Mark M. Park is a Republican-affiliated municipal official who has served as Mayor of Englewood Cliffs, a borough of approximately 5,300 residents in Bergen County, New Jersey, since January 2024. He is the borough's second consecutive Republican mayor, following Mario Kranjac, who in 2016 became the first Republican to hold the office in 40 years.

Park was elected to the Englewood Cliffs Borough Council in November 2015 alongside Kranjac and Carrol McMorrow, running as part of a Republican ticket that shifted control of the governing body. He served on the council for eight years before running for mayor in the November 2023 election. He was sworn into office on January 1, 2024, succeeding Kranjac.

As mayor, Park has focused on affordable housing compliance, infrastructure development, and municipal fiscal management. In February 2026, he presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Cliffs on Hudson, a $25 million affordable housing development—the first purpose-built affordable housing community in Englewood Cliffs history. The 66-unit development, financed through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, NJHMFA Affordable Housing Production Funds, and municipal contributions, serves families earning 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income and was fully occupied with a waiting list at opening.

Park's tenure has been marked by significant political and legal conflict. In October 2023, during the mayoral campaign, the Committee to Elect Republicans for Englewood Cliffs distributed mailers and emails supporting Park and Republican council candidates that described borough special counsel Albert H. Wunsch III as "EC Democrats Leader and Defacto Mayor" and accused him of orchestrating a "corrupt scheme" in an affordable housing dispute. Wunsch filed a defamation lawsuit in October 2023. In November 2023, Judge Mary F. Thurber ruled the mailers defamatory and ordered the defendants to issue retractions, public apologies, and refrain from further statements about Wunsch. Park and his co-defendants subsequently sought dismissal under New Jersey's anti-SLAPP law, which Governor Murphy had signed in September 2023. The case has generated substantial legal attention as an early test of the state's anti-SLAPP statute.

The Englewood Cliffs governing body remains politically divided, with four Democrats and two Republicans on the six-member council as of 2025, and Park serving as the Republican mayor.

Political Career

• Mayor, Borough of Englewood Cliffs (2024–present); elected November 2023; sworn in January 1, 2024; term ends December 31, 2027

• Borough Councilman, Englewood Cliffs (2016–2023); elected November 2015; served eight years

Key Policy Areas

• Affordable housing compliance and development

• Municipal infrastructure and capital projects

• Borough fiscal management and tax policy

• Public safety and community services

Notable Actions / Initiatives

• Presided over opening of The Cliffs on Hudson, Englewood Cliffs' first purpose-built affordable housing development (February 2026)

• Subject of defamation lawsuit by borough special counsel Albert H. Wunsch III regarding 2023 campaign materials; case pending under New Jersey anti-SLAPP law

• Navigated borough through affordable housing settlement and subsequent development obligations

• Maintained Republican mayoral control in a borough that had been governed by Democrats for 40 years prior to 2016

Education

• Not publicly available

Personal

• Birth date: Not publicly available

• Residence: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

• Profession: Business and finance background (per borough website)