| Birth Name: | John Vincent Kenny |
| Birth Date: | April 6, 1893 |
| Birth Place: | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Death Place: | Paramus, New Jersey |
| Residence: | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Office: | Mayor of Jersey City |
| Order: | 32nd |
| Term Start: | July 1, 1949 |
| Term End: | December 15, 1953 (resigned)[1] |
| Predecessor: | Frank H. Eggers |
| Successor: | Bernard J. Berry |
| Party: | Democratic |
John Vincent Kenny (April 6, 1893 - June 2, 1975) was mayor of Jersey City from 1949 to 1953.[2]
He was born on April 6, 1893. A former ward leader under longtime mayor Frank Hague, he broke with his mentor after Hague engineered the appointment of his nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, in 1947. Kenny put together a commission ticket that broke Hague's 32-year rule. Although he only served as mayor until 1953, he remained the real power in Jersey City and Hudson County for three decades.[3] Known as the "Little Guy,"[4] Kenny put together a machine that grew as corrupt as Hague's machine, though nowhere as efficient in providing city and county services.[5]
His rule was only broken in 1971, when he was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and convicted, along with the then-mayor Thomas J. Whelan and former City Council president Thomas Flaherty, in federal court of conspiracy and extortion in a multimillion-dollar political kickback scheme on city and county contracts.
Kenny suffered a heart attack and died on June 2, 1975, in Jersey City. He was buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.[5] [6]