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| In Hackensack, North Jersey Media Group turned The Record's old River Street parking lot into a cash cow. Parking costs a flat fee of $5, but the first 50 minutes are free. Parking for the disabled also costs $5 with the first 90 minutes free. Jurors park free. |
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
The Record's Page 1 headline on Sunday tried to hide how Governors Christie and Cuomo killed any hope of real reform at the mammoth Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Today, another front-page headline miraculously transforms the governors' vetoes of bills passed by two state Legislatures into "PA reforms" (A-1).
Staff Writer Shawn Boburg reports "it could take years to enact the [governors'] most complex and politically fraught proposals."
But Boburg devotes a lot of space to a possible takeover of the PATH rail system, and none to the construction of a new midtown Manhattan bus terminal, which is at the top of the list for weary Bergen County commuters.
Boburg is the reporter assigned to cover the Port Authority, but he has ignored the agency's refusal to expand PATH and add a second bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel.
Today, he continues to voice PA propaganda against mass transit by citing PATH's yearly losses of $300 million as an impediment to a takeover by NJ Transit.
Does The Record know of any mass-transit system that makes money? The benefits are less tangible, ranging from cleaner air to less traffic congestion to reduced reliance on fossil fuels.
Sports garbage
The other major elements on today's front page -- especially the column on the Giants' coach -- are a colossal waste of space.
Why didn't Editor Martin Gottlieb give better play to Bill Bratton, the New York police commissioner, who said nationwide demonstrations are "about the continuing poverty rates, the continuing growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor" (A-1 brief and A-3)?
Contrast Bratton's comments to the racial stereotyping from Bernard Kerik, the crook who served as the city's police commissioner more than a decade ago.
Kerik was quoted last week by Columnist Mike Kelly.
Lame editors
The local assignment editors still can't provide readers with a complete story two days after a woman drove her small SUV into two special police officers in Cliffside Park.
Today, The Record reports one of the officers, Stephen Petruzzello, was in critical condition after surgery (L-1).
But CliffviewPilot.com said the officer died at 5 this morning.
The Record's L-1 story reports the driver, Ani Kalayjian, 62, was "cited" for "various traffic violations," but does not specify them.
There is no description of how the accident happened on Saturday night or whether the officers were in a crosswalk when they were run down.
Today's account finally has the names of the officers, Petruzzello and Thaier Abdallah.
Instead of providing important details, the reporters make sure to fill the story with the trivial, such as where the two officers sat during graduation in November.
Cliffview Pilot
Jerry DeMarco reports on CliffviewPilot.com that Petruzzello, 22, sustained severe brain injuries and died at 5 a.m. today.
DeMarco showed a photo of the driver, and identified her as an "internationally known trauma expert and author."
He quotes police as saying the woman claimed she "didn't see" the officers. She was in the vehicle with her 93-year-old mother.
See: Stephen Petruzzello dies from injuries
Yes, because it's cometely rational for someone's death at 5 a.m to be reported in the newspaper that is delivered to you at the same time. We should all expect that from our daily newspaper. This is what I like about Eye On The Record. Holding The Record accountable in a realistic way.
ReplyDeleteNo. I didn't expect The Record to have the death in the print edition, but what about all of the missing information -- and this happens day after day, especially with breaking news and most noticeably in police and accident news.
DeleteThe editors just don't take pedestrian accidents seriously.
If you want your newspaper to be more up to date you should read the website instead. Comparing a print version to Gerry Demarco's site is like comparing a book to a radio show
ReplyDeleteLook, I subscribe to the newspaper; the Web site is put out by another staff, and it really sucks. DeMarco has information the paper can't seem to get, either through incompetence or laziness.
Delete