The Daily Newarker

“Nets Arena May Not Be Finished Until 2011, Ratner Says”:http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/nets-arena-now-may-not-be-finished-until-2011-ratner-says

This in from a tipster: the New Jersey Nets arena planned for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards will not be completed now until 2011 — three long years from now.

Seriously, Nets? Newark can get this done for you by next season. The arena is here and ready for you. Do New Jersey proud and stay here, do something good for a city that will welcome you here, and maintain your current fans.

Newark is a win-win for everyone except Forest City Ratner, who is just totally screwing with you guys.

The planned new Brooklyn basketball arena for the Nets now may not be ready until 2011, according to developer Forest City Ratner, as the company acknowledges that the time to build the structure may take it past its current completion goal of calendar year 2010.

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Cold Coffee

The New York Times editorializes the closing of the Starbucks at Market and Broad, citing its opening eight years ago as “a herald of the city’s resurgence.”

…Joe Hallinan, regional vice president, says the branch has actually been losing money. Now that the company has hit tough times, he says, there is no alternative but to include the outlet among the 600 that the company will close.

Perhaps. But the area shows strong signs of growth. A luxury apartment building is almost filled, and construction is about to begin on a new residential loft building. The recently opened arena, the Prudential Center, is bringing people in on nights and weekends.

Sharpe James will serve 27 months in federal prison for directing real estate deals to his mistress, Tamika Riley — conduct considered unbecoming a public servant by a jury of his peers.

Reactions around the web to yesterday’s sentencing have ranged from “anger”:http://bullmoose1952.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/give-sharpe-james-the-max/ to “mild indifference”:http://www.baristanet.com/2008/07/sharpe_james_gets_27_months.php. Ultimately, no one was satisfied by the outcome of the case.

Rest assured, though: Sharpe’s political enemies will get their perp walk. U.S. Attorney Chris Christie will get another notch in his pristine record. The city will see $127,000 returned to its coffers in the form of fines.

But, the sentence handed down by District Court Judge William J. Martini was not justice — and that has little to do with the length of James’ sentence.

Sharpe James was once a hero in this town, a man who fought for Newark when it seemed that New Jersey, through its highway and housing policies, was bent on destroying it. After the racially-charged 1967 riots, James was the second black mayor to arrive in office, calling for reform and admonishing an administration fraught with corruption.

Newarkers, however, had heard it before. Kenneth Gibson, James’ predecessor, took office in 1970 as a reformer, and was later indicted on fraud and bribery charges. He had replaced Hugh Addonizo, who won the Mayor’s office in 1962, accusing _his_ predecessor of running a corrupt political machine. Addonizio was also brought up on with corruption charges for bowing to the will of organized crime.

Because of this — three disgraced mayors and forty-four years of corruption in City Hall — Newark suffers from a poverty of hope. An obstinate cynicism permeates this city to the degree that many “man on the street” interviews revealed Newarkers asking sympathetically, “why _wouldn’t_ Sharpe take care of his own?”

We are only just beginning to see this dogged attitude chip away, two years into what appears to be a substantive renaissance in the nation’s third-oldest city — truly one of our great American stories.

But the Sharpe James sentence, too short to account for the years of undue influence, and too long to shake Newarkers’ perceptions that the establishment is trying to undermine the city’s progress — offers nothing but a sad reminder of our torrid history of corruption.

“The Undoing of Sharpe James”:http://dailynewarker.com/2008/04/17/the-undoing-of-sharpe-james/

My piece from April, written the day after the Sharpe James conviction.

Sharpe James saw Newark through some tough times, and was a tireless cheerleader for the city, but government was never meant to be run this way. Newark is undergoing a transformative change, seeing a drastic drop in crime and renewed economic interest. It’s time to put away old ways of apologizing for cronyism, evolve our political discussion away from racialism, call for accountability from our leaders, and stop thinking of potential partners in the city’s success as “outsiders.”

James’ approach to governing the city created a culture of secrecy, suspicion and fear that was more about him than the city. It was that very cult of personality that led to his larger-than-life attitude and his ultimate undoing. Perhaps the real legacy of Sharpe James will be a warning of what can happen if we don’t demand more from our elected officials.

“Analysis with Joan Whitlow”:http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2008/07/analysis_with_joan_whitlow.html

Joanie provides an analysis of the sentencing for the Ledger Live video podcast.

“27 months?: Bloggers react to former Newark mayor Sharpe James’ sentencing”:http://blog.nj.com/jerseyblogs/2008/07/27_months_bloggers_react_to_fo.html

Excellent round-up by Kelly Heyboer of the blogger reaction to Sharpe James’ 27-month sentence for violation of public trust.

“Smearing a city isn’t entertaining”:http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1213850157223400.xml&coll=1

Brief editorial on Esquire’s July feature of Newark. The most heinous crimes of Scott Raab’s piece are the assumption that Booker is the only person in Newark trying to make a difference, and the dehumanization of the entire citizenry as “zombies”.

And let’s be clear that Raab’s piece leaves no room for nuance. In his opinion, if you’re crazy enough to live in Newark, that makes you a zombie: artists, addicts, professionals, families, ex-cons, children, teachers, bloggers, lawyers, poets, social workers.

Readers of The Daily Newarker will recognize that we share a slightly different view of the city. I encounter heroes all over this city in my work at the Daily Newarker. Businessmen and -women who want to provide their services to Newark’s underserved community; non-profit directors and employees who have this nutty idea that how they live their lives might actually make a difference in someone else’s; educators who believe that their Newark-based institutions can set national standards.

Sure, the city has more than it’s fair share of needs — and we’ve even seen monsters operate here with impunity. To equate flesh-eating zombies with their stories might seem clever to Esquire editors, but to this Newarker, it just lazy reporting.

Solid, honest reporting, not entertainment considerations, should be at the heart of good fea ture writing. Wouldn’t Esquire prefer to be known for attracting readers to exceptional journalism, not sensational, yellow journalism? No wonder the public is increasingly skeptical of the media. Some publications will print anything to make a buck.

This in from City Hall. Mayor Booker has written an enraged, five-page response to an article that has gone to press in Esquire Magazine entitled, “The Battle of Newark.” (To see the full article in PDF format, click here)

ENOUGH! Esquire Magazine’s July article “The Battle of Newark” by Scott Raab offers another narrow, clichéd, and grossly insulting misrepresentation of Newark — its people, neighborhoods, successes and progress. It painfully ignores the true Newark and instead casts our home as a destitute, depraved city.

Instead of writing a nuanced descriptive (and balanced) view of what is Newark, he chose instead to focus solely on persistent challenges as if nothing else existed in our city and then dressed up those challenges in the most insulting of ways.

Click through to see the mayor’s full response.

Read the rest of this entry →

Hello,Newarkers

I’m back first and foremost I apologize for my absence and got married and had a baby.

Now to the nitty-gritty.

Since my last post I have notice no changes in my beloved city. I know Sharpe James is going to prison Marion Bolden is leaving but nothing positive. Our education system is still lacking. Crime is still a blight on our fair people and poverty and ignorance is at an all time high. I pondered this as a new parent what is the problem? Then it struck me EUREEKA.

Parenting the parents don’t parent anymore and I wanted to exam some reasons.

Reason 1. Ignorance- I know ignorance can be blamed on any issue but this is a different kind of ignorance. This is the kind of ignorance when you doubt the power you have over society. Every parent who reads this has the ability to change the world at home. Your child that person who Loves you most, worships you, watches your every move like a hawk, and hangs on your every word. I know your think “Junebug don’t never listen to me” correction. You assume they don’t listen but they stop when you stop. When you stop caring they stop listening and even then it’s hard for them. When you stop speaking to them and start speaking at them they stop listening. Your children need you, love you and only have you. Why not exploit that to the fullest. There are no dumb children just unconcerned parents. As a parent take pride in your children as a person take pride in yourself. I know people say well how do I do that. “I have no job I’m a single parent on welfare living i the projects”. To that I say you only go as far as you want to go. I know there is a stigma and a mantra if you will against us. Listen here parents don’t wait for your child to get you out the hood get them out first. It’s hard to find a job that can do that when you lack education. We have to use the resources at our disposal they take section 8 in Hillside just like they do in Newark. Just remember that hard work you put into getting your child to a better situation is contagious. If you want your son(s) or daughter(s) to get a better life lay the foundation. It is not as hard as it sounds.

Reason 2. Successful Blindness- Another problem we face as parents when it comes to motivating our children is, that  not only have they not seen people make it from our neighborhoods neither have we.It has been along time since Cochise from Cooley High and Ricky from Boys in the Hood were killed. The unfortunate thing is it happens so often. So many of our classmates and top people in our classes as a child turn back to their “cracky ways” it’s pathetic. This is why we must show the light and children are cruel. You didn’t graduate high school why should I? It’s at this point ere the child needs to be reminded of how hard life and your fist are(allegedly) . We have so few positive role models who do we turn to is often the question. We must instill that here is nothing wrong with being a teacher or Guidance Counselor. I would just think of how confusing and hard school was for me and want to help someone through this situation.As parents we’re human so they’re may be a chuckle at someone for doing a job perceived to be demeaning. Yet as long as that person can support themselves and is happy with there lives they should be applauded and not lauded.

Yet, I do not have all the answers. I just want to conclude I’m glad to be writing again at the Daily Newarker. Also remember parents no matter what the song said the first is not a holiday. You want to strive for a life where the first is when your kids know the bills are due. No child should have to worry about eating or having food on the 22nd of a month. I know it is easier said then done but, if you need assistance then allow it to assist you to your next plateau.Trust me when I say with out it I probably wouldn’t have survived those thousands of hungry nights as a child.

” Th Pursuit Of Perfection Is Ignorance The Pursuit Of Destiny Is Inevitable.”

It’s always tough fighting discouragement about a city that, despite all the good news, perpetually seems to have an awful story brewing just under the surface. I want to believe in a rejuvenated Newark where I and others can raise families in confidence of the future.

With summer here, the crime rate has begun its cyclical climb. Sirens blare at night across the dark city and rumors circulate about brazen crimes committed in the light of day.

My wife and I attended the Bidder Sweets fund raiser at Trinity Reformed last week and listened to the stories shared by Danny Iverson and his fellow staff members. They told of the challenges in their work of reaching at-risk youth in what Jonah Gensler from the ICC called the “forgotten” Ironbound. But the rewards of seeing a life turned from darkness are just so worthwhile that they continue on.

It struck me that we’re all really on the same journey to this Destination Newark: a place we all dare to hope in even when our friends and families insist that we’re crazy. We long for healing communities and a redeemed city, but we’re not there yet. There’s still much work to do.

“The Port”:http://www.carlsharif.com/2008/05/port.html

Interesting opinion piece on how Port Newark might affect Newark’s economic future. Booker has stated in several venues that he sees the port as an underutilized asset in Newark’s development. Sharif points out that it will take careful attention to bring the port out from under the control of an opaque bureaucracy.

Port Newark is the city’s most significant asset and Newarkers know little or nothing of its potential. Most have not even seen it up close. Its inner workings are cloaked in plain sight. As a result it is being largely mismanaged.

Over the next ten years Port Newark will grow dramatically with or without the help or direction of Newark residents and leaders. It is so large, rich and important to commerce in our region that development will be driven by growth, which is running on automatic. But that development might not be smart or best for Newark and its residents.

Developer Bruce Ratner published a column in the Sunday New York Daily News that the Atlantic Yards project is moving forward at a steady — if not rapid — pace. Is it a timely public relations message? Or a sign that Ratner is on the ropes?

Rumors of Atlantic Yards’ demise, stirred by opponents, have been greatly exaggerated. The project is moving forward in its entirety, and in the coming years it will bring jobs, housing and an improved quality of life to Brooklyn.

It looks as though things are going swimmingly in court — Ratner cites 18 favorable court decisions out of 18 cases so far — and that deals are getting done. But in the whole piece, Ratner mentions the New Jersey Nets exactly once.

Meanwhile, Jersey officials are sharing their opinions freely in the media.

“Four years later, we’re getting a rendering?” Codey said yesterday. “It’s becoming ridiculous. They’re not going to be playing in Brooklyn in 2010.”

“Instead of him fighting with the constituents there in Brooklyn we would welcome him here in Newark,” DiVincenzo said.

Esmeralda Diaz Cameron, a city spokeswoman, said Newark “would love to have the New Jersey Nets call the city of Newark home.”

Sure, some of it is just that good, old-fashioned brand of trash talk that only you only find in New Jersey. But, I particularly love the “on message” feel of Ms. Cameron’s statement: it’s wonderfully positive and polished without revealing any information that isn’t meant to be public — I hope they pay her well.

While light on inside information (the title is pure speculation), a Jersey Journal piece also published today would throw water on Ratner’s column: The Nets may stay in Jersey after all.

Ratner had hoped to move the team into the New York home for the 2009-2010 season, but there is no way the arena will be ready. In fact, the entire Atlantic Yards project is progressing very slowly.

The Nets owner is facing a very tough credit market that is getting tighter every week. A bleak economy will only continue to hurt the prospects of the Brooklyn development. It is the perfect time for New Jersey interests to put on a full-court press and have the NBA squad become the second tenant in Newark.

So, stacking up against the arena in Brooklyn are local opposition, tight credit markets, and increasing construction costs — and legal battles only add to the costs as deal maker Goldman Slacks can’t find funding until Forest City Ratner can close the books on their court cases. But, according to this New York Sun piece, moving to Newark might not be a slam-dunk either:

Getting the Nets into Vanderbeek’s building is simple on paper, but it is also extremely complicated, because of how revenues generated inside his building are distributed. Ratner would need access to monies from luxury boxes, club seats, and in-arena concession areas.

Vanderbeek would theoretically have to give up lucrative revenue streams from NBA games that he would normally keep from non-Devils events in the building. But Ratner could not financially survive without getting the lion’s share of those revenues.

As I read it, Ratner purchased the Nets for the purpose of getting leverage to begin a building project in Brooklyn, the centerpiece of which would be the Barclay’s Center arena. Due to legal delays and increased costs, the developer has scaled the project back to phases — the first of which will be the arena planned to begin later this year, and the last of which will be completed in 2018.

Booker and Vanderbeek are reportedly hoping to find investors to bring the Nets to Newark, which would be fantastic for the city, for fans, the team, and its investors. But, in order to do that, Ratner has to be selling.

The question really lies in whether the Atlantic Yards project can move forward without the Nets. Nobody’s going to build an arena without a team to play there, and it’s unclear what would be left of the project without the arena. In his column, Ratner highlights more than a dozen residential buildings and a Frank Gehry-designed commercial tower.

What do you think? Could Atlantic Yards move forward without the Nets or the arena? Do you think Vanderbeek and Booker have a card or two up their sleeve to entice Forest City Ratner to sell the team?

Yesterday’s verdict case against former mayor Sharpe James drew mixed reaction around Newark despite clear distaste for James outside the city. Onlookers scratch their heads at the apparent grief experienced by the very citizens that James profited from.

??Star Ledger??: “A day Newarkers will remember”:http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1208406953272750.xml&coll=1

Cornell Williamson, 27, a lifelong Newark resident, said he had followed the trial closely and felt let down by James, the only mayor he had known.

“I looked up to him, but now I’m disappointed,” said Williamson, who was having breakfast with two friends in a corner booth.

In a culture that celebrates the hubris of Elliot Spitzer’s downfall, and gawks at the former Newark mayor’s “getting crapped on by a pigeon”:http://gawker.com/379610/corrupt-ex+mayor-shat-upon-by-bird-of-justice, how is it that some might be sad about the verdict?

The answer lies in Newark’s history, which James dominated for two decades. Sharpe James was one of the first black leaders in Newark that was elected following the 1967 riots in the city — an event that was caused, “according to the Kerner commission”:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6545/, because “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.” In the years following those events that took the lives of 26 men and women, Newark suffered at the hands of state disinvestment. Highways were made to slice through the city’s neighborhoods, and housing policies that favored suburban communities accelerated the trend of exodus from Newark.

In short, the state had largely turned its back on the city.

It was against this backdrop that Sharpe James served as the city’s most enthusiastic supporter, over the course of 37 years in office, the Mayor built a political machine through which he was able to wield massive influence in New Jersey state politics. James brought the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to the city, doled out jobs to those who would seek his favor in hard times, replaced dilapidated housing projects with low income housing, and brokered the deal that brought the NJ Devils and the Prudential Arena to Newark.

James gave hope to Newarkers when many had dismissed the city as lost. The extent to which Newarkers suspect “outsiders” — a political tactic James used against current mayor Cory Booker — can probably be attributed to the perception of James as local folk hero, fighting for Newark against the largely white and affluent New Jersey state establishment. Newark Historian Dr. Clement Price put it well when “he discussed James’ legacy”:http://dailynewarker.com/2007/07/16/reflecting-on-james-legacy/ with the New York Times last July:

“Newark represented the nadir of urban America, and to the extent that it became a more optimistic city, that is something that no other mayor of his generation can claim,” said Dr. Price, who has lived in and studied Newark for more than 20 years. “He is beloved by a coterie of citizens, and they might perceive his troubles as a way of disparaging Newark generally and black mayors more specifically.”

Some interviews on the street published in the papers over the last couple of weeks had citizens wondering what was so criminal about James using his influence to benefit his friends — isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

While many people still think of James as a hero for the people, the guilty verdict delivered by a jury of his peers may do much to dismantle that perception. The case brought out the strange culture of backroom dealing that, despite their excuses for the mayor, should make Newarkers uncomfortable.

Sharpe James saw Newark through some tough times, and was a tireless cheerleader for the city, but government was never meant to be run this way. Newark is undergoing a transformative change, seeing a drastic drop in crime and renewed economic interest. It’s time to put away old ways of apologizing for cronyism, evolve our political discussion away from racialism, call for accountability from our leaders, and stop thinking of potential partners in the city’s success as “outsiders.”

James’ approach to governing the city created a culture of secrecy, suspicion and fear that was more about him than the city. It was that very cult of personality that led to his larger-than-life attitude and his ultimate undoing. Perhaps the real legacy of Sharpe James will be a warning of what can happen if we don’t demand more from our elected officials.

??New York Times??: “At Trial of Newark’s Former Mayor, Feelings of Loyalty, and of Being Let Down”:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/13james.html

After drawing enough people to fill Judge Martini’s courtroom when opening arguments began March 3, the trial has been sparsely attended since. Mr. Price, the Rutgers history professor, attributed the seeming lack of interest to the city’s collective fatigue with the travails of Mr. James.

“It may be that Newark has moved on, and Sharpe James is now officially part of the past,” he said. “It may be that this city and its citizens are exhausted by all this drama. The trial has just started but the drama surrounding this trial has gone on for a very long time.”

Professor price sums up my feelings on the Sharpe James trial succinctly.

I know we’re all still waiting with baited breath to see if we’ve truly turned a page in Newark’s long struggle with homicides. But a brief mention in the “aforelinked”:http://dailynewarker.com/2008/02/20/new-york-times-in-newark-children-reclaim-a-playground%e2%80%99s-meaning/ New York Times article would seem to indicate another quiet, subtle milestone of hope in the city.

Billboards — “Stop the Killings in Newark Now” — that had been plastered around the city by the local teachers union have been taken down.

The “contentious ‘Stop the Killings’ billboards”:http://dailynewarker.com/2007/03/26/infuriating-2/ (paid for by the Newark Teachers’ Union) which were plastered throughout the city and drew national attention have started to come down. I’ve yet to see anything more cynical than politics in Newark, but even in the contentious relationship between City Hall and the Teachers’ Union, we’re starting to see a ray of hope.

Perhaps we truly are turning a page in Newark’s history.

h3. More Reading

??Associated Press??: “Newark homicides down, billboards too”:http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS03/802160351/1001/rss

For the first time in more than four decades, the killings in Newark have stopped — for the last month, at least — and the billboards are coming down as a result.

“I said when I saw some reduction, I would begin the process of taking them down,” said Newark Teachers Union president Joseph Del Grosso, whose organization paid for the signs. “To belabor the point wouldn’t be beneficial to anybody.”

As of Friday, Newark marked its 33rd day without an official homicide, a startling fact for a city that has averaged about two killings a week over the last few years and saw homicides spike 50 percent from 2002 to 2006.

??NewarkUSA??: “Murder Billboards to Come Down; WNET Showing”:http://newarkusa.blogspot.com/2008/02/murder-billboards-to-come-down-wnet.html

The Associated Press, in an article Gaetano alerted me to, reported yesterday that the @#!*% president of the Newark Teachers Union who put up billboards saying “HELP WANTED: Stop The Killings In Newark Now!” has decided to take them down, next month, in consideration of the steep drop in murders in the city. They should never have been put up, and for Joseph Del Grosso to suggest that they had anything to do with the drop is outrageous. It was a campaign willfully to hurt Newark, not help, and he should be voted out by Newark teachers at their very earliest opportunity.

??5Reasons??: “Delfatso Will Remove The Signs”:http://www.newarkspeaks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7490&highlight=teachers

Delfatso also used NTU resources to print up anti-Booker recall looney “news.” It’s been a bad month for this clown. First, the recall crazy brigade fade to black without a comment and now murder has gone a full month without rearing its ugly head. Some scam artists just can’t catch a break, right bro?

The signs were wrong. The politics of murder was cruel. The leadership is stuck in the past. I’m glad they failed. Newark is a better place because of it.

??Joan Whitlow?? for the Ledger: “A poor idea to make people feel left out”:http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/whitlow/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/120244903697690.xml&coll=1

Yesterday I got a copy of an e- mail that a 44-year-old Newarker who worked on Booker’s election campaign sent to City Hall. She was complaining loud and clear:

“How dare you have a State of the City Address and not be open to all!!!!”

We chatted on the phone. She told me she has defended the mayor to his detractors, rationalized the fact that scores of city employees were laid off even as the administration hired out-of-towners at high-level salaries. The ticket thing was the last straw. Newarkers were being treated like outsiders, she said.

The event, held at NJPAC, saved more than half the expense of last years’ SotC. Those who weren’t able to get one of the 500 seats (Whitlow fails to disclose whether this is more or fewer than the number of seats available at City Hall last year), were able to watch live video of the event at City Hall. The speech was broadcast on cable TV; it was streamed live over the web.

Joan implies this one disgruntled campaigner speaks for all of Newark when she says that the State of the City was exclusive. It just doesn’t wash, and the argument that Booker, a mayor who has been working in and serving the city for over ten years, prefers outsiders to Newarkers is starting to sound more than a little tired.

??New York Times??: “This Land Is Newark’s Land”:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/nyregionopinions/NJnewark.html

Mr. Booker’s plan may seem conventional, but it qualifies as a revolution in the way Newark City Hall has conducted land sales in the recent past. Sharpe James, Mr. Booker’s predecessor as mayor, is about to go on trial on corruption charges related to a fire sale of city property to political friends and allies carried out during the last few years of his long administration.

The Booker reforms were to be expected, but they were welcome all the same. If Newark is to enjoy a widespread, five-ward revival, it must lose its reputation as a place where business is carried out in the shadows. Mr. Booker’s plan to make city land sales transparent is a giant leap in the right direction.

An Op-Ed from Sunday’s Times applauds the Booker administration’s efforts to drive transparent land deals and bring suit against developers who have failed to live up to their promises. While quality of life, education and crime continue to be hot-button issues in this city, a holistic approach to repair the city is the only way Newark will see progress.

NJ Voices, a new blog project at the Newark Star Ledger, has published a series of opinion/editorial articles from Newarkers and Ledger columnists about Saturday’s shooting of four college students. A number of people including Rutgers-Newark professor and historian Clement Price, columnist Tom Moran and yours truly contributed to this morning’s blog entries:

• Clement Price, Rutgers-Newark professor and Newark historian: Newark’s nadir.
  

  Such is a sign of civic maturity that now enables the city’s residents, and others who care for Newark, to deeply grieve the deaths of three youngsters in Vailsburg. That collective grief, not unlike the city’s collective commemoration of 1967, marks a significant turning point for Newark’s civic life and what its residents will increasingly expect from themselves and their young neighbors.

• Ryan Haygood, attorney and South Ward community leader: A call to action.
  

  …The truth of the matter is that looking only to external factors, those things outside of us, causes us to lose sight of the solutions to the problems that soil our moral and social fabric.

  Some of those solutions are inside of us.

• Bob Braun, Star Ledger columnist: Three deaths in Newark.
  

  We think an arts center and a stadium and a Starbucks or two represent a Renaissance, when what is really needed are jobs, health care, and housing.

• Tom Moran, Star Ledger columnist: For a desperate city, a defining moment. 
  

  Newarkers are going to have to come up large in another way, too. They have to tell police what they see and hear, and take the risk of testifying at trial — both major problems in fighting violent crime.

• Carl Golden, former press secretary for Governor Kean and Republican consultant: The challenge for Booker.  
  

  It will be necessary for Booker to reach deeper into the well of his commitment and dedication to meet the challenge posed by this crime. His honesty, decency, and work ethic are all admirable traits for a public official, but Booker is intelligent enough to know that none of it will mean much if Newark adds to its reputation as the place where three innocent and promising lives were obliterated without consequence. 

• Terry Golway, curator of the John T. Kean Center for American History at Kean University: Not just a Newark story.
  

   …It’s a fact of life that Newark’s revival depends upon the willingness of non-city residents to bring themselves and their kids into the city. And New Jersey needs a revival in Newark and other distressed urban areas. Morally and economically, we can’t afford to see our cities fail. 

• Jim McQueeny, president and CEO of Winning Strategies Public Relations in Newark: Street fight or street flight?
  

   In reality, the plan was probably always bouncing between hope and hype. The latter is on full display in the Administration’s gushy and glossy 100 day progress report that was issued last year, and it was rightfully ridiculed into oblivion shortly thereafter as a superficial media approach to governing. And, judging by the unabated murder rate in town, the bad guys never got the message in that brochure either.

• Star Ledger Editorial Board: The battle for Newark.  
  

  The percentage points mean nothing in the context of weekends like the one just past. For one neighborhood, the violence quotient climbed exponentially. For a few grieving families, the homicide rate hit the stratosphere and is never coming down. What good is it to claim that Newark’s 60 homicides so far this year are three fewer than this time last year when one bloody weekend proves that statistical victories can be obliterated in a staccato of gunfire?

• Ken Walker, editor of The Daily Newarker: Ending Newark’s Lawlessness.
  

   I think it’s the contrast of this audacious lawlessness against the backdrop of Newark’s progress that makes these killings so shocking. Violent crime is the single largest obstacle to any hope of the city’s recovery; promising crime statistics and development ring hollow to residents and outsiders alike who fear for their lives inside city limits.If Newark has any hope of restoration, it will be in the city’s ability to capture, prosecute and convict the murderers of these students. We must be able to show that these crimes will not be tolerated anymore.