Slain black Paterson teen gets the back of Marty's hand

The Oritani Field Club on East Camden and River streets in Hackensack will close at the end of 2015, and face the wrecking ball to make way for apartments or another type of development. On Thursday morning, four elderly men used the clay tennis courts, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Far be it for me to second-guess you, oh great Martin Gottlieb, whose cub-reporting years at The Record launched a stellar journalism career at The New York Times.

But, Marty, now that you've traded Paris for Paramus as editor of The Record for close to three years, what's going on with your cockamamie news judgment?

Do worthless white trash -- Joe Giudice isn't even a U.S. citizen -- really have more news value than the hundreds of people and 14 police motorcycle officers who turned out for the funeral of an innocent 14-year-old girl who was gunned down on Paterson's violent streets?

Greed party

On Page 1, Marty, you show the cheating and lying Giudices in a large photo after they were sentenced to federal prison, and a column by Virginia Rohan speculates on the future of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" (A-1).

You've allowed Rohan and her assignment editors to make the couple a huge spectacle in numerous stories in recent years, many of which appeared in the Local news section in place of legitimate news.

Rohan even refers to the woman as "Teresa," a newspaper style no-no. First names are reserved for teenagers and children.

Why not just call Teresa Giudice "bimba" and her husband "bimbo"? In the news story and column, I can't even find the name of the town where they live in a $3.9 million McMansion.

Nor is much made of the bimba being allowed to remain free until January.

No respect

Then, Marty, you make us question your highfalutin journalism credentials with photos showing the incredible turnout outside St. Luke Baptist Church in Paterson, and the grief shown by the family of Nazareh Bugg, 14, who was shot dead two weeks ago.

Why are these photos on the Local front and L-6, and not on the front page? 

Who could help but be moved to tears by the stricken look on the face, presumably, of Nazareh's mother as she is being helped out of the church?

For some reason, none of the relatives are identified in the photo captions. 

And you've got to love the Paterson police, the mayor and the white police director for pulling out all the stops for the girl's funeral, but doing little to prevent her death or the shooting death of another girl who had so much promise, Genesis Rincon, 12, on July 5.

Christie and pigs

Governor Christie's travels as head of the Republican Governors Association merit front-page play today, but his mistreatment of pigs is buried in a brief on A-3.

Last year, the GOP bully wallowed in manure as he vetoed the first attempt to regulate the size of crates for housing pregnant pigs on New Jersey farms "after political groups from Iowa ... applied pressure on the governor," the story reports.

Now, an Assembly committee has passed a second bill to address the cruelty of crates that are too small to allow pregnant pigs to turn around (A-3).

Three more embarrassing corrections appear on A-2 today.

Can she write?

Another story on A-3 raises a question about whether Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno can sign or veto bills as acting governor now that she has broken her elbow and wrist in a bicycle accident.

And if her injuries prevent her from signing bills into law, who can? The story doesn't address any of those issues.

Wouldn't it be great if her broken elbow and wrist meant that Senate President Stephen Sweeney or whomever is second in line as acting governor swiftly enacted a hike in the gasoline tax, a tax surcharge on millionaires and other measures to restore the state's economic health?

Ung strikes back

Well, there is plenty of room for Staff Writer Elisa Ung to turn around in her Woodland Park newsroom cubicle and in all of those restaurants she reviews.

But if you keep her waiting for a slice of pie, look out, as the owner and chef of Brigantine Seafood Eatery & Market found out today, when he got a lukewarm 2-star rating (BL-18).

Ung was upset, because on a busy Friday night, the service was slow, and she didn't get her Key lime pie until "almost two hours" after she and her companion sat down.

She sampled two appetizers and three entrees at that meal, but one of the prices is missing, more evidence of sloppy editing and proofing. 

On her first visit, she was upset her peach pie wasn't served warm.

You have to pity the woman, don't you?

The restaurant is "no frills," "bare bones" and "plain," and horrors, doesn't even use tablecloths, Ung reports, so she doesn't think the prices are justified by the fresh, wild-caught seafood served or the generous portions.

She describes "scallops" for $26.95, yet doesn't say how many she was served or whether they were those wonderful, large sea scallops landed in New Jersey.

From her description of the seafood and high level of preparation by Chef Alfred Ianniello, Brigantine Seafood Eatery is a must-visit for people who love fish.

Sadly, her obsession for artery clogging desserts blinds her to that simple truth.

Hackensack news

Hackensack Chronicle reports the City Council and Board of Education have agreed on having two police officers, one to patrol the high school and the other the middle school, until the 2018-19 school year.

The district has agreed to pay about $170,000 a year, and $60,000 to purchase and equip two patrol cars, the weekly newspaper says.

In today's edition, News Editor Jennifer Vazquez reports the agreement was approved at a Sept. 16 meeting, but I don't recall seeing the story in The Record.

Previously, the school district refused to pay $1 million for a school resource officer who was assigned to the high school starting in 2006, because city bureaucrats never sent out the bills.