Anthony R. Cucci
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Anthony R. Cucci
| image =
| birth_date = August 8, 1922
| birth_place = Jersey City, New Jersey
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|2|26|1922|8|8}}
| death_place = Jersey City, New Jersey
| residence = Jersey City, New Jersey
| office = Mayor of Jersey City
| order = 40th
| term_start = July 1, 1985
| term_end = June 30, 1989
| predecessor = Gerald McCann
| successor = Gerald McCann
| party = Democrat
| profession = Educator
| spouse = Anna (d. December 1, 1988)
| children =
| website =
|allegiance= United States of America
|branch= United States Marine Corps
|serviceyears=1943 – 1946
|rank=Corporal
|unit= 5th Marine Division
|battles=World War II
}}
Anthony R. Cucci (August 8, 1922 – February 26, 2015) was an American educator and Democratic Party politician who served as the 40th Mayor of Jersey City{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=July 2, 1985 | last=Sullivan | first=Joseph | title=In Jersey City, The Mayor is Sworn In Two Times | quote=Anthony R. Cucci was sworn in twice today as Jersey City's 40th Mayor.}} from July 1, 1985, until June 30, 1989. Cucci served on the City Council from 1977 to 1981, and was a member of the board of education of the Jersey City Public Schools from 2000 until 2009.{{cite news | work=The Hudson Reporter | last=Kaulessar | first=Ricardo | date=March 28, 2009 | title=Getting on board - 12 contenders vie for three seats in April 21 school election | url=http://www.hudsonreporter.com/printer_friendly/2200830 | accessdate=February 9, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031820/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/printer_friendly/2200830 | archive-date=2015-09-24 | url-status=dead }}[http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/02/former_jersey_city_mayor_anthony_cucci_dies_at_92.html Former Jersey Mayor Anthony Cucci dies at 92]
Early life
Political career
Cucci was elected to the Jersey City City Council in 1977 and served a single four-year term. He ran for mayor in 1981, coming in third in the general election behind New Jersey State Senator Wally Sheil and eventual winner Gerald McCann.{{cite news | work=The Day | date=June 15, 1981 | title=Candidates slug it out | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-rk0AAAAIBAJ&dq=anthony%20cucci%201981%20run&pg=1204%2C2756216 | accessdate=February 9, 2010}}
Cucci again ran for mayor in 1985, coming in first in the general election and forcing a runoff election with McCann.{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=May 15, 1985 | page=B2 | title=Runoff Needed for Mayoralty of Jersey City}} Cucci won the runoff, and was sworn in as Mayor of Jersey City at one minute after midnight on July 1, 1985.
While mayor, Cucci threatened to foreclose on the Statue of Liberty and sell it at auction due to an outstanding water bill of over $940,000 owed to the city by the United States Department of the Interior.{{cite news | work=Evening Independent | date=September 25, 1985 | title=City threatens to seize, sell Statue of Liberty | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9fALAAAAIBAJ&dq=anthony%20cucci&pg=6768%2C2120517 | accessdate=February 9, 2010}}
In 1988, Cucci established a sister city relationship between Jersey City and Cusco, Peru.{{cite web|url=http://www.municusco.gob.pe/ver.php?id=6 |title=Ciudades Hermanas (Sister Cities) |publisher=Municipalidad del Cusco |language=Spanish |accessdate=2009-09-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012234407/http://www.municusco.gob.pe/ver.php?id=6 |archive-date=2011-10-12 }} While on a goodwill visit to Peru, Cucci's wife and the wife of Cusco Mayor Carlos Chacon were killed when the railroad car in which they were riding derailed and fell 700 feet off an embankment.{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=December 2, 1988 | page=88 | title=Wife of Jersey Mayor Dies in Peru Rail Crash | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/02/us/wife-of-jersey-mayor-dies-in-peru-rail-crash.html | accessdate=February 9, 2010}} The crash was suspected to have been caused by sabotage by either Maoist Shining Path guerrillas or a nationwide labor strike in Peru at the time.{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=December 5, 1988 | last=McQuiston | first=John | title=Mayor Back in Jersey City After Wife Is Killed in Peru | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/05/nyregion/mayor-back-in-jersey-city-after-wife-is-killed-in-peru.html | accessdate=February 9, 2010}} Peruvian authorities determined that the sabotage, a 10-inch steel rod wedged onto the tracks, was the work of guerillas.{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=January 13, 1989 | page=A8 | title=Peru Rebels Blamed in Death of Jersey City Mayor's Wife | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/13/world/peru-rebels-blamed-in-death-of-jersey-city-mayor-s-wife.html | accessdate=February 9, 2010}}
Shortly after returning from Peru, Cucci announced his intention to seek re-election,{{cite news | work=The New York Times | date=December 13, 1988 | page=B5 | title=Cucci Will Announce Plans for Re-election | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/13/nyregion/metro-datelines-cucci-will-announce-plans-for-re-election.html?scp=1&sq=Cucci+will+announce+plans&st=nyt | accessdate=February 9, 2010}} Cucci came in fourth in the May 1989 general election behind former mayors Thomas F.X. Smith and McCann, as well as City Council President Glenn Dale Cunningham.{{cite news | work=The Philadelphia Inquirer | date=May 10, 1989 | page=B6 | title=Jersey City Mayor runs fourth in vote}}
Cucci was elected to the Jersey City Board of Education in 2000, and served three terms. He lost his bid for re-election in 2009 when 12 people ran for three available seats.{{cite news | work=The Jersey Journal | last=Thorbourne | first=Ken | date=April 22, 2009 | title=Voters boot veterans off ed boards | url=http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1240381527226770.xml&coll=3 | accessdate=February 9, 2010}}
Cucci was named to the Fashion Foundation of America's Best Dressed list in 1985.{{cite news | work=Lodi News-Sentinel | date=November 25, 1985 | title=Reagan on the best dressed list | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0bUzAAAAIBAJ&dq=anthony%20cucci&pg=5854%2C2778464 | accessdate=February 9, 2010}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{JrsyCtyMayors}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cucci, Anthony R.}}
Category:20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey
Category:21st-century New Jersey politicians
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:School board members in New Jersey
Category:New Jersey city council members
Category:Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey
Category:Seton Hall University alumni
Category:United States Marines
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II