James Gennaro was sworn in as the City Council member for Queens’ 24th Council District on Thursday, Feb. 18, after the special election results were certified by the NYC Board of Elections earlier this week.
Following the certification, City Clerk Michael McSweeney administered the Oath of Office via Zoom to Gennaro, while his wife and children were by his side. Gennaro won the Feb. 2 special election, receiving 60.1 percent of the vote in an eight-candidate field to fill the seat left vacant by former Councilman Rory Lancman, who took a job in the Cuomo administration last year.
Gennaro will serve the remainder of the current Council term, which ends Dec. 31, 2021. Gennaro said his previous years of service as a representative for District 24 has prepared him well for the challenges of today and promised to not fail his constituents.
“I am humbled and grateful to the people of the 24th Council District who returned me to office with more than 60 percent of the vote in an eight-candidate field,” Gennaro said. “I am overwhelmed by their support and I promise to live up to the trust that the people have placed in me. This is a time of great challenge for our community and our city as we battle COVID, distribute vaccines, help those families who have been financially devastated by the pandemic, help small businesses struggling to stay afloat, and deal with a huge city budget deficit.”
Gennaro, a resident of Jamaica Estates, served as a council member from 2002 to 2013 in District 24, which includes the neighborhoods of Kew Gardens Hills, Pomonok, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Jamaica Estates, Briarwood, Parkway Village, Jamaica Hills and Jamaica.
During his tenure in the council, Gennaro chaired the Committee on Environmental Protection, where he authored and passed 50 environmental laws. In January 2014, Gennaro was appointed as deputy commissioner of NYC Sustainability and Resiliency at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. He left the Cuomo administration in May 2020 to reclaim his seat in the City Council.
