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| On Tuesday afternoon, residents of Prospect Avenue in Hackensack and elsewhere in North Jersey were relieved to see only a dusting of snow. |
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
At least New Jersey still has Ferrari.
Today's edition of The Record carries two front-page stories and a third inside on the decision by Mercedes-Benz, the U.S. arm of the luxury car maker, to leave Montvale for Atlanta (A-1, A-6 and L-7).
Given the South's history of anti-Semitism and slavery, the move might be a great fit for the German company.
Hitler rode in an open Mercedes-Benz built especially for him, and Diamler-Benz, BMW, Audi and other German companies enriched themselves during World War II by employing slaves who weren't killed in the concentration camps.
The great success of Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, often is attributed to Jewish customers who, recalling the Holocaust, vowed never to buy a Mercedes or any other German car.
Jersey impact
Even if you're among the small minority of readers who own a Mercedes, the move will not affect you one bit, and these and a flurry of earlier stories completely avoid discussing whether the development is more fallout from Governor Christie's failed economic policies.
Who can say whether all the time Christie has spent out of state pursuing his White House dreams influenced Mercedes officials, who reasoned if the state's chief executive wants to leave, why shouldn't we?
And if The Record's executives rode their Mercedes-Benz delivery trucks when they abandoned Hackensack -- holding their middle fingers high in the air -- what's wrong with Mercedes heading to a warmer climate?
The Record cites high taxes as one reason Mercedes is relocating most of its 1,000 jobs, but doesn't remind readers how Christie broke his 2009 campaign promise to lower our ruinous property taxes.
Home-rule expenses
Nor is the home-rule system of government discussed, and the high cost to taxpayers living in Bergen County towns of paying for nearly 70 police chiefs, 70 school superintendents, 70 police departments, 70 fire departments and 70 of everything else.
Mercedes is the latest auto importer to leave North Jersey.
Englewood Cliffs was once home to the U.S. headquarters of Volkswagen-Porsche, Peugeot, Citroen and Alfa-Romeo.
Ferrari Maserati North America remains on Sylvan Avenue. Jaguar Cars moved its U.S. headquarters from Leonia to Mahwah.
BMW, which outsells Mercedes in the U.S., hasn't said anything about moving its headquarters out of Woodcliff Lake.
Other news
On Tuesday, the do-nothing Republicans took complete control of Congress for the first time in eight years, and did a lot of saber rattling, but nothing to pass any legislation (A-1 and A-4).
Fair Lawn's Coffee with a Cop event sounds like a great idea for other communities, including Paterson (L-1).
But the photo that runs with today's story could have been chosen more carefully.
It shows Patrolman Gerald Graziano with his arms crossed as resident Jeff Zammitti speaks to him.
Is the patrolman trying to keep warm, feel insecure or rejecting the resident's comments?
A weather photo on L-3 today didn't even require the photographer to leave the Woodland Park building The Record now calls home.
Three Bimbos
You've heard of the Three Tenors?
Tuesday's front page of The Record carried the same Three Bimbos that appeared on Sunday's Page 1: Christie, Columnist Charles Stile and Teresa Giudice.
In Tuesday's long Stile column (A-1) and Melissa Hayes' news story (A-4) on Christie's relationship with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, there is no mention of a Port Authority contract the governor steered to a company that is partly owned by the Cowboys.
For that, you'll have to read a report today on an ethics complaint filed by the American Democratic Legal Fund (A-3).
Teresa Giudice
The headline on Tuesday's Page 1 story about Giudice going to prison for mortgage and bankruptcy fraud is just awful:
"Next 'Housewifes' scene
starts away from spotlight"
"Giudice begins prison term in dead of night"
I don't see anything in Staff Writer Virginia Rohan's story on the possibility Giudice will likely become another inmate's "housewife" (A-1 and A-6).
In an exchange of e-mails today, I received a comment on this post from a native of Germany who does public relations work and calls himself an experienced freelance journalist for automobile publications:
ReplyDelete"The unnecessary connection of a corporate company move in 2014 based on a history with Hitler. That is the sort of journalism that keeps me from reading any further."
"Not in the context you have put it in. In 2014 it has no business being used as any explanation for a corporate decision which is most likely based on money. Followed by tax incentives (money), cheaper cost of living for the employees (money) and closer access to the producing plants (convenience and…. money). Hilter, the Nazis, dogmatism or world domination have nothing to do with this decision."