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Booker: "Magic Will Happen in Our City"

The Nets and Newark painted an optimistic picture of the team's future in New Jersey's largest city Friday, with Mayor Cory Booker predicting "Magic will happen in our city".  Booker was joined by Nets CEO Brett Yormark, Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek, Deputy NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and Kris Humphries at the Prudential Center press conference.  Yormark said that the team expected to push ticket sales and even hire more sales reps in the near future to handle "significant" new demand anticipated from Essex, Union, and Middlesex counties as well as Manhattan. He added that 56% of those who attended the Nets pre-season games came to Newark via rail.   Meanwhile, Silver said he anticipates the league will probably approve Mikhail Prokhorov as the Nets new owner in "early- to mid-April".

Later, in a CNBC interview, Yormark told Maria Bartiromo that Jay-Z will be a big part of next week's ground breaking.  "He's part of the Nets family", said the CEO, adding that he hopes Jay-Z will be performing at Barclays Center.