ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO PRESENTS 2025 STATE OF THE COUNTY ADDRESS

Cedar Grove, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. presented his 2025 State of the County Address at the Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove on Thursday, March 6^th. The speech is an opportunity for the County Executive to share accomplishments of the past year and outline initiatives planned for the coming year.

Prior to the speech, a short video highlighted four ways in which Essex County is helping to transform the lives of Essex residents. First, the staff at the psychiatric hospital rallied to help a patient who was pregnant when she was admitted give birth. It was the first time a baby was born in the facility. A young man who was involved in a fight entered a pioneering alternative to incarceration program called the Restorative and Transformative Justice Hub Pilot Program – the first of its kind in New Jersey. Instead of going to jail, the young man is learning how his actions affect others, getting homework help and staying out of trouble. He is one of 50 juveniles helped by the program. The REACH to Recovery program helps those suffering from substance abuse overcome obstacles to break their habit. A client who is going through the program shared that he has reconciled with his family and sees his children regularly because of the help he has received through REACH. Finally, a newly created mental health step-down unit at the Essex County Correctional Facility is getting inmates with mental health needs get the help and services they need. One inmate who was suffering from depression has been released and shares his successes outside of the facility with the doctors who helped him.

The County Executive noted that the County is often viewed as a “safety net” and offers a myriad of programs to help clients facing economic and food insecurity, experiencing mental illness, families with frail or special needs babies and provides job training. He also recapped the introduction of a life-size ambulance simulator that was installed in Essex County Newark to provide EMT students with simulated experiences providing medical care in a moving vehicle.

DiVincenzo outlined the many projects to modernize basketball and tennis courts, update softball and baseball fields, introduce pickleball courts and create the first-ever soccer field in Essex County Belleville Park. He noted that the opening of new community centers in the parks has had a positive impact on the community, with the buildings being rented a total of 450 times in the past year. The latest community centers to open are the D. Bilal Beasley Community Center in Irvington Park and the Sheriff Armando and Mary Fontoura Community Center in Independence Park. DiVincenzo named the football field in Vailsburg Park in Newark after NFL Head Coach Raheem Morris, a native of Irvington, after Morris was named as the first Black Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. He also dedicated a bust of Parks Director Dan Salvante in the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in Branch Brook Park to commemorate Salvante becoming the longest serving parks director in Essex history.

Public Works also was busy modernizing bridges and culverts, traffic signals and intersections and aggressively slogging through swamps to eliminate breeding grounds for mosquitos.

Keeping the County’s financial house in order has been a priority. Even with new pressures caused by rising costs of healthcare, pension, utilities and inflation, DiVincenzo has kept the budget under the 2 percent state cap, introduced it before the January 15^th deadline and keep the average County tax increase among the lowest in the state. This financial stability has been instrumental in DiVincenzo and his administration overcome an inherited $64 million deficit, earn the highest bond rating in County history, complete over 500 projects in the parks and roadways, assist over 2.5 million clients with benefits, construct 20 new buildings and administer almost one million COVID tests and vaccines.

In 2025, the new Wynona Lipman Family Courts Building is scheduled to open, the elevators in the Veterans Courthouse will begin to be replaced, the upgraded Australian Outback Exhibit and the Barry Ostrowky Animal Welfare Center in Turtle Back Zoo will open. What is special about the Animal Welfare Center is that Turtle Back will have its own CT scanner to help diagnose animals and the exam rooms will be viewable by the public. “This will showcase a lesser known dimension of what happens at Turtle Back and hopefully raise awareness about the high quality of care we provide our animals and the expanding role that zoos have in conservation, animal study and wildlife preservation,” he said.

Other projects coming online in 2025 are the redesigning of the former Sea Lion exhibit to accommodate lemurs and tortoises, a new community center in Monte Irvin Orange Park in Orange, new soccer fields in Independence Park in Newark, updated picnic areas in South Mountain Reservation, a modernized playground in Watsessing Park in East Orange, the comprehensive facelift to Weequahic Golf Course in Newark and the dedication of the 2.2 mile walking path in Weequahic after Weequahic Park Association founder Wilbur McNeil.

DiVincenzo also pointed out that Essex remembers its past by dedicating the Division of Family Assistance and Benefits and a bronze bust in honor of the late Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver and dedicating plaques to memorialize the late Peter Shapiro, the first person elected as County Executive; the late Congressmen Donald Payne, Jr. and Bill Pascrell; and NBA legend and Newark native Alvin Attles.

“These are unprecedented times. Who would have thought that wildfires would endanger our homes here in Essex? That wars far beyond our borders would have such a profound impact on our daily lives?” DiVincenzo asked. “But no matter what happens, our focus is to give, transform, restore and renew life. Our doors are open to helping people achieve a better life and forge a path to a brighter future. As we meet today’s needs and prepare for tomorrow’s challenges, we will continue Putting Essex County First!” he concluded.

# # #