In cop's death, driver cites oldest excuse in the book

Bergen County residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, but they are stuck with an antiquated street system, including Teaneck's Cedar Lane, above, one of many in the township with a limited number of turn lanes, frustrating motorists and wasting precious gasoline. On Hackensack's River Street, drivers routinely cut each other off to avoid waiting behind a turning vehicle.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front-page account today of how Special Police Officer Stephen Petruzzello died contains a fundamental conflict that ultimately may be resolved in court.

Ani Kalayjian, 62, the Cliffside Park driver charged in his death, claims she "didn't see" Petruzzello, 22, and a second officer she knocked down with her Honda CR-V as they were crossing Walker Street in darkness around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday (A-6).

That's the oldest excuse in the book. But there is more.

"They were wearing black uniforms with no reflective stripes," Kalayjian told an unnamed television station, The Record says.

But a major conflict arises because a borough spokesman said the uniforms worn by special police officers "have reflective stripes on the collars, sleeves and coats" (A-6).

Not only that. 

Kalayjian, who describes herself as an "international expert on the psychological effects of trauma in disaster victims," was charged with reckless driving, careless driving and failure to yield to pedestrians or wear a seat belt.

The police chief is quoted as saying drug or alcohol use is not suspected, but he didn't address whether Kalayjian was speeding.

Unanswered questions

According to Kalayjian's Web site, her first name is spelled "Ani," not "Anie," as The Record reports.

The Woodland Park daily today finally told readers there is no crosswalk where the officers were struck, but doesn't say whether the street is well-lighted, and has reflective striping or reflectors that might have prevented what happened. 

Nor are authorities quoted on whether they might charge Kalayjian with vehicular homicide in the officer's death early Monday morning, about 36 hours after he was thrown 25 feet and sustained a severe brain injury.

More A-1 sports

Editor Martin Gottlieb again squanders precious A-1 space on another stupid sports column.

If the piece was about Woody Herman or Woody Allen or even morning wood, it might be of interest to the majority of older readers; as it is, most are saying, "Woody Who?"

Port Atrocity

And Gottlieb continues to scramble to catch up to the Saturday night massacre perpetrated by Governors Christie and Cuomo, who vetoed a landmark Port Authority reform package passed by their state Legislatures.

The governors released word of the vetoes on Saturday night, firm in the knowledge that incompetent weekend staffs, such as the one at The Record, would completely flub the story.

Indeed, the banner headline on The Sunday Record's front page declared lamely:

"Governors unveil their PA plan"

News reports today say the governors are proposing to cut overnight PATH service, but The Record makes no mention of that and doesn't even bother asking commuters what they think.

On Sunday, The Record reported Christie and Cuomo are proposing a property sale to allow the Port Authority to replace its antiquated midtown Manhattan bus terminal.

But that hasn't been mentioned in the paper's coverage today or Monday, and no one has bothered to ask NJ Transit bus riders for comment.

Finally, WNYC-FM today reported the governors deliberately released their veto messages between Christmas and Jan. 1, knowing their Legislatures couldn't possibly attempt an override during the holidays.

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Road Warrior errors? Editors try to kill the messenger

Rush hour on Summit Avenue in Hackensack. In more than a decade of writing the Road Warrior column, which is supposed to focus on commuting issues, Staff Writer John Cichowski has largely ignored North Jersey's worsening traffic congestion and the lack of mass-transit alternatives.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You may have missed a comment I published on Saturday from the editor of the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

The retired engineer set up the page after The Record's editors started attacking him for exposing chronic errors in the so-called commuting column.

The column has been written for more than 11 years by reporter John Cichowski, whose thrice-weekly appearances in the Woodland Park daily have been cut back.

The Record has never explained the reason for the cutback, likely because readers are held in contempt by the arrogant editors, including Martin Gottlieb, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza.

Here is the comment in full:

"The Road Warrior Bloopers Facebook page provides corrected facts, along with supporting sources and Internet links, all of which are beneficial to the safety and knowledge of readers, in response to mistake-ridden Road Warrior columns, which continually present unsafe, illegal, contradictory, and totally misreported information and advice.

"Readers should appreciate these needed corrections.

"All of this corrected information is always first presented to the Road Warrior and his editors, who continually ignore making any corrections.

"In fact, the very early communications and occasional follow-up efforts have been made in a very constructive objective manner to try to work with the Road Warrior and his editors to try and prevent his mistakes or correct them subsequent to publications. Unfortunately, not only did the Road Warrior and his editors refuse to accept these conciliatory offers, but they went out of their way to make denigrating comments in regards to these offers.

"Therefore, the gloves have come off and readers are shown how unprofessional and incompetent the Road Warrior really is based on the corrected facts, which are also supported by referenced sources, which are frequently the exact same source cited by the Road Warrior in his columns, and Internet links.

"Readers need to made aware of the very misleading, and many times false presentations in the Road Warrior columns if they want to stay on the right side of the law for themselves and their children who drive, avoid dangerous situations promoted by the Road Warrior to themselves and their young drivers, and not be misled or afraid of grossly exaggerated or false information about road and mass transit transportation.

"Readers need to made aware of just how bad the Road Warrior reporting really is when he frequently contradicts himself in the very same column, or reports mistaken information that contradicts what he correctly reported in previous columns.

"Readers need to be shown that the Road Warrior's responses in many of his columns to readers, who question the accuracy of what he reported in a previous column, are either very denigrating to the person questioning his reporting, or very misleading or false based on the actual facts.

"Readers need to be shocked and angered by the very misleading, and many times false reports and advice in the Road Warrior columns.

"The Road Warrior Bloopers Facebook page never crosses the line in offering information or opinions that are not supported by the facts and referenced sources."

Here is a link: Road Warrior Bloopers at The Record

Christie's future

In the unlikely event Chris Christie is elected president in 2016, he couldn't possibly treat New Jerseyans any worse than he has since he became governor in 2010 (A-1).

Given that he won't be making a decision until next year, why is this speculative story leading the paper today?

And is the so-called ANALYSIS really advancing other stories from reporter-cum-lap dog Melissa Hayes that appeared after last week's election, celebrating how well Christie did in raising money and campaigning for Republican candidates across the country?

The overweight GOP bully continues to be the butt of jokes, but he says he would be fit enough to campaign for the Republican nomination and the White House.

Still, he has done such an awful job for the New Jersey economy, the environment and the state's fiscal health, and there are lingering questions about his involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal.

In another front-page story today, Christie isn't a member of a new gun control group that plans to take its case to manufacturers -- but you won't know that unless you manage to read deep into the continuation page (A-1 and A-10).

Trains, not planes

The Record's stories on trains carrying "highly explosive Canadian crude oil each week through Bergen County towns," including Teaneck, focuses on a relatively new quality of life issue (L-1).

For decades, the editors have ignored aircraft noise that affects far more North Jersey residents, including those in Hackensack, where private jets seem to skim the rooftops of high-rises and hospital buildings on the way to Teterboro Airport. 

The editors also do P.R. for a continuing menace --overweight white men riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles that are modified to be as noisy as possible when they roar down our quiet streets.

They are only shown in photos when they organize a charity run.

Hackensack news

You'll find big Hackensack news on L-3 today -- a woman having her eyes tested, and a man whose hand was injured by an NJ Transit train.

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Editors continue to ignore the issues facing voters

A rare sight at the Lincoln Tunnel: Hardly any waiting at the tollbooths.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With only two weeks to go before the Nov. 4 election, readers aren't seeing much coverage of the issues -- what the candidates believe in and what they propose to do to help New Jersey and the region.

Stories about candidates on A-3 and L-1 of The Record today reflect the editors' continuing obsession with politics.

Two other stories, on L-3, do involve a rare discussion of issues.

Bare-bones coverage

The Record's editors and reporters have never liked covering elections.

Years ago, coverage of school board elections was reduced to briefs -- four or five paragraphs -- and only contested elections merited a full-fledged story.

Is it any wonder hardly anyone votes in those elections, despite all of the property taxes that go to run the schools?

Cho v. Garrett

The Record didn't bother covering a candidate forum and debate in Ridgewood on Monday night, when Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, was a no-show.

In an e-mail to supporters, Democratic challenger Roy Cho said, "Scott Garrett has millions in campaign funds from lobbyists and special interests, but our campaign relies on grassroots support from people like you."

Garrett, one of the most conservative members of Congress and a Tea Party idol, is seeking a seventh term from the 5th District, which includes Bergen County.

Idiotic editing

A perfect example of the editors' dislike of elections -- and their contemp for voters -- appeared on the front page of Saturday's paper, in the very first paragraph of a story about a Fort Lee man who sells T-shirts that portray Russia's leader in a positive light.

I can't imagine why any editor would approve this introduction:

"NEW YORK -- Julius Kacinskis does not consider himself political -- he does not even vote."

Since when is voting a political act?

Hey Staff Writer Mary Diduch, if you vote for a candidate who believes in equal pay for women, is that political?

How about if you vote for a president who wants all of us to have health insurance to help reduce the charity care burden on the nation's hospitals?

That's not "political," even if you and the other pea brains at the Woodland Park daily say so.

What Marty believes

If you want to know whether elections are important to Editor Martin Gottlieb, take a look at Page 1 today:

Just above the fold we get the breathless news that Saks Fifth Avenue will be closing its store in The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack (A-1).

This is Gottlieb's way of keeping the focus off of the struggling downtowns of many communities, including Hackensack's.

That's especially egregious, given how the departure of North Jersey Media Group and The Record from 150 River St. sent the city's Main Street into a tailspin.

Local goes tabloid

The biggest local news in the paper today?

It leads L-1 -- the arrest of "a Paterson civic leader and former school board member" after police allegedly saw him leave a motel with a 12-year-old boy.

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Practicing jock-itching journalism with the best of them

Two stone horses outside P.F. Chang's China Bistro in Hackensack were painted pink on Thursday in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, above and below. For Chinese food, a better bet is Lotus Cafe, a BYO in the Home Depot Shopping Center just down the street.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb -- he's called "Marty" in The Record newsroom -- apparently is obsessed with sports, and he led the paper today and Friday with the rivalry between two jock-itching, ass-slapping high school football teams.

The chart on Page 1 today compares Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey and Paramus Catholic, revealing a possible racial filter in the acceptance policy of the former.

White students at Don Bosco make up 91.3% of enrollment, and Asians are only 1%. Blacks and Hispanics are 4.4% and 3.3%, respectively.

Does the sports rivalry really deserve this kind of coverage, especially on the front page?

No. This kind of tripe from Gottlieb has little general reader interest.

More corrections

Two embarrassing corrections on A-2 today include an attempt to repair a factual screw-up by the great Mike Kelly.

The veteran reporter drove 41 miles from his Teaneck home to do a column on alleged male-on-male sexual assaults by members of Sayreville's high school football team (Friday's A-1).

Friday's paper

The front page on Friday was wrapped in an ad for The Modern, a controversial, 47-story residential tower that was opposed by many Fort Lee residents.

Governor Christie is rumored to be considering renting a $2,500-a-month studio in the building as a field office for his team of dirty political tricksters, who have targeted Democratic mayors in Fort Lee and other communities.

Christie hopes to get a studio overlooking local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

Booker v. Bell

Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson continued to try and interest readers in the limp challenge to Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., who is seeking a full term on Nov. 4 (Friday's A-2).

In Friday's Local section, Staff Writer Todd South finally came through with a story from Tuesday night's Hackensack City Council meeting (L-3).

Heart-attack news

The Record's model for restaurant reviews is broken, as you can see from Friday's appraisal of Allendale Steakhouse in the Better Living tab (BL-20).

If Staff Writer Elisa Ung had to lay out $84.95 for the porterhouse for two from her own salary, she might have investigated whether the beef, finished with butter, was pumped full of harmful animal antibiotics and growth hormones.

But The Record paid for this double heart attack on a plate. And the service sucked, too; yet she gave the place 2.5 stars.

That porterhouse is listed as costing $85.95 in the dizzy reporter's data box on the same page -- a dollar more than in the text.

The prime beef used is the highest USDA grade, Ung reports, but she doesn't tell you that cut also is the fattiest, most artery clogging available. 

The restaurant serves frozen lobster tails, and the only fish available is swordfish, which has a high mercury content. 

Steer clear of this place, if you know what's good for you.

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As state economy implodes, Christie tries to hide the truth

A photo caption in The Record's Better Living section on Thursday incorrectly locates the statue of General Enoch Poor "at the Bergen County Courthouse" (BL-8), contradicting the caption on the section cover, which gives the correct location, Court and Moore streets in Hackensack, below, across the street from the courthouse.

For some reason, The Name-Dropper column on the Revolutionary War general doesn't mention General Poor's Tavern on Main Street, a watering hole that was the scene of many newsroom going away parties before The Record left Hackensack in 2009. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Today's front-page news that Governor Christie is hiding lagging tax-revenue data follows by one day The Record's lead story on New Jersey's weak job market, lower incomes and higher poverty rates:

N.J. recovery lagging

Yet an editorial today doesn't even mention Christie's name, but urges "New Jersey lawmakers to put politics aside" (A-12).

Nor does the editorial question any of his policies, such as giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy business owners and getting little job creation in  return.

If the Christie administration is hiding "precise figures for how much the state expected to see in taxes compared with what was actually collected" (A-1), then The Record's editorial also seems to be hiding the truth.

We know from a Page 1 story in The Record on Wednesday the GOP bully's conservative pledge not to raise taxes on his rich supporters has made him desperate to balance the state budget:

"Last year, Christie used $147.5 million of the $165 million from two previous Passaic River [pollution] settlements to balance the budget," Staff Writer Scott Fallon reported.

"And since becoming governor in 2010, Christie has taken $1 billion from clean energy money for the general fund."

Here's come the judge

A state Superior Court judge was making $165,000 a year in 2012, but today's story on judges coming in as early as 6 a.m., staying as late as 9 p.m. and working weekends doesn't say whether they are being paid overtime (A-1).

Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne has blamed the problem on a quarter of the Bergen County judgeships going unfilled.

But what about litigious lawyers clogging the court docket with frivolous cases just to boost their already considerable annual incomes?

Editor dons kilt

Today's story on Scottish independence is a total waste of front-page space in a local North Jersey daily (A-1).

But Editor Marty Gottlieb actually sent a reporter to interview  "expats" in Kearny, way outside the circulation area, and ran another Page 1 story on Thursday.

Gottlieb, who came to The Record from a lofty position as international editor of The New York Times, has never understood the role of a local newspaper, especially in view of saturation coverage of international news by the electronic media.

Stomach turning

The Record's editors have turned their back on the consumer when it comes to covering restaurants and chefs.

Keeping restaurant ad revenue flowing into the coffers of North Jersey Media Group seems to have blinded them to restaurant patrons' many gripes, which I never see in the paper.

Look at today's rave review of Due in Ridgewood, described as "a refined Italian BYO," even though Chef Adam Weiss serves an inauthentic shrimp and grits, and charges $30 for the dish (BL-18).

Staff Writer Elisa Ung devotes two full paragraphs to Due's artery clogging desserts, which many readers avoid like the plague.

And the restaurant's supposed turnaround is actually heralded on Page 1 -- a first. Can the place really be that good?

Clueless food editor

More breathless coverage was published on Wednesday from none other than Food Editor Esther Davidowitz.

On the Better Living cover, Davidowitz's Behind the Kitchen Door praised Andiamo in Haworth and owner Don Dickstein.

On the next page, Davidowitz interviewed John Halligan of Park Steakhouse and Park West Tavern for Coffee with The Chef.

Davidowitz allows Halligan to say "the dish I'm most proud of" are "our steaks," but doesn't dare question him on whether they are raised naturally.

Later, he claims "we don't make a dime on the steaks we serve," and "I spend $100 a day on bread that we give away."

But there is nothing in the interview about the low wages he pays servers, putting the burden on customers to tip well or else, or the outrageous markup he takes on a glass of wine.

On the same page Wednesday, the FYI column appears to reprint a half-dozen restaurant press releases verbatim.

Restaurant gripes

See the August 2014 issue of Consumer Reports on the top gripes of people when they are dining out, including dirty tables, utensils or restrooms, and gratuities of 18% or higher automatically added to the bill.

The Consumer Reports National Research Center surveyed 1,003 adults nationwide in March 2014.

Ung, the paper's chief restaurant reviewer, recently dismissed Consumer Reports as the magazine "many of us use to buy a washing machine."

Hackensack news

On Wednesday's Local front, The Record reported the hiring of David R. Troast, 54, of Hawthorne as Hackensack's new city manager at a salary of $152,700.

The story doesn't say how much Troast's predecessors made, nor does it report that unlike them, Troast won't be commuting in a city owned car.

Former City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono was paid about $167,000.

Todd South, The Record's new Hackensack reporter, published background from previous stories, including errors and omissions.

He describes Troast from 2010 to 2013 as "city manager of Sparta," which is a township (L-1 on Wednesday).

Later, he reports, Troast was a "city planner" for the township of Sparta from 1996 to 2010, instead of the correct "township planner."

South also cites complaints from "many residents," without identifying some of the most vocal critics as being affiliated with the city Board of Education, including two members who ran unsuccessfully against the current City Council in 2013.

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Until now, the GOP bully has ignored or hurt N.J. Mexicans

Underground utility lines are being installed along three blocks of Salem Street in Hackensack, between River and State streets, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front page today and Sunday previewed Governor Christie's trip to Mexico, but there is only a passing reference to the tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans who live in the city of Passaic.

What has the GOP bully done for the working- and middle-class Poblano families who live in Passaic besides ignoring them and cutting aid to their schools and poor city?

Passaic, with a population of 70,000, is often called another Puebla, the Mexican city and state Christie is scheduled to visit, according to the Page 1 story today on the governor's purely political trip.

With dozens of restaurants, bakeries and manufacturers, the city has been a center of Mexican culture and food for many years, as noted in a 2003 Food section cover story in The Record, "Mexican Revolution in Passaic."

Voices of Mexico

The Consulate General of Mexico in New York said more than 40% of Mexicans in the tri-state area are from Puebla, and the majority of them settled in Passaic, VoicesofNY.org reported in January.

Yet, Christie didn't even visit Passaic city during his successful reelection campaign last year.

Melissa Hayes' story today appears two days after a Charles Stile column on Christie's South of the Border visit, and there was at least one other preview of the trip.

Broken Record

Doesn't The Record have anything else to say about the worst governor in New Jersey history than to promote his presidential ambitions?

Legal fees to defend Christie and his aides in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal now top $9 million, WNYC-FM reported today, with $7 million billed by the governor's legal team.

Surely, state officials will try to negotiate a smaller amount or even ask a judge if the fees are reasonable.

Why isn't The Record chasing that story?

Local news

Christie's Mexico visit was trumped this morning by the sensational murder of Karen Piotti, 63, of Ho-Ho-Kus, allegedly by her son, Nicholas, 24 (A-1).

On the Local front, a photo and caption makes light of an elderly woman who drove an Audi sedan into a pool in Wyckoff.

The photo over line is really imaginative: 

CAR IN THE POOL IN WYCKOFF

The "grandmother" and her passenger survived, but the photo only reminds readers of how The Record has ignored the challenges facing older drivers, and apparently has never reported on re-training courses that might be available to them.

You'd never know Editor Martin Gottlieb is 66 from the lack of reporting on how many seniors mistake the accelerator for the brake pedal and end up in a pool, crash into a building or hit a pedestrian, often with fatal consequences.

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Cliche-filled column rehashes 10-day old domestic dispute

Meridia Metro Hackensack at 94 State St. as it looked on Aug. 6. The completion date for the 222-unit building -- called the "first significant residential project ... downtown" -- has been pushed back several months to May 2015.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Is there anything new in Mike Kelly's front-page column today rehashing a 10-day-old domestic violence incident in Saddle Brook?

This is vintage Kelly, The Record's appointed sage, eager to report the lessons he sees in routine police news (A-1).

"Sometimes small local disputes can touch on deep, divisive national debates," Kelly says in the third paragraph.

He must think we're morons. 

Home arsenal

Police found nearly 200 guns and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition in the home of Robert and Eileen Lintner.

OK. The old guy is off his rocker, but he certainly doesn't look like a revolutionary or terrorist or guns-right advocate, and his wife didn't use a gun; she allegedly stabbed him in the neck with a knife.

Word pushing

Once you start the fourth paragraph, the rest of Kelly's long-and-winding column is just recapping all the details of what amounts to old news.

It's just a rewrite. What's the point, Editor Martin Gottlieb? Slow news day? We get it. But a colossal waste of space.

Would you have stood for Kelly's cliche-ridden introduction at The Times? 

"When they sped to a quiet neighborhood of well-trimmed lawns ...."

Page 1 is boring

What a crappy front page.

Below Kelly is a golf column from Tara Sullivan in Sports.

The first paragraph is filled with puzzling detail: 

"A perilously setting sun," dueling golfers and "a battle rife with drama and thick with tension."

The A-1 story on Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale makes one passing reference to his nearly nine years as Passaic County sheriff (deep on A-6).

But there is no mention of all of the controversy he generated in that job -- reported in detail by The Record's old Passaic County Bureau.

Lynne Hurwitz of Hackensack at a May 20 meeting of the City Council. Her husband Howard is executive director of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority.

Hag of Hackensack

Kelly's Page 1 column on Saturday focused on Lynne Hurwitz, chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Hackensack.

The columnist calls her "the key strategist behind the Zisa family political machine, which ruled the city for three decades until its slate of candidates was defeated last year."

In other words, she is the "Hag of Hackensack."

Now, Kelly quotes the grandmother in her mid-70s as saying she is back in the Bergen County political game.

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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. SASSON
EDITOR

You 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 Ness" teaser.

Most, if not all, of the stories are irrelevant to the lives of the vast majority of North Jersey residents, who live under a broken home-rule system of government that penalizes them with high property taxes.

Waste of space

Putting international news on Page 1 is a true waste of space, given the hours of TV coverage with the same focus the night before.

The Associated Press reports on the fighting in Gaza that Gottlieb has been running on Page 1 are the kind of body count journalism that seems prejudicial.

Is the media making any attempt to document Hamas' use of Palestinians as "human shields" by placing rocket launchers in residential neighborhoods, as Israel charges?

Instead of photos of the launchers, most of the stories are merely Hamas said/Israel said -- another case where the media shirk their responsibility and settle for sound bites.

Sloppy local section

Gottlieb may be putting a lot of care into balancing the front page today and every day, but that contrasts with the local staff's inability to completely report and intelligently edit even basic stories.

The major element on the Local front today doesn't even say whether passenger Miles Reme, 20, was wearing a seat belt before the crash in Ridgefield that killed the former high school athlete and seriously injured two other 20-year-olds, including driver Tamer Ammar (L-1).

The driver's DWI conviction, his being charged with reckless driving, and arrests for allegedly distributing Xanax and marijuana don't appear until deep on the continuation page (L-6).

Second look

In his July 13 column, Staff Writer John Cichowski made at least two big errors in discussing a plan to repave Paterson's pockmarked streets, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

Cichowski wrote the mayor proposed to borrow $37 million, but on July 10, a story in The Record reported the mayor wants to spend $37 million and borrow $35 million of that.

The befuddled reporter also misspelled the name of Councilman Andre Sayegh, calling him "Andrew."

See:

More errors from Road Warrior Joan Cichowski

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Blood of 12-year-old Paterson girl stains Christie's hands

Dead trees remind visitors to Sandy Hook of the devastation Superstorm Sandy caused at the Jersey shore in late October 2012.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today continues to play catch-up to the slaying of a 12-year-old Paterson girl, especially the link between police layoffs and escalating gun violence in the Silk City.

Already tired of the story, Editor Martin Gottlieb demoted the follow-up to the front of Local today, and used a dramatic photo of the girl's grieving mother on Page 1, where the initial account appeared on Monday.

Police layoffs

Readers have to dig deep to learn "Paterson's Police Department has not recovered from a layoff of 125 police officers in 2011" (L-2).

But in a masterful job of selective reporting and editing, the story ignores the cause of the layoffs -- Governor Christie's deep cuts in state aid to New Jersey's poorest cities.

The blood of Genesis Rincon, who was shot in the head on Saturday evening while riding on her scooter, is on Christie's hands, whether The Record wants to acknowledge it or not.

The real victims

And, really, police officers aren't the only ones affected by the layoffs. 

It is residents of the impoverished 4th Ward, where Genesis lived and died, and other parts of Paterson who are the real victims of the GOP bully's mean-spirited treatment of the poor, women and anyone else who isn't wealthy and white.

Today's L-1 story on continuing community outrage over the slaying is another example of the police coming out in force after the crime, but doing little to prevent it.

Typos 'R' Us

Typos, misspelled names and other errors continue to plague the paper under six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, who seems to be napping at her computer or out shopping for a new dress most of the time.

The Record's style is to upper case "Police Department" when referring to a specific one, such as in "Paterson's Police Department," not "Paterson's police department" (L-2).

In an L-1 headline today, it should be upper case "Chief Zisa," not "chief Zisa."

The name game

On A-2 today, the editors correct a misspelled surname in an A-1 story on Saturday. Last Saturday's A-2 also corrected a misspelled name.

A-2 on July 3 corrected the misspelling of the first names of a couple featured in the previous Sunday's Real Estate section, as well as the complete omission of a councilman's name in a story on Teaneck's reorganization meeting. 

A-2 on June 30 noted "Tyler Marshuetz of Mendham was "incorrectly identified in a photo Saturday on Page S-1," but doesn't identify him further.

Finally, A-2 on June 26 noted a caption on L-3 a day earlier "misidentified a woman participating  in a ceremony at Haledon School."

Hackensack news

Today, The Record reports Hackensack's insurance company has settled a federal lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Ken Zisa (L-1).

The last paragraph notes Zisa was convicted in 2012 of official misconduct and insurance fraud for improperly removing his former girlfriend from the scene of a car accident and later filing a false $11,000 insurance claim (L-2).

But the story errs in saying Zisa, sentenced to five years in prison, is under house arrest "while his attorney prepares an appeal."

That appeal -- of the conviction and sentence -- likely was filed weeks after the judge imposed the prison term in September 2012.

You can blame an agonizingly slow appeals process, which favors corrupt officials like Zisa, who remains free so long after he was sentenced to prison.

The paper also continues to report the city has spent "at least $8 million on legal defense and settlements" for litigation related to the former chief, but never says how much of that was paid by insurers.

Want the Zisas back?

Today's Zisa story should remind Hackensack residents of the many years they lived under the yoke of a family that practiced nepotism and cronyism in the best New Jersey tradition.

After he left office, Jack Zisa, who was mayor for 16 years, reaped tens of thousands of dollars in fees as the city's insurance consultant.

I don't pretend to know the identity of all the cousins, uncles or other Zisa relatives who had city jobs, but do know there were many, including cousin Joseph C. Zisa Jr., who was the last city attorney and before that a municipal judge.  

I also don't know whether a Zisa relative was the one who didn't bill the Board of Education for a city police officer posted in the high school, but do know the city lost $1 million as a result.

The new City Council hired a chief financial officer to put the city's affairs in order, and he has been praised, even by critics, for the job he did on the city budget and on starting to clean up the fiscal disarray of the past.

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Readers care more about deer than slain Paterson girl

The owner of this former Shell gas station property on Cedar Lane and River Road will be receiving a Teaneck Township Council commendation for maintaining an eyesore longer than many others. But The Record's local editors have warned their reporters not to waste their time writing about Cedar Lane or other struggling downtowns in North Jersey. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record goes tabloid today with a Page 1 story on the slaying of a 12-year-old Hispanic girl on the violent streets of Paterson.

But you know he ran the story against the advice of his local editors, who urged him to play up the divisions in wealthy Allendale over 45 deer that are terrorizing residents (L-1).

The account of Genesis Rincon's death "just after sunset on Saturday" doesn't explain why the story wasn't on Page 1 of Sunday's paper.

Where are cops?

And there is a lot missing, including background on Governor Christie's state aid cuts to Paterson and other poor cities and whether police were laid off as a result. 

In fact, there is no mention of what a poor job the Police Department is doing to protect residents of the 4th Ward, which accounted for nearly half of the city's 31 reported shootings in the first four months of this year (A-1).

In 2013, there were 19 gun-related homicides in Paterson, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office, compared to 28 murders on the island of Montreal, which has a population of 1.9 million (A-6).

Today's column on Christie's visit to Paterson -- by clueless Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin -- doesn't even mention whether the GOP bully's aid cuts accelerated gun violence in the Silk City (A-9).

Venison for poor

Meanwhile, in Allendale, residents and officials are divided over a proposal to allow bow hunting in the Celery Farm Natural Area to stop "marauding deer" (L-1).

Why not round up gunmen in Paterson, take them to the Celery Farm and kill the deer to provide food to hungry Paterson residents?

Second look

I hope commuters who read Sunday's front-page Road Warrior column didn't  jump into their cars this morning and start looking for hitchhikers in Fort Lee, hoping to save $6 for carpooling across the George Washington Bridge.

The addled John Cichowski left out a good deal of information on getting the carpool discount, which is far from automatic, even if you have the required two passengers.

First, you have to register your E-ZPass with the agency that issued it, and before you cross the bridge, you have to stop in a CASH/E-ZPass lane and ask for the discount so the toll taker can verify there are three people in your vehicle (dummies and dead bodies might work, too).

You save 24/7

One you have complied with those requirements, the carpool discount is available at any time 24/7, not just during the rush hour.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers for the full rundown on Cichowski's retread:

Beware worthless advice from the Road Warrior

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