Cory Booker's story is a nightmare-inspiring fantasy tale

In the grand American tradition of political storytelling, there are triumphs of substance and then there are myths of narrative. The tale of Newark’s "revival" under former Mayor Cory Booker belongs firmly to the latter category, a carefully crafted legend of urban renewal that, upon closer inspection, reveals itself as a real estate play benefiting outsiders at the expense of the city's own residents.

While Booker ascended to national stardom on the strength of this narrative, the economic reality on the ground tells a different story—one of corporate subsidies and working-class struggle. The numbers from his tenure (2006-2013) paint a portrait of a city where the much-lauded development boom was a gilded tide that failed to lift most boats.

The philosophical underpinning of this approach was revealed not in a Newark policy meeting but on a national stage.

During the 2012 election, Booker famously defended vulture capitalist firms like Bain Capital, stating, "I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity."

This was no gaffe; it was a roadmap. In Newark, this ideology translated into a cascade of taxpayer-funded corporate giveaways. Panasonic received $102.4 million to relocate its headquarters, a subsidy amounting to roughly $400,000 per job created. Prudential Financial secured $210.9 million in public funds to move a few blocks from its original location.

As this corporate welfare flowed, a quiet crisis engulfed Newark's neighborhoods. The city became a target for predatory lending, and by 2013, foreclosure rates had skyrocketed to 22.7%, up from just 2.1% in 2005. Wall Street firms like Blackstone and Goldman Sachs swooped in, acquiring foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices and converting them into high-rent units.

The result was a devastating loss of community wealth; homeownership in Newark plummeted by 28% between 2007 and 2011.

The human cost of this "revival" was stark. Despite billions in development, the city's unemployment rate actually worsened, rising from 8.5% to 14.4% under Booker’s leadership.

For those who kept their homes, the burden grew heavier; by 2013, a third of Newark renters were spending more than half of their income on housing.

And as corporations enjoyed tax abatements, residential property taxes spiked, leading directly to the layoff of 167 police officers in 2010—a cut followed by a 24% surge in violent crime.

The tragedy of Newark is not that it lacked for investment, but that the investment was structured to benefit the investors first and the residents last. It is the story of a city used as a stepping stone, its recovery not so much shared as it was siphoned, its renaissance not so much lived as it was leased.

While all this was going on, Booker unleashed a wave of police brutality on Newark's citizens that was so bad, the US Department of Justice stepped in. In September 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey filed a petition asking the DOJ to investigate the Newark Police Department.

The petition cataloged over 400 allegations of misconduct, including baseless searches, intimidation, excessive force, and unlawful arrests.

The three-year-long investigation led Newark into a federal consent decree to address the police department's "pattern of unconstitutional policing" and required comprehensive reforms, including bias training and the use of body-worn cameras.

The mayor became a star, but the city he left behind was left to wonder who, exactly, had been saved.

Prominent insiders like mob lawyer Michael Critchley, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, and power broker George Norcross enthusiastically endorsed Booker for Senator, and things worked out exactly as one might have predicted.

While Republican Donald Trump was elected twice, Booker has thrived on a national stage without securing any victories in his pretend fight against tyranny, except for the stellar fundraising numbers racked up at taxpayer expense.

• 🚺 Women lost abortion rights
• ✊🏿 Voting Rights Act was gutted
• 🔫 America's Mass shootings TRIPLED
• 🌎 Climate killing CO₂ at 427 ppm
• 📉 NJ's middle class shrank 3%
• 💰 $37 trillion was stolen from workers
• 📉 Booker missed 413 votes (9.7%)
• 🇮🇱 Pro-Israel Lobby Total: $871,563

Cory Booker has raised nearly $100 million for his political campaigns, including contributions from at least four dozen billionaires and nearly $1 million from AIPAC.

Now, as he begins a campaign for another six years in the Senate, which is merely the Green Room for his next vanity campaign for president, the same corrupt political insiders are expected to line up behind him.

The question is, why are New Jersey residents allowing this nonsense?