday shooting was given as 11:26 p.m.

Why was Nazareh and her friends allowed to stay out so late? The story is silent on that question.

Climate change

More than 300,000 people demonstrated in Manhattan on Sunday, demanding official action on climate change (A-1).

But North Jersey Media Group's objectivity on the issue is suspect, given all of the advertising revenue the publishing company reaps from automakers and dealers.

Fifteen years after Honda introduced the first hybrid car in America, consumer still have few affordable hybrid or all-electric cars to choose from.

Mass transit

Christie killed a pair of new Hudson River rail tunnels in 2010, "citing potential cost overruns," The Record reports today (A-1).

But Staff Writer Christopher Maag's detailed update on replacement tunnels and other mass-transit improvements continues to emphasize the high cost without giving equal time to the potential benefits.

The paper has done its best to ignore crowded trains, buses and midtown Manhattan's gridlocked terminal, as well as how little the Port Authority has done to expand mass transit.

Still, shouldn't every story on the high cost of new rail tunnels tell readers how many cars will be taken off the road, reducing gasoline consumption, pollution, traffic congestion and lost productivity, and put a dollar amount on the benefits? 

Feeling powerless

Crews have been tearing up streets in Hackensack and many other towns for several weeks now, but a story on the Local front today reports "first steps" in a plan to safeguard the power grid (L-1).

On L-3, a chart says the start date of gas-main replacement in Hackensack is "to be determined."

So why were Salem, State and other streets closed starting in August? Was other work being done?

And this afternoon, police had River Street, in front of The Record's mothballed headquarters, down to one lane in each direction, and a deep trench had been cut into the pavement.

As a service to readers, this story should have been reported earlier, and the local editors could have done a better job coming up with a schedule of the work to warn drivers.