Tear up your Hackensack City Council schedule

The doors to Hackensack City Hall were locked on Tuesday evening, shortly before a scheduled City Council meeting, as they were when this photo was taken on Feb. 18. Unfortunately, some residents didn't see the cancellation notice on the city's official Web site.




The lame-duck Hackensack City Council met on Monday night, canceling its scheduled Tuesday meeting, and The Record didn't cover the meeting, leaving some residents in the dark.

The big Hackensack news today is Tuesday's  ceremonial opening of the Alfred and Mary Sanzari Garden on Main Street, opposite the Bergen County Courthouse (L-6).

More big lies

Road Warrior John Cichowski apparently lied to his editors to get his column on Page 1 today, and is lying to readers about a transportation crisis that existed only in his own feeble mind.

His lead paragraph reports that "for six long years," commuters have "dodged four lanes of speeding traffic" to reach the NY Waterway ferry in Weehawken.

But that's only true for jaywalkers, because there is both a crosswalk and a traffic light there, Weehawken police said today.

Neither is mentioned anywhere in the column, which also refers to "the dangerous pedestrian crossing that Weehawken's mayor has been complaining about since 2007" (A-1).

What's the truth?

A Weehawken police sergeant I spoke with this morning said that since 2007, not a single pedestrian has been injured or killed by a car in that crosswalk.

It's likely Cichowski also can't be believed that "hardly anybody" is using the new footbridge to cross over Port Imperial Boulevard between the light-rail station and ferry.

Cichowski and The Record apparently missed the ribbon-cutting last Wednesday, and there was no mention the footbridge had opened in Thursday's paper.

So, he apparently is trying to hide his refusal to leave his comfortable chair in front of the computer to cover important mass-transit developments.

Analyze this

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes strung together a bunch of quotes from boosters of Governor Christie's bid for a second term, and Editor Marty Gottlieb put the so-called ANALYSIS on the front page.

Stick with this story for some unintended hilarity:

"The message is sent that the Democrats are staying home on this governor's race ... [an apparent reference to shut-ins]."

"Christie is incredible, he takes all the air out of the room [not to mention all the food]."

The story reports the endorsement of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, a Democrat, but not that Christie got only 27% of the vote in that county in 2009.

Local news on A-1?

For the past 3 days, the central element on Page 1 has revolved around local news.

It's a hopeful sign that Gottlieb has given up trying to impose his Times-like world view on readers with tons of international and national news on the front page.

Of course, that means that head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local news section will continue to languish.

Cardiac cook-off

The Record has a new food editor, but continues to run recipes that are guaranteed to give readers heart problems.

An artery clogging recipe for BLT Pasta appears on the Better Living cover today (BL-1). A recipe for Strawberry Shortcake in on BL-2.

The bacon recipe is from Kate Morgan Jackson, a food blogger from Upper Saddle River whose recipe for Steak and Blue Cheese Salad appeared on May 29.

Jackson apparently doesn't even know enough to recommend uncured, additive-free bacon or beef that isn't raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones.