Conan and Newark Mayor Face Off Friday

By Melissa Castellanos

Newark Mayor Cory Booker will break the "law" on Friday.

Booker, who's been jokingly banned from the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and the state of California by "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien, will visit the state and appear as a guest on "The Tonight Show."

The mayor and funny man may put an end to their drawn out, tongue-in-cheek dispute over a joke made by O'Brien at Newark's expense.

The comedic wheels have been in motion since Sept. 23 when O'Brien joked that Booker's new health care program consisted of a "bus ticket out of Newark," New Jersey's largest city often plagued by violence, poverty and corruption. Booker replied by banning O'Brien from Newark Liberty Airport.

O'Brien and Booker kept fueling the fire with jabs at each other on TV and YouTube. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even made a video appearance on "The Tonight Show" last week to defuse the "feud."

Clinton humorously urged them to return to their "core duties," which include "leading Newark toward a new era of growth and prosperity," for Booker and "dancing around the stage and making lame jokes about my pantsuits," for O'Brien.

Whether or not the two will make amends on Friday, one thing is certain - Booker has a round-trip ticket to Newark and he will return home with his head held high.

To see more of Newark Mayor Booker and his city, the Sundance Channel will air a five-part documentary series called, "Brick City," which highlights Newark, New Jersey's inner struggles.

The documentary series, for which Forest Whitaker and filmmakers Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin are executive producers, is currently available On Demand (through Nov.3) and will air in a day-long marathon on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 11:30 p.m. to 4:30p.m. ET/PT.