Editors taunt Hackensack with medical center's success

One of NJ Transit's roomy double-decker trains pulling into the Clifton station last Monday. Clifton is one of the few stations with a free parking lot for commuters.

Upper deck or lower? Avoid the train's poorly designed upper deck, with its low, head-cracking metal luggage rack. The lower deck, shown here, is a far better bet.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's breathless front-page account today of another Hackensack University Medical Center expansion examines the deal from every angle except the one that means the most to residents of its host city.

"The new organization ... will employ 23,400 people and have more than $3.4 billion in revenues ...," the story reports in the second paragraph (A-1).

The medical center's building boom in Hackensack fundamentally changed the residential character of the neighborhood, and the city has little to show in terms of property tax revenue.

HUMC is non-profit, and hasn't returned anything in lieu of the tens of millions of dollars in taxes denied to the city.

Businesses and homeowners pay more as a result.

Yet, The Record's coverage of HUMC resembles boosterism, perhaps a legacy of the years North Jersey Media Group Vice President/General Counsel Jennifer A. Borg spent on the medical center board.

Localizing Ebola

The local assignment editors sent Staff Writer Christopher Maag to Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday, the first day of "targeted health screenings for the Ebola virus" (A-6).

But someone, likely as editor, screwed up Maag's lead paragraph:

"The first day of targeted health screenings ... was quiet Thursday ...."

Instead, this is how it should have read:

"Thursday, the first day of targeted health screenings ..., was quiet ...."

Why send Maag and not a medical writer? 

The reporter covers NJ Transit and other transportation issues, and the airport presumably is part of his beat, according to the assignment editors' tortured reasoning.

Back to the story. Let's hope Nana Smith of Hackensack doesn't suffer any fallout from being photographed at the airport "waiting for a friend from Ghana" (A-6).

More Garrett lies

Diane Callaghan of River Vale, a letter writer, says a TV ad promoting another term for Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, claims the six-termer hits the ground running every morning "to create better economic opportunities for women and their families" (A-18).

Callaghan notes Garrett voted against the Violence Against Women Act, which would have passed tougher sentences for those who commit crimes against women, as well as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which strengthened laws against wage discrimination.

Add women to Superstorm Sandy aid, both of which the Garrett campaign claims the conservative Tea Party icon favored, contrary to the truth.

Garrett will say anything to win another term in the 5th Congressional District -- getting elected is his main concern.

Roy Cho advances

Meanwhile, Democratic challenger Roy Cho of Hackenack says two recent polls show he has "vaulted into a very competitive position within single digits" of Garrett.

Compared to Garrett, who is against anything that will help the middle class, Cho has a lot going for him, including his making his first bid for elective office.

Redistricting of the 5th District in 2011 added several heavily Democratic communities, including Hackensack.

Seventy percent of the voters in the district live in Bergen County. 

The boomerang-shaped district stretches from the Delaware to the Hudson rivers.

Stomach turning

Flies not only stand on poop, they eat it, so word that Staff Writer Elisa Ung "repeatedly waved away flies in the dining room" of S. Egidio in Ridgewood is an instant turnoff (BL-16).

Only an overweight restaurant reviewer who tops off full meals with a Nutella-stuffed calzone and cheesecake could love this Neapolitan pizzeria, on which she bestows 2.5 stars.

Restaurant names continue to puzzle me. 

This joint is named after saint I never heard of. What about the Indian restaurant called Dhoom?

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A funny thing happened on my way to voting for Roy Cho

This morning, my vote for Roy Cho was signed, sealed and delivered to the Board of Elections in Hackensack

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've been using mail-in ballots for a few years, but for security always deliver them by hand to the Board of Elections in the Bergen County Administration Building in Hackensack.

On Wednesday, I drove there around 11:30 a.m.. only to be told by a security guard to park in the employees garage -- the visitors lot was full because of a weekly farmers' market.

He told me I could park only on the fourth or fifth floor of the parking deck, and with speed bumps, it took a long time just to get to the third level.

That's when I turned around, and drove to Englewood, where I arrived late for my volunteer shift at the medical center.

This morning, my ballot and my wife's ballot, marked for Democrats Cory Booker and Roy Cho, the 5th Congressional District challenger, were signed, sealed and delivered to the Elections Board.

My ballot marked for Roy Cho.

'In striking distance'

Today, The Record tries to minimize a poll showing Cho, an attorney who lives in Hackensack, trails the incumbent by only 5 points.

The story was played on the Local front and focused on Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, one of the most conservative members of Congress (L-1).

Garrett has ignored the needs of his constituents to focus on staying in office. He is seeking a seventh term in the Nov. 4 election. 

Click on the following link to read about the poll:

Challenger in striking distance

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Political columnist is feeding Obama critics' racial animus

The Record today tries to assess President Obama's popularity in New Jersey while ignoring incompetent officials running the 70 towns in Bergen County. Why not report on the sad state of affairs in Englewood, above, where officials are standing by as the downtown holds a permanent going-out-of-business sale? 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm not sure what point political Columnist Charles Stile is trying to make on Page 1 today -- unless he's channeling all of the racists who still cannot get over the election of our first black president.

President Obama doesn't draw New Jersey crowds at a fundraiser?

So what?

His Affordable Care Act is drawing crowds of people without health insurance, despite Governor Christie's attempts to derail the federal law and The Record looking the other way.

Obama made billions available for Sandy relief only to see the incompetent Christie administration bungle the distribution and allegedly discriminate against minority homeowners.

And how many hundreds of millions in federal mass-transit funds did the GOP bully convert to road and bridge repairs after he killed the sorely needed Hudson River rail tunnels in 2010?

Editor Martin Gottlieb puts Stile on the front page frequently, but still doesn't get that the reporter's relentless focus on "politics" is a huge turn-off for readers.

Update

LOL.

Stile's column became another exercise in masturbatory journalism when Obama cancelled his New Jersey campaign appearance today to stay in Washington and discuss the Ebola outbreak with Cabinet members.

Lawyers always win

Two other stories on Page 1 today have bar associations cheering over the extra legal fees that are being generated by Bergen County's judge shortage, and the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal (A-1).

Letter writer Patricia Pures of River Vale, reacting to all of the front-page sports stories championed by Gottlieb, urges the editor to "please place this news where it belongs," in Sports.

"Or do not have a section for sports," she says (A-8).

Another stupid column

The befuddled Road Warrior still can't find his way to relevant journalism.

Today's column by Staff Writer John Cichowski isn't even about driving, let along commuting (L-1).

Also on L-1 today, a large photo shows one lane of a three-lane section of Route 4 east in Teaneck closed for a minor three-car accident.

Readers can see two cops bullshitting with two firefighters, but no fire and no injured motorists.

The photo over line overstates the effects of the crash:

CRASH TIES UP HIGHWAY

The photo and exaggerated over line are another example of the desperation of the lazy assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, to fill their local-news section.

Breaking bacon news

Better Living continues to publish unhealthy recipes from clueless freelancer Kate Morgan Jackson of Upple Saddle River (BL-2).

Her Pasta with Tomato Bacon Sauce recommends well-salted pasta water, added sugar and eight strips of bacon for 8 ounces of pasta.

Jackson doesn't even recommend uncured bacon without harmful preservatives. Any old crap will do.

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Route 4 apartments haven't saved downtown Englewood

Empty storefronts in downtown Englewood, above and below, persist despite the construction of hundreds of luxury apartments on Route 4 and others on Palisade Avenue. A new residential project reported in The Record today isn't expected to change that significantly.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record has never bothered trying to shed light on Englewood's segregated schools or its fading downtown.

Even when Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg  -- who lives on the city's East Hill -- was publisher, reporting about the small city was superficial at best.

Today, Staff Writer Stephanie Noda says work has begun on a 195-unit apartment complex "that will become one of the city's first new tax ratables in years" (L-1).

That's all it will become, if the past is any guide.

No benefit

Two luxury apartment complexes, Towne Center on Palisade Avenue and The Sheffield on Route 4, were built about six years ago, but the city's fading downtown hasn't benefited.

More apartments went up on Route 4, opposite The Sheffield.

Even when a free shuttle ran between the complexes and downtown, restaurants and merchants continued to struggle.

Once you get past the clunky headline on today's story, you still won't find any discussion of downtown Englewood, as if it is on the moon.

"Operations

begin on

apartment

complex"

What "operations"? Is the headline writer referring to surgery on the complex?

Councilman Wayne Hamer calls the site of the new apartments "attractive," ignoring the relentless assault of road noise and pollution.

The new apartments will be built in front of The Sheffield, where tenants will lose their view, but may gain a little peace and quiet from the complex acting as a buffer to Route 4 noise.

Irrelevant news

In the last week, The Record's front page has looked like the Christian Science Monitor.

Story after story on Catholic high school football teams, and today, a big story on the Vatican (A-1).

Like the vast majority of readers, I am not gay, seeking a divorce, Catholic or the parent of a high school football player, so how are any of these stories relevant to me and so many others?

Paper backs Christie

A long front-page "ANALYSIS" on the history of the state's pioneering Transportation Trust Fund backs Governor Christie's refusal to sign an increase in the gasoline tax to revitalize the bankrupt source of road-repair and mass-transit money (A-1).

"Christie's stance seems to make political sense: Just last week, a poll ... found 58 percent of New Jerseyans oppose a gas tax increase" (A-6).

But Staff Writer Christopher Maag reported earlier in the story the gasoline tax is "heavily subsidized by out-of-state drivers but mostly benefits New Jersey drivers" (first column on A-6).

And do we really want Christie doing what is "political" or do we want the governor to act in the best interests of the region, such as our need for expanded mass transit to ease crushing traffic congestion?

And shouldn't The Record's editors be pushing for a viable road-and-bridge repair fund, not endorsing Christie's regressive policies?

Celeste is one of the shuttered businesses along Englewood's Engle Street, just two blocks from Palisade Avenue.

Englewood update

After I wrote this post, I had lunch in Englewood, and was shocked to see all of the empty storefronts on Engle Street, a block or two from Palisade Avenue.

Two of the shuttered businesses are Celeste, a high-end women's clothing store, and Dean Street Greenery, a flower shop that is featured in a photo slide show on the city's own Web: 

See: cityofenglewood.org/

The Record's local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, have ignored the health of downtown Englewood, Hackensack, Teaneck and other towns.

They send reporters to cover mall retailers, who reward the paper with hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue.

Was this the entrance of Celeste, above and below?

The former Dean Street Greenery, above and below.

This restaurant closed.

Another empty storefront. Are downtown Englewood rents too high? The Record doesn't know or care.

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With Christie in office, we might as well follow H.S. football

A dental and medical building in downtown Closter shares the street with nail, hair and foot-massage salons; several Korean restaurants and a caterer, and a couple of empty storefronts.

More Korean restaurants and businesses can be found in two nearby shopping centers, Closter Commons and Closter Plaza, both of which are badly in need of a makeover.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb of The Record is doing his best to distract readers from the Nov. 4 election.

For the fourth day in a row, the focus appears to be on high school football and Ebola, a potential epidemic created by the media (A-1).

One Page 1 headline seems premature:

SAYREVILLE STARTS HEALING PROCESS

With seven high school students facing sex-crimes charges -- "stemming from an act of sexual penetration on one underclassman," The Record reports -- Sayreville's wounds won't be healing anytime soon, especially if the media has anything to do with it (A-4).

Good health news

The front page today also carries some rare positive news about the federal Affordable Care Act, which Governor Christie did his best to derail in New Jersey (A-1).

In fact, with Christie waging war on the middle and working classes, we might as well follow something as inconsequential as high school football.

Readers have given up hope that Gottlieb and The Record will ever realize the mean-spirited Christie is the worst Garden State governor ever.

Against everything

The GOP bully is anti-everything: 

He's against affordable health insurance, expanding mass transit, taxing millionaires, cleaning up the environment, etc., etc., so on and so forth.

Christie seems to spend much of his time lately out of town, raising money for GOP conservatives and stumping for other Republicans.

N.J. and ISIS

Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson explores the New Jersey congressional delegation's stance on ISIS, the militant Islamic group that is trying to take over Iraq and Syria (A-1).

With only three weeks to go before the election, he should be doing a better job contrasting the positions of Roy Choy, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage.

The Tea Party icon is seeking a seventh term of naysaying from the 5th Congressional District.

What kind of reporter is Jackson? A lazy one. 

Why doesn't he or another staffer ask residents of the district -- which includes Fair Lawn, Hackensack and most of Teaneck -- what they think of the job Garrett hasn't done.

Another screw-up

Also on Page 1, the headline on a brief says "$2.7B is pledged to rebuild Gaza."

But when readers turn to the full story on A-6, the amount pledged to Gaza doubles to $5.4 billion.

Here are some other numbers: 

Incompetent Production Editor Liz Houlton gets a six-figure salary to prevent such errors from getting into the paper.

Why not halve her salary?

Fund-raiser report

Today, the front of Local focuses on the charity fund-raiser of the week: Curing diabetes.

But you won't find the paper's food writers checking their blood-sugar levels anytime soon.

They're too busy pushing dessert and other sugary foods as a major source of nutrients. 

The front of Local also carries a photo and story on the installation of a Martin Luther King Jr. statue on the Hackensack campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University (L-1).

On Saturday's Local front, a stand-alone photo of Bergen County's first MLK statue forgot to mention whether the memorial was on the Teaneck or Hackensack campus.

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Football brutality, boring Bergen politics, perverted priests

The Modern, the first of two 47-story residential towers approved by Fort Lee officials despite strong community opposition. The first tenants are expected to move in next month. A 2-bedroom apartment with indoor parking for two cars goes for about $5,000 a month.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

What a front page!

The ritualized brutality of two masturbatory Catholic high school football teams dominates Page 1 of The Record today -- for the third day in a row.

Bringing up the rear, below the fold, are perverted priests who make many readers glad they are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist -- anything but the Catholic parents of an abused boy (A-1).

The third major element is a boring Charles Stile column delving into Bergen County's politics and looking ahead to the next race for governor in 2016 (A-1).

Road kill

In Local, Road Warrior John Cichowski issues a rare report on Bergen County's antiquated road system that has absolutely nothing to do with commuting, traffic congestion and crowded mass transit.

His fist paragraph suggests the authorities should respond to complaints about drivers taking short cuts through quiet neighborhoods just like they do when a murder is reported (L-1).

Garrett must go

In Opinion, Columnist Brigid Harrison, who lost a house to Sandy, attacks Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, for sending out a campaign flier claiming he "worked to bring immediate relief to [Superstorm] Sandy victims" (O-2).

Of course, six days after the storm hit New Jersey on Oct. 28, 2012, Garret did no such thing, being the only member of the state's delegation who refused to sign a letter asking for federal disaster relief.

"You can't trust and respect someone who does one thing, and then claims to have done another because it is politically expedient," Harrison says.

Traveling music

Travel Editor Jill Schensul recently said she doesn't take free trips, but does negotiate a preferential "press rate."

"It's the way we have come up with to keep providing Record-generated stories, photos and insights rather than wire copy for our readers," Schensul told JimRomenesko.com, a prominent media blog.

But today and last Sunday, Schensul ran long wire-service travel stories in her 4-page section.

Today, the Los Angeles Times supplied nearly two full pages of text and photos about vacationing in Taos, New Mexico.

And on T-4, The Associated Press supplied a story on the Space Needle in Seattle.

Her sole contribution today is a long column on Paddington bears in London, whatever they are. (O-1).

Second look

On Saturday, a story on Thom Ammirato reported the former Hackensack city spokesman resigned as a communications consultant with the Bergen County Executive's Office (Saturday's Local front).

Hackensack reporter Todd South says Ammirato struck a deal with the Prosecutor's Office, which was investigating him.

Hackensack Scoop, a local blog, revealed the agreement on Friday.

Ammirato's $78,000-a-year contract with Hackensack was terminated on June 24. 

He had been a consultant and spokesman for Citizens for Change, which swept the May 2013 municipal election.

The cash-strapped city will not be hiring another spokesman anytime soon, a City Council member said recently. 

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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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