Despite Christie, justice in New Jersey seems assured

Cross traffic is rare at this red light in the middle of nowhere. Stop signs would work fine. Welcome to the Bergen Town Center in Paramus. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You have to read between the lines of today's lead Page 1 story in The Record to find out Democrats have put the kibosh on Governor Christie's evil plan to remake the state Supreme Court in his own conservative image.

The A-1 headline is awkward and the story is poorly edited, making readers wait until the continuation page for the real news:

"For years, Governor Christie has railed against [Chief Justice Stewart] Rabner and the court he heads, both in New Jersey and at appearances across the country, calling the justices activists and decrying their decisions that disagreed with his" (A-6).

"Their decisions that disagreed with his"? Sheesh. And in the photo caption on A-6, the sitting chief justice is referred to as a "nominee."

Rabner, 53, who was questioned by lawmakers on Monday, appears assured of renomination and tenure until 2030.

Right after he took office in 2010, the mean-spirited Christie got rid of the only African-American on the high court, then set out to eliminate affordable housing and state aid to the state's poorest school districts.

The GOP bully also put forward several turkeys as his own conservative nominees for the high court, but most of them were rejected.

A progressive court

Imagine a high court that catered to Christie's wealthy supporters, and followed the governor's mean-spirited agenda to eliminate all social programs and taxes on the rich. 

That's what we avoid with Rabner at the helm of a progressive court that for many decades has been at the forefront on product liability, housing for low- and moderate-income residents and other important issues.

Unintended hilarity

Again on the front page, would you look at the stark contrast between the photos of aging TV columnist Ginny Rohan and the preening Kardashians, bimbos who probably have spent millions on plastic surgery (A-1).

Rohan's column is silly. Why waste all this prime space on the supposed impact of the two-decade-old O.J. Simpson case on TV reality shows?

That distracts from the sad fact that most TV --including CNN and other news reports -- is just crap. Why doesn't Rohan try to explain that?

50% error rate?

As usual, today's Road Warrior column is filled with numbers, but many of them are probably wrong, given Staff Writer John Cichowski's advancing Alzheimer's disease (L-1).

Is his error rate 50% or higher? With no editing or fact-checking of his column, it's anybody guess.

In his Road Warrior column last Friday, Cichowski said the replacement of upper-level road decking on the George Washington Bridge would take a "few weeks," contradicting a front-page story on the same day that reported the duration of the work as 12 weeks or a few months (Friday's A-9).

"The Road Warrior confuses the hell out of everyone by reporting that the upper-level lanes will be closed overnight for this work, when, in fact, one lane will always remain open in one direction and all four lanes will remain open in the other direction," according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

Cichowski also describes the road surface as "slabs of steel decking." That's also wrong.

"The steel deck panels support slabs of pavement," according to the Bloopers editor

See:

Disoriented Road Warrior can't find GWB

The Record's telephone reporting cheats readers

On Wednesday morning, I saw freshly patched potholes on Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, near the Camelot high-rise, but Euclid and Prospect avenues, above, looked like this on Wednesday afternoon and today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

A front-page headline in The Record today declares, "It's too soon to assess health law."

But Staff Writer Colleen Diskin, one of the least productive veterans in the Woodland Park newsroom, apparently did her news gathering with a telephone and a computer.

Diskin and her assignment editor saw no need for the reporter to leave the building and interview North Jersey residents in search of answers to all of the questions the story raises  (A-1 and A-8).

"Time will tell if it lowers

costs, adds subscribers"

That's the awkward sub-headline on the story, which cites "a paucity of data on a number of key questions."

Gee. What about going to a mall, and interviewing people who signed up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and seeking answers to those "key questions"?

That's Reporting 101. This tortured story cheats readers.

To complicate things, the story is labeled an "ANALYSIS," and filled with talking heads -- so-called experts and others who caution against drawing quick conclusions. 

One source's title consumes three lines on the continuation page.

Money talks

The Supreme Court has reaffirmed that money talks, freeing wealthy donors to give to as many political candidates and campaigns as they want (A-1).

An editorial appears to be displeased with the high court declaring that campaign contributions are a form of "free speech" (A-18).

But The Record covered Governor Christie's last campaign against Democrat Barbara Buono based almost totally on how much money each candidate raised.

The editors anointed Christie, who had a huge lead in fund-raising, as the winner months before the November election.

Sloppy reporting

In many cases, Buono's campaign appearances were buried inside the paper, while Christie hogged Page 1 time and again.

Somehow, the Christie-loving editors, columnists and reporters never discovered just how desperate the GOP bully was, judging from this year's allegations of political retribution against Democrats who refused to endorse him for a second term.

For example, another Page 1 story today reports state employees sought Christie campaign endorsements from the same public officials they worked with in their taxpayer-funded jobs (A-1).

The Tesla Model S, an all-electric, four-door luxury sedan. The company is fighting a proposed ban on direct sales in New Jersey.

Law & Order

For the third or fourth day in a row, Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza relies heavily on police, fire and court news to flesh out another thin local report (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Instead of running a photo of a traffic jam caused by the lack of mass transit, Sforza runs a photo of a fuel spill in Fair Lawn that tied up traffic in several towns, thanks to our antiquated road system (L-2).

In Tuesday's Road Warrior column on L-1, Staff Writer John Cichowski made major errors in reprising parts of an interim state report on the benefits of red-light cameras.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

DOT makes a fool of the Road Warrior

Cheap reporting

The lamest form of business reporting is the anniversary story.

Today, Staff Writer Joan Verdon profiles Tony Conza, who copied an Italian hero sandwich and helped start the Blimpie fast-food chain 50 years ago (L-7).

Why waste the space? It's not as if Blimpie's low-quality, preservative-filled cold cuts broke any new nutritional ground.

In other business news, California-based Tesla is appealing the state Motor Vehicle Commission's decision to bar direct sale of the all-electric Model S after April 15 (L-8).

Tesla has showrooms in Paramus and Short Hills.

Editors continue to sanitize Christie's racism

A minor drama unfolded Wednesday afternoon on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, as captured in my car's driver-side mirror.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The Record's editors and reporters did a great job censoring any mention of race in today's two front-page stories about a state Supreme Court ruling on affordable housing.

A long news story,  an "ANALYSIS" and an editorial carefully omit any mention of minorities, who are the chief beneficiaries of low- and moderate-income housing (A-1,  A-11 and A-18).

Mention of Christie's 2010 dismissal of Associate Justice John E. Wallace Jr. appears twice, but readers aren't told he was the only African-American on the high court.

The Record mimics Christie's spin doctors in portraying the ruling as the work of liberal v. conservative members of the court, as well an attack on home rule.

More elitism

Christie's bid to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing is another in a long line of regressive policies that cater to the overwhelmingly white elite who support him.

This is the kind of dishonest journalism The Record has practiced for many years, especially in the work of such columnists as Road Worrier John Cichowski and Mike Kelly, who thankfully is on leave this month.

An A-3 story on NJ Transit's budget doesn't mention whether the agency will be providing more rush-hour seats for rail and bus riders, who frequently have to stand in the aisles -- a non-issue as far as The Record is concerned.

Law & Order

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section is filled with police and court news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Two Hackensack news stories and a photo appear on L-2 and L-3 today.

A photo of an actor in "Tracers," a movie being filmed in Hackensack, carries a puzzling overline: 

"HITTING THE WALL IN HACKENSACK"

The Better Living cover promotes Due, another overpriced restaurant in Ridgewood, without saying whether entrees costing up to $36 are made with naturally raised meat (BL-1).

Wrong again

In his column on Wednesday, Cichowski provided the wrong number for a bill that would penalize drivers who don't keep right, according to an e-mail from a concerned reader:

"For his July 10 column, the Road Warrior misinforms and confuses his readers about a recently passed New Jersey bill, which he identified with the wrong bill number.

"It would increase fines and surcharges for those who hog the left lanes and don't yield to passing vehicles or don't normally stay to the right, except when passing other vehicles.

"He compounds his mistakes by inferring that NJ commuters and cops should adhere to the requirements of the passed bill, which he failed to mention has several deficiencies.

"It is not NJ law since it has not been signed into law by Governor Christie, who may veto this measure, which has been described as a silly or dumb bill.

"He confuses and mislead readers with his lack of knowledge in response to questions about traffic circles and no-cash tolls on the GWB lower level during overnight hours."

Click on the following link to see the full e-mail to the editors and management on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

John Cichowski is making readers pay

  

What the hell is wrong with 'mandatory'?

Take a photo almost anywhere in the borough of Fort Lee and you'll see what it's known for: Many high-rises. (Wikipedia)

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Health insurance for nearly everyone is long overdue, so why are the moneyed elite so upset that Congress is mandating that everyone buy health coverage or pay a penalty?

The Record and other media are using this controversy to sell papers, carefully avoiding any mention of all the government mandates we live under already (A-1).

The government forces us to buy auto insurance and, if we work, to contribute to Social Security, unemployment compensation and other funds. We must have a license to drive, and on and on.

Are the Supreme Court justices, who must have incredible health insurance, really the right people to decide the constitutionality of the national health care law?

Who is the Boss?

Don't you love that story on A-3 today about Governor Christie asking Bruce Springsteen to perform at the new Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City?

Too bad Staff Writers John Brennan and Jim Beckerman forgot to tell readers Springsteen refused to perform at the GOP bully's inauguration in 2010.

Or that Christie is taking credit for all of the "working men and women" employed by Revel who won't be able to afford to stay in one of the $400-a-night rooms.

Hanson and Borg

The other story on A-3 quotes Christie as praising the role of adviser Jon Hanson in Revel and American Dreams Meadowlands (formerly Xanadu).

But Brennan again to fails to mention the real estate mogul is best friends with Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg or that they co-own a business jet.

High-rise borough

What is all the hand-wringing and editorial angst over Planning Board approval of two 47-story residential towers in Fort Lee (A-1 on Tuesday and A-22 editorial today)?

The borough has long been known for high-rises, traffic congestion and a prime terrorist target, the George Washington Bridge.

Readers write column

On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, Road Warrior John Cichowski is back doing what he does best -- basing his silly column on reader e-mails and avoiding any exploration of commuting problems.

On Monday's front page, The Record previewed the start of suspended Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa's criminal trial, but the testimony still is not under way.

Sykes loves Zisa

How embarrassing for Sykes. Stories Tuesday (L-1) and today (L-3) have tried to explain the delay, but Monday's story was premature and should have run the day testimony starts.

The Local section today and Tuesday had no Hackensack municipal news, but readers on Tuesday found non-fatal fire and accident photos on L-1 and L-2.

Christie butts heads with state's high court

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Governor Christie to teachers and everyone else: Do what I say or else.

A governor full of hubris, saying he might defy a ruling of the state's highest court, would be front-page news anywhere but at The Record of Woodland Park, where Editor Francis Scandale is famous for news misjudgment going way back to 9/11.

So, readers have to turn to Page A-3 for a Star-Ledger story reporting Governor-cum-Dictator Christie will close hospitals and lay off cops and firefighters, if the Supreme Court orders him to restore more than $1 billion in education funds -- if he even obeys the ruling.

Christie -- at heart, an argumentative lawyer who has The Record and other media in his pocket -- is really pissed that Associate Justice Barry Albin twice mentioned how Christie cut school aid to low-income children, but refused to impose a millionaires tax to raise $1 billion in new revenue.

To Scandale, this brewing constitutional crisis appears to be less far less significant than more of Christie's do-what-I say-or-else tough talk to teachers, a story that leads A-1 today.

News revolution?

When I first looked at Page 1, I thought the news clerks and reporters had seized control of the newsroom and run a story on the rise of the Tea Party and the Republicans' drive to preserve wealth:

How greed movement

shaped North Jersey

Wait a second. That story is about a different kind of "green." I misread the headline. Never mind. The Record's editors still are marching to the drums of the spoiled Borg siblings.

Searching for municipal news in Local, readers find lots of Law & Order news -- courtesy of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her minions.

Sykes needed two gee-whiz but non-fatal accident photos to fill space on L-2 and L-8.

Poor geography lesson

A huge Better Living cover photo of chicken -- presumably pumped up with antibiotics -- whets readers' appetites for Elisa Ung's review of Mekong Grill, a new Vietnamese restaurant in Ridgewood.

Ung reports that for years before Mekong Grill opened, "Bergen-based food lovers" drove to Spring Valley, N.Y., "to get their Vietnamese fix."

But nothing could be farther from the truth: Chef K.T. Tran has been dishing out great Vietnamese food at a take-out stand or restaurants in Cresskill, Fort Lee, Englewood and Tenafly for well over 15 years.

In fact, in a review just three months ago, Ung praised Tran's "precise cooking and fresh Vietnamese flavors" at her newest restaurant, Simply Vietnamese. 

What a swell guy he is

Is the swearing in of the U.S. attorney for New Jersey worth nearly half of the front page in The Record of Woodland Park today, especially when he's been on the job since Oct. 14? How about leading Page 1 with a proposed $3 tax on arena tickets and downplaying potential cuts in aid to state colleges and universities?

The answer is that the lazy, incompetent editors simply could not come up with anything better.

Another example is continuing coverage of an alleged "Columbine-like" bomb plot at  far-off  Bridgewater-Raritan High School. It's likely Editor Frank Scandale is keeping this story alive to remind the staff of his exploits a decade ago covering the original Columbine massacre for the Denver Post.

The former Hackensack daily loves to run conservative columnists without pointing out their gross distortions or omissions, such as former Gov. Christie Whitman and former state Sen. Henry McNamara, whose column is on Page A-21 today. He doesn't tell readers the battle over "affordable" housing in the state dates to a 1975 Supreme Court decision or how most towns have fought tooth and nail for more than three decades to keep out low- and moderate income minorities. He's a disgrace.

The Local section seems to have room for only one story each day from Hackensack, Teaneck or  Englewood, the three most diverse towns in the paper's circulation area. Today, it's Teaneck's turn, with a story on its abysmal employer-employee relations and a panel's recommendations on how to end the acrimony. This is an old story, but at least it's something. As in the past, Staff Writer Joseph Ax tries to scare readers by telling them lawsuits have cost the township "well more than $10 million," without saying if insurance covered any of that.

The continuing Route 80 east repaving is back in the news, with a big photo on the front of Local, but the paper stubbornly refuses to tell readers about a shortcut through Paterson that would ease their commute.

I finally found something to praise in Better Living, the paper's soft, unfocused features section. Virginia Rohan's "Boomer on Board" column states unequivocally: "Age discrimination, though illegal, is a reality." That's a subject you rarely see discussed in The Record or other newspapers, which have laid off a fair number of employees during the recession, while owners such as the Borg family continue to enrich themselves.