NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Conan O'Brien is now banned from the entire state of New Jersey. That's Newark Mayor Cory Booker's latest facetious response to the late-night comic's mockery.
The video posted Thursday on YouTube is Booker's second public defense of New Jersey's largest city -- butt of a ``Tonight Show'' joke last week.
It comes after a two-minute segment Wednesday night by O'Brien, who pretended to laud Newark's virtues while showing images of urban neglect. A reference to its arts scene was accompanied by a graffiti-covered wall.
It all started last week when O'Brien said, "The Mayor of Newark, New Jersey wants to set up a citywide program to improve residents' health. The health-care program would consist of a bus ticket out of Newark."
Booker responded via video Tuesday by banning Conan from Newark Airport.
On last night's show, Conan joked that the ban was no problem because he could easily get to Newark by navigating the nations sewer systems because, "Everyone knows, all sewer pipes lead to Newark."
He also added that Booker needs to brush up on his "Essex County/Union County" geography because a small section of Newark Airport's Terminal A is actually in neighboring Elizabeth.
He ended the segment by inviting Booker to appear on the show to settle the dispute "like gentlemen," and added that Booker was banned from Burbank Airport.
Booker's office responded Thursday by saying, "Sure. While we haven't heard from the producers we welcome the opportunity to appear on the show to highlight Newark."
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