Jersey City’s Democratic mayor has emerged as a top contender to lead New York City’s most influential business group, sources tell The Post.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop — who previously defended Big Apple mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s controversial plan to open government-run grocery stores and said “I don’t live in NYC nor do I want to” — is in discussions to become the next CEO of the Partnership for The City of New York.
And yes, he’d have to move across the Hudson River if he gets the job.
He would replace Kathryn Wylde, who is retiring after heading the group representing the Big Apple’s business titans since 2000, sources familiar with the deliberations said.
Wylde made more than $1.5 million in 2023, according tax filings from the nonprofit.
Fulop, 48, ran for New Jersey governor this year but finished a distant third with just 16% of the vote in the Democratic primary. He worked for Goldman Sachs during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and then joined the Marines before entering politics.
The three-term mayor defended Mamdani’s city-run grocery store plan in a statement on X in June when another writer called it the “most economically delusional thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
I don’t live in NYC nor do I want to but one thing to mention is that I know the idea of public grocery stores has become easy fodder for critics, but if you move past the politics, there’s precedent. This isn’t some radical new idea in the U.S.The USDA, under both Republican… https://t.co/2Vg6eiQy1Y
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) June 29, 2025
“I don’t live in NYC nor do I want to but one thing to mention is that I know the idea of public grocery stores has become easy fodder for critics, but if you move past the politics, there’s precedent. This isn’t some radical new idea in the US,” Fulop said.
“The USDA [Department of Agriculture], under both Republican and Democratic administrations, has a track record of funding publicly supported grocery stores, including co-ops and nonprofit retail models. These programs continue to offer financial, technical, and planning support to help bring healthy food access to underserved communities and prices down,” Fulop said.
Fulop said Jersey City — the Garden State’s second most populous with 300,000 residents — also experimented to improve access to nutritional flood with the “Healthy Corner Store” model. The program offered assistance to bodegas and small grocers to offer residents healthier food options.
“We gave it a real shot. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but I’m still glad we tried. One major lesson: it’s tough to incentivize store owners to change long-established economic habits, even when the public benefit is clear,” he said.
During his campaign for governor, Fulop objected to the MTA and New York imposing a “congestion fee” for Jersey drivers to enter Manhattan, even suggesting that the Garden State should impose its own reverse or fee to enter the Garden State and fund its public transit.
Sources said Fulop’s 12-year record as Jersey City mayor will help him in promoting Big Apple business. Jersey City was among the leaders in the Garden State in building new housing and creating jobs, and keeping crime and property taxes in check.
He also championed other liberal workforce issues such as family paid leave and an increase in Jersey’s minimum wage.
The Partnership for NYC represents 300 of the Big Apple’s largest corporate, banking and investment, real estate and high-tech firms “working to advance the city’s standing as a global center of economic opportunity, upward mobility, and innovation,” per the website.
Among the members is John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group, the parent firm of Gristedes’ grocery stores, who objects to city-run grocery stores.
Fulop is a lifelong New Jersey resident, the son of Romanian Jewish immigrants. His mother was the daughter of Holocaust survivors.
Fulop graduated from SUNY Binghamton University in 1999. He joined Goldman Sachs after studying at Oxford University in the UK.
On the morning of the 9/11 attacks, 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 Marine Corps.
Fulop’s Reserve Unit deployed to Iraq in January 2003, where he served as part of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion. He completed his service to the Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of corporal.
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