Take a break from The Record of Woodland Park

A new public garden opposite the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack.

The Record today calls on burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly to report on a Jersey shore that still has a long way to go on the road to recovery (Page 1).

Of course, this piece was sorely needed as a counterpoint to the wildly exaggerated front-page coverage on Saturday that was orchestrated by Governor Christie and the "Today" show.

Now, it amounts to furious backpedaling by Editor Marty Gottlieb, a New Yorker who is so enamored of the GOP bully and so solidly behind his bid for a second term.

Superstorm Sandy damage on Palisade Avenue in Englewood.

This Memorial Day edition is a good time to take a break from all of this amateurish journalism.

As usual, readers' letters today tell you more about North Jersey than news and opinion editors do.

Edith and Gordon Wallace of Glen Rock bemoan the wrong-headed decision by Tenafly officials to reject light-rail service, and by some residents to oppose an education building at the nature center (A-11).

The Record's support for light rail and mass transit in recent years has been lukewarm at best.

Editors discover new homeless species

Image by Arslan via Flickr

The homeless in Paris live in stylish mini-tents on the banks of a river.

I guess the homeless in Bergen and Passaic counties should be grateful a Wyckoff lawyer has gone to court to defend their "right to shelter" on public land. 

But they might be asking why Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes and one of its members, Jeffrey J. Wild, are fighting for "dozens" of homeless people living in a "tent city" in far off Lakewood, and not for them (A-1).

This is quite a story in The Record today, complete with a spotlight bio box and a total of four photos, including one of a tent with the proverbial white-picket fence. 

Wild certainly can't be the only North Jersey lawyer doing pro bono work. Is the coverage payback for work he or his Roseland law firm might have done for North Jersey Media Group or the Borg family?

Maybe he helps only the rare, tented homeless, not the garden-variety homeless in North Jersey. Or, perhaps, Wild owns one of those multimillion-dollar shore homes, and finds the Ocean County-based court case especially convenient.

Again, Editor Francis Scandale and one of his Page 1 stories raise a lot of unanswered questions. 

More horse manure

In response to zero phone calls from readers, Scandale again gives A-1 play to a story by Staff Writer John Brennan on deals to privatize horse-racing tracks.

On A-8, an editorial calls for more state funding of legal services for the poor with nary a word of criticism for Governor Christie, a lawyer who seems to believe only wealthy people deserve legal representation.

Proud reporters

On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, Staff Writers Chris Harris and Matthew McGrath pull out all the stops on coverage of Memorial Day parades:

 "Practically every inch along the 1-mile parade route [in Bergenfield] was taken up by chairs occupied by proud Americans wearing patriotic tees. You could hear the oohing and aahing among the spectators as classic cars like the Mustangs and Challengers motored past."

Where are the news copy editors when you need them?

Mac Borg's hometown

I saw Englewood's poorly organized parade, and noticed big changes in that city's business district that have never been reported in The Record.

Ann Taylor, a national retailer, has closed its Palisade Avenue store, and the Blue Moon Mexican restaurant next door plans to take over the space. Will the Starbucks next to Blue Moon also expand?

The Mercedes-Benz dealer on Grand Avenue, where Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg once bought his tank-like sedans, has started an enormous expansion project stretching to South Dean Street.

But there still are plenty of empty storefronts on Palisade Avenue, including Green Line, a market that was paying a $25,000 monthly rental on the ground floor of a luxury apartment building, and an upscale bakery shop called La Dolce Divas.

A sign on the back door of Green Line says it is "closed for renovations."

Neglecting Hackensack

Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado, who was hand-picked for the job by Sykes, also has ignored hard times for Main Street, especially after The Record and NJMG moved to Woodland Park from 150 River Street.

Today, Alvarado has as story on a walking tour of Main Street that will focus on its past glory -- not its forlorn present (L-6).

Lots of hot air

Were you one of the 1,577 "lucky" New Jersey residents "to get" one of those portable air conditioners offered by a full-page ad on L-10 today? 

The call is free, but I don't see anything in the ad saying the unit is free.

The ad, like the editors, made you a sucker.

It's a holiday from serving readers

Image by eddiecoyote via Flickr

Should any business have a message that begins, "Please listen ..."?

My copy of The Record was in its usual place on the sidewalk a little before 8 this morning.

But the crack circulation department apparently didn't listen to the forecast of rain, and the paper was soaked through three or four sections in its single plastic bag.

When I called the home delivery number, the automated system hadn't been activated, so I heard a message in a male voice that began, "Please listen ...." It told me the hours of the department and thanked me for calling.

You could almost see the employee's clenched teeth. 

Image by OZinOH via Flickr

I called the newsroom in Woodland Park and also got a recorded message that no one was there to take my call. And I couldn't leave a message.

Sure, I know it's Memorial Day. It comes around once a year. Is circulation aware of that?

A few minutes after 8, home delivery's automated system began working, but after following all the prompts to report a wet paper and request the delivery of a dry one, I was informed that because of the holiday the replacement won't be delivered until Tuesday.

I've laid out the sections to dry them. 

Today's paper is all wet

Most of Page 1 and all of the Local front is devoted to the same Memorial Day coverage readers see every year, especially since 9/11.

Of course, Editor Francis Scandale and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes know perfectly well all this recounting of heroics and how young men were blown to smithereens fills the space of local-news stories they don't have.

It also lets Columnist Michael Kelly off the hook. He can just reshuffle the words of a past Memorial Day column, knowing the editors aren't paying any attention (L-1). 

Sure this is news?

The routine shore-outlook story on A-1 today likely will be followed by a mid-summer update and a Labor Day wrap-up.

Also on the front page, Staff Writer Harvy Lipman reports a North Jersey resident went to help out after a natural disaster in another part of the country. Why is this even news?

On A-12, a column by Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin suggests Governor Christie will run for the presidency in 2016.

Doblin is counting on the national electorate ignoring, as he has, how Christie is trying to destroy the middle-class way of life in New Jersey, while selling out to his wealthy supporters and other special interests.

You wouldn't know it's Sunday

Image via Wikipedia

My news sections are here, but they are so boring, you wouldn't know this is the The Record's Sunday paper -- once filled with special stories reporters slaved over.


On Page 1, there is the obligatory Memorial Day weekend story on the shore economy, but Local contains no Teaneck, Englewood or Hackensack news. 

I'm glad to see the Gulf oil spill fiasco is on A-1 for the third day in a row. That's where the story belongs. Now where is the editorial slamming BP and the government for this colossal failure?

See previous post: No news sections today