Newark reducing police outside Prudential Center amid feud between Mayor Booker, N.J. Devils owner
Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 6:00 AM Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 9:36 AM
View full sizeNewark police officers Anthony Bagnano and Brian Costa watch as people trying out for "The X-Factor" enter the Prudential Center in Newark last April.But do any of these really beat what’s going on in Newark right now between the mayor and the owner of the New Jersey Devils?
It started last week with an arbitrators’ decision over rent and parking revenues that went seriously bad for the city of Newark. Mayor Cory Booker responded the next day by calling Devils managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek a "highfalutin huckster and hustler."
Then the mayor claimed he was denied tickets to Bruce Springsteen’s sold-out performance next month at the Devils home, the Prudential Center — a conversation the Devils say never happened, but may be moot in any case because the mayor has pledged never to set foot in the place again until the team resolves its difference with the city.
Now, in the latest chapter, Newark has decided to reduce its police presence around the downtown arena near Penn Station that is home to the NHL team.
Top police brass would not say how many were cut, but a smaller contingent of uniformed officers around The Rock was evident to Devils fans at Saturday’s sellout game, some of whom said they had trouble crossing streets.
Booker acknowledged that police had been reassigned.
"Obviously I’m not going to deny that the timing looks like a reaction (to the arbitration ruling)," he said. However, Booker claimed the decision has been a long time coming.
According to the mayor, the city was faced with a need for more police in the neighborhoods and reached the conclusion that it could do with a smaller presence at the Prudential Center, which has counted nearly 8 million visitors since it opened in 2007.
Booker just as quickly added a dig at the Devils, doing nothing to change the perception that the decision to pull the police was anything other than payback. "It would be nice to have more revenue from the arena so we could have hired more cops," the mayor said. "We believe that the Devils should be stepping up like other arenas in the region to provide security for their fans."
A spokesman for the Devils declined comment.
The relationship between Vanderbeek and Booker has grown sour over time.
The mayor — who once called Vanderbeek a good friend, a mensch, and a lifelong partner of the city — has increasingly been at odds with the Devils over Newark’s contract with the team, negotiated by the previous administration of former Mayor Sharpe James. At issue was a dispute over the sharing of parking revenues, rent payments, and construction delays.
In a court case initiated by the city’s housing authority, the dispute went to binding arbitration and in a ruling last Tuesday, Newark lost big. While a panel of three arbitrators said the Devils must pay the city roughly $14.7 million in back rent, relocation expenses and fines, that figure was offset with $15.3 million owed by the city in unpaid parking revenue, capital costs and excess taxes.
Booker’s displeasure with the ruling led to an angry tirade last Wednesday, in which Booker — who is looking for a way to legally challenge the arbitration — accused Vanderbeek of misleading the city.
Calling him "one of the most despicable owners" in the National Hockey League, Booker labeled Vanderbeek a "high-class, highfalutin huckster and hustler."
The next day, in response to a reporter’s question regarding distribution of tickets for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen concert at the Prudential Center, the Devils released an e-mail from Booker’s campaign office seeking 10 tickets to the sold-out event for the mayor. Booker claimed he was denied the tickets — which Prudential officials say is not true.
Newark launched the next salvo on Saturday, when the city unilaterally withdrew some of the cops assigned to the area around the Prudential Center and allowed streets normally closed for the game to remain open, as the Devils closed their regular season with the Ottawa Senators.
Michael Spitz, a season ticket holder from Union Township, said it was obvious the police presence had been scaled back. "When we left the arena about 6 p.m., it seemed there were throngs of people crossing the street and no police," he said. "They weren’t there."
Several, including Spitz, took to Twitter to ask Booker what had happened to the police detail. Tweeted one: "@corybooker will you be happy when someone gets mugged at a playoff game? It’s time to get past your disagreement and make Newark safer."
View full sizeNewark Mayor Cory Booker speaks to the media outside the Prudential Center last week. Booker was upset about an arbitrator's ruling against the city and in favor the New Jersey Devils.There are normally between 18 and 20 officers patrolling the Prudential Center, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on the condition of annonymity because he was not authorized to discuss personnel matters with the media.
Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio yesterday said the re-organization of patrols was forced by a surge in retirements, and dismissed the idea that Booker was using the transfers to advance his burgeoning feud with Devils management.
"It’s not a draw down. Just a shift in resources," said DeMaio, noting that it was planned before the arbitration ruling came out. "I can’t afford to pull resources out of the neighborhoods for the Pru center any longer."
DeMaio said he may have to reduce the size of the Prudential Center detail even further, depending on public safety needs, adding that the arena may have to pay a little extra for safety in the future. He would not say what the size of police squad would be for tonight’s NBA game hosted by the New Jersey Nets.
He did say however that the size of the force would be increased when the Devils, who begin the Stanley Cup playoffs on the road against the Florida Panthers on Friday, play their first home game next Tuesday.
"Pru may need to start hiring us through outside employment unit like the Red Bulls stadium does with us for soccer games and events," he said.
Booker insisted that the arena was one of the safest parts of the city and until now, Newark has gone above and beyond what is practiced in other area arenas.
"There are still police out there as well as security cameras and there should be no danger to fans coming to the arena whatsoever," he said.
By David Giambusso, Ted Sherman and James Queally/Star-Ledger Staff
Related coverage:
• Op-Ed: Mayor Cory Booker: Devils owner let Newark down
• Newark Mayor Booker says he was denied Springsteen tickets after blasting N.J. Devils executive
• Newark mayor Booker slams Devils owner following arbitrators' ruling against city
• Newark gets short end in Prudential Center revenue share ruling
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