Planning Alumni Take Part in Landmark Greenway Project

July 16, 2025

Julia Wong (MCRP ’19) pictured here with Governor Murphy and other stakeholders, broke ground on Phase 1 of the new Greenway in Newark, NJ. On a LinkedIn post, Wong wrote, “Thrilled to have broken ground on Phase 1 of the Greenway – New Jersey’s newest state park! 🌳

This 0.8 mile stretch in Newark is in the middle of what will be nine miles of park land, connecting eight municipalities, and creating dedicated open space in the densest part of the state for walking, biking, and recreation. 🚶🏻‍♀️🚴🏽‍♀️🛝

It’s been such a pleasure managing this project with the unwavering support of everyone at NJ Department of Environmental Protection, our incredible consultant team at Agency Landscape + Planning / NV5, partners at New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and NJ TRANSIT, and the many advocates who got us here to begin with (Open Space Institute and New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, to name a few).

And of course, special thanks to those ultra-key players who make this group project possible: Sean Moriarty, Magdalene McCann, Shetal Oza, M.A., Lauren Procida, John Cecil… and some others not on LinkedIn. You make me love my job; thank you.”

Greenway website:
https://lnkd.in/eMaqHn6J

Press release:
https://lnkd.in/eWs8ESsh

Julia Wong is the Special Projects Manager for NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Other alumni mentioned in the press release include Ayla Schermer (MCRP ’21), President of Bike Jersey City, and Sofia Barandiaran (MCRP ’23), New Jersey & New York Greenway Manager, East Coast Greenway Alliance.

LinkedIn, July 15, 2025

Recent Posts

Mi Shih Recognized with GPEIG Best Journal Article Award

Mi Shih, Ph.D., Associate Professor and director of the Urban Planning and Policy Development Program, was recognized with the Global Planning Educators’ Interest Group’s (GPEIG) 2025 award for the best journal article. The award honors outstanding, peer-reviewed...

Building Capacity to Support New Jersey Autism Professionals

Building Capacity to Support New Jersey Autism Professionals: A Workforce Study and Multi-state Comparative Landscape of Policies and Practices Daniel Rosario, Josephine O’Grady, Lily McFarland, Peter Walter, Ryne Kremer, Sean Nguyen, and Wun-cian Lin for Autism New...

Dr. Rushing Talks About AI for Sickle Cell and Beyond

Dr. Melinda Rushing recently appeared on the podcast Zora Talks. In this podcast, Dr. Rushing breaks down what sickle cell really is, why it disproportionately affects people of color, and how her team is developing a new approach called Clinically Guided AI to...

NJSPL: Increasing Enrollment of Paid Family Leave

The Increasing Enrollment of Paid Family Leave for Parents in the U.S. Over the past 10 years, many U.S. states have implemented mandatory paid family leave policies to help address the lack of such policy on the national level. In this post, we examine how paid...