July, 22 2021
Contact: Charity Jeffries, Chief of Staff
828-448-5325
cjeffries@njleg.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Jersey Coastal Coalition, Inc.
(Northfield) – At a Thursday morning press conference in Atlantic City,
Assemblymen Vincent Mazzeo and John Armato announced New Jersey Coastal Coalition to
receive funding to establish an Atlantic City based, New Jersey Resiliency Institute (NJRI) in
this year’s State budget. Upon the Legislature approving their request and the budget being
signed by Governor Phil Murphy on June 29, the long envisioned NJRI will be a reality.
As a result of Mazzeo and Armato’s advocacy, NJRI will begin to establish community based
curriculum and resources to help coastal communities and flood prone areas understand how to
best invest in infrastructure to help prevent and mitigate flooding. The overall funding
appropriated for the NJRI grant is $250,000 for this year.
“As coastal communities here in Atlantic County and throughout the state, we have to
meaningfully address and educate on coastal residency,” said Assemblyman Mazzeo
(D-Atlantic). “That’s why today we’re proud to announce that we have secured funding to create
an Atlantic City based, New Jersey Resiliency Institute. I’m assured that with Tom and Williams
leadership, this will be a success not only for our region but for the whole state of New Jersey.”
“After many long months of meeting, it’s great to finally be here, making the announcement that
we are committed to educating coastal communities on the importance of resilient infrastructure
investment,” said Assemblyman Armato (D-Atlantic). “We know that constant extreme flooding
from rain and high tides can have extremely negative effects on our economy, on our travel and
roadways, on our homeowners and residential building infrastructure. Now is the time to
educate our coastal communities on Resilient infrastructure and ensure that we are taking the
right steps to ensure that our beautiful beach towns, and the economic business from them, still
exist for future generations.”
“Education and giving people information is the most cost effective way to implement any
project,” said Dr. William H. Thomas Ph. D. who will be taking the position as NJ Resiliency
Institute Director. “Assemblymen Mazzeo and Armato should be commended for having the
foresight to invest their time and energy into initiatives such as the NJ Resilient Institute that
have the greatest potential to impact people’s lives and create a brighter economic future for
Atlantic County.”
“The New Jersey Coastal Coalition looks forward to partnering with the Resiliency Institute to
create solutions to the flooding challenges Atlantic City faces,” Said Tom Quirk, Executive
Director of the New Jersey Coastal Coalition. “We hope to develop a toolkit that we can share
with other communities at no additional cost to the taxpayer.”
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