Dear Friends,

Today is the first day of summer, and this week’s forecast calls for lots of warm and sunny weather ahead. School is out, and all of our businesses are gearing up for the season. We have a lot of fun to look forward to, as we do every summer. But it also means that there will be a lot of people sharing the beaches, boardwalk, bay, downtown and roadways. 

Please slow down, be courteous and remember to follow all the laws that keep everybody safe.

I especially want to remind motorists and pedestrians to respect crosswalk laws. Drivers should stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, and pedestrians should stop and make eye contact with drivers before crossing into a roadway. I also want to urge bicycle and e-bike riders to follow the rules of the road – including stopping at every stop sign and red traffic signal.

Reminders of the traffic safety laws are here: ocnj.us/trafficsafety 

Our daily jitney routes start tonight and will provide transportation to the Boardwalk zone every day from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. through Sept. 1. More information on the service is available at ocnj.us/jitney.

If you are driving to the downtown beaches or Boardwalk and are looking for parking, we have a new system to direct you to available parking spots in municipal lots. Using sensors mounted in the lots, the Ocean City Parking Spot Finder app delivers directions to your smartphone and available space counts to roadside displays. Anybody can download the free app on iOS and Android (or search for “Ocean City Parking Spot Finder” in your app store).

The ocean temperatures are still cool, and that will make the beaches a great place to escape this weekend’s heat. Check ocnj.us/ocbp_guarded_beaches to see which beaches are guarded. The OCBP currently has 29 beaches guarded and expects to be fully staffed by next weekend.

Our twice-weekly trash and recycling schedule is now in place. Our contractor will return containers to corrals only if they are placed in corrals on pickup day. I also want to remind you again that loose trash bags will not be picked up and that recycling can never be placed in plastic bags   

Ocean City police detectives today arrested a suspect in connection with the placement of hidden cameras in boardwalk restrooms. I want to thank the department for their excellent work and again assure the public that this type of crime will never be tolerated or go unpunished. I also want to thank the Philadelphia Police Department and other agencies for their assistance in this investigation and arrest.

I’m sad to report on the loss of two icons in our community: the Rev. Paul Jerkins and Bob Godfrey.

Rev. Jerkins was a recipient of Ocean City’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award this year, and he recently completed his 10th year as pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Ocean City. 

Shiloh Baptist has been an anchor in our community since 1912, welcoming many people from inside and outside Ocean City through buffet dinners, open mike nights, a youth ministry, women’s days and men’s conferences. One of his passions is motorcycles, and he organized a local Blessing of the Bikes and Barbecue in town. He will be greatly missed by the congregation.

For more than 50 years, Bob Godfrey was a familiar face around town. Like so many others, he enjoyed daily walks around town and on the boardwalk. Despite a childhood disability, Bob won the hearts of generations of Ocean City residents and guests with his unfailing grace and good humor. 

Please join Michele and me in extending deepest condolences to the families of Rev. Jerkins and Bob and to all the people whose lives they touched.

The 2025 Ocean City Pops season and the 2025 Boardwalk Summer Concert Series both open this week. The Pops will feature the talents of Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell in their first show of the season at 7:30 p.m. Sunday (June 22). The Summer Concert Series opens with four shows by the Beach Boys on Monday and Tuesday (June 23 and June 24). Tickets and more information on the summer lineups are available at: ocnj.us/SummerConcertSeries and oceancitypops.org.  

Have a great weekend and be sure to enjoy all that Ocean City has to offer. 

Warm regards,

Jay A. Gillian
Mayor