Editors should end Road Warrior column now

A shortage of rush-hour seats on NJ Transit trains and buses, speeding drivers and lax enforcement of traffic laws are just three of the many pressing commuting issues ignored by Road Warrior John Cichowski, who continues to churn out inaccurate and exaggerated columns three times a week.

Today's Road Warrior column amounts to little more than Staff Writer John Cichowski's well-disguised correction of his first, wildly exaggerated  column on the pedestrian bridge over Port Imperial Boulevard in Weehawken that was published only 4 days ago.

It's time for Editor Marty Gottlieb of The Record to end the Road Warrior column, which continually violates the high standards of accuracy newspapers demand of their reporters.

Errors galore

I'm not talking about typos, the many math errors Cichowski commits or how he often contradicts himself from one column to the next.

Wednesday's Page 1 column intentionally created a transportation crisis that didn't exist, and strongly suggested that pedestrians were being injured or killed crossing Port Imperial Boulevard to reach the NY Waterway ferry. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth, as today's L-1 column sheepishly admits on L-6.

Even Friday's Road Warrior column on the first traffic signal installed in Ringwood carried an L-1  photograph that directly contradicted Cichowski's claim that "no more than 7" cars backed up at the new light.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers, which discusses historical, mathematical and other errors in the Ringwood column:

Road Warrior keeps on lying to readers  

Dead stories

Today's front page keeps on beating dead horses.

Three of the four main element are follow-ups to stale controversies involving the allegedly dishonest Assemblyman Robert Schroeder, LG Electronics' high-rise plan for the Palisades and Big Data.

Cliff notes

Coverage of LG amounts to little more than endless reporting of who is in favor and who is against the South Korean electronic giant's headquarters plan in Englewood Cliffs.

Today's A-1 story quotes an angry Mayor Joseph Parisi Jr.

Isn't it time for The Record's editors to research lawsuits and talk to neighbors of other corporate developments to uncover what borough officials might have done in the past in their desperate bid for ratables?

More guesswork

The fourth main story on A-1 today is about a "serious incident" in Leonia that keeps readers guessing from beginning to end.

Sadly, the story amounts to a shameful admission by head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes that she and her staff have so few sources in that town they have to wait for press releases to tell readers the full story.

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A woman will give Chris Christie a big spanking

A sight gag between 6th and 7th avenues in Manhattan.

A Page 1 photo in The Record today -- showing Governor Christie shaking hands with former President Bill Clinton -- is a useful reminder that his mean-spirited policies don't stand a chance against a woman challenger.

In the unlikely event Christie wins a second term in November over the middle-class challenge from Democrat Barbara Buono, the GOP bully's well-padded derriere will get a good spanking from Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest (A-1 and A-4).

Christie booster

The Record's story on A-4 today again quotes a favorite source, Patrick Murphy -- an unabashed Christie booster -- from the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Murphy says Christie's appearance at a Chicago conference on Friday "reflected the governor's ongoing effort to burnish his bipartisan credentials."

Veto-happy

What "bipartisan credentials"?

Murphy must be referring to Christie's numerous vetoes, killing everything from an income-tax surcharge on millionaires to a hike in the minimum wage.

Those two vetoes alone help explain "the standing ovations" Christie received on Wednesday from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. (Thursday's A-8).

And let's not forget the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks Christie has given to businesses -- whether they create jobs or not.

Dissing Hackensack

In another blow to Hackensack, Christie has approved 5 liquor licenses for a planned Teterboro shopping center that is getting a $19 million state tax break (A-1 and A-10 today).

Costco Wholesale is expected to close its Hackensack store and build a bigger one in the Teterboro development.

Leave him alone

Why doesn't The Record just leave Edward DeBono alone?

The lead front-page story today -- for the second day in a row -- is about the discovery of Cathy Ann DeBono's body in her car at the bottom of the Monksville Reservoir in West Milford more than 5 years after she disappeared (A-1).

Monksville supplies drinking water to readers.

But none of the stories have discussed the impact on water quality from her deteriorating body or from gasoline, oil and other fluids in the car.

Let's hope Toyota doesn't produce a commercial showing that her 2004 Camry's engine turned over after 5 years under water.

And who OK'd the fractured headline over Friday's huge A-1 story on Cathy Ann DeBono?

Body's discovery

brings back old pain

The apostrophe means the "discovery" belongs to the "body." Does that make sense to anyone but Production Editor Liz Houlton, the Queen of Errors?

Big corrections

Today's A-2 carries corrections of stock market charts and a front-page graphic on defibrillators.

How did those huge screw-ups get past Houlton?

Friday's paper

The entire Road Warrior column on Friday's Local front is devoted to the first traffic light installed in Ringwood -- a development that is sure to smooth the commute of his readers, especially those who have never heard of the place (L-1).

Readers are still waiting for the first Road Warrior column from Staff Writer John Cichowski that is free of error.

Unclear text

On Friday's L-3, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes runs another filler photo of a car-utility pole accident. 

As usual, the caption doesn't say whether the driver was texting or masturbating when the car went out of control or whether the pole's powerful magnets caused the accident.

Low-quality steak

It's hard to understand how freelancer Bob Probert can give a good-to-excellent rating to Assembly, an Englewood Cliffs steakhouse that charges $25 for farmed salmon and $45 for an additive-filled T-bone (BL-20 in Friday's Better Living).

Mordaga profile

Friday's edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle ran the first of a 3-part profile of Mike Mordaga, Hackensack's civilian police director.

Mordaga has been in the job since Feb. 4, but The Record still hasn't reported on the many changes he has made to improve a Police Department that was brought to its knees by the politics of Ken "I Am The Law" Zisa, the former chief.

Zisa was found guilty of official corruption and insurance fraud, but remains free during his appeal of the conviction and 5-year prison sentence.

Unfortunately, the Chronicle story drops a line or two of type in the penultimate paragraph on Page 2.

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NJMG, Bergen County are bad for Hackensack

Bergen County has agreed to lease 540 parking spaces at the former headquarters of The Record in Hackensack, above, from North Jersey Media Group, and provide shuttle buses to the courthouse. These dumpsters were still in place on Monday, nearly four years after the publishing company and its flagship newspaper moved out.

It isn't known whether any of the parking spaces near the U.S.S. Ling are included in the parking deal, which might further delay development of the property in tax-poor Hackensack.

Lots of equipment has been staged in The Record's parking lot in recent months, but the wealthy Borg family haven't disclosed their plans for the 20 acres they own along River Street or whether their landmark newspaper building will be torn down.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

It's bad enough that North Jersey Media Group and The Record abandoned Hackensack in 2009, sending Main Street merchants into a tail-spin from which they still haven't recovered.

But the selfish Borg family -- NJMG's owners -- still haven't announced plans for development of their 20 acres along River Street -- property that could generate much-need revenue for tax-poor Hackensack.

Now, according to a story on today's Local front, Bergen County will begin construction on a new Justice Center on Court Street, and lease 540 parking spaces in the parking lot of the old Record building for more than $777,000.

These developments are really bad news for Hackensack residents and the reform slate of City Council members who will be sworn in on July 1 after campaigning against a 65% property tax hike under successive Zisa family administrations.

Borgs get richer

The wealthy Borgs will cash in on their eyesore, but Hackensack won't see any additional tax revenue from NJMG or tax-exempt Bergen County.

The tax-exempt Justice Center will pile on hundreds of millions of dollars of tax-free property owned by Hackensack University Medical Center and Fairleigh Dickinson University -- two of The Record's media darlings.

And the 2-year parking-space lease with the county may prevent development of 150 River Street and nearby acres through July 2015 and beyond.

Rumors of a new Walmart on the Borg's River Street property have evaporated, and now Walmart will be opening a new store in Teterboro.

Is Costco leaving?

And Costco Wholesale reportedly will close its store opposite the Bergen County Courthouse complex, and build a larger store in Teterboro next to Walmart, depriving Hackensack of more tax revenue.

It's unclear why the Borgs didn't offer their 20 acres to Costco or to the developer of a proposed 19-story acute-care hospital who has been battling the city of Hackensack and Prospect Avenue residents for close to 4 years.

Today's L-1 story on the new Justice Center makes a mysterious reference to revenue from "the metered parking lot" offsetting the cost of the county's parking lease with NJMG, and "the county's existing metered lot" (L-6).

Christie's lap dogs

The Record continues to talk up Governor Christie's chances for winning a second term and to discount the challenge from Democrat Barbara Buono (A-1 and A-8).

All this wasted space on politics -- without any discussion of Christie's many policy failures and mismanagement of state finances -- is what we've come to expect from Editor Marty Gottlieb, Columnist Charles Stile and the paper's robotic Trenton reporters.

Hackensack news?

Coverage of Hackensack is going  to the dogs -- with the byline of Hackensack reporter Hannan Adely appearing for a second day today on a story about a pit bull that attacked two 12-year-old boys in Lyndhurst (L-1).

On Tuesday, Adlely reported police news from Clifton and fire news from Rutherford.

More crumbs

Esther Davidowitz is listed as the new food editor in the "CONTACT US" box on BL-2 today, but her byline on the Better Living front identifies her as "STAFF WRITER."

Readers looking for guidance on preparing healthy meals at home can turn the page: 

Davidowtiz promotes a new, expensive cooking school in Englewood.

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Tear up your Hackensack City Council schedule

The doors to Hackensack City Hall were locked on Tuesday evening, shortly before a scheduled City Council meeting, as they were when this photo was taken on Feb. 18. Unfortunately, some residents didn't see the cancellation notice on the city's official Web site.




The lame-duck Hackensack City Council met on Monday night, canceling its scheduled Tuesday meeting, and The Record didn't cover the meeting, leaving some residents in the dark.

The big Hackensack news today is Tuesday's  ceremonial opening of the Alfred and Mary Sanzari Garden on Main Street, opposite the Bergen County Courthouse (L-6).

More big lies

Road Warrior John Cichowski apparently lied to his editors to get his column on Page 1 today, and is lying to readers about a transportation crisis that existed only in his own feeble mind.

His lead paragraph reports that "for six long years," commuters have "dodged four lanes of speeding traffic" to reach the NY Waterway ferry in Weehawken.

But that's only true for jaywalkers, because there is both a crosswalk and a traffic light there, Weehawken police said today.

Neither is mentioned anywhere in the column, which also refers to "the dangerous pedestrian crossing that Weehawken's mayor has been complaining about since 2007" (A-1).

What's the truth?

A Weehawken police sergeant I spoke with this morning said that since 2007, not a single pedestrian has been injured or killed by a car in that crosswalk.

It's likely Cichowski also can't be believed that "hardly anybody" is using the new footbridge to cross over Port Imperial Boulevard between the light-rail station and ferry.

Cichowski and The Record apparently missed the ribbon-cutting last Wednesday, and there was no mention the footbridge had opened in Thursday's paper.

So, he apparently is trying to hide his refusal to leave his comfortable chair in front of the computer to cover important mass-transit developments.

Analyze this

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes strung together a bunch of quotes from boosters of Governor Christie's bid for a second term, and Editor Marty Gottlieb put the so-called ANALYSIS on the front page.

Stick with this story for some unintended hilarity:

"The message is sent that the Democrats are staying home on this governor's race ... [an apparent reference to shut-ins]."

"Christie is incredible, he takes all the air out of the room [not to mention all the food]."

The story reports the endorsement of Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, a Democrat, but not that Christie got only 27% of the vote in that county in 2009.

Local news on A-1?

For the past 3 days, the central element on Page 1 has revolved around local news.

It's a hopeful sign that Gottlieb has given up trying to impose his Times-like world view on readers with tons of international and national news on the front page.

Of course, that means that head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local news section will continue to languish.

Cardiac cook-off

The Record has a new food editor, but continues to run recipes that are guaranteed to give readers heart problems.

An artery clogging recipe for BLT Pasta appears on the Better Living cover today (BL-1). A recipe for Strawberry Shortcake in on BL-2.

The bacon recipe is from Kate Morgan Jackson, a food blogger from Upper Saddle River whose recipe for Steak and Blue Cheese Salad appeared on May 29.

Jackson apparently doesn't even know enough to recommend uncured, additive-free bacon or beef that isn't raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones.

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Choking readers again with politics, police news

The crown on top of the Johnson Public Library in Hackensack.

Three of the 5 main elements on Page 1 of The Record today are about politics.

And in a 6-page Local section, there are 11 police or court stories standing in for municipal news.

The A-1 story on NJ Transit doesn't report that what train riders need most during rush hour is more seats, not Wi-Fi.

The Record continues to focus on the brouhaha over phone spying by the federal government (A-1).

But the story doesn't mention that one of its reporters, Road Warrior John Cichowski, was recorded wailing to his assignment editor he had run out of press releases to rewrite.

Jeffrey who?

Have any of the stories on Jeffrey Chiesa told readers how long he will serve as a seat warmer in the U.S. Senate (A-1)?

Or when whomever wins the special October election will take the late Frank R. Lautenberg's seat in the Senate, and how long he or she will serve until they have to run again (A-1 and A-6)?

More hot air

In columns on Sunday and June 2, Cichowski reported on gas stations offering free compressed air, but there were numerous errors in both lists, according to a concerned reader:

"The Road Warrior provided an almost useless list with mistaken and incomplete location information for various gas stations that offer free compressed air for tires in his June 2 and 9 columns. 

"ALL 22 of the stations had mistaken or incomplete information after he tried to correct and update that list.

"His mistakes included wrong towns, streets, cross streets, station name or addresses.

"His incomplete information for remaining stations included the main road, but no cross streets. It would be more difficult to find the stations since many of these main roads are several miles or longer.

"The Road Warrior published this information from readers without a careful review.

"Road Warrior was negligent in not verifying locations to ensure they were accurate and complete enough to be of value for others, who would not be familiar with the cited areas.

"Does the Road Warrior have any responsibilities to The Record and its reader for which he can be held accountable?

"As a special courtesy to Eye on the Record readers, I have posted next to my 6/9 article on this Facebook page an updated, corrected list with more complete location information."

Read the full e-mail to management at the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers: 

Ship of facts springs more leaks

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Finally, a news story on Englewood's racial divide

One of the many empty storefronts on Palisade Avenue in Englewood, a city of 30,000 that has always been divided by income and race. City Hall is reflected in the window of this shuttered restaurant.

Today's Page 1 story on "a divided Englewood" is likely the first time in decades The Record has acknowledged the city's long-standing racial and class divisions. 

Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg, who lives on the city's wealthy East Hill, typifies white residents.

Borg sent his children to private schools, and the newspaper he owns, although located only 6 miles from Englewood until 2009,  has never been a force for change in the divided city or its segregated schools.

Today's story on neglect of the city ice rink is another sad chapter in a city dominated by wealthy white residents, including an influx of Orthodox Jewish families.

Simply put, they resent having to pay property taxes for public schools they don't use, and certainly don't want to pay higher taxes to repair the ice rink or turn the 100-year-old Lincoln School into a community center, because both are in a minority neighborhood.

Cat's meow

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes gives more ink to the search for kittens stuck in an Elmwood Park drainage pipe than she ever has to drivers killed in single-car accidents (Local front).

On L-5, a story about a lawsuit against current and former Hackensack police officers reports it was filed last week in "New Jersey" Superior Court.

Ex-staffer returns

Esther Davidowitz, who was a reporter at The Record in the 1970s, has been named food editor, replacing Susan Leigh Sherrill.

Two briefs credited to her appear today on BL-3 (one with a typo), and she was listed as food editor in a BL-2 box on Sunday.

Readers have been starving for better coverage of food and nutrition, including recipes that don't rely so heavily on artery clogging butter and cream or antibiotic-filled meat and poultry.

Davidowitz was editor in chief of Westchester Magazine, and former editor at two other magazines. First for Woman and Women's Day.

In the 1970s, Davidowitz covered local news out of The Record's sexually liberated Hackensack newsroom.

More road errors

Try as he might, Road Warrior John Cichowski can't seem to get it right, no matter what he fills his column with.

On Friday, in discussing the pivotal role of U.S. Sen. Frank R. Launtenberg, D-N.J., in improving transportation, Cichowski played fast and loose with the facts, as an e-mail to Editor Marty Gottlieb explains:

"When reminiscing and paying tribute to [the late] Frank R. Lautenberg, who was known as  'Mr. Transportation,' it would be nice if The Road Warrior did not dishonor his memory with false facts in his column of June 7.

 
"The Road Warrior incorrectly reported the original cost (which he grossly overstated in previous columns) of the Secaucus Junction rail station.

"He also FAILED to mention its full official name as the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction.

"He also missed the creation of NJ Transit by close to a decade, and the number of NJ Transit lines that go to Secaucus Junction."

Read the full e-mail at the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Errors derail readers again

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VP conspired to defraud NJMG, lawsuit alleges

The Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, above, is only blocks away from The Record's old headquarters, below, where a conspiracy to defraud North Jersey Media Group cost the publishing company millions of dollars, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed in April. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Peter Van Lenten Jr., who was North Jersey Media Group's vice president of information technology until April 2009, allegedly helped about two dozen others defraud the publishing company by submitting "false and inflated invoices" for equipment and services, according to a lawsuit.

The NJMG lawsuit, filed in April, alleges the company paid more than $2 million "on false and/or inflated invoices" from 2001 to 2009.

Van Lenten, who died in April 2010, also is alleged to have helped other defendants "supply temporary workers to NJMG at greatly inflated charges."

"From 2001 to 2009, NJMG paid ... in excess of $1 million for temporary workers," including retired NJMG employees, the lawsuit alleges.

NJMG also paid invoices "for time that was not worked" or for temp workers whose qualifications were misrepresented "to charge inflated rates for their time," according to the lawsuit.

Mary Linley, a personal assistant, was paid $22.50 an hour when she retired from NJMG in August 2001, according to the suit, but defendant IC Systems Solutions charged the company $47 an hour for her time when she returned as a temp.

Tom Hemmerling was paid $22.27 an hour on the IT Help Desk at NJMG when he retired in August 2001, according to the suit, but ICSS charged the company $60 an hour for his time.

Porn suit

Van Lenten figured in another lawsuit, this one filed by former employee Tracey McCain against NJMG and Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg.

She alleged that Borg was using company computers to disseminate pornography to other managers, including Van Lenten, her boss.

As reported in a previous Eye on The Record post:

"McCain, of Englewood, says she worked for NJMG from 2000 to April 22, 2009, when she was fired. 

"She was hired as technical coordinator for the IT department in what is now Woodland Park. In 2007, she was promoted to IT logistics manager.

"Borg, who is in his 70s, is the former publisher of The Record, a job taken over by his son, Stephen A. Borg, who was not a defendant in the suit. The elder Borg also lives in Englewood.

"McCain says one of her duties was to read e-mails sent to her supervisor, who was identified in legal papers as Peter Van Lenten Jr., the late vice president of information technology.

"Commencing in or about 2000 and until plaintiff's employment terminated [April 2009], defendant Borg committed acts of sexual harassment of plaintiff," according to the complaint.

NJMG and the elder Borg settled McCain's suit in September 2011 by paying her an unspecified amount of money.

In addition to the Van Lenten estate, the fraud suit filed in April names as defendants:

IC Systems Solutions Inc. and Computer Network Solutions LLC, both of 270 Broadway in Hillsdale; and Philip and Nancy Nolan of Montvale, officers of one or both companies.

Also named as defendants were 10 unnamed current or former NJMG employees, and 10 unnamed companies "who assisted defendants in defrauding NJMG." 

An amended answer filed last week by Stephen R. Bosin of River Edge, attorney for the Van Lenten estate, denies the allegations.

The case has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Robert C. Wilson in Hackensack.

Today's paper

On Page 1 today, two of The Record's sorry columnists nibble at the edges of last week's big stories -- the death and career of U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, and the bid of Newark Mayor Cory Booker to replace the New Jersey Democrat in Washington.

Political Columnist Charles Stile claims Booker is copying Governor Christie's style.

Burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly came up with a really lame idea -- interviewing people who live in the Paterson apartment and neighborhood where Lautenberg grew up "more than eight decades ago."

Both columns carefully avoid discussing Lautenberg and Booker in terms of politicians who see their basic missions as helping people better their lives, while Christie sees his as bettering his life and the lives of his wealthy supporters.

Also on A-1, the obituary of Sallie Brady, 47, a magazine writer who died recently in a Ramsey house fire, reports her interesting life was cut short by a faulty dishwasher (A-8).

Road laziness

Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski sees his mission as staying as close to his computer as possible and avoiding the legwork every good reporter must do, especially one writing about commuting problems.

Today, Cichowski rewrites a press release on New  Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. giving driving simulators to 55 high schools (L-1), which has nothing to do with commuting.

Last week, in his column on impatient drivers at right-turn-on-red intersections, a concerned reader had this to say in an e-mail to Editor Marty Gottlieb and management:

"The Road Warrior focuses his column of June 5 on over-exaggerated, unsubstantiated and  false claims of readers. It is about a supposed widespread epidemic of a significant portion of drivers blowing their horns at others signaling to turn right at red lights.

"The few exaggerated claims from readers are either irrelevant based on cited intersections, which I frequently use, or are not supported since there was NO Road Warrior investigation about those cases.

"When a reader claims 'everybody' is honking at her when she stops to turn at red lights, you know that is next to impossible, unless she is causing her own problems.

"Readers cite specific intersections and towns where this horn blowing is 'virulent' or 'epidemic.' Yet, I NEVER hear any horn blowing when I frequent these intersections or traffic volume is so low that there are very few drivers that even turn right on red.

"The Road Warrior simply assumes the over-exaggerated or false claims are true and assembles a misleading story that further distorts the facts. 

"The Road Warrior once again provides long- winded irrelevant and incorrect answers to readers' questions. He seems to be unable to comprehend readers' questions about traffic lights and walk signals in order to provide relevant answers."

For the full e-mail, see the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Blowing smoke about right turns on red

Of course, a real menace are impatient or late drivers who speed, tailgate and cut off others, especially on the parkway and turnpike, and the decline in enforcement.

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