Even if no crime, it's time for Christie to bow out

Federal and state investigators are trying to determine if a crime was committed when members of Governor Christie's inner circle closed two of three access lanes to the upper level tollbooths of the George Washington Bridge, above, causing four days of gridlock in Democratic Fort Lee, The Record reports today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Can we really believe a governor who claims he was kept out of the loop when his lieutenant governor, members of his inner circle in Trenton and his Port Authority cronies engaged in a pattern of political retribution against Democrats who didn't support him (The Record's A-1 today)?

Do we really want a governor who has been unable to deliver federal aid to shore residents who were driven from their homes by Superstorm Sandy nearly 17 months ago (A-3)?

Even if no federal or state crime was committed when lane closures caused four days of gridlock at the Fort Lee end of the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie shouldn't survive the prolonged crisis over the Bridgegate scandal.

Narrow focus

Today's Page 1 story by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, one of the paper's stars, focuses narrowly on what laws may have been broken by all of the political machinations in the Governor's Office and at the Port Authority, the bi-state transportation agency and patronage mill.

Akin omits any discussion of how the majority of state residents have lost confidence in their governor, and would like to see him resign. 

Drugs and guns

Is there a story today about the full-page ad from the Bergen County prosecutor, warning residents that he won't hesitate to go after anyone who gives even one Oxycodone pill to a friend of a friend with a drug problem (A-7)?

A letter to the editor today states clearly how some gun-rights advocates believe local police cannot protect them from crime (A-10). 

"We are in a war," claims Don White of tiny Prospect Park, which shares a border with Paterson, the city that is often demonized by The Record as a drug bazaar.

More flawed reporting

On the Local front today, Road Warrior John Cichowski wrings his hands over the failure of a non-profit car service that could help "non-driving seniors and ambulatory disabled people navigate inexpensively" (L-1).

Of course, Cichowski makes the problem even more dramatic by omitting any mention of NJ Transit's Access Link service, which takes thousands of people to supermarkets, and to and from doctors and hospitals every month.

In his last paragraph, the confused reporter asks "how many fewer deaths, injuries and crashes" would there be "if seniors and disabled people had convenient, inexpensive travel options"?

But they already have that with NJ Transit's Access Link minibuses. 

This story smells

Another L-1 story says Hackensack residents complained that uncollected trash "attracted vermin and gave off a bad smell in the sweltering heat" of summer.

So, why did city officials start twice-a-week pickup on March 17, when it is still wintry, and ignore how a recycling-education campaign and compost pickups could have accomplished the same goals?

Gondolas on River Street?

A Business page story finally identifies multimillionaire developer Fred Daibes as a partner in a deal to buy The Record's former headquarters on about 20 acres of land along River Street in Hackensack (L-8).

The story doesn't say whether Daibes and partner James Demetrakis plan to provide gondolas to residents of the luxury apartments they intend to build in one of the city's worst flood zones.

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Lawyers are getting much richer, taxpayers poorer

Euclid Avenue in Hackensack.Warning: One-lane road ahead.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The sensational charges in the Bridgegate scandal have devolved into the kind of ponderous process story The Record loves to tell.

Weeks after discovery of the explosive e-mail -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" -- the story now involves subpoenas, document production and pissing matches between high-priced lawyers, each one spouting another legal theory (A-1).

Flawed column

Today, on A-3, Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson doesn't do any heavy lifting in his NJ/DC column that purports to explore whether taxpayers will foot the bill for all of the lawyers involved on both sides of state and federal investigations.

Jackson says Governor Christie has the public picking up the $650-an-hour tab for attorney Randy Mastro, and David Wildstein is trying to hit up his former employer, the Port Authority, which isn't supported by taxes. 

But that's it from Jackson, who doesn't mention eight other figures in the probe, including former Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly, who sent that infamous e-mail, or whether taxpayers are on the hook for their private lawyers (A-10 on Sunday).

Marty defends Chris

On Sunday, The Record's front page was dominated by a story that seemed planted by Christie's public relations machine:

The alleged "bromance" between the GOP bully and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Staff Writer Stephanie Akin called Giuliani "his [Christie's] biggest advocate."

Half the story

But Akin's story failed to mention that Giuliani told a radio interviewer there is a "fifty-fifty" chance Christie was aware of the Kelly discussions that led to George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Geraldo Rivera's interview of Giuliani was reported on Jan. 30 by The Huffington Post.

The early September gridlock in Fort Lee may have been political payback for the refusal of the borough's Democratic mayor to endorse Christie for a second term.  

No editing

"Fifty-fifty" is far from The Record's portrayal of Giuliani in that Sunday takeout by one of its so-called stars:

The former mayor is Christie's "staunchest defender," "Giuliani's voice has been loudest" in Christie's defense, and "Giuliani's staunch advocacy."

In fact, the story is way too long and awfully repetitive, more evidence of the abysmal lack of editing and fact-checking at the Woodland Park daily, which has been run for the last two years by former Timesman Marty Gottlieb.

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NJ Transit screws NFL fans and commuters alike

Hackensack's DPW did a fair job of clearing streets and intersections after the snow stopped falling on Monday, but left several inches of the white stuff on the block of Euclid Avenue between Main Street and the tracks, and an 18-inch barrier blocking driveways on other blocks of Euclid. Above, a Summit Avenue intersection this morning, when a snow-laden tree was a thing of beauty.

Hackensack schools do not provide those familiar yellow buses, forcing thousands of parents to drive their children to school, in a colossal waste of gasoline that aggravates air pollution and frays nerves. Thousands of other students walk both ways. Above, cars leaving the high school campus this morning.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Transportation reporter Karen Rouse and Dan Sforza, the supremely lazy head of The Record's assignment desk, have been screwing commuters forever.

In recent years, they've ignored such persistent service problems as antiquated local buses, long lines to board NJ Transit buses in Manhattan and the rush-hour stampede for seats on trains leaving Penn Station.

So, you should have heard me howl with laughter this morning when I saw the Page 1 photo of hordes of Super Bowl fans -- 33,000 in all -- waiting to board NJ Transit trains after the disappointing game on Sunday (A-1).

Suckers. Why wasn't this photo in Monday's paper?

Perfect storm

I'll bet Governors Christie and Cuomo, actors Michael Douglas and Kevin Costner, and all of the other VIPs at the game didn't have to take the train.

Then, the snow that began falling early Monday canceled 350 flights from Newark as of 9:40 a.m. -- a perfect Jersey transportation storm (A-6).

Today's big, black A-1 headline screams about fans' anger and their "'nightmare' ride home," but commuting in North Jersey by car or mass transit is a daily nightmare The Record won't touch.

An editorial on A-8 mentions "commuters who suffer every day on NJ Transit buses and trains" and "have no relief from the overcrowding in the Port Authority Bus Terminal," but no such problems have been reported by Rouse, Road Warrior John Cichowski or any other reporter.

Denver lows

Rouse came to the old Hackensack newsroom from the Denver Post, thanks to Francis "Frank" Scandale, one of The Record's worst editors, who also came from that paper.

In Denver, she was known for her education coverage, but some moron gave her the North Jersey transportation beat, and it's been all downhill from there.

A second front-page story today -- on reforming "political patronage, a culture of fear and conflicts of interest" at the Port Authority -- gives the bi-state agency a pass on extortionate tolls and its refusal to expand PATH rail and commuter bus service into Manhattan (A-1).

More Bridgegate

The NJ Transit and Port Authority stories overshadow new developments in the Bridgegate scandal, including the refusal of Governor Christie's former deputy chief of staff to turn over documents to investigators (A-1).

Bridget Anne "Bridge" Kelly, who sent the infamous e-mail, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," is the latest member of Christie's inner circle to take the Fifth.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are demanding documents from Christie's office, the former U.S. attorney said during a radio interview Monday (A-1).

Give us a break

Editor Marty Gottlieb couldn't help putting the federal subpoenas in context. But did the first paragraph of the story really need this wordy explanation?

"... a development that puts him [Christie] at the opposite end from the kind of probe he once led as the state's hard-charging U.S. attorney"?

Jeez. "At the opposite end of the kind of probe he once led..."? That's embarrassing, especially for a former New York Times editor who was stationed in Paris.

Hey, Marty, your readers aren't as thick as some of your assignment editors and columnists, notably Cichowski, the so-called Road Warrior.

More drivel

In his drivel on A-6 today, that moron doesn't acknowledge that he blew it big time in his previous column by predicting traffic paralysis for people driving into or out of Manhattan on Sunday.

Nor does he admit today he was completely blindsided by the problems encountered by Super Bowl fans who used mass transit (A-6).   

On A-2, the editors correct star reporter Stephanie Akin's Sunday takeout on development near the Harrison PATH station.

Local yokels

Three of the five elements on the Local front today are Law & Order stories (L-1).

Almost 8 inches of snow fell, according to today's weather story, which runs with an inaccurate photo caption describing a Toyota that hit a utility pole as a "coupe."

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Star reporter left big holes in Drewniak profile

These are the three George Washington Bridge access lanes on Hudson Street in Fort Lee, above and below, that are at the center of a storm over a Christie administration plot to tie up traffic in the Democratic borough. Two of the three lanes were closed for four days.

Today, an employee of Babe's Taxi in Fort Lee said he complained to a Port Authority police officer about the resulting gridlock, and was told to send "a letter to Governor Christie."

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Michael Drewniak, Governor Christie's prickly press secretary, is one of the 20 insiders hit with subpoenas in the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal, The Record reports today (A-1).

And although Christie himself hasn't been subpoenaed, he has hired a prominent lawyer to conduct an "internal review of his office" (A-1).

But on Thursday, the paper published thousands of words about Drewniak without attempting to explore how closely the former reporter works with Christie or how he has handled previous controversies involving his boss.

Big holes

The profile in cowardice by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, one of the paper's stars, also failed to explain Christie's and Drewniak's favorite tactic for handling pesky members of the press:

They ignore e-mails inquiries, refuse to take calls and issue blanket no comments until they have had time to carefully craft a response, hoping the controversy will die down.

On Thursday, Christie abruptly left a Stafford Township meeting on Sandy aid without taking questions from residents or the media (A-1 and A-7).

Assumes too much

The Drewniak profile assumed readers were intimately familiar with his role as communications director or liaison with the media.

And it failed to tell us how closely Drewniak works with Christie, despite the central nagging questions in the Bridgegate controversy:

What did the governor know about the closure of two of three bridge access lanes that caused gridlock in Fort Lee on four days in early September, when did he know it and was he part of the cover-up?

Who is the victim?

The GOP bully claims he is the victim in the Bridgegate scandal, because his staff "lied" to him, and that he first learned of the plot from media reports.

Does Drewniak meet with Christie every morning and discuss how the administration wants to respond to media questions?

Were members of Christie's staff -- such as the disgraced Bridget Anne Kelly of Ramsey -- part of those daily meetings?

Kelly, the deputy chief of staff who was fired last week, had sent an e-mail to a Christie crony at the Port Authority, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

And Drewniak received e-mails from Christie appointees on the Port Authority, asking how they should respond to Star-Ledger staffers who asked about the lane closures and gridlock in the Democratic borough.

Earlier controversies

Christie has been involved in controversy before, when he was U.S. attorney in Newark, and Drewniak was his chief spokesman at the time.

It would have been instructive to readers if Akin had told them how Drewniak handled media questions about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees Christie steered to his former boss, John Ashcroft, as well as to former U.S. District Judge Herbert J. Stern.

The most insight Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin can muster is to compare Bridgegate to an old movie (A-19).

Life is a bitch

The families of missing minority women likely were shocked by a story in Local today, reporting on the search for a missing dog (L-3).

The story carries the byline of  the local obituary writer.

The lesson is that if you are the parent of a missing black or Hispanic woman, you have to buy a billboard to get the attention of the Woodland Park daily.

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Christie will never measure up to President Obama

Hackensack attorney Frank P. Lucianna, left, marching in the Memorial Day Parade in Englewood. In a letter The Record published on Monday, the Army Air Forces veteran paid tribute to fellow members of the Dwight Morrow High School Class of 1941 who were killed during World War II. He listed more than a dozen friends he "will never forget."

If you swallow Columnist Charles Stile's amateurish promotion of Governor Christie on the front page of The Record today, you might think the GOP bully was "auditioning" for the White House during a joint appearance on Tuesday with President Obama. 

What a joke.

Whether at the Jersey shore or as a leader, Christie will never measure up to Obama, a champion of the same middle class the governor has savaged since he took office in 2010.

Christie's massive public relations campaign to win a second term has hoodwinked Stiles and the rest of state media.

But voters won't forget how he's catered almost exclusively to his wealthy supporters, and broken his campaign promise to lower property taxes.

More corrections

Four embarrassing corrections on A-2 today are further evidence of how little fact-checking is performed by Production Editor Liz Houlton, her sleepy copy editors or the assignment editors who sign off on stories.

On A-3, a story on The Record winning statewide journalism awards doesn't explore whether the stories served readers or were written merely to impress fellow journalists.

A photo on A-3 -- showing Michelle Obama with  Jersey shore students in the backyard garden at the White House -- again demonstrates how little Christie or first lady Mary Pat Christie have done to promote healthy eating during the child obesity epidemic.

Readers brace

On the front of Local, a big photo showing the Franklin Lakes homecoming of disgraced former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik can mean only one thing (L-1).

Soon, burned-out Staff Writer Mike Kelly will land an exclusive interview with his pal "Bernie," and write an overlong column to rehabilitate Kerik's dishonest image. 

Litigiously speaking

What was the point of The Record's Page 1 story on Tuesday "on the propensity" of local police officers "to sue their employers over promotions and other work conditions"?

The takeout by star reporter Stephanie Akin seemed mean-spirited, especially in view of how often North Jersey Media Group sues or is sued by its employees and former employees.

None of those lawsuits are ever reported in The Record, but NJMG has started a blog to document its high-profile Freedom of Information cases:

http://blog.northjersey.com/legallyspeaking/

Despite declining revenue from classified and other advertising, NJMG's legal expenses have soared in recent years from the use of outside counsel who command $400 to $500 an hour.

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It's raining on Christie's Jersey shore parade

In covering his Port Authority beat, Staff Writer Shawn Boburg has written hundreds of thousands of words about the new World Trade Center, which has reached its full height of 1,776 feet, above. But he hasn't reported how little the bistate agency has done to expand mass transit and ease nightmarish traffic congestion.

Rain pounding down on my roof in Hackensack this morning made the sunny headline on Page 1 of The Record -- "THE SHORE IS OPEN" -- ring hollow.

And what do you make of the sub-headline -- "Jersey summer kicks off before eyes of nation"?

Editor Marty Gottlieb must be kidding. Hey, Marty, you're not at The Times anymore. 

Are the people in Oklahoma or Texas or California really on the edge of their seats, wondering about the shore's recovery from Superstorm Sandy?

Gottlieb isn't the only one bamboozled by Governor Christie's campaign to win a second term on the backs of Sandy survivors.

Christie got the "Today" show to broadcast live from Seaside Heights on Friday, giving national exposure to his uniquely Jersey freak show.

Christie is hoping his massive P.R. campaign makes voters forget how badly he's mismanaged state finances and broken his promise to lower property taxes when they go to the polls in November.

Old home week

Staff Writer Shawn Boburg's photo-and-text package on A-1 and A-7 today appears to complete three days of reporting from his old neighborhood in Moore, Okla., devastated by Monday's tornado.

Boburg's accounts, including takeouts on Thursday's and Friday's front page, are way more than any reader wants to know about the survivors or the reporter's boyhood.

Boburg's beat at The Record is the Port Authority, but he's managed to ignore how the bistate agency's only strategy for keeping commuters' cars off the road is exorbitant toll increases, which were rubber-stamped by Christie.

Wardrobe problems

Before I left The Record in 2008, Boburg dressed like a hayseed, recalling the old joke, "Why don't you throw a party and introduce your pants to your shoes."

That was in contrast to his stylish girlfriend, Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, who treated the newsroom carpet between her desk and the women's bathroom as if it were a Fashion Week runway.

Great reporters know legwork is a must, but a hack like Road Warrior John Cichowski stays glued to his computer, sifting through e-mails from readers. Some copy editors believe Cichowski has occasionally made up the questions he answers in his column.

Road worrier

The Port Authority reporter's failure is compounded by Road Warrior John Cichowski, whose obsession with potholes and MVC lines blinds him to commuting and mass-transit problems.

Cichowski's pothole-and-utility pole column on Wednesday was the 66th with problems since Sept. 12, 2012, according to a concerned reader, who e-mailed management yet again:

"Readers are  finding fault with the Road Warrior's same old mistaken stories and readers' questions about pothole-ridden roads and lost drivers using utility poles, as shown in his May 22 column.

"Road Warrior and his clueless drivers [readers] are NOT being truthful or are fools if they think anyone believes repeated archaic tall tales about finding their bearings when lost by getting out of their cars to check, many times cryptic or missing, municipal acronyms on utility poles. 

"Road Warrior continues his pompous behavior and asks insulting questions not deserving of answers.

"He continues to suffer from clueless syndrome and forgets what he wrote in previous columns that contradicts his May 22 column.

"He reports about a business owner, who repeatedly damages his car and tires, by endlessly driving his car into potholes near his business over a 5-year period. I feel sorry, but wouldn't trust such people."

See the full e-mail at the Facebook page for road Warrior Bloopers:

Road Warrior's 66th column with problems

More tax woes

Friday's front-page story on the failure of Mary J. Blige of Cresskill and other prominent African-American entertainers to pay federal taxes seems incomplete (A-1).

Are they protesting how previous administrations treated minorities? Did they also evade state income taxes?

Hackensack news

After years of neglect, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes is paying more attention to Hackensack news outside of former Police Chief Ken Zisa's lingering legal problems.

Sykes has commissioned unprecedented coverage of municipal affairs since the May 14 victory of a slate of City Council reformers took her and other editors by surprise.

But on L-6 today, the reference to "the new council majority" in a transition-team story is puzzling.

Councilman John Labrosse and his four running-mates won all 5 seats. Isn't that more than a "majority"?

The story says state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, has finally gotten off her duff, and agreed to serve as "honorary chairwoman" of the transition team.

Before the election, Weinberg refused to endorse reform candidates in the crucial Hackensack contest.

More news of poles

Also today, Sykes advances her photo staff's coverage of downed and damaged utility poles with the image of damaged traffic-light pole (L-6).

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