“We are not rock stars,” he says. “We are Newarkers. We stayed, we stayed, and we always survived. And we’ll keep surviving. Mr. Booker – I’m going to call him an alien – he needs to go back on his spaceship, wherever he came from. He doesn’t know how to interact with us.”

That’s just the type of practical, fact-based sloganeering that adds real credibility to a campaign.

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More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.

The Times examined the impact of subprime lending in Newark back in 2007, revealing the heartbreaking impact of this long-running crisis. While the prospect of short sales were originally shunned by banks, the Obama plan introduces some hope of stemming foreclosures and preventing a slide back into economic decline.

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In which your humble narrator promotes, then explains, then defends the raison d’être for the Daily Newarker:

LOL, trust me: I’m not making $$ on the Daily Newarker, from the Booker Campaign or anyone else. We’ve had fits and starts with advertising programs, and haven’t been able to generate a sustainable income from the site. I have a day job that feeds my family.

As to wishing the site shut down: I think a rising tide raises all boats. The more online discussion about our city, the better. And, whether it’s parents trying to find a space for advocacy to networking non-profits, I’d like TDN to be a resource for Newarkers, new and life-long.

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After Hal Laessig and his wife lost their downtown Newark art gallery and living space in an eminent-domain fight with the Newark Housing Authority over the Prudential Center, they were determined to save an old building.

Three years and $3 million later, an 1879 former button factory in the Ironbound District houses their gallery, the Sumei Multidisciplinary Art Center, and serves as their home. They developed Button Factory Lofts into 14 condo units, nine of which have sold since the building opened in October.

The couple are among a wave of preservation-minded developers turning industrial buildings into loft spaces to accommodate Newark’s growing population of artists and professionals.

“When things were booming, developers were clearing multiple blocks, so a lot of the old industrial buildings got demolished,” says Laessig, 54. “Now, with the few that are left, people are thinking, let’s save them and convert them for living, because otherwise they’ll all be gone.”

Good overview of some recent condo conversions happening in the city and the personalities behind them.

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The modern Prudential Center, in most ways the antithesis of Izod, is a better bridge to Brooklyn, Yormark said. He said that railroad access to Newark would let Brooklynites sample the Nets for a while (although the tasting might be better if LeBron James or Dwyane Wade were playing there), and that a modern facility would help Rod Thorn, the Nets’ president, recruit players.

“We’re excited about the move,” said Kris Humphries, a reserve forward whom the Nets acquired from Dallas in January. “How can we not be?”

Booker tied his city’s comeback fortunes to those of the Nets, and spoke at times as if the benefits of the Nets’ pit stop would never end. Reminded of the team’s short-term lease, he said: “You can’t discount the revenue they will bring to the city. It’ll move our city forward.”

It’s official. This isn’t so much a sports story as it is an urban renewal story: the move is temporary, and the Nets are one of the worst-performing franchises in the NBA right now. Bringing the Nets to Newark won’t solve all of their problems, but they will see an established fan base come out to see them play. The more exciting thing for this city might be that Newark will be a destination for watching some of basketball’s greats to come play (and beat the Nets).

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And now we officially welcome our newest team member. Consisting of three floors, exposed brick, high ceilings, a tony location in the heart of downtown Newark, and weighing in at many, many tons, say hello to 239 Washington St. We’re ready to rock. Let’s formulate.

One of Newark’s hottest design firms gets a new home on Washington St. Congrats on the new space, Formulators.

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NJ Transit officials say they plan a 25 percent fare increase and service cuts to help close a $300 million budget gap. The changes would take effect May 1. … Some examples of price changes include:

• A one-zone local bus trip or one-way ticket on Newark or River Line light rail would increase from $1.35 to $1.70 per ride.
• One-way commuter rail tickets would rise to $1.50-$16.50. A trip from Metropark in Iselin, NJ to New York Penn Station would rise to $10.
• Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tickets would increase from $1.90 to $2.40 per trip.
• Off-peak roundtrip discounts would be eliminated
• 10-trip bus discounts would be capped at 15% off the full fare price

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Beit and Gutstadt were among a venerable who’s who of developers, and a business-card-toting army of construction managers and other enablers, gathered this morning to chart Newark’s hoped-for economic awakening.

“It starts to create a critical mass,” Wasseem Boraie of Boraie Development said of the big projects planned for Newark but are awaiting the first-shovel-in-the-ground.

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After a month of feeling sort of awkward about participating in this program, I’m left wondering why GOOD consulted on this project. I mean no harm, GOOD, I just want you guys to do what you set out to do — change the world, not change corporate advertising.

Why actively participate in complicating the advertising process? Why help blur the boundaries between an advertising campaign and philanthropic support? I can’t help think that for all the money that Pepsi is giving away, it’s just creating a new problem that GOOD should be guarding against — not the all-too-common “greenwashing”, but “goodwashing.”

Measured criticism leveled at Pepsi for the Refresh Everything program (in which Newark Now is in the top 50 to win $250k), examining the blurring lines between advertising, sponsorship, and philanthropy.

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Great shot of the Passaic at sunrise.

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