(Photo: Wikimedia)

When Hurricane Sandy overwhelmed New York City, the airport infrastructure naturally shut down along with everything else. As with the subway and bridge systems, however, it seems airplane travel is returning to normalcy.

Earlier today, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the reopening of two airports in the metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty, to limited traffic, with the fate of LaGuardia Airport remaining uncertain as officials sought to repair and inspect the facility in the wake of flood damage. But that ambiguity did not last long; Governor Andrew Cuomo just declared LaGuardia will open too.

"Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced this afternoon the reopening of LaGuardia Airport tomorrow morning, November 1, at 7:00 AM," a press release proclaimed. "Both runways will be open."

Additionally, on the Port Authority's website, the agency said there will be "limited flight schedules" and advised, "Please contact your airline before traveling to the airport to determine the status of your flight."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker should offer neither an apology nor an explanation for the truth he spoke during a television interview over the weekend. Speaking with David Gregory of NBC’s Meet the Press, Mr. Booker criticized the campaign tactics of both Mitt Romney and President Obama. Now, it was hardly a surprise that the mayor found Mr. Romney’s campaign flawed. But the attack on Mr. Obama’s campaign has caused a gigantic stir. And that’s a good thing—because the mayor spoke the truth about the president’s divisive re-election rhetoric and strategy.

Mr. Booker compared the president’s bashing of big business and affluent Americans with the Romney campaign’s attacks on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial Chicago cleric who was Mr. Obama’s pastor for several years. “This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides,” Mr. Booker said. “It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity, stop attacking Jeremiah Wright.”

Absolutely. Will Mr. Obama and his surrogates heed the mayor’s advice? One can only hope—but it doesn’t seem likely. Mr. Obama appears determined to win re-election by portraying business leaders and corporate America as the enemy, rather than the partner, of the middle class. The Obama campaign no doubt realizes that with the economy still stagnant, the president can hardly run on a record of job creation and prosperity.

Instead, then, the campaign will focus on the politics of envy.

Mr. Booker’s denunciation of these tactics has won him praise from national Republicans—in fact, the Romney campaign has released a web ad featuring the mayor and his words (never mind that Mr. Booker also criticized the Romney campaign’s Wright-baiting). But Mr. Booker’s comments should not be boiled down into a campaign sound bite. His analysis of the Obama campaign’s strategy speaks to a wider and corrosive assault on the creators of wealth in the United States and, indeed, around the world.

The global economic crisis has angered tens of millions, from New York to Athens. Posturing politicians have been quick to blame corporations, or banks, or CEO’s. The energy consumed by mindless finger-pointing actually has prolonged hard times for many. Rather than work together to find a solution and to create a stable environment for investment, demagogues have sought to stir envy and even hatred.

Mr. Obama’s campaign has given into this sort of rhetoric, and that is a bitter disappointment for many who supported him in 2008. Mr. Booker was right to call out his president for this damaging strategy. Let’s see if Mr. Obama is listening.

Mayor Cory Booker, sans cape and tights

Newark, New Jersey's tireless mayor Cory Booker is in the hospital tonight, suffering from smoke inhalation and second-degree burns. Mr. Booker acquired his injuries around 9:30 p.m. Thursday as he returned home from a television appearance. One of his security guards saw a fire in a building on Hawthorne Avenue in Upper Clinton Hill. Mr. Booker's guards rose to the occasion, but the mayor realized their work wasn't done and cape madly flapping, gold "M" emblem glinting in the firelight, he dove into action:

...[An] elderly man was inside trying to put out the fire, which had started in the kitchen.

After the security detail pulled him from the house, Booker arrived, dashing upstairs with other members of his security detail and yelling for the woman in the building.

Mr. Booker's guards tried to hold him back from the conflagration but summoning an additional reserve of mayoral super powers he insisted, "She is going to die, she's going to die," and barreled through the fire. Moments later Mayor Booker emerged, the imperiled woman in his arms.

Mr. Booker later tweeted thanks to everyone involved in the rescue and wrote "We got the woman out of the house [...] I will b ok."

In other words, just another Thursday night as usual for Mayor Cory Booker. What the hell did you do?

The project was cooked up two years ago by the RBH Group, a private developer, who is using investments from the Berggruen Foundation and Goldman Sach’s Urban Investment Group, showing the innercity does pay. In addition to the 200 apartments for teachers, the complex includes two school buildings housing three charter schools and a daycare center, as well as ground floor retail throughout.

Yesterday’s groundbreaking drew a slew of bigwigs, including Governor Chris Christie, Mayor Corey Booker, Lloyd Blankfein and Mr. Meier himself, for whom is was a homecoming of sorts. “I was born in Newark and have vivid memories of visiting my families' business in downtown Newark,” Mr. Meier said. “This is a sort of homecoming for me and an opportunity for me to apply a lifetime of skills learned in the world arena to the revitalization of a major area of the city’s downtown.”

Checking out renderings for the project, The Observer is starting to think we went into the wrong line of work.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

For those who have never had the joy of flying into or out of Terminal 3—an experience that will not last long, since the place is set to be demolished in 2014—The Observer has just the ticket you weren't looking for.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

But it took a massive blizzard to get Booker's Twitter juices really flowing. Since the wintery deluge began to descend upon the Northeast Sunday night, Booker has personally responded to many Newark residents asking him for his support. If a resident gives an address, Booker will head over, shovel in hand. If there's a particularly snowed-in part of town, Booker will sprint over and announce his location to his legion of followers. He can pump out 15 tweets per hour, all promising direct relief.

Let's take a look at the day that Booker has ahead of him. You're stuck on Bergen and Grumann, @rookie2veteran? No worries. Not an hour later, Cory Bookie announced that he's "here now to help."

So, @sexylp40, your mom is stuck on Ninth Ave and 12th and that whole block wasn't plowed? Cory Booker says "tell her to stay put."

Worried about the mayor's back aches after all this snow shoveling, @itsmywayrob? Well, he had a breakfast of Advil and Diet Coke, so you figure it out.

But the snowed-in Queens resident @EminemsRevenge may be out of luck. "Sorry bout Queens, but Nwk is my focus," Booker tweeted back out her. Cold, Cory.

Here's a taste of Booker's day, via a smaple of his Twitter feed. We're guessing it's harder than yours.

Click for Scandal Report: With Natalie and Mila in Town, New York Goes Swan-Crazy

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

Ackman joins Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and media titans Stephen Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey in his infatuation with Booker. Zuckerberg gave $100 million to the Newark school system, while Ackman gave $25 million.

Ackman says Booker has more talent than many people on Wall Street (Bloomberg mentions Booker is a Rhodes scholar). Booker tells Bloomberg he and Ackman share a certain je ne sais quoi.

"Bill Ackman is like me," Booker said of the investor known for pressuring companies to take action to raise their stock prices. "He's impatient. He wants to solve problems and he wants to solve them now."

It's a real-life prince and the pauper story!

mtaylor [at] observer.com | @mbrookstaylor

It sounds more like a bad joke than an investment strategy, but that is exactly what the two-decades-old New Jersey Performing Arts Center is looking to do, according to the Times. Lawrence Goldman, who left Carnegie Hall in the late '80s to help found the center, insists its finances are stable, and said he sees the new move as a two-fold opportunity. It will help grow the center's capital at a time others across the country are struggling to find funding. And, more significantly, the investments will be focused on developing properties near the center in Newark, creating a more vibrant and inviting community for people coming for performances and events. Maybe, the theory goes, they'll stick around a bit instead of just hopping in their cars and heading home right away.

It's actually not that far-fetched an idea. Sure, the city is still plagued by violence and a certain degree of decrepitude. But so were Brooklyn, Jersey City and parts of Manhattan not that long ago. As prices continue to rise in those neighborhoods, why shouldn't Newark be next? After all, it's only a short 30-minute PATH ride from Lower Manhattan, with ample art deco architecture at rock-bottom prices. Heck, it's even got Patti Smith's endorsement. What more could a young artist ask for?

mchaban [at] observer.com | @mc_nyo

But now David Kirkpatrick, who wrote the Zuckerberg friendly book, The Facebook Effect, reports that Zuckerberg and Co. didn't want to announce the donation for fear of seeming crass. The poor timing was the all idea of Newark Mayor and New Jersey Governor Chris Christy.

An insider told Kirkpatrick that the pols insisted the money be announced now, "In order to sync up the announcement with other events that were important to the potential revival of Newark schools." That's a funny rationale, since the negative press about the donation's overlap with the film is pretty sure to drown out any news about good works at Newark schools.

"We've got another upset coming on Tuesday," he said. (The Super Bowl metaphors are not gonna stop allllll day!) "We're back here not to rock the sports world like the Giants just did, we're here to rock the world!"

"We're going to be hitting hard as soon as the polls open," he said.

He had plenty of praise for Hillary Clinton (calling her at one point "a great patriot," somewhat over-the-toply) but also said that New Jersey voters were over-familiar with the Clintons. "They are the powerful, powerful machine," he said, in what could have been a line from one of his campaigns against Sharpe James.

But Barack Obama? "It's like a freight train coming."

"What is all this drama? What is this race about?" a European reporter asked, meaning the perceptions of actual conflict between Clinton and Obama. "It's about competition," Booker said. Duh! One of them is trying to get a nomination. "It's a competition of ideas," he said.