New Jersey school is removing Sen. Bob Menendez’s name from its building
FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., arrives at Manhattan federal court Oct. 23, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey elementary school will remove Sen. Bob Menendez’s name from its building after his conviction on federal bribery charges.
A spokesperson for West New York Mayor Albio Sires confirmed on Wednesday that the name will be down before the start of the school year in September. The New Jersey Globe first reported officials’ plans to remove the disgraced Democratic senator’s name from the building.
Menendez was convicted of all charges earlier this month in a sweeping corruption trial during which he was accused of taking bribes of gold bars and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as an agent for Egypt.
The three-term incumbent said recently he would be resigning from the Senate on Aug. 20, following a lifelong career in politics that started in Hudson County, where the school is located.
West New York’s Public School 3 was renamed for Menendez in 2013. The school will now restore its original name.
Menendez’s office declined to comment on the news. Messages were also left with school officials.
The son of Cuban immigrants and an attorney by training, Menendez was a Union City, New Jersey, school board member at age 20 and later became the mayor of the city, about a mile from West New York.
He went on to hold office in the state Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives before getting appointed to the Senate. He subsequently won election to the Senate and had planned to seek an independent bid if exonerated at trial.
Menendez faces the possibility of decades in prison. There is a sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 29, a week before Election Day. He has said he plans to appeal the convictions.