Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop to Lead Partnership for New York City
After three terms as mayor, Fulop will succeed longtime Partnership leader Kathryn Wylde
By Larry Getlen October 7, 2025 3:21 pm
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Steven Fulop, the outgoing mayor of Jersey City, N.J., will succeed longtime head Kathryn S. Wylde as the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, according to an announcement from the business booster group.
Fulop was elected mayor of Jersey City in 2013, and was re-elected twice. His first re-election found him winning 78 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory in the city since 1949. He did not run for re-election this year but instead sought the Democratic nomination for New Jersey governor, losing in the primary to U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
Fulop’s term as mayor will end in January 2026. It is unclear exactly when his job with the Partnership will begin.
The Partnership conducted an extensive search to find Wylde’s replacement, considering over 30 candidates. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer, co-chairs of the Partnership’s Board of Trustees, cited Fulop’s “expertise and leadership” in his selection.
Fulop called his new position a “tremendous honor.”
“The Partnership’s member organizations are the engines behind New York’s economy, employing more than 1 million people, and are uniquely positioned to build a stronger, more prosperous city,” Fulop said in the release. “I am humbled to take the reins from Kathy Wylde, who built the organization into the influential force it is today, and I look forward to joining the Partnership to help tackle the complex challenges that New York City faces.”
The release said that Fulop “transformed the city’s economic, social and cultural landscape,” noting that he added more than $1.4 billion to Jersey City’s tax rolls. The Partnership cited Fulop accomplishments, including “supporting the construction of more than 10,000 residential units and approving more than 18,000 additional units for future construction,” advocating for innovative policies and tax abatements to support development in underinvested neighborhoods, and overseeing the launch of Citi Bike in the city, to name just a few.
Wylde was one of the Partnership’s first employees, starting there in 1982. She became the organization’s president and CEO in 2000.
She was a strong advocate for business interests, opposing tax increases on the wealthy, and appealing to Amazon to reconsider after the company decided not to build its second headquarters in Queens.
Wylde became an adviser to many of the most powerful people and business concerns in the city. She designed the blueprint for stabilizing Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, guided City Hall through Mayor Eric Adams’s federal indictment, and also served as a strong advocate for congestion pricing, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
Wylde has discussed the importance of having a tough successor who understands the importance of the business community to the city’s prosperity, and said she believes that Fulop is the right person to help move the city forward.
“Steve Fulop understands the importance of maintaining strong relationships between business, labor, government and the nonprofit sectors, which has been central to the Partnership’s mission since it was founded by David Rockefeller,” Wylde said in the release. “I look forward to working with him through what I am confident will be a successful transition.”
Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.
