Relegating Hackensack to the dumpster

Dumpsters at The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack on Monday.

On the first day of the new year, The Record of Woodland Park continues to gag readers with coverage of the highly hyped fiscal cliff, Republican House Speaker John Boner, Superstorm Sandy and all the lowdown on local fires.

Readers get their first good belly laugh of 2013 from the annual publication of the "Editorial credo" on A-8 today, signed by Chairman Malcolm A. Borg, President and Publisher Stephen A. Borg and Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin.

Recall all the news articles about the Borgs' friends, business associates and lawyers you've seen in recent years, and how many times Doblin has climbed into bed with Governor Christie, the GOP bully who is out to destroy the middle class in New Jersey.

Dumpsterville

Meanwhile, the parking lot of The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack is filled with dumpsters and trucks, but not much activity.

It's not lost on readers who drive by and see the big "ACCURATE" on the dumpsters how many errors they see in the paper, thanks to inept Production Editor Liz Houlton, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza.

When they abandoned Hackensack in 2009, the Borgs and their editors seemed to wash their hands of covering municipal news or publishing anything positive about the city, the paper's home for more than 110 years.

Heavy editing

On the front of the Local news section, a story on how North Jerseyans rang in the new year leaves out several large ethnic groups.

But at least Sykes, Sforza and Houlton managed to spell Colombia correctly, as opposed to the recent, embarrassing misspelling of that South American country.

Big condo fire

There is so little local news today Sykes and Sforza were forced to blow up a North Bergen waterfront condo fire photo to cover nearly half of L-1 and then had to run another large photo of the same fire on L-3.

Apparently, no one was injured.

If you read the story to the end, you'll discover that the million-dollar views didn't come with superior construction, which could have stopped the flames from spreading to other units (L-3). 

The story doesn't say how much residents paid for their waterfront condos. But I see a big lawsuit here.

Construction lowdown 

Noting that "gypsum board" was used to separate units, North Hudson Regional Fire Chief Frank Montagne added:

"But it's nothing like the old days, when the fire walls were made of concrete. Nothing is better than concrete in a fire. This is all wood-frame construction. It's a tinder-box in there."  

The complex is called Roc Harbour, suggesting that from a fire-safety standpoint, buyers had rocks in their head.

The 160 residents -- who were displaced by a fire that destroyed only four of the 70 units -- must feel like suckers.

They can join the club, which includes all of the suckers who live in Hackensack and continue to read The Record. 

Where's the photo of Christie in Florida?

Image via Wikipedia

While New Jersey got socked with a blizzard, did the Christie family ride the buses at Disney World or travel in a limo with state police body guards? Or did they use a couple of rented SUVs?

Jeez. Where the hell is the photo of Governor Christie busting out of his Bermudas in Florida? Maybe at poolside, watching his four children play as his wife sunbathes. Did no Jersey tourist make a photo of our famous governor, did no Jersey paper ask an Associated Press photog to track him down?

Nearly a week after the blizzard he skipped, all we get today on the front page of The Record of Woodland Park is the chief executive back in New Jersey, carefully navigating a path between snowbanks. And, finally, his absence during the botched cleanup is Page 1 news.

On A-1, Columnist Charles Stile calls Christie's explanation for his Disney World vacation -- which began as snow began falling last Sunday -- "a snow job" and says the governor should have stayed home. Stile also says Christie gave the state's cleanup effort an A and the result a B+. We also get five photos of Christie in a suit and tie.

With the exception of a Mike Kelly column on Thursday -- questioning the absence of both Christie and the state's lieutenant governor during the storm and cleanup -- why did it take Editor Francis Scandale and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes so long to fully cover the controversy? Are they, along with Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin, so in awe of this man?

And why -- during all the blizzards that have socked North Jersey -- hasn't Sykes sent out her reporters to rate each town's cleanup effort? 

Weak tea

The top stories of 2010, supplied by the Associated Press, appear on A-8 today. But didn't any editor at the former Hackensack daily question the photo of a Tea Party member singing the national anthem at a rally in Iowa? Where is the photo of Tea Party members holding a banner comparing President Obama's health-care plan to the Holocaust?

If you want a good laugh, read the editorial credo on A-13. You know it's just B.S. from the lead signature at the end: Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group, who has been pushed aside by his two spoiled brats, Jennifer and Stephen Borg.

Mac's role in the company may have been put in perspective by a former NJMG employee, who alleges in a sexual-harassment lawsuit that he sent pornographic e-mails to managers and supervisors, and that he knew she would see them.

With the ascendancy of marketing wizard Stephen A. Borg as NJMG president and publisher, promotion of advertisers' products and services is now common in news columns, and readers see the results every day in the business, real estate and food pages. 

And with Doblin, the Editorial Page editor who also signed the credo, readers don't know where his personal opinions of  Christie end and the paper's official position begins.

More Teterboro whitewash

On the front of Local today is a package of text and photos giving us an intimate look at North Jersey "notables" who died in 2010.

But why are the allegations uncovered by a federal investigation of a fatal air crash at Teterboro Airport buried on L-3? Pilots make Quest Diagnostics sound like a sweat shop and allege they are forced to fly in bad weather and attempt risky landings.

Scandale and Sykes ignore Teterboro-related safety issue until a plane crashes. As for quality of life issues, about the only stories you see are highly promotional ones about air charter companies and luxurious business jets -- while residents' complaints of unrelenting noise fall on the editors' deaf ears.

There is no Hackensack, Teaneck or Englewood news in Sykes' Local section today, but she did find room for a West Milford story reporting "a major bridge project" -- the widening of a two-lane bridge in the sticks (L-3).