BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has already gained the reputation as possibly the most socially connected mayor in the U.S.

On Thursday, reporter Toni Yates from WABC directed a Twitter message to Booker after the network team saw a dog left out in the cold in Newark. Booker responded, put the shivering dog in a police car, and contacted the dog’s owner.

Booker said, according to 7online.com, "This is brutal weather, this dog is shaking really bad and you just can't leave your dogs out here on a day like this and go away and expect them to be ok. Hypothermia on any animal including a human animal will set in pretty quickly. So this is very sad.”

The dog owners called it an accident, saying they were in Queens, and did not know that the dog had gotten out. According to ABC News, Booker later thanked Yates for contacting him, posting on Twitter, “Because of you that dog was rescued. Thank you for reaching out. Thank u for your kindness.”

In the past, Booker has used social media to help snowed-in residents shovel out their driveways, and even rescued a neighbor from a burning home.

But he still has his doubters. Councilman Anibal Ramos said about the snowstorm, according to NJ.com, “Instead of tweeting, the mayor needs to be in a war room executing a cleanup plan."

According to MSNBC, GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said there was “certainly a gimmicky aspect” to Booker’s stories. “He’s a media hound and he knows how to build his brand.”

TIME.com reminds us when Hurricane Sandy knocked out power for many New Jersey residents, Booker opened up his home to let folks stay awhile, watch DVDs and charge their devices. The mayor even supplied lunch.