Page 1 focus on minorities recalls discrimination of the past

A poster on the shuttered New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, above, and the beached gangway that once gave visitors access to the USS Ling, below. The World War II sub is stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River, and tied up to property owned by North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Positive images of Native Americans, Muslims and African-Americans in North Jersey appear on the front page of The Record today in a rare focus on minorities.

The stories recall past instances when the editors marginalized those groups.

Ford pollution

The Record's 2005 series -- "Toxic Legacy" -- won journalism awards, but did little to prove Ford Motor Co. waste -- first dumped in 1967 -- was sickening and killing members of the Ramapough Native American tribe in Ringwood.

And in 2010, The Record urged the Ramapoughs to settle their lawsuit against the automaker for $12.5 million, allowing the lawyers to grab the lion's share of the money, and pay 633 adults and children only $4,368 to $34,595 each.

Today, the Woodland Park daily reports borough residents want to hold a referendum to kill a plan to cap 166,000 tons of contaminated soil in favor of removing it (A-1).

Still, the first reference to the Ramapoughs on Page 1 today is a mean-spirited description of their "low-income neighborhood."

Crime stories

Less than a decade ago, an African-American would have to be charged with a serious crime to land on the front page, unless the editors were running Black History Month stories.

Today, the funeral and burial of Teaneck Mayor Lizette Parker, 44, is Page 1 news, including a moving tribute from a Muslim councilman who once was part of a coalition that spurned her (A-1).

Still, The Record continues to ignore the hard-working, God-fearing Jamaican-American community in Englewood, Teaneck and Hackensack unless one of them is involved in gun violence or drug dealing.

Silk City Syrians

After the November terrorist attacks in Paris, Governor Christie wanted to bar Syrian refugees, even children, from New Jersey.

The editors' response took more than a week, but they finally published a positive story about Syrian merchants in Paterson decrying the governor's stereotype.

Today, Muslim leaders in New Jersey are quoted as "reacting warily" to an FBI plan to "cut terrorism off at its roots," as the headline states (A-1).

Still, The Record is the only major daily in the state that failed to call for Christie's resignation after he endorsed GOP presidential front-runner, Muslim hater and racist Donald Trump.

The USS Ling in a photo taken a week ago.

Local news?

Just one look at today's Local section tells Bergen County readers they won't find much news about their towns today.

On L-1, they find an enormous weather-related photo, and another column on the test for a learner's permit.

On L-3, a "Monthly News Quiz" wastes an enormous amount of space, and four major stories in the section are from Passaic County (L-1, L-2 and L-3), further cheating Bergen readers.

Healthier eating

In today's Better Living profile, Susan Ungaro of River Vale says she want the James Beard Foundation "to help move the needle on important food policy issues" (BL-1).

Celebrity chefs "can teach America how to eat better and be healthier and be socially conscious about important issues," says Ungaro, president of the culinary arts foundation.

Sadly, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung, the reporter who wrote the profile, and Record Food Editor Esther Davidowitz don't see any part for journalists in that mission.

What else can readers conclude from Ung rarely telling them whether the food she samples is naturally raised or grown, and her obsession with meat and artery clogging desserts?

Meanwhile, Davidowtiz fills her food pages with promotions of restaurants, bakeries and other businesses that advertise in The Record. 

A kid you never heard of gets better A-1 play than Obama

WHY OUR TAXES ARE SO HIGH: On Wednesday afternoon, an incident involving a school bus near the monument in Englewood drew a large response, including an ambulance from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, above; a rescue unit from the city's Fire Department, hospital paramedics and at least three police cars to close streets, below. The police cars are not shown.

In the past two decades, The Record's local editors have been derelict in failing to report on the wasteful duplication of services in home-rule towns. Meanwhile, the editorial page should be calling for a salary cap on police chiefs, and much more cooperation among towns to save money and lessen the impact on property tax payers.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Deirdre Sykes is only the second woman to hold the top editing job at The Record, but she is proving to be no different than her sports-obsessed male predecessors.

Can you imagine the discussion at Wednesday afternoon's news meeting, where editors from news, sports, business and features sit down and decide story placement and play, including what should appear on today's front page, the most important in the paper?

The news editors promote President Obama's historic visit to a mosque amid all the hate speech against Muslims, including Syrian refugees who want to settle in North Jersey, but the sports editor is itching to be heard: 

"OK. I have a better story. There's this black kid, Rashan Gary, a high school student we like to call 'North Jersey's football titan ....'"

Collectively, the other editors in the room say, "Who?"   

Yet, today's front page is dominated by "Who?"

And Obama ends up at the bottom of Page 1, under a bunch of Hasidic Jews who rescued a George Washington Bridge jumper. 

Ignoring readers

Is there anything else in today's paper to interest the majority of readers?

Why run a Page 1 follow-up on "dismal" test scores?

At least Sykes had the good sense to run Governor Christie's campaign crap from New Hampshire on A-3, instead of A-1, but that means the continuing crisis over New Jersey transportation funding is buried today (A-4).

Local news?

The Local front resembles a police blotter again, one of Sykes' specialties when she was head assignment editor.

There are an astounding 14 Law & Order stories in the thin-local news section.

And why is a long story from Washington on proposals to ease the burden of college loans and provide two years of free community college buried deep in Local (L-6)?

That would have fit well on A-3, and to hell with the governor who has said to hell with New Jersey.

Uber alles?

On the first Business page, another staff-written story on Uber continues to hide the exploitation of drivers (L-7).

Staff Writer Richard Newman simply regurgitates the company line:

"Uber promises to pay a gross fare of $15 an hour during slow periods or $20 an hour in busy periods, not including Uber's commission...."

Why not mention the size of the commission (Uber gets at least 20% of the fare), that tips are included in the fare; and that drivers use their own cars, and pay for gas, insurance and maintenance?

Traveling light

A Jill Schensul column offering a guide to travelers on the Zika virus appears on the Better Living front today.

Contrast that with the travel editor's usually frivolous column in her own section, which offers little practical advice on getting the best bang out of your travel dollars.

Editors: Syrian refugees aren't demons Christie claimed

A homeless man walking across the street was killed on Christmas Day at Garrison Avenue and Cedar Lane in Teaneck, above. Now, police have put up a digital sign asking for help in finding the driver of a large black SUV that fled the scene.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A Page 1 story on Syrian refugees who have settled in Paterson continues The Record's gentle treatment of Governor Christie.

After the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, Christie said he would bar any Syrian refugee, even an orphan, from coming to New Jersey.

The GOP bully later expanded that, saying he wanted to keep them out of the entire country.

Today's upbeat story on the Alteibawi family from Daraa, called a "flash point for the Syrian uprising," mentions Christie in the overlong first paragraph (A-1).

Heavy editing

But to the chagrin of many readers, Editor Martin Gottlieb toned down any criticism of the governor's fear mongering and racial animosity.

Gottlieb is known as a hands-on editor who often heavily edits and rewrites front-page stories to give them the same kind of "context" they have at The New York Times, where he had a long career.

The family, Staff Writer Hannan Adely says, found themselves "in the center of a national debate over Syrian refugees with even Governor Christie weighing in on their arrival."

How does Christie's bid to keep all refugees (read "terrorists") out of New Jersey become "weighing in on their arrival," except in the mind of an arrogant editor who seems intent on polishing the governor's image?

In fact, The Record waited more than a week after Christie's first anti-refugee salvo before publishing a story on the peaceful Syrian community in Paterson, where immigrants from Aleppo and other cities put down roots more than a hundred years ago.

Dictatorial rule

The rest of Page 1 today is devoted to endless second-guessing of President Obama's move to tighten controls on guns.

Columnist Charles Stile, the paper's chief Christie apologist, recalls how the governor called Obama a "dictator" three weeks ago (A-1).

But nowhere in his boring political column does Stile point out that by executing more than 430 vetoes to stop the majority Democrats in the state Legislature, Christie surely is the one who has imposed dictatorial rule right here in the Garden State.

Hackensack news

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza continue their boycott on Hackensack news in today's Local section.

I can't find any mention of Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

And Hackensack University Medical Center and city officials weren't even mentioned in a Tuesday story on L-1.

That story had local officials reacting to a bill that would require non-profit hospitals to make modest payments in lieu of tens of millions of dollars in property taxes.

Editors help Uber keep secret how much drivers make

The Record and other news media haven't challenged Uber to make public exactly how much drivers make after expenses -- gasoline, insurance, oil changes, and wear and tear on their cars. This wildly exaggerated "Drive Uber" sign was on the back of a bus I saw on Madison Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Page 1 of The Record today carries another upbeat story on Uber, but not a word on exactly how much drivers make after such expenses as insurance, gasoline, and wear and tear on their own cars.

Staff Writer Richard Newman reports "car-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc. plans to recruit 3,000 drivers from low-income counties in New Jersey, including Passaic County" by the end of next year (A-1).

But later -- after telling readers Uber promises "self-employment with no investment required" -- the reporter finally comes clean and says applicants need a smart phone, checking account and "a car that is no more than 10 years old and seats at least four" (A-10).

A smart phone and a car are investments, aren't they?

Newman doesn't mention other expenses, such as insurance, gasoline and maintenance.

All in all, working for Uber sounds like a bad deal.

Syrian refugee

Another heart-warming story appears on the front page today, this one about a Syrian refugee who has been taken in by Ponds Reformed Church in Oakland (A-1).

The report on Sandy Khabbazeh, who is Christian, makes no reference to Governor Christie vowing to bar all Syrian refugees from New Jersey and the rest of the United States.

Local news?

Today's Local section again is filled with more police and court news than municipal news (L-1 to L-6).

Municipal stories from Oakland and Wayne appear on L-2 and L-3, but Hackensack apparently remains on the news blacklist.

The Woodland Park daily hasn't reported on the last two City Council meetings, and continues its boycott of school news.

Heart healthy?

Readers hoping to eat more heart-healthy food might be interested in a recipe in the Better Living section.

Unfortunately, clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River includes more artery clogging cheese than healthy smoked salmon (BL-2).

Trump's hate speech about Muslims not far from Christie's

What appeared to be another quiet Sunday morning on Sussex Road in Teaneck was anything but when a crazed woman in an old Toyota passed a stop sign on on my right, looked my way and then drove directly in front of my car so she could get to a side street on the other side of Sussex.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Donald J. Trump's bid to bar all Muslims from the United States isn't that different from Governor Christie's attempt to keep all Syrian refugees, including orphans, out of New Jersey.

Now we know how Jews felt during the many years of persecution in Germany and other countries.

But why is Trump's speech leading Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park, especially when the rest of the page is wasted on football and the state's annual bear hunt?

Is Editor Martin Gottlieb suggesting Muslims might one day be forced to engage in blood sports in stadiums like the Roman Colosseum or be hunted like bears? 

Gottlieb, once a high-flying international editor at The New York Times, continues to bury local news and play up the sensational in an effort to sell the paper, which isn't worth anything near the $1 you have to pay for it on the newsstand.

Taxing hospitals

Gottlieb is ignoring residents of Hackensack, Englewood and other towns by running a story on non-profit hospitals on one of today's obituary pages.

Hackensack University Medical Center and other hospitals are desperately fighting attempts to end their non-profit status, which forces homeowners and others to pay much higher property taxes.

Now, a bill "worked out in agreement with the hospitals themselves" has been introduced (L-5).

But today's story doesn't address whether "defined payments" from the hospitals to help cover municipal emergency services will come close to easing the property tax burden in Hackensack and other communities.

For the past few years, HUMC has turned a deaf ear to Hackensack Police Director Mike Mordaga's request that medical staff be assigned to the county homeless shelter to reduce police trips to the hospital's emergency room.

Love-triangle trial

The decision of the defendant not to take the witness stand in the love-triangle murder of Robert Cantor of Teaneck is no surprise (L-1).

What was a surprise was the incredible waste of space and readers' time on Monday's front page, where Staff Writer Peter J. Sampson speculated endlessly on whether Sui Kam "Tony" Tung would testify (Monday's A-1).

Editors pause from sugar-coating Christie's record in N.J.

Rush-hour traffic moving slowly on Route 4 east in Paramus this morning, where the delay at the George Washington Bridge ballooned to 90 minutes around 8 a.m., twice the normal wait. Yet The Record has not called on the Port Authority to expand bus service into Manhattan as one way of easing traffic congestion at the Hudson River crossings.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie has seized on the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris to generate fear among Americans and resuscitate his dying campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

And The Record has turned away from sugar-coating his mean-spirited war against the middle class in New Jersey to help sound the theme that Christie has been tough on terrorists.

Editor Martin Gottlieb again puts a Charles Stile column on Page 1 to report -- for the third day in a row -- how the governor will benefit from the endorsement of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Three stories on the same endorsement sound suspiciously like Gottlieb and Stile are in the GOP bully's pocket.

Stile calls right-wing publisher Joseph W. McQuaid a "political kingmaker," even though all but one of the GOP candidates who have received the New Hampshire newspaper's blessing since 1988 lost their bid for the nomination or the White House.

Syrian refugees

We know The Record is reluctant to cross Christie, but a non-profit group has called his bluff by quietly moving a family of seven Syrian refugees into a Paterson apartment (A-1).

They join thousands of law-abiding Syrians, both Christian and Muslim, who have settled in Silk City in the past century.

The only other "news" on Gottlieb's front page today is more drivel about Rutgers University's football team, a subject that doesn't deserve equal billing with Christie's shameless fear mongering and racism (A-1).

Local news

A story on the Local front reports the last of several hikes approved in 2011 goes into effect on Sunday at the George Washington Bridge and other crossings, raising the cash toll to $15 and the peak E-ZPass toll to $12.50 (L-1).

But Staff Writers Christopher Maag and Shawn Boburg don't tell readers about the significant discounts available to drivers of all-electric and hybrid cars or those who carpool.

They also don't point out that the Port Authority refuses to expand bus service into Manhattan, because adding another express lane into the Lincoln Tunnel would displace drivers and reduce the toll revenue the agency depends on (L-6).

Sadly, this story puts a positive spin on the toll hike instead of challenging the agency's unwillingness to address mounting traffic congestion.

Far more scrutiny of Christie on trail than he got in Trenton

The senior round-trip fare on an NJ Transit express bus to Manhattan from Hackensack is one of the biggest travel bargains around.

These NJ Transit buses outside the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel are among hundreds parked in New Jersey during the day, awaiting the afternoon rush hour. Then, they'll be driven bumper-to-bumper through the tunnel to the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, causing huge delays for home-bound commuters.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's scrutiny of Governor Christie on the presidential campaign trail is unprecedented, especially when you compare the coverage to his years in Trenton.

The GOP bully has been in office since early 2010, but it wasn't until this year -- in his second term -- that the editors bothered to add up the hundreds of vetoes he has used to get his way with the state Legislature's Democratic majority.

Still, Staff Writer Charles Stiles, among the first to promote the governor's presidential ambitions, wrote one upbeat column after another supporting Christie's claim of being a compromiser who was able to work with Democrats.

Isn't it rich?

Yet, as today's front-page analysis shows, most of Christie's initiatives have hurt the middle class, and he has completely failed to fund the pension system for state employees or back a tax to pay for road and bridge repairs (A-1 and A-10).

Even in the wake of the attacks in Paris, touting his years as U.S. attorney prosecuting terrorists rings hollow in view of all the time he has spent out of state, and the mess he has made in Trenton. 

"Spending in the state budget has grown every year. So have New Jersey's high tax bills for homeowners ...," Staff Writer Salvador Rizzo reports deep on the continuation page. "Private-sector job growth has been among the slowest in the country." 

Out of the bubble

The Record's local editors gave reporters a rare assignment on Wednesday: Ask people what they think about an issue.

Three reporters worked on today's Page 1 story to gather reaction to Christie and other governors who want to keep Syrian refugees from coming to their states.

But they quote only two people, both immigrants, and report on only one Syrian refugee, who arrived in 2013.

On Tuesday, a story included an interview with another Syrian refugee who moved to Paterson.

About 75 Syrian refugees have moved to the state since January.

Shouldn't The Record make some attempt to report if any of them have acted in a way to justify Christie's racism and xenophobia?

Local news?

The lead story on the Local front today reports the estate of Mahwah Public Works Director Ed Sinclair is seeking $20 million in a lawsuit, claiming officials "caused his death through stress" (L-1).

There is no mention of Sinclair's obesity, and the challenge facing his lawyer to prove he died from being fired and reinstated, and not from a condition related to his tremendous weight.

On Aug. 13, Cliffview Pilot.com reported Sinclair, 57, died of a massive heart attack, but that isn't mentioned in The Record today.

The Sinclair suit is only one of the crime and court stories that dominate the local-news section today.

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza were so desperate for local news they had to run a story on Comcast dropping a sports network (L-3).

Isn't it time to put 9/11 anniversary below the fold on A-1?

A large delivery truck parked in front of Giant Farmers Market prevented this No. 165 NJ Transit bus from stopping at the curb to discharge passengers on Main Street in Hackensack at around 1:45 on Thursday afternoon. But when the truck pulled away, the bus driver didn't move, forcing three people carrying plastic bags to run to the door and board.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Given the mess our absentee governor has made in New Jersey and all of the other problems in the region, the nation and the world, the horrors of 9/11 are a distant memory.

As such, the anniversary of the attacks on America shouldn't  be played so prominently on Page 1 of The Record.

That's especially the case with the hackneyed Mike Kelly column on the 14th anniversary leading the paper today -- a rewrite of every story the veteran reporter has done on the ceremony at the old Twin Towers site. (A-1). 

Victims' photos? 

And readers wonder why Production Editor Liz Houlton continues to insist on running a dated thumbnail column photo of Kelly flashing what looks like a shit-eating grin.

Editor Martin Gottlieb and his minions could have honored 9/11 victims from North Jersey far more effectively by replacing all of the Law & Order filler in the Local news section today with their thumbnail photos (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Some of the victims' photos could have started at the top of the front page, demoting Kelly's tedious column to below the fold, as well as in place of the story on the legislative probe of the George Washington Bridge lane closures, an investigation that has gone nowhere in two years. 

Migrant crisis

After weeks of covering the refugee crisis in Europe, The Record and other media finally are paying attention to how little the United States has been doing (A-1).

But instead of focusing on the vibrant Syrian community based in Paterson, Gottlieb chose a wire service story for the front page today with inserts by Staff Writers Hannan Adely and Melissa Hayes that appear deep on the continuation page (A-8).

Adely reports "the first wave of Syrians moved to New Jersey a century ago," but doesn't bother telling readers they were overwhelmingly Christian, unlike the refugees now fleeing the civil war in Aleppo and other cities in Syria.

She also doesn't say how many refugees have been welcomed by the Syrian community in Paterson, Prospect Park, Wayne and nearby towns.

Adely may have reported those numbers in previous stories on the Syrian community, but Gottlieb, Houlton and other editors shouldn't expect readers to remember them.

Cuban food

Based on the meals I've enjoyed at Casual Habana Cafe on Main Street in Hackensack, I'm looking forward to trying the second Casual Habana, which was rated 2.5 out of 4 stars today (BL-16).

Sugar-obsessed restaurant critic Elisa Ung sought comfort in the unhealthiest food on the menu -- three artery clogging desserts -- after she ran into unprofessional service at the New Milford restaurant.

Some of her other choices, such as bacon-wrapped dates and pork-belly chicharrones, also are unfortunate given the restrictive diets followed by tens of thousands of her older readers.

But Ung was mistaken in saying Chef-Owner Benito Rivero "wanted to go beyond Cuban sandwiches" for his second and much bigger restaurant.

Rivero did that years ago in Hackensack, where many creative dishes and drinks are served alongside his Cuban classics.