Editors' big buildup of Hurricane Joaquin, Christie fizzles

Judging from the wait for PSE&G's boiler turn-on service ($25), the suddenly cooler weather took hundreds of North Jersey homeowners by surprise. As of Friday, the earliest appointment I could get is this coming Wednesday morning. My boiler may have been affected by a burst pipe and flood last winter.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today doesn't mention that almost half of Friday's front page was devoted to hyping Hurricane Joaquin and praising Governor Christie for leaving the presidential campaign trail and riding to the rescue of shore residents.

Now, Joaquin, Christie and his transportation chief have fizzled, but lots of space today is devoted to officials who "saw value in preparing for the worst" (A-1).

Gee. Where were they before Irene and Sandy savaged New Jersey?

Christie and Fox

The governor's pick for state transportation chief was James P. Fox, a former United Airlines lobbyist who may have had a role in arranging a flight to near the vacation home of a close friend, Christie mentor and then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson.

But since Fox took over in September 2014, he has done little to resolve the crisis with the state Transportation Trust Fund, reduce traffic congestion or improve mass transit.

Now, he has resigned amid questions about his agency forgiving a $104,000 potential penalty against United (A-1).

'Outrageous'

The only difference between Republican Anthony Coppola, Christie and Tea Party members of Congress is that the onetime councilman wrote a self-published book expressing his racist, homophobic and anti-senior citizen views.

First, Coppola withdrew as a state Assembly candidate, and now, he has resigned from the River Edge Borough Council (A-1).

The title of his 2003 book is "Outrageous."

On Friday's L-1, The Record reported:

"Cappola, in 223 pages [of his book], offers a near constant stream of racial slurs and offensive sexual slang, detailing stereotypes of minorities, men, women, gays and lesbians."

Among his targets, the story reported, was Pope John Paul II.

Warning signs

The Record and other media still haven't explained why anyone is surprised that a 26-year-old who owned at least 13 guns and "studied mass shooters" finally snapped and killed nine of his fellow college students (A-1 and A-9).

We may see the end of mass shootings when anyone who owns more than one gun raises alarms from neighbors, the police and the media. 

Local news?

Three large photos of non-fatal accidents -- all by Staff Photographer Tariq "Crash" Zehawi -- appear in Local today (L-1, L-2 and L-3).

Zehawi specializes in drive-by photos, and the desperate editors who run them are so lazy the captions tell readers nothing about the possible cause or answer other questions.

What do you expect? The photos are meant only as filler, not news. 

Was the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid Zehawi saw in a ditch run off Route 3 in East Rutherford by the resentful driver of one of those enormous, gas-guzzling SUVs (L-1)?

Was the Teaneck police officer on the way to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts when his cruiser was involved in a collision with a big pickup truck at Cedar Lane and Palisade Avenue (L-3).

Did the pickup driver receive a summons? Was the police cruiser responding to an emergency with lights flashing and siren operating?

Why does the marked cruiser appear not to have emergency lights on the roof?

Lazy editing

The over lines used on two L-1 photos show a complete lack of imagination, and amount to little more than labels from a bored editor:

"CAR IN DITCH IN EAST RUTHERFORD"

"NOT THE BEST WALKING WEATHER"

Both are obvious to the reader. 

Is that the best this once great local newspaper and its overpaid editors can do?

Brain food

The feature on North Jersey seafood restaurants is a welcome antidote to the relentless consumption and promotion of unhealthy food by The Record's Elisa Ung, and other reporters and editors (BL-1).

But why does the paper's chief restaurant critic devote most of the space and all but one of the photos to the most expensive places? 

Maybe, it's because those places advertise in The Record or Ung is so spoiled by the paper paying for meals costing hundreds of dollars that she no longer knows the value of money.

Varka, which gets top billing today, charges an outrageous $49 a pound for Dover Sole, $50 a pound for Tiger Shrimp from the Atlantic Ocean and $59 a pound for Langoustines from the Mediterranean.

Page 1 stories speak volumes about broken government

"Baring Our Soles" is an exhibit at the Johnson Public Library in Hackensack, above and below, sponsored by the Center for Hope and Safety, formerly Shelter Our Sisters, which helps battered women in Bergen County.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You know we are mired in deep doo-doo when James P. Fox has been able to move easily between the public and private sectors without raising any ethical concerns.

Today, a Page 1 story in The Record argues whether Fox, the state's transportation commissioner and former lobbyist for United Airlines, broke the law simply by attending a public meeting where the airline was mentioned (A-1).

Below that on one of the dreariest front pages in weeks from Editor Martin Gottlieb is another story on our broken election system, which is driven by special interest money.

I can see the death of Yogi Berra taking up a big part of Page 1, but why is his funeral and photos of former Yankees out front today and not in Local or Sports?

Local news

Staff Photographer Marko Georgiev's enterprise photo of a flooded parking lot reflecting a cloudy blue sky on L-3 today is what readers want to see more of.

It's far better than all of those shots of rollover and other non-fatal accidents with captions that tell you absolutely nothing about the possible cause, names of those involved and whether any charges were filed.

Still, on most days, local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza can't seem to put out a local-news section without relying on such photos as well as a heavy dose of police, fire and court news.

Food news

Page BL-2 in the Better Living section today shows you how far The Record has declined in the years since the paper folded an entire section devoted to food; downtown restaurants, shops and caterers; recipes and related news.

Clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upper Saddle River strikes again with another unhealthy recipe, Chicken Francese, which certainly doesn't need three tablespoons of artery clogging butter to taste great (BL-2). 

Jerseyans need 'conservative change' like hole in head

Property taxes in Tenafly are among the highest in Bergen County. So what's the explanation for why the borough Police Department still uses this outdated Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, above and below?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm searching through another upbeat Governor Christie column for something truly ridiculous the GOP bully said during the second presidential debate on Wednesday night.

But Charles Stile, who often sounds more like Christie's spin doctor than a skeptical reporter, cheated readers, only providing part of the quote in his Page 1 column in The Record today:

"I'm a Republican in New Jersey. I wake up every morning as an outsider" (A-8).

Of course, just the opposite is true:

Christie is the ultimate insider who cozy ups to powerful corporations like United Airlines, and installs his cronies at the Port Authority, the huge transportation agency that also serves as the region's patronage mill.

It gets worse

Christie, as reported by WNYC-FM this morning, said he brought "conservative change" to New Jersey, and claimed the state really needed it.

Like a hole in the head.

Well, Christie did cap property taxes, as a conservative would, but they continue to go up and he failed miserably to fulfill a 2009 campaign promise to lower them.

Is the state's sluggish economy the "conservative change" he is talking about or the mess he's made of state pensions, mass transit, the environment and so many other areas?

Other 'news'

The only other "news" on the front page today are two more stories about Rutgers University's football team (A-1).

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski doesn't discuss the penalties against the drivers who struck or killed crossing guards and doesn't recommend they be increased as a deterrent (L-1).

He names Pawothil Abraham, 63, of Bergenfield as the driver who knocked down Jo-Ann Hans, 60, on Tuesday morning, and says among the charges against him is "failing to heed a crossing guard."

That's meaningless to readers without information on the penalty, and what happened to other drivers charged with the same traffic offense.

Should knocking down a crossing guard bring a criminal charge and a prison sentence? 

Space filler

Cichowski doesn't venture to say.

Instead, he fills his columns with tons of statistics, and often gets them wrong. 

Cichowski may succeed as a space filler, but he fails miserably as a journalist and an opinion columnist, a flaw he shares with long-winded word pusher Mike Kelly.

The news story that reports Hans' condition has improved doesn't even mention the driver or what police might have to say about why he struck the crossing guard, who was in critical condition (L-1).

When I Googled "Pawothil Abraham," the driver, I got one hit that gave the name as "Abraham Pawothil."

Editors expose Christie's ties to powerful corporations

On Saturday, I saw an unexpected display of late-afternoon color in the parking lot of a medical building on Essex Street in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Lawyer David Samson, often described as Governor Christie's mentor and father figure, is at the center of two stories on corporate influence that dominate Page 1 of The Record today.

Christie nominated Samson, head of his transition team after the 2009 election,  to the board of the Port Authority, and he was eventually elected chairman of the bi-state transportation agency (A-1).

The Record today describes how United Airlines started special flights to South Carolina, where Samson has a second home, in hopes of getting the Port Authority to lower fees for using Newark Liberty International Airport.

United also hoped the PATH commuter rail line would be extended to the airport, one of the airline's major hubs.

United's lobbyist, James P. Fox, is a close friend of Samson's, and is now Christie's transportation commissioner (A-6).

Lottery fiasco

In the second story, on declining lottery revenue for state programs, GTECH, one of the corporate entities Christie chose to run the New Jersey Lottery, is said to have spent $460,000 in 2012-14 on Wolff & Samson Public Affairs, a subsidiary of the law firm Samson founded (A-10).

"It also hired ... Mercury Public Affairs, led by Michael Du Haime, Christie's former chief strategist who is now a senior adviser for his presidential run," State House reporter Dustin Racioppi says,

Readers wonder if The Record's exposes on this corporate influence in state government could have come much sooner.

Instead, Editor Martin Gottlieb, Columnist Charles Stile and other reporters spent virtually all of their time trying to sell readers on Christie's so-called reform agenda and his phony image as a compromiser able to work with the majority Democrats in the state Legislature.

Dated graphic

On the Business front today, the graphic with the story on subprime auto loans looks like it was taken out of mothballs (B-1).

The car shown is a 2004-09 Toyota Prius, but the keys are to another vehicle altogether.

If the story is about auto loans, why are hundred dollar bills shown?

Rotten apple

Chief restaurant critic Elisa Ung rarely orders a healthy salad at the fine-dining restaurants she appraises, but always find room for artery clogging desserts.

So, why is she using her Sunday column today to critique the salads included with entrees at "moderately priced family restaurants" (BL-1)?

Kelly column

On the Opinion front today, Columnist Mike Kelly pushes around thousands of words on the special flights for Samson and the resignation of United Airline's CEO last week (O-1).

Kelly reviews reporting by The Record and Bloomberg News in what is basically a rewrite of everything that has been said before.

But you won't find any opinions in this so-called opinion column.

Editors acquit, condemn Christie in court of public opinion

No plans have been announced for this vacant land and shuttered business, above and below, across the street from the first residential project in Hackensack's ambitious downtown redevelopment. The 222-unit rental building is scheduled to open in the fall.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Depending on which page of The Record you read today, federal investigations are a minor annoyance to Governor Christie or they could eventually end his "presidential aspirations."

A news story leading the front page puts a positive spin on the resignation of United Airlines' CEO in an investigation of the Port Authority related to the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

The headline -- "Scandal still taking a toll" -- is clear enough, but the caption under Christie's photo says:

"Two years after the George Washington Bridge scandal, Governor Christie has never been accused of wrongdoing" (A-1).

A better, more accurate caption would have been that many questions remain about Christie's role in the scandal.

And those questions may finally be answered by the upcoming testimony of ally David Wildstein, who pleaded guilty to helping plot and cover up the Fort Lee lane closures two years ago (A-10).

Darker editorial

"This is not good news" for Christie, according to an editorial on the shake-up at United Airlines and questions surrounding a special flight for Christie mentor David Samson, when he was chairman of the Port Authority (A-20).

Christie nominated Samson, his former campaign counsel, to the board of the bi-state transportation agency, which runs the bridge and Newark Liberty International Airport.

"If Samson, known as 'The General,' is linked to a deal trading flavors for a non-stop fight to South Carolina [where he has a vacation home], the political damage to Christie will be monumental.

"Just the reemergence of the Port Authority narrative at this point in Christie's struggling presidential campaign inflicts damage."

How many years?

Editor Martin Gottlieb couldn't resist sensationalizing the front page today with a big photo of Monica Mogg, who was sentenced to consecutive life terms for the murder of her ex-lover and his new girlfriend in a bedroom.

The A-1 photo sends readers to the full story on the Local front, plus two more photos, but all of those elements contain so many different descriptions of the sentence readers can't be blamed for being confused.

The A-1 photo overline says, "Two life terms for double homicide."

But the big, black headline on L-1 says, "166 years for 2 murders," forcing readers to wonder how that number was arrived at.

Doesn't "life" in prison mean until you die? Apparently not.

Finally, the lead paragraph of the story contains this awkward, hard-to-read phrase:

"A former preschool teacher was sentenced Wednesday to two back-to-back life terms in prison .... [italics added]."

That's too many to's or two's.

Hackensack news

Also on the Local front, The Record announces that plans for North Jersey Media Group's 19.7 acres on River Street in Hackensack have received preliminary approval from the city Planning Board (L-1).

Publisher Stephen A. Borg is quoted as saying the hotel-residential-retail project includes a "connection" to downtown, but no details are provided.

In all the years The Record operated at 150 River St., employees were forced to take their chances with fast-moving traffic as they tried to cross River Street to reach Main Street restaurant and shops.

If a hotel and 700 apartments are built there, a footbridge over River Street would be the only way to guarantee pedestrian safety.

The Record prospered in Hackensack for more than 110 years and its departure in 2009 sped up the decline of Main Street. 

Ode to crap

On the Better Living front, chief restaurant critic Elisa Ung celebrates "North Jersey's most classic, old-time hot dogs," but doesn't tell readers they are full of harmful antibiotics, growth hormones and preservatives (BL-1).

Three of the photos show fried hot dogs from Rutt's Hut in Clifton, Hot Grill in Clifton and Hiram's in Fort Lee covered in what looks like vomit. 

How appetizing.

Editors crow over PA scoop, ignore mass-transit failures

Rain barrels are an easy way to conserve water during what federal weather officials are calling a "moderate drought" in North Jersey, according to The Record.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's editors waste no time today taking credit on Page 1 for a scoop exposing a United Airlines flight between Newark and Columbia, S.C., "to curry favor" with David Samson when he was chairman of the powerful Port Authority.

A federal and internal probe of the special flight for Samson, often called a mentor and father figure to Governor Christie, led to the departure of the Newark-based airline's CEO (A-1).

But the Woodland Park daily has done a far poorer job exposing how little the bistate agency has done to expand mass-transit operations, including the PATH commuter rail system and the reverse bus lane into the Lincoln Tunnel.

The agency's mass-transit failures affect far more readers than another so-called expose of cronyism and favoritism in high places.

Christie P.R.

Editor Martin Gottlieb continues to assign Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to cover Christie's doomed bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.

Hayes' story, which sounds more like public relations than hard-hitting reporting, appears on Page 1, marveling over the conservative bully holding more town hall meetings in New Hampshire than any other GOP clown (A-1).

Local news?

On the Local front today, Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza give lavish coverage to the opening of a $20 million science, technology, engineering and mathematics center at the hoity toity Dwight-Englewood School (L-1).

The private school, on the mansion-filled East Hill of Englewood, counts among its alumni Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group; his wife Sandra Agemian Borg; son Stephen A. Borg, publisher of The Record; and daughter Jennifer A. Borg, NJMG vice president and general counsel.

Stephen's sons, Alexander, Austin and Charlie, are in the Dwight-Englewood Classes of 2017, 2019 and 2021, respectively.

In the past, coverage of Englewood's private schools has been far more extensive than that of the troubled public schools, even though both Sykes and Sforza covered the small city as reporters before they were promoted to assignment editors.

'Horse' in Teaneck

Instead of municipal news, another lead story on the Local front catches up to the seizure of $3.5 million in heroin, also called "horse," and the arrest of a California man in a home on Bryant Avenue in Teaneck.

There is no explanation for why Sykes and Sforza didn't report the Friday arrest and seizure until a press release came out on Tuesday or why the identity of the house renter eluded the three reporters who worked on the story (L-1 and L-2).

More filler

The desperate local editors also needed more Law & Order news and two drive-by accident photos to fill their thin section today (L-3).

The caption under a photo of a tobacco truck fire at Routes 17 and 80 in Hackenack doesn't say whether the driver was speeding, his load shifted or whether the bridge abutment he hit was damaged.

And the photo is all the Hackensack news you'll find today.

More filler appears in Business, where an entire half page is wasted on a story about "auto parts suppliers" by the Detroit Free Press (L-9).

Happy New Year

On the Better Living cover today, freelancer Sachi Fujimori shares Rosh Hashana recipes from Israeli chefs in North Jersey (BL-1).

She says these "culinary artisans grew up with the flavors of the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa."

But none of the recipes on BL-4 contain Middle Eastern or North African spices and herbs.

Fujimori was a reporter at The Record for more than 5 years, leaving in February 2014. She also worked at the Herald News.

Christie, Ferriero spun webs of influence in high places

Room for two cars? On Euclid Avenue in Hackensack and on many other two-way streets in North Jersey, plows left snow that sets up potential collisions between vehicles. A few blocks away on Anderson Street, bus riders wait in the cleared driveway of a rental car business because a snowbank continues to block the bus stop itself.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Two Page 1 stories in The Record today trace the webs of political influence spun by Governor Christie and Joseph Ferriero, a onetime power broker in Bergen County.

Staff Writer Shawn Boburg leads the paper with details of how United Airlines started a direct flight to South Carolina for then-Port Authority Chairman David Samson, a Christie appointee who is often described as the governor's mentor (A-1).

Samson, a former state attorney general, has a vacation home in Aiken, S.C.

"United Airlines was in regular negotiations with the Port Authority and the Christie administration during Samson's tenure over ... expansion of ... service to Atlantic City and the extension of the PATH train to Newark Liberty [Airport]," Boburg reports (A-1).

The story was picked up this morning by WNYC-FM, the New Jersey and New York Public Radio Station.

Boburg also traces the ties to Christie's new transportation czar, Jamie Fox, a former lobbyist for United Airlines and a close friend of Samson's.

Joseph Ferriero

Below the fold, Staff Writers Herb Jackson and Jeff Pillets report on the expected testimony of James Dausch, formerly a top Mills Corp. executive seeking approvals for a massive shopping and entertainment complex then called Xanadu.

Dausch is expected to testify in the federal racketeering trial of Ferriero, who once headed the Bergen County Democratic Party (A-1).

Jackson and Pillets report on newly public documents that "provide rare snapshots of a host of power players in New Jersey," including state legislators and congressmen, and campaign donations to them.

A key figure was Teaneck attorney M. Robert "Bob" DiCottis, who "helped the company [Mills Corp.] put together a team of consultants and navigate state politics" (A-7).

Ferriero is accused in part of extorting monthly $35,000 payments from Mills Corp., which is now defunct.

Christie junkets

Recent revelations of how Choose New Jersey, a corporate group, paid for Christie's foreign travel finally has knocked Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin off of his stump, admitting, "I was snookered" (A-11).

In his Opinion column, Doblin says:

"The latest revelations about the governor's trade trips -- lavish excursions funded through a non-profit governed by people with close ties to Christie and whose companies do business with or are regulated by the state -- blow the man-of-the people reformer image out of the water."

When readers catch their breath, they undoubtedly will wonder why it took Doblin more than five years to cut through all of the GOP bully's P.R. and B.S.

And why the journalist-cum-lapdog is allowed to write both an opinion column and help determine the paper's editorial policy on Christie's reign in New Jersey.

Jon F. Hanson

The Woodland Park daily still has not revealed the ties between real estate mogul Jon F. Hanson, one of Christie's chief fundraisers, and the Borgs, who own
North Jersey Media Group, which publishes The Record.

Last month, Publisher Stephen A. Borg announced that NJMG had turned to Hanson in a sale-leaseback deal involving the company's printing plant on 16.67 acres of land in Rockaway Township.

Borg said the agreement was with a fund sponsored by the Hampshire Cos. of Morristown, but didn't mention that Hanson is its chairman and founder or that his father, Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, and Hanson had jointly purchased a private jet in 2011.

The printing plant at 100 Commons Way is assessed at $24,991,500, and the land is assessed at $1,979,600, Rockaway Tax Assessor Mark Burek said today.

Those assessments equal about 93 percent of the total value.

On Euclid Avenue in Hackensack, drivers are thankful the street isn't heavily traveled.

Bridge news

Another Page 1 story today reports on emergency repairs to two Route 46 spans (A-1).

But there is no mention of any of the Route 4 bridges cited in recent Road Warrior columns by staffer John Cichowski, the irresponsible reporter who tried to panic readers into believing they are unsafe.

Black history

Today's front page also appears to mark the first in a series of stories that will appear during Black History Month (A-1).

I couldn't find any Black History Month stories in the first five days of February, with the possible exception of a Thursday story on the homeless in Paterson.

When February is over, The Record will return to its usual policy of reporting mostly negative news about African-Americans, and the only way a black person can get on Page 1 until next year is if he or she is a suspect in a crime.

'Overpriced' Italian

The 80-seat dining room of Momento Italian Grill in Tenafly is "graciously decorated" with a crystal chandelier "dripping from the ceiling," Staff Writer Elisa Ung says in her lukewarm review (BL-14).

Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critic, sampled Momento's American rack of lamb -- which isn't likely to have been naturally raised -- but reports that it "arrived overcooked."

The price is an exorbitant $42.95.

In her data box, she explains the restaurant offers "value for the better items, otherwise can be overpriced."

That leaves Simply Vietnamese as one of the few reasons to eat out in Tenafly.

Here's breathtaking 'local' news you might have missed

News Corp. headquarters on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, newspapers like the New York Post and other media properties here and around the world deliver slanted news every day, not just for the holidays.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The front pages of The Record in the past few days seem to shout: "No news today."

Editor Marty Gottlieb leads today's paper with a political column that poses an unasked question, Which GOP moron do you prefer in the presidential election in 2016?

"Bush" is a four-letter word that only reminds New Jerseyans of the 9/11 attack, the worst recession in memory, and two ruinous wars that killed thousands of Americans, wasted billions of dollars and lined the pockets of the military-industrial complex. (A-1).

Car news?  

How many owners of Mercedes-Benzes know or care where the German automaker's U.S. headquarters are located (A-1)?

Why is this story on Page 1 -- unless it's just another piece of the paper's strategy to cover the biggest advertisers to the exclusion of comprehensive local news?

At the bottom of today's front page, United Airlines and the Port Authority continue their pissing match over what makes flying out of Newark International Airport so expensive (A-1).

Nowhere have I seen any explanation of why my United flight to Jamaica in August didn't even have free music channels.

Brick latkes

If you've been complaining that your mother-in-law's latkes taste like bricks, she might have used a recipe the Better Living section published on Tuesday (BL-1 photo and BL-2 recipe).

An A-2 correction today notes "six eggs" were omitted from the ingredients list by Nina Rizzo, presumably a freelancer. LOL.

That's just another example of careful editing by Food Editor Esther Davidowitz, who betrayed her Jewish heritage by missing this error in a recipe for potato pancakes.

Puff pieces

Also today and every Wednesday, Davidowitz runs press releases from North Jersey restaurants that advertise heavily in the Woodland Park daily (BL-2).

The feature is called "FYI: What's new, what's happening and what's trending in the North Jersey dining scene."

What's trending is that Elisa Ung is rewriting promotional press releases from many of the same restaurants she should be evaluating critically as the paper's chief restaurant reviewer.

Davidowitz's contribution to the Better Living section, Coffee with the Chef, doesn't say which Hackensack Thai restaurant Koson Sillpsitte once worked at (BL-2).

What is the point of this feature, except to further glorify chefs and restaurants? 

In one recent column, a chef recommended salting pasta water "like the ocean," advice that was of little use to anyone, especially people trying to avoid excessive sodium.

Breaking local news

The Local news section today leads with the rescue of a dog from a Fort Lee house fire (L-1).

An accident photo on L-3 shows first responders standing around with their hands in their pockets, and the caption tells you little about the cause or whether a summons was issued.

Tuesday's Local front was dominated by a photo showing the wreckage of a FedEx tractor-trailer on Route 287 in Mahwah, but the story didn't say whether any packages destined for North Jersey residents were damaged or destroyed.

Below that, Staff Photographer Tariq Zehawi came up with yet another filler photo of a non-fatal collision of two vehicles in Emerson (Tuesday's L-1).

Wow! Look at how the hood and bumper of that new SUV came off in the crash! Wow! Look at that fireman with his hands in his pockets!

Another great job by head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza and their minions.

Elderly drivers

Road Warrior John Cichowski has spent so much time campaigning against life-saving red-light cameras, he has completely ignored the challenges faced by older drivers.

Did he or his lazy, clueless assignment editors see the story on L-2 of Sunday's Local section, reporting that two elderly pedestrians were struck by cars driven by older drivers in separate Fair Lawn incidents on Saturday?

An 82-year-old woman was "severely injured" by a driver "in his 80s" behind the wheel of an enormous Mercury Grand Marquis.

"Ten hours later and a mile away," a 64-year-old man was hit by a car driven by a 71-year-old male.

All four were residents of Fair Lawn, but I haven't seen a follow up on whether the drivers were issued summonses.

Noe does Cichowski seem to care whether retraining or other help is available for older drivers.

Port Authority adds 'runway robbery' to 'highway robbery'

My purchase of a large snow blower may have been one of the factors limiting Thursday's snowfall to a dusting.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Isn't it rich?

One of the airlines that soaks travelers with fees on checked luggage and added legroom, plus charges extra for food in economy, is complaining about "skyrocketing fees" at the airport in Newark.

The Record reports today that United Airlines is asking federal officials to investigate the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for "runway robbery," similar to the "highway robbery" drivers experience at the Hudson River toll crossings (A-1).

The biggest airline serving New Jersey cites "unwise choices, inefficiencies and political influences" at the massive bi-state agency for making "flying out of Newark more than twice as expensive as trips from other major cities." 

United, which pays landing and other fees, says $2 billion has been diverted from Newark Liberty International Airport since 2004, including $181 million this year alone that went to rehab the Pulaski Skyway -- under pressure from Governor Christie.

The Record put this story on Page 1 even though the airline's complaint was reported first by The Wall Street Journal (A-10).

Christie fading

The Record's editors -- who have knocked themselves out promoting the GOP bully's White House dreams -- seem to be the only ones surprised by news that Christie is struggling in a presidential poll, even in New Jersey (A-8).

Voters favor Democrat Hillary Clinton over Christie, the worst New Jersey governor ever.

Another front-page story today reports heart attacks jumped 22 percent in the two weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey in October 2012, and the death rate was 31 percent higher within a month of being stricken (A-1).

The story doesn't say what has happened to victims in the past two years, when the Christie administration bungled distribution of billions of federal dollars for Sandy recovery and relief.

More corrections

Six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton ordered two more corrections, further evidence of her incompetence in supervising the news, layout and copy desks (A-2).

Jamie Silverman of the Elmwood Park Public Library was "incorrectly identified" in a story on Tuesday's L-2.

And an A-7 photo caption on Sunday "misidentified the substance that caused two deaths at a music studio in the city of Passaic."

The wrong caption said "carbon dioxide" instead of the correct "carbon monoxide," which appeared in the headline and caption on Sunday's front page.

Pair mourned

It took the carbon-monoxide deaths of skateboard impresario Noel Korman and girlfriend Alice Park last Saturday for the lazy local assignment editors to discover the fascinating subculture the victims once inhabited.

Today and in an earlier story, The Record reports Korman used the music studio to headquarter the Shralpers Union, an organization he founded "to promote skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing" (L-1).

Leonia suit

Attorney Rosemarie Arnold of Fort Lee calls the $320,000 settlement she won in a lawsuit filed by the parents of a molested boy "significant" money for the family (L-1).

Indeed. Also "significant" is the $100,000 or more the lawyer will receive from the settlement, though you won't find any mention of that in The Record story.  

Greek speak

With her checks paid by The Record, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung ignores the exorbitant prices Greek restaurants charge for whole fish (BL-18).

In her 3-star evaluation of Syros Taverna in Englewood, she matter of factly mentions the restaurant hits up customers for $39, if they order a wild red snapper, and $29 for a farmed branzino.

She also ignores the noise and pollution from passing cars and trucks on Palisade Avenue when she reports the restaurant has windows that can open and "make warm weather dining much more pleasant."

Smell the aroma of the Shrimp Saganaki's "rich tomato-pepper sauce laced with ... ouzo" -- then breathe in those fumes.