Bridgegate delays won't help Christie's doomed campaign

Are high rents keeping storefronts empty on the 300 block of Main Street in Hackensack, above and below?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie is in 10th or 11th place in the polls on who will win the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

But The Record tries to stir reader interest in his doomed campaign with an A-1 teaser suggesting a delay in two Bridgegate scandal trials could make a difference (A-1 and A-3).

After three of Christie's associates testify next March, the GOP bully will not only be knocked out of the race for the White House he might have to defend himself against impeachment proceedings.

9/11 photos

Readers can't help but be moved by staff photos on Page 1 and elsewhere in today's paper showing the enduring grief over the loss of loved ones in the 9/11 attacks (A-8, L-1, L-3 and L-5).

The A-1 photo by Chris Pedota is especially powerful.

Contrast today's coverage to the sorry Mike Kelly column on the 14th anniversary ceremony that led the paper on Friday.

For a dramatic opening sentence, Kelly chose only three words: "Time moves on." So should he.

No editing

Kelly's long, meandering columns demonstrate how little editing is going on at the Woodland Park daily, but other writers get away with awkward writing, too.

On the front page today, sports Columnist Tara Sullivan has this gem:

"Vinci's best moment -- a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over world No. 1 Serena Williams -- authored a most shocking moment in the sports world .... [italics added]."

In the photo caption with her column, an editor insisted that "Serena Williams had her run for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended Friday .... [italics added]."

That's like saying Williams "had" her arm broken.

Money talks

Why are leases with two department stores at the long-stalled American Dream Meadowlands complex front page news today?

Because The Record, the flagship of North Jersey Media Group, is being kept afloat by advertising revenue from Macy's, Saks, Lord & Taylor and other big chains (A-1).

And those ads are why the editors order reporters to cover the malls in North Jersey almost exclusively and ignore struggling downtown merchants in Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood.