Man believed to be New Jersey's longest-serving mayor dies

Published Apr. 13, 2015 7:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. (AP) A man believed to be New Jersey's longest-serving mayor has died. Gerry Calabrese was the mayor of Cliffside Park for the past 50 years.

Family members say the 90-year-old Calabrese died Monday. They haven't disclosed the cause of his death.

Calabrese was a Democrat who was first elected as the Bergen County community's chief executive in 1959. He had held the job continuously since 1965.

He first gained recognition as a college basketball player at St. John's University in New York. He went on to play in the early years of the National Basketball Association, spending two seasons with the Syracuse Nationals.

His son, Thomas Calabrese, is Cliffside Park's borough council president and acting mayor.