I read the Bergen Record's editorial today as well. Looks like they're no going to let this one go as yet, but you're right sandyhooken, how much good it's going to do is questionalble.
Mind you, I'm old enough to remember when they hammered Richard Nixon every chance they got, but of course they had plenty of company. They may be a "voice crying in the wilderness" on this one.
Thanks for the editorial, Sandy. My newspaper is The Star-Ledger, which has not kept the heat on New Jersey Transit about this issue. But The Record isn't going to let it die out.
Stringin' wire is not necessary for an emergency refuge....a couple of old "goats," could haul an arriving refugee to safety on a wire-less rail.....and there's lots of old SW's around...just keep the batteries charged and the coolant at 50 degrees F.
Another article in the Bergen Record about NJ Transit and Sandy. There doesn't seem to be that much new information, but the Record is keeping the pressure (harassment?) on NJ Transit.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/NJ_Transit_didnt_follow_its_own_storm_plan.html?page=all
I think there are some important new details here. A document, not previously released, shows NJT had a plan to store equipment on high ground. For example, at least some locomotives and cars for the Main and Bergen County lines could have been stored in the Waldwick yard. NJT management ignored there own plan which they themselves had put in place. Why?
If NJT management doesn't answer the criticism then their own plan condemns them. Of course since Governor Christie isn't interested in the issue nothing specific will be done. But these kinds of facts as they are released erode public confidence in both NJT and in Governor Christie's administration.
Why John? Well, I'll tell you why. No-one had the guts to make a decision, probably because they were afraid to make the wrong decision.
"OhmyGodifIhavethetrainsmovedtohighgroundandthestorm'snotasbadastheysayit'sgonnabeandtheMonday
morningcommutesamessit'llbeallmyfaultandI'lllosemyjobandlooklikean idiotand".....yada, yada, yada.
What ever happened to leadership?
Another article from the Bergen Record. Since this is a gubernatorial election year in New Jersey, it's sometimes hard to figure out if the legislature (controlled by D's) is serious about this, or just another swipe at the Governor (R) who's running for re-election.
There's been some speculation in the papers that Gov. Christie will address the NJ transit fiasco after the election, when he no longer needs to maintain his Sandy-Heroman persona.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_lawmakers_consider_hearing_on_why_NJ_Transit_ignored_hurricane_plan.html
"Consider" is the operative word. Somehow I think the NJT top brass is too well connected or they'd have been gone by now.
I don't think it is as complicated as "leadership," Wayne. NJT management didn't bother to take the weather reports seriously. You don't have to be a leader to know enough to read the weather report.
sandyhookkenSince this is a gubernatorial election year in New Jersey, it's sometimes hard to figure out if the legislature (controlled by D's) is serious about this, or just another swipe at the Governor (R) who's running for re-election.
Senators Loretta Weinberg and Robert Gordon, both Democrats from North Jersey are certainly serious. However, Senator Steven Sweeney, also a Democrat and leader of the Senate, is taking a wait and see approach. Clearly he is less serious than some of his Democratic colleagues.
John WR I don't think it is as complicated as "leadership," Wayne. NJT management didn't bother to take the weather reports seriously. You don't have to be a leader to know enough to read the weather report.
Hi John! No, you don't have to be a leader to read a weather report, but you DO have to be a leader to take the information handed to you and make the decision to act on it. Look at it this way, Metro-North, the Long Island Railroad, and the New York subway system had the same info NJ Transit did, they acted on it, and didn't lose any equipment.
For a while I was willing to give NJT officials the benefit of the doubt, neither Hoboken or South Kearney had ever flooded like that, at least within living memory. But given what I know now and the way other transit agencies in the area acted I find NJT's actions incomprehensible. Maybe they just didn't want to pay the overtime to have extra crews come in and just kept their fingers crossed hoping for the best. Who knows? No ones talking.
From what I've read in "Railpace" when the NJT brass finally woke up and tried to get crews in it was too late. None of the crews called wanted to risk their cars, to say nothing of their lives to get to the yards. Can't blame them.
Another editorial in today's (Sunday) Bergen Record about NJ Transit's Superstorm Sandy debacle and Gov. Christie's non-response. The Record also published a long article this week about the same issues; for some reason, this article never made the on-line edition of the paper, so I couldn't post it.
It appears that this issue has now become a holy crusade for the Record, with recent articles by several staff members and recurring editorials.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/220977651_The_Record__NJ_Transit_answers.html
Wayne,
All I can say in answer to you is that I find NJT management as incomprehensible as you do. There is no logical explanation for their action. The storm was well known to everyone. Moving their rolling stock to high ground would have had minimal cost relative to to cost of repair. And high ground was available.
John
I agree, Sandy. The Record will continue with this issue whether or not Governor Christie wins the election. As I recall Bergen County has the largest population of any county in the State. And it has a great many NJT riders. Shortly after he was elected Governor Christie cut transportation aid; the result was a 25 per cent increase in monthly commuter passes. For occasional riders the increase was about 60 per cent. I'm sure Bergen County voters have not forgotten it and these articles continually erode support for Governor Christie. He is still ahead in the polls and most likely will win re-election but The Record will do what it can to see that the Governor pays a price for his inaction after the Sandy fiasco.
Hi John! Having grown up in Bergen County I can tell you the "Record's" a Democratic newspaper, has been for decades, so any chance they get to hammer Christie, or any Republican for that matter, they're going to take.
Watching from afar as I am now, I still can't figure out Chris Christie's non-reponse to the NJT disaster either. I might have thought Christie would have had heads rolling along the right-of-way by now. As I've said before, the NJT brass must be incredibly well-connected to both parties to have come through this and not lost their jobs. Nothing else makes sense to me.
Wayne
I don't understand Governor Christie's non response either. He is known for demanding accountability so why he should give a free pass to NJT management is puzzling.
And the hits just keep on coming!
Another article in the Bergen Record about Gov. Christie and NJ Transit's Sandy Debacle.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/10_months_on_Christie_declines_to_assign_blame_for_damage_to_NJ_Transit_rail_equipment_during_Sandy.html?page=all
The Record just keeps pounding away. Christie is running for re-election primarily on his response to Superstorm Sandy, which even I had to admire. He projected authority and compassion; NY Gov. Cuomo came across as a whiner.
Christie is not going to do anything to call attention to the one massive mistake in his administration's storm preparation and response until after the election, if then.
I'm surprised Governor Christie did not loose his composure in response to these repeated questions from Record reporters. He is known for his explosive outbursts at similar questions.
He does believe that over all people are satisfied with his response to Sandy and there is certainly truth in that. He was right there with Sandy's victims and he embraced President Obama when the President came to see the damage even though the President is a Democrat and he is a Republican.
But his latest excuse for doing nothing about NJT seems not very believable. He says he hasn't had time to assess NJT management's response to the storm. The storm was last October. How much time does he need? The Star-Ledger reports he met with Obama Administration officials about backing up NJT's electric power grid. Many of the comments to that story question his reluctance to call anyone to account over the equpment NJT managers stored in a swamp.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/08/christie_announces_plans_for_backup_electrical_grid_to_keep_trains_moving_during_future_monster_stor.html
Maybe Cristie is finally getting to know the incompetence of NJT. If he is acknowldging that NJT had plans that they did not use ------ / ? ? ?
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Christie_No_knowledge_of_NJ_Transits_hurricane_plan_before_Sandy_hit.html
Another editorial from the Bergen Record about Gov. Christie and the NJ Transit Sandy debacle.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/221434481_The_Record__Christie_on_the_grid.html
This much press by the Record on one issue is more than I remember on any of their previous crusades. Something we haven't heard about must have happened to cause this ongoing pressure.
sandyhookkenSomething we haven't heard about must have happened to cause this ongoing pressure.
No, we have heard about it. The last link--Blue Steak's--is to an article in The Record where an investigative reporter found NJT trying to hide the fact that it did have a plan and plan called for equipment to be moved to high ground. NJT Management never disclosed that plan. Somehow the reporter got wind of it but NJT made him file a Freedom of Information Request and made the newspaper pay to get it. The newspaper believes this is dishonest by NJT management. However, NJT management is well insulated from The Record. After all, this is the same management that 10 months after the storm is still providing out houses in Hoboken Terminal. But NJT is part of the Executive Branch of Government and Governor Christie is the Executive. As the article makes clear, NJT even hid the plan from Governor Christie. And The Record is going to put as much pressure as possible on him as it can to try to get him to act.
Actually, I wonder why Governor Christie does not act. He is known for demanding accountability from government employees. It is hard to understand why NJT management should get a free pass.
Congratulations John, you put the thread at 500 posts! I wondered who was going to be the one.
Firelock76Congratulations John, you put the thread at 500 posts!
Thank you, Wayne. I hadn't noticed myself. You, of course, were the first person to exceed the 500 mark with the five hundred and first post.
You're welcome John! I thought of making it 500 myself but I didn't have anything interesting to say. Besides, I'm not greedy.
An active criminal investigation of NJT? I never thought of that. Corruption? Malfeasance? Book-cooking? If there's an investigation going on I doubt it's over the Sandy foul-up, that's just incompetance.
You just may be more right than you know.
I doubt NJT management's decision to leave our trains in a swamp is anything more than incompetence. In the time I have leaved here there has been almost no news of any kind of corruption at NJT. Waste and mismanagement at times but not corruption. There was one instance of an Executive Director who was caught charging personal expenses on his NJT credit card but that is the only one I can recall.
Another editorial in the North Jersey Bergen Record lambasting NJ Transit management.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/223795151_The_Record__Transit_secrets.html
This is the fourth consecutive day that the Record has had coverage of NJ Transit; the three previous days were news articles with derogatory comments by the staff writer.
I can't remember this type of continuous reporting/editorializing by the Record, even during the (many) political corruption cases. This is almost a year, and the Record is still hammering Transit.
That's interesting Sandy, I was on NorthJersey.com this morning and don't know how I missed this. Probably because I've been following the Mazurs Bakery blow-up. Lady Firestorm was a Mazurs customer yeas ago and like Captain Renault in "Casablanca" she's "Shocked! Shocked!"
Like John the Baptist the "Record" seems to be a voice crying in the wilderness concerning NJT at this point. Or maybe since they're a Democratic newspaper they're using it as a tool to atttack Chris Christie, albeit by a back-door method.
The trouble as I see it is too many people in New Jersey have a habit of thowing their hands up and saying "Ah, what are you gonna do?" It was true when we moved away 26 years ago and it's true now. Sad.
sandyhookkenI can't remember this type of continuous reporting/editorializing by the Record, even during the (many) political corruption cases. This is almost a year, and the Record is still hammering Transit.
I have to agree with you, Sandy. My newspaper, The Star-Ledger, has reported the transparency issue but has not been critical and in general has not been nearly as critical as The Record.
Among some people NJT has a reputation for being very high handed and for having too many highly paid management officials. For example, a few years ago NJT decided to stop offering off peak tickets. This, with the 25 per cent increase imposed, resulted in an effective increase of about 65 per cent over night. It left a lot of bad feeling. The New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers reports NJT has the highest commuter rail fares in the nation. And yet NJT, almost a year after Sandy, still offers its riders outhouses at Hoboken Terminal. It is easy to see why The Record is so unhappy.
Of course NJT management runs NJT. No newspaper does. Yet over time I see these editorials as eroding the public respect for NJT.
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