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Who is Amy DeGise? Video shows NJ councilwoman SPEEDING AWAY after hitting cyclist with SUV

Amy DeGise is being asked to resign after she drove into Andrew Black, 29, a bicyclist, on July 19 at around 8 am

A New Jersey councilwoman was seen on surveillance footage hitting a cyclist at an intersection in Jersey City with her SUV and subsequently sped away without stopping. Amy DeGise is being asked to resign after she drove into Andrew Black, 29, a bicyclist, on July 19 at around 8 am. The incident took place at the intersection of Martin Lukther King Drive and Forrest Street.  

The video shows DeGise's Nissan Rogue driving through the intersection while the light is green. It then hit Back and sent him flying onto the hood of her car before he falls to the ground. Black had burned a red light just before the incident. DeGise did not stop to check on Black, 31, and instead drove away. She has been charged with failure to report the accident and leaving the scene, NBC New York reported. 

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Who is Amy DeGise?

A resident of New Jersey, Amy DeGise is a public school educator and Chairwoman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization. She is the daughter of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and niece of Lois Shaw, the first Democratic woman elected to the Jersey City Council. In January 2017, she was appointed to serve as a trustee for the Jersey City Board of Education. DeGise became the first woman ever to be elected to chair the County’s Democratic Party in 2018. She was elected to her first full term on the board later that year, She held the position until 2019, according to Fulop.

In November last year, Degise was elected as a councilwoman as part of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop's cabinet. She is also being marked as a potential mayoral candidate in 2025 if Fulop opts to not seek re-election, NJ.com reported.

Meanwhile, Black said that he was "a little shaken up" after the incident and has sustained minor injuries to his arms and one of his legs. He told CBS News that DeGise had still not reached out to him and apologized for the incident. A petition on Change.org has now been submitted to the Mayor of Jersey City Office, calling for DeGise's resignation. "As an at-large member of the council, Councilmember DeGise has the hefty task of representing the full city and the best interests of all its residents. By striking and abandoning one of those residents, in a time of crisis, she has shown she cannot be trusted to put the well-being of residents first. To hit a constituent and leave them speaks to a deeply troubling level of self-preservation instinct, and one that has no place in public service," Megan Carolan, who started the petition, wrote online. 

"I am disgusted that other Councilmembers and the Mayor - who ran DeGise on his slate in this most recent election - have not encouraged her resignation. While the justice system moves slowly forward on this crash, DeGise's actions will be a distraction from urgent matters facing our city. It will take months for this case to move forward, months that the Council will continue to meet and vote. It is inappropriate to have Councilmember DeGise participating in those votes when it is clear she puts her own interests above those of residents," she added. "Councilmember DeGise should have already chosen to step down as the only honorable action. But she has already shown us that she cherishes her own ambitions above the well-being of residents. Now, her colleagues must urge her resignation publically so the Council can return to the business of the people. Silence is complicit, and will not be forgotten in campaign season." 1,026 people had signed the petition at the time of writing this article.

One of Jersey City's council members, James Solomon, said that he has signed the petition. "The word I use is horrified, that’s how I felt watching the video," said Solomon. "She's an elected official and we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and that’s why I think she should resign."

Black has set up a GoFundMe for himself following the accident. "I was struck on my bicycle by Amy DeGise, it no longer works, and it was a hit and run. I'm left with questions about what to do and how to get back to work. Would appreciate anything at all. Thank you," he wrote. At the time this article was written, $694 USD had been raised for the $10,000 goal.