To Christie and pals, we're all a bunch of outsiders

Today's Hackensack Chronicle reports that on Feb. 18, the mayor and council discussed forming a "snow committee," presumably to address buried bus stops, such as the one on Anderson Street, above, and two-way streets that allow only one car to pass, such as Euclid Avenue, near Main Street, below.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorThere's been a lull in the action since the explosive e-mail -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" -- blew open the investigation...

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Reporter wins Black Hole in Journalism Award

On Wednesday, Englewood police chose to close North Dean Street during the afternoon rush hour, above, further aggravating the city's well-known traffic congestion. Officials have refused to install turn lanes on North Dean at Palisade Avenue, arguing the city can't afford to lose revenue from the half-dozen downtown parking meters that would have to be removed or the paint needed to mark the pavement with lines and arrows.In Hackensack, officials...

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Christie plan freezes out commuters, taxpayers

A packed NJ Transit train heading for New York's Penn Station on Tuesday morning. Governor Christie isn't moving to improve or expand mass transit this year.Property taxes keep going up in Hackensack and every other North Jersey community, but such services as the routine filling of potholes are seemingly neglected. Above, Euclid Avenue in Hackensack, near Summit Avenue.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorA columnist and editorial writer for The Record are...

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Christie pal David Samson is the wolf at the door

The Record says Port Authority Chairman David Samson "has faced scrutiny in the wake of the scandal involving the September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge," above, in what is being called Bridgegate for short.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorThe Record publishes a detailed story today on the boom in public lobbying and legal work at David Samson's law firm after Governor Christie named him to the powerful post of Port Authority chairman.The...

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Cowardly columnists, sloppy editing and potholes

A pothole on Euclid Avenue in Hackensack, where I haven't seen any crews repairing pockmarked streets that bend car wheels and blow out tires, and have drivers cursing their public officials.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorWhy is Columnist Charles Stile wasting readers' time today by examining what Governor Christie said as long ago as 2011, but never saying whether he thinks the GOP bully is lying about his role in the Bridgegate scandal?That's what...

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Are Trenton reporter, columnist covering same event?

The NJ Transit transfer station in Secaucus is a pleasant place to wait for a train, but it loses points for not having one of those grand railroad clocks. Instead, small, hard-to-read digital time displays appear in the corners of four boards displaying train schedules and tracks.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorReaders who plowed through two versions of Governor Christie's first town meeting in a while may have thought they were at two different events.Staff...

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For commuters, no real change at NJ Transit

A bus broke down this morning in the Route 495 express lane to the Lincoln Tunnel, delaying commuters aboard hundreds of Manhattan-bound buses, above, including NJ Transit riders standing in the aisles. The Port Authority has ignored calls to add a second express bus lane into the city, and The Record's lazy editors and reporters have taken no notice.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorDozens of commuters who couldn't find a seat on an NJ Transit train between...

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Cheering our Olympians, booing Christie the bully

Hackensack's Department of Public Works removed tons of snow from city streets, above and below, but left a lot behind, covering travel lanes and burying bus stops.By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorGovernor Christie's old chums are coming out of the woodwork, though there isn't much of that at the Fort Lee end of the George Washington Bridge.Text messages apparently leaked by state investigators reveal that Port Authority police Lt. Thomas "Chip" Michaels,...

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Sloppy writing, editing drag down daily report

The Modern, a 47-story residential building under construction in Fort Lee, overlooks three local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge at the center of the Bridgegate scandal. By VICTOR E. SASSONEditorStories on Page 1 of The Record continue to be poorly written and edited.You'd think the front-page would get the most attention from assignment and news editors, copy editors and proofreaders, but A-1 today exhibits more sloppy journalism.And...

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