Everything Newark

New York Times: U.S. Demands Newark Return $6.9 Million in Housing Aid

In their third blistering review since April, federal housing officials criticized the Newark Housing Authority yesterday for paying the City of Newark $6.9 million in federal money to add police and health services at its apartment buildings and then failing to document whether the residents ever received the extra aid.

I don’t get it: how does a public agency—especially one designed to serve the needs of people in poverty—fail an audit? In my industry (I work in the public sector), failing an audit because you’ve misappropriated several millions of dollars often means that somebody goes to prison.

USA Today: ‘The Sopranos’ draws stargazers in Newark

A spokeswoman for HBO said the crew was filming scenes for episode No. 12 of the upcoming season. Later in the day, crews were expected to shoot scenes in Clifton.

“We love New Jersey. We love Newark and we shoot there all the time,” said Mark Kamine, assistant unit production manager.

The New York Sun has some good coverage on this years’ mayoral election. Cory Booker, ivy league scholar and grassroots political activist, is taking up a rematch against 5-term mayor Sharpe James. That is, if James decides he’s going to run again. From the article, Cory Booker Sets Sights on Another Newark Run:

If Mr. James, 69, decides to run, as he is widely expected to, some political analysts said the rematch will be closer than the 3,500 votes that decided the last election. That campaign was the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Street Fight” and drew national attention when a political war erupted between the two black candidates—Mr. Booker, the younger, fresh faced reformer, who emerged with celebrity status, and Mr. James, who had stalwart machine backing and a presence in local politics for decades.

New York Times: All the Queen’s Men. The Times reports on Queen Latifah’s arrival to Newark for her latest movie debut, but it was hard to hear to tell we were reading about the movies above all that political din.

The Star-Ledger: Cash crisis puts arena on thin ice in Newark. The Devil’s arena promises a boon for the area, bringing jobs and visitors to the city of Newark. Its failure, of course, would leave a massive crater in the heart of downtown the city deeply in debt. This was a huge bet for Mayor James. Let’s hope he pulls this off.

Update: Glad to see they worked it out.

Newsday: State assemblywoman steps down amid accusations. Wow. As if double-dipping on the taxpayer’s dollar isn’t going to bring in enough income, one of our state assembly representing Newark is caught swapping pricetags in a housewares store to save a quick $80. Real classy.

New York Times: Newark’s Longtime Mayor Sends Mixed Signals on Plans. Mayor James appears to be indecisive over whether he will run in the May 2006 campaign. Whether this is true indecision or just a political tactic to throw competitors off balance remains to be seen. Favorite quote from the article:

“Mayor James is the cagiest politician I know,” said the Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, the executive director of the Black Ministers’ Council of New Jersey. “Trying to figure out what he’s doing is like trying to hold running water.”

The Newark Star-Ledger: Murder in Ironbound follows rally demanding more police. The second major crime in two weeks in the usually quiet and safe Ironbound neighborhood has people up in arms. Is the mayor not doing a good enough job protecting the citizens of Newark? Recently a couple told me that the neighborhood is changing, that the influx of too many immigrants is destabilizing the area. Not because of “foreigners,” I think, so much as people who just don’t own property don’t have a vested interest in keeping the neighborhood safe.

Both of these crimes happened on my street within blocks of each other. After the first, we figured it was a fluke and (statistically, anyway) wasn’t likely to happen again for a long time. Now, though, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s more truth to the idea that the Ironbound really is going downhill fast and the sooner we leave, the better.

Welcome to the Everything Newark blog, where we’ll be keeping track of goings-on in New Jersey’s Renaissance City! To kick off our inaugural post, let’s start with a question: is Newark truly in the process of renewal? Or is it simply the political rhetoric of a five-time incumbent mayor?