They say Mr. Booker’s frequent Twitter posts to his 1.3 million followers, his appearances on television and at gatherings of moguls and celebrities — he was out of town nearly a quarter of the time between January 2011 and June 2012, according to The Star-Ledger — have distracted him from the local trench work needed to push his agenda. Business leaders say he dazzles at news conferences, but flags on the follow-through. Residents have wearied of the outside fascination for the mayor whom Oprah Winfrey called “a rock star” and Jon Stewart on Wednesday referred to as “the superhero mayor of Newark.”

Taxes have risen more than 20 percent over the past three years, even after the city laid off about 1,100 workers, including more than 160 police officers. Crime has risen, and unemployment is up. Schools remain under state control, and the city’s finances remain so troubled that it cannot borrow to fix its antiquated water system. While new restaurants have risen near the Prudential Center downtown, those in the outer wards were placed under a curfew this year because of shootings and drug dealing.

“There’s a lot of frustration and disappointment,” said Assemblyman Albert Coutinho, a Democrat representing Newark. “People feel that the mayor basically is out of the city too much and doesn’t focus much on the day-to-day.

“In fairness, he has had some tremendous success as a result of those travels, but the reality is, a city needs its mayor, needs to see its mayor on a regular basis. It makes people feel that the issues that are important to them are important enough for their mayor to come spend time with them.”

“While he genuinely does care for the citizens of Newark,” Mr. Coutinho added, “a lot of people here feel that he’s been looking beyond Newark for a long time.”

Mr. Booker defends the time he spends away from the city, saying his networking has brought as much as $400 million in philanthropic contributions to the city, including a $100 million donation to the schools from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. “No city has had the kind of renewal we have had, in the worst economy since the 1950s,” the mayor said.

He chafes at being portrayed as anything but hands-on: “Few mayors are more on the ground and responsive to individual constituent complaints than I am.”