This Inspiring Story Brought to You by Grape-Nuts

Booker: 'Leading Newark Is the Greatest Challenge of My Life'

Cory Booker says community collaboration is the secret to Newark's progress, in this series sponsored by Grape-Nuts.

About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains. As the mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, Cory Booker says he understands the importance of leadership. But he especially acknowledges the importance of inspiring and engaging local leaders to assist in achieving community goals. Q. PATCH: What is the biggest challenge you’ve taken on?   A. BOOKER: Leading Newark is the greatest challenge of my life, but it’s not a policy challenge.  I’m proud we’ve notched victories — fought to improve education, create jobs and cut crime. But the challenge has been the…

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Lautenberg Won't Seek Re-Election in 2014

Booker's already strong Senate prospects get a boost with announcement

US Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg announced Thursday he will not seek re-election in 2014, a potential boon for Mayor Cory Booker, who has laid the groundwork for a campaign for the seat. Lautenberg, 89, retired from the Senate in 2000 after serving three terms. After a two-year hiatus from the Senate, Lautenberg was elected again to the Senate in 2002 and then re-elected in 2008. On Friday, Lautenberg said in statement, he will announce his agenda for the balance of his term during a press conference in his hometown of Paterson. Among Lautenberg’s signature issues is gun control, a topic which has taken on new urgency in the wake of the Newtown school shootings. “This is not the end of anything, but rather the beginning of a two-year mission to…

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Booker Talks Governor Run, Food Stamp Challenge [Video]

Booker to HuffPo Live: "When I go out and campaign next year for myself as a gubernatorial candidate or for another gubernatorial candidate should I decide not to run..."

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Cory Booker Hints at Chris Christie Challenge, Senate Run

Booker said at a Democratic County Committee event in Fair Lawn Wednesday that although he's focused on running Newark for now, he's strongly considering seeking higher office in the future.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is having the time of his life leading his city's urban revitalization, but it hasn't kept him from strongly considering a run at higher office when his term expires in 2014. That's what the rising Democratic star told a partisan audience of about 200 on Wednesday night at a Fair Lawn Democratic County Committee event at the Fair Lawn Community Center. "I came [to Newark] and said I was going to do a mission," said Booker, responding to an audience question about his future political aspirations. "But I'll tell you this, I'm strongly considering the options at the end of my term." Booker said he has his eyes set on either the governor's seat or the U.S. Senate seat currently held by 88-year-old Frank Lautenberg. If…

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Legs2

9:35 am on Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Are you saying we should elect a fireman?   more ›

Booker, Christie Ham It Up for Video

Mayor and governor have fun with their images

Just because they're the state's two most prominent politicians doesn't mean they don't have a sense of humor. The office of Gov. Chris Christie yesterday released a lighthearted video co-starring Newark Mayor Cory Booker as a peripatetic go-to guy, riffing off his now national-scale image as a man of action following his rescue of a neighbor from a burning building several weeks ago. As the Democratic mayor of the state's largest city is depicted doing everything from coming up with a spare guitar for Bruce Springsteen to catching a falling baby, a faux-frustrated Christie hisses "Booker!" The video was produced for the New Jersey Press Association's Legislative Correspondent's Club show. Click on the video above to see the Cory and Chris…

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Mildred Bayes

7:41 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Good one Bob S.   more ›

Booker's Fire Rescue, Plea for Killer's Identity, Meadowlands Fire Top NJ News

A weekly look at news in New Jersey

Saying repeatedly that he is "not a hero," Newark Mayor Cory Booker met with reporters Friday morning to talk about his rescue of a woman trapped by fire in a building adjacent to Booker's home Thursday night. Booker was returning to his home from an interview around 9:30 p.m. when he and members of his police security detail saw flames coming out of the second-floor windows of a two-story apartment building next to Booker's residence. With her voice quavering, Michelle Hughes pleaded for anyone who may know the identity of her husband's killer to step forward. Hughes' husband Donald, a pastor at Bethlehem Judah Christian Fellowship in Elizabeth who has been leading a congregation in South Brunswick that was prepared to move to New …

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Whitney Houston Celebrated in Rousing Funeral Service

Jennifer Hudson, Roberta Flack, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Costner, Gov. Christie, Mayor Booker all in attendance.

Newark's own, singer Whitney Houston, was welcomed home to the church where she began her singing career Saturday, in a rousing gospel-flavored funeral service before an audience of family, friends and celebrities. "Whitney, today is your day," the Rev. Joe A. Carter, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, said in beginning the service. A powerful choir of more than 100 singers, backed by a band that included drums and bass and horns, provided an emotional backdrop to a procession of singers, most of them from the world of gospel music. Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry spoke of what he termed the grace that carried Houston through her life. "There was a grace that carried her down through Miss Cissy Houston, a grace that brought her up through …

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