Vincent Joseph "Vinnie" Gentile (born January 3, 1959) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served in the New York City Council from the 43rd district from 2003 to 2017. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district includes Bath Beach,

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...

, and Dyker Heights in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Life and career

Gentile was born into an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

family in the

neighborhood of

. He attended

Fort Hamilton High School Fort Hamilton High School (HS 490) is a public high school in Brooklyn, New York, USA, under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. Students in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Dyker Heights are zoned to Fort Hamilton HS. It i ...

, graduating in 1977 and, in 1983, became founding president of the school's alumni association. He went on to receive a B.A. in Government from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and a J.D. from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test t ...

. He was first admitted to the New York state bar in 1986. Prior to his involvement in electoral politics, Gentile was a prosecutor in the office of the

Queens County District Attorney The District Attorney of Queens County is the elected district attorney for Queens County in New York State, coterminous with the New York City borough of Queens. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state law ...

. There he served for 11 years as an Assistant District Attorney under Richard A. Brown. Following losing an election for the

New York Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan compo ...

in 1994, Gentile first won public office in 1996, when he was able to capitalize upon internal divisions within the Republican Party and win a three-way race for the 23rd district in the New York State Senate. He served three terms before being defeated by then City Councilman Martin J. "Marty" Golden in 2002. Facing a tough campaign mostly due to redistricting, he lost 55% to 45%. Gentile was the Democratic candidate for New York's 11th congressional district special election in 2015. He lost to Republican Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. Green Party candidate, James Lane, came in third. Gentile unsuccessfully sought the position of

Kings County District Attorney The Kings County District Attorney's Office, also known as the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, is the district attorney's office for Kings County, coterminous with the Borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The office is responsible for the ...

in 2017. He lost the Democratic Party primary to Eric Gonzalez and then lost to Gonzalez again in the general election where Gentile ran under the Reform Party line.

New York City Council

Following his defeat for reelection to the Senate, Gentile entered into the special election to fill Golden's city council seat in 2003. In a field of five candidates, four of whom were Democrats, Gentile edged out a win against Republican Rosemarie O'Keefe by 31 votes. Gentile served in the New York City Council for 14 years until his successor was inaugurated in January 2018 due to Gentile’s term limits. He chaired the Select Committee on Libraries in the Council, and served on the Aging, Cultural Affairs, Finance, and Public Safety committees. He was also the chair of the Council's Italian-American Caucus.

References

External links

Official NYC Council Website about Vincent Gentile
* ttp://www.gothamgazette.com/community/43/campaign2003 Community Gazettes - District 43 - City Council Election {{DEFAULTSORT:Gentile, Vincent J. Living people 1959 births American politicians of Italian descent Cornell University alumni Fordham University alumni New York City Council members Democratic Party New York (state) state senators 21st-century American politicians People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn