Six months after taking office, mayor Andre Sayegh, who lived and breathed the 6th Ward for a decade, at one time being called the “mayor of the 6th Ward,” purchased a home in the exclusive Manor section in 3rd Ward.
“The reason why I moved is because I outgrew my house,” said Sayegh last week. He and the first lady had a third child, their first boy, after the mayor took office.
Sayegh purchased the single-family home on East 36th Street for $407,000 in Jan. 2019, according to public records. His family moved from the house on Dundee Avenue in the Lakeview section to their new home in April, he said.
“We welcome him to the 3rd Ward,” said councilman William McKoy, who represents the 3rd Ward. He said the move is sensible given the mayor’s growing family. “It’s a section of the town that has larger homes and properties. I think it’s a good place to live and raise a family.”
McKoy said he hopes to work with the mayor to make the area even better for families.
“It’s a nice house,” added councilwoman Lilisa Mimms, who lives in the 3rd Ward. The house was previously owned by disgraced former New Jersey assemblyman and Paterson councilman Alfred E. Steele.
Steele served on the council from 1994 to 1998 and in the state assembly from 1996 to 2007. He resigned after the FBI charged him with accepting $15,500 in bribes to steer insurance contracts. A judge sentenced him to 15 months in prison.
Steele once boasted of having “five votes on the city council.”
Sayegh purchased the property from Steele and his wife Carolyn, according to public records. Mimms said she has been inside the house and found it spacious.
Sayegh has to pay $15,491 in taxes on the new home. On top of that, he and his wife still own the Dundee Avenue property, which has a $8,582 tax bill.
“Right now, I’m paying property taxes on two houses,” said Sayegh. He receives $119,000 from his job as mayor.
Previously, as the councilman of the 6th Ward, Sayegh received $41,000. He also taught as an adjunct professor at the Passaic County Community College, but resigned before taking office as mayor.
Before resigning, Sayegh taught a Saturday course at the college.
Sayegh said he searched for a home in his old neighborhood, but could not find anything.
“We really couldn’t find anything. I would have loved to stay,” said Sayegh. He remains the president of the Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association. He would not say when he’d give up his position in the neighborhood group. “I didn’t want to move. It’s my childhood home.”
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