October 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 68

N e wark

turning the tide
A struggling park system
gets a huge boost
For its young, newly elected mayor,
the ceremony marking the opening of Nat Turner Park
last July in Newark, New Jersey, was much more than a
simple ribbon cutting. Instead, it reflected Cory Booker's goal set out in his inaugural State of the City Address to expand and rehabilitate the city's park system.
When Booker took office in 2006, the dilapidated condition of Newark's parks was no secret, though turning
them around was the unknown. But development of Nat
Turner Park illustrated Booker's evolving signature
strategy of building public-private partnerships to
get things done in Newark.

Working with Green Spaces, a public/private partnership,
and the Trust for Public Land, Booker has committed $40 million for the parks initiative. To date, in addition to Nat Turner,
Newark has completed new parks and fields at St. Peter's Park,
Boys Park, First Street, and Thomas Silk Parks, and two athletic fields. Working with Newark Public Schools, the city has
built an athletic complex at Weequahic High School. By the
end of this year the city expects to have completed 20 new or
enhanced parks. At nine-acres, though, Nat Turner Park is the
largest city-owned park Newark.
" More than 30 years ago, in the wake of disorder, when
so many people were leaving Newark and giving up, there
were people here in the Newark community who were not
giving up, who were standing up, " Booker said at the opening of Nat Turner. " They called to keep this land preserved
so that one day, this park would be possible. They saw this
land became a dumping ground, but never let anyone dump
on their dreams. "
The Central Ward residents had never seen anybody like
Booker. He came into office well aware of the challenges facing the city's revitalization. The country's third oldest city

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(population 240,000) and a former industrial powerhouse,
Newark-slid into the dark ages in the 1970s. With civil unrest in
the 1970s, residents flowed out of the city. Crime increased, educational achievement plummeted, and poverty soared. Nearly
25 percent of Newark families fell below the poverty line, and in
1996 Time magazine declared Newark " the most dangerous city
in the nation. " Corruption was rampant-five of the last seven
majors were indicted on criminal charges, including Booker's
predecessor, Sharpe James.
It was against this backdrop that Booker won election to the
Mayor's office. Even before he took office, it was clear that it
would not be business as usual. An African-American born
to parents who were pioneering minority executives at IBM,
Booker earned degrees at Stanford University (B.A. political
science, M.A. sociology), Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar
with an honors degree in modern history), and Yale University
(J.D. law). At Stanford and Yale, Booker was unusually active in
community service. It was during his final year at Yale that he
moved to Newark to get involved in community affairs.
As a council member in 1999, Booker went on a 10-day
hunger strike to protest open-air drug markets and violence.
October 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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