New York councillor named world’s tallest politician

'Being the world’s tallest politician shows you can make tremendous contributions to society, no matter how you look physically'

Brooklyn councillor Robert Cornegy has been recognised as the world's tallest male politician at 6ft10in (Getty)

A 6ft 10in councillor from New York has been named the world's tallest politician by Guinness World Records.

Robert Cornegy Jr who represents Brooklyn, will receive the designation at a ceremony at City Hall.

The 53-year-old is a former professional basketball player who was part of the 1984-85 men's team at St John’s University in Queens.

“What I went through to get this measurement was borderline ridiculous,” Mr Cornegy said. “But I think it was worth it to bring that designation to New York – and Brooklyn.”

In order to be certified as “the world’s tallest politician (male)”, Guinness requires the record-holder to submit official height verification.

Mr Cornegy went to his former trainer at St John’s University, but Guinness did not like the tools the trainer used. He then turned to the doctors at Interfaith, which is in his Council district.

He received three different measurements on the same day in January but at different times.

“Medically, there can be variations in height depending on certain factors,” said Dr Mazin Khalid, who has practiced internal medicine at Interfaith for five years and provided one of the measurements.

Mr Cornegy’s height was recorded while lying on the floor, which generally produces a greater measurement because it relieves pressure on the vertebrae, and while standing with his heels and shoulders against a wall.

“He’s very tall,” Dr Khalid said. “It took three people to take the measurement.”

Guinness officials said Mr Cornegy is now the record-holder, besting Sir Louis Gluckstein, a London politician who died in 1979, by two-and-a-half inches.

The most recent record-holder was Archie Hamilton, a 6ft 6in MP, who slightly eclipses another New Yorker: the almost 6ft 6in Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“When I first started this, I said there is no way I’m the tallest politician in the world. There must be an ambassador in Africa who is 7ft,” said Mr Cornegy, adding that he had always dreamed of being a world-record holder. “But when I found out the previous record-holder was only 6ft 7in, I had to give it a shot.”

Being that tall has personal costs. Mr Cornegy paid a contractor to put his toilet at home on an eight-inch platform. “I want to see what it’s like for my feet to swing,” he said.

Custom suits cost $700 (£530) and stylish shoes, at size 17, are at least $400 (£300), he said.

Most cars are too small, so Mr Cornegy rides the subway from his district in Bedford-Stuyvesant to City Hall. But unless he can get a seat, he spends most of the ride hunched over so his head does not hit the ceiling.

“I have a moment of anxiety when the train pulls into the station,” he said.

When talking to constituents, Mr Cornegy, who has a master’s degree in organisational leadership, has learned to stand back at least three feet to make it easier for people to look up at him.

Mr de Blasio is the only local politician who comes close to seeing Mr Cornegy eye to eye. The mayor was signing a bill in 2014 when Mr Cornegy, then newly elected, walked into the room.

“Look who’s here. Rob Cornegy, my arch nemesis,” Mr Cornegy recalled the mayor saying. But the two tallest men in New York City politics get along pretty well.

“I look up to Council member Robert Cornegy, because of his contributions to our city, and because I don’t really have a choice,” Mr de Blasio said in a statement.

It is entirely possible that in some corner of the world, an elected official may be even taller than Mr Cornegy; Guinness record holders generally self-report their feats of stature.

Indeed, beneath the Guinness online entry for Mr Cornegy, two commenters suggested that a member of the Croatian parliament, Pedja Grbin, deserved the record; he is listed in some accounts as being 6ft 11in.

But Mr Cornegy is safe from one potential challenger: Glenn Jacobs, the former professional wrestler known as Kane, who is now a mayor in Tennessee. His wrestling biography suggested he was seven feet tall, but he has said in interviews that he is 6ft 8in.

Now Mr Cornegy, who is the chairman of the Housing and Buildings Committee, has his sights on other goals. He was in the running to become the speaker of the City Council in 2017, but he failed to garner enough support, falling to Corey Johnson.

Mr Cornegy, who by law must leave the Council when his current term expires, said he plans to run for Brooklyn borough president in 2021.

He said he hopes his world record might inspire young people.

“Being the world’s tallest politician shows you can make tremendous contributions to society, no matter how you look physically,” Mr Cornegy said.

The New York Times