ELLENSTEIN, MEYER C.

ELLENSTEIN, MEYER C. (1886–1967), U.S. politician. Ellenstein was born in New York City and raised in Patterson, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia University's dental school (1912) and opened a practice in Newark, meanwhile studying law at the New Jersey Law School. Receiving a law degree in 1925, Ellenstein gave up dentistry and entered politics. In 1933 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the five-member Newark City Commission, which chose him   mayor and returned him once more to the office in 1937. During his administration Ellenstein developed Newark's airport and harbor, but his second term was marred by charges of conspiracy to defraud the city in a real estate swindle. After a three-year investigation, Ellenstein was finally acquitted in 1940, but failed in his bid for reelection in 1941. In 1945 he was voted onto the City Commission again, where he served for eight more years. After another unsuccessful mayoral candidacy in 1958, he retired permanently from politics.