Mark Gjonaj ( ; born December 1968) is an American politician who served in 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 ...

from the 13th district from 2018 to 2021. He previously represented the 80th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from 2013 to 2017. His district encompasses Morris Park,

Pelham Parkway The Bronx and Pelham Parkway, also known formally as the Bronx–Pelham Parkway but called Pelham Parkway in everyday use, is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The road begins in Bronx Park at the Bronx River Parkway an ...

, Pelham Gardens, and Norwood, among other communities of

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Early life and education

Gjonaj was born in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

to an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

family from Reč,

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He attended St. Raymond High School for Boys and graduated from St. John's University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Career

Gjonaj is the president of M P Realty Group Corp., a real estate brokerage firm that he founded in 1999. His political experience prior to election was as a member of the

New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (NYC TLC) is an agency of the government of New York City, New York City government that licenses and regulates the Taxicabs of New York City, medallion taxis and for-hire vehicle industries, inclu ...

New York State Assembly

Gjonaj defeated incumbent assemblywoman Naomi Rivera in the 2012 Democratic primary race. On November 6, 2012, he won the general election with 79% of the vote.

New York City Council

In 2017, Gjonaj entered the race to represent the 13th District of the

, to replace Councilman

James Vacca James Vacca is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from the New York City's 13th City Council district, 13th district from 2006 to 2017. He is a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat. The district includes Allerton ...

, who had to step down due to

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s. Gjonaj won the five-way primary with 39% of the vote. On November 8, 2017, Gjonaj won his bid to replace New York City Councilman James Vacca, defeating the Republican candidate John Cerini by a margin of 49% to 36%. In 2020, in response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the ensuing recession, Gjonaj introduced a bill to cap fees charged by delivery applications (e.g.

Grubhub Grubhub Inc. (stylized in all caps) is an American online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2004, it was a subsidiary of the Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway since 2021. In 2024, Wond ...

Controversies

In 2017, Gjonaj confirmed that he had used over $17,000 of donor funds to sue New York City for siting homeless shelters and mental health facilities in the Bronx. In August 2018, Gjonaj was filmed chanting "shame" at

Alessandra Biaggi Alessandra Rose Biaggi (born May 20, 1986) is an American politician from the state of New York. Biaggi is the granddaughter of former U.S. Congressman Mario Biaggi. A progressive Democrat, Biaggi served as a member of the New York State Senate ...

, who was running in a primary against incumbent State Senator

Jeffrey D. Klein Jeffrey David Klein (born July 10, 1960) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He represented the New York State Senate's 34th District, serving parts of Bronx and Westchester Counties from 2005 to 2018. Klein also s ...

. Gjonaj's chief of staff said that he was angry at Biaggi's support for bike infrastructure. Biaggi won the primary.

Election history

References

1968 births Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York City Council members American people of Albanian descent St. John's University (New York City) alumni American people of Montenegrin descent Politicians from the Bronx 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature {{NewYork-NYAssembly-stub