Despite 2020 quarantine, more readers drop The Record and NorthJersey.com

LOCAL JOURNALIM OR LITTER? The Hackensack Chronicle, owned by the Gannett Co., long ago lost its own staff and now reprints news stories and other material from The Record of Woodland Park. I find the free weekly in the driveway of my home every Friday.

 Circulation, advertising revenue

fall for the 4th year in a row

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Despite having a captive audience in 2020, The Record and NorthJersey.com continued to lose readers and advertising revenue for the 4th year in row.

Gannett's annual report for 2020 shows once again the widely reviled print edition and website failed to hold onto readers, despite the Covid-19 pandemic that forced many North Jersey residents to stay home or work remotely.

In July 2016, Gannett bought Hackensack-based North Jersey Media Group  -- including The Record, Herald News, NorthJersey.com and numerous weekly newspapers -- from the Borg family for nearly $40 million in cash.

More than 110 years

The Record had been based for more than 110 years in Hackensack before the Borgs executed the biggest downsizing in company history in 2008, closed the headquarters building at 150 River St. in 2009, and moved to Woodland Park. 

In 2020, circulation of The Record and its affiliated website, NorthJersey.com, declined to 47,004 daily and 62,057 on Sunday, according to Gannett Co.'s annual report.

That compares to 52,623 daily and 70,682 on Sunday at the end of 2019.

Compared to total readership in 2016, that's pathetic.

At the end of 2016, total circulation for the print edition and website was given as 235,681 daily and 147,609 on Sunday.

In 10th place

In 2020, The Record and NorthJersey.com held onto 10th place among Gannett's major publications across the United States, including USA Today, the Detroit Free Press and The Arizona Republic.

According to a the Letter LY blog, U.S. newspaper print circulation is the lowest in the last 80 years:

• In 2020, The Wall Street Journal’s circulation fell below the 1-million mark.
• Due to declining readership, 1 in 5 US newspapers has folded in the last 15 years.
• American newspapers will see their ad revenue cut in half by 2024.
• Newsroom employment dropped by 23% since 2008.
• Americans prefer digital newspapers over social media as a news source.

#gannettruinedmypaper

NorthJersey.com carries photos of all staff members at the website, The Record and (201) magazine, a total of 86 employees.

Last week, Gannett employees who want to form a union announced on Twitter they had prevailed in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board -- by a vote of 59-4 -- and called on the company to bargain with them.

In the first 8 months or so after Gannett acquired North Jersey Media Group in July 2016, about 350 employees were laid off.

Previous reports

Here is my previous reporting on readership of The Record and NorthJersey.com since Gannett took over; laid off hundreds of employees, including reporters, editors and copy editors; and gutted local news coverage of Hackensack and other communities:

In 2019, The Record and NorthJersey,com lost 16,000 readers daily, 19,600 on Sunday

Ganett admits readership of The Record, NorthJersey,com dropped dramatically after takeover

Staffers at The Record, two other Gannett dailies are trying to join a union

Bounced from Hackensack slate, official accepts backing of discredited Zisa family

WHAT IS HE HIDING? In this April 2018 photo taken at a Hackensack City Council meeting, then Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker, in a black hoodie, hides from a cellphone camera. Now, Nunnermacker is serving as spokesman for Deputy Mayor David Sims, who was dropped from Mayor John Labrosse's slate in the upcoming council election.

 Deputy Mayor David Sims

heads own ticket on May 11

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Deputy Mayor David Sims is a walking contradiction.

Sims has served on the Hackensack City Council since 2013, when he and four others first won election on a reform platform after decades of rule by the Zisa family and its allies.

But after he was dumped from Mayor John Labrosse's council slate for violating the Covid-19 lockdown at City Hall, Sims has enlisted Zisa allies to run with him and serve as his spokesman in the May 11 council election.

And they've chosen to call themselves the "Coalition for Clean Government."

So, here's the contradiction: 

Is Sims saying that since 2013, he's been part of a governing council that wasn't "clean"?

A third slate

A third slate of candidates in the non-partisan May 11 election is led by Leila Amirhamzeh, development director of New Jersey Citizen Action and a former member of the Hackensack Board of Education.

Sims "is turning to the Zisa political dynasty for financial and political backing," Jason DeAlessi, a spokesman for the Amirhamzeh slate, told NorthJersey.com.

"The people of Hackensack are tired of the same political fights of the past and deserve better," DeAlessi said.

MAIL-IN VOTING: We've already received our 4 mail-in ballots for the non-partisan Hackensack City Council election on May 11, as well as campaign material from the Labrosse Team.

MAYOR AND COUNCIL: From left, Councilwoman Stephanie Von Rudenborg, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino, Mayor John Labrosse (seated), Deputy Mayor David Sims and Councilman Leonardo Battaglia (2017 photo from City of Hackensack).

Sims' spokesman

In a March 19 story in the Hackensack Chronicle, NorthJersey.com quoted Jason Nunnermacker as a spokesman for Sims.

Nunnermacker, a lawyer who is a key ally of the Zisa family, served as Board of Education president and ran unsuccessfully for the City Council.

Nunnermacker noted Sims' past electoral successes, saying they were the result of "his devotion to our community," according to NorthJersey.com.

'Zisaville'

The Zisa family's decades-long grip on Hackensack turned the city into a laughing stock called "Zisaville."

Jack Zisa, the former 4-term mayor (1989-2005), tried to return to power in the 2017 City Council election by backing a 5-member slate, just as he is doing now.

His father, the late Frank Zisa, served 16 years on the City Council and as mayor for one term (1977-81); his brother, Ken Zisa, was the city's police chief for many years and served in the state Assembly (1994-2002); another brother, Frank Zisa Jr., served as deputy police chief; and a cousin, Joseph C. Zisa Jr., was the city attorney for many years.

When the Zisas ruled Hackensack, greed, nepotism and partisan politics were king, as I reported in 2017.

READ: When the Zisas ruled Hackensack...

READ: The Record was clueless 

on Zisas' bid to regain control of city

2020 ends with my first dose of vaccine, potential end to our national nightmare

As a volunteer at Englewood Health, formerly known as Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, I was offered a first dose of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine to prevent the coronavirus disease, which has killed more than 340,000 Americans this year. 

After I entered the hospital on Wednesday, I was asked to put on a mask over the mask I was wearing and to sanitize my hands. Other visitors were subjected to temperature checks, and the hospital cafeteria was closed to outsiders, including me. 

We ate healthy and stayed healthy, explored the great outdoors

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- "Lines." 

That is my answer to the headline on the front of The New York Times for Kids section last Sunday:

"If I had to describe my 2020 in one word, it would be _____."

When the quarantine began in March, nine long months ago, I stopped going to the gym and no longer was able to visit patients as a volunteer at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, now known as Englewood Health.

That meant that as an older American, food shopping was my only means of exercise, and on my trips to Costco Wholesale, Whole Foods Market, ShopRite and H Mart, I encountered long lines of masked shopper shifting from foot to foot as they waited to get in.

Monotony

The second word I'd use to describe 2020 is "monotony." 

I pretty much get up every day before 6 a.m.

First, I make coffee, then after showering, I eat a big breakfast of leftovers or prepare an egg white omelet for other family members.

I also go food shopping early during senior hours, take a midday nap, eat or prepare dinner as early as 3 p.m., settle down in front of the TV around 4 or go for a short drive to a nearby town, then go to bed around 10:30 p.m., and get up during the night 2 or 3 times to go to the bathroom.

We spend a lot more money on food than most families of 4 because I am a pescatarian who hasn't eaten beef, pork, lamb or poultry for a decade, and my wife, son and mother-in-law are dedicated meat eaters.

This year also has seen us buying as much organic, pesticide-free food and produce as possible; only wild-caught seafood; and making sure they only eat meat and poultry raised without harmful pesticides and growth hormones.

And as an older American and amateur cook, I also have had to watch out when using recipes from The Times and other sources that are filled with artery clogging butter and cream, excessive sodium and sugar.

Beside covid in 2020, another health concern that was exposed by Consumer Reports magazine is the real danger of microplastics in our air, and our food and water supplies.

That prompted me to replace all of our plastic food-storage containers with glass, and brew our morning coffee in a stainless-steel percolator my mother used more than 30 years ago.

The water never comes in contact with plastic because the Farberware percolator has no plastic parts, unlike the cheap Mr. Coffee machines I used for years.

2021 and beyond

Amid the surge of new coronavirus cases after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I got a lift when I received an email from the hospital, inviting me and other volunteers as "members of our health-care team" to get a first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, and I already have an appointment for the second and final dose.

That means the volunteer program at the Englewood hospital may resume, possibly as early as March, and I can once again visit patients to comfort them and offer words of encouragement after their open-heart surgeries (I got a new heart valve in September 2011).

I'd like to see my wife, son and mother-in-law get the Covid vaccine, too.

The Jan. 20 inauguration of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president also is something to look forward to, and I hope they can speed up the vaccination program nationwide, and end our national nightmare.

Read: Pandemic sees resurgence of family meals

Read: Bored to tears, fearing long food lines

Read: Cartoonists slam Trump's many failures

Read: What about a sudden loss of intimacy?

Panic buying in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in long lines of older American like me during the senior hour at the Costco Wholesale warehouse in Teterboro, above. Despite signs urging social distancing, below, shoppers with carts had a hard time keeping away from each other.

After I shopped during the senior hour at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, I stopped on the way to my car to take this photo of millenials and other younger shoppers who had lined up to get into the organic and natural foods supermarket.

For our Sunday fresh fish dinner, I often waited on line at the H Mart in Ridgefield, above, until the Korean chain opened a new supermarket in Little Ferry on Dec. 23, 2020, nearly 18 months after the old Little Ferry H Mart closed.

We started off our Christmas dinner with a cooked seafood salad of Alaskan King Crab, Canadian Lobster Tails and Argentinian Red Shrimp dressed with fresh lemon juice, Dijon Mustard and ground cumin.

One of the rare high points of 2020 was the availability of previously frozen wild Sockeye Salmon fillets at Costco Wholesale after the fresh wild salmon season ended in early October. I grilled these portions on the stovetop for 8 minutes and dressed them with a saute of fresh tomatoes and sliced garlic.

 

On Saturday afternoons, we usually order takeout from nearby restaurants, including Seafood Gourmet in Maywood, above; Lotus Cafe in Hackensack for great Chinese-style seafood and vegetables; and Kinyobi in Hackensack or BCD Tofu in Fort Lee for delicious Korean specialties. We also enjoyed takeout from the U Pie & Lobster Co. in Englewood and Greenhouse Juices & Cafe in Teaneck.

During the spring and summer, we made day trips to Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, above, and Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center in the Bronx, below.

Using a list I copied from The New York Times many years ago, we also visited public sculptures and monuments in Manhattan, including this tribute to Duke Ellington, the legendary jazz band leader, in Harlem.

Closer to home, I was wowed by this dramatic sunrise over Hackensack as I drove down Euclid Avenue on the way to Home Depot to pick up a large recycling bin I had ordered online.

We were walloped with a big snowstorm on Dec. 17, 2020. I grimaced when I was watching TV and heard one of the anchors of the CBS Morning News introduce a report from Suffern, N.Y., and call the town "Sufferin', N.Y."

Pandemic sees resurgence of family meals, but much of the food we eat makes us sick

McDonald's, Pringles, SPAM and other processed and junk food are featured prominently in the illustration that ran with the article on how we eat in the August/September 2020 issue of AARP The Magazine.

 

AARP article salutes

 rise of industrial farms, 

processed food, multicookers

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The only upside to the Covid-19 pandemic is that Americans in quarantine or lockdown began to cook again and "the family meal -- long threatened -- returned in earnest."

That's the upbeat conclusion of a sweeping review of how we eat by Ruth Reichl, a cookbook author and onetime restaurant critic for The New York Times.  

But in "The Changing American Table" for AARP The Magazine, Reichl acknowledges that Americans' obsession with baking and desserts pushed the percentage of us who are overweight or obese to about 72 percent today, compared to only 10 percent in 1950.

She discusses the rise of factory farms, the widespread use of human antibiotics to make farm animals grow faster, salmonella outbreaks, processed food and even a best seller, "The Can-Opener Cook Book."

Eating is learned behavior

Reichl, who has written about food for 50 years, acknowledges her own articles about eating fewer carbohydrates, exercising more and drinking less or not at all.

"The real answer, I think, is staring us in the face," Reichl says. "Eating is learned behavior, and from the moment our children are born, we began teaching them that the most delicious foods are filled with fat, sugar and salt."

Organic farming

Although Reichl is one of the most respected food writers in the nation, her AARP article is weak when it comes to discussing the benefits of eating organic food, and the harm of pesticides and the antibiotics used to raise poultry, meat and farmed fish.

"People who care about the environment ... have driven the cause of organic farms, whose numbers have doubled in the past 10 years," she says, adding:

"But the most revolutionary changes in food production revolve around meat. Research has shown that a meat-based diet increases the risk of heart diseases and cancer."

Excerpts

Here are excerpts from Reichl's article for older Americans, and I think you can assume that the "average Americans" she mentions aren't eating pricier organics, antibiotic-free food, wild-caught fish or 100% grass-fed beef:

• "The food on my table -- and yours -- does not resemble in any way what our ancestors ate."
• "Food prices have come down so dramatically that average Americans spend a mere 7 percent of their budget on it -- less than people spend in any other nation on earth."
• "Three-quarters of us are overweight, and 6 out of 10 of us suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma and hepatitis."
• "Does our cheap food have anything to do with that?" (Her answer is yes.)
• "After the war [World War II] ended and the Cold War began, our government decided that growing bigger, better and substantially more food than the Soviets ... would be a great way to spread democracy."
• On family summer road trips, regional specialties were replaced by fast food.
• "By the mid '50s ... housewives filled their freezers with three iconic foods of that moment: TV dinners, fish sticks and Tater Tots."
• "Instant mashed potatoes, freeze-dried instant coffee, Pop-Tarts, Tang and, of course, Carnation Instant Breakfast began to line our cupboard shelves."
• "Mom bragged she could get dinner on the table in 15 minutes flat."

The coronavirus

"The coronavirus disrupted the American food supply, and it changed the way I shop, cook and eat," Reichl says.

"Indeed, across the country, people in lockdown began to cook again" and "many who had never before put their hands into dirt planted gardens ...," she says.

"People like me, who live in rural parts of the country, began buying our food straight from the farm, just like my mother once did," Reichl adds. "I know I'll be doing that for the rest of my life."

To read Reichl's piece in its entirety, click on the following link:

A foodie reflects on 50 years of change

Shopping for organics

During most of the year, the closest my family and others in northern New Jersey get to the farm is Whole Foods Market in Paramus, where I buy as many organics as possible.

Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and ShopRite supermarkets also are good sources for organic produce, organic pasta and other organically grown food.

I grew up in a kosher household in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the family meal was sacred, and I've been cooking all my life, both when I was single and after I married.

That has continued during the pandemic.

I'm a pescatarian living with a wife, son and mother-in-law who eat meat and poultry, so we cook more than most families and find it challenging to order takeout once a week.

For ideas on preparing family meals, see my cooking and food shopping videos:

Victor's Healthy Kitchen

When is the last time you got a $197 credit on your gas and electric bill from PSE&G?

SUNNY SIDE UP: Solar panels on my home in Hackensack, N.J., were installed in 2009 and 2012.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I printed out my utility bill and stared in disbelief at a credit of $197.50.

I have solar panels and electric storage batteries on my home so I couldn't understand why since May I was receiving what I consider high bills for electric service.

Before 2020, my solar panels generated enough electricity to run my home for 4 months to 5 months every year so I didn't have to use or pay for any electricity from the grid.

Today, I called PGE&G and learned that during the Covid-19 health emergency bills have been estimated (starting on April 6, 2020), and the reading of meters didn't resumed until Sept. 3.

The bill I printed out this week is for March 7, 2020, to Sept. 3, 2020.

I received a total credit for those 6 months of $1,249.09 for overcharges on my gas and electric bills.

Hallelujah!

Manhattan was our oyster as we visited public sculptures in Harlem to the Battery

DUKE ELLINGTON: This memorial to the dapper jazz pianist and bandleader, above and below, is on Fifth Avenue and 110th Street in Manhattan, in the northeast corner of Central Park. It's 25 feet high.

GATEWAY TO HARLEM: Ellington is one of four African-Americans honored at Central Park North, along with Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass.

Opening up after the lockdown,

the city still is easy to navigate

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A list of public sculptures I hand-copied from a newspaper more than a decade ago has always tempted me, but Manhattan usually is so frenetic, I just transferred the piece of paper from one planner to another year after year.

Now, with the city just starting to emerge from the long lockdown designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, my wife and I decided Saturday seemed like a good time to go and see them.

The weather was sunny but cool, traffic was light; and we could stop, park and photograph them without a problem.

After we crossed the George Washington Bridge, we visited the sculptures from north to south.

Now, I'll be looking for an updated list of sculptures, monuments and statues to explore on a future trip into Manhattan.

KEITH HARING: This Crack is Wack mural was painted by artist Keith Haring on handball court walls in 1986, and was intended to send a serious anti-drug message to the community, according to the city Parks Department. Go to East 127th Street, Second Avenue and the Harlem River Drive.

I'M LATE, I'M LATE: This large bronze statue of Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll's classic book is in Central Park. Enter the park on Fifth Avenue near 76th Street, and ask for directions to the statue.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER: This mosaic, "Intelligence Awakening Mankind," is on the wall above the entrance to 1250 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue).

VENUS DE MILO: This sculpture by Jim Dine, on Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street, wasn't on our list, but I took a photo from the car as we drove away from the Rockefeller Center mosaic in the photo above.

GAY LIBERATION: Also on our list was the Stonewall Inn at 51-53 Christopher St., in Greenwich Village, where we saw an updated message from the Black Lives Matter movement.

LGBTQ: Stonewall Inn was a gay bar that was raided on June 28, 1969, but patrons and a crowd outside resisted. "This uprising catalyzed the LGBTQ civil rights movement, resulting in increased visibility for the community that continues to resonate in the struggle for equality," according to this plaque.

BUST OF SYLVETTE: Designed by Pablo Picasso and fabricated by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, this massive stone sculpture is in the courtyard of 505 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan. 

UNDER WRAPS: Charging Bull, a bronze sculpture on Broadway, just north of Bowling Green in Manhattan's Financial District, has been covered to prevent any damage during Black Lives Matter demonstrations and protests, and was being guarded by several police officers on Saturday. They directed us to the statues in the photos below.

OUR FIRST PRESIDENT: This large bronze sculpture of George Washington is on a pedestal in front of Federal Hall at 26 Wall St., where he was sworn in as the first president of the United States in 1789. 

WOMEN'S DAY: The Fearless Girl Statue was moved to protect it during the protests. The statue, commissioned by an asset management company, was installed on March 7, 2017, the day before International Women's Day.

OUR LAST STOP: The Group of Four Trees at the Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza was our last stop before we drove home. The address is 28 Liberty St. in Manhattan.

ONE WAY: On the way to see Group of Four Trees, the navigation system in our Toyota Prius sent us down this "street" in the Financial District. Our Prius just fit.

Calling all of you lazy, apathetic and stupid Hackensackers: You can vote from home

NO POSTAGE NEEDED: You were able to vote from home in the Hackensack school election, and no postage was necessary. I returned mail-in ballots for my wife, my son and I, marking them for the Three Dads: Michael R. Oates, Anthony F. Rodriguez and Christopher M. Coleman. We also voted "no" on the proposed $85.2 million tax levy.

NEARLY HALF YOUR TAXES: In recent years, the bloated Hackensack school budget has exceeded the city's own budget, and now accounts for nearly half of your property taxes.

Only 8.5 out of 100 residents
 had say in 2019 school election

Editor's note: The Three Dads were elected on May 12, 2020, to three 3-year seats on the Board of Education. See updated vote results in the comments section at the end of this post. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- If you prize your right to vote, you might be shocked at how few residents bothered going to the polls in the 2019 school election.

Only 8.53% of registered voters -- or 8.5 out of 100 -- voted or mailed in ballots for the contest on April 16, 2019.

That means only 1,915 ballots were cast by 22,447 voters registered in Hackensack, according to the Bergen County Clerk's Office.

The turnout in 2018 was even lower: 

Only 1,638 ballots were cast by the 21,303 registered voters -- or 7.6 out of 100 -- in the April 17, 2018, school election.

The May 12, 2020, election set some sort of record, according to the Bergen County Board of Elections, which said a total of 3,071 mail-in ballots were returned.

Delayed election

The Covid-19 pandemic pushed back this year's election to May 12 from April 21, and all voting was by mail-in ballots.

So, the legions of lazy, apathetic and stupid voters in the city had no excuse for not weighing in on filling three seats on the 9-member Board of Education, as well as voting "yes" or "no" on the proposed $85.2 million tax levy.

Not only was your right to vote at stake in the election:

About 45% of your property taxes go to support the schools, so instead of constantly bitching and moaning about "high taxes," you should have gotten off your duff, mailed in your ballot, and had a say in how they are spent.

$131M budget

The proposed 2020-21 Hackensack school budget of $125.8 million grows to $131.7 million after federal and state aid, grants and entitlements.

The school budget totaled $117.8 million for 2018-19, and $128.6 million for 2019-20.

Pocketbook issues are supposed to bring voters out, but in past elections even fewer Hackensack residents weighed in on the proposed tax levy to support the school budget than voted on candidates.

The exception was a special election on Jan. 22, 2019, when the only item on the ballot was the school board's grandiose $170 million school construction and renovation plan.

To pay for a new junior high school and other work, taxpayers would have been hit with a tax hike of $308 to $650 and more a year for 30 years.

A total of 2,917 ballots were cast by 22,126 registered voters to defeat the plan, for a turnout of 13.18%.

2020 election

In the May 12 election, the candidates known as the Three Dads were running under the banner of Hackensack Smart Schools, the team that defeated the wasteful $170 million construction and renovation plan in January 2019.

And they were endorsed by Mayor John Labrosse and other City Council members, who in recent years have tried to wrest control of the school board away from officials loyal to the Zisa family political dynasty.

The Three Dads

Michael Oates, who was in ballot position 4, is a father of 3 children attending city schools, and a lieutenant in the Hackensack Fire Department.

His wife, Toni Imperiale, is an attorney.

Anthony Rodriguez, in ballot position 5, is a father of 3 (2 of whom are attending city schools), and a sales manager at a Fortune 500 company.

Christopher Coleman, in ballot position 6, is a trial attorney, and father of 3 children attending city schools.

Read more about them and their platform here: About the Smart Schools Team.

Their opponents for a 3-year term on the Hackensack school board were:

Jennifer Maury, who works in the Tenafly public schools; David Dungey, a Hackensack business owner; and Monica M. Pelaez, a surgical technician at Hackensack University Medical Center.

MAIL-IN BALLOT: The ballot had two parts, the candidates for 3-year seats on the Hackensack Board of Education, left; and the proposed $85.2 million tax levy, right -- about 45% of your property taxes. You could choose 3 candidates and vote "no" on the tax levy. If it was defeated, the City Council could review and possibly revise the budget.

ENVELOPES: Besides the ballot, voters received another envelope for the completed ballot, below; vote by mail instructions and a letter from Bergen County Clerk John S. Hogan.

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN: There were several places for your name, address and signature, above and below.

An abundance of hope but little joy shown as I walk neighborhood during pandemic

On my late-afternoon walk in my Hackensack neighborhood yesterday, this sign expressing hope was rare but welcome ...

...And last week, this small sign at the base of a tree in front of a house on Anderson Street was a bright spot.

  

I discover corners
 of the Fairmount section

 of Hackensack I never saw
 from the car

There are no shortages of signs expressing thanks to healthcare workers and others who are keeping us safe, delivering essentials to our homes and keeping food stores stocked...

...This home and others along Summit Avenue fashioned their own signs.

A first in Hackensack was Tuesday's school election -- by mail-in ballot only -- to chose three members of the 9-member Board of Education.

This is one of the shuttered, abandoned or condemned homes I saw during my walks...

...While this structure on Euclid Avenue is being gutted and renovated after serving for many years as what neighbors suspected was an illegal rooming house.

I'm trying to remember when I saw a kid playing outside since people started quarantining in mid-March.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON