Only stronger penalties will stop slaughter of pedestrians

On March 9, 2015, an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria, driven by a detective sergeant for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, struck and fatally injured Hue Dang, 64, a Vietnamese-American woman who was carrying plastic grocery bags as she walked toward her Hackensack apartment a couple of blocks away from this intersection.

Hackensack police filed no charges against the driver, John Straniero of Wayne, even though their official report showed Dang was struck when she was walking in or near the crosswalk on Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street, not far from Route 80.

On the evening of the accident, the woman's blood stained the pavement, above. She died on the way to the hospital. Nearly a year later, the Union County Prosecutor's Office continues to investigate. As for Straniero, 49, he retired last Nov. 1, apparently to protect his pension in the event any charges are filed against him. Dang's relatives have filed a notice they will be naming him in a wrongful death suit.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Deirdre Sykes of The Record is really milking the death of two teens mowed down by an out-of-control car for all its worth today.

Page 1 carries a heart-tugging headline:

Inseparable friends,

unspeakable agony

And right under the big, black type is a photo of the grief-stricken mother, her mouth open in a heart-wrenching wail.

The crash Saturday night in North Bergen occurred roughly 2 miles from where a 7-year-old girl "lost her life" in a hit-run crash in West New York, The Record says (A-1).

The car that killed two 17-year-olds, Noel Herrera  of Cliffside Park and his best friend, Bryan Rodriguez of Union City, "plowed into them after jumping a curb ... and ripping through a metal fence."

Although three reporters worked on the story, it is missing any detail of whether the driver was speeding, racing another car or collided with another vehicle -- typical of The Record's pathetically poor accident reporting.

Nor can readers expect the editors of the Woodland Park daily to call for stiffer penalties against drivers in pedestrian deaths, likely the only way to cut down on the slaughter nearly six years after a revised crosswalk law took effect.

Driver doing 74 mph

Today, NorthJersey.com reports the unnamed driver charged in the deaths of the two teens "may have been traveling 74 miles an hour," nearly three times the speed limit.

Staff Writer John Cichowski has reported on the revised crosswalk law and pedestrian deaths in many of his Road Warrior columns.

But he also has quoted drivers saying they'd like to run down jaywalkers.

He's demonized red-light cameras, which deter speeders who run lights and injure or kill others, and virtually ignored stop-sign runners.

Sloppy reporting

The Record's stories on pedestrian deaths often omit whether a pedestrian was walking in a crosswalk when hit or even if there is a crosswalk at the intersection.

That was the case with Staff Writer Stefanie Dazio's March 11, 2015, story on the death of Hue Dang, 64, who was struck and fatally injured two days earlier at Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street in Hackensack.

The crosswalk was never mentioned, but a police captain was quoted as saying, "It's unclear where Dang was standing" when she was struck.

That was the first and last story about the Vietnamese-American woman's death at the hands of a detective sergeant for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Sloppy editing

Sykes, who was in charge of the local-news section at the time, completely missed the lack of reporting on whether Dang was in or near the crosswalk when she was run down by John Straniero.

And the paper never did a follow-up, even when the investigation was transferred to the Union County Prosecutor's Office or when the detective retired last Nov. 1.

Sykes, Cichowski and other newsroom staffers at The Record treated the Vietnamese-American woman, who once worked as a supermarket cashier, as if she was so much road kill.

Cops won't release fatality report without OPRA request

Hue Dang, 64, the woman killed crossing the street in Hackensack on March 9, lived alone in an apartment at 340 Hudson St., above and below, only a few blocks away from where she was fatally injured by an unmarked car. The driver, Detective Sgt. John Straniero of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, has not been charged in her death.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Hackensack police asked Eye on The Record to file an Open Public Records Act Request Form to obtain the report on the accident that took the life of Hue Dang, 64, who lived alone in a nearby apartment.

The woman was carrying plastic grocery bags and crossing the street at Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street about 4:45 p.m. March 9 when she was struck by an unmarked lawman's car.

Her blood stained the pavement near the Jackson Avenue crosswalk, and the car's right rear tire came to rest in the crosswalk.

Police said Bergen County prosecutor's Detective Sgt. John Straniero, 49, of Wayne was making a right turn onto Kennedy, which leads to the entrance ramp for Route 80 west, when his car struck the woman.

She died less than a hour later at Hackensack University Medical Center. 

Straniero hasn't been charged in her death.

No witnesses?

Hackensack police Capt. Nicole Foley was quoted by The Record last Wedneday as saying "it's unclear where Dang was standing," and that "there were no witnesses," even though Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street are usually full of rush-hour traffic at that time of the day.

The Record's story didn't mention the Jackson Avenue crosswalk, and the reporter apparently never asked Foley if the pedestrian was in it.

The Woodland Park daily hasn't done a follow.

Today's paper

One look at today's Page 1 headlines tells readers Editor Martin Gottlieb didn't bother finding any real news in North Jersey.

"Haggling ahead for a divided Isreal" bores even Jewish readers.

The photo on the re-opening of the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus is a non-event for the vast majority of humans in North Jersey.

"Tax breaks being tightened for farms" is another snoozer.

"New furor over tests" is of absolutely no interest to the baby boomers who make up the majority of the readership and whose children are in college or already working

Finally, who the hell is "Borland"?

College cops

The editors let slide hundreds of errors in Road Warrior columns, but take the trouble to correct a story on Monday's L-1 and give credit to Montclair State cops for the arrest of a "driver in the drill" held at the college (A-2).

PABT correction

Back-pedaling furiously, Staff Writer Christopher Maag now reports the Port Authority's chairman believes selling or leasing bi-state agency real estate could help finance a new midtown Manhattan bus terminal (A-3).

And Maag found a board member who said the $7.5 billion to $10.5 billion cost reported on Tuesday's Page 1 was exaggerated, and the actual cost of the building would be $4 billion.

Residents: Detective's car struck woman near crosswalk

The blood of a 64-year-old woman staining the pavement, right, on Kennedy Street and Jackson Avenue in Hackensack amid markings left by investigators last Monday after the pedestrian was fatally injured by a lawman's unmarked car. The "RR" marking, left, indicates the car's rear tire stopped inside the Jackson Avenue crosswalk, shown in the photo below. The blood-stain photo was taken by a resident of the neighborhood the night of the accident.

The proximity of the bloodstain to the corner of Kennedy Street and Jackson Avenue, and the crosswalk, above, appears to be at variance with the account that appeared on Wednesday in The Record, which quoted Capt. Nicole Foley of the Hackensack police. I tried to reach Foley on Friday, but she didn't respond to a message left on her voice mail. This photo was taken today and the woman's blood is no longer visible.

"LR," "LF" and "RR" are markings that indicate where the tires of the Ford Crown Victoria were when the vehicle stopped on Monday about 4:45 p.m. after striking Hue Dang, whose plastic grocery bags were strewn on the pavement after the accident, according to residents who live nearby. She was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center less than an hour later.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

People who live near the Hackensack corner where a 64-year-old woman was struck and fatally injured last Monday afternoon question why the prosecutor's detective driving the car was not charged.

Photographs taken by residents and supplied to Eye on The Record appear to contradict the single story that quoted Hackensack police and appeared in The Record on Wednesday.

The Woodland Park daily reported John Straniero, 49, of Wayne, a detective sergeant with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, had stopped his 2011 Ford Crown Victoria for the stop sign on Jackson Avenue and Kennedy Street.

"When he made a right turn onto Kennedy, police said, his car struck the woman," according to the story, which was done by telephone.

"It's unclear where Dang was standing," the story said. "[Capt. Nicole] Foley said there were no witnesses."

But the woman's blood stained the pavement very close to the corner, and the unmarked car's right rear tire stopped in the Jackson Avenue crosswalk, so Straniero doesn't appear to have "made a right turn," as the story reported.

The story doesn't even mention the crosswalk, and the reporter apparently didn't ask police if the victim was in the crosswalk when she was struck.

In that story, Staff Writer Stefani Dazio quoted Foley of the Hackensack police as saying "the traffic fatality appears to be the result of an accident," and that "she [Foley] did not anticipate criminal charges or motor vehicle charges being filed against Straniero."

But people who live nearby question why police said there were no witnesses.

Neighbors say the streets are usually packed with drivers heading home during the afternoon rush hour, and that Jackson Avenue is a shortcut to Kennedy Street and the ramps to Route 80 east and west.

One resident speculated Straniero, the detective, was looking at his phone and didn't see the woman crossing in front of his car, possibly in the Jackson Avenue crosswalk, before he struck her.

Today's paper

Why did The Record wait so many years before tackling the issue of campus rape in New Jersey, as the editors do in today's lead Page 1 story.

In her first tedious paragraph, Staff Writer Mary Jo Layton cites "the epidemic of sexual assaults among students" (A-1).

"Among students"? 

Hey, Mary Jo, aren't you talking mostly about men victimizing women? Why pussy foot around the assaults, which many college administrators try to keep quiet?

Also on Page 1 today, Columnist Charles Stile regurgitates another column on Governor Christie's "right turn" the reporter apparently has on a save-get key now that the GOP bully is likely to run for president (A-1).

And would you look at that gee-whiz front-page photo of wealthy people's yachts wrecked by a cyclone in the middle of nowhere (A-1). What a waste of space.

Defective reporters

Road Warrior John Cichowski still doesn't get that the biggest problem faced by drivers and other commuters is increasing traffic congestion and the lack of mass transit in North Jersey (L-1).

Meanwhile, on the Better Living cover today, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung uses her Sunday column to build up the image of an organizer of food events and festivals, as well as celebrity chefs.

The schizophrenic reporter supposedly represents restaurant goers in her Friday fine-dining reviews, then, on Sundays, completely turns her back on the issues that concern them.

On the Opinion front, a photo of Mike Kelly's shit-eating grin appears next to a notice:

"Record Columnist Mike Kelly is off." 

Way off.

Publisher backs use of accident photos to fill gaps in news

Pat Kinney, a freelancer who wrote the Neighbors from Japan column that appeared in The Record, is offering her services as an English teacher. This notice is on a bulletin board at Mitsuwa Marketplace, the Japanese supermarket and food court in Edgewater.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's lazy local-news editors continue to fill gaps in coverage with non-fatal accidents and other minor incidents on North Jersey's highways and byways.

Today, none other than Publisher Stephen A. Borg contributed a photo of a humdrum van fire on Route 80 east on Friday afternoon, and earned a credit line: "STEPHEN A. BORG/STAFF" (L-3).

Of course, the big news on Routes 80 east, 46 east and 4 east on Friday afternoon was massive traffic congestion approaching the George Washington Bridge, partly due to the lack of mass-transit alternatives.

In fact, the lead story in today's Local section reports Democratic lawmakers are urging the $1 billion extension of NJ Transit's electrified light-rail system to downtown Englewood and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center (L-1).

Federal officials quoted in the story estimate that every $1 billion spent on infrastructure creates 35,000 jobs.

But non-polluting light rail also takes cars off the road, a benefit lost on Tenafly officials who opposed extending the service to their town.

The Record ran stories quoting borough officials who demonized light rail, and never published an editorial criticizing those officials for their opposition.

At least when it comes to mass transit, Borg, who lives in a Tenafly McMansion, is following in the footsteps of his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg of Englewood, in not bothering to be a force for positive change in his community. 

Living v. dead

We get it. It's a miracle that two young women survived on Feb. 13, when their Toyota RAV4 left a Route 80 bridge over the Hackensack River and fell 60 feet, landing on a tree (A-1).

But why is their reunion with the firefighters who rescued them on the front page today? 

On Wednesday, a story reported that on Monday, a 64-year-old pedestrian was fatally injured by a car turning onto Kennedy Street in Hackensack, near Route 80, and except for her name and age, The Record didn't bother finding out anything about her.

Did Hue Dang live in the neighborhood? Was she a mother and grandmother? Was she treated like chopped liver because she was a senior?

Is her family planning to sue the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and John Straniero of Wayne, the detective sergeant behind the wheel of the unmarked Ford Crown Victoria that struck her?

Sewage v. taxes

Whose decision was it to run a story on higher sewer-connection fees for Hackensack developers on Thursday?

That was a day before belatedly informing residents a budget the City Council introduced on Tuesday night would hike property taxes by $115 for the average homeowner (Friday's L-2).

Editors unearth new Hackensack crisis: Too much sewage

When I saw two police cruisers and several dump trucks blocking Cedar Lane in Teaneck on Wednesday, I thought potholes or the bridge were being repaired. But the real reason was snow removal. Meanwhile, in Hackensack, no move was being made to finally get rid of snow crews couldn't clear because residents ignored instructions to move their cars. Higher temperatures may melt the snow, allowing two cars to pass safely on many streets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's local news editors have finally broken their weeks-long silence on Hackensack with momentous news of another crisis.

Staff Writer Todd South reports that city officials have responded firmly to an expected record flow of sewage from more than 1,000 downtown apartments that are under construction or planned (L-3 on Wednesday).

Flushing might reach a crescendo in coming years, but the city is more than doubling the one-time sewer connection fee on new construction to help pay for renewal of century old sewer pipes and continue separation "of the city's combined sanitary sewer and storm-water system."

South writes this story completely from the viewpoint of developers, and doesn't even raise the probability they will pass along the hike (to $2,500 per unit from $1,000) simply by raising rents.

The story also contains a major error, a photo of the 222-unit Meridia-Metro building at 94 State St. with a caption that doesn't make clear the project will be exempted from the higher fee because it is nearing completion, as the story says.

Today's paper

The Local section today doesn't have a follow-up to Wednesday's L-1 story on a 64-year-old Hackensack woman who was killed by a car driven by John Straniero, an off-duty detective sergeant with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

The story, by Staff Writer Stefanie Dazio, doesn't say whether there is a crosswalk on Kennedy Street, near Jackson Avenue, where pedestrian Hue Dang was struck by the unmarked car, which was turning, and whether she was in it.

It's likely the reporter did the story by telephone on instructions from her lazy editors, Deirde Sykes and Dan Sforza, who don't grasp the value of traditional legwork.

They have shown contempt for pedestrians who were struck and injured or killed in recent years, and still haven't reported whether New Jersey will follow New York City in filing criminal charges against drivers who strike pedestrians in crosswalks. 

The Record site

But Local today does carry a story on redevelopment of the 19.7-acres on River Street that North Jersey Media Group abandoned in 2009, moving the headquarters of The Record and the publishing company to an office building in Woodland Park (L-3).

NJMG President Stephen A. Borg called the city's designation of the parcel as "an area in need of redevelopment" a "vote of confidence ... supporting what we want to be a great development for Hackensack."

Neither Borg nor city officials mention the land is in a notorious flood zone.

And Borg doesn't pledge that any luxury apartment developer will be required to provide gondola shuttles to the bus station and Main Street stores that suffered after NJMG pulled hundreds of employees out of the city where it had prospered for more than 110 years.

One thing is for sure: Development of the old The Record site will generate even more sewage than flowed out of the Hackensack newsroom on a regular basis. 

Let's hope the city's infrastructure is ready to handle it.