About Us

MISSION

The Newark Downtown District, Newark's special improvement district of the central business area was established by an ordinance passed in September 1998 by the Newark Municipal Council. The NDD is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. 

The NDD is dedicated to revitalizing downtown Newark by improving the economic viability of the central business district and enhancing the quality of life for residents, workers, students and visitors through supplemental services, marketing & physical improvement programs. The NDD is funded through a special assessment on district commercial properties billed and collected by the City's tax collection department and turned over to the NDD for operation management. The assessment is roughly 5% of the commercial tax bill. Residential properties are exempt.  The NDD's boundaries extend from Central Avenue and Broad Street at the north, heading south down to Branford/Edison at Broad Street; University Avenue to the west (running between Central and Branford) and moving east just behind Penn Station.  

The NDD is overseen by a nineteen (19) member Board of Trustees consisting of business and property owners within the District, representatives of non-profit organizations, as well as municipal officials and staff.
 

NDD TRUSTEES

Ben Feigenbaum, Chairman (Edison Properties)
Rick Zack, Vice Chairman (Advance Realty, Gateway One)
Andrew Kolen, Treasurer (Prudential)
Kent Dombal, Executive Board Member (Wells Real Estate Funds)
Pending, Executive Board Seat (Hartz Mountain Industries)
Kevin Collins (C&K Properties, Gateway Two)
Ron Beit (RBH Management)
Gail Alba (Michael Rachlin & Company)
Rich Andreski (NJ Transit)
Robert Provost (The Star-Ledger)
Fayth A. Ruffin, Esq. (Rutgers, The State University)
Artie Collins (PNC Bank)
Tanya Mitchell (The Newark Alliance)
Ben Frungillo (Frungillo Caterers)
Richard Grossklaus (Integrity House)
Joanne Orozco (Cogswell Realty Group)
Ross Richards (NJ Performing Arts Center)
The Honorable Mildred Crump, Councilwoman-At-Large, (City of Newark)
Deputy Mayor Stefan Pryor (City of Newark)
 

NDD STAFF

Anthony McMillan, Executive Director
Kim Barton, Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Ramona Thompson, Administrative and Marketing Assistant
Alis Drumgo, Director of Operations
Sean Thomas, Operations Manager, Block-By-Block