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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A weird story leads an even weirder Sunday edition

NJ Transit's 8:59 a.m. local to Hoboken was about 12 minutes late arriving in Clifton on Friday, above, but the older rail car was warm, clean and had plenty of empty seats, below. The station also has a waiting room that allows commuters to stay out of sub-freezing weather.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

After you say gee whiz or who cares, The Record's odd Page 1 story today on David Wildstein purchasing Internet domain addresses leaves you high and dry.

Readers won't find any explanation in all those words, photos, graphics and headlines of what that means to them or anyone else (A-1 and A-6).

Wildstein, the Port Authority official who resigned after ordering mysterious lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, bought the domains of Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono, his boss at the Port Authority and others.

But none of them apparently tried later to create their own domains, so why is this news?

Wildstein, a high school buddy of Governor Christie's, comes off sounding weird, even for a Republican political appointee and political junkie.

Wrong words

In another front-page story today, the many state and federal versions of Joan's Law are referred to as a "cadre" -- a word usually reserved for people (A-1).

There are no corrections on A-2 today, despite all the errors in the paper every day. Last week, four corrections and one clarification were published.

Police story

On the Local front today, the untold story of trigger-happy America is the apparent lack of trust in the police to safeguard us in our homes and businesses (L-1).

At a vigil in Teaneck for the 26 killed in Newtown, Conn., gun-rights advocate Josh Levy accused state Sen. Loretta Weinberg of trying "to take away our guns" -- all in the earshot of five township police officers Levy has no confidence in.

Ice age

Today's column by Road Warrior John Cichowski is among the many he has written about "dangerous" snow and ice on the roofs of trucks, even though the last death of a driver hit by flying ice occurred in 1997 (L-1).

There have been far more pedestrian victims of NJ Transit trains, but Cichowski and the paper's other transportation reporters haven't taken the agency to task for poor safety measures at stations or for failing to deploy police officers to keep people off the tracks.

Funny money

On the Opinion front, Columnist Mike Kelly is back with breaking news: "Money talks."

That goes without saying at The Record, which lavishes coverage on big mall advertisers and stiffs Main Street merchants, as well as publishing flattering stories about Borg family friends  and business associates.

Whether big city police departments will be able to use purchasing power to persuade gun makers to be socially responsible remains to be seen.

But one thing is clear: Kelly and all other members of the nation's media have failed miserably to influence the debate.

Readers' letters

On O-3, August De Falco of Lodi defends the job performance of Hackensack City Manager Stephen L0 Iacono, who has agreed to resign under pressure from the City Council.

Several years ago, Lo Iacono was quoted in The Record as saying Hackensack has taken only "baby steps" on implementing solar power and other alternative energy.

Today, not a single public building or school in Hackensack has a working solar-panel installation -- in marked contrast to neighboring Teaneck.

Hackensack also operates inefficient police and parking enforcement fleets with not a single hybrid or electric car, and allows numerous employees to commute to and from work in city owned vehicles.

All of this makes property tax bills higher than they could be.

Walks on water

In a letter seemingly aimed at Record editors, reporters and columnists who idolize Christie, reader Sidney J. Goodman of Mahwah asks, "What kind of politician would make spending cuts while preserving tax breaks for the wealthy"?

"It is unbelievable that Christie remains popular," Goodman writes, despite cuts in women's health care, legal services to the poor, environmental programs, and so on and so forth (O-3).

Second look

In his Wednesday Road Warrior column on closure of Fort Lee access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, Cichowski misquotes a Port Authority official testifying in Trenton  and contradicts his own Sept. 13 piece on the controversy.

See: Road Warrior's reporting fiasco at the GWB

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More Christie spin, more three-day-old news

Hackensack officials are counting on new luxury apartments, such as these under construction at State and Bergen streets, to bring more customers to Main Street stores and restaurants, a strategy that has already failed in nearby Englewood.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Critics call the closing of Fort Lee access lanes to the George Washington Bridge political revenge exacted by Governor Christie's Port Authority appointees.

But Christie chooses to characterize the closures as "mistakes," and he pressured two flunkies, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, to resign, as reported on Page 1 of The Record today.

Democrats in the state Legislature just spun their wheels when Christie rubber stamped exorbitant toll hikes on the Hudson River crossings, but they've matched his spin with exaggeration and hype of their own on the impact of the Fort Lee incident in early September (A-1 and A-9).

Now, Christie's every action involving the Port Authority or inaction on lowering college tuition for illegal immigrants is being interpreted by The Record in terms of how they will affect his presidential ambitions in 2016 (A-6 and Friday's A-3).

Striptease

Why is a new terminal for business jets at Newark Liberty International Airport news (A-8), and when will The Record address the impact of airplane noise on the quality of life in North Jersey?

An unintentional double entendre in a headline on the first Business page suggests people are stripping at shopping centers owned by Simon Property Group Inc. (A-8).

Minimizing death

On the Local front today, Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza catches up to three-day-old news -- a wealthy 73-year-old woman apparently was run down and killed on Wednesday during an errand on a narrow section of Grand Avenue in Englewood (L-1).

However, Sforza gave better play to the no-injury collision of a train and tractor-trailer carrying jars of stuffed olives, probably because of the wreckage photo taken by Tariq "Crash" Zehawi.

Even with two full days to gather information, the story about Myrna Sherman tells readers little about what happened to the matriarch of the Sherman tobacco family, and doesn't even discuss Grand Avenue's reputation for speeding drivers or previous pedestrian deaths.

The story also plays into the stereotype of Korean-Americans as bad drivers, reporting only that Sung Park, 22, of Ramsey was charged with reckless driving.

Did driver see woman?

"Sherman was either getting out of or into her parked car on Grand Avenue when she was hit by a Honda Odyssey [minivan] near Sheffield Avenue," today's story says, adding that the woman was going to the dry cleaners at 5 p.m.

Today, I called the dry cleaners, the Laundress at Grand and Sheffield avenues, and the owner said Sherman had parked on Grand Avenue in front of the store, and the minivan had turned the corner and struck the woman.

He said it was dark, and he doesn't believe the driver saw the woman. The portion of Grand Avenue where the accident occurred is narrow and carries two-way traffic.

Hackensack mess

Also on the Local front today, Staff Writer Hannan Adely continues to report on the new Hackensack City Council trying to come to terms with the mess left behind by officials allied with the Zisas, who ruled the city so ineptly for decades (L-1).

Today, she reports Hackensack University Medical Center has paid the city $176,000 for school crossing guards that were never billed, just as the city failed to bill the Board of Education $1 million for a police officer assigned to the high school for seven years.

Still, Sforza struggled to fill the section with Bergen County news, and had to resort to using four Paterson stories as filler (L-2, L-3 and L-5).

Friday's paper

Editor Marty Gottlieb wasted readers' time with Columnist Mike Kelly's Page 1 account from Newtown, Conn., on the anniversary of the massacre.

In his first paragraph, the tired columnist describes the removal of the same pile of teddy bears, ribbons, cardboard hearts, candles and cards that he described so lamely in his column a year ago.

Readers stopped there and just stared dumbly at Kelly's dated column photo and shit-eating grin. What a phony (Friday's A-1).

A couple of photos of Newtown would have sufficed to cover the anniversary.

Remember, Kelly is the same moron who repeatedly compared the Teaneck gunman who committed suicide at Westfield Garden State Plaza on Nov. 4 to the maniacs who killed so many at Columbine high and in the Newtown elementary school.

Also on Friday (A-21), Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin's silly rhymed couplets on the Port Authority-Fort Lee brouhaha ticked off many readers, including Jeff of Hackensack:

"Doblin's opinion pieces are usually the lowest of the low in terms of how he must continually mix and interconnect irrelevant metaphors, mottos, symbols, etc., in order to justify his somewhat senseless opinions about various matters.

"He believes that he is also a brilliant humorist and editorialist, who is able to seemingly combine the humorous with the serious in forging his supposedly classic opinions, which are unfortunately frequently way off the mark.

"However, his 'opinion' piece today about the Port Authority fiasco with the reduction of three dedicated tolls lanes to one for Fort Lee's entrance to the GWB has to be one his sickest, if not the sickest attempts at his frightful Goblin, I mean Doblin humor, which is mixed with Shitty, I mean Gritty, opinions to his dominions in the form of a frightful, I mean spiteful, attempt at a humorous, poetic, opinion fleece, I mean piece."

Hackensack news

Downtown Hackensack got some good news with a story about the purchase of a three-story building for a Korean cultural center (Friday's L-2).

Young Cho, board chairman of the non-profit Dongwha Cultural Foundation, is quoted as saying the new center will be three times the size of the current one in Englewood.

On Friday's L-3, a story reporting that the family of a pilot killed near Teterboro Airport "will receive $7.5 million" is inaccurate since about a third of the settlement amount will go to the plaintiffs' lawyer or lawyers.

At Bibi'z in Westwood, Resturant Reviewer Elisa Ung and her guest were served overcooked mahi-mahi and chicken kebab, but she still gave it a good-to-excellent rating (Friday's BL-22).

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Obama saves me $150 a month on health insurance

Health-care savings are floating down on Euclid Avenue in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Thank you, Mr. President, for saving me money on health insurance for my wife and son, and F.U., Governor Christie, for making the enrollment process as difficult as possible.

This morning, I signed up for two Affordable Care Act health insurance policies that will save me about $150 a month, compared to what I paid this year to North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record, where I worked for 29 years.

NJMG cancelled the Aetna policies, effective Dec. 31, telling me and other retirees to seek coverage under Barack Obama's federal initiative.

GOP sabotage

But Christie and conservatives governors in 35 other states refused to set up their own state Web sites -- hoping to derail health-care reform.

That forced me and millions of other shoppers to apply and buy coverage on healthcare.gov, the federal site that broke down from unusually high demand in October and November.

Two no-deductible AmeriHealth Insurance Company of New Jersey "platinum" policies will cost me $850.63 a month, compared to $1,004.27 I paid monthly to NJMG -- more than my pension.

That means I will save $1,800 in  2014 under the Affordable Care Act. Go Obama.

This month, I made several calls and got cut off a few times before I spoke on separate occasions to Chris, Sharon, Karen and Elizabeth at a federal health-care call center in Boise, Idaho.

I filled out an application three times, once online and twice over the phone. It was a hassle, but in a few months, all I'll remember is the $150-a-month savings.

Today's paper

The story about the federal health-care Web site on the front page of The Record today is relentlessly negative, with not a single success story, just like all of the previous stories (A-1).

Christie's role in gumming up the works hasn't been mentioned in The Record for many, many months, as the Woodland Park daily continues to groom the GOP bully for a presidential run in 2016.

Look at the idiotic headline on the Page 1 story about Teterboro Airport:

Jetting in for Super Bowl?

Make reservations now

How many owners of private jets who plan to fly to New Jersey read the print edition?

Of course, it would be asking too much of the editors to report that story from the viewpoint of thousands of residents of Hackensack, Teaneck and other towns near the Port Authority owned airport who are being driven crazy by jet noise -- sure to increase for the six days of Super Bowl festivities (A-1).

Here's the correct headline for the Teterboro story:

Think jets are noisy now?

Order your earplugs soon

Allegedly crooked court officials, a clueless woman in an SUV who almost got squashed by a train, arrests, an indictment and court news -- all are grist for the local-news mill run by desperate Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza (L-1 to L-6).

Second looks

On Wednesday's Local front, Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono (pronounced LOW-yack-a-no) defended the job he has done for the past eight years.

Lo Iacono spoke to reporter Hannan Adely a day after the City Council asked him to step down.

On Wednesday's front page, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes continued to fawn over Christie with her breathless, flag-waving story on his choice of Ellis Island for his second inaugural on Jan. 21.

Hayes reports Ellis Island is the "place where more than 12 million immigrants entered the country in search of the American dream."

That's rich, considering Christie presides over a New Jersey nightmare of high unemployment, low job creation, packed roads, high tolls, overburdened mass transit and crumbling infrastructure.

Hayes gives a bad name to women journalists, and has earned the reputation of acting like the Bride of Frankenstein-Christie.

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Christie: Send immigrants back to their own countries

Recalling poor street plowing in past winters, Hackensack residents were thankful for the light snowfall on Tuesday, but they questioned the superintendent's decision to close schools at 12:30 p.m.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The first major initiative of Governor Christie's second term will be to deport all of the immigrants living in New Jersey, one of the most diverse in the nation.

The GOP bully will make the announcement on Jan. 21 during his inaugural speech on Ellis Island, though there is no mention of that in today's Page 1 story in The Record.

The only immigrants Christie feels comfortable with are educated and wealthy, such as the Latino judge he nominated to the state Supreme Court or the Asian Indian he has put forward to replace Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

Eye on The Record isn't going to repeat the ethnic slur Christie uses to refer to Molinelli, a Democrat whose ancestors emigrated from Italy.

Christie made clear how he feels about working- class immigrants when he vetoed a modest increase in the minimum wage, but angry voters granted the hike by approving a constitutional amendment on Nov. 5.

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With Christie the Bull, traffic and transit are political

Times Square in Manhattan on Sunday night, when shoppers and tourists packed city streets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

After more than three months of prodding and probing by Democrats and the media,  sworn testimony by Port Authority officials suggests closing Fort Lee toll lanes on the George Washington Bridge was political payback by the Christie administration.

The story on Page 1 of The Record today reports Christie appointee David Wildstein ordered the lane closures in September, presumably to punish Fort Lee's mayor, a Democrat who didn't endorse the GOP bully's bid for a second term (A-1).

No surprise here, given the Portly Authority's lack of support for traditional Democratic initiatives, such as expanding mass transit, curbing air pollution and providing affordable health care (A-1 and L-3).

Railroading Democrats

Now, Governor Christie's 2010 decision to kill the Hudson River rail tunnels can be seen in political terms:

The project to expand the number of train seats into Manhattan would have benefited commuters from Bergen and Hudson counties, where Democrats have a big edge in voter registration.

Another A-1 story today, decrying the metropolitan area's uncoordinated transportation system ahead of the Super Bowl in February, is likely the first time The Record has even mentioned that in more than a decade of reporting. 

Transportation reporter Karen Rouse, who wrote today's story, and Road Warrior John Cichowski have done their best to ignore the lack of coordination, as well as packed buses and trains, and mounting traffic congestion, in the past 10 years.


Failed editors, too 

Indeed, an editorial today condemns NJ Transit -- "which remains firmly under the thumb of the Christie administration" -- for not changing "despite its massive failure of leadership during Superstorm Sandy" (A-10).

But NJ Transit failed commuters long before that by not being able to provide enough rush-hour seats into Manhattan.

The same lack of leadership is evident in the performance of Editors Marty Gottlieb, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, whose assignments also ignore major commuting issues.

Another issue the editors have ignored is Christie's role in sabotaging the enrollment of New Jersey residents for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Today, the editors buried a story reporting the anger of Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, who said Christie "stinks on this issue."

Pascrell said Christie's refusal to set up a state marketplace left unspent $7.6 million in federal funds that could have been used to educate and enroll New Jersey residents (L-3).

Stuck in line

Staff Writer John Cichowski appears to be stuck in line at the Motor Vehicle Commission, just one of the many driving -- not commuting -- issues he has obsessed over in the last decade.

Cichowski, hand-picked by Sykes to take over the column in  September 2003, mostly has demonstrated RWI -- reporting while incompetent -- as his three-times-a-week farce demonstrates.

Here is a brief description from the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers of errors in his Sunday column on DWI:

"In his Sunday column, the Road Warrior stumbles through mistakes about penalties and statistics for driving under the influence and new devices to prevent a car from starting for drunk drivers.

"Road Warrior indicates penalties are greater for driving under the influence, if blood-alcohol concentration — the ratio of blood to alcohol in the body — reaches beyond 0.08 percent.

"Actually, the penalties are greater, if the ratio of alcohol to blood reaches 0.10 percent and beyond.

"Anyone with a blood to alcohol ratio of 0.08 percent would have 99.92 percent alcohol in their blood stream. How absurd is that scenario!"

See:

Reporting While Under the Influence of Error 

Hackensack news

On the Local front, Staff Writer Hannan Adely reports Hackensack City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono (pronounced LOW-yack-a-no) has agreed to step down this Friday after holding the job since 2005 (L-1).

Critics charge Lo Iacono didn't do enough to stem problems in the Police Department under the corrupt rule of Ken Zisa, who served as police chief and as a state assemblyman.

They noted that he kept Zisa in the job, despite numerous lawsuits alleging the chief ruled by intimidation and retaliation, including forcing officers to support his candidacy for political office.

Zisa remains under house arrest during his appeal of his 2012 conviction for official corruption and insurance fraud, and a 5-year prison sentence.

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Here's another black mark against Garden State Plaza

A driver from Pennsylvania gets a warm New Jersey welcome at a toll booth on the Garden State Parkway.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus -- often called the state's biggest mall -- appears well on its way to becoming the baddest.

The only story worth reading on Page 1 of The Record today is the heart-tugging account of how a Macy's escalator mangled the foot of an 11-year-old girl, and how a surgeon stepped in to prevent its amputation (A-1).

Westfield in the mall's name is for the Westfield Group, the Australian owner of Garden State Plaza and 90 other shopping centers in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Garden State Plaza receives lavish news coverage in The Record -- payback for all of those full-page ads from Macy's and other mall retailers that are keeping the Woodland Park daily afloat.

Recently, a story in Business heralded the construction of a wing of luxury stores at the Paramus mall -- just what we need as North Jersey continues to struggle with high unemployment and low job creation.

Lawsuits filed

The Aug. 16 accident that nearly killed Juliana Valdez of Bergenfield has sparked two lawsuits, including the family's federal action against Macy's and the company that maintained the escalator, ThyssenKrupp (A-10).

A second black mark against the mall -- and its apparent lack of security -- is the Nov. 4 invasion by gunman Richard Shoop, who committed suicide there, triggering panic among shoppers and a massive police response that proved completely ineffective. 

For a change, The Record's copy desk did a nice job on the injured girl's story, especially the set of bright headlines.

However, Production Editor Liz Houlton missed a major discrepancy: 

The story reports the girl is "getting around on crutches and a walker," but the big A-1 photo just above that shows her in a wheelchair, which isn't mentioned anywhere.

Wrong number

The 10th anniversary issue of (201) magazine landed with a thud on my doorstep.

As usual, the December 2013 issue is a celebration of the wealth and success of Bergen County's white residents.

OK. A few token blacks and other minorities appear in what Publisher Stephen A. Borg calls the pride and joy of all of his North Jersey Media Group publications.

In the current issue, a profile of Englewood stylist Rachel Johnson is the story of how an African-American woman succeeds by exploiting wealthy black athletes who don't have a clue about how to dress (Pages 76-77).

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