Cowardly columnist doesn't criticize anti-Muslim rhetoric

First Reformed Church on Court Street in Hackensack is said to be the second oldest church building in New Jersey. Gen. George Washington attended the funeral of Gen. Enoch Poor, who is buried in the church cemetery.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

What's the point of giving an opinion column to a veteran reporter who doesn't seem to have an opinion about anything?

That's the question on readers' minds today after plowing through thousands of words from Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record on anti-Muslim rhetoric in the wake of the terrorism in Paris (A-1). 

Ground Zero

For some reason, Kelly doesn't mention a similar column he wrote in June 2010, when he covered a protest against a plan to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.

Then, he witnessed and reported "a portion of the crowd menacingly surrounded two Egyptian men who were speaking Arabic and were thought to be Muslims."

"'Go home,' several shouted. 'Get out,' others shouted," Kelly reported before telling readers the men were not Muslims, but Coptic Christians working for a Christian satellite TV station.

They had "come to protest the mosque," he added, noting two police officers had to pull the men to safety.

'Racists'

Other media were quick to pick up Kelly's account, complete with quotes, but unlike the Record columnist, they also condemned the protesters in no uncertain terms.

Salon.com noted the demonstration was "attended by various wingnuts, racists, riled-up nativists and terrified fools."

Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic.com said:

"Of course, this would be reprehensible even if the men turned out to be Muslims.... 

"The larger objection to building a mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero is irrational and incompatible with core American values: freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and the right to pursue happiness."

Strong headline

Today, the Page 1 headline over Kelly's column contains the strongest language on anti-Muslim and anti-refugee comments from Governor Christie and other contenders for the GOP presidential nomination:

"Tone on Muslims takes a dark turn"

In the text, "harsh rhetoric" and "harsh tone" are the best the weak columnist himself can manage.

Anything stronger is put in the mouths of Democratic presidential candidates and others (A-6) -- a sleight of hand the cowardly Kelly employs frequently.

Another lame story from editors who ditched Hackensack

The Record's front-page story on the redevelopment of Hackensack doesn't discuss inadequate indoor parking in the 222-unit Meridia Metro apartment building under construction on State Street, and whether this empty lot across the street could be turned into additional parking spaces.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I doubt "the face of the new Hackensack" is an apartment building under construction on State Street, although that's what The Record's front page claims today.

But you could find the new Hackensack a couple of blocks away at the recently completed Atlantic Street Park or in Art of Spice, one of the downtown restaurants that opened in the past few months.

Today's story is about a debate over how to market a redeveloping Hackensack (A-1), but there is so much missing from this account it is hardly worthy of Page 1.

Will it work?

And the biggest question of all isn't even asked: 

Will apartment development in downtown Hackensack revive Main Street, once the shopping and entertainment hub of Bergen County?

In Englewood, which has seen intensive apartment development on its main street, Palisade Avenue, as well as along Route 4, empty storefronts are commonplace, and restaurants come and go.

The story incorrectly calls the Meridia Metro building shown on A-1 and A-8 (five floors of apartments over a parking garage) a "residential tower." 

And it doesn't mention the appeal of its location for people who work in New York -- across the street from an NJ Transit express-bus stop and not far from the Essex Street rail station.

'The Sack'

If you want a good laugh, take a look at marketing themes proposed by two professional firms, Axiom of Secaucus, and Words and Pictures of Park Ridge:

"Hackensack: Bergen County's Main Street."

"The Sack: Not Your Mother's Main Street."

"The Sack"? LOL. 

As a taxpayer, I hope the city doesn't turn out to be a "Sack of Woe."

How about sacking that firm, which isn't identified? 

Left Hackensack

This superficial story comes from the same editors who abandoned Hackensack in 2009 on orders from Publisher Stephen A. Borg.

He closed the River Street headquarters of North Jersey Media Group and its flagship daily paper.

A year before, Borg's newsroom downsizing set off a precipitous slide in accuracy and the quality of local reporting that continues today.

On the the land across the street from the Meridia Metro project, passers-by can see what looks like jet skis on a trailer, above; and shuttered businesses, below.

Does the landlord own the expensive Porsche parked behind this building?

Two sides of Christie

The Record's reporters continue to cover Governor Christie's fading campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, months after the paper's editorial writers started to criticize him in harsh terms.

Today, an editorial says replacement of the antiquated Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan is more important than a new La Guardia Airport (A-16).

"As for Christie, he is more concerned about a few hundred thousand Republican voters in the early presidential primaries and caucuses than he is about the millions of passengers who use the Port Authority Bus Terminal annually.

"A midtown bus terminal is not a Christie priority. Perhaps if the Port Authority were to build it in Iowa, he would come."

Local news?

In Local, Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza relied on nearly two pages of police news and a long Dean's List to fill the municipal-news holes in their thin section (L-2, L-3 and L-6).