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| The construction of booths in the parking lot of 150 River Street in Hackensack appeared complete on Sunday. Bergen County apparently will begin charging attorneys and visitors for spaces at the old headquarters of North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record, which left Hackensack in 2009. The spaces have been free since the lot opened in late July to make way for a new building on the old Bergen County Justice Center parking lot opposite Pep Boys. |
By Victor E. Sasson
Editor
A week ago, the front page of The Record was dominated by an assessment of how business at the shore was affected by Superstorm Sandy under this headline:
"A toss-up on Shore success"
Then, in the following days, the same story was covered on TV and radio news, with lots of interviews with Governor Christie, who gave his take on lagging business at the shore.
You'd think that would be enough.
Shore weary
But Columnist Mike Kelly decided he had something unique to say, and raced down to interview an ice-cream shop owner in Asbury Park for today's front page.
Instead of landing a great story, the columnist known as "The Shit-Eating Grin" got sun stroke.
And he just added hundreds of wasted words to the avalanche of shore coverage that has alienated North Jersey readers since last October.
T&A on Page 1
Meanwhile, the photographer who made the photo of ice-cream seller Eddie Catalano that runs with Kelly's column seemed distracted by the tattooed woman in the bikini.
A few other things are apparent:
Production Editor Liz Houlton finally has abandoned the silly "superstorm Sandy" that was used for months after the storm; the style on lower-case shore has been changed to "Shore," and Kelly burned out long ago.
Above the fold, today's front page looks a lot like last Monday's -- shore-Sandy coverage and the off-lead on Syria.
Parking news
At the old headquarters of The Record in Hackensack -- where Bergen County is leasing 540 spaces for visitors, attorneys and jurors -- the free ride appears to be over.
Two booths have been built, and the county is poised to begin charging for spaces that have been free since the lot opened in late July.
The county apparently will recoup part of the $777,660 it is paying to lease 540 spaces owned by North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record of Woodland Park.
Why the county agreed to pay that much for parking spaces that had baking in the sun for years is a mystery.
Flood zone
The lease will end in July 2015, apparently delaying any plans by Edgewater developer Fred Daibes for luxury apartments, retail and possibly a hotel on the 19.7 acres he reportedly has agreed to buy from NJMG.
NJMG, the Borg family and Daibes haven't explained why they think it is a good idea to build hundreds of luxury apartments in a notorious flood zone.
Many of the spaces the county is leasing will be flooded during fall and winter storms, potentially damaging vehicles.
When The Record's newsroom was at 150 River St., staffers kept Hackensack River tide tables handy, and announcements were made, alerting staffers to race out to the lot and move their cars.
Still, employees' cars were flooded and, in some cases, ruined.
I recall one year when me and other employees reporting for work were instructed to board newspaper delivery trucks on Moore Street, a block from River Street.
The trucks delivered us to the employees' entrance -- which was surrounded by several feet of water.
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