Mayor’s Welcome & Updates

Mayor’s Welcome Message for 2026

A warm welcome to you on behalf of the Borough of Highlands. We have long been known as the place where the Jersey Shore begins. Our community greatly values its residents, businesses and visitors. Take some time to explore our historic sites, one-of-a-kind views and some of the most amazing restaurants in New Jersey.

We are a high-energy and highly engaged community. Highlands is a thriving residential, commercial and historic town that is always looking to grow. We offer safe recreational activities provided by our Recreation Department and year-round events sponsored by the business community through the Highlands Business Partnership [HBP]. The HBP also combines forces throughout the year with our Recreation Department to put on the best events in the Bayshore. We are well known for our first-class events, proximity to beaches, high speed ferry service to NYC, and, of course, our award-winning restaurants.

My administration and I are committed to serving you at the highest level possible. Highlands offers a walkable/bikeable community with many choices of paths on the Henry Hudson Trail as well as the many options in Hartshorne Woods. You will see in our community a growing, involved, population of staff, partners, and resident volunteers eager to help and work together toward the common goal of Highlands’ success. Through a variety of committees, our residents, entrepreneurs, and staff are the lifeblood of our effort to help our citizens succeed in their home, on the job, or in business.

Something Highlands residents, businesses and visitors can look forward to is the continued commitment to update our infrastructure and parks. In 2025, we completed elevated walkway along Marine Place, milling and paving on Washington Ave, and the sidewalk installation on Shore Drive from Waterwitch Avenue to Willow Street. Frank Hall Park will see a reboot in 2026, and we are also opening the Borough’s first new park since the 1970s, Overlook Park, on Navesink Ave. More on tap this year is the celebration of our nation’s 250^th Anniversary as well as the 100^th Anniversary of Gertrude Ederle’s historic swim across the English Channel. Not only was she the first woman to so, she also did it faster than the five men who did it before her. She learned to swim in the Shrewsbury River at her parents’ summer home in Highlands. Grand Tour will see drainage upgrades and replacement valves installed at Jackson St and Captain’s Coves.

If you ever have any questions about Highlands or any projects that are planned or happening, just give me a call at 732-291-4009.

All the best to you and yours,

Mayor Carolyn Broullon