Who is hiding the many hideous images of 10 victims blown apart by bullets fired by a black-hating gunman at a Buffalo market?

BEST COVERAGE: The best reporting I've seen on the slaughter inside Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 15 was published in The New York Times, which recounted surviving employees' encounter with the gunman or what he or she did upon hearing gunshots. The photo was supplied by the Associated Press.

News media have been censoring

mass shooting for decades

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Has censorship slowed permanent reform of gun-control laws as we witness one horrific mass shooting after another stretching back decades?

Have the news media decided to hide the horrific images of gunshot victims in Buffalo, N.Y., and has that censorship allowed many congressional officials to withhold their support for a permanent nationwide ban on military style assault weapons like the one used by the gunman?

Little of the reporting I saw even discussed Buffalo's size and prominence in New York State or its location on one of the great lakes and the Canadian border.

Blood and gore

I recall another supermarket shooting where one of the victims was shown on the floor, but the wounds were obscured by a gauzy quality that was added to dull the impact.

In most shootings, as in the Tops slaughter on May 15, no images have been broadcast or published as far as I know.

The gunman, who live streamed the shooting from a camera attached to his helmet, was arrested and is now being held for indictment and trial.

Here's a tortured tale of real estate hype and a buyer who got saddled with a 'new' home filled with shoddy workmanship

WHAT'S NEXT: Our new roof was completed last week by EMT Solar & Roofing of Cherry Hill in preparation for a new solar panel system that promises to zero out our electric bill year-round. Shoddy workmanship on the original roof left us with numerous leaks.

 The front door wasn't safe, 

the roof sprung many leaks, 

radiant heat left us shivering

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're shopping for a home in Hackensack's Fairmount section, you should be aware of a big quality of life issue -- aircraft noise. You will be living under the flight paths of both Teterboro Airport and the international airport know as Newark Liberty.

 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACENSACK, N.J. -- In 2007, I was a first-time home buyer and tree hugger who was looking for a place with a southern exposure -- ideal for the installation of solar panels.

Both of our cars were gas-electric hybrids, but we wanted to do more to clean up the environment.

And thanks to an inheritance, we had a seemingly limitless budget to finally allow us to move out of a cramped duplex apartment. 

So, when I saw an article showing a gee-whiz redesign of a Hackensack ranch home in The Record, where I worked at the time, my wife and I decided to drive over and meet brokers from Buyer's Advisors, who act as agents for buyers only and collect their fee from the seller.

'A mini estate'

The house was being sold by real estate agent Lynn Jantos Donovan, then owner of Property Connections Real Estate in Hackensack, who hired an architect to transform the 3-bedroom ranch in the city's Fairmount section that dated to the 1960s.

Donovan lived there, but also owned several other homes, we were told, one as near as the Jersey shore, others in Mexico and New Mexico, and the last in Hawaii.

Listen to the hype in the original listing of the home:

"This mini estate boasts all the bells and whistles. This Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home has 3 bedrooms..., 3 full bathrooms and over 3,300 sq. ft."

There was a fireplace in the master bedroom, a Jacuzzi tub in the master bath, a gourmet kitchen with a Viking range, and a backyard with a gas fireplace and hot tub.

Once I confirmed the redesigned home had the ideal exposure to the sun to take advantage of a state rebate program for the installation of solar energy, all those features were a seeming bonus, but as a first-time home buyer I missed some major flaws.

As soon as we saw the vaulted ceilings in the airy 1st floor family room, kitchen and dining room, we should have run, knowing the rooms would be impossible to heat with a radiant system under the wooden floor.

We hired an inspector

But even the inspector we hired didn't mention that, so we closed on the house in August 2007, and moved in.

In the following months and years, here are the problems with safety and workmanship that surfaced:

• The Andersen "custom stained glass front doors embedded with [Frank Lloyd] Wright's geometrical color patterns," as reported in The Record, were missing security parts that compromised our safety, and we spent about $1,000 to repair them.
• The first-floor radiant heat was so inadequate we had to set the thermostat to 74 degrees to get even the hint of warmth through the wood floors (used even though stone is the best conductor of radiant heat).
• The roof started leaking in numerous places on both floors, and exterior and interior repairs cost about $7,000.
• Besides causing roof leaks, heavy rains would flood our 2-car detached garage, requiring the installation of a sump pump in a shed behind the garage. When the first couldn't handle the flooding, we upgraded to a bigger one for a total cost of about $1,000.
• The house is so poorly insulated and sound proofed I can hear the boiler in the basement go on when I turn up the thermostat in the second-floor master bathroom.
• One winter, that lack of insulation caused a pipe to burst through a kitchen wall. Repairs cost many hundreds of dollars.

'Cheapest system possible'

Months after we moved in and shivered through our first winter in 2007, I called the plumber who had installed the radiant-heat system under the floor -- plastic tubes carrying hot water from the boiler in the basement -- and was told Donovan asked him to put in the "cheapest system possible."

I eventually got an estimate of $10,000 for installing radiators in the first-floor rooms to solve the problem, but never went ahead with the work.

Roof and skylight leaks

Numerous leaks from the vaulted roof and a skylight in the kitchen, over sliding doors to the deck, in a 1st-floor bedroom and upstairs in the master bedroom and bathroom soon followed -- the apparent result of shoddy workmanship by a ragtag collection of workman Donovan hired for the renovation.

During heavy, wind-whipped rain, we'd have to lay down towels to absorb the leaks or move furniture. Rain even poured into a first-floor bedroom closet through a light fixture.

When we hired a contractor to make repairs, he discovered the original installers of the roof ran out of underlayment -- the layer that protects the plywood deck from moisture -- but instead of getting more used paper and plastic bags that shingles and other roofing material came in.

ROOF BAGS R US: The crew installing a new roof during the 2003 renovation used paper and plastic bags under the shingles, above, when they ran out of the proper leakproof material.

SOLAR POWER: The solar panels we installed in 2009 and 2012 have served us well, above. They generated electricity from sunrise to sunset, thanks to a southern exposure. They were removed to replace our roof and we will be getting a new system that will generate even more electricity.

Small Claims Court

Only the missing security parts in the elaborate double front doors were apparent in the first days of moving in, and I was able to take the seller to Small Claims Court and recover the $1,000 cost of repairs.

When the roof leaks and the myriad other flaws of the elaborate renovation that had apparently been done as cheaply as possible appeared many months or years later, I was never able to locate the seller again to discuss possible reimbursement.

'See, you have pneumonia in both lungs,' the doctor said as we looked at my X-ray. 'Go to the hospital's emergency room now'

DISORIENTED: My 5-day hospital stay for pneumonia began here in cubicle No. 30 of the Emergency Department on March 22, 2022, and ended with my discharge on March 27, 2022.

I was tethered to a wall

 by hoses and wires,

 dressed in a skimpy hospital gown, poked with a needle

at 5:15 a.m. and fed poorly

  

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- "No" was my first reaction when my doctor ordered me to drive a short distance from his office to the hospital, and check in at the Emergency Department.

Of course, I know this hospital, which has played a big part in keeping me healthy since September 2011, when I had open-heart surgery there and received a new aortic valve (from a cow).

And starting in March 2012, after weeks of cardiac rehab there, I became a hospital volunteer, working 4 hours three days a week.

I eventually joined the Visiting Hearts Program, volunteers who visit open-heart surgery patients during their recovery in the hospital, and discuss their rehab and futures.

Covid-19 pandemic

Those visits ended and the entire volunteer program was suspended for 14 months during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some of us returned in May 2021, and I was assigned to the Cardiac Services Waiting Area, showing patients where to go or pushing a few of them in wheelchairs for heart catheterizations, stress tests, X-rays and other services.

That day at the doctor last week, I considered myself to be a "healthy" 77 year old who wasn't in need of hospitalization, who walked 1.5 miles to 3 miles a day as a volunteer or shopping in Costco and supermarkets 3 or 4 days week, and watched what he ate.

Huffing and puffing

But lately, I had been experiencing shortness of breath, and was huffing and puffing after I climbed the 17 steps to my bedroom the night before I called to make an appointment with my primary care physician.

I had a few other complaints, but was surprised to hear my primary care physician, Dr. Glenn Brauntuch, tell me I had pneumonia, and I wondered whether I had caught it in the hospital, even though I was Covid-19 vaccinated and boosted, wore 2 masks when I volunteered, and washed or disinfected my hands 3 or 4 times an hour.

So, I drove to the hospital, leaving my car with a parking valet, and checked in at the front desk of the Emergency Department, where the nurse said, "You look familiar." 

I told her I was a volunteer there.

That's how my 5-day hospitalization began, and now that I am home, I don't feel as healthy as I did before, and I'm really feeling my own mortality.

OBSTACLE COURSE: Two poles and a table, all on wheels, had to be negotiated when I got up from my hospital bed to use the bathroom, and sometimes I had to untangle my oxygen hose and keep my heart monitor wires -- both attached to the wall -- from getting caught under the wheels.

HEART MONITOR: I had to wear this heart monitor 24 hours a day, and it required a number of battery changes and often stopped sending data to the nurses station, prompting a visit from a nurse.

Open-door policy

After my open heart surgery in 2011, I had a room all to myself for the 4 days before I was discharged, but this time, I shared a room with another patient.

Two patients, 2 beds, 2 large screen TVs competing with one another, but the same complaints about the food.

"The food here sucks," the Navy veteran in Bed 2 declared loudly one day.

Still, the two hospitalizations had a few things in common:

The door stayed open to the lighted corridor 24 hours a day, and inside there was the sound of rushing air all the time.

In 2011, my door was opposite the nurses station and the constant chatter robbed me of sleep. This time, I brought my custom-made earplugs from home to help me sleep.

But now, when I complained my 6th Floor room was too cold, the nurse sent someone to get me a couple of extra cotton blankets, explaining she had no way of adjusting the room temperature.

Doctors, nurses

And there was a steady parade of medical personnel approaching my bed at all hours of the day and night, and waking me up, so I got little actual rest:

There were daily visits from the emergency room doctor who saw me before I was admitted, day nurses and night nurses who gave me cough syrup with codeine and other medications, and others who treated my respiratory problems, measured the percentage of oxygen in my blood, stabbed me with a needle to draw blood, took my "vitals" and asked me to get on a scale.

My identity was reduced to a bar code on a plastic band around my wrist each one of them scanned.

I also had to urinate into a pitcher-like plastic container with a flimsy top I kept on the bathroom sink so the nurses could "measure" the flow.

TOO MUCH SUGAR: This 5.3-ounce container of low-fat yogurt served to me at breakfast, above and below, contained about 5 teaspoons of sugar, including 3 teaspoons of added sugar, which pose a danger to people like me with heart conditions. 

COMFORT FOOD: This grilled cheese sandwich, which came with a small green salad and a fruit salad, was the most comforting dish I had. I liked it so much I ordered another one for the day I was discharged, even though I normally don't eat full-fat cheese.

OFF TASTE: I also liked this dinner of Shrimp with Mango Salsa, but the taste and texture of the crustacean was off.

Why serve unhealthy food?

I've been serious about what I eat and what I don't eat for a couple of decades now after writing about budget restaurants for The Record of Hackensack and then starting my own food blog -- Do You Really Know What You're Eating? -- after I retired in 2008.

I also had read the great reporting in The New York Times and Consumer Reports magazine on the widespread use of human antibiotics and harmful growth hormones in raising the vast majority of chickens, pigs and cows slaughtered for sale in supermarkets or use in restaurants.

Since my first hospitalization in 2011, I've never liked the food at Englewood Health, and have never understood why a hospital would knowingly serve unhealthy food to its CEO, medical staff, patients and visitors alike.

(And I wondered why when the hospital was rebranded Englewood Health from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center several years ago the powers that be didn't go all the way and call it "Englewood Life"?)

Organic produce?

The hospital cafeteria used by staff, volunteers and visitors alike offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the same kitchen prepares made-to-order meals delivered to patients.

No organic produce, including strawberries and spinach, which are grown with large amounts of pesticides, is offered nor is any of the meat or poultry naturally raised, as far as I know. 

As a patient, I was offered wild-caught cod for dinner, but low-quality farmed tilapia and shrimp also are served.

I stopped eating meat and poultry for health reasons in 2010, about a year before my open-heart surgery, becoming a pescatarian and trying to buy only wild-caught seafood.

And I have tried to buy as much organic produce and other food as possible for our family of 4 at Whole Foods Market, ShopRite, Aldi, Lidl and Costco Wholesale.

Restricted diet 

As a coronary patient last week, I was placed on a restricted diet, but the hospital kitchen couldn't accommodate special requests.

If I wanted eggs for breakfast, scrambled was the only way, and bread, a bagel or a roll couldn't be toasted. Of course, I did get toast when I ordered those grilled cheese sandwiches I found so comforting.

The Navy vet in Bed 2 was denied a banana, even though he told the dietary staff the potassium helped ease the pain in his hand.

On the third day of my stay, I finally was able to get a large paper cup of caffeinated coffee. Before that, weak decaf was the only option.

THE VIEW FROM MY ROOM: This was the view from the open door of my room in two directions, above and below.

Drab surroundings

The hospital room I shared first with a Jersey City resident in his 70s who was born in Greece, and later with the Navy veteran, had little color on the walls and was jammed with medical equipment.

Some of the first-floor corridors in the hospital are splashed with color -- paintings by local artists that are for sale -- but none of them can be found in patient rooms, and that's a shame.

As for the medical and support staff, I have nothing but praise and thanks.

Everyone treated me with respect -- from Dr. Enrique Baez, who attended me in the emergency room and then visited me daily before approving my discharge with an oxygen tank; to Jin, one of the hard-working Korean nurses and to all of the others who supported them.

And there were employees whose name I never learned or forgot who delivered meals, changed my bedding, picked up empty trays or emptied the rubbish cans. 

Thank you to all.

Newspaper cartoonists are not up to task of conveying the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and killing of civilians

HOW IS THIS FUNNY? Showing a clownish Vladimir Putin in a Russian tank stopped by a parking-enforcement boot is far from funny, especially when the backdrop looks like a destroyed apartment building in Ukraine.

 Portraying Putin as clownish

dishonors the men, women,

 and children who are dying

BY VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Cartoonist Daryl Cagle has been distributing the cartoons of 60 editorial cartoonists and 14 columnists to about 850 subscribing newspapers for more than 20 years.

I'm appealing to them to stop commenting on the criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine, if they are going to make fools of themselves by minimizing the brutality, loss of innocent life and assault on democracy.

I've included only 4 of the many cartoons out there. They are just awful.

REALLY? In this cartoon, a box marked "PUTIN" is on the left of the dictator's desk and another marked "PUTOUT" is on the right.

KILLING OF INNOCENTS: At least this cartoon seems to condemn the killing of civilians in Ukraine, but instead of showing graphic images of corpses torn apart by Russian missiles, the cartoonist appears to mimic the 1937 Spanish Civil War painting by Pablo Picasso of the bombing of the city of Guernica.

PUTIN'S BOY TOY: The Kremlin believes right-wing wacko and Fox News' chief liar Tucker Carlson is vital to its propaganda effort, but I'm far from sure the play on words -- "Russian Dressing" -- conveys that message.

If Consumer Reports' auto editors cared about our environment, every car on their annual Top 10 list would be a hybrid or EV

COVER STORY OR COVER UP? Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue lists only 4 gas-electric hybrids or electric cars among its Top 10 vehicles for 2022.

 

Gas hits average of $4.32 a gallon

as tailpipe emissions are killing

53,000 Americans every year

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Consumer Reports boasts about a full-time auto testing staff of "about 30" who "work to deliver exclusive insights to our members," but none of them claim to be environmentalists.

And for yet another year, the non-profit's Top 10 list in its annual Auto Issue ignores the premature deaths of 53,000 people every year from tailpipe emissions, as measured by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

That compares to 34,000 a year who die in traffic accidents (based on a 2013 MIT study).

Two Toyota gas-electric hybrids, a Lexus hybrid, a Honda Accord hybrid and Ford's Mustang Mach-E -- an electric vehicle -- are the only low or zero emissions entries on CR's Top 10 list for 2022.

It's a Top 10 list, but a total of 13 vehicles are listed for some reason in the April 2022 issue of the magazine.

Safety first

"Our ratings now reward automakers that install driver monitoring systems in their cars," Marta L. Tellado, president and CEO of Consumer Reports, says in her monthly column.

Tellado makes no mention of auto tailpipe emissions and their role in global warming or impact on life expectancy.

'Green Choice'

Just last year, Consumer Reports started designating some vehicles as "our Green Choice" -- the top 20 percent of vehicles on the market with the cleanest emissions.

Unfortunately, the "Green Choice" designation came more than 20 years after the first gas-electric hybrid or green cars went on sale in the United States.

And being "clean" or "cleaner" doesn't come close to earning a vehicle a spot on the annual Top 10 list.

NO TESLAS IN SIGHT: Even though Tesla has been the best selling electric car in the United States since 2012, none are listed on Consumer Reports' Top 10 list for 2022.

Top 10 Picks

The Top 10 list in the annual Auto Issue includes a midsize SUV, Kia's Telluride, that gets 21 mpg; and a compact pickup truck, the Honda Ridgeline, which is rated at 20 mpg -- less than half the mileage of most gas-electric hybrids. 

But instead of the Honda, the so-called auto experts at the magazine should have chosen the 2022 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup truck, which is rated at 25 mpg city/highway.

And is the Kia Telluride so special that it eclipses all of the midsize SUVs with hybrid power and lower emissions sold by competitors?

Gas hits $4.32 a gallon

This year, the Top 10 list includes a total of 13 vehicles: 

Both the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, and the Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid with an electric range of 25 miles, are listed.

Consumer Reports also lists the Honda Accord and Accord Hybrid as well as the Lexus RX and Lexus RX Hybrid.

The Top 10 list could have done without the gasoline versions of the Honda and Lexus. 

In fact, a Top 10 list of only gas-electric hybrids and EVs makes even more sense as the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States hit $4.32 this week.

Deadly air pollution

All in all, Consumer Reports' annual Auto Issue continues to disappoint, and ignore the elephant in the room:

Premature deaths from air pollution caused by vehicle tailpipe emissions.

READ: First EV on Top 10 list

 didn't appear until 2018

Bergen prosecutor is stumped on identity of driver who killed Hackensack woman, 81, as she crossed the street one year ago

After Lillian J. Holmes of Hackensack was killed by a hit-run driver on March 4, 2021, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office issued this stock image of a 2013 or 2014 black BMW X5 SUV with tinted windows, and said the driver is believed to have been involved in the hit-run death of the 81-year-old woman.

 

'Matter remains an open

criminal investigation,'

is the only comment

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- An 81-year-old Hackensack woman died one year ago today after she was cut down by a hit-run driver as she crossed the street to pick up a prescription, and then run over by a second vehicle.

This week, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office declined to answer any questions concerning the investigation into the death of the woman, Lillian J. Holmes, except to say:

"The matter remains an open criminal investigation at this time."

The second driver stayed on the scene on Polifly Road, between Sutton and Marvin avenues, where a CVS Pharmacy is located, and wasn't charged with any wrongdoing.

But there is no crosswalk or warning signs about pedestrians, even though there is an apartment building on the other side of the 4-lane street. 

Poorly lit at night

In fact, there are no crosswalks or traffic lights for 6 blocks of Polifly Road, from Essex to Lodi streets, and street lighting is poor at night, when the hit-run fatality occurred.

Despite repeated requests from the city, Bergen County hasn't made any improvements in the lighting along Polifly, a county road. 

Nor has the county added crosswalks and warning signs to help pedestrians cross Polifly Road, which is lined with apartment buildings.

OPRA request

I filed a request under the Open Public Records Act for details from members of the prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigation Unit, but all but one of my questions went unanswered.

The Prosecutor's Office issued a stock image of the BMW SUV, but also supplied a video "of the subject vehicle" to the news media.

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella declined to supply the video to me, but cited a NorthJersey.com story, "which posted a video of the subject vehicle" on March 10, 2021.

But I can't access the video because I do not have a subscription to NorthJersey.com.

Unanswered questions

Before I filed the OPRA request, I tried to obtain information about the investigation from Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Rebein, the public information officer for the Prosecutor's Office.

All of my requests were turned down and none of my questions were answered. 

"Our press releases are posted on our website ... for one year," she said in an email. "No one at the BCPO [Bergen County Prosecutor's Office] can speak to you openly or anonymously about how investigations are conducted, including the amount of time spent."

I had asked whether the BMW X5 was registered in New Jersey or New York and whether a man or woman was driving, among other questions.

I also asked for the names of other hit-run victims after Rebein said the Holmes fatality wasn't the only open case. 

READ: Lillian J. Holmes lived a full live

 before hit-run driver killed her

Readers continued to drop The Record and NorthJersey.com in 2021 -- 5 years after $40M purchase by the Gannett Co.

EX-PUBLISHER TURNS DEVELOPER: Stephen A. Borg, former publisher of The Record, is a partner in the development of Print House, luxury apartments and retail at 150 River St. in Hackensack, where the newspaper operated until 2009.

`

39,683 daily, 48,684 on Sunday

is the new circulation low

 Editor's note: I just received an email listing the sale and purchase of homes by Malcolm A. Borg,  former chairman of North Jersey Media Group; and the divorce granted to attorney Jennifer Borg, his daughter. See the comments section at the end of this post for details. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The world's biggest newspaper publisher seems powerless to stop the slide in circulation at The Record of Woodland Park and NorthJersey.com.

In 2021 -- 5 years after Gannet Co. bought the prize-winning daily newspaper founded in Hackensack and its website -- circulation of both fell to only 39,683 daily and 48,684 on Sunday, according to the media company's annual report, filed last week.

That is a shocking development given the numbers at the end of 2016, when circulation of The Record and NorthJersey.com stood at 235,681 daily and 147,609 on Sunday

That includes circulation of affiliated publications  like the Herald News and the weekly Hackensack Chronicle.

Dramatic changes

A year later, at the end of 2017, the precipitous slide began: 

Circulation of The Record and its website dropped to only 91,032 daily and 97,149 on Sundays.

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

Survivors wake up

But it wasn't until 2021 that survivors of the bloodletting formed a union called The Record Guild to bargain with Gannett, which continues to deny them raises.

The vote in The Record newsroom to form the union was 59-4.

The union's total membership is not known, but includes employees at NorthJersey.com, The Daily Record of Parsippany-Troy Hills and the New Jersey Herald of Newton.

In its annual report, Gannett said that only about 17 percent of is 13,800 employees in the United Sates are represented by labor unions.

Change, change, change

At the end of 2021, according to the annual report, The Record and NorthJersey.com of "Bergen, New Jersey" were listed in 11th place among Gannett's major publications, led by USA Today, one place lower than at the end of 2020.

But when The Record was acquired in 2016, it stood in third place among Gannett newspapers after USA Today and the Detroit Free Press.

Gannett's annual report for 2021 lists a total of 9 daily newspapers, 14 weeklies and 2 production facilities in its New Jersey portfolio.

Corporate revenue

The amount of circulation is the primary factor in the pricing of advertising space, meaning Gannett likely has had to reduce how much it charges for ads in The Record, Herald News and on North Jersey.com, reducing corporate revenue.

Circulation also fell after Gannett editors cut the amount of local news even further after buying The Record in 2016, and then switched to a subscription-only model for NorthJersey.com in 2019. 

In January, The Record and Herald News told subscribers they will no longer receive home delivery of the Saturday edition.

The print edition of The Record may not be long for this world, judging by Gannett's annual report for 2021, which cites the company's "evolution from a more traditional print media business to a digitally focused content platform."

READ: Shit in driveway wasn't from dog walkers

READ: How Stephen Borg turned 

The Record into crap

 

FREE PAPER: The weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which has no staff and reprints stories and photos from The Record, is delivered free to Hackensack residents.

Big downsizing 

The Record had been based in Hackensack for more than 110 years when then-Publisher Stephen A. Borg executed the biggest downsizing in company history in 2008.

He targeted veteran employees who were earning higher salaries, then closed the headquarters building at 150 River St. in 2009 and moved The Record to a bank building overlooking Route 80 in Woodland Park.

Stepen Borg also ended separate Local sections for news from Bergen and Passaic counties, and Bergen readers often were inundated with news of Paterson and other Passaic communities.

After closing the building at 150 River St., Stephen Borg monetized The Record's parking lot by renting spaces to Hackensack University Medical Center and Bergen County.

North Jersey Media Group

In its 2016 annual report, Gannett and the USA Today Network hailed as a strategic acquisition purchase of North Jersey Media Group, the Borg family company that published The Record, Herald News, (201) magazine, NorthJersey.com and about 50 weeklies.

The Borg family held onto nearly 20 acres along River Street in Hackensack and the former headquarters building.

The headquarters, other NJMG buildings and a diner were torn down, and in mid-2020 Stephen Borg and his partners began construction of luxury apartments and retail along River Street.