Columnists endorse dangerous, unhealthy practices

Saturday's steady rain couldn't dampen the Christmas spirit on Main Street in Hackensack, near the Bergen County Courthouse.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did you see the Road Warrior column on The Record's Local front today and Saturday, effectively Staff Writer John Cichowski's obituary for the state's red-light camera program?

Cichowski has hated these cameras for years.

In fact, he hates them so much he never mentions they are designed to catch speeders who think nothing of killing or maiming pedestrians and other motorists in their haste to get wherever they are going.

You see this same selfish behavior in drivers who blow through stop signs, because they are late for work or for some other ridiculous excuse. 

You can tell a lot about an irresponsible journalist by the "experts" he quotes.

Although red-light cameras have been proven to cut down on intersection crashes, deaths and injuries in New Jersey and other states, he manages to find mostly critics.

New York City is lowering speed limits and installing more cameras to catch drivers who speed or run red lights. 

Why is New Jersey ending its red-light program, especially in view of a drastic reduction in police enforcement of speeding and aggressive driving?

Of course, those are questions Cichowski should be asking.

Taste v. health

Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung examines beef and lamb from many angles in her Sunday column today except health (BL-1).

She could have sought out an expert from Consumer Reports, which is campaigning against the use of harmful animal antibiotics to raise poultry, cattle and sheep.

The magazine notes humans who consume a lot of meat or poultry containing those antibiotics are becoming resistant to drugs prescribed by their doctors.

Instead, Ung sought out Ray Venezia, the former "vice president of meat" at Fairway Market, the New York City-based chain that sells tons of beef raised on harmful additives.

Venezia evaluates beef on how it tastes, and declares the fattiest prime cuts are the tastiest.

Of course, Ung doesn't mention the fattiest beef also clogs arteries, and is a leading cause of heart disease.

Pension disaster

Governor Christie's heavily promoted pension reform is a disaster, according to the lead Page 1 story today (A-1).

The fund covering retirement benefits for most of New Jersey's public employees "is projected to go broke in a decade, not the 30 years [state] officials had estimated just months ago."

Only The Record seems surprised.

Readers know the Christie administration has declared war on the middle class and has lied or fudged the truth on the state economy, environment, roads and mass transit, among others.

Yes, Virginia. The GOP bully is the worst governor we've ever had.

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Here is a big reason you don't want to move to Leonia

In Manhattan today, panhandlers working the rush-hour traffic on the Harlem River Drive ramp leading to the George Washington Bridge.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Two weeks ago, a vibrant 60-year-old restaurant owner using a downtown Leonia crosswalk was struck by a school bus and dragged 71 feet to her death.

In The Record's story on Leyla Kan of Fort Lee, Leonia Police Chief Thomas Rowe appealed to Governor Christie and the Port Authority to do something about rush-hour traffic from the turnpike that uses the town as a shortcut to the George Washington Bridge.

But what that had to do with the death of Kan was unclear in The Record's poorly reported Aug. 8 story.

No connection

In fact, it had nothing to do with her death, as a column this past Sunday revealed:

"The fatality stretched law enforcement to the breaking point, said Rowe, because only two of his department's 17 officers were on duty at the time and they were handling a domestic call" (Sunday's Road Warrior column, A-1 and A-8).

Yikes! Only two police officers were working in Leonia on a busy Thursday morning? 

Photos of Leyla Kan were part of a memorial at her Palisades Park pita-and-pizza restaurant, Picnic Cafe.

Incompetent leaders

Where are borough officials? Where is property tax money going, if not to keep residents and visitors safe?

Given all of the rush-hour traffic that inundates Leonia, shouldn't Rowe assign at least one officer to direct traffic at its main intersection, Fort Lee Road and Broad Avenue, where Kan was struck by a school bus driver who failed to yield to her?

Wouldn't Kan be alive today, if an officer was guarding the crosswalk she assumed would protect her on a beautiful, great-to-be-alive day?

Shameless apologist

Road Warrior John Cichowski, who likely is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, quotes Leonia Borough Council President Gil Hawkins as saying:

"Austerity measures caused largely by a weak economy and  declining tax base led to the loss of six officers over the years."

And they weren't replaced? Every town in North Jersey has been hit by a "weak economy and declining tax base."

That's no excuse in Leonia or anywhere else.

Cold-blooded reporter

In his Sunday column, Cichowski couldn't have been more insensitive to Kan's death.

First, he refers to her death as "a fatal bus crash near the mayor's hardware store." Later, he calls it a "grisly bus crash." 

There was no "bus crash" in the usual sense of the phrase. How did the editors allow this fuzzy nonsense in the paper?

Cichowski never names the victim, as if she was so much road kill.

A cover-up

Cichowski's column and the Aug. 8 news story reporting Kan's death amount to a cover-up of Leonia officials' incompetence.

The original news story didn't mention the short police staffing, and gave the police chief a platform to distract attention from it by asking for state and regional help dealing with rush-hour traffic.

Reporters just published his remarks; no one at the press conference or in the Woodland Park newsroom asked Rowe what his request for help directing traffic had to do with Kan's death.

Today's paper

Readers bored with A-1 today likely flipped the page and saw an item on A-2 that basically admits the Sports staff can't spell names or correctly identify athletes in photos (A-2).

A Bergen County jury found that a cold-blooded Stephen Scharf murdered his wife by throwing her off of the Palisades in 1992.

Now, his conviction has been thrown out, but the appeals-court judges didn't attack any of the actual evidence against him, and he will be retried, if necessary.

Why is The Record giving him a platform today to discuss his "plans for life as a free man" (A-1)?

If anyone is a "Big Pussy," it's Columnist Bill Ervolino, who today second guesses the Bergen County Historical Society's 10 Legends (A-1).

Hackensack news?

Who is covering Hackensack for The Record?

Christopher Maag, who took over from Hannan Adely, is now covering NJ Transit.

Adely's name appeared under a Wednesday brief reporting action on a downtown park at Monday's City Council meeting, but she also covers education. 

Ticket prices

On the Better Living front, the $150 price (plus tax) given for a ticket to the Sunrise Senior Living Jazz Festival on Sunday conflicts with the Web site, ticketbud.com, where lower-price tickets also are available (BL-1).

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The Record's laughing stock spins another fictional tale

A bus emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel in New Jersey late one afternoon, above, as empty NJ Transit commuter buses jam the Route 495 helix on the way into the city to pick up North Jerseyans waiting in long lines at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, below.

What New Jersey commuters encounter most of all when they leave the terminal's Eighth Avenue exit in the morning are homeless panhandlers. Few pay attention to the statue of TV's Ralph Kramden on the way home, despite the silly Road Warrior column in The Record today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

To address worsening delays faced by North Jersey commuters waiting for their buses home weekday afternoons, The Record sent reporter John Cichowski to spin a fictional tale outside the bus terminal in Manhattan.

It's hard to imagine that a commuter anticipating a long delay on a crowded bus platform -- and maybe even standing the whole way home -- would regard a statue of TV's Ralph Kramden as "a bright spot" (Road Warrior column on A-1).

If they even notice the statue as they race by it into the terminal and up the escalators to get on line and wait, wait, wait ....

"People have been complaining for more than a decade about the service [in the terminal]," Cichowski writes, without explaining why he has been doing his column for more than a decade and only recently started writing about the delays (A-8).

His column is also the first mention I've seen of "those people fainting in extra-long lines in waiting areas without air conditioning on summer afternoons" (A-1).

The Port Authority Bus Terminal -- not "station," as he refers to it on Page 1 -- and most, if not all, of the platforms are enclosed and air-conditioned.

Cichowksi as the Road Warrior has become a laughing stock after years of confused reporting on driving issues and an inability to get anything right.

Home-rule woes

Another story on the front page today -- allegations of physical assault against Bogota Mayor Tito Jackson -- makes you wonder why North Jersey residents seem so content with being ruled by morons (A-1).

For decades, The Record has defended, as well as largely ignored, the home-rule system of government -- with its duplication of services, high property taxes and petty corruption.

Residents have stopped noticing, judging from the small numbers who actually vote in council and school board elections.

Why hasn't the Woodland Park daily reported on the causes of voter apathy locally, in the state and in the nation?

The editors might find out their coverage --which emphasizes politics while ignoring issues -- might be to blame.

We're drowning

The front of Local brings the third straight day of coverage of Ridgewood's Charlotte Samuels, the grossly overweight 16-year-old swimmer who now appears to face competition in her bid to be the youngest to complete the "Triple Crown" (L-1).

That's open-water swimming, not horse racing.

An 18-year-old college student from Australia, Lachlan Hinds, has completed the three long-distance swims, including the 20.2-mile Catalina Channel in California, according to swimming reporter Abbott Koloff.

Hinds did it in 9 hours and 31 minutes -- less than half Samuel's 20 hours and 20 minutes.

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Why is anyone in their right mind living next to Route 17?

Just before 3 on Monday afternoon, the Manhattan entrance to the Holland Tunnel was jammed with drivers returning to New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Leave it to reporter John Cichowski to write an entire Page 1 column in The Record on Sunday, and never answer the real question on the minds of readers.

Why would anyone who doesn't have a screw or two loose buy a home next to Route 17 south -- where a tractor-trailer went out of control and crushed an unmarked Waldwick cruiser at a radar checkpoint, killing the 32-year-old officer inside?

The constant noise, years of breathing poisoned air and the tension of hearing and seeing all those crashes clearly have taken their toll on residents.

Cichowski, the burned-out Road Warrior, actually quotes a resident who claims cars turn off Route 17 onto their street at 60 mph, a physical impossibility.

He also coins a new phrase, "crash magnetism."

Readers wish that his column attracted facts in the same way the Waldwick stretch of Route 17 supposedly is a magnet for crashes.

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Will 'GWB mess' be Governor Christie's Watergate?

Less than 30 minutes after the 10 a.m. opening today, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack was besieged by shoppers panicked by radio and TV news reports of a big snowstorm, as well as what may turn out to be an inaccurate story in The Record's Local section this morning.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

John Wisniewski, the state assemblyman with the hard-to-pronounce name, is starting to sound like a Hebrew National hot dog commercial.

Grilled by Columnist Mike Kelly of The Record on who ordered The Traffic Jam That Ate Fort Lee back in September, the head of the Assembly Transportation Committee answered mysteriously:

"It came from a higher authority" (A-6).

First dog

We all suspect he is referring to Governor Christie, the Portly Authority whose flunkies have resigned in the wake of the Fort Lee-Port Authority brouhaha.

Would Christie's political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee -- by closing two Fort Lee access lanes to upper-level George Washington Bridge toll booths -- be such a big deal?

Given that the Hudson River flows under the bridge, will this be Christie's Watergate and so scandalous it will derail his bid for the White House in 2016?

Hardly. 

But The Record loves this story, even as it shies away from detailed reporting on a story with far wider implications: the GOP bully's mean-spirited policies and his mismanagement of state finances.

More hype

Kelly's Page 1 column today claims the lane closures led to "paralyzing gridlock" on four days in September, even though drivers using the lower level, as well as another Fort Lee access lane to that truck-free level, experienced no delays.

Since the first Road Warrior column on the Fort Lee mess, much of this reporting, especially when it appears on Page 1, is a waste of space.

That's especially true when The Record continues to ignore a far bigger story: Christie's well-known anti-mass transit stance and the Port Authority's refusal to expand bus service into Manhattan.

The Addled Commuter

Whether as the result of a hangover or advancing Alzheimer's disease, Wednesday's Road Warrior column confused a new parking garage for commuter buses in Manhattan with whether the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal needs to be renovated.

According to a concerned reader, who maintains a Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

"In his first column of the new year, Road Warrior John Cichowski refuses to heed the wishes of so many readers and continues on his merry way of delusional, false, over-exaggerated and clueless statements about past and future wishes for New Jersey and metropolitan area transportation issues and laws.

"The Road Warrior tries to make readers believe there is a New Jersey statute that specifically makes it a violation for drivers to be drunk while stopped in traffic.

"Drunk people in New Jersey are not allowed to operate a car, period. It does not matter whether the car is moving or stopped anywhere, or whether it is in the middle of the road or in a parking lot.

"Road Warrior indicated that $800 million had been proposed to renovate the midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal, even though it contradicted The Record’s own report that the plan was for a new parking garage for buses that are now parked on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel."

For the full e-mail to managers and editors, see:

 Readers prepare silver alert for John Cichowski

A modest proposal

If the Port Authority won't add a second express lane dedicated to commuter buses during the morning rush hour, the existing express lane can be revived during the afternoon rush for buses that were parked in New Jersey and must return empty to pick up passengers in Manhattan.

Now, they add to incredible congestion on the eastbound helix to the Lincoln Tunnel.

Reverse bus lanes don't reduce toll revenue from drivers who would otherwise be displaced by a second, eastbound bus-only lane.

Snowbound

Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza apparently has ordered Shawn Boburg, the reporter who covers the Port Authority, to ignore any story about the bistate agency's mass-transit operations.

Boburg's story on tonight's expected snowstorm appears on L-2, predicting near-blizzard conditions for North Jersey.

This morning, radio news reports predict blizzard conditions only on Long Island. 

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Where are the morons who put garbage in the recycling?

A story on Page 1 of The Record today suggests many people don't have separate containers for recyclables, above and below, or are so stupid they mix garbage with plastic bottles, cans and other reusable items.

A separate container for recyclables in the kitchen.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The Record's stories on recycling are even rarer than accounts of the daily commute, aircraft noise and Governor Christie's many mean-spirited vetoes.

Today, a front-page story claims many people are mixing garbage and recyclables, and that has led to a crackdown by China, one of the biggest customers for paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and other waste from the United States.

The rejection of bales of recyclables contaminated by "regular trash" may cost North Jersey towns, some of which reportedly make $300,000 to $500,000 on recycling (A-1).

But the story is filled with holes:

Which towns are using so-called single-stream recycling that allows residents to combine paper, cardboard, aluminum and plastic in one container?

According to the story, that leads to contamination with garbage, but the editors never explain why.

White trash

Single-stream recycling is not happening in Hackensack, the most populous town in Bergen County, which, according to the story, ranks first on recycled material among the state's 21 counties.

And where are the interviews with people who are mixing garbage and recyclables? Imagine the possibilities:

"Interviewed at a Jamaican bakery in Englewood, where she was purchasing a black rum cake for the holidays, Editor Deirdre Sykes said, 'What is recycling'?

"Six-figure Editor Liz Houlton was shopping for a new wardrobe at Nordstrom in Paramus, but she said she didn't have time to speak to a reporter about recycling and garbage or catch the many errors in the paper every day."

Are the people who throw garbage into the recycling apartment dwellers? Or are they the same people who drive gas-guzzling SUVs and luxury sedans at insane rates of speed, squandering even more fuel?

No security blankets

On A-3 today, a carjacking and fatal shooting of a male shopper at the "upscale" Mall at Short Hills late Sunday comes more than a month after a troubled 20-year-old Teaneck man invaded Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, fired random shots and then killed himself.

The incidents suggest the Millburn and Paramus malls do not have enough security. 

Maybe mall owners and Macy's, Bloomingdale's and other big retailers can divert some of the millions they spend on advertising to a fund for improving security, such as hiring off-duty police officers to protect shoppers.

Why hasn't The Record reported on whether revenue has fallen at Garden State Plaza stores or shoppers have stayed away in the wake of the Nov. 4 suicide?

The Record's A-3 story doesn't report the death of the shopper. That was reported on WBGO-FM radio news this morning.

Hard of hearing

Here are the specifics of how Road Warrior John Cichowski, in his column last Wednesday, screwed up testimony at a hearing on closing of Fort Lee access lanes at the George Washington Bridge, according to concerned reader:

"Based on testimony from the hearing, Road Warrior indicated in his Wednesday column that an 'ambulance transporting a heart-attack patient crashed.'

"The ambulance for the heart attack patient did not crash. There was another separate incident where a car crashed into a building.

"The hearing indicated that emergency responders were delayed in getting to a heart attack patient and in getting to a car that crashed into a building.

"Road Warrior's Sept. 13 column indicated that emergency responders were delayed in getting to a heart attack patient and in getting to a car that crashed into a building.

"Yet, the Road Warrior combined the 2 separate incidents into one in his Wednesday column.

"Road Warrior is unable to concentrate on what he hears or remember what he has written in the past."

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$850 is chump change to Hackensack real estate moguls

How many weeks or months has this storefront on the 200 block of Main Street in Hackensack been vacant? The sleepy shopping street is showing few signs of renewal, even though city officials have approved a downtown redevelopment plan.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Today's Page 1 story in The Record has readers speculating about just who could have lost $850 on Main Street in Hackensack, and not even tried to recover the money.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports the cash was awarded to James Brady, the formerly homeless man who found the money and turned it in to the Police Department, where it laid unclaimed for six months (A-1).

Jerry Lombardo, president of C.J. Lombardo Company at 355 Main St., appears to have money to burn, judging by the long-vacant storefronts owned by his real estate concern.

The same can be said for the principals behind the Alexander Anderson Real Estate Group of 14 Bergen St., which has its sign on a great many vacant buildings on or near Hackensack's Main Street. 

Big killing?

Are these and other real estate companies stockpiling empty properties, hoping to sell them to a developer who will demolish them and build residential and office buildings?

Lombardo also is chairman of the Upper Main Alliance, a public-private partnership that has failed miserably to revive Main Street in the years after the 2008 recession and the pullout of North Jersey Media Group and The Record.

The only other story on Page 1 today is about same-sex couples winning the right to marry in New Jersey, starting on Monday (A-1, A-6 and A-7).

Am I the only one who thinks this is way too much coverage for an estimated 24,112 same-sex couples in the entire state as of 2011?

On A-2 today, readers will find two more embarrassing corrections.

Christie's follies

A story on A-3 makes clear Governor Christie's decision not to set up an online marketplace under the federal Affordable Care Act is hurting New Jersey residents who have been stymied by technical glitches on the federal site.

On the same page, a story about a $38 million shortfall in state tax collections is more evidence the GOP  bully's repeated veto of a tax surcharge on millionaires is wrong for New Jersey (A-3).

In a letter to the editor today, Jeff Kirshbaum of Oradell calls U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz "a fraud and a clown," putting into perspective media fascination with the Tea Party crackpot (A-11).

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski answers questions from drivers who are as befuddled as he is, and if past columns are any guide, most of his advice is worthless (L-1).

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Losing weight and gaining credibility

This fading sign in the bathroom of an old NJ Transit rail car in New York's Penn Station -- part of the 4:31 express to Trenton on Friday afternoon -- includes an object below the lit cigarette that I can't identify. 

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

A Page 1 story in The Record today suggests Governor Christie is gaining credibility as a presidential contender now that he has had successful weight-loss surgery.

The story appears to be part of the Woodland Park daily's campaign to groom Christie for a White House run while ignoring what a terrible job he has done as governor.

The breathless report by Staff Writers Scott Fallon and Melissa Hayes says "photos show a slimmer governor whose appearance is commented on by New Jerseyans almost everywhere he goes."

What is left unsaid is that before he lost weight, Christie's obesity repelled New Jerseyans almost everywhere he went, especially as his war on the middle class and minorities gained steam.

Unfortunately, Christie's battle of the bulge is one of the few readable stories in the Sunday edition, which is weighed down by Road Warrior and Mike Kelly columns.

Staff Writer John Cichowski, aka The Addled Commuter, seems to equate glare off the glass facade of a 47-story high-rise in Fort Lee with a nationwide death toll from sun glare he puts at 200 people a year, although his columns have been so inaccurate, I'm skeptical about that figure (L-1).

The Kelly column on the Opinion front rambles so much readers can't help noticing the shit-eating grin in his dated thumbnail photo. Neither columnist appears to get any sorely needed editing.

A letter to the editor about the accomplishments of Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli seems to be saying that The Record's Sept. 13 story, "Molinelli leaves a mixed record," was poorly researched and hastily written (O-3).

"FIRST COURSE," a new food feature in Better Living, appears to be a warmed over version of Marketplace, a round-up that ran in The Record's Food section when Pat Mack was editor (BL-2).

On the Better Living front, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung rhapsodizes about two huge hunks of meat -- one a burned pork chop and the other a filet mignon bathed in an artery clogging bearnaise sauce that is guaranteed to send patients to North Jersey cardiac units (BL-1).

Talking about obesity, why would The Record assign Jerry Luciani, the grossly overweight graphics director, to cover a food and wine festival in the Caribbean (T-1)?

The absence of any prices in his Travel story suggests Luciani was comped, leaving readers to wonder how much of the glowing report is accurate and how much is payback to Turks and Caicos tourism officials.

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Road Warrior column sets hall of shame record

Bob Sumner, who set high standards when he was chief of The Record's news copy desk in Hackensack, lived in the rural Warren County community of Hackettstown.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Bob Sumner, the legendary chief of the news copy desk at The Record, when it was based in Hackensack, has been spinning in his grave. 

Under Production Editor Liz Houlton, the number of grammatical and factual errors; the poorly written headlines and captions, and the huge holes in published stories have wiped out all memories of the standards Sumner set.

His 1991 obituary in The Record noted that in more than 20 years as chief copy editor, Sumner "helped instill a love of language in a generation of editors."

Although there are problems throughout the paper, the Road Warrior column has become emblematic of the lack of standards on the copy desk under Houlton's supervision.

A concerned reader has been sending e-mails to The Record's top management, editors and Staff Writer John Cichowski, imploring them to fix repeated inaccuracies in his Road Warrior column -- to no avail.

Here are excerpts from the reader's latest e-mail (see the full text on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers):

"As you are well aware, the Road Warrior reached a  one-year anniversary on Sept. 12 with an unenviable accomplishment.

"The Road Warrior had 109 of his mistake-filled and irresponsible columns published in just 1 year. While it amounted to around 70% of his columns being unfit for reader consumption, the frequency of problem columns and number of mistakes in each column have gotten progressively worse. 

"In one 2 month stretch from 5/17/13 -- 7/17/13, he had a record streak of TWENTY-SEVEN mistake-filled, misleading columns.

"Road Warrior's problem columns had a total of 847 mistakes, which averaged around EIGHT per column, that were misleading, false, irrational; contradictory to the laws of science/nature; contradictory to reports in The Record or his own columns, unsafe, illegal or contradictory to NJ laws/statutes, filled with false rumors, or just plain lacking in any common sense.  Some columns contained close to TWENTY mistakes.

"Road Warrior frequently quotes and elaborates/validates statements from government officials and "experts." who are biased, have a vested financial interest or have limited knowledge, that conflict with well-known facts, common sense, safety, and NJ laws.

"It is also clear from the Road Warrior columns that he is unable to consistently do simple math, count, reference calendars, use a map, analyze and get correct facts from published studies/reports, and provide correct or relevant Internet addresses.

"The Road Warrior appears to be addicted to making up and reporting unsubstantiated, misleading, and false information, which can be easily checked and contradicted, since even when I correct his reports he continues to repeat or makes up new false and outrageously unbelievable, contradictory information.

"Many times, Road Warrior cherry picked his correct facts, which were irrelevant, to support many of his baseless claims and conclusions.

"The Record's management and Road Warrior, John Cichowski, have not taken responsibility or made significant progress to check, correct, or improve any of his 109 atrocious or unprofessional columns, each of which I identified with all of the specific mistakes/problems, that frequently mislead readers.

"I have also had separate e-mail communications with various managers and executives that led to NO positive results or corrections, or where I did NOT receive any response.

"In response to hundreds of major mistakes, The Record has published only 2 corrections to minor mistakes on  A-2 and Road Warrior has published maybe 2 corrections to minor mistakes.

"John also treats the Road Warrior columns, which are supposed to be somewhat educational, as his personal blog, which is NOT the intended purpose of the Road Warrior columns, that also includes unsubstantiated, unsafe, legally conflicting (or illegal), impractical, faulty, biased, or inane comments, advice, and conclusions from local contributors or the Road Warrior without any thoughts as to all of its consequences if people believed or acted on this wrong and many times illegal information, comments, and advice.

"All these contributor problems could easily be prevented from being published if he chose to substantiate their statements or drive and check out the referenced situations for himself since the facts, laws/statutes, and situations frequently do not agree with these contributors.  If he leaves in any faulty information or comments provided by contributors, the Road Warrior needs to provide brief counterpoints to explain their fallacies.

"His responses in his columns to readers' questions or comments that challenge Road Warrior's reported wrong info or advice are usually condescending, derisive, and more importantly misleading or mistaken. 

"His column responses to readers' questions for help or info are many times faulty, unsafe, contrary to NJ laws, or unhelpful.  Many times, he gives a long winded answer about an associated issue, but never directly answers the reader's question.

"Some of his reporting, stories, and advice are so ludicrous and over exaggerated that they seem to be made up to simply fill his column space.

"Many of his attempts at humor are sickening at best and harmful and dangerous to others at their worst.

"Road Warrior's response to all of his problems is to repeatedly claim that he is a "know-it-all.”  His capabilities are very far from "know-it all" and show a lack of understanding and common sense about road, personal, and mass transportation, and an inability to discern any problems with his faulty reports.   

"I have been a long-time reader of the Road Warrior columns since Jeffrey Page was the columnist.  Problems with John's mistake-filled columns have been ongoing for several years now, but seem to have gotten much worse and more frequent in the past year."

Related articles

• Editors should end Road Warrior column now
• Road Warrior flip-flops on MVC lines
• Columnist gets into pissing match with readers

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Why are we letting drivers get away with murder?

The new Hackensack City Council is meeting tonight at 7 on the 3rd Floor of City Hall at Central Avenue and State Street.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The centerpiece on the front page of The Record today is a familiar story -- one I've probably read 100 times in newspapers or seen on TV news:

A car runs down and kills a pedestrian, but the driver tells police he "didn't see" the victim.

He wasn't speeding and didn't break any other traffic laws.

And the police say he didn't appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so no charges are filed.

Life is worth little 

Look how cheap life is in North Jersey.

Emil Sous -- a North Haledon man whose 17-year-old daughter Michelle was killed in just this way -- is seeking mandatory drug and alcohol tests for all pedestrians and drivers involved in fatal accidents (A-1).

But why stop there?

Why haven't police and prosecutors long ago called on lawmakers to pass a law that would criminalize the actions of a driver who was so negligent that he took a human life?

The Sous family undoubtedly will file a lawsuit against Steven Timpone, 24, the driver of the pickup that killed Michelle in front of their home.

But the damages they win won't bring Timpone and drivers like him to justice. He probably won't even lose his license.

Paper is at fault

I have never seen an editorial in The Record calling for stiffer laws that would, in effect, charge a driver who killed a pedestrian with criminal negligence.

In fact, Staff Writer John Cichowski's Road Warrior column has criticized red-light cameras and other measures intended to catch and penalize speeding drivers.

Through laziness or sheer incompetence, the Road Warrior has championed readers who treat driving like a blood sport. 

Speeding kills

In two recent columns, Cichowski allowed lead-footed drivers to attack and denigrate so-called road hogs, who obey the speed limit.

I guess Cichowski doesn't know or doesn't care that speeding is the cause of most accidents and red-light violations.

Doesn't compute

In today's Local news section, a police brief raised a question that it never answered:

What were two 18-year-olds doing driving a Range Rover, and why did one of them have a $10,000 Rolex watch (L-8)?

Heart healthy

Readers of Better Living are accustomed to reading recipes oozing with butter and heavy cream or sizzling with bacon.

So today's feature story on Gary Oppenheimer of West Milford -- "Hunger Fighter" -- is a welcome relief (BL-1).

Oppenheimer actually served Staff Writer Sachi Fujimori a salad from his own garden. 

What a concept: Healthy food.

 

 

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Columnists Kelly, Cichowski are readers' real enemies

Commuting by car into Manhattan or around North Jersey has become a daily nightmare, above and below, yet Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to ignore the need for an expanded mass-transit system.

The headlights stretch for as far as you can see on antiquated, two-lane Passaic Street in Rochelle Park during a recent commute.

Columnist Mike Kelly still hasn't recovered from the heart surgery he had 7 months ago -- as his Father's Day confessional clearly shows.

On Sunday's Opinion front in The Record, Kelly appears so ashamed of the ridiculously unhealthy diet that led to his heart problems that he wrote his column in the third person (O-1).

Kelly was completely clueless about the harm of hamburgers, butter, bacon, ice cream, cake and lots of pizza before he went under the knife, and now his grown daughter is telling him what to eat.

Maybe his wife was trying to kill him.

His column could have served as a more powerful lesson to readers, if he wrote it in the first person and leveled with them about whether he had coronary bypass surgery to clear blockages from harmful animal fats.

Bridge to the truth

Sunday's paper also carried the second Road Warrior column on a new footbridge over Port Imperial Boulevard in Weehawken that Staff Writer John Cichowski is begging commuters to use.

NJ Transit told Eye on The Record today the footbridge was built to provide a "safer crossing" for users of its Bergen-Hudson light-rail line, as well as to provide handicap access to the NY Waterway ferry.

But there has always been a light to stop traffic and a crosswalk there, so most people simply cross the street -- information Cichowski deliberately omitted -- and not a single pedestrian has ever been injured or killed.

No need to cross

And many commuters park in a lot east of Port Imperial Boulevard and don't have to cross the street to reach the ferry -- likely a major reason the footbridge isn't getting a lot of use.

Below is an excerpt from an e-mail to The Record, exposing the many errors in Cichowski's Sunday and Wednesday columns.

It was sent by an anonymous reader who set up a Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers after his complaints about inaccurate columns fell on deaf ears at The Record -- from Vice President and General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg down to Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza, who supposedly edits Cichowski.

"These columns falsely promoted and over-hyped the newly opened pedestrian footbridge over Port Imperial Boulevard, which is near the Weehawken ferry terminal on the Hudson River.

"He simply ignored the most obvious fact, which is that there already is a convenient, safe crosswalk at an intersection with a traffic light.

"It is one of the undisputed reasons that most pedestrians will NOT need to use this footbridge."

For a blow-by-blow listing of all of the errors in the two columns, see:

Road Warrior shows more contempt for the truth

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