Add saving a woman from a fire to Cory Booker's long list of accomplishments: The second-term mayor of Newark, N.J. rescued one of his constituents from a house fire Thursday, suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hand.
Booker, one of the main subjects of the Sundance Channel's excellent "Brick City," shook off members of his security detail who tried to keep him from entering the building. They had been helping rescue people before Booker arrived.
When a woman said her adult daughter was still inside, Booker ran inside and found her in a back bedroom.
Good press? Well, yeah. CNN's caption for its interview with Booker about the rescue was "Super Mayor to the Rescue."
Booker is one of the country's more hands-on mayors. He has personally joined police on late-night street patrols in Newark, where crime has dropped significantly since he took office. He has chosen to live in some of the city's worst neighborhoods. And while New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was roundly criticized for mishandling the city's response to a 2010 snowstorm, Booker, across the Hudson River, used Twitter to stay in touch with snowed-in residents. He sent plows to their homes, or he and his staff dug them out themselves.
