Pols Take on the Foreclosure Crisis, 'Super Summer' Begins

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono will join two candidates for US Senate -- Rep. Frank Pallone and Sheila Oliver, speaker of the state Assembly -- as well as labor officials and others Tuesday in Newark to spotlight the state’s ongoing home foreclosure crisis. The event will be held at the Palm Street home of a grandmother who is being threatened with foreclosure.

The foreclosure crisis has hit particularly hard in Newark, where many homeowners have been victimized by predatory lending practices. The city is pocked with empty dwellings lost in foreclosure that have fallen into disrepair and have also attracted crime to the city’s neighborhoods.

Nearly 90,000 families in New Jersey have lost their homes since the collapse of the real-estate market in 2008.

Also this week, we’ll join Mayor Cory Booker, David Diehl of the New York Giants and others for a ceremony to kick off “Super Summer,” a menu of programs the city is hosting during the next few months. The event happens Monday at Riverfront Park, Brill Street and Raymond Boulevard, and features an exhibition by members of the New York Red Bulls, a softball clinic hosted by the Newark Bears, and an appearance by the Street Team from radio station Hot 97 (97.1 FM).