A Message from Our Chair

Moving Forward in the New Year

Happy New Year! On behalf of the Trenton Downtown Association (TDA), I would like to thank our downtown business owners, committed staff members, and Clean and Safe Team for excellently maintaining, beautifying, and activating our district as well as the City of Trenton and our many partners who collaborate to lift Trenton’s local economy.

Through our engagement with Commercial District Services, LLC (CDS), we sharpened our focus around clean and safe, beautification, and creative placemaking, while investing in capital improvements and collaborating with partners to create impactful events downtown.

While local economic challenges remain formidable, we see signs of a positive recovery from the aftershocks of COVID-19 as foot traffic begins to trend upward.

Progress in 2022

Working together, we established a solid foundation for a reimagined downtown with new initiatives and enhancements to existing programs including:

Clean & Safe Team Program

• 9,800 bags of trash collected
• 1,284 instances of graffiti removed
• 6,430 items of street furniture cleaned and maintained

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Supplemental Police Program

• Provided additional support and security to district and state buildings
• Offered a direct line to officers available to businesses

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Beautification & Placemaking

• 100 self-watering planters
• Fall and spring plant installations
• 75 new garbage cans
• Removal of old planters and cans
• Decorative street pole banners
• Holiday lighting and décor
• Various capital improvements

Plans for 2023

As we turn our attention to 2023, we aim to further enhance our operations with:

• Expanded crews
• Enhanced equipment to increase logistical productivity
• Data collection to better inform our services moving forward

As part of our focus this year, we are committed to engaging with business and property owners and communicating our initiatives on a more regular basis. As we prioritize efforts around programs that produce tangible, visible results around our downtown properties, we aim to expand our work around several activities including:

Creative Placemaking

• Plantings
• Public art and decorations
• Wayfinding signage
• Sculptures to beautify and create a more inviting downtown

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Public Safety

• Increase off-duty police program
• Provide support for at-need populations

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Capital Improvements

• Storefront improvement grant program
• Increase downtown lighting
• More recycling receptacles

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Landscaping & Beautification

• Banner art contests
• Planter beds
• Increase clean and safe and holiday décor programs

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Stakeholder Engagement

• Creation of a downtown guide
• Storefront decals with QR codes

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Event and Space Activation Collaborations

• Farmers’ Market
• Patriots Week
• Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series
• First Fridays and more

We congratulate board members reelected at our December 2022 annual meeting, including Kamal Bathla, Liad Onitiri, Wayne Downing and Raoul Momo. It’s also my honor to have been elected to serve as TDA’s Board Chair along with our newly established executive committee consisting of William “Butch” Osterman, Vice Chair; Anne LaBate, Treasurer; and Cassandra “Cassie” Sanchez, Secretary.

Finally, I applaud the efforts of our entire board, who provide great counsel, resources, and leadership to help move our downtown forward.

Onward!
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Bryan A. Evans
Chairman, Trenton Downtown Association

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