More clueless reporting on latest toll hike, elderly drivers

The New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, where tolls went up today for the fifth year in a row, as they did at all of the crossings operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in what The Record suggests was a plot between Governors Christie and Cuomo.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Once again, The Record is portraying New Jersey's bridge and tunnel crowd as powerless to do anything beyond bitching and moaning about the latest toll increase at the GWB and other crossings.

Today's story on the Local front ignores off-peak toll discounts available to drivers of hybrid and other green cars, as well as the biggest break of all, available 24/7 to any motorist -- the Carpool Plan.

Starting today, the peak E-ZPass toll went to $12.50 from $11.75, and the off-peak E-ZPass rate also is up 75 cents, to $9.75 (L-1).

Go green, save green

But owners of more than 40 hybrid, plug-in and all-electric models with a "Green E-ZPass" pay only $7 off-peak, and any driver with an E-ZPass and a total of three people in the car pays only $6.50 at all times.

The Green Pass and Carpool Plans require pre-registration. The Green Pass discount has been available since 2004.

Major error

Staff Writer Marina Villeneuve also includes a major factual error that was overlooked by all of the editors who read her story before publication.

"Starting today," the reporter says, "auto motorists using cash will have to pay $15 to cross, a trip that until recently cost half that" (L-1).

Putting the awkward phrase "auto motorists" aside, the cash toll was never "half" of $15.

It was $8, but that was four years ago, in 2011, not "recently."

And that was when Governors Christie and Cuomo perpetrated the great, annual toll-hike scam to finance construction of a new World Trade Center and other projects.

Elderly drivers

Road Warrior John Cichowski is another reporter who ignores the facts, as readers can see in today's attempt to drum up business for "a low-cost, volunteer ride service ... for the elderly and visually impaired" (L-1).

ITN's North Jersey affiliate in Wyckoff hasn't be able to find enough volunteers so the improvement in "public safety" -- by removing seniors who are visually impaired from behind the wheel -- has been limited.

Cichowski knows from all of the seniors who mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal that retraining would cut the number of accidents and deaths far more dramatically than a ride service for the elderly.

But in more than a dozen years of writing his column, Cichowski has been too lazy to contact AARP  and similar groups to find out if retraining is available to his peers.

Today's front page

I've rarely seen a Sunday edition with a front page so devoid of useful news for readers in North Jersey.

On the Opinion front, Columnist Mike Kelly doesn't seem willing to denounce lawmakers for taking contributions from the National Rifle Association to block a bill that would stop "terrorists" from buying a gun (O-1 and O-4).

Kelly calls an average of three dozen people killed by guns on any given day "embarrassing." 

And "heartbreaking" is how he describes the lack of "any concrete political action to stop this blood-soaked trend."

I won't bore you with the rest of his column.

Uber screws drivers

The Record's Business section has been anti-worker for decades.

Today's long story on the impact of Uber on the traditional yellow-cab industry continues the trend (B-1).

Staff Writer Richard Newman's focus are the potential losses faced by banks that have issued hundreds of millions of dollars in loans backed by "New York City taxi medallions, which have declined in value from ... $1.3 million two years ago to about $80o,000 today."

Newman doesn't discuss the impact on cabbies nor report on the exploitation of Uber drivers, who supply their own cars and pay for gas, insurance and repairs.

Sinatra overload

I'd much rather hear Frank Sinatra sing and watch him act than plow through three major pieces on him in today's paper (A-1 and BL-1).

Two of them are by Staff Writer Bill Ervolino, whose regular humor column bombs every Sunday.

The only saving grace is that Better Living editors couldn't find room for The Corner Table column from food critic Elisa Ung, who usually promotes celebrity chefs and wealthy restaurant owners or makes excuses for why they don't serve naturally raised food.
   

On Page 1: Christie on trail, Mets, local trial -- readers yawn

The sign, visible to drivers on Route 4 east, went up in late July, but this walk-in urgent care center didn't open until Oct. 5. Patients presumably will get coupons for use at the Popeyes fast-food restaurant next door.

A vintage Volkswagen Microbus parked in the lot this morning carries the CityMD logo, but it's not known if patients will be transported in it.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Even the preview of a sensational Teaneck murder trial below the fold today can't save The Record's front page from being one of the dullest in memory. 

What's new about our absentee governor doing a good imitation of a chameleon on the presidential campaign trail or a sports columnist desperately trying to interest readers in the Mets (A-1)?

The real news about Governor Christie is buried -- a new poll turns even more thumbs down on the GOP bully (A-6).

The debate among Democratic presidential contenders won't be a contest (A-1).

But it will affirm to many voters that all is not lost, despite conservative control of Congress, the National Rifle Association and a Republican Party that seems intent on destroying the middle class.

Local news?

The Local front isn't any gift to readers, either.

A county road-salt plan is all the Hackensack news today, but if that doesn't interest you, there is plenty of parking news from Paterson and Passaic city (L-1 and L-2).

Local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza were so desperate they had to run a large, gee-whiz photo of downed utility poles and wires on Routes 1 and 9 on the fringe of the circulation area (L-1).

There are four other items from Paterson on L-2 and L-3 besides the story on the Local front about a parking garage proposal for the Great Falls.

Eye on The Record 

will return later this week

Here's another snow job from the imperious editors

Courthouse Cafe & Diner opened recently near the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, but the owner set his closing time for 4 p.m., when the city's quiet Main Street goes into hibernation.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Year after year, property taxes rise and the quality of snowplowing drops as municipal crews in Hackensack and other towns seem unwilling or unable to properly clear streets, crosswalks and bus stops.

In decades of covering winter storms, The Record has never sent out reporters to review how well or how poorly towns do on providing safe streets after a storm.

But today, a huge patch of the front page is devoted to a monster snow-melting machine and other measures in anticipation of bad weather for the Super Bowl in February.

That's next year -- in case you missed the whopper of an error in the first paragraph of today's story, which calls it "this year's Super Bowl."

The clueless John Brennan, a reporter who once covered sports, or one of his editors created the error, and six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton missed it.

As always, the joke is on the reader for thinking The Record is a serious local newspaper.

Christie follies 

Governor Christie's fiscal mismanagement and impractically strict no-tax policy on millionaires becomes clearer every day, as readers can see from today's A-1 story on Moody's Investors Services downgrading the state's $32 billion debt.

But the GOP bully, who is superb at managing the news, told reporters he had no comment and to get lost.

Native American news

The Local front carries a follow-up to Wednesday's Page 1 story on a new Hollywood film that smears the reputation of the Ramapough Mountain Indians  (L-1).

I cringed at Wednesday's story, which seemed to delight in repeating all of the racial slurs and insults hurled at the Ramapoughs in the past 200 years.

Given all the crap churned out by Hollywood, readers have to question why The Record and other newspapers devote so much space to movies and pretend to look at them critically.

The Record's Better Living entertainment tabloid on Fridays is top heavy with news of the movies, always devoting the cover to the latest trash from a director whose only goal appears to be outdoing other directors.

And what's with this kick for recreating and distorting the past, such as the Quentin Tarantino bloodbath called "Django Unchained"?

Hackensack news

Kathleen Gehm, 63, of River Vale has been cleared of a driving while intoxicated charge in the death of prominent Hackensack businessman Jerome S. Some, 87 (L-1).

As with so many pedestrian deaths, Gehm is apparently saying she didn't see Some before she ran him down on Prospect Avenue as he crossed the street to attend a meeting  at Bel Posto, a restaurant opposite his high-rise.

Building renovations forced relocation of the meeting to the restaurant.

Jerome Some's family members quoted in today's story weren't asked if they are going to file a negligence and wrongful death suit against Gehm. 

In a second Hackensack story today, officials say they are shutting down the city's Human Services Department for an anticipated annual savings of $400,000 a year (L-1).

Don't hold your breath, if you live in Hackensack and expect a property tax cut as a result.

Mentally defective

You have to wonder about the intelligence of some gun-rights advocates, such as Scott Bach of Newfoundland, a member of the National Rifle Association and head of a group of New Jersey rifle and pistol clubs (L-3).

Bach is criticizing Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop for suggesting gun manufacturers who want to do business with the city's Police Department commit themselves to gun-safety measures.

Bach -- who I doubt is related to the classical composer -- said the mayor joined the Marines after 9/11 and is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, then added this total non-sequitur:

"So you've got to wonder why he is not getting it."

Getting what? 

That we should all buy guns because another Hitler is set on exterminating 12 million more people or Muslim terrorists are going to fly planes into The Modern, the 47-story residential tower going up in Fort Lee?

Maybe Bach just doesn't have any confidence in the police to protect him from criminals and other trigger-happy elements in society.

Why are 12 more gun deaths front-page news?

An accident on Route 4 east in Teaneck this morning backed up traffic in Paramus, above, and beyond. Despite high tolls and expensive gasoline, most of the cars and SUVs carry lone drivers, a testament to the sorry state of public transit under Governor Christie.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I'm pretty certain more than 12 people have been killed by gun violence in both Newark and Paterson this year, two cities that had to lay off police officers because of Governor Christie's mean-spirited cuts in state aid.

Have you seen that story on Page 1 of The Record?

The deaths of 13 on Monday at the Washington Navy Yard, including the gunman, is all over the front-page of the Woodland Park daily today (A-1 and A-6).

It's the kind of sensational story newspaper editors like Marty Gottlieb love, but readers are just shaking their heads.

Politicians to blame

What should be on the front page is how Christie and politicians in Washington and other states have caved into the National Rifle Association and its deep pockets, refusing to tighten gun control -- despite one mass shooting after another.

The Navy Yard massacre may accomplish one thing: Drawing attention to bloated government payrolls. An astounding 18,000 people work there (A-6).

What statement?

Another front-page story is written in a sky-is-falling tone.

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, one of the reporters who is firmly in Christie's corner, says state Sen. Barbara Buono did not submit "her story" to voters.

Hayes is referring to an optional candidate's statement on sample ballots for the Nov. 5 gubernatorial election that are sent to nearly 5.5 million registered voters in the state (A-1).

I vote in every election, and my reaction is, What statement?

Anti-Buono stance

The reason Hayes and the editors think this is such a big deal is that they long ago dismissed Buono's campaign, and have taken every opportunity to tell readers how poorly she is doing in the polls.

Her campaign message never appears on the front page, which seems to be reserved for Christie and the shore's recovery from Superstorm Sandy. 

They've also ignored the issues and what a poor job the GOP bully is doing as governor -- on gun control, mass transit, exorbitant tolls, women's health, local property taxes and job creation.

Christie idolatry

Christie is clearly the worst New Jersey governor ever, and I'm not the only one who thinks so:

In a letter to the editor today (A-8), Paul Fraser of Fair Lawn says, "Can journalists like Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin stop fawning over this governor, who really hasn't accomplished very much?"

"We continue to see very depressing economic news in New Jersey, and Governor Christie is clueless as to help those without a job. We see him going against the will of the people on issues like same-sex marriage and the medical marijuana program ....

"What is the appeal of this man," Fraser asks.

New photo

Did you notice the updated photo of Staff Writer Virginia Rohan, one of the most talented writers in the newsroom (A-1)?

OK. Rohan has devoted too much time and space to those slutty New Jersey housewives, but she was probably under orders from her editor.

Now, Gottlieb should update the photos of Columnist Mike Kelly, he of the shit-eating grin; of Jill Schensul, the haggard, jet-lagged Travel section editor; and of the befuddled, error-prone John Cichowski, aka the Road Warrior. 

Living dead

In Local today, Staff Writer Jay Levin has two expanded obituaries of prominent North Jersey residents (L-1 and L-6).

Of course, the Rev. Eugene Palumbo, 91, a Paterson native; and Dr. Robert McCabe, 88, formerly of Englewood, made plenty of headlines when they were alive.

Readers might ask where are the obituaries of their neighbors, whose accomplishments the paper routinely ignores, and why aren't there more African-American life stories published?

Shameful

If you've ever doubted the vast majority of people are morons, racists and worse -- or the media's role in making them that way -- see the story on the front of Better Living.

I'm shocked at the reaction to an Indian-American woman winning the Miss America contest (BL-1).

Now, that's Page 1 news.

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• Christie's 'Jersey Comeback' goes belly up
• 12 more gun deaths won't matter
• Editors ditch their objectivity