James F. Gennaro (born May 3, 1957) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

, representing the 24th district since 2021. He previously represented the same seat from 2002 until 2013, and was the chair of the Council's Environmental Protection Committee. He was first elected to the Council in 2001. In November 2005, he was re-elected to the seat, based in central

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. In the 2008 New York state elections, Gennaro was the Democratic candidate for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

; his opponent was the Republican incumbent,

Frank Padavan Frank Padavan (October 31, 1934 – October 8, 2018) was an American engineer and politician. He served as a New York state senator representing District 11, located in Queens County. His district included the communities of Queens Village, ...

. After 3 months of recounting ballots, the incumbent, Senator Padavan, was declared the winner and Gennaro conceded defeat. In November 2009, Gennaro was re-elected for a third term on the City Council. Due to term limits, Gennaro did not run again in 2013; his seat was won by Democrat Rory Lancman. Gennaro left office on December 31, 2013. Formerly the senior policy adviser to then Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr., Gennaro was an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and environmental public policy at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

. He also served as President of the Jamaica Estates Association and as a member of Queens Community Board 8. Gennaro lost his first wife Joanne to multiple system atrophy in 2016. He married his second wife, Wendy B. Phaff in 2020, and they live in

Jamaica Estates, Queens Jamaica Estates is a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. Jamaica Estates is part of Queens Community Board 8, Queens Community District 8 and located in the northern portion of Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica. ...

. In 2020, he declared his intention to run for his former Council seat. On February 2, 2021, Gennaro declared his victory in the nonpartisan

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for this seat, after the city's Board of Election released its in-person voting results for that day. The election was the first in New York City to use ranked choice voting. Gennaro was sworn into office on February 18, 2021, 16 days after the special election date. In late September, 2023, Gennaro introduced an amendment to code of the city of New York, in relation to compensation awarded by the environmental control board to complainants for citizen noise complaints and to the maximum penalty authorized for violations. Compensation for proceedings brought by the Department of Environmental Protection would be capped at $5, and compensation for proceedings brought by a complainant would be capped at $10, thus discouraging vigilante enforcers of noise complaints. Consequently, many businesses continue to break the noise ordinance, as no one reports the violations.

References

, - 1957 births 21st-century New York (state) politicians American people of Italian descent Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members People from Jamaica Estates, Queens Stony Brook University alumni {{NewYork-politician-stub