A winding 2-lane road, a beautiful fall day and a stroll through a large, lush garden

A WARM WELCOME: You can find the New Jersey State Botanical Garden, above and below, on the grounds of a once-grand estate, the 1,119-acre Skylands, now a part of Ringwood State Park.

 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- We went exploring on Columbus Day.

For some reason, I woke up last Monday, a national holiday, thinking of upper Passaic County, where my first beat as a reporter at The Record in 1980 was covering Ringwood and West Milford. 

My wife had the day off, and the weather turned out to be perfect for shorts, with a temperature of around 72 degrees.

I planned to drive north on Route 208 and take Skyline Drive to Ringwood, and I'm glad I did.

The twisting, 2-lane road was smooth and fast, perfect for my Tesla Model S, and a reminder of how much fun driving can be.

Also known as County Road 692, Skyline Drive is a 5.84-mile asphalt ribbon between Route 287 in Oakland -- an interstate favored by fast-moving tractor-trailers -- and Route 511 in Ringwood.

Skyline Drive passes through Ringwood State Park, home to the New Jersey State Botanical Garden, Skylands Manor and Ringwood Manor (see photos below).

             AN 'ALLEE' OF CRABAPPLE TREES

NOT THAT DIANA: A statue of Diana, the Roman goddess, above, and the imposing stone manor house, below, now a popular wedding venue and hotel, which has gotten some terrible reviews.

RINGWOOD MANOR: Our first stop last Monday was Ringwood Manor, which was closed for renovations, but we took this path to a series of small cemeteries. The Ringwood Manor web site says iron mine partners Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt turned the home into a summer estate (see cemetery photos below).

SOHO NEW JERSEY: The tombstone for John Hewitt, who was born in England and arrived in America in 1796, refers to "Soho New Jersey" and the construction of the first steam engine built in the United States.

THE FORGOTTEN GENERAL: Robert Erskine, a geographer and surveyor general for the American army during the Revolutionary War, died in 1780 in Ringwood. The plaque calls him a "friend in need for [George] Washington."

More blocks of Main St. get 2-way traffic; General Poor's is hosting a free laughfest

TWO-WAY TRAFFIC AHEAD: The blocks of Main Street between Sussex and Atlantic streets in Hackensack, above and below, were repaved and restriped, and opened to 2-way traffic on Monday night. Two-way traffic on State Street has made getting around the city much easier, and the same is anticipated on Main Street, the focus of downtown redevelopment. 

PULL-IN, PULL-OUT PARKING: Parking spaces have been created with enough spacing to allow drivers to pull in and pull out, instead of stopping and backing into spaces, which would cause congestion and interrupt the flow of traffic.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Residents can be forgiven if they think unprecedented apartment construction, noise and street closings are the only activities downtown.

City officials opened 2 more blocks of Main Street to 2-way traffic on Monday night, and prepared to complete the conversion all the way to Passaic Street next year.

Meanwhile, at General Poor's Tavern, new business partners have refinished the bar and made other improvements inside and outside the historic watering hole, which closed in 2018 and reopened this April.

On Wednesday night, General Poor's is hosting Poor'N On The Laughs, a free comedy show with 7 comedians and a host, starting at 8:30. There will be no cover charge.

Laugh or cry

Residents will have the opportunity to cry in their beers or laugh hysterically over the many changes in downtown Hackensack, including the 30-year tax abatements given to Hekemian, Hanson and so many other big developers.

Among them are the wealthy Borg family, which moved The Record out of Hackensack, and sold the paper to Gannett Co. in 2016, leading to the loss of more than 350 jobs and turning a once-great local daily newspaper into a rag.

Former Publisher Stephen A. Borg, who laughed all the way to the bank, and his development partners  leveled the newspaper's old headquarters at 150 River St., and now are planning to build more than 600 luxury apartments there.

The Record's departure in 2009, taking with it several hundred employees who patronized Main Street restaurants and other businesses, was one of the factors that sent downtown into a tailspin.  

Atlantic Street to railroad

The next section of Main Street that will be opened to 2-way traffic will run from Atlantic Street to the railroad tracks just past Mercer Street, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino said this morning.

Officials expect to open Main Street to 2-way traffic all the way to Passaic Street by the early months of 2020.

Read: Ethnic restaurants

 are popping up in Hackensack

Read: First, the Borgs screwed Hackensack...

FREE COMEDY SHOW: There is no cover charge for the comedy show on Wednesday night at General Poor's Tavern, 45-47 Main Street, near Sussex Street. See the poster, below.

ON FACEBOOK: General Poor's Tavern has a Facebook page and a website, GeneralPoorsNJ.com. The owners of Choripan Rodizio at 10 Sussex St. are now partners in General Poor's.

RESTORATION: The bar at General Poor's Tavern, which was the go-to place for going-away parties for employees of The Record until the newspaper was moved out of Hackensack in 2009.

WHO WAS ENOCH POOR? Historical details added to the interior of General Poor's Tavern include a portrait of Enoch Poor, a merchant turned brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, above, and a brief biography, below.

DIED AFTER A DUEL: Gen. Poor died on Sept. 8, 1780, two days after a duel with a French officer near Hackensack.

DON'T BLOCK THE BOX: Above and below, vehicles parked on Main Street on Monday blocked the box meant to separate them so drivers can pull into and pull out of spaces, and avoid stopping the flow of traffic by backing into spaces.

Group trying to save the U.S.S. Ling hope final voyage will be to Kentucky museum

Lewis Palmer, above left, and Joseph Sandstrom, below, speaking to a reporter on Saturday in Hackensack about the effort to save the U.S.S. Ling, a World War II submarine that had been open to visitors in what was once called Borg Park from 1972 to late 2012, when the boat was damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

Sandstrom, a police officer who lives in South Jersey, posted more than 20 photos of the sub's damaged interior on Facebook.

Editor's note: I've updated this post by adding a link to an earlier report on how the Borg family, which owned The Record of Hackensack, washed their hands of any responsibility for the U.S.S. Ling.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- "She is rough, but salvageable."

Those encouraging words from Lewis Palmer of Save the USS Ling, posted on Facebook, came after he and others boarded the flooded World War II submarine on Saturday to assess the damage from vandalism and weather, and weigh the prospects of  rescuing the boat.

The ultimate goal of Palmer and his fellow enthusiasts is to move the submarine that has worn out its welcome in Hackensack to the proposed Louisville Naval Museum on the Ohio River in Kentucky, as the museum explains:

 "Our centerpiece ship will be the USS Ling, a Balao-class submarine that was commissioned in 1944, had one patrol and then was used as a training ship until donated to the Submarine Association located in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1972.

"The Ling has been a museum and memorial since then. When Hurricane Sandy struck [in 2012], it left the museum and ship damaged. Vandals have since broken into the submarine, and it is now partially flooded. The museum closed and the ship was left to her demise. 

"Our group is working around the clock to get the submarine and restore her back to as near perfect condition as the day she was launched. She will be the centerpiece of the museum and a memorial to all the sailors who sailed on her, to all the lost sailors of the Silent Service, to the United States Navy, to the United States military and the United States. This museum will operated as a non-profit organization."

On Facebook, Palmer wrote: 

"We are going on no sleep for 2 days and a full day of work. She is rough but salvageable. I will explain more tomorrow after food and sleep." 

READ: First, the Borgs screwed Hackensack;

 now, they've turned their backs on sub veterans

The U.S.S. Ling on Saturday, above and below.

The Record's old address markers serving as tombstones for great local journalism

DOOMED: One of the two address markers left after The Record's old headquarters at 150 River Street in Hackensack were leveled for the construction of apartments. The brick markers resemble tombstones over the spot where great local daily newspaper journalism died. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- There are only a few signs left that a great local daily newspaper was published for many decades at 150 River St.

Then-Publisher Stephen Borg of Tenafly moved The Record's headquarters to Woodland Park in 2009 after the biggest newsroom downsizing in the history of the daily, founded in 1895 and owned by the Borg family since 1930.

In July 2016, the Borg family sold out for nearly $40 million in cash to the Gannett Co., the biggest newspaper publisher in the United States, but retained ownership of nearly 20 acres along River Street.

Today, there are few remnants of the large, 3- and 4-story red-brick building where the presses roared nightly to publish a daily newspaper that once brought coverage of town council and school board meetings to readers the very next day.

In the 1980s, The Record of Hackensack was known for strong coverage of the environment, and for a daily, in-depth look on Page 1 at an issue in the news known as "the patch."

This week, all that is recognizable at the site are two brick address markers with the number "150" on them, and a bus-like shelter reporters and editors were told to use after smoking was banned in the newsroom.

Read: First, the Borgs screwed Hackensack ...

More sports than news

One look at a copy of The Record of Woodland Park shows how far the once-great daily has fallen after Gannett:

Laid off more than 350 employees of North Jersey Media Group, reduced the number of local news pages, eliminated a daily editorial, and generally gutted a paper many still refer to as "The Bergen Record."

This poorly edited Gannett rag devoted 8 full pages to sports in Wednesday's edition compared to only 3 pages of local news, most of it from Passaic County and far from the heart of the Bergen County circulation area.

Christie apologist

On Wednesday's Page 1, I found another boring political column by Charles Stile, a burned-out Trenton reporter who served as chief apologist for Chris Christie, a GOP thug who was the worst governor in New Jersey history.

Stile enjoys taking potshots at Governor Murphy.

This despite Murphy having to spend most of his time repairing the damage Christie did to mass transit, the environment, medical care, state workers pensions and so much more during the 8 long years of his reign. 

The lead story on the Business page is plans by Krispy Kreme to open its flagship store in Manhattan's Times Square.

A photo with the story shows a New York City police officer eating a donut. What an overused stereotype.

Breaking news

In Wednesday's Better Living section, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz bemoaned the closing of the Pig and Prince restaurant in trendy Montclair, which isn't even in The Record's circulation area.

Read: The Record's ghosts

 will be buried under new housing

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT: The apartment site where The Record headquarters building once stood is considered part of the ambitious downtown rehabilitation zone in Hackensack. The Record has never reported the identity of the property owners who pushed for redevelopment and have been enriched by it.

SMOKING BAN: After smoking was banned in the 4th-floor newsroom, a bus shelter for smokers, center, was set up near a rear entrance to the building.

MAIN AND MERCER: A crane looms over the site of a 14-story apartment building under construction at Main and Mercer streets, about a block from The Record site.

RAISING THE SITE: The city Planning Board approved apartment construction as long as the Borg family and their development partners raise the site by 3 feet. They will be building in a flood zone.

USS LING: The Borgs have washed their hands of the USS Ling, a World War II submarine stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River. Only the periscopes are visible behind a towering heap of sand. The sub once was part of a naval museum.

THE WAY THEY WERE: Here are photos of The Record's old headquarters building and the USS Ling from Sept. 2, 2018, above and below. For many years, the Borgs monetized the parking lot by leasing spaces to Bergen County and to Hackensack University Medical Center, where lawyer Jennifer Borg once was a board member.

'You're retired, now what?" is a question that is as relevant now as it was in 2008

FILLING MY TIME: One way I've tried to fill my time is to continue writing about food and cars -- two areas I covered at The Record of Hackensack in the years before I was forced to retire in 2008. I devoted a third Google blog, Eye on The Record, to the steady decline of the local daily newspaper where I had worked for nearly 30 years. The photos, above and below, are from 99 Ranch Market, a Chinese supermarket that opened in Hackensack in June 2018.

READ: Just when you thought Bergen County had too many Asian markets

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- In May 2008, I suddenly found myself out of a job after nearly 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and food writer at The Record.

Filling my time now remains as much of a challenge as it was then.

Then, at 63, I started taking classes at Bergen County Community College's Institute for Learning in Retirement, and got the chance to speak to a classroom full of retirees like me:

"You're retired, now what?" was the first of a dozen questions I asked to start what turned out to be a lively discussion.

Bored yet?

Another was, "How would you describe retirement in one word?"

At the time, my one-word answer was, "Boring." 

And in the years since I've also weathered bouts of boredom, despite:

1. Becoming a certified paralegal.
2. Preparing for the trial of an age-discrimination suit against The Record.
3. Starting blogs to continue writing about cars, food and other subjects I explored as a reporter and food writer.
4. Becoming active on Twitter and other social media to remain relevant amid the rise of white nationalism.
5. Running for City Council and Board of Education in Hackensack, where I live, and blogging about the impact on property taxes of  Hackensack University Medical Center and other non-profits, and other local issues.
6. Having open-heart surgery and getting a new valve (from a cow).
7. Holding part-time driving jobs for what basically was chump change.
8. Volunteering as many as 3 days a week at a hospital or day care program for people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. (The definition of a volunteer: An older American who has nothing better to do.)
9. Giving up meat and poultry in favor of eating only seafood, spending a good deal of my time food shopping and preparing meals at home, and emphasizing organics and wild-caught fish. 
10. Starting a cooking channel on YouTube.

Age discrimination

Rosy views of retirement, such as the article that appears this month in Costco Connection magazine, don't help (see more below).

Call us senior citizens, retirees, older Americans or what you will.

But leaving the work world can expose you to mistreatment or discrimination whether you seek part-time employment or volunteer.

Of course, holding a job doesn't make you immune to mistreatment because of your age, especially if you are 50 and older, according to a new data analysis by ProPublica and the Urban Institute:

"More than half of older U.S. workers are pushed out of longtime jobs, suffering financial damage that is often irreversible."

ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest, and the Urban Institute, a think tank, analyzed data from a study that followed a nationally representative sample of about 20,000 people from the time they turned 50 through the rest of their lives.

Read: An age-old problem haunts the workplace

More questions

Here are some other question we discussed back then at the Institute for Learning in Retirement:

• "Besides attending classes here, how do you fill up your time?
• "What takes up most of your time -- hobbies, grandchildren, travel, volunteering or something else?
• "Do you feel The Record and other media are paying attention to your concerns as a senior citizen?
• "Have you seen any articles on staying busy during retirement?
• "Would you describe yourself as affluent, well off or financially stable?"

Finances

Luckily, finances have never been a concern since I was forced to leave The Record in 2008. My wife and I, and our college-age son live comfortably.

I own my home free and clear, and in 2015, I used $30,000 from my retirement fund for a down payment on an all-electric Tesla Model S, which I charge with the 60-plus solar panels on our roof. 

When I took part-time jobs, my goal was to fill my time and earn a little pocket money.

One job I didn't get was as a part-time product specialist in Tesla's Paramus showroom, where I venture to guess no worker is over 35 years old.

For all his accomplishments, Elon Musk, the genius behind Tesla and SpaceX, appears to discriminate against older Americans like me. 

Social Security

Another question I asked then to fellow retirees at Bergen Community College, but one that remains relevant today:

• "Are you concerned about talk in Congress on cutting Social Security and Medicare?
• "Do you want more opportunity to interact with younger people -- in this [college] setting or elsewhere?
• "Do you feel isolated or do you feel you are a valued member of society?"

5 STEPS: The cover of Costco Connection, a magazine for members of Costco Wholesale.

'Life after work'

The cover story in the January 2019 Costco Connection, a magazine for members of Costco Wholesale, quotes "several experts to provide tips and advice for the road ahead," according to the table of contents.

Editorial Director Tim Talevich says, "The common theme among the experts ... is that your retirement can be truly special, if you prepare as much as possible.

"Find out about Medicare, Social Security and those other essentials. Spend some time examining your values and strengths. Then go out and create the best life for yourself, your family and your community."

But I rolled my eyes when I saw the story's headline on Page 30:

"5 steps

 to an awesome

 retirement"

The Record's onetime HQ on River Street in Hackensack is going, going, almost gone

STOP THE PRESSES: As demolition continued today, the most recognizable part of The Record's former headquarters in Hackensack is this section of a 3-story executive wing fronting on River Street. The wing included offices, a private dining room, a kitchen for the executive chef, a gymnasium and a hallway art gallery.

ELEVATOR TO NOWHERE: The 5-story elevator tower at the rear of the headquarters building also remained standing today. 

THAT EMPTY FEELING: No part of the building at 150 River St. remains standing between the section of the executive wing and the elevator tower.

SEPT. 2, 2018: The executive wing as it appeared in September. The Record closed its headquarters in 2009, relocating to an office building overlooking Route 80 in Woodland Park. Printing of the once-great local daily newspaper was moved to Rockaway Township in 2006.

FOURTH-FLOOR NEWSROOM: The newsroom was on the 4th floor of the headquarters building. The large windows framed the tower of smoke rising from the destruction of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. See a short video of the demolition work, below.

READ: The Borgs are back in Hackensack

READ: Ghosts of The Record

 to be buried under new housing

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

First, the Borgs screwed Hackensack; now, they've turned their backs on sub veterans

The USS Ling, stuck in the muck of the Hackensack River, in April 2016. The wealthy Borg family have washed their hands of saving the World War II submarine from being scrapped or sunk for an artificial reef. Below, the Ling in a photo made today, weeks after vandals flooded the vessel with Hackensack River water.

Editor's note: On Sept. 14, 2019, a group of submarine enthusiasts launched an effort to repair the USS Ling and move the submarine to a proposed naval museum on the Ohio River in Kentucky. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Borgs are back in Hackensack. 

The onetime owners of The Record are planning to develop nearly 20 acres along River Street -- land they held onto after selling the family publishing company and its many daily and weekly newspapers to Gannett for $39.3 million in cash in July 2016, and laughing all the way to the bank.

But they've washed their hands of the USS Ling, the World War II submarine that has been tied up to their property since 1974 under a $1-year-lease with the New Jersey Naval Museum.

Then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg of Tenafly ended that lease in 2016, claiming the sub wasn't on family property.

A few weeks ago, vandals "cut locks and opened hatches to flood the submarine" with Hackensack River water, The Record reported in a story that was reprinted in the Hackensack Chronicle on Aug. 24.

Reporters Melanie Anzidel and Rodrigo Torrejon made no effort to contact the Borg family for comment about the vandalism or the sub's future.

The damage may be beyond repair, they reported.

Abandoned Hackensack

No one has ever measured the full economic and psychological impact of Stephen Borg's money saving decision to shut down the 150 River St. headquarters of The Record in 2009, and essentially abandon Hackensack, where the once-great local daily newspaper had prospered for more than 110 years.

Most employees were scattered to a Rockaway Township  plant, where The Record and Herald News had been printed since 2006; and to cramped offices in a Garret Mountain office building overlooking Route 80 in Woodland Park. 

Then, Hackensack restaurants like Naturally Good and other businesses on and near Main Street closed, and those that remained open, like Solari's, a onetime Borg favorite, struggled.

The decline in Hackensack news was easy to see, as was the increasing focus on Passaic County and Paterson, even though those stories were of little interest to the majority of readers in Bergen County, one of the wealthiest in New Jersey.

To save money, The Record stopped printing separate Local sections for news from Bergen and Passaic counties, cramming everything into one thin edition.

Downsizing

In 2008, Borg triggered the biggest downsizing in The Record's history, targeting the oldest and highest-paid newsroom and photography employees.

Then, the Borgs delivered the final blow, selling North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record, to Gannett, which eventually laid off more than 350 NJMG employees.

See: Gannett admits 

circulation dropped dramatically

See: Borgs take money and run,

 staffers brace for Gannett's ax

See: Editors do their best
 to screw old people

Luxury units

On Aug. 3, the weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which no longer has its own staff, reprinted another story from The Record, reporting the buildings at 150 River St. will be taken down this month.

Employees of the Vannuzzi Group, a demolition and recycling company based in Kinnelon, have been stripping the buildings since late April.

The property, which is in a flood zone, was assessed for $24,947,400, and Macromedia Inc., a Borg family company, has been paying $790,053.40 annually in taxes, according to NJParcels.com.

The project includes 600 luxury residential units -- 100 less than city planners had envisioned -- a public plaza and river walk, and retail along River Street, The Record's story said, quoting a Macromedia spokesman.

Poor editing

The story, by Melanie Anzidel, is an example of how poorly The Record is edited more than 2 years after the Gannett purchase:

"The former headquarters of The Record newspaper ...," the story begins.

But the reporter apparently was worried readers wouldn't know what "former" means, so she added the headquarters were "once housed at 150 River St. in Hackensack."

Here's the lead paragraph in its redundant entirety:

"The former headquarters of The Record newspaper, once housed at 150 River St. in Hackensack, is slated for demolition."

The Ling

Bob Sommer, identified as a Macromedia spokesman, said the New Jersey Naval Museum was "evicted," and agreed to vacate by Aug. 14.

But, Sommer added, the submarine "is not part of the redevelopment project, and its removal, which ... could cost millions, is not part of the eviction," The Record said.

"This was a despicable act," Sommer said of the flooding of the submarine, and the theft of plaques valued at more than $10,000, adding he hopes police make arrests and that the suspects are convicted and punished "to the fullest extent allowed."

3 developers

Macromedia is expected to partner with the Hampshire Real Estate Cos. and Russo Development to build on The Record site.

Jon F. Hanson, chairman of Hampshire, and Malcolm A. Borg of Englewood, former chairman of North Jersey Media Group, are close friends who once co-owned a private jet.

See: The Record's ghosts will be buried

 under new housing