Matthew Feldman
| Matthew Feldman | |
|---|---|
Campaign brochure published by Citizens for Feldman, Teaneck, N.J., 1973.
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| New Jersey State Senator | |
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In office January 1966 – January 1978 |
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| Preceded by | Pierce H. Deamer, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Joseph C. Woodcock, Jr. |
| New Jersey State Senator | |
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In office January 1974 – January 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph C. Woodcock, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Byron Baer |
| Senate President | |
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In office January 1976 – January 1978 |
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| Preceded by | Frank J. Dodd |
| Succeeded by | Joseph P. Merlino |
| New Jersey Senate Majority Leader | |
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In office January 1974 – January 1976 |
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| Preceded by | Alfred D. Schiaffo |
| Succeeded by | Joseph P. Merlino |
| Mayor of Teaneck | |
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In office February 1959 – January 1966 |
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| Preceded by | August Hanniball Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Costa |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 22, 1919 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 11, 1994 (aged 75) Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Muriel Gunsberg Feldman |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Matthew Feldman (March 22, 1919 – April 11, 1994) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as a New Jersey State Senator and Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey. As Mayor of Teaneck in the early 1960s, he achieved racial and political harmony during integration of its schools and neighborhoods. He served as the President of the New Jersey State Senate.
Feldman was born on March 22, 1919 in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Samuel and Mary Feldman, both immigrants from Poland. He had an older brother, Norman, and a younger brother, Melvin. He excelled in basketball and boxing, and joined the boxing team at the University of North Carolina. He used his physical prowess to "bust up" pro-Nazi German American Bund rallies held in North Bergen in the late 1930s, acting as a "heckler, protester, and street fighter."
He served as a U.S. Air Force Captain during World War II, and later served as New Jersey State Commander of the Jewish War Veterans. He later attended Panzer College. He moved to Teaneck in 1947 after marrying Muriel Gunsberg. Feldman joined the Federal Wine and Liquor Company, a liquor distribution business started by his father and uncle.
Leon Sokol, a New Jersey lawyer who was a longtime friend of Feldman, says that in 1946, Feldman was driving along Route 17 with his family on their way to the Catskills when he spotted a sign for new housing in Ridgewood. It read "Restricted Development" – code for no Jews or blacks. Feldman was so furious that he stopped the car, called some veteran friends and staged the forerunner of a "flash" protest. His wife, Muriel, was furious, his kids screaming in the car.
In 1958, Feldman was elected to the Teaneck Township Council, and was re-elected in 1962 with over 75% of the vote. In February 1959, he became the Mayor of Teaneck following the death of Mayor August Hanniball Jr. He served as Mayor until 1966.
Teaneck has non-partisan local elections, and Feldman was an independent when he won in 1958. He says he was courted by Bergen County Republicans, who viewed him as a "New Jersey Jacob Javits". Feldman told a New York Times reporter in 1972 that GOP leaders told him he could be a Senator or a Congressman someday, and that he held them off as he explored his political identity. "Then Kennedy came into town in 1960. He electrified me. It was that that made me go into partisan politics. I felt you had to be a Democrat. Nothing else made sense."
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Wikipedia