MAY 14TH, 2013

STEVEN MICHAEL FULOP

WAS ELECTED THE 49TH MAYOR OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

During his time as Mayor, Steven has shown what smart, progressive leadership can accomplish – opening a new chapter for Jersey City.

Under his leadership, Jersey City became the 1st city in New Jersey – and the 6th city in the United States – to ensure paid sick leave. Mayor Steven Fulop has led the city to record economic development, benefiting families of all income levels – all without raising taxes.

He’s pioneered new ideas for helping prisoners re-enter society, passed legislation to protect small businesses, encouraged more businesses to open shop, made Jersey City one of the greenest towns in the nation and he’s undertaken sweeping public safety reform with the JCPD now seen as a model for diversity across the nation.

Steven grew up in a Jewish family in Edison, New Jersey, the son of Romanian immigrants. His mother was the daughter of Holocaust survivors and worked in an immigration services office helping others gain citizenship. His father owned a delicatessen in Newark, where Steven worked behind the counter as a teenager.

Steven graduated from Binghamton University in 1999 and spent time abroad studying at Oxford University in the UK. After college, he joined Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm, working in Chicago and later in Manhattan and Jersey City.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Steven was working in lower Manhattan when he saw the first plane strike the Twin Towers. A few weeks later, he decided to put his career at Goldman Sachs on hold and join the United States Marine Corps.

Steven’s Reserve Unit deployed to Iraq in January 2003. There, Steven served as part of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion. He traveled into Baghdad during the early weeks of the war.

In 2006, Steven completed his service to the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Corporal.

After his service in Iraq, Steven returned to Goldman Sachs, leaving in early 2006 to take a position at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. That year, he also completed both his Masters in Business Administration at the New York University Stern School of Business and his Masters in Public Administration at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Steven first tried his hand at politics by running for Congress in 2004. He lost. The next year, Steven ran for the Jersey City Council, and won.. He served as a councilman for eight years before becoming Mayor.

Steven is an avid runner and triathlete. He competed in the 2012 Ironman Championship in New York City to raise money for veterans. Steven completed his latest – though not last – Ironman triathlon in September 2014.

Prior to 2013, Jersey City rarely received national recognition for strong leadership, innovation or work to differentiate it from other cities in the United States. The Fulop Administration set a goal to change that – it has and continues to. 

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