Defense attorney, U.S. senator in Englewood parade

Famed criminal defense attorney Frank P. Lucianna (with white hair, center) marching today in Englewood's Memorial Day Parade arm in arm with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (hidden). The Englewood-born Lucianna is 91. See Page 1 of The Record today for a lame Herb Jackson column on Booker that suggests voters should decide whether to reelect the Democrat based on his record as Newark mayor, not what he's done since he succeeded the late Frank R. Lautenberg in the Senate.

The annual parade along Palisade Avenue passed City Hall, above. Participants included members of churches in the city, public and charter school students, Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactors firing their rifles or muskets, and overweight middle-age men riding and revving their loud motorcycles.  

The Englewood Corps of the Salvation Army.

Students from Dwight Morrow High School, above and two photos below.

A supercharged Auburn boat-tail speedster.

Choking readers again with politics, police news

The crown on top of the Johnson Public Library in Hackensack.

Three of the 5 main elements on Page 1 of The Record today are about politics.

And in a 6-page Local section, there are 11 police or court stories standing in for municipal news.

The A-1 story on NJ Transit doesn't report that what train riders need most during rush hour is more seats, not Wi-Fi.

The Record continues to focus on the brouhaha over phone spying by the federal government (A-1).

But the story doesn't mention that one of its reporters, Road Warrior John Cichowski, was recorded wailing to his assignment editor he had run out of press releases to rewrite.

Jeffrey who?

Have any of the stories on Jeffrey Chiesa told readers how long he will serve as a seat warmer in the U.S. Senate (A-1)?

Or when whomever wins the special October election will take the late Frank R. Lautenberg's seat in the Senate, and how long he or she will serve until they have to run again (A-1 and A-6)?

More hot air

In columns on Sunday and June 2, Cichowski reported on gas stations offering free compressed air, but there were numerous errors in both lists, according to a concerned reader:

"The Road Warrior provided an almost useless list with mistaken and incomplete location information for various gas stations that offer free compressed air for tires in his June 2 and 9 columns. 

"ALL 22 of the stations had mistaken or incomplete information after he tried to correct and update that list.

"His mistakes included wrong towns, streets, cross streets, station name or addresses.

"His incomplete information for remaining stations included the main road, but no cross streets. It would be more difficult to find the stations since many of these main roads are several miles or longer.

"The Road Warrior published this information from readers without a careful review.

"Road Warrior was negligent in not verifying locations to ensure they were accurate and complete enough to be of value for others, who would not be familiar with the cited areas.

"Does the Road Warrior have any responsibilities to The Record and its reader for which he can be held accountable?

"As a special courtesy to Eye on the Record readers, I have posted next to my 6/9 article on this Facebook page an updated, corrected list with more complete location information."

Read the full e-mail to management at the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers: 

Ship of facts springs more leaks

Finally, a news story on Englewood's racial divide

One of the many empty storefronts on Palisade Avenue in Englewood, a city of 30,000 that has always been divided by income and race. City Hall is reflected in the window of this shuttered restaurant.

Today's Page 1 story on "a divided Englewood" is likely the first time in decades The Record has acknowledged the city's long-standing racial and class divisions. 

Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, who lives on the city's wealthy East Hill, typifies white residents.

Borg sent his children to private schools, and the newspaper he owns, although located only 6 miles from Englewood until 2009,  has never been a force for change in the divided city or its segregated schools.

Today's story on neglect of the city ice rink is another sad chapter in a city dominated by wealthy white residents, including an influx of Orthodox Jewish families.

Simply put, they resent having to pay property taxes for public schools they don't use, and certainly don't want to pay higher taxes to repair the ice rink or turn the 100-year-old Lincoln School into a community center, because both are in a minority neighborhood.

Cat's meow

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes gives more ink to the search for kittens stuck in an Elmwood Park drainage pipe than she ever has to drivers killed in single-car accidents (Local front).

On L-5, a story about a lawsuit against current and former Hackensack police officers reports it was filed last week in "New Jersey" Superior Court.

Ex-staffer returns

Esther Davidowitz, who was a reporter at The Record in the 1970s, has been named food editor, replacing Susan Leigh Sherrill.

Two briefs credited to her appear today on BL-3 (one with a typo), and she was listed as food editor in a BL-2 box on Sunday.

Readers have been starving for better coverage of food and nutrition, including recipes that don't rely so heavily on artery clogging butter and cream or antibiotic-filled meat and poultry.

Davidowitz was editor in chief of Westchester Magazine, and former editor at two other magazines. First for Woman and Women's Day.

In the 1970s, Davidowitz covered local news out of The Record's sexually liberated Hackensack newsroom.

More road errors

Try as he might, Road Warrior John Cichowski can't seem to get it right, no matter what he fills his column with.

On Friday, in discussing the pivotal role of U.S. Sen. Frank R. Launtenberg, D-N.J., in improving transportation, Cichowski played fast and loose with the facts, as an e-mail to Editor Marty Gottlieb explains:

"When reminiscing and paying tribute to [the late] Frank R. Lautenberg, who was known as  'Mr. Transportation,' it would be nice if The Road Warrior did not dishonor his memory with false facts in his column of June 7.

 
"The Road Warrior incorrectly reported the original cost (which he grossly overstated in previous columns) of the Secaucus Junction rail station.

"He also FAILED to mention its full official name as the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction.

"He also missed the creation of NJ Transit by close to a decade, and the number of NJ Transit lines that go to Secaucus Junction."

Read the full e-mail at the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Errors derail readers again

Lawsuit: Vice president of IT conspired to defraud NJMG

The Record's headquarters at 150 River St. in Hackensack after the landmark building was closed and employees moved to Woodland Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Peter Van Lenten Jr., who was North Jersey Media Group's vice president of information technology until April 2009, allegedly helped about two dozen others defraud the publishing company by submitting "false and inflated invoices" for equipment and services, according to a lawsuit.

The NJMG lawsuit, filed in April, alleges the company paid more than $2 million "on false and/or inflated invoices" from 2001 to 2009.

Van Lenten, who died in April 2010, also is alleged to have helped other defendants "supply temporary workers to NJMG at greatly inflated charges."

"From 2001 to 2009, NJMG paid ... in excess of $1 million for temporary workers," including retired NJMG employees, the lawsuit alleges.

NJMG also paid invoices "for time that was not worked" or for temp workers whose qualifications were misrepresented "to charge inflated rates for their time," according to the lawsuit.

Mary Linley, a personal assistant, was paid $22.50 an hour when she retired from NJMG in August 2001, according to the suit, but defendant IC Systems Solutions charged the company $47 an hour for her time when she returned as a temp.

Tom Hemmerling was paid $22.27 an hour on the IT Help Desk at NJMG when he retired in August 2001, according to the suit, but ICSS charged the company $60 an hour for his time.

Porn suit

Van Lenten figured in another lawsuit, this one filed by former employee Tracey McCain against NJMG and Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg.

She alleged that Borg was using company computers to disseminate pornography to other managers, including Van Lenten, her boss.

As reported in a previous Eye on The Record post:

"McCain, of Englewood, says she worked for NJMG from 2000 to April 22, 2009, when she was fired. 

"She was hired as technical coordinator for the IT department in what is now Woodland Park. In 2007, she was promoted to IT logistics manager.

"Borg, who is in his 70s, is the former publisher of The Record, a job taken over by his son, Stephen A. Borg, who was not a defendant in the suit. The elder Borg also lives in Englewood.

"McCain says one of her duties was to read e-mails sent to her supervisor, who was identified in legal papers as Peter Van Lenten Jr., the late vice president of information technology.

"Commencing in or about 2000 and until plaintiff's employment terminated [April 2009], defendant Borg committed acts of sexual harassment of plaintiff," according to the complaint.

NJMG and the elder Borg settled McCain's suit in September 2011 by paying her an unspecified amount of money.

In addition to the Van Lenten estate, the fraud suit filed in April names as defendants:

IC Systems Solutions Inc. and Computer Network Solutions LLC, both of 270 Broadway in Hillsdale; and Philip and Nancy Nolan of Montvale, officers of one or both companies.

Also named as defendants were 10 unnamed current or former NJMG employees, and 10 unnamed companies "who assisted defendants in defrauding NJMG." 

An amended answer filed last week by Stephen R. Bosin of River Edge, attorney for the Van Lenten estate, denies the allegations.

The case has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Robert C. Wilson in Hackensack.

Today's paper

On Page 1 today, two of The Record's sorry columnists nibble at the edges of last week's big stories -- the death and career of U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, and the bid of Newark Mayor Cory Booker to replace the New Jersey Democrat in Washington.

Political Columnist Charles Stile claims Booker is copying Governor Christie's style.

Burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly came up with a really lame idea -- interviewing people who live in the Paterson apartment and neighborhood where Lautenberg grew up "more than eight decades ago."

Both columns carefully avoid discussing Lautenberg and Booker in terms of politicians who see their basic missions as helping people better their lives, while Christie sees his as bettering his life and the lives of his wealthy supporters.

Also on A-1, the obituary of Sallie Brady, 47, a magazine writer who died recently in a Ramsey house fire, reports her interesting life was cut short by a faulty dishwasher (A-8).

Road laziness

Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski sees his mission as staying as close to his computer as possible and avoiding the legwork every good reporter must do, especially one writing about commuting problems.

Today, Cichowski rewrites a press release on New  Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. giving driving simulators to 55 high schools (L-1), which has nothing to do with commuting.

Last week, in his column on impatient drivers at right-turn-on-red intersections, a concerned reader had this to say in an e-mail to Editor Marty Gottlieb and management:

"The Road Warrior focuses his column of June 5 on over-exaggerated, unsubstantiated and  false claims of readers. It is about a supposed widespread epidemic of a significant portion of drivers blowing their horns at others signaling to turn right at red lights.

"The few exaggerated claims from readers are either irrelevant based on cited intersections, which I frequently use, or are not supported since there was NO Road Warrior investigation about those cases.

"When a reader claims 'everybody' is honking at her when she stops to turn at red lights, you know that is next to impossible, unless she is causing her own problems.

"Readers cite specific intersections and towns where this horn blowing is 'virulent' or 'epidemic.' Yet, I NEVER hear any horn blowing when I frequent these intersections or traffic volume is so low that there are very few drivers that even turn right on red.

"The Road Warrior simply assumes the over-exaggerated or false claims are true and assembles a misleading story that further distorts the facts. 

"The Road Warrior once again provides long- winded irrelevant and incorrect answers to readers' questions. He seems to be unable to comprehend readers' questions about traffic lights and walk signals in order to provide relevant answers."

For the full e-mail, see the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Blowing smoke about right turns on red

Of course, a real menace are impatient or late drivers who speed, tailgate and cut off others, especially on the parkway and turnpike, and the decline in enforcement.

Don't forget to recycle your newspaper right away

I voted at the Fairmount Elementary School in Hackensack last November and again in April, May and this month. If Governor Christie gets his way, I'll be returning to the school to vote in August, October and November.




Once you've read the funeral tributes to U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg on Page 1 of The Record today, you might as well put the paper in the recycling bin.

Don't look for any important state or local news on the front page.

Another follow-up to Governor Christie's decision to squander $24 million on an August primary and October election to pick Lautenberg's successor ends up on A-3.

Editor Marty Gottlieb wastes A-1 space on yet another story and yet another vagina-monologue  column on Julie Hermann, Rutgers' incoming athletic director.

Christie's agenda

Christie attended services for Lautenberg, and was probably wondering whether he'll be remembered for perverting public service into a conservative, anti-social agenda. 

The Record's editorial on the special primary and election for U.S. senator ran on Wednesday, carefully justifying Christie's decision on partisan political grounds rather than discussing whether it is good for taxpayers and voters.

Hospital expansions

On head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local front, what is probably the 100th story about expansion of The Valley Hospital reports continuing opposition from neighbors (L-1).

Hackensack readers can only recall what poor coverage The Record gave to complaints from neighbors about repeated expansions of Hackensack University Medical Center.

Two possible reasons are North Jersey Media Group Vice President and General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg, who once served on the hospital board, and all of the advertising the hospital bought in the paper and on the North Jersey.com Web site.

Frank R. Lautenberg puts Christie, the Borgs to shame

U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg was a vocal advocate of building new Hudson River tunnels to expand NJ Transit rail service. Contrast that with Governor Christie, an enemy of mass transit who killed the project, citing his overweight wife's complaint she would have to walk too far to connect to Manhattan subways.

One thing the editors of The Record carefully avoid in today's comprehensive coverage of U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg is any comparison to Chris Christie, the worst New Jersey governor ever.

Nor do you see any mention of how Lautenberg, who died on Monday, used his wealth to serve the public, as opposed to the Borgs, who have put personal gain ahead of their flagship newspaper's service to local readers.

More politics

Of course, Editor Marty Gottlieb devotes most of Page 1 today to politics -- a sure turnoff for readers -- and took a couple of coded potshots at Lautenberg.

In Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson's appraisal, the senator's career "epitomized liberal politics" (A-1).

"Lautenberg was a reliable -- some might say predictable -- Democrat," Jackson reports, casting a partisan shadow over the senator's work to better the lives of the middle class (A-7).

The real Christie

Christie's many failures are exposed in a letter to the editor from Paul White, a Ridgewood resident who takes issue with a column praising the GOP governor from Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, the mouse that roars (A-8).

White says Christie "has made his image by insulting and bullying," and has accomplished little that is positive while waging war against women, the working poor and the middle class.

Lautenberg's death also is the occasion for a cartoon  from Jimmy Margulies, whose work has been appearing only on Sundays since Publisher Stephen A. Borg let him go to cut costs (A-8).

This is certainly not among Margulies' best work.

More appropriate would have been a Jersey Mount Rushmore with Christie cast in the role of dynamiting Lautenberg's image.

More gimmicks

Meanwhile, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, produce a low-quality Local section that relies on the same gimmicks they've been using for years to mask their laziness.

Five of the six elements on the Local front are Law & Order coverage, and the central photo is an overly dramatized auto collision (L-1).

L-3 also is mostly Law & Order stories, and a second accident photo -- a pedestrian hit by a car -- is used as filler at the bottom of that page.

The caption describes a late-model Subaru as "a station wagon," a term that hasn't been used by the automotive industry in decades.

Sykes and Sforza also reprint a story about Hackensack bonding to pave streets and improve pedestrian safety from the weekly Hackensack Chronicle (L-2).