Drivers took commuting columnist hostage 12 years ago

An NJ Transit bus on Main Street in Hackensack. In a dozen years of writing the Road Warrior column for The Record, Staff Writer John Cichowski has largely ignored bus and train riders, and in the process, racked up more errors than any reporter past or present at the Woodland Park daily.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a front-page headline today, The Record's editors admit that drivers have been allowed to hijack a column that was aimed at all commuters when it was launched 25 years ago:

"Keeping drivers in the loop"

And John Cichowski, the reporter who turned his back on bus and rail users, is still writing the column today, a dozen years after he took over from the original Road Warrior, Jeffrey Page.

This Page 1 anniversary column also is flawed by the photo of a highway project that was completed about 15 years ago, and an awkward sub-headline.

I'm sure the drowsy copy editor who write the sub-headline was looking for "delays" instead of "holdups," which was two meanings (A-1).

Dissing seniors

Besides ignoring mass-transit users, Cichowski has spent little time reporting on the challenges facing his contemporaries, older drivers who mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal with often fatal consequences.

If there is retraining available to seniors or other programs to improve their driving skills, readers haven't seen it in the Road Warrior column.

Shaky reporting

Chichowski made so many errors he inspired one Record reader to set up a Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers in an attempt to correct what the newspaper refused to set right.

And because Cichowski's reporting has been so shaky readers are questioning some of what he says today:

"It took nearly a decade to get E-ZPass to work correctly," the reporter claims, without ever elaborating anywhere in his overlong column (A-1 and A-10).

He also takes credit for a column that stopped "four mornings of horrific traffic jams" at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013 (A-10).

But Cichowski, a lazy reporter who rarely leaves the office, doesn't tell readers that he was tipped off by Publisher Stephen A. Borg, whose friend called from the bridge to complain about being stuck in traffic.

Shortcuts

Cichowski's chief weakness is relying on the eyes and ears of his readers, and publishing hundreds of their emails as the basis for many of his columns.

Their only motive is to see their names in print, and their observations and knowledge of driving laws and regulations are even shakier than Cichowski's.

Among his other failures as a journalist is his refusal to embrace mass transit as a way of cutting traffic congestion and reducing air pollution.

EV charging

A story on the Local front today doesn't tell owners of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars how much they will have to pay to gain access to chargers in Englewood's municipal garage (L-1).

Nor does the story report on the rate of charge or whether the electricity is free. 

With employees of a Mercedes-Benz dealer using the spaces from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, public access will be limited.

Guessing game

A caption on L-1 identifies only one of the four people whose faces are clearly visible in the photo, which runs with a story on Englewood's hometown sports heroes.

Stories or photos from Closter, Mahwah, Tenafly, Maywood, Clifton and Woodland Park also appear today.

But there is nothing from two of the biggest towns in the circulation area, Hackensack and Teaneck.

Failed columnists provide warped views of New Jersey

Snow is falling in Hackensack's Fairmount section.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I suppose readers are thankful Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record is not plugging his latest book or once again exploring events that date to the late 1990s.

But many of them also are rolling their eyes over the veteran reporter's declaration that Governor Christie was "clearly not in campaign mode" at a town hall meeting in Fair Lawn on Wednesday (A-1 and A-6).

Kelly has been writing an opinion column since 1988, but rarely offers an opinion about anything, including Christie.

In a letter to the editor today, Frank Gunsberg of Englewood makes Kelly seem like the fool he is:

"Aside from losing his focus as governor by being out of state most of the time while he chases his political dreams, by every barometer Christie has been a terrible governor. It is time for him to resign," Gunsberg says (A-8).

Kelly, on the other hand, continues to push around thousands of words to little effect, so desperate for a fresh perspective he seizes on a single public appearance to christen a new Christie, even though the GOP bully is expected to declare his candidacy soon.

And readers must be wondering why Editor Martin Gottlieb is wasting precious front-page space on a Kelly column that does little more than duplicate the Melissa Hayes news story displayed next to it (A-1) 

We're not buying Christie's or Kelly's bullshit. It's time for the columnist to resign, too.

More Cichowksi errors

Today, Staff Writer John Cichowski's Road Warrior column reports that at least 17 vehicles were damaged by a "3-foot crater" on Route 95 in Ridgefield Park (L-1).

Ridgefield Park is about 6 miles from the George Washington Bridge.

But the reporter refers to a pothole "in a local lane ... approaching the George Washington Bridge" (L-1), this despite exits for Route 46 west, Teaneck, Englewood, Leonia and Fort Lee, all short of the bridge.

Cichowski also quotes drivers "interviewed on a morning television broadcast," leading the reporter to launch into a roundup of other bad roads and ramps in the region.

Added confusion

He claims Paula Rogovin "simply continued over the GWB on what she dubs 'the evil ramp' that takes her to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge ...."

That's inaccurate and a physical impossibility: 

The GWB and RFK bridges are more than 7 miles apart via the Harlem River Drive in Manhattan, so no "ramp" could take her to the latter, once known as the Triborough Bridge.

Not only that, but if Rogovin got on Route 95 in Teaneck (the reporter calls her "the Teaneck motorist"), the "stalled" traffic in the local lanes she watched "open mouthed" couldn't have been caused by a pothole behind her in Ridgefield Park.

This discrepancy once again demonstrates that Cichowski fabricates details to help his narrative.

Unlearned lesson

The disoriented Cichowski also inadvertently mocks himself in today's column, declaring one driver had ignored "a basic grade-school lesson: Remembering what you learned yesterday can keep you out of trouble today." 

The veteran reporter long ago abandoned the duty of every journalist -- "Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy" -- and often repeats errors from past columns, even though he has been corrected by the editor of the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

Cichowksi doesn't even know where the drivers who damaged, wheels, tires, shock absorbers and springs will be going for repairs (L-2).

He refers to "estimators at auto-body shops" and "annoying bills" for "mechanical sundries."

North Jersey.com

A brief report on the same pothole that was the focus of the Road Warrior column appears on North Jersey.com:

Pothole takes out more than a dozen cars

But the online report says the pothole was "around mile marker 119," not the 117.4 reported by Cichowski, and there is no mention of the GWB approach.

Also, the report refers to "about 15 cars," not the "at least 17" vehicles in the Road Warrior column.

The online report was updated at 8:02 a.m. today.

Road Warrior errors? Editors try to kill the messenger

Rush hour on Summit Avenue in Hackensack. In more than a decade of writing the Road Warrior column, which is supposed to focus on commuting issues, Staff Writer John Cichowski has largely ignored North Jersey's worsening traffic congestion and the lack of mass-transit alternatives.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You may have missed a comment I published on Saturday from the editor of the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

The retired engineer set up the page after The Record's editors started attacking him for exposing chronic errors in the so-called commuting column.

The column has been written for more than 11 years by reporter John Cichowski, whose thrice-weekly appearances in the Woodland Park daily have been cut back.

The Record has never explained the reason for the cutback, likely because readers are held in contempt by the arrogant editors, including Martin Gottlieb, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza.

Here is the comment in full:

"The Road Warrior Bloopers Facebook page provides corrected facts, along with supporting sources and Internet links, all of which are beneficial to the safety and knowledge of readers, in response to mistake-ridden Road Warrior columns, which continually present unsafe, illegal, contradictory, and totally misreported information and advice.

"Readers should appreciate these needed corrections.

"All of this corrected information is always first presented to the Road Warrior and his editors, who continually ignore making any corrections.

"In fact, the very early communications and occasional follow-up efforts have been made in a very constructive objective manner to try to work with the Road Warrior and his editors to try and prevent his mistakes or correct them subsequent to publications. Unfortunately, not only did the Road Warrior and his editors refuse to accept these conciliatory offers, but they went out of their way to make denigrating comments in regards to these offers.

"Therefore, the gloves have come off and readers are shown how unprofessional and incompetent the Road Warrior really is based on the corrected facts, which are also supported by referenced sources, which are frequently the exact same source cited by the Road Warrior in his columns, and Internet links.

"Readers need to made aware of the very misleading, and many times false presentations in the Road Warrior columns if they want to stay on the right side of the law for themselves and their children who drive, avoid dangerous situations promoted by the Road Warrior to themselves and their young drivers, and not be misled or afraid of grossly exaggerated or false information about road and mass transit transportation.

"Readers need to made aware of just how bad the Road Warrior reporting really is when he frequently contradicts himself in the very same column, or reports mistaken information that contradicts what he correctly reported in previous columns.

"Readers need to be shown that the Road Warrior's responses in many of his columns to readers, who question the accuracy of what he reported in a previous column, are either very denigrating to the person questioning his reporting, or very misleading or false based on the actual facts.

"Readers need to be shocked and angered by the very misleading, and many times false reports and advice in the Road Warrior columns.

"The Road Warrior Bloopers Facebook page never crosses the line in offering information or opinions that are not supported by the facts and referenced sources."

Here is a link: Road Warrior Bloopers at The Record

Christie's future

In the unlikely event Chris Christie is elected president in 2016, he couldn't possibly treat New Jerseyans any worse than he has since he became governor in 2010 (A-1).

Given that he won't be making a decision until next year, why is this speculative story leading the paper today?

And is the so-called ANALYSIS really advancing other stories from reporter-cum-lap dog Melissa Hayes that appeared after last week's election, celebrating how well Christie did in raising money and campaigning for Republican candidates across the country?

The overweight GOP bully continues to be the butt of jokes, but he says he would be fit enough to campaign for the Republican nomination and the White House.

Still, he has done such an awful job for the New Jersey economy, the environment and the state's fiscal health, and there are lingering questions about his involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal.

In another front-page story today, Christie isn't a member of a new gun control group that plans to take its case to manufacturers -- but you won't know that unless you manage to read deep into the continuation page (A-1 and A-10).

Trains, not planes

The Record's stories on trains carrying "highly explosive Canadian crude oil each week through Bergen County towns," including Teaneck, focuses on a relatively new quality of life issue (L-1).

For decades, the editors have ignored aircraft noise that affects far more North Jersey residents, including those in Hackensack, where private jets seem to skim the rooftops of high-rises and hospital buildings on the way to Teterboro Airport. 

The editors also do P.R. for a continuing menace --overweight white men riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles that are modified to be as noisy as possible when they roar down our quiet streets.

They are only shown in photos when they organize a charity run.

Hackensack news

You'll find big Hackensack news on L-3 today -- a woman having her eyes tested, and a man whose hand was injured by an NJ Transit train.

Why is Publisher Stephen A. Borg's hair turning gray?

Shuttered businesses in Englewood, above and below, cast doubt on the strategies of officials there and in Hackensack to revive their business districts by building more apartments downtown, as reported today and Monday in The Record.

Landlords charging high rents could be causing business failures in Englewood in Hackensack, not the lack of foot traffic.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Stephen A. Borg of Tenafly is president of North Jersey Media Group and publisher of The Record, the company's flagship daily newspaper.

He lives in a $3.65 million McMansion bought with a mortgage from NJMG, and he's sitting on a pot of gold -- the 19.7-acre parcel that has been empty since the paper left Hackensack in 2009, as reported today in The Record (A-7).

That property might not be as attractive once Costco Wholesale closes its 20-year-old Hackensack warehouse store nearby and opens a bigger one in Teterboro (A-1).

But that certainly shouldn't be turning his hair gray.

You can clearly see the transformation in a photo on Page 112 of the October 2014 issue of (201) magazine, which celebrates the Dwight-Englewood School's Anniversary Gala in Englewood under the heading, "Giving Back."

Borg is shown with his wife, Monica, who appears in another photo on Page 102 of the same issue, one of four women in the "Best Dressed of the Month" feature.

Same old, same old

If anything, the hair of readers should be turning gray over the sameness of the front page today -- more boring news about the Ebola epidemic that isn't, and yet another tedious political column on Governor Christie's image (A-1).

The Costco story is the only one on the front page that could pass for local news, and that has been rumored for more than a year.

A bigger Costco is under construction near Teterboro Airport, about 3 miles from the Hackensack warehouse.

Second look

Road Warrior John Cichowski counts on his readers having memories as bad as his, especially when he repeatedly screws up the age of the George Washington Bridge.

Last Friday, Cichowski finally got it right, reporting the bridge was 83 years old on that day (Oct. 24) after four previous columns as far back as last December had already declared its age as 83.

According to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers, the veteran reporter also messed up the name of the award bestowed on the subject of his column, Warren "Pops" Tashian, 99.

Cichowksi claims that in 2004, the Bergen County YMCA gave Tashian its "Man of the Year" award.

But the award has never been called that. The award is "Person of the Year," and Tashian didn't get that, either.

He was honored as "Most Inspirational Adult."

The Bergen County Y may add a "Most Incorrect Adult" award, and give it to Cichowski. 

See: Playing dumb and dumber again

Ebola hits newsroom, editors feed media hysteria

Park Avenue in Park Ridge also is called James Gandolfini Way. The Ridge Diner's coffee is good enough to drink black, but if you order a cafe latte, it will be served sweetened and with whipped cream on top. Yuck.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The irresponsible editors at The Record aren't even waiting for the first confirmed case of Ebola in New Jersey.

Joining the electronic media's hysteria, the Woodland Park daily today and Saturday broke out the big, black, doomsday headlines.

Transportation reporter Christopher Maag is back on the Ebola beat today, and the paper's medical writers also have entered the fray.

If you are already tired of Ebola stories, there isn't much else to on Page 1 today -- except another pedestrian political column, and a pissing match between two New Jersey architectural schools.

Is Editor Martin Gottlieb, the worldly former Timesman, this boring in person?

Joining Maag in not covering his beat is Road Warrior John Cichowski, whose L-1 column today again strays far from commuting issues.

Last Sunday, the Road Warrior column predicted Route 20 construction could be finished by December, as reflected in the headline and text, but others believe it will take longer.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Road Warrior issues another dumb prediction

Noise makers

I get a kick out of photos The Record runs publicizing the charity work of Harley-Davidson owners, who cavalierly break every anti-noise ordinance on the books.

Today, the Bergen County Harley Owners Group is shown "during a benefit for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" (L-2).

So, modifying their motorcycle mufflers to be as loud as possible and cruelty to the eardrums of humans is OK. 

Word pusher

It must be hard being Mike Kelly, to echo the first line of the reporter's piece on Governor Christie (O-1).

Kelly rehashes the controversy over Christie's insensitive remarks about being tired of the Washington debate over raising the minimum wage.

But the burned-out columnist can't muster an opinion, and is reluctant to condemn the GOP bully, who has waged war on New Jersey's middle and working classes, and even vetoed a hike in the state's minimum wage.

"He needs to open his eyes," Kelly says lamely about Christie.

Kelly will be celebrating his 4oth year at The Record next year, if you can believe that.

'Cho in the 5th'

The Record's Editorial Board has finally come to its senses about Scott Garrett, the conservative Republican who has represented the 5th Congressional District for the past 12 years.

Today, an editorial endorses Democrat Roy Cho of Hackensack on Nov. 4 (O-2).

The district runs from the Delaware to the Hudson, and includes Bergen County.

Garrett voted "no" on the Violence Against Women Act and to end the government shutdown last year.

He also initially opposed federal Sandy aid, but lied about it in campaign literature.

Cho's highest priority as a freshman congressman would be transportation, an issue that has been neglected by The Record and ignored by Garrett and Christie.

Saturday's paper

The Ebola coverage on Saturday's front page mentioned twice that Hackensack University Medical Center's mobile satellite emergency department is parked "behind a McDonald's, in fact."

Is there a connection?

Symptoms of the African virus include "diarrhea, vomiting [and] stomach pain." 

They sound a lot like what McDonald's customers experience after eating the low-quality beef and other food.