Christie's big mass-transit screw-up is back in the news

Crowding in the NJ Transit waiting room at Penn Station in New York, above; delays and the stampede to get a seat on the train, below, are likely to get worse now that Amtrak will be closing two tunnels longer than before to repair damage from Superstorm Sandy nearly two years after corrosive saltwater flooded them.

Even if rail commuters could take an NJ Transit bus back to North Jersey, the antiquated Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan couldn't accommodate them. That terminal is hopelessly gridlocked weekday afternoons, when home-bound commuters face huge delays, with little relief in sight.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In the four years since Governor Christie scrapped two new Hudson River rail tunnels, crowding on trains and buses, and traffic congestion have only gotten worse.

But until recently, The Record has largely ignored problems with the region's mass-transit system, following an agenda set by Christie himself.

Now, The Record reports, Amtrak says it will have to close two existing tunnels longer than before to repair damage from Superstorm Sandy, aggravating delays faced by thousands of NJ Transit riders at Penn Station in Manhattan (A-1).

Today's story reviews the October 2010 decision, noting the GOP bully exaggerated the potential cost overruns he cited when he killed the tunnel project, according to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (A-6).

The new tunnels would have accommodated more trains, and provided more seats for commuters.

The story by transportation reporter Christopher Maag doesn't explain why it took Amtrak nearly two years to determine Sandy damage is far worse than initially thought.

Maag reports closing the tunnels for "additional hours every week ... will mean fewer trains and longer waits for [rail] commuters," but he doesn't mention existing delays or standing room only on rush-hour trains.

Tunnel vision

Even though Christie diverted hundreds of millions from the cancelled tunnels to road projects, Democrats are still having trouble getting behind a hike in the gasoline tax to revitalize the state's Transportation Trust Fund (A-3).

In an interview with The Record, Senate President Stephen Sweeney wouldn't commit himself to a method for raising the $2 billion he wants to spend on transportation annually, including extending light rail service to Englewood.

And it doesn't sound like Staff Writer John Reitmeyer asked Sweeney point blank whether he supported a gas-tax hike, which, basically, means drivers would pay to repair the roads and bridges they use every day.

The Record's editorial writers also haven't backed an increase in what is the nation's second-lowest levy, one that hasn't been raised "in more than two decades" (A-3).

News judgment?

When irate customers complained Ramsey luxury car dealer Afzal "Bobby" Kahn sold their cars on consignment and didn't pay them or that they didn't get title to the cars they bought from him, the story was buried inside Local.

Now that the son of Pakistani immigrants has hired a lawyer to "help sort through the complaints and make things right," the story is played on Page 1 today.

Shouldn't the front page be reserved for successful resolution of Kahn's alleged cons? 

Other car dealers

Don't hold your breath for The Record to expose unscrupulous practices at the full-line car dealers in North Jersey, a major source of North Jersey Media Group's ad revenue.

The Woodland Park daily apparently has no plans to replace long-time consumer columnist Kevin DeMarrais, who retired in March.

Hackensack news

A story on the Local front today reports the Upper Main Alliance is "a group of 153 property owners representing 375 businesses along Main Street" (L-1).

But Staff Reporter Todd South doesn't point out the property owners hope to profit tremendously from the downtown Hackensack redevelopment they have been pushing for a decade.

Now, the group says it is ready to spend $20,000 or more for a consultant "to kick start the creation of a local arts team."

That contrasts with the group's recent refusal to contribute to the creation of open space on Atlantic Street, replacing city owned parking lots with a park and amphitheater.