Mayor Steven M. Fulop
Steven Michael Fulop is the 49th and current Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey – named the most diverse city in the nation and the soon-to-be largest city in New Jersey.
Since Mayor Fulop took office in 2013, Jersey City residents have seen ten consecutive years of stable taxes and consistent credit rating upgrades.
Since 2013, we’ve hired 823 police officers and 377 firefighters, and we will continue to make the investment to ensure our public safety personnel have the training and resources they need to stay safe.
$1.4 BILLION was added in new rateables to our tax rolls, the 8,000-unit Bayfront Redevelopment project that will break ground in 2024 is 35% affordable housing; we are reimagining Holland Gardens, turning outdated public housing into mixed-income communities that will be the largest new public housing project in New Jersey. In 2023, we opened the doors to Public Safety Headquarters located on MLK Drive. The fourth and final building completes the vision we initially articulated to establish greater access to critical services and thousands of jobs while driving critical investment into the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood.
In 2023, we completed one of the largest citywide park improvement plan in decades, with over 25 park updates. We created 12 new plazas and public spaces throughout the city, including the new Bethune Park and the new Fairmount Park; added the new Coles Park where none previously existed; and we have set the way for the new 3-acre Courthouse Park, which will soon be the first large park in Journal Square.
Since expanding the Department of Recreation to include Youth Development, we have successfully established new programs and enhanced existing recreation to be more inclusive of everyone’s abilities and interests. In 2023-2024 our emphasis on expanding services for children with special needs.
The online Recreation portal, which launched in June, has made field scheduling more accessible. As a result, 140 different organizations were issued field permits between June and December, impacting thousands of children.
The arts are flourishing in Journal Square, where we will soon break ground on the Loew’s Theatre restoration project to revive the iconic theater and attract thousands of visitors from all over the region; Journal Sq. will soon have the distinction of being the only North American location of the Centre Pompidou, home to the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe.
Since 2020, nearly 300 Arts and Culture Trust Fund grants have been distributed, totaling $3 million. In April 2024, the third round of grants from the Trust Fund supported 44 program grants, 13 arts education grants, 21 general operating grants and 20 individual artist fellowships - an infusion of $1 million to 78 artists and arts organizations.
Jersey City’s nonprofit arts and culture sector generates $46 million in economic activity annually while supporting over 500 jobs and $28 million in personal income to city residents.
During his time in office, Mayor Fulop has shown what smart, progressive leadership can accomplish – and opened a new chapter for Jersey City.
Under his leadership, Jersey City became the first city in the state – and the 6th city in the country – to ensure paid sick leave. Mayor Fulop has pioneered new ideas for helping prisoners re-enter society; he’s passed legislation to protect small businesses and encouraged more to open shop; made Jersey City one of the greenest cities in the nation. He’s undertaken sweeping public safety reform, with the JCPD now seen as a model for diversity around the nation. And Mayor Fulop has led the city to record economic development that’s benefited families of all income levels.
Mayor Fulop is a first-generation American, a lifelong New Jerseyan, a Marine, and a triathlete. He 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 nearby in Newark, where Mayor Fulop worked behind the counter as a teenager.
Mayor Fulop 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, Mayor Fulop 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.
Mayor Fulop’s Reserve Unit deployed to Iraq in January 2003. There, he served as part of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion. He traveled into Baghdad during the early weeks of the war. In 2006, Mayor Fulop completed his service to the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Corporal.
In 2005, Mayor Fulop was first elected to public office as the councilman representing downtown Jersey City. He served as a councilman for eight years before becoming Mayor.
Mayor Fulop and his wife, Jaclyn, are parents to three wonderful children, Jaxon, Stasha and Sage Montana. The Mayor is an avid runner and triathlete. He ran the NYC Marathon in 2012, raising money for the Hudson County Child Abuse Prevention Center. He also competed in the Ironman Championship in NYC that year to raise money for veterans.