City Of Newark: Don't Eat The Sewer Fish

Yesterday's heavy rains caused lakes and rivers in Newark to overflow, sending fish up through nearby sewer grates. And you totally should not eat sewer fish because "it's unclear how exposure to elements outside of their natural domains will affect them."

NEWARK: City Stresses That Real Estate Sale Is Open To Same-Sex Couples

A curious press release from the city of Newark:

Newark, NJ – Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the Newark Municipal Council, and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Baye Adofo-Wilson announced today that the City of Newark will sell municipally-owned vacant lots city-wide for $1,000 each to couples seeking to construct homes on them, in a “Valentine’s Land Sale Day.” The sale will take place at Newark City Hall on Saturday, February 14 from 9 a.m. through 12 p.m.

WHAT: Newark Valentine’s Day Land Sale, in which municipally-owned vacant lots will be sold to couples—straight or LGBT—for $1,000 each as part of the City’s “Live Newark” program.

As part of the City’s “Live Newark” program, the lots will be sold for $1,000 each, with buyers required to make a $500 down payment and pay the additional $500 at closing. They are responsible for all closing costs, and must submit a City Planning Board approved site plan to close on the property, have a commitment letter from a financial institution and/or proof of cash to cover the cost of the infill new construction to close on the property, and complete that construction within 18 months of closing.

The lots are available for purchase for any couple, straight or LGBT, from anywhere. The couple must live in the property for five years after issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. All sales must be approved by the Municipal Council.

I'm not aware of same-sex couples having been denied the right to buy property in Newark, so this seems like an odd way to promote urban redevelopment. Is there a backstory here that I'm missing?

Officials Rebel Against Port Authority Plan To End Overnight PATH Train Service

Nighttime workers and nightlife fans in New Jersey will soon have no way to get home from Manhattan if the Port Authority gets its way. Via the Jersey Journal:

Several Hudson County officials will join forces with other officials tomorrow to call on the Port Authority to to cancel its proposal to eliminate the overnight PATH service. The press conference, which will include federal, state, and local elected officials, is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Grove Street PATH Station in Jersey City.

A slew of officials are scheduled to attend, including Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, North Bergen Mayor and state Sen. Nick Sacco, Union City Mayor and state Sen. Brian Stack, and state Sen. Sandra Cunningham.

In a report released over the holidays -- and signed off on by Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York -- the Port Authority proposes to eliminate PATH service 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. weeknights as a cost-savings measure. It would also affect hundreds of thousands more people if weekend overnight service were also eliminated, according to a press release. The PATH connects New York City with Jersey City, Newark, Harrison and Hoboken.

Jersey City residents have already suffered through two years of restricted service out of the World Trade Center station due to Hurricane Sandy-related repairs.

NOTE: For those wondering, a cab from downtown Manhattan to Newark will run you about $100 after you add in tolls and tip. It's about $40-$50 to Jersey City.

NEW JERSEY: Christian Heckler Disrupts Newark's First Wedding Ceremony

Tweet Of The Day: Cory Booker

Cory Booker Announces 2014 Senate Bid

Booker couches his announcement in the usual "exploring the possibility" language, but there it is. Sorry, New Jersey, there will be no Governor Booker. Not in 2014, at least.

Cory Booker's Day Six

"Today is my 6th day of the SNAP Challenge; my 6th sweet potato; my 6th day of canned beans; and, my 6th day of canned veggies. I still like those foods but I found myself craving some variety. I realize when you find food on sale or buy in bulk, you can end up eating a lot of the same thing over and over. As my food supply dwindles, I am keenly aware that millions of Americans face food insecurity and hunger on a daily basis. I am deeply concerned, and believe our nation needs to be more attentive and engaged. The SNAP program is at great risk for budget cuts as Washington pares federal spending to avert a year-end fiscal crisis. These cuts to SNAP funding could mean millions of more Americans - families with children, families with elderly and veterans - will live with less food, less options, and less hope." - Newark Mayor Cory Booker, writing yesterday on his LinkedIn blog.

Cory Booker's Third Day On Food Stamps

"My third day on the #SNAPChallenge was by far the toughest. Today, I was in motion and at meetings all day. My crazy schedule required that I prepare all of my food in the morning to enable me to eat on the go. In addition to preparing and packaging my meals, I realized early this morning that I am eating too much food per meal. If I do not cut back the amount I am eating at each meal, I will run out of food before the #SNAPChallenge is over.  In the days ahead I am now going to eat smaller portion sizes. I decided to eat my dinner of peas, black beans, cauliflower and broccoli in small bites between 3pm and 7pm in between meetings and calls hoping that would allay some of the hunger pains I felt yesterday. This actually worked and something I might try again tomorrow." - Newark Mayor Cory Booker, halfway through his week-long existence on food stamps money.   

Quote Of The Day - Cory Booker

"This morning, I will begin living on a food budget of $30 a week / $4.32 per day.  This is the financial equivalent of the budget provided to people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, in the State of New Jersey.  I will live only on a SNAP equivalent food budget for the next seven days. [snip]  As I begin this journey, I am doubling down on my commitment to the Food Justice Movement that is gaining awareness and participation in this country.  We have much work to do at the local level to address a legacy of structural inequities in the American food system.  As more and more working people and families - many holding down more than one job - face greater and greater challenges to juggle housing, medical, and transportation costs, meeting nutritional needs becomes a serious problem and a social justice issue." - Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who will be documenting his week via frequent social media updates.

Cory Booker To Go On Food Stamps

After a flame war with a Twitter user who calls herself "the enemy of communism and socialism," Newark Mayor Cory Booker challenged her to join him in trying to live on food stamps for one week.

Booker, who’s prolific on Twitter, on Sunday tweeted out a quote from Plutarch: “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” That set off a wave of discussion, including one tweet asking, “So you want to redistribute wealth???” Another respondent was “Twitwit,” who at one point wrote that “nutrition is not a responsibility of the government.” Booker responded, “We have a shared responsibility that kids go to school nutritionally ready 2 learn.”

Booker eventually challenged “Twitwit” to experience what people on food stamps are going through. “Lets you and I try to live on food stamps in New Jersey (high cost of living) and feed a family for a week or month. U game?” After “Twitwit” – the aforementioned Daughter of the American Revolution who identifies as an “Army Veteran, Army Daughter, Army Wife” – said yes, Booker wrote, “We will have to get a referee – DM me your number so we can see if we can work out details.” He also tweeted, “Lets film it and see how we do.”

Booker will take part in a University of Bridgeport program which challenges critics of the food stamp program to try and live on the meager amount given out weekly in the state in which they reside. Reportedly Booker will have to subsist on New Jersey's $35 weekly food stamps allotment. Under the rules, he is not permitted to eat food already in his home.

Tweet Of The Day - Cory Booker

PhoboQuotable - Archbishop John Myers

"There are many bodily activities that people do together: enjoy meals, play sports, do manual labor, etc. Friends, teammates, colleagues, and others engage in all of these and many other activities. But everyone recognizes that marriage involves a sexual component, which these other physical experiences lack. A brother and sister or an uncle and his niece are prohibited everywhere from marrying because of the relationship of marriage to sexual activity and the laws of consanguinity. Even those who propose radically altering the definition of marriage would not advocate allowing two brothers or sisters or an uncle and his nephew to marry (say, for the tax benefits, or for hospital visiting privileges).

"What, then, explains this connection—acknowledged even by those who would redefine marriage—between marriage and sexual activity? Each individual is a complete organism, for every bodily function save one: reproduction. Biologically, reproduction requires the coordination in a particular way of two sexually complementary persons to form an authentic union whose biological function is reproduction. This coordination might or might not lead to conception, but only through it does a couple function biologically as a unit; only such acts bring the couple into a true one-flesh union. Conjugal acts, and only these, fulfill the behavioral conditions of procreation and thus consummate a marital relationship." - Newark Archbishop John Myers, in a lengthy pastoral letter (PDF) demanding the voters oppose same-sex marriage.

Cory Booker 2016

You and millions of others had the same thought after Newark Mayor Cory Booker's fiery speech tonight.

Booker Vs Christie?

Tweet Of The Day - Cory Booker

Cory Booker: I Stand With Obama

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Tweets....

Get this man to Washington!

Mayor, LGBT Ally, Firefighting Hero

Not only is Newark Mayor Cory Booker an outspoken ally in the battle for LGBT equality, he's now being hailed as a firefighting hero.

Booker arrived home last night to discover his next-door neighbor's house on fire, and rescued a young woman trapped upstairs by carrying her through the flames, suffering second-degree burns in the process. The mayor's security team discovered the fire and pounded on the door to alert residents, when an elderly woman said that her daughter was trapped upstairs. At first Rodriguez would not let Booker into the burning house. "He basically told me, 'This woman is going to die if we don't help her,' and what can I say to that?," Rodriguez said. "I let him go and without thinking twice, he just ran into the flames and rescued this young lady." Booker said that as he jumped through the kitchen on the second floor, "I actually wasn't thinking. When I got there and couldn't find her in all the smoke, looked behind me and saw the kitchen really erupting with flames all over the ceiling, that's when I had very clear thoughts that I'm not going to get out of this place alive and got ... very religious.

Booker issued a nonchalant tweet from his own ambulance.

Quote Of The Day - Cory Booker

"I shudder to think what would have happened if the civil rights gains, heroically established by courageous lawmakers in the 1960s, were instead conveniently left up to popular votes in our fifty states. Equal protection under the law – for race, religion, gender or sexual orientation – should not be subject to the most popular sentiments of the day. Marriage equality is not a choice. It is a legal right. I hope our leaders in Trenton will affirm and defend it." - Newark Mayor Cory Booker, blasting Gov. Christie's plan for a marriage referendum.

NEW JERSEY: Cops Shoot And Kill Man In Known Cruising Area

Last Friday night, Georgia executive Dean Gaymon was shot and killed by undercover detectives in a Newark area park known for public cruising. Police claim Gaymon "made a sexual move" towards a detective, which as we all know is a death penalty crime.

According to the officer, he made an arrest in an unrelated case when he realized he has loss a pair of handcuffs during that arrest. After the suspect in that earlier case was secured, the officer told his partner he was going back into the woods, retracing his steps in an effort to find the missing handcuffs. While bending down to retrieve the handcuffs, the plainclothes officer was approached by Mr. Gaymon who was engaged in a sex act at the time. The officer pulled out his badge, identified himself as a police officer and informed Mr. Gaymon he was under arrest. Mr. Gaymon appeared to panic, assaulted the police officer and fled. A foot chase ensued. The officer made repeated commands to Mr. Gaymon to stop and submit. Mr. Gaymon ignored those commands, did not raise his arms or make his hands visible and repeatedly threatened to kill the officer. Mr. Gaymon then lunged at and attempted to disarm the officer while reaching into his own pocket. Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his service weapon, striking Mr. Gaymon once. Gaymon, who was unarmed, was shot once in the stomach and died. The 29-year- old detective who fired the shot was so distraught, he had to be sedated and was not capable of providing a statement for three days. The Gaymon family released a statement: "We know that the police killed an innocent man, with no history of or disposition towards violence." Gaymon, the son of a preacher, leaves behind a wife and four young children.

Is anyone buying that police report? ANYONE? Essex County police are investigating further, so they say. Expect a massive wrongful death suit from Gaymon's family.