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 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 A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

of the Jersey City Public Schools from 2000 until 2009.

Early life

Born and raised in Jersey City, Cucci attended public schools. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Cucci served as a

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

and fought in the

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

. Cucci attended

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

and taught in the Jersey City and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

school systems.

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 A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

behind New Jersey State Senator Wally Sheil and eventual winner Gerald McCann. Cucci again ran for mayor in 1985, coming in first in the general election and forcing a

runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

with McCann. 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 The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

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 The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

. In 1988, Cucci established a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

relationship between Jersey City and

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. 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. The crash was suspected to have been caused by

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

by either

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

Shining Path The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...

guerrillas or a nationwide labor strike in Peru at the time. Peruvian authorities determined that the sabotage, a 10-inch steel rod wedged onto the tracks, was the work of guerillas. Shortly after returning from Peru, Cucci announced his intention to seek re-election, 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. 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. Cucci was named to the Fashion Foundation of America's Best Dressed list in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cucci, Anthony R. 1922 births 2015 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey 21st-century New Jersey politicians American people of Italian descent School board members in New Jersey New Jersey city council members Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey Seton Hall University alumni United States Marines United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II