Will 'GWB mess' be Governor Christie's Watergate?

Less than 30 minutes after the 10 a.m. opening today, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack was besieged by shoppers panicked by radio and TV news reports of a big snowstorm, as well as what may turn out to be an inaccurate story in The Record's Local section this morning.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

John Wisniewski, the state assemblyman with the hard-to-pronounce name, is starting to sound like a Hebrew National hot dog commercial.

Grilled by Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record on who ordered The Traffic Jam That Ate Fort Lee back in September, the head of the Assembly Transportation Committee answered mysteriously:

"It came from a higher authority" (A-6).

First dog

We all suspect he is referring to Governor Christie, the Portly Authority whose flunkies have resigned in the wake of the Fort Lee-Port Authority brouhaha.

Would Christie's political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee -- by closing two Fort Lee access lanes to upper-level George Washington Bridge toll booths -- be such a big deal?

Given that the Hudson River flows under the bridge, will this be Christie's Watergate and so scandalous it will derail his bid for the White House in 2016?

Hardly. 

But The Record loves this story, even as it shies away from detailed reporting on a story with far wider implications: the GOP bully's mean-spirited policies and his mismanagement of state finances.

More hype

Kelly's Page 1 column today claims the lane closures led to "paralyzing gridlock" on four days in September, even though drivers using the lower level, as well as another Fort Lee access lane to that truck-free level, experienced no delays.

Since the first Road Warrior column on the Fort Lee mess, much of this reporting, especially when it appears on Page 1, is a waste of space.

That's especially true when The Record continues to ignore a far bigger story: Christie's well-known anti-mass transit stance and the Port Authority's refusal to expand bus service into Manhattan.

The Addled Commuter

Whether as the result of a hangover or advancing Alzheimer's disease, Wednesday's Road Warrior column confused a new parking garage for commuter buses in Manhattan with whether the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal needs to be renovated.

According to a concerned reader, who maintains a Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

"In his first column of the new year, Road Warrior John Cichowski refuses to heed the wishes of so many readers and continues on his merry way of delusional, false, over-exaggerated and clueless statements about past and future wishes for New Jersey and metropolitan area transportation issues and laws.

"The Road Warrior tries to make readers believe there is a New Jersey statute that specifically makes it a violation for drivers to be drunk while stopped in traffic.

"Drunk people in New Jersey are not allowed to operate a car, period. It does not matter whether the car is moving or stopped anywhere, or whether it is in the middle of the road or in a parking lot.

"Road Warrior indicated that $800 million had been proposed to renovate the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal, even though it contradicted The Record’s own report that the plan was for a new parking garage for buses that are now parked on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel."

For the full e-mail to managers and editors, see:

 Readers prepare silver alert for John Cichowski

A modest proposal

If the Port Authority won't add a second express lane dedicated to commuter buses during the morning rush hour, the existing express lane can be revived during the afternoon rush for buses that were parked in New Jersey and must return empty to pick up passengers in Manhattan.

Now, they add to incredible congestion on the eastbound helix to the Lincoln Tunnel.

Reverse bus lanes don't reduce toll revenue from drivers who would otherwise be displaced by a second, eastbound bus-only lane.

Snowbound

Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza apparently has ordered Shawn Boburg, the reporter who covers the Port Authority, to ignore any story about the bistate agency's mass-transit operations.

Boburg's story on tonight's expected snowstorm appears on L-2, predicting near-blizzard conditions for North Jersey.

This morning, radio news reports predict blizzard conditions only on Long Island. 

Stop reading: Port Authority's Guy Tozzoli is dead

The Christmas tree at Bergen Town Center in Paramus. New Jersey residents won't find anything under the tree from Governor Christie, who is traveling around the country campaigning for other GOP conservatives, according to a Page 1 story in The Record today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

When you plaster an expose about lavish spending by a top Port Authority executive all over the front page, the surest way to turn off readers immediately is to start the story with the words, "Back in 1975 ...."

Yes. The two-plus page takeout that starts on Page 1 of The Record today is ancient history in news terms, and imagine readers' surprise to find buried on A-11 word that the target, Guy Tozzoli, died last year.

Indeed, even a probe by the New York Attorney General's Office into the agency's 1986 sweetheart deal with a Tozzoli non-profit is meaningless given that the statute of limitations on any crimes likely has expired (A-1). 

And despite thousands and thousands of words, there is not a single one on why the governors of New York and New Jersey -- who have veto power over actions by the bi-state agency's board -- allowed such profligate spending by the globe-trotting Tozzoli.

Readers aren't interested in what happened in 1975 and 1986, and Editor Marty Gottlieb should know that.

What they are interested in is why Governor Christie and his New York counterpart rubber stamped exorbitant toll increases, and continue to stand by as the agency refuses to expand mass transit. 

The agency isn't supported by taxes. It thrives on toll money, and fees charged at its airports and seaports that are passed along to residents of the two states in higher prices.

The Portly Authority

Another Page 1 story on Christie's extensive out-of-town travel as head of the Republican Governors Association doesn't say who is paying his expenses and how many New Jersey state troopers and aides accompany him (A-1 and A-4).

When Christie is in Idaho or Vermont, do New Jersey taxpayers pick up the tab at the pizzeria and Cheap Beer Depot?

More road litter

On the front of Local, Road Warrior John Cichowski is back with another column of little relevance to long-suffering commuters (L-1).

And this one is probably filled with numerous errors by the addled Cichowski that six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton not only didn't catch, but won't bother to correct.

Mike Smelly

What does Columnist Mike Kelly have to add to all of last week's coverage of Mike Feeney, the Ridgewood boy who succumbed to bone cancer at the tender age of 10 (O-1)?

Nothing, except the shit-eating grin in his dated, unflattering column photo.

The whine business

The best thing in today's Business section is the full-page ad from WSJ Wine (The Wall Street Journal), offering 15 bottles of "impressive wines" for $89.99, including shipping, or about $6 a bottle (B-5).

It's hard to understand how Staff Writer Elisa Ung can object to "the culture created by the free dessert" with children's meals (BL-1).

After all, as the paper's full-time fine-dining restaurant reviewer, she has been gorging on free desserts in the six or so years the Woodland Park daily has been picking up her tab.

As someone who appears devoted to only two food groups -- meat and sweets -- Ung is the one who is setting a poor example for both her child and for readers who might be trying to eat healthier.

Second look

Today's front-page headline about the Port Authority's Guy Tozzoli -- "Prince of the Port" -- fixes the error of Saturday's banner headline on A-1 about another official of the same agency, which was referred to then as lower-case "port."

Saturday's headline also used the awkward phrase "Criticized port official ...."

Much preferred is "Embattled Port official ...."