I take an NJ Transit bus from hell into Manhattan gridlock

An hour and 15 minutes after I boarded NJ Transit's 165 local in Hackensack on Wednesday afternoon, the driver was jockeying for position at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. In a few minutes, a Port Authority police officer ordered the driver -- who was trying to get into the left lane of the tube -- to use the right lane, denying us direct access to ramps of the midtown-Manhattan bus terminal and consigning us to gridlock hell on city streets.My...

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Editors turn every Christie move into a political stunt

Leonia is one of those Bergen County towns that doesn't get much coverage in The Record of Woodland Park. Dressing up the small business district along Broad Avenue is a sculpture garden, above and below.Most of the businesses along Broad Avenue are owned and operated by Korean-Americans. Leonia borders Palisades Park and Fort Lee, both of which have even stronger Korean presences.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORI've learned to ignore the lame political...

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Editors are scraping bottom of the barrel for local news

Old and new architecture in lower Manhattan: The Municipal and Woolworth buildings, center left, and One World Trade Center.Editor's note: Today's post has been updated and expanded.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORIf The Record ran a story and photos every time officers were promoted by one of the 86 police departments in Bergen and Passaic counties, there would be no room for other local news.So, readers can only conclude the Fort Lee promotions and hirings...

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More speculative news for gamblers lands on Page 1

Fort Lee police closed the Route 4 approach to the George Washington Bridge without warning on Sunday morning, then after a delay of about 5 minutes, opened one lane. Serious accident? Carjacking? As I drove by, two police officers were standing outside of their cruisers, looking down at a large pothole.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORWhat hold does Staff Writer John Brennan have on the clueless editors?How did the former sports reporter get another speculative...

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Inside the world of The Record's DEADBEAT EDITORS

On a typical weekday morning, traffic on Route 3 east toward the Lincoln Tunnel grinds to a halt more than 2 miles from the tollbooths and then proceeds bumper to bumper, a delay of about 45 minutes.In the afternoon, New Jersey drivers join the long lines of cars on Canal Street in Manhattan to enter the Holland Tunnel, a quarter of a mile away. The lack of mass-transit alternatives to and from New Jersey is especially dramatic during the rush hour.By...

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Marty's 'balanced' front page is all wrong for North Jersey

You can't argue with the license plate of a Smart car I saw on East 77th Street in Manhattan on Thursday, but its gas mileage is laughable -- much less than in a hybrid.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORYou can almost see Editor Martin Gottlieb picking out stories to balance the front page of The Record today -- the shelling of a school in Gaza, a sensational Bergen County trial and an even more sensational lawsuit against Hackensack police, and a local "Loch...

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It's not enough to criticize the PA behemoth from afar

The Record has written thousands of words criticizing the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan, but no reporter has actually boarded a bus to the city or joined the long lines of home-bound commuters who face delays on the platforms, where spring-loaded seating resembles a torture device outlawed by the Geneva Convention, above.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORHow does a North Jersey newspaper cover the region's crowded public transit system?If...

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Reporters miss the bus on delays at Manhattan terminal

Summer 2013: The line to board NJ Transit buses at the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan was so long that some North Jersey commuters had to wait on the level below the platforms, above. Despite the crowded conditions, one woman used an empty seat for her personal belongings, below.By VICTOR E. SASSONEDITORThe incoming Port Authority chairman took a bus to midtown Manhattan, rating the antiquated terminal "unacceptable," but why is...

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