I love Cory Booker, and it all started last Election Night. Tuning into see the results, there was His Honor, Mayor of the City of Newark, on national television, gushing like a school girl about how awesome America was. Some anchorperson had asked him if we were now post-racial in this country, or something, which got Booker just a bit riled up.

His response was strong and clear — why do we have to look past color, past language, past culture, past heritage? The miracle of America is that while we are many, we’re still one. What we accept as normal has torn so many countries apart. That’s something to celebrate.

Booker said it better. He also used some really fun words, like “luxuriate” and “deliciousness.” At one point I think he also used the word “stew.” Or not. Maybe I’m just hungry right now. Whatever — it was pretty great.

I think about his impromptu speech a lot. So rarely do you hear a politician say something they so clearly believe to be true. So rarely do you encounter an American politician who understands America so well.

Anyway — that was last November, which seemed like kind of a long time to go without Booker on the national news. So, really, thank God for Conan O’Brien, who started a hilarious war with Newark on “The Tonight Show” recently, a war that’s only been escalating. Booker’s fierce — and funny — rebuttals have been a nice distraction from the usual shrieking about healthcare and David Letterman’s sex habits.

Mayor Booker, you’re not alone. I love Newark. (Of course, I also love Detroit, but that’s a can of worms for another time.) Point is this: When Newark is bad, it’s very bad; but when it’s good, it’s kind of wonderful. Here are five reasons to hop the PATH train now:

1) HIKE BRANCH BROOK PARK Nearly 360 acres (about half the size of Central Park) of varied terrain following a design done by Frederick Law Olmsted, Newark is home to this beautiful park that features thousands of cherry trees that turn the park pink each spring. Head here to watch the leaves turn now; you can get here via Newark’s handy Light Rail, which runs along the western edge of the park from the city’s Penn Station.

2) HEAR MUSIC AT THE CATHEDRAL It’s perhaps best-known these days as that big church in The Sopranos opening credits, but the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart is also one of the most impressive buildings in the city. Begun in the 1800s and completed more than 50 years later, it’s the site of some impressive live music performances — coming up on the 25th at 4:00 p.m., the Westminster Choir College and Festival Orchestra does Brahms’ Requiem. Single tickets are $35.

3) VISIT THE NEWARK MUSEUM New Jersey’s biggest museum is like a Greatest Hits of everything, from kid-friendly exhibits to planetarium shows to beautiful galleries of Asian antiquities. There’s a suggested donation for admission, but nobody is turned away — the museum sometimes feels like a small-town version of the Met, but without the hordes of tourists and stern docents shouting at them not to touch stuff.

4) OGLE THE ARCHITECTURE From Cass Gilbert’s elegant court house to the modernism of Mies van der Rohe’s residential towers, Newark can look really good when it wants to. For God’s sake, City Hall has a gold dome. A gold dome, people. (The building’s also looking great now after a spendy restoration.)

5) DIG THE IRONBOUND One of the best neighborhoods in New York that’s not in New York, this Brazilian-Portuguese-Other enclave that’s shoehorned in along lively Ferry Street just behind Newark’s Penn Station is an absolute must on weekends. Drinks, dinner, general merry-making — maybe even a trip to the supermarket to stock up on bacalhau — this is definitely a ‘hood you have to see at least once.

For more information about Newark, gohere.