Port Jervis Mayor Dominic Cicalese recounted major initiatives in economic development and recreation during his first year in office, and vowed to make further strides on both fronts in 2025, during his State of the City address on Jan. 30.
Cicalese, a professional firefighter, is seeking reelection this fall on the Republican ticket.
“As of when I ran for office, the goal is to bring Jersey Avenue to life and to connect it to our downtown area as well as the tri-state corridor,” Cicalese said about his long-term economic development goals for the up-and-coming river city, in an interview on Feb. 4.
“We have been and are still working hard on getting that to happen.”
Cicalese said he has also been promoting his hometown to larger companies and projects in the hope of bringing more stable, good-paying jobs to the former industrial city.
Barely a month into 2025, a new small business has already opened in the city, with two more grand openings scheduled by the end of March. In addition, SA Baxter, an established architectural hardware firm, will relocate its Chester operation to the city this month.
“We actively went out and sought the firm, and we are very excited to have them now located on Jersey Avenue in the old Flanagan building, which has been vacated for years,” he said.
In 2025, Cicalese said he hopes to see more on-the-ground movements on the $10 million state grant, which, when realized, will bring major facelifts to both downtown and Jersey Avenue.
As for recreational initiatives, through a partnership with Orange County Land Trust over the past years, the city is on track to add nearly 1,000 acres of land currently owned by the town of Deerpark into its watershed park and multiply its outdoor hiking and biking destinations.
“We are very excited about this. It is awesome not only from the conservation end of it, as it further protects our watershed, but also the recreation end of it,” he told The Epoch Times.
As a father of young children, Cicalese said he has long felt a gap in urban recreational infrastructure and looks forward to upgrading Church Street Park with a new splash pad this spring.
In addition to economic development and recreational initiatives, Cicalese highlighted the new Department of Motor Vehicles office in the downtown area, a completely overhauled elementary school building on East Main Street, and his office’s ongoing work in securing state financial assistance to perform the mandated sewer realignment project.
Looking back at the projects accomplished over the past year, he thanked all his department heads and staffers for their support and hard work.
They included public works director Steve Duryea, chief water plant operator Scott Decker, police chief William Worden, recreation director John Faggione, fire chief Keith Brown, city clerk and treasurer Stacey Hosking, building inspector Dave Rivera, fire inspector Craig Becker, city assessor Teresa Spradling, and community development agency director Valerie Maginsky.
