Shit in driveway wasn't from dog walkers: The Record was delivered to us by mistake

READERS GET THE SHAFT: A report on the shutting down of nuclear reactors across the United States started on Page 1 of The Record of Woodland Park on Sunday and covered 5 full newspaper pages. Included were the bios of the 5 reporters for Gannett publications who worked on it. Loud yawns could be heard across northern New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The dog owners in my Fairmount neighborhood don't always do a good job of cleaning up after their pets, as  we can see from the occasional turd in the grass in front of our house.

On Sunday, however, the biggest turd I've ever seen was left in our driveway: 

The Record of Woodland Park, folded inside a plastic bag, was delivered to us in error.

I stopped subscribing to The Record more than a year ago (or was it two), but see the daily paper occasionally at the hospital where I volunteer.

So, I looked at the first Sunday paper I've seen in a long time with a critical eye, confirming once again how former Publisher Stephen Borg and Gannett have brought this once-great local newspaper to its knees.

The front page was wrapped in an ad for hearing aids, a desperate bid for revenue that was started by Borg years before the family unloaded North Jersey Media Group on Gannett in July 2016.

State budget news?

A week before Governor Murphy is supposed to sign the state budget, a battle over renewal of the millionaires tax continues to rage in the state Legislature, but there were no news stories about it in the Sunday paper.

As far as I know, The Record has never explored the millionaires tax as an issue, only as a showdown between the state's most powerful Democrats

The rest of the first section is filled only with international and national news -- a colossal waste of space in a local daily newspaper.

Readers go nuclear

In a desperate bid to grab readers attention, the nuclear power plant opus included a story on Page 12A under the headline:

"This could

affect your

wallet and

your health" 

As with most readers, I would imagine, my eyelids grew heavy.

The lead reporter on the nuclear plant piece was Thomas C. Gambito, a former Record reporter now with the Rockland/Westchester Journal News.

Debra Vial, Gambito's wife, was an assignment editor at The Record.

Now, she is the communications director in Paramus for Suez North America, the water company that levies hundreds of thousands of dollars in public fire protection fees on Hackensack and many others towns and cities.

Vial and other Suez employees have ignored repeated requests from this blogger, who also worked at The Record as a reporter and copy editor, for the fees paid by other municipalities.

Local news?

Sunday's 8-page Local section included 3 pages of obituaries or paid death notices, and a full-page ad.

The lead story on 1L was about gay cops (the headlines included the words "in New Jersey").

But there was not a single story from the 86 towns in Bergen and Passaic counties about municipal government, spending or policies.

Other sections

On the Better Living cover, staffer Rebecca King appeared to rewrite two news releases rating Newark Liberty International Airport as "the worst in America," but claiming the air hub is "best for foodies."

No prices were given, lest readers experience the same sticker shock of travelers who don't bring their own food, and have to buy some of the most overpriced fare in the world.

Better Living also included a USA Today travel article warning Americans going to Mexico to "proceed with caution."

Opinion

Remember the New Jersey budget battle?

In the Opinion section, Governor Murphy appeared as a guest columnist, noting the millionaires tax was passed five times by Democratic Legislatures in the eight years before he took office [and vetoed by then-Governor Christie].

The Record also has endorsed renewal of the millionaires tax. Murphy's column appeared under this headline:

"Why state budget must

put middle class first"

I'm sure almost no one read the piece on the front of Opinion on Sunday by burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly on failed legal pot laws in New Jersey and New York.

Kelly's been boring readers to tears for decades.

The rest of the paper, including Sports, went immediately into the recycling bin.

Read: Tombstones for great local journalism

STRAIGHT TO RECYCLING: Many of the sections of The Record on Sunday were suitable only for the recycling bin.

From Victor's Healthy Kitchen (YouTube): Costco's Basil Pesto and inexpensive wine

A massive traffic jam ruined our night out so we detoured for a dozen Jersey oysters

WORTH THE DETOUR: 100 Steps Kitchen + Raw Bar on Centennial Avenue in Cranford once was known as 100 Steps Supper Club + Raw Bar, as the awning still indicates. Web site: Great seafood closer than the shore.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I hate driving.

I hate bumping up or down slowly along my pockmarked, frequently patched block in Hackensack's Fairmount section, a street that has been neglected for more than 30 years. 

I hate driving over the rough, potholed and patched  streets in Teaneck and Englewood, and I especially hate the traffic on the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, our two major toll roads.

On Friday night, my wife and I left an hour and a half to drive the 53 miles or so to a Red Bank restaurant, where we had a 6 p.m. reservation.

We also planned to see a play at Two River Theater.

We never made it, detouring instead to 100 Steps Kitchen + Raw Bar, a BYO in Cranford, for a dinner of New Jersey oysters and scallops, and skate wing with crunchy grilled asparagus. 

Traffic was backed up on the parkway for more than 8 miles, according to digital signs, and we were averaging barely 20 mph when we gave up, called the Red Bank restaurant to cancel our reservation, and took the exit for Cranford.

High taxes, low roads

New Jersey's streets, roads and highways are in terrible shape -- this in a state with some of the highest local property taxes in the nation.

The Garden State Parkway is long overdue for an expansion in northern New Jersey -- 5 lanes in each direction would be great.

And what can you say about streets in Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood in Bergen County except that they are in horrible condition, especially those maintained by the county, and could use far more turn lanes.

County owned streets

Bergen County owns tens of millions of dollars in tax-exempt property in Hackensack -- shifting the burden to homeowners like me -- yet arrogant officials maintain stretches of county owned Summit Avenue and Prospect Avenue at third-world standards.

Cedar Lane in Teaneck also is poorly maintained by the county, with potholes and rough patches that rock even a heavy luxury car like mine.

And in Hackensack, the lack of turn lanes on Passaic Street, a major thoroughfare, and Summit Avenue is just criminal, causing driver frustration and aggravating air pollution as cars pile up behind turning vehicles.

Thanks for nothing, Bergen County.

Read: On my 2017 visit to 100 Steps,

 I had a dozen Cape May Salts

HALF-SHELL GAME: During Happy Hour, all oysters from the raw bar are half price, so I ordered 6 Tucker's Island from Little Egg Harbor and 6 Rose Cove from Barnegat (total of $20.50). Those were my consolation prizes after my server told me there were no Cape May Salts from Delaware Bay, the plump oyster I enjoyed on my previous visit in 2017. 

HOLD THE CREAM: My entree, a pan-seared Skate Wing, was listed on the menu with a side of potato dumplings in a cream sauce. To cut down on the fat, I ordered a side of crunchy asparagus ($33).

NEW JERSEY SCALLOPS: My wife loved her three large sea scallops ($37), but was hungry when we got home. I regret not ordering the special salad, Jersey Peach with Arugula.

EARLY BIRDS: Only a few other tables were occupied when we arrived at the restaurant without a reservation. We were seated immediately.

FREE PARKING: A parking lot on the corner is free.

THE DRIVE HOME: My wife took this photo of traffic on the northbound Garden State Parkway, where the toll road narrows from 5 lanes to 4. Cars exiting to Route 280 lined up in an exit lane and one travel lane, slowing everyone. Traffic going south appears to be as congested as it was when we gave up and detoured to Cranford.

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.

A $343,000 bill for 'fire protection' drives Hackensack taxpayers and officials crazy

WATER WORKS: A Suez water company crew at work on Passaic Street in Hackensack on May 7.

Suez charges New Jersey towns
millions for water mains, hydrants

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- In the annals of budget items that drive local taxpayers crazy, "fire protection charges" from the water company must be at or near the top.

Get this: 

Hackensack is obligated to pay Suez Water New Jersey more than $343,000 this year for "transmission and distribution" through water mains, and testing of fire hydrants.

Even though the city's Fire Department sends out its own personnel to check the 531 hydrants twice a year, Suez won't refund or credit the city for the more than $103,000 billed for the same service this year.

In fact, for the last decade or so, the Hackensack Fire Department has checked every hydrant and its flow twice -- when personnel install and remove markers that are used during the winter in the event snowfall hides them.

In effect, long-suffering city taxpayers are paying twice for fire protection.

'Investigating'

Asked about Suez's fire protection charges at a City Council work session tonight, City Manager Ted Ehrenberg said officials are "investigating."

He said he is hoping to have a discussion with the water company on possibly getting credit for the fire hydrant portion of the bill.

But Ehrenberg noted Fire Chief Thomas J. Freeman was turned down when he asked the water company about potential savings, in view of his department checking and servicing hydrants for roughly 10 years.

BPU authorizes rates

Suez's 2019 bill to Hackensack explains the charges are computed following a method established by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for "public fire protection through water mains and fire hydrants."

They are $195.12 for each of Hackensack's 531 hydrants, for a total of $103,608.72; and $0.004 "per inch-foot of main," for a total of $240,180.98.

The grand total for Hackensack is $343,789.70.

"In New Jersey, maintaining fire hydrants are funded through local property taxes, not by ratepayers through utility bills, as outlined by the Uniform Fire Code (regulated by the state Department of Community Affairs)," a BPU spokeswoman said.

Teaneck pays more

Teaneck presumably pays more to Suez because the township is 6.22 square miles, compared to Hackensack's 4.34 square miles, and has 680 to 700 fire hydrants.

Teaneck Fire Chief Jordan Zaretsky said firefighters do not check hydrants, and haven't done so in his roughly 25 years with the department.

Other Bergen County towns with substantial "public fire protection" bills from Suez are Paramus (10.52 square miles); and Englewood (4.93 square miles). 

Non-Suez systems

Ridgewood covers more than 5.8 square miles, but the village owns its water system so doesn't have to pay Suez for fire protection.

That's also the case in Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, three large cities in Passaic County that own the Passaic Valley Water Commission, a public water supplier to those and other municipalities.

No comment

I have been trying to obtain comment from Suez for more than two weeks, but Debra Vial, the Paramus-based company's communications director, has ignored several voice messages left on her landline.

Vial was an assignment editor at The Record for many years before joining Suez.

The Hackensack Water Co. was founded in 1869 and later named United Water. Suez bought United Water in 2000.

Suez North America boasts 3,430 employees, 16,000 industrial and municipal customers, and revenues of $1.1 billion.

The company, based in France, says it provides water and waste-recycling services to more than 7.5 million people in the United States and Canada.

From Victor's Healthy Kitchen (YouTube): I'm going wild over fresh Sockeye Salmon

Crackpot conservatives are trying to end tax break for buyers of Tesla, other EVs

FREE JUICE: I was able to plug in my 2015 Tesla Model S at the Municipal Garage in Englewood while I was watching the annual Memorial Day Parade. There is no parking fee on Sundays and holidays. Two other Teslas and a BMW i3 were plugged in nearby.

And Audi's new all-electric SUV --

'e-tron' -- means 'shit' in French

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The $7,500 federal tax credit for Tesla and Chevrolet buyers is being phased out now that both companies have produced more than 200,000 all-electric vehicles.

But the Driving America Forward Act, introduced by a group of bipartisan lawmakers in Congress, would allow buyers of an additional 400,000 vehicles per manufacturer to claim a $7,000 tax credit.

And consumers would be eligible for the $7,000 credit through the calendar quarter after the 600,000th vehicle is sold.

The bill maintains the $7,500 tax credits for the first 200,000 units sold.

Climate change

The Driving America Forward Act also would extend the hydrogen fuel credit for 10 years through 2028.

"At a time when climate change is having a real effect on Michigan, today's legislation is something we can do now to reduce emissions and combat carbon pollution," Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, said, adding:

"Our bill will help create American jobs and cement Michigan's status as an advanced manufacturing hub."

Tax credit

As you know if you own an electric car, the tax credit doesn't lower the initial cost, but allows you to take the full $7,500, if you owe that much or more in federal taxes in the year following the purchase. 

In New Jersey, where I live, there is no sales tax on EVs, so I saved more than $5,600 right away on my purchase of a Tesla Model S in 2015.

And in states with incentives for the purchase of an electric car, those are applied right away.

For example, a friend who lives in San Francisco just leased a 2019 Kia Niro EV.

He is getting $800 from the electric company, lower rates for electricity from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and $2,500 from the state of California.

The $7,500 tax credit goes to the dealer, but would revert to my friend, if he buys the EV at the end of his lease, and be deducted from the price he pays.

Opposition

One crackpot conservative, Phil Kerpen, says he's opposed to extending "electric vehicle subsidies"  [federal tax credits] because they purportedly "use environmental delusion as a cover for a wealth transfer from poor and middle-income Americans to the rich, who buy electric hobby cars as their third or fourth vehicle."

Boy, is he wrong.

Kerpen is president of American Commitment, which is "dedicated to restoring the American commitment to free markets ... constitutionally limited government, property rights and individual freedom."

Chinese EVs?

And Anton Wahlman of The Street claims in a bogus online story "there's nothing [in the Driving America Forward Act] to stop 487 Chinese electric-car makers from each claiming some $4.3 billion in American tax breaks."

What nonsense.

Chinese EVs? Have you ever seen one in the United States? Do they have a dealer network anywhere in the country? 

Tesla makes the most popular, sophisticated and stylish electric vehicles on sale in China, and the California-based EV maker is building a factory in Shanghai.

UNEXCITING: In this photo from Audi, the e-tron resembles many of the SUVs already on the road. The base price is $74,800.

Audi e-tron

When Audi first showed its all-electric e-tron concept at auto shows in 2010, the car was a swoopy 2-door GT.

Nearly a decade later, the German carmaker finally is taking $1,000 deposits on a new all-electric SUV, but for some reason has stuck with the e-tron name, which means "crap" in French.

(Why e-tron is lower case is beyond me, and mocks all the rules of capitalization.)

This EV looks like all the other SUVs on the road.

And I find Audi's TV ads just plain stupid, playing as they do on all of the long-disproven stereotypes of all-electric cars and their owners. 

AutoBlog had this to say way back in 2010:

"Étron, in French, is apparently not a word that signifies electric power, sex appeal or innovation. It is, in fact, a word that's closely associated with the less-than-glamorous act of excretion. If you hit up any one of the numerous online translation tools, you'll learn that étron has some pretty... crappy synonyms, which include words like "caca," "excrement," "dung" and "feces."

"Unfortunately, Audi may have inadvertently named its entire lineup of EVs after a bodily function that's seldom associated with spectacular vehicles. That is, unless the automaker intended that we translate e-tron as, 'the Audi that's as fast as, well, you know.'"

France and Germany were mortal enemies for many decades, but it looks like the French are having the last laugh.