The drop in homicides may be the biggest success story for Newark in 2008. I’m starting to get excited about what 2009 will look like for Newark, should the trend continue into next year.
Mr. McCarthy said he did not ask Mr. Booker to substantially increase Newark’s police force of about 1,000 officers, opting first to increase efficiency, “like a corporation.”
“If you saw a map of crime in Newark, you wouldn’t even need another map to see the boundaries of the city because crime was so widespread,” said George L. Kelling, a criminal justice professor at Rutgers in Newark and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “It was hard to focus resources.” Mr. McCarthy said he had assigned more patrols at night, particularly on weekends, when homicides most often occur, and had asked county, state and federal agencies for additional help, which led to the deployment of 300 more law enforcement officers on the streets.
The extra patrols have made an impression. “You got more cops on the streets, ain’t as many places to hustle,” said T. J. Hughuy, 26, who said he had recently returned to Newark after more than two years in prison on a drug conviction. “Made me realize I got to get a job,” said Mr. Hughuy, who is now a welder.
Our friends at BaristaNet picked up the Newark Bears promotion celebrating Michael Jackson’s fiftieth birthday. There will be an MJ impersonator, fireworks and moonwalk competition—but actual Michael Jackson not included.
A Michael Jackson impersonator will be on hand to take on Bears mascot Rip ‘N Ruppert in a Thriller Dance off. Here’s the Bears’ impersonator on YouTube from last year. Oh, and fans can enter the Bears’ moonwalk competition on top of the dugout. But wait, there’s also a happy birthday MJ fireworks spectacular. We’re guessing there might be a baseball game in there somewhere as well.
Mayor Booker speaks at the 2008 Aspen Ideas Festival, a conference for thought-leaders to share ideas and viewpoints “that touch all parts of our society as found in the arts, science, technology, culture, religion, philosophy, economics, and politics.” Booker’s talk focused on overcoming fear and finding hope in the city. He recounts his story about Ms. Virginia Jones, whom Booker befriended during his stay at Brick Towers.
A city inspector closes the Pru Center for the weekend over an expired certificate of occupancy. The arena has operated under a temporary certificate since opening last October, because the building lacks a smoke evacuation system.
Pru Center management has been compensating for the lack of the system—which sucks the smoke out of the stairwells in the event of a fire—by employing a dozen or so “fire watchers” during events.
A state judge reinstated a temporary certificate of occupancy that has allowed the Prudential Center to reopen after it was closed early Friday by a Newark construction code official.
The 18,000-seat home of the New Jersey Devils hockey team was ordered shuttered after the temporary certificate of occupancy expired at midnight. The completion of a smoke evacuation system to help clear the stairwells in the event of a fire is the subject of the dispute.
“It’s safe. It’s just technicalities, paperwork, bureaucracy and miscommunication,” Devils co-owner Michael Gilfillan said Friday afternoon as he was leaving negotiations between the city and the Devils management.
Mayor Cory A. Booker, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, State Senator Sandra Cunningham, CeaseFire NJ Executive Director Bryan Miller, and other Newark dignitaries will hold a press conference to call upon the New Jersey State Senate to pass S-1774, the One Handgun A Month bill (passed two weeks ago by the State Assembly), to put up a critical barrier to intrastate handgun trafficking.
The One Handgun a Month law, according to Wikipedia, prevents individuals from legally purchasing more than one handgun within thirty days of another purchase:
A one-handgun a month law is designed to cut off the supply of guns to criminals by limiting handgun purchases to one every thirty days per person. The rationale for enacting this law is that gun traffickers may frequently purchase large numbers of cheap handguns from states with weak gun laws, particularly those in the south, and sell them at an inflated price to criminals in states with strong gun laws.
Three paramedics have been fired at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, according to an Associated Press story: EMS workers fired over alleged racist hazing.
The university’s president said Friday that the three were terminated after cell phone camera images surfaced of paramedic trainees at University Hospital in Newark garbed in white sheets resembling Ku Klux Klan robes.
“UMDNJ has never and will never tolerate attitudes and behaviors that discriminate against any individual or group,” university President William F. Owen Jr. said in a written statement. “The actions taken by the individuals in this instance are appalling.”
Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, which contracts with UMDNJ for emergency medical services, said the episode was “completely unacceptable.”
“The City of Newark will not tolerate such behavior by medical professionals, and we are glad that UMDNJ has moved to terminate these individuals,” he said in a statement.
This particular hazing doesn’t actually appear to have been racially driven as it was thematic, as students entering the program are regularly hazed in one way or another. Still, the conduct and insensitivity of the staff members—who work in one of the very cities nearly destroyed by racially-charged injustices 41 years ago—ought to be grounds for immediate dismissal and even criminal charges: Anger growing over KKK hazing incident at UMDNJ
UMDNJ president William F. Owen, who disclosed details of the incident on Friday, said investigators who have talked with other paramedics believe the incident was sparked by a racist video downloaded from the website YouTube. He said the students were apparently pressured to participate. They immediately left the campus and returned to the Boston university, Northeastern officials said.
The state medical university said it has been in contact with law enforcement officials, but UMDNJ general counsel Lester Aron yesterday questioned whether the incident could be viewed as a bias crime because it was not directed at anyone.
“This was more prank-like; hazing-like,” Aron said. “It’s horrendous, but it does not appear to be directed at anyone as a bias crime. It feels like a hazing. A sick hazing.”
Upbeat review from the New York Times of “The Alumni Showcase”—a talent revue of students from the NJPAC arts education program. I had no idea that the NJPAC stands as the country’s fourth-largest such program in the nation, following New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles.
According to Lawrence Goldman, president of NJPAC, the center’s arts education program is the fourth-largest in the country, trailing only those of Lincoln Center in Manhattan, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Los Angeles Music Center. Overall, 1,500 New Jersey teenagers have enrolled in the program, most on scholarship, with around 300 taking part each year.
“There should be agents in the audience,” said Ms. Thompson, who still auditions for roles in addition to her work at NJPAC.
The performance center’s assistant vice president of arts education, Sanaz Hojreh, agreed. “In the past, we’ve had agents in the audience and hope more will come in the future,” she said.
Movies Under the Stars kicks off tonight in Branch Brook Park as a part of the Newark Super Summer program. Head up to the Ballentine Gates for an evening of face painting, music and fun.
Tonight’s feature—Hairspray, starring Newark-native Queen Latifah—will kick off just after sundown, around 8:45pm.
Please join the Branch Brook Park Alliance in partnership with Essex County and Essex County Department of Parks for: MOVIES UNDER THE STARS, this week: HAIRSPRAY rated PG.
Very special thanks to our sponsors for helping to bring this program to Essex County Branch Brook Park: City of Newark Municipal Council Members: Councilman-at-Large Carlos Gonzalez, Councilman-at-Large Luis Quintana, and North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos, Jr.
7:30pm: Pre-movie festivities including Face Painting, balloons, a DJ and Karaoke. Movies begin at sundown, this week, approximately 8:45pm. Bring blankets or chairs for comfort, bug spray, and a flashlight to help you find your way back after the movie!! Whole Foods will have light refreshments, including popcorn, available for sale (all proceeds raised are donated back to Branch Brook Park Alliance).
We are a little more than halfway through the first mayoral term of Cory A. Booker, and inevitably, talk has turned to predictions for the outcome of the mayoral race in 2010. One of our favorite political blogs, PolitickerNJ.com, has weighed in on the matter, and says Mayor Booker will win in 2010 by a decisive 77%. Well, this is not surprising. I think most people understand that Mayor Booker cares very deeply for the city and it shows in his incredible work ethic. Whether it’s flying around the country to negotiate private/public partnerships or driving around the city during blackouts and being out in the wee hours with the police officers, no one can deny that he’s being very conscientious and strategic about running the city.
Also, I think that when people voted for Mayor Booker in 2006, they cast an eight-year vote. We all know that Newark faces substantial challenges, and that it would take more than one term for a trailblazer to come in, dodge the critics, the pratfalls and overcome the tragedies before setting the city on a different course.
Sesame Street Workshop, whose podcast my 16-month-old absolutely adores, will be filming a portion of its revived Electric Company series on a set in Downtown Newark.
While streetscapes and other segments will be shot in New York City, one can’t help but feel a little pride that comes with the caché of a television studio in the city. I’ve been in the Ironbound long enough to remember the euphoria when Stephen Spielberg and Tom Cruise graced us with their presence while filming War of the Worlds—photos of the two of them were hung in coffeeshops and restaurants all over the neighborhood.
I know Sesame Street regularly draws celebrities into its episodes, so who knows? We might just see Sarah Jessica Parker or Cuba Gooding Jr. relaxing at The Spot or 27 Mix after wrapping up on set.
Booker toured the main set for the revival of the kids’ TV series, “The Electric Company,” a show promoting literacy that the mayor fondly recalled from his childhood.
“I was enthralled by ‘The Electric Company,’” Booker, 39, said. The PBS show aired from 1971 to 1977, and then in reruns until 1985.
During his visit, Booker posed behind the curvy blue counter of “The Electric Diner” with cast members and all shouted, “Hey you guys!” the signature introduction of the original show.
We scour the web for Newark stories on a daily basis to give you one-stop shopping for Newark news. Check out these updates from the New York Times, the Star Ledger, WBGO public radio, Google News, Twitter, Flickr and blogs in and around the area.
After decades in which Newark has been notorious for soaring crime rates and lurid murders, law enforcement and city officials say a sea change is occurring.
Two weeks ago, the management company that runs a Newark apartment complex on South 17th Street had this stern message for its residents: clean up your mess. The letter, dated July 8 from Renegade Property Management, urged residents living at...
The Superior Court Appellate Division Thursday upheld a 2005 decision that Newark did not misuse hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll and parking taxes by including it in its general budget instead of giving it directly to taxpayers for...
Newark's third annual Lincoln Park Music Festival runs today through Sunday. This year's festival celebrates the city of Newark's favorite musical genres: jazz, gospel, house and hip-hop. Festivities begin at noon today with "An Afternoon of Jazz" featuring the James...
Summer fun and entertainment for kids is blooming at The Newark Museum's Camp Junior Museum. With a variety of activities such as studio art--painting, sculpture and more--summer games and outdoor activities in the Sculpture Garden, performances, concerts, films and Planetarium...
William Perlman/The Star-LedgerCynthia Meryl, director if the New Jersey Youth Theatre, prepares for the opening of the musical "Midnight Madness." Cynthia Meryl is experiencing some midsummer madness in mounting "Midnight Madness." The musical, which has its world premiere at the...
Newark cleared in misuse of tax funds The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, NJ - 44 minutes ago by Jeffery C. Mays/The Star-Ledger The Superior Court Appellate Division Thursday upheld a 2005 decision that Newark did not misuse hundreds of millions of ...
Lake Erie gives up record fish to Newark man who arrowed it Toledo Blade, OH - 1 hour ago Rich Cady of Newark, Ohio, used a bow and arrow to subdue this record 47.65-pound carp in Sandusky Bay, near Lake Erie. It is the second bowfishing record ...
Join Beaded Prayers At Newark Museum HULIQ (press release), NC - 1 hour ago Members of greater Newark’s cultural, philanthropic and civic communities have been invited to a workshop-luncheon at The Newark Museum during which they ...
WBGO: Newark Today
Newark Today with Mayor Cory Booker, April 12, 2007
WBGO: News Journal
WBGO Journal for Friday, July 18, 2008 at 7:30pm ET
