Councilman Anibal Ramos Jr. spoke with NJ.com about the closing of the Izod Arena and the benefits to Newark.

Read the story as it originally appeared on nj.com.

By Naomi Nix

Newark area leaders praised the state's decision to close the Izod Center and move its programming to the Prudential Center as a welcome opportunity to boost the economy of the state's largest city.

The Izod Center is poised to close its doors by the end of the month in a deal that is expected to be announced today.

"This is a long time coming. It never made sense to keep open an outdated arena that is less than 10 miles away from the City of Newark and the Prudential Center," North Ward councilman Anibal Ramos said in a statement.

"I commend the governor's decision and I believe it will certainly increase the number of events at the Rock and serve as a greater catalyst for economic development in our downtown district."

Read this story as it originally appeared on nj.com.

By Naomi Nix

The Newark city council unanimously approved Wednesday night legislation that requires second-hand dealers to maintain records of every phone it buys including the phone's model number and serial number.

Under the legislation, cell phone sellers have to give Newark dealers two pieces of identification, including a photo identification.

Police officers could request to see the information at any time.

This article originally appeared on WBGO.org

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In Newark, robbers can turn around and sell stolen phones to local pawn shops for hundreds of dollars, no questions asked. North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos is proposing a law he says would put a stop to that practice.

Under the law, anyone selling a phone would first have to provide buyers with two forms of ID. And second-hand dealers would have to keep records on every phone they buy.

Ramos says if criminals know they’ll have to give out their information to sell the phone, they’re less likely to steal it in the first place.

"Now they have to provide identification," he says. "Information that the city and the police department would have access to."

He says cell phone robbery is the fastest growing sector of violent crime in Newark.

“I had a murder in my ward a little over a month ago with a young lady they basically robbed her of her cell phone and the incident unfortunately turned deadly, so this is an important step for us to be able to track who’s buying phones within the city of Newark but also to get information '

More than a third of strong-arm robberies committed in Newark last year were cell phone thefts.