The Daily Newarker

Politicker NJ: James: ‘Booker’s an alien who needs to get back on his spaceship’

“We are not rock stars,” he says. “We are Newarkers. We stayed, we stayed, and we always survived. And we’ll keep surviving. Mr. Booker – I’m going to call him an alien – he needs to go back on his spaceship, wherever he came from. He doesn’t know how to interact with us.”

That’s just the type of practical, fact-based sloganeering that adds real credibility to a campaign.

New York Times: Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

The Times examined the impact of subprime lending in Newark back in 2007, revealing the heartbreaking impact of this long-running crisis. While the prospect of short sales were originally shunned by banks, the Obama plan introduces some hope of stemming foreclosures and preventing a slide back into economic decline.

Newark Speaks: Introducing a More Social Daily Newarker

In which your humble narrator promotes, then explains, then defends the raison d’être for the Daily Newarker:

LOL, trust me: I’m not making $$ on the Daily Newarker, from the Booker Campaign or anyone else. We’ve had fits and starts with advertising programs, and haven’t been able to generate a sustainable income from the site. I have a day job that feeds my family.

As to wishing the site shut down: I think a rising tide raises all boats. The more online discussion about our city, the better. And, whether it’s parents trying to find a space for advocacy to networking non-profits, I’d like TDN to be a resource for Newarkers, new and life-long.

NY Daily News: It’s a wonderful loft: Downtown Newark making space for lots of conversions

After Hal Laessig and his wife lost their downtown Newark art gallery and living space in an eminent-domain fight with the Newark Housing Authority over the Prudential Center, they were determined to save an old building.

Three years and $3 million later, an 1879 former button factory in the Ironbound District houses their gallery, the Sumei Multidisciplinary Art Center, and serves as their home. They developed Button Factory Lofts into 14 condo units, nine of which have sold since the building opened in October.

The couple are among a wave of preservation-minded developers turning industrial buildings into loft spaces to accommodate Newark’s growing population of artists and professionals.

“When things were booming, developers were clearing multiple blocks, so a lot of the old industrial buildings got demolished,” says Laessig, 54. “Now, with the few that are left, people are thinking, let’s save them and convert them for living, because otherwise they’ll all be gone.”

Good overview of some recent condo conversions happening in the city and the personalities behind them.

New York TImes: Nets Laud Future Newark Home as a Bridge to Brooklyn

The modern Prudential Center, in most ways the antithesis of Izod, is a better bridge to Brooklyn, Yormark said. He said that railroad access to Newark would let Brooklynites sample the Nets for a while (although the tasting might be better if LeBron James or Dwyane Wade were playing there), and that a modern facility would help Rod Thorn, the Nets’ president, recruit players.

“We’re excited about the move,” said Kris Humphries, a reserve forward whom the Nets acquired from Dallas in January. “How can we not be?”

Booker tied his city’s comeback fortunes to those of the Nets, and spoke at times as if the benefits of the Nets’ pit stop would never end. Reminded of the team’s short-term lease, he said: “You can’t discount the revenue they will bring to the city. It’ll move our city forward.”

It’s official. This isn’t so much a sports story as it is an urban renewal story: the move is temporary, and the Nets are one of the worst-performing franchises in the NBA right now. Bringing the Nets to Newark won’t solve all of their problems, but they will see an established fan base come out to see them play. The more exciting thing for this city might be that Newark will be a destination for watching some of basketball’s greats to come play (and beat the Nets).

Tritonic: 03.01.10 is HERE

And now we officially welcome our newest team member. Consisting of three floors, exposed brick, high ceilings, a tony location in the heart of downtown Newark, and weighing in at many, many tons, say hello to 239 Washington St. We’re ready to rock. Let’s formulate.

One of Newark’s hottest design firms gets a new home on Washington St. Congrats on the new space, Formulators.

Fox News: NJ Transit Fare Increase, Service Cuts

NJ Transit officials say they plan a 25 percent fare increase and service cuts to help close a $300 million budget gap. The changes would take effect May 1. … Some examples of price changes include:

• A one-zone local bus trip or one-way ticket on Newark or River Line light rail would increase from $1.35 to $1.70 per ride.
• One-way commuter rail tickets would rise to $1.50-$16.50. A trip from Metropark in Iselin, NJ to New York Penn Station would rise to $10.
• Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tickets would increase from $1.90 to $2.40 per trip.
• Off-peak roundtrip discounts would be eliminated
• 10-trip bus discounts would be capped at 15% off the full fare price

Star Ledger: N.J. businesses, developers strategize for Newark’s economic growth

Beit and Gutstadt were among a venerable who’s who of developers, and a business-card-toting army of construction managers and other enablers, gathered this morning to chart Newark’s hoped-for economic awakening.

“It starts to create a critical mass,” Wasseem Boraie of Boraie Development said of the big projects planned for Newark but are awaiting the first-shovel-in-the-ground.

American City: Advertise Like You Give A Damn

After a month of feeling sort of awkward about participating in this program, I’m left wondering why GOOD consulted on this project. I mean no harm, GOOD, I just want you guys to do what you set out to do — change the world, not change corporate advertising.

Why actively participate in complicating the advertising process? Why help blur the boundaries between an advertising campaign and philanthropic support? I can’t help think that for all the money that Pepsi is giving away, it’s just creating a new problem that GOOD should be guarding against — not the all-too-common “greenwashing”, but “goodwashing.”

Measured criticism leveled at Pepsi for the Refresh Everything program (in which Newark Now is in the top 50 to win $250k), examining the blurring lines between advertising, sponsorship, and philanthropy.

Great shot of the Passaic at sunrise.

ABC News: NJ Transit announces spending freeze, layoffs

An emergency spending freeze and the layoffs of more than 200 workers are needed to help plug a major budget gap that also is likely to result in fare hikes and service cutbacks for the commuting public, New Jersey Transit officials said Tuesday.

NY Daily News: Suggestive New Jersey billboard of Akoo jeans will be removed following complaints

Like the pair of jeans it depicts, a billboard poster in downtown Newark is coming down.

The ad for Akoo jeans shows a woman kneeling in front of a man and facing the camera. The man’s jeans are unbuckled, and the woman appears to be pulling them off.

The billboard, which hovers over a busy intersection, sparked criticism after a local columnist questioned its taste.

Funny, don’t most towns have standards to prevent these kinds of things from happening?

Update: Gothamist: NYC Billboards Too Hot for Jersey to Handle

That racy billboard in Jersey has turned off enough people that the NYC-based billboard company, CBS Outdoor, is buckling under the pressure and taking it down. … And as Eyewitness News noted yesterday, no one even seemed to notice the billboard in NJ until the press pointed it out; as one resident told NJ.com, “It’s somewhat suggestive but that’s not bad compared to what they show in New York City where they are basically nude.”

Or, say, Gothamist’s American Apparel ads.

Refresh Everything (Pepsi): Create a Social Media Video Project Around the People of Newark

The HOW I SEE IT program is a social media innovation, providing Flip Cams to Newark, NJ residents for the purpose of self-documentation. The program will initiate with 500 Flip Cams deployed in Newark through the non-profit organization Newark Now.

Make a difference with your click: vote to help Newark Now win $250,000 to produce a social media project to document the city and Newark Now’s community programs.  They’re 48th in the running, they need to be in the #1 or #2 spot to win the prize.

Brick City Love: The Master Bedroom

If you’re feeling like the master bedroom and walk-in closet are the only things we’ve talked about on this blog since September, you’d be mostly right. Aside from buying a dishwasher, our Christmas cards, and a few bouts of entertaining, it’s been all bedroom {& closet} all the time. This won’t be the last bedroom post; we’ve still got that headboard tutorial to finish and a few other How To’s but the wait for a completed room is over.

Perhaps the most adorable bloggers in Newark, Carrie and Rob Aselani tirelessly share their version of the American dream: restoring a home in the Central Ward.  For more, check out their blog at brickcitylove.com.

And congrats, Carrie and Rob, the place looks great.

Star Ledger: Newark Central Ward Councilman Charlie Bell faces re-election challenge from 8 candidates

The unlikely marriage of Mayor Cory Booker’s money and Councilman Charlie Bell’s clout is not taking any of the fight out of the 2010 Central Ward council race.

With eight other candidates having filed so far, the seat is the most widely contested in the city and two months before election day, challengers are knocking on doors, raising money, and courting district leaders in a political battle royal.

Joan Whitlow: Newark’s pay-to-play ban: Gaps linger in enforcement of campaign contribution rules

Didn’t a 2007 executive order by Mayor Cory Booker prohibit city contractors and vendors from donating to municipal campaigns?

The order, which also prohibits City of Newark employees from donating, was heralded as an ethical upper cut to pay-to-play, the unfortunate tradition of giving money to politicians to advance a municipal career or gain lucrative public business.

Joanie examines the implementation of the city’s “Pay to Play” ethics reforms and finds the controls to be lacking.

Star Ledger: Robert Treat Students Raise more than $5,000 for Haiti Earthquake Victims

Students of the Robert Treat Academy in Newark broke open their piggy banks earlier this month to raise $5,248.79 for Haitian earthquake victims.

The North and Central campuses of the charter school held a “Penny Wars” competition from Feb. 1 through 8 where students divided into teams to raise the most money. Pennies counted as “positive” points while dimes, nickels and quarters thrown into the opposing teams’ buckets were deducted from the opposing team’s total. …

Kelley-Kemple said the results of the fundraiser went far beyond her expectations as she only anticipated raising $200 or $300.

Pretty awesome what a little friendly competition can do.

I think the biggest challenge is bringing people together to work collectively to solve their problems … The collective strength of any community is big enough to overcome any challenge if you can really get people focused on it.

—Cory Booker, in an interview for World Journalism Institute (wherein he also shares his thoughts about fellow Newarker and TDN member, Danny Iverson)