"One of the things he did that was most unique is bring the members of the development community together to help rebuild his town," Goldberg said. "Despite the fact we were competitors, he put us in a position to understand that if we were going to be active as developers, we all had to be seen as really participating in the growth and evolution of the town.

"Of all the municipalities where I've been involved in redevelopment," Goldberg continued, "this is the only one where someone has been able to accomplish that kind of camaraderie."

Cocoziello's company was named "master developer" more than a decade ago for the 245-acre Harrison Redevelopment area centered on a PATH train station that is about to be completely rebuilt. There are a half dozen developers with various major projects planned, complete, or – in the case of Ironstate Development – with a substantial part complete and currently being expanded.

A couple of years ago, McDonough managed to get the group of developers to curb ordinary business rivalries, and form an association that met regularly, kept each other informed, and issued joint public statements.

Cocoziello said that he spoke to the mayor several times a week, and Wednesday they discussed several pending agreements related to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's work on reconstructing Harrison's 100-year-old train station.

McDonough, a former plumber and a famously hard worker, was a fixture at his Town Hall for nearly 40 years, serving as a councilman for 17 years before becoming mayor.

He conceived of reinventing Harrison as an attractive - and relatively affordable - place for young professionals to live, work and play back in the late 1990s. At the time, the notion still struck many as little more than a mirage, considering the vast desert of abandoned and decrepit factories stretching across the landscape.

"He didn't bring politics or anything extraneous into it," says David Barry, president of Ironstate, "He was totally committed to his town and understood its needs and that was his only agenda."

"He believed Harrison could be a buzzing hub," says Barry, whose company built a parking structure near the Red Bulls Arena soccer stadium that opened in 2010, and also the first 275-unit rental complex that opened the following year, as well as retail space beside the PATH station.

Now, Ironstate is nearly finished with work on a 142-room, LEED-certified "Element" hotel by Westin very close to the train station, Barry says.

"At the time we first conceived of the hotel and decided it was important if Harrison Station is to be a 24-7 community, it was not an obvious play," Barry says. "The mayor immediately saw our vision, and was really supportive."

Cocoziello says the shock of McDonough's death was still too fresh to think about how the reinvention of Harrison continues without its lynchpin. "Unfortunately, the mayor won't be here to see everything through," he adds. "From my perspective, that makes me want to work that much harder to get it done."