Jack G. Sinagra (March 18, 1950 – August 26, 2013) was an American Republican Party politician who was the Mayor of

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York City metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to the city ...

and served in the New Jersey Senate from 1992 to 2001, where he represented the 18th Legislative District.

Biography

Born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Sinagra graduated from Bayside High School and earned his undergraduate degree from the

College of Emporia The College of Emporia was a private college in Emporia, Kansas from 1882 to 1974, and was associated with the Presbyterian church. When founded, it was one of two higher education institutions in the city of Emporia, the other at that time was t ...

in 1972, where he majored in Accounting. A Senior Vice President (and later President) with the firm of Turtle and Hughes, Sinagra was elected to the East Brunswick Township Council in 1987 and was the township's mayor from 1989 to 1991., New Jersey Legislature; accessed May 30, 2010. During his mayoral tenure, East Brunswick Township's Council passed an ordinance forbidding cigarette vending machines effective January 1, 1991, making it the first municipality in the state to impose such a ban in the face of opposition from companies that supplied the machines to local establishments which planned to pose legal challenges to the township's ordinance. Sinagra first won election to the New Jersey Senate in 1991, when he defeated Democrat Harry S. Pozycki by a 53.5%-46.5% margin. Sinagra won re-election in 1993 by a 58.2%-39.8% margin over Democrat Samuel V. Convery, Jr. and again in 1997 by a 58.5%-41.5% margin over former Senator Thomas H. Paterniti. He served in the Senate as Chair of the Health Committee and on the Commerce Committee. Fulfilling a campaign pledge that he had made when first running for the New Jersey Legislature, Sinagra sponsored a bill passed by the State Senate in 1992 that would ban the practice of

double dipping A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

, in which elected officials served in more than one elected position simultaneously. The Senate passed legislation in May 1998 that had been sponsored by Sinagra, which required the installation of shock absorbing material around all equipment at all public and private playgrounds within five years and would require all wood or metal swing seats to be replaced with plastic within 15 years. After Lewis M. Eisenberg left his post as Chairman of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

in September 2001, Sinagra was nominated by Acting Governor of New Jersey

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

as his replacement. He was confirmed as a commissioner and resigned his Senate seat on October 23, 2001. The Port Authority's Board of Commissioners elected Sinagra as the agency's Chairman in December 2001. A resident of New York City, Sinagra died on August 26, 2013 from undisclosed causes at the age of 63.Epstein, Sue; Haydon, Tom
"Longtime Middlesex County state senator Jack Sinagra dead at 63"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

'', August 26, 2013. Accessed August 26, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinagra, Jack G. 1950 births 2013 deaths Bayside High School (Queens) alumni Businesspeople from New Jersey College of Emporia alumni Mayors of places in New Jersey New Jersey city council members Republican Party New Jersey state senators People from East Brunswick, New Jersey People from Queens, New York Politicians from Middlesex County, New Jersey Port Authority of New York and New Jersey people Chairmen of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Place of death missing 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians