Brick City?

October 18, 2009 1:21 PM

Has anyone from Newark (or who follows Newark politics) seen Brick City? If so, what do you think?

Shamefully, although I'm only a PATH ride away, I don't have a good enough sense of Newark politics to think critically about the documentary. it seemed pretty biased in favor of Booker's administration, presumably because the filmmakers needed Booker's office for continued access. (For instance, in the film's depiction of a power struggle over leadership of the police force, only Garry McCarthy's side was really presented).

So, what did the doc leave out? Did it do a good job of presenting some of the struggles facing the city, or was is overly melodramatic (and/or overly like The Wire)? How's Cory Booker doing, in your opinion? And for that matter, how's Newark these days?

posted by evidenceofabsence to law & government (5 comments total)

You might also be interested in Street Fight.
posted by quodlibet at 1:31 PM on October 18

Newark's tough. I can't answer the question about Brick City as I haven't seen the doc. I have, however, been attempting to navigate the City's politics to get something done... and I'm getting absolutely nowhere.

The agency I need the most seems to have only one person working there. He never returns calls, doesn't respond to emails and apparently has no one overseeing him. It's frustrating, to say the least. Booker's team seems determined to shield this guy from any harsh critiques, as well.

In my humble opinion, Booker plays to the media quite well. He's often on various radio and tv shows, talking about what needs to be done, what he's (theoretically) doing for the City, etc., but... honestly, I don't see any impact on the streets.

Granted, he's probably not as corrupt as Mayor Sharpe James was.
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 2:02 PM on October 18

quodlibet- Popped it on my Netflix! Thanks.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 2:14 PM on October 18

I'm not from Newark but happened to catch this purely by accident yesterday and watched three episodes. It looked like Booker was having is ass handed to him on at least one occasion (his guy didn't win the election). Good show, worth a look.
posted by fixedgear at 3:15 PM on October 18

Newark politics, and by extension the politics of many poor black neighborhoods, are intensely complicated. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood that borders East Orange, NJ and is about a 10 minute drive from Newark. We were largely insulated from the kind of poverty that affects those cities, so what I'm about to relate is second hand and comes from a family member who has taught in those areas for nearly 20 years:

Politics in Newark and other poor, predominantly black cities in New Jersey resembles nothing so much as the kind of "old" politics you see in movies- Money goes under the table everywhere and it never gets where it's going. Does this happen in white communities? I'm sure. But I remember my family member saying to someone who lived in Newark, "Doesn't it piss you off?" and they replied, "Well, he made his way to the top and now he's helping out his fellow man" or something to that effect.

Booker is facing a tough fight for two different reasons. One, Newark is a hard city to clean up. Short of getting everyone a well paying job and free college tuition, the problem is incredibly difficult to even start adressing. But his second fight is more nebulous- Against a political system that expects handouts. Expects certain, uh. Hmm. There's a particular cultural expectation that is more than "Clean up my neighborhood/Fix my schools". WHile results are good, I think there are a lot of people who'd love tos ee him fail just because he's not an old guard politician.
posted by GilloD at 5:48 PM on October 18