BY WALTER ELLIOTT
EAST ORANGE – The city has been mourning for one of its sons, Kevin E. Taylor since word of his death on Sept. 5 was announced.
The lifelong resident may be best known to those outside East Orange for making four mayoral runs in the 2000s and 2010s. Taylor, 65, was also known as a real estate developer and a supporter of the city’s youth and the community at large.
Taylor, Clifford J. Scott High School Class of 1978, returned here from the University Maryland-College Park in 1983 as a Terrapin football player with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He became founder, CEO and president of Blackstone Acquisitions – a real estate development entity not to be confused with the internationally known Blackstone of London, England.
The active East Orange Chamber of Commerce member was also on the East Orange Educational Foundation and the East Orange Community Development Corporation’s boards. The former football player was a co-founder of the city’s Falcon Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading Organization.
The Presidential Heights resident went up against incumbent Mayor Robert L. Bowser in the 2001, 2005 and 2009 primary elections. He conducted a write-in campaign in 2013 when Bowser fell out of favor with the East Orange Democratic Committee. It became a (Kevin) Taylor vs. (Lester) Taylor contest with L. Taylor getting what became his single mayoral term.
“Kevin Taylor was the heartbeat of our community,” said former Falcons member and mentee Jason Grove Sept. 5. “He gave so much to help East Orange thrive, whether it was through his work with our youth, contributions to local business or his leadership in the community.”
Taylor’s death had prompted relative and Kicks for Kids CEO Beatrice Carter to postpone Sept. 8’s 10 annual sneaker giveaway to a later to be announced date.
Wife and college sweetheart, Sandy Taylor, Esq., son Kevin E., Jr., mother Mildred Taylor-Morrison, sisters Kim and Karen and brother Hassan are among his survivors. His father and brother Keith had predeceased him.
