Tenafly Mayor's State of the Borough Address

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for being with us here today.

Thank you Councilman Dan Park for your many years of service to the residents and community of Tenafly.

Congratulations to Council President Adam Michaels on your re-election and return to the Borough Council.

Congratulations also to Councilwoman Jenny Jackson on your election to the Council. Jenny, the town is so appreciative of the work you have been doing over the past five years on the Downtown Committee and the Chamber of Commerce and we all know you are going to bring that same energy to the Council.

It truly is humbling to see, when I shared my first State of the Borough address six years ago, how much we have accomplished. However, we know there is more work to do. This year, as in years past, we remain resolute on our three Council goals (1) Roads & Pedestrian Safety, (2) Parks & Recreation, and (3) Downtown Revitalization.

Our first goal remains Roads and Pedestrian Safety:

Reflecting on several of our 2025 goals, I would like to report that the completion of the new traffic light at East Clinton and Dean Drive, while coming in within budget, has taken a few months longer than expected to be operational. The construction is almost complete and we are expecting that by approximately March 1st it will be fully functioning. By the way, the funding for this project came from the Federal government, no local Tenafly property tax money was used.

We are pleased to report that since 2021, when we experienced 484 annual traffic accidents, we are generally trending down in car accidents to the point that in 2025 our traffic accidents declined to 356 annually, a 27% decrease over five years. Now, even one incident is too much, so we will continue to invest our time and resources to ensure safety in our town.

Our second goal was and continues to be our Parks and Recreation:

In 2025 we completed the construction of the new Grove Street Park, creating as promised, a new dog park facility, skate park, and gardens.

We completely replaced and built three new public tennis courts in Roosevelt Commons to go alongside of the well-used pickleball courts we put up last year As you may have seen, we are in the process of replacing and rebuilding three more public tennis courts, which will be ready for the Spring season.

The previously private pool club that the Borough acquired and re-opened in 2025 has been a major success. The Council had the foresight to structure the pool as a comparatively independent self-sustaining utility, we made modest capital improvements, and actually generated a small operating surplus by the end of the season.

We are all looking forward to a successful 2026 pool season. Registration for this coming summer’s pool season begins this month.

Our third and final goal has been the multi-year transformation of our Downtown and Downtown revitalization:

To increase communication with residents the electronic message board adjacent to the Soccer Cage will be replaced early this year, and a new electronic message board will be erected at Route 9W and East Clinton Avenue – with the messages synchronized.

We are also starting to look at designs for a permanent amphitheater, where we can facilitate more community gatherings, music, movies and more! Thank you to the Downtown Committee and Chamber of Commerce for organizing our Spring Fling, Fall Fest and Winter Wonderland events this year. They keep getting more audacious with greater attendance every year.

The Belgian block sidewalks that were installed many years ago downtown have become damaged and uneven in numerous areas making for unsafe walking conditions. We are planning on replacing a significant number of the block areas with concrete to provide more cost effective and sound sidewalks.

The Council and I have begun discussions, and engaged an architect to create renderings that we can share with the community of ideas for a potential new library and recreation center. This concept is in its very beginning stage. We are looking forward to sharing the concepts with everyone in the community in 2026 and begin discussions about moving forward.

Our Senior Center building is in need of replacement. We are considering creative ideas that would present the Borough with an opportunity to build a new Senior Center at no cost to the taxpayers through a private public partnership.

We have great relationships with our Federal, State and County legislators and are fortunate to have many of our elected officials living in our Borough. We have been successful working together, with just one example being the $1.6 million federal grant we applied for and were awarded to begin the cleaning of our Tenakill Brook and Overpeck Creek. With bold new projects, like the Library and Recreation re-imagination, we must continue to seek support and ensure we receive our fair share of your county, state and federal tax dollars.

Another example of the importance of our relationships is the terrific work of Police Chief Chamberlain and the entire Tenafly Police Department in reducing the number of car thefts and burglaries since 2024 to almost zero incidences in 2025. In addition to the solid Police work of increasing patrols in Tenafly, the Police Department has worked in coordination with the County Prosecutor, and our State and Federal partners bringing public resources to bare in Tenafly.

The Council and I will continue to address pedestrian safety issues, focus on basic services such as roads, recreation and senior services while at the safe time push forward on new ideas that help Tenafly continue to evolve into a vibrant and engaging community in which to live and raise families.

Thank you to all the Borough employees, volunteers, residents that serve on the numerous boards and committees, and taxpayers whose efforts result in our wonderful community. As I always say, Decisions are made by those that show up. This is OUR TOWN, and the Council and I are eager to continue to have an active dialogue with our community and seek your support to roll up your sleeves on the initiatives you are passionate about.

One final acknowledgement, in my message a year ago I shared my hope that Edan Alexander would be released and returned to his family. As we all know, that most important wish was granted, Edan was reunited with his family and several months ago we unveiled a street newly named for him to honor his commitment and sacrifices.

Thank you for being here this evening and have wonderful 2026 everyone.

Mark Zinna