Contemplating advocacy work and a run for city council in Newark after graduating from law school, Booker lived in the city during his final year at Yale.[14] After graduation, he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project.[15] In 1998, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark defeating four-term incumbent George Branch.[16] To draw attention to the problems of open-air drug dealing and associated violence he went on a 10-day hunger strike, living in a tent and later in a motor home near drug-dealing areas of the city.[17] Booker also proposed council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order, and the efficiency and transparency of city hall, but was regularly outvoted by all of his fellow councilors.[18]