Quintana Sworn in As Newark Mayor Tuesday

Luis Quintana was sworn in Tuesday as the 39th mayor of Newark in a ceremony where  he vowed to bring “change” and “respect” to city hall during his eight-and-a-half month tenure.

“Under me, this city will not be divided,” Quintana, a former deputy mayor and longtime member of the city council, said to an overflow crowd of friends, officials and some of the county’s and state’s heaviest political hitters assembled in council chambers Tuesday.

Delivering the oath was state Sen. and former Gov. Dick Codey. Among those also delivering remarks were former US Sen. Bob Torricelli and Rep. Donald Payne, another former member of the Newark city council and Quintana’s old council colleague.

Quintana succeeds Mayor Cory Booker, who stepped down after winning election to the US Senate last month. He was chosen by a unanimous vote of the council earlier this month after briefly serving as "interim mayor" immediately following Booker's resignation. 

Quintana, the city’s first mayor of Hispanic descent, will serve out the balance of Booker’s term, which expires July 1, 2014.

“We have to change things, we have to bring relief and we have to do it immediately,” Quintana said before urging the state and federal lawmakers in attendance to “bring the checks” to Newark.

Quintana has repeatedly promised not to seek election for a full, four-year term in the May 2014 mayoral elections. Four candidates -- including three of Quintana’s former council colleagues -- have all entered the race so far.

Among the speakers during Tuesday’s ceremony was the mayor of the city in Puerto Rico where Quintana spent his childhood before emigrating to the North Ward decades ago.

Also speaking was another trailblazing mayor, Ken Gibson, who became the first African-American chief executive of Newark in 1970. The elderly Gibson received a standing ovation when he took the podium to speak and offer Quintana “a few pieces of advice.”