Editors prefer to wait for a crisis to cover news

A little after noon on Monday, only one clerk was available at the Hackensack Post Office on State Street (Zip Code: 07601). Later, a second clerk came on duty, but the total wait before I got to a window was about 25 minutes. I made sure I had plenty of time on the parking meter.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe leaders of New Jersey and New York have been treating the Port Authority as their political cookie jar for decades.But The Record has been reporting...

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Reporting that doesn't speak to most readers

The NY Waterway Ferry Terminal on the West Side of Manhattan.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORWhy does The Record run a Page 1 column today on what causes a tiny fraction of every 100 motor vehicle accidents?Road Warrior John Cichowski notes the number of crashes tied to "automobile mechanical failure" declined slightly through 2012, but nearly five months into 2014, he doesn't provide any numbers for last year (A-1).And even though he is rested from a vacation,...

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I'll pass on today's ho-hum Sunday edition

Ramsey has one-third the population of Hackensack, but commuters in the affluent community are getting treated much better by NJ Transit, which beautifully restored the train station in 2005, above and below.You can even borrow a paperback at the station.The station as seen from Starbucks Coffee.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe closest thing to a train station in Hackensack is a new NJ Transit building on Anderson Street.But it doesn't have any doors,...

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These editors again fail to deliver hometown news

The quality of life in North Jersey -- including aircraft noise over Hackensack and other towns near Teterboro and Newark airports, above, or gaping potholes that damage car tires and wheels -- are of no interest to the editors of The Record's Local news section who appear to spend most of their time reading tabloids in the newsroom toilet.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORI'm shocked by the amount of Law & Order news in The Record's Local section today...

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Bergen's Keystone Kops are alive and well

More than 50 years after the invention of the turn lane, none exist on Passaic Street at Summit Avenue in Hackensack, meaning drivers behind a turning vehicle feel lucky if they can squeeze through on the right, above. Often, they can't.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORTwo days after an undercover cop was shot in a Garfield pot sting that went awry, a big photo of plainclothes officers at the suspects' court hearing appears on the front page of The Record...

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Local obit writer expands beat to the living

On Monday afternoon, the light was green at Passaic Street and Summit Avenue, a busy intersection in Hackensack without turn lanes, but no one moved, because they were stuck behind a turning vehicle. Good luck trying to reach the Bergen County department that could do something to fix the notorious bottleneck.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe New York World's Fair opened 50 years ago today in Queens? Who cares?In a testament to how much newspapers love...

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Ex-boxer 'battled' cancer -- and more newspaper fiction

Two of the unrepaired potholes on Hackensack's Euclid Avenue, near Summit Avenue, above and below, part of a veritable minefield left over from our brutal winter that slows drivers to 10 mph, but unleashes a stream of curses directed at city officials and The Record's local-news editors.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORToday's front-page headline on The Record's story about ex-boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is confusing.The trite main headline says Carter...

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More old ground in disappointing Sunday edition

On the ferry to Manhattan. Crossing the Hudson this way is a lot more civilized -- and far more expensive -- than taking a crowded NJ Transit bus or train.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORMy car is still hitting big potholes on streets and highways, even in the parking lot of the Weehawken ferry.But The Record's Sunday edition today is nearly devoid of municipal news or even any attempt to explain why towns and the state can't afford to repair hundreds of...

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Editors are exploiting every misery in Paterson

As commuters streamed by on a chilly spring day this week, homeless men and women warmed themselves with coffee inside the main NJ Transit entrance of Penn Station in Manhattan.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORI pity readers who rely on The Record of Woodland Park for their knowledge of Paterson, a pioneering industrial center that harnessed the power of the Great Falls and immigrant workers to earn the title of "Silk City."Under former Editor Francis "Frank"...

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When you add up the numbers, we're screwed

NJ Transit says you cannot take a bus from Hackensack to the ferry terminal off of River Road (Port Imperial Boulevard) in Weehawken, above. Parking in a lot near the terminal is $13 or $15 in a garage, and the round-trip senior fare is $16.50. The ferry approaching the Manhattan terminal.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITOROne of the funniest things I've read in The Record appears on Page 1 today.Jane Huang of Alpine says of the parcel she sold for $5...

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Christie the bully ensures his survival, not ours

After a breather on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of Passover, the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel was as congested as ever this morning.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORAs New Jersey goes down the tubes, Governor Christie is spending more and more time raising money to ensure his political future.Today and Wednesday, The Record's front page reports about contributions to the Republican Governors Association, which Christie heads and which...

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