Front-page news, views from everywhere but North Jersey

Construction of a Justice Center on Court Street in Hackensack, above and below, seems to be moving as slowly some of the civil lawsuits filed in the Bergen County Courthouse.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With all of Paterson's troubles, why did Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record race down to Camden to assess whether it's the success story Governor Christie claims it is?

Christie has totally ignored Silk City, where gun violence took the lives of two innocent young girls last July and September.

And why did Editor Martin Gottlieb put Kelly's piece on Page 1, where the poor writing and lack of editing are even more embarrassing than the reporter's dated thumbnail photo, complete with its shit-eating grin.

Kelly's main character, Camden resident Clifton Bond, "pondered a landscape handcuffed by poverty and crime...." (A-1). 

"Pondered"? A "handcuffed" landscape? Is English Kelly's first language?

Stale Stile

Columnist Charles Stile has been known to write about Christie's White House ambitions as many as three times in a single week, as if he is on the GOP bully's payroll.

Today, for a change, his boring political column focuses on another Republican who wants to be president, Jeb Bush, younger brother of one of our worst presidents, George W. Bush (A-1).

Stile reports Christie raised funds for George Bush's 2000 campaign, but so did real estate mogul Jon F. Hanson, a close friend of the Borgs, who control  North Jersey Media Group, publisher of the Woodland Park daily.

You won't find any mention in The Record of Hanson raising money for W and for Christie himself, and Hanson wasn't identified in a recent story on his companies' role in a sale-leaseback deal for NJMG's Rockaway printing plant.

Vinnie Carzo

Also on Page 1 today is a heart-warming story about Vinnie Carzo, 20, a disabled Wanaque man who was made an honorary funeral director.

But you have to question the editor's decision to play this story on the front page when the obituaries of many prominent North Jerseyans are literally buried inside the paper.

Izod Center

If the 34-year-old Izod Center is expected to open "in a new form" in 2017, why has The Record made such a fuss over its closure, playing the news on Page 1 two days in a row?

Deep in the Izod story, Hanson -- Christie's sports and entertainment adviser -- is identified as a director of Yankee Global Enterprises, owner of the Yankees.

Legends Hospitality, a joint venture of the Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, provides concessions for the Prudential Center, the Newark arena that may see increased attendance after the Izod closing.

And, of course, Christie's friendship with the owners of the Cowboys is well-known.

Talk about a ruling class. No wonder Christie has repeatedly vetoed a tax surcharge on the Borgs and other millionaires.

Body in trunk

In Local, a photo on L-2 of investigators gathered around a body in the trunk of a BMW could be a scene from one of TV's popular CSI series.

The story says the victim, Jordan Johnson, lived in a luxury Fort Lee high-rise with his girlfriend.

But reporters make no attempt to explain whether Johnson was gainfully employed or how he had obtained a "large amount" of jewelry and cash stolen from the apartment.

Chilean sea bass

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung holds herself out as an expert on steaks and desserts, but she doesn't know much about fish and the potential for ingesting a lot of harmful mercury.

She complains the Chilean sea bass she was served at Matthew's Italian Restaurant in Clifton (2.5 stars) "was so grossly overcooked that it took some serious knife work to cut a slice" (BL-14).

But she should have said the real problem with the server describing the dish as "sea bass" is that "Chilean sea bass" or Patagonian toothfish has elevated levels of mercury not found in the much smaller fish.