JERSEY CITY -- It was a sunny morning in May 2014 and Steve Fulop and Jared Kushner were all smiles.
The two men - Fulop, then the recently elected mayor of Jersey City and presumed candidate for New Jersey governor, and Kushner, the hot-shot real estate developer and CEO for the company he took over from his father - were showering each other with praise at the groundbreaking for Trump Bay Street, a Waterfront high-rise Kushner was developing with KABR Group.
"We've really been able to develop a terrific friendship," Fulop said about Kushner, who called Fulop "a big advocate for development and growth and for doing what's really right for the city."
Three years and one stunning presidential race later, Fulop, a Democrat seeking re-election in this liberal bastion where President Trump's name is nearly an expletive, is sprinting from his connection to Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser.
The mayor last week said he will not support a critical tax break Kushner's family requested for their One Journal Square project; denied knowledge of a $10,000 donation to the Hudson County Democratic Organization that Kushner's sister and her husband made three months before that project was announced; and responded to inquiries about the Kushners with statements stressing his opposition to Trump.
Experts say they are not surprised Fulop is distancing himself from Kushner. In this city of 136,000 registered voters, Trump received 11,705 votes in November. A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll from March found Trump's disapproval among New Jersey Democrats was 88 percent.
"If Fulop has political ambitions beyond where he is today, it probably is not going to hurt him too much, trying to create some daylight between himself and the Kushners," said Krista Jenkins, a professor of political science at FDU and director of the school's poll.
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, far right, and Jared Kushner, far left, with members of the City Council at the May 14, 2014 groundbreaking for Kushner's Trump Bay Street. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)
NOVEMBER RACE
Fulop's critics have seized on his relationship with Kushner, sensing a vulnerability they can exploit as Fulop attempts to win a second term.
November's municipal race, when the mayoralty and all nine council seats are up for grabs, is nonpartisan, but Democrats in past campaigns have tried to distinguish themselves by painting rivals as closet Republicans. Fliers distributed during the 2013 mayor's race compared Fulop to Mitt Romney.
Fulop challenger and attorney Bill Matsikoudis has focused on Fulop's connection to Kushner to tie the mayor to Trump. Matsikoudis, 45, a Democrat, called the Kushners Fulop's "political patrons."
"He's backing away from them because he's smart enough to realize that this is a huge political liability in the upcoming election," Matsikoudis said.
Fulop chief of staff Mark Albiez responded: "I think our record has been very clear, during the year, opposing the president's agenda."
A White House spokesman declined to comment. A Kushner Companies spokesman repeated his earlier statement that One Journal Square would provide "meaningful investment in the long-term future of Journal Square" and that it wants to move forward with the plan.
Questions about Trump will not be confined to the mayor's race. James Solomon, 33, an activist who plans to seek the Downtown council seat, has hammered the administration over Kushner. Solomon said he wants intense scrutiny of any Jersey City deal involving Trump's son-in-law.
"In Jersey City politicians and developers have this extraordinarily cozy relationship. And that's troubling," he said.
Matt Hale, a Seton Hall University political science professor, said New Jersey Democrats are in "an odd place" with the Kushners, longtime Democratic donors.
"Any connection to Trump is toxic, but ... the Kushner family has long and deep ties all over the state," Hale said. "That makes me think Fulop and Jersey City will get a pass for past dealings as long as they stay away from future ones."
He added: "It is kind of like, 'We knew cousin Jared before he went crazy.'"
KUSHNER TIES
Fulop has been friendly with one branch of the Kushner family tree for decades, while it appears his relationship with the other began around when he was elected mayor in May 2013.
Brothers Murray and Charles Kushner are real-estate developers locked in a feud for more than 10 years. Murray Kushner, of KRE Group, is Jonathan's father. Charles Kushner, of Kushner Companies, is Jared's father.
Fulop, 40, is childhood friends with Jonathan Kushner. The two attended Solomon Schechter Day School in West Orange together.
It's not clear how long Fulop has known Jared Kushner. One of Fulop's first big hires as mayor in 2013 was former Kushner Companies publicist Bob Sommer. Fulop, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump -- Jared's wife and Trump's oldest daughter -- met privately after Fulop's election, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. A Fulop political operative was an expediter for One Journal Square.
Jared Kushner's interest in Jersey City began soon before Fulop was elected mayor. Kushner Companies -- where Jared Kushner was CEO from 2008 until January -- and KABR Group acquired the Trump Bay Street lot in 2011 after a sheriff's sale (the property received a five-year tax break from the city in 2014). The two companies have bought four more Jersey City properties since then, including the old Jersey Journal building.
Kushner Companies expressed interest in developing the massive Bayfront development, but said last week it will not pursue that project.
A review of Fulop's campaign records do not show donations from Jared Kushner. Kushner Companies and KABR Group gave $100,000 to a nonprofit that then gave $400,000 to a super PAC linked to Fulop's now abandoned gubernatorial run, according to two people with knowledge of the contribution, which was later returned. Jared Kushner's sister, Nicole Meyer, and her husband gave two donations totaling $10,000 to the HCDO in October 2014. Meyer's comments about the One Journal Square project at a Beijing conference on May 6 caused a furor, with critics saying she was trading on her brother's influence with Trump to enrich the family business (Kushner Companies later apologized for her comments).
A source with knowledge of the contributions said they were made at Fulop's behest, which Albiez denied.
"We didn't know about it," Albiez said. "We have nothing to do with the HCDO's finances."
A Kushner Companies spokesman declined to comment on the Meyers' donations.
Brigid Callahan-Harrison, who teaches political science at Montclair State University, is not surprised by Fulop cutting off his ties with the Kushner family. She doesn't think Jared Kushner would be surprised, either.
"I think Mr. Kushner has been around long enough and is sophisticated enough to realize that many of the individuals with whom he had close relationships prior to his father-in-law getting elected now have to distance themselves from him," Harrison said.
Fulop, appearing at a Downtown farmers market today, initially walked away from this reporter in response to questions about the alleged meeting between himself, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
"Who told you that?" the mayor asked. "No. They've never hosted a fundraiser, they've never done a meet-and-greet. None of that stuff."
Fulop later emailed requesting all questions go through his spokeswoman.
Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.