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.

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

Demolition is near for landmark building where The Record and NJMG once thrived

The building at 150 River St. in Hackensack, where The Record and parent company North Jersey Media Group operated until 2009, is being prepared for demolition. The fourth-floor newsroom of the once-great local daily newspaper afforded a sweeping view of the Meadowlands, an elevated section of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Manhattan skyline.

After moving The Record and NJMG to Woodland Park in 2009, the Borg family leased parking spaces in Hackensack to Bergen County and Hackensack University Medical Center. Printing of The Record and Herald News were moved to an NJMG printing plant in Rockaway Township in 2006. 

 -- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

The end is near for the landmark Hackensack building that once served as headquarters for The Record and publisher North Jersey Media Group.

A cyclone fence encircles the building at 150 River St. and two other structures, and employees of a demolition and recycling company were seen working there today.

The city of Hackensack adopted a redevelopment plan for the property and adjacent land that includes up to 700 residential units, 70,000 square feet of retail and a 1.35-acre hotel site.

They would transform the abandoned buildings into a "mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented riverfront project" to support the revitalization effort downtown, city officials said.

The project will be the terminus of Atlantic Street, providing a direct link from Hackensack University Medical Center past the Performing Arts Center and Atlantic Street Park to the Hackensack River, the officials said.

Demolition 

At the city Building Department, an employee said I had to fill out an Open Public Records Act request for information on whether a demolition permit has been issued for the property, and when the buildings are scheduled to be torn down.

The Borg family retained ownership of 19.7 acres along River Street after selling "certain assets" of North Jersey Media Group to the Gannett Co. in July 2016 for about $39.3 million in cash.

Those assets included The Record and Herald News, about 30 weekly newspapers and (201) magazine.

In addition to 150 River St., the land includes 80 River St., and 62 and 70 Bridge St. (Heritage Diner, U.S.S. Ling and former naval museum).

The 150 River St. property, which is in a flood zone, was assessed for $24,947,400, and Macromedia Inc. has been paying $790,053.40 annually in taxes, according to the njparcels.com website.

This 3-story section of the building at 150 River St. contained the executive offices at the end of a hallway decorated with art. A private dining room and then-Publisher Malcolm A. Borg's personal chef were used to entertain the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other guests.