Metuchen receives funding for downtown revitalization

Metuchen has been awarded $140,000 from the Main Street New Jersey District Transformation Grant Program.

The grant, provided to the Metuchen Downtown Alliance, will augment the borough’s downtown revitalization efforts, benefiting residents and visitors.

The funding is also part of a larger commitment from Governor Phil Murphy’s administration to allocate more resources to community revitalization programs that focus on small businesses and neighborhood improvement projects.

Senator Patrick Diegnan, Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak and Assemblyman Sterley Stanley thanked Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for their commitment to improving downtowns in their legislative district.

“Programs such as Main Street New Jersey are integral to supporting local businesses, stimulating economic growth, and making our downtowns more attractive,” Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley said.

“Metuchen is New Jersey’s shining example of how revitalizing downtowns positively impacts our communities.”

The grant for Metuchen Downtown Alliance will provide funds to supplement the borough’s initiative to transform New Street through store front improvements, lighting, new sidewalks, safety upgrades, and other improvements.

The Metuchen Downtown Alliance is a volunteer-based nonprofit corporation dedicated to the management and revitalization of the borough’s business district in partnership with stakeholders, residents, municipal government, and other partners.

The organization has been instrumental in Metuchen ascending to one of the 50 best places to live in the United States, according to finance magazine Money.com’s latest annual rankings, and the borough garnering national recognition last year as a Great American Main Street Award recipient.

“Metuchen is fortunate to have a terrific community organization working every day to support the lifeblood of its town,” Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley said.

“We’re proud to have such great towns in the 18th District and this grant illustrates how important it is, not only to our residents, but to the state, to continue investing in our downtowns.”

Since 2019, the Main Street New Jersey District Transformation Grant Program has distributed more than $4.3 million in grants to district organizations.

This marks the third consecutive year Metuchen has been awarded a Main Street New Jersey District Transformation grant.