THE RECORD'S BLINDSPOT TO THE BIGGEST QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUE IN BERGEN COUNTY
Teterboro Airport -- used by corporate titans, and the rich and famous -- is the biggest source of annoying aircraft noise over homes in Hackensack, Teaneck, Englewood and other towns in Bergen County, but The Record has never treated the Port Authority owed airport as the nuisance it is.
Efforts to change the flight path of business and private jets to avoid roaring over Hackensack University Medical Center, Prospect Avenue high-rises and schools have been unsuccessful, and the noise-reporting complaint line has had little effect in reducing the racket.
When Malcolm A. Borg was publisher of the Hackensack daily, he pushed for the creation of an aviation museum at Teterboro, and in 1986, he invited Stephen Berger, the new executive director of the Port Authority, for lunch in Borg's private dining room along with a few editorial staffers, including me, who covered the bi-state agency at the time. The first words out of Borg's mouth were on the order of, "What the f--k is going on with the aviation museum?"
The Record did manage to muster enough coverage to kill a proposal to allow bigger jets, like the 737, to land there, but hasn't consistently campaigned to get rid of the older, noisier aircraft that use the airport
Now, at least 2 sensational articles in The Record have identified Teterboro as the hub of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking ring:
"From his mansion in Manhattan to his ranch in New Mexico and his island in the Caribbean, Epstein allegedly used his fleet of private jets to deliver dozen of sex slaves -- some as young as 14 -- to celebrities, royals, and famous politicians, according to statements ... in criminal and civil court filings since 2008, some of which were first released to the public last week," Staff Writer Christopher Maag reported in a story reprinted in the Hackensack Chronicle on Aug. 23, 1979.
Good luck trying to get anyone to do anything about the endless noise from Teterboro now.[size]