February 27, 2026

Dear Friends,

It’s been a long winter, and once again, I want to thank the entire city team and all of our residents for working together to get through another major winter storm.

The team worked long hours clearing our streets, alleys and sidewalks to make them safe and accessible. They set up a temporary shelter for families who lost power during the storm. They were on hand to address all issues from our residents. And as always, it’s great to see neighbors looking after neighbors, helping in any way they could. That’s what Ocean City is all about.

The storm pushed back our trash and recycling pickup. Routes that are normally scheduled for Thursdays and Fridays will be picked up tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 28).

Our Police Department is getting ready to move into the new substation at Eighth Street and Boardwalk. This is a first-class new facility that will serve as a base for seasonal and year-round officers on the Boardwalk, and as a temporary headquarters for the department during the reconstruction of the existing public safety building at 835 Central Avenue. The first roll call for officers working from the new substation will be on next Friday (March 6).

Two other capital improvement projects started this week. Crews are working to reinforce and redeck the Boardwalk from 12th Street to 14th Street, while the final phases of boardwalk reconstruction from St. Charles Place to Fifth Street are being completed. Our annual maintenance dredging on the bay side is now underway with work scheduled for Venetian Bayou, Carnival Bayou, South Harbor and the bayfront areas at 14^th Street and the Bayside Center.

Due to the storm earlier this week, our annual Public Safety Recognition Ceremony was postponed. The event will now be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, at the Ocean City Tabernacle. This ceremony recognizes men and women from the Ocean City Police Department, Ocean City Fire Department and Ocean City Beach Patrol who performed heroic actions in the course of duty. I encourage you all to come out to support our first responders.

I’m sad to report on the loss of two of our residents with families in Ocean City: Marie Gallagher and Alba Granese. Marie retired to Ocean City to be close to her daughter, Lisa McGuigan, and grandchildren, but she also became a friendly and familiar face at Sturdy Bank (where she picked up another job), the library (where she volunteered) and the Senior Center. Alba was raised in Italy and Switzerland, but she and her late husband brought their three children to the United States, including Giancarlo Granese, who would grow up to become owner of the Ocean City Nor’easters soccer club and one of our prominent citizens. 

We also lost another Ocean City icon, Joseph Mayer, at the age of 96. Anybody who grew up in Ocean City in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s knew and shopped at Mayer’s Shoe Store on Asbury Avenue. Mayer’s was one of the small family-owned businesses that have always defined our downtown shopping district.

Please join Michele and me in extending deepest condolences the families and friends of Marie, Alba and Joseph.

Check out this week’s edition of the “Inside City Hall” video series below to get a behind-the-scenes look at new services and projects in Ocean City.

Warm regards,

Jay A. Gillian
Mayor 

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