To the Editor:

This is directed to elected and other officials, in reaction to the article on page 1 in Town Topics, July 6, 2022, regarding West Windsor’s (WW) plans for a huge (ultimately 5.5 million square feet) warehouse development on Route 1 at Clarksville Road. This includes the WW Planning Board’s approval of 3 million square feet for three warehouses encompassing 461 loading docks and 507 trailer parking spaces. This is only the first phase of the warehouse development. The second phase proposes another four warehouses, not yet approved by the WW Planning Board.

There have been several areas of concern raised, including by two dissenting members of the WW Planning Board and WW residents. However, there has not been as much attention as necessary to air quality degradation from diesel fumes of the expected number of trucks. Air pollution (as well as increased stormwater) does not respect municipal boundaries.  more

To the Editor:

Princeton Council’s unanimous vote on Monday evening to adopt the ordinance establishing the Prospect Avenue Historic District is a notable community accomplishment. One year ago, a small portion of the University’s ES-SEAS development plan imperiled the unique architectural and cultural heritage of Prospect Avenue. Concerned residents and alumni formed the Save Prospect Coalition, one member started a petition eventually signed by over 1,700 people, and others proposed alternative plans to the University. Multiple people wrote letters of support and testified at Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Board hearings, where the members and staff provided everyone ample opportunity and time to express their concerns. Of particular note, HPC and PB members and Witherspoon-Jackson residents expressed the strong connections between Princeton’s historic African American neighborhood to Prospect Avenue, where many African Americans were the backbone of the eating club operations over many decades.

With encouragement from Council, University officials ultimately listened to the community and comments from the Historic Preservation Commission, and agreed to a significant compromise: to preserve the three historic houses on the north side of Prospect and restore their exteriors following National Park Service Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties; to adjust the landscaping plan in front of the proposed Theorist Pavilion to be compatible with the historic streetscape; to support the designation of the Prospect Avenue Historic District; and to submit an application to the N.J. State Historic Preservation Office to expand the National Register Princeton Historic District to the north side of Prospect Avenue to include the relocated Court Clubhouse, the three houses, and the Ferris Thompson Wall and Gate designed by McKim, Mead and White. All the many people that contributed to this positive outcome are too numerous to mention here, but sincerely deserve our collective gratitude.    more

To the Editor:

What fabulous performances we had in the two-and-a-half weeks of this year’s very special Princeton Festival! Many thanks to all who supported our vision for a centralized, outdoor Festival and to the thousands who turned out to celebrate the live performing arts with us, making the all-new Princeton Festival an unparalleled success.

It takes the cooperation of multiple organizations and administrators to make an endeavor on the scale of the Princeton Festival possible. We are incredibly thankful to the following organizations and their dedicated staff members for their help in making this season’s Festival possible: Morven Museum & Garden, Trinity Church, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, and The Princeton Festival Guild.

We’d also like to express our appreciation for the following businesses and groups for their assistance in creating a buzz surrounding the Princeton Festival: The Peacock Inn, Kristine’s, Witherspoon Grill, The Nassau Club, Olive’s, Lucy’s Kitchen, Proof, The Princeton Day Club, and the Princeton Public Library.

Above all, we’re thankful to be holding our annual performing arts Festival at beautiful Morven Museum & Garden, in the arts-loving town of Princeton!

Marc Uys
Executive Director,
Princeton Symphony Orchestra
Ewing Street

To the Editor:

After reading your lead story on the 5.5 million-square-foot warehouse project proposed for U. S. Route 1 [“Opposition Grows to Route 1 Warehouse Project,” June 22, page 1], I immediately wrote and sent the following letter to Hemant Marathe, the mayor of West Windsor Township.

Dear Mr. Mayor:

The lead article on the front page of Town Topics reports that the members of the West Windsor Township Planning Board are scheduled to vote on the 5.5 million-square-foot warehouse project proposed for the former American Cyanamid property on U. S. Route 1. Before you make this very major decision, I urge you and your colleagues to embrace candor and caution.

Specifically, please do more research and have additional open dialogue with all the actual constituencies: with West Windsor’s neighboring municipalities, the county, the state, with environmental experts, and, indeed, with the people of central New Jersey.

Your decision will impact the quality of life for everyone in our region for many years. Moreover, the environmental costs of allowing this gigantic project to be built will, I think, far exceed any economic benefits.

Here is one type of serious potential impact from building 5.5 million-square-feet spread across nine warehouses: diesel pollution. Diesel-powered trucks will have to move the vast amounts of “stuff” that will be put into and taken out of the warehouses.

Please read this article I wrote for The New York Times on diesel pollution in New Jersey (https://tinyurl.com/bdfv6n39). Although The Times published it years ago, I believe that the scientific/medical concerns and conclusions it presents are still largely relevant. The bottom line is that diesel exhaust can and does seriously harm creatures that breathe.

First, do no harm.

Richard Trenner
Province Line Road

Note: Marathe has pointed out to Town Topics that there are seven warehouses in the project, not nine, and the pending application in front of the West Windsor Township Planning Board is only for the first three.

To the Editor:

Princeton’s second Pride Parade and Afterparty was everything our community needed and deserved it to be, as meaningful as it was fabulous and as inspirational as it was exponential! Thousands of us marched, sashayed, and rolled up the beautiful Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood and then were all at once empowered and entertained at the wonderful Afterparty at the Y. Thank you to Lt. Ben Gering and the Princeton Police for your support keeping us safe and to Paul Zeger and the YMCA for welcoming us to your gorgeous green space.

Much love and respect to our Grand Marshal Alan Muraoka (bringin’ a sunny day all the way from Sesame Street!), Senators Andrew Zwicker and Linda Greenstein, Mayors Mark Freda (Princeton) and Dean Dafis (Maplewood), poet Michelle Elizabeth Brown (Detroit), and trans activist (and BRCSJ board president) Erin Worrell (Philadelphia) for putting boots on the ground at the parade and sharing inspirational remarks at the Afterparty.

Further kudos to our community members who shared the stage — our BRCSJ flagbearer Rose, who brought us all to tears at her first Pride; queer icons Chet and Frank, who dropped some important local history as they shared their personal journey and how Frank co-founded Princeton’s first gay rights organization, Gay People Princeton; and BRCSJ intern and Princeton Theological Seminary student Wesley Rowell,  who led us in convocation and opened us up to the beautiful sentiments that were to follow. We bowed (and bounced!) to our Queen Miss Stonewall Inn Cissy Walken who represented in fabulous fashion, were uplifted by the Pride Puppets, and we couldn’t have asked for better syncopation for our mobilization than the delightful Philadelphia Freedom Band. more

To the Editor:

I am writing to encourage Princeton area residents to visit the Princeton Farmers Market, now relocated to the Dinky Train Station lot. Market hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., every Thursday until Thanksgiving, rain or shine. As always, the market offers an incredible array of fruits, vegetables, meats, prepared foods, flowers, and other essentials.

If the time and/or location do not suit your schedule, please consider visiting the West Windsor Farmers Market, which is held every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the lower Vaughn lot at the Princeton Junction Train Station. 

Although many of us have now returned to regular supermarket shopping, we should not forget that local farmers played a key role in sustaining our community during the pandemic. They did so not only by selling fresh food outside — even during winter — but by adopting new online purchasing systems and delivery services to meet customers’ needs.

So let’s return the favor and support New Jersey’s farmers, who work hard every day to keep some “garden” in the Garden State!

Jennifer Jang
Russell Road

To the Editor: 

Hundreds and hundreds of neighbors lined up outside Taim for its opening at Princeton Shopping Center last Tuesday, where they offered $5 bowls to be matched for Neighbors’ Kindness Project. I’d like to share a story about one of those neighbors. 

Due to an overwhelming turnout, Taim’s team had to cut the line prior to close. While this didn’t please many of you, understandably so, one neighbor was quite perturbed. She plopped down her free cup of iced tea and said, “I didn’t even get a sip of this before they rudely cut the line!” As I wiped up a splash she spilled, I replied, “Look, I feel your passion for wanting to support Taim and our neighbors, so I’ll take your order and deliver it on my route tomorrow. But, it’ll have to be lunch.” I handed her back the tea she had refused. She seemed to cool down a bit as soon as the icy glass met her palm. The next day, I followed her directions to her porch, looking for the bin as the landmark. This is where I left her food, and it’s there I found a white envelope that read: “To Blair, for the neighbors,” with a $20 bill folded up inside. So, I went back to Taim — to wait in line for a second time — and used those 20 dollars to buy meals for our neighbors in need. more

To the Editor:

After reading Thomas Kaufmann’s letter last week about the impact of construction on the PTS property and its neighbors [Mailbox, June 8], I felt that I should weigh in. I spent a year doing research on Frog Hollow which I see as the area at the base of Hibben Road, where it intersects Mercer Road. The main part looks like a grass covered area used for sports. But, that’s not what it’s always been.

It’s actually the “spring” part of the word Springdale, the name of an original farm that was turned into Springdale Golf Course. The main house, at 86 Mercer Street, is still the house of the president of the Seminary. In colonial times the most important battle at Princeton was fought along Frog Hollow Brook down to the pond on Springdale. That history was covered over long ago. Frog Hollow was also where Richard and Annis Stockton walked “to see the antics of chaste little frogs.” And, it’s still where all the water drains to from what is now Marquand Park, as well as any uphill section of Hibben Road that is now being proposed to be built upon with higher density.

When Mercer Street was opened in 1807 to become Mercer Road a lot of debris was dumped there from the road construction without much attention to what that does to waterways underground. It raised the ground water level enough so that the area had to be redone and filled in raising the level another three feet around 1900. That eventually left some of the houses on the other side of Mercer with streams in their basements. The rivulets are still there behind the houses, and they still lead down to the golf course where they’ve been smoothed out for golfers. more

To the Editor:

The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice requests that the Rainbow Flag now flying proudly over our fair town in honor of Pride Month be displayed in Princeton all year round to serve as a beacon to those looking for towns, cities, and communities that are inclusive and affirming for LQBTQIA+ persons and their families as well supportive friends and allies.

We are excitedly looking forward to the Princeton Gay Pride Parade and Afterparty this Saturday, June 18, and invite all to join us in solidarity and celebration. Last week, we at the BRCSJ were honored to participate in the annual Rainbow Flag raising event and we were also thrilled to take part in both the Princeton Community Pride Picnic and Dance. These events were very well attended and indeed representative in a beautiful way of all our diverse communities.

The Gay Pride Flag is more than just a symbol. We have heard from many folks in the LGBTQIA+ community that one of the first things they look for when visiting a new town is the number of pride flags in homes and businesses. Perhaps even more importantly, many LGBTQIA+ people look for these hallmarks of inclusion to help them decide whether they want to relocate their homes or businesses to a particular area. The presence of the Gay Pride Flag indicates safety and welcome and we know Princeton wants to be seen as a true bastion of inclusivity.

Whilst raising the Rainbow Flag high during Pride Month is a gesture that is much appreciated by those of us in the community who are able to witness it, we believe a much stronger and more meaningful statement can be made by flying this flag year-round as an ongoing commitment to the diversity and inclusion that the town of Princeton aspires to project. more

To the Editor:

As we near the end of the school year, another challenging year after many, we wanted to thank our school administrators, teachers, and faculty for all they have done to help our kids to be safe and to learn together during this past school year. They were asked to be not only educators but also public health professionals, facing many competing demands on their time and a lack of shared consensus on the best ways to operate. 

We applaud the superintendent and Board of Education for trying to take on many of the big challenges that our community faces — around growth and capacity, mental health challenges, and advancing equity  — not to mention that we are still in the midst of a pandemic. None of these are easy to address, and everyone is human, operating within constraints that are not always clear, especially for a public school district.  more

To the Editor:

On behalf of Princeton Public Library, I want to thank our staff and partners for the unqualified success that was the Second Annual Princeton Community Pride Picnic.

Library staff worked with their counterparts at McCarter Theatre Centre, HiTOPS, the Princeton Civil Rights Commission, Princeton Human Services Department, YWCA Princeton, and the Princeton Family YMCA to plan the event. These partners were joined by the Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton High School GSA, Princeton Unified Middle School SAGA, I Support the Girls, Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, CASA for Children, Corner House Behavioral Health, Inspired Threads, Planned Parenthood of Northern, Central and Southern NJ, Babs Siperstein PROUD Center, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, Nassau Presbyterian Church and PFLAG Princeton in creating a welcoming environment to celebrate Princeton’s LGBTQ community and its allies. I think everyone who participated, partner or attendee, would join us in thanking Princeton Shopping Center for its generous financial and logistical support of the Pride Picnic.

The result of these collaborations was an overwhelmingly positive event on a beautiful evening for celebrating difference and building community. Thank you to the estimated 1,500 people who turned out to demonstrate support for the LGBTQ community, making the evening truly special.

If you missed the Pride Picnic, the library welcomes you to march behind our Read With Pride banner in the Princeton Pride Parade on June 18. Please visit the events calendar on princetonlibrary.org for more information and to register. At the library, we know that while it is important to celebrate Pride Month with picnics and parades, the struggle for LGBTQ equality is ongoing. As such, we invite you to visit the Pride Resource Guide on our website to learn about the hard-won gains by activists in a community whose rights were denied, and very existence threatened, for centuries. Happy Pride, everyone.

Jennifer Podolsky
Executive Director, Princeton Public Library

To the Editor:

It’s unfortunate that a small but well-financed and very vocal group of people, employing the tactics of fearmongering, misinformation, and personal attacks on Council and task force members, has succeeded in derailing a thoughtful, mandated consideration of whether or not to allow cannabis dispensaries in Princeton.

The politics of divisiveness that afflict so much of our country have now taken root in our own community.

Jane Eldridge Miller
Laurel Circle

To the Editor:

We propose a compromise regarding the Hun School’s application for the rezoning of two parcels of land owned by them (the Mall and the Mason House lot) that are contiguous with private neighborhood residences. After having discussed the question of the school’s application with some members of the Princeton Council, we, as members of the Edgerstoune neighborhood, offer the following amendments to the school’s plan in a spirit of goodwill and conciliation.

In exchange for the two modest adjustments sketched below to the school’s proposed plan, we believe that a consensus about the neighborhood’s varied uses could be achieved, that the school will be able to pursue its goals for expansion of its facilities on its campus, and that a significant tract of the area’s green space, one vital to the appeal of both the school and of neighborhood life, could be maintained.

The two adjustments to the current rezoning application that we propose are:

1. That the Hun School replace Mason House with its projected new building on as much of the house’s current footprint as possible, and that the new structure be built as close to the corner of Edgerstoune and Winant Roads as zoning regulations allow. more

To the Editor,

In the recent article regarding the demolition of the historic Tennent, Roberts, and Whiteley gymnasium buildings [“Neighbors of Seminary Raise Concerns about Demolition of Buildings,” June 1, page 1], a Princeton Theological Seminary representative stated that the demolition has been “thoughtfully planned and will be carefully executed to minimize disruption to the neighborhood.” Unfortunately, the town has been unresponsive to requests to meet with neighbors to discuss exactly what precautions may be in place to deal with asbestos and other airborne contaminates, removal of debris, contaminated soil, truck traffic, and storm water management.

This is in stark contrast to the way in which other significant demolitions have been managed. When AvalonBay planned to demolish the old hospital, they met multiple times with neighbors, and the town provided additional services, such as air quality monitors, to reassure neighbors that the demolition would be conducted to the highest standards. Princeton University also met multiple times in public with neighbors to discuss the demolition of the Butler tract. It is disappointing that the Mercer Hill/Frog Hollow neighbors are being treated differently, but perhaps it is due to confusion around who actually owns the properties now – Herring Properties or the Seminary. more

To the Editor:

In the recent Town Topics article about the redevelopment of the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) properties on the Tennent-Roberts-Whiteley (TRW) campus [“Neighbors of Seminary Raise Concerns About Demolition of Buildings, June 1, page 1], the presumptive purchaser and developer of the property, Jamie Herring, spoke about listening to the community before presenting his redevelopment plans for the property, which is currently designated as an Area in Need of Redevelopment (ANR) under state law.  New Jersey law requires that that an ANR-designated property be redeveloped with community input.

From the beginning, the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development (PCRD) has advocated for a transparent and inclusive process regarding the redevelopment of these important and historic properties, a process that incorporates meaningful input from all stakeholders.  So, too, does the Princeton Council, which wrote in October 2021, “any redevelopment of the [PTS property] must be the result of a collaborative effort between the Contract Purchaser, [PCRD], the neighborhood, and [PTS] as appropriate.”

Thus, PCRD applauds any proposal to bring various parties together to engage in these critical discussions.

We are, however, concerned about the process Mr. Herring has outlined.  Under the ANR statutory framework, it is the town, not the property owner or the developer, that has responsibility for establishing and approving a redevelopment plan that is in the public interest and thus appropriate for the ANR-designated properties.  Therefore, it is the town, not Mr. Herring, that should run the process for soliciting community input, a process that should be public, transparent, objective, and meaningful. more

To the Editor:

As a direct result of the 2013 construction of the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) Library, garbage and gravel were washed into the culvert that runs through my property. I had to rake out what I could to prevent the stream being blocked. Any proposed construction on what has been PTS property has larger ramifications.

As I understand, the underground streams apparently begin right under where the proposed buildings are planned, coalesce with rain water runoff, and then continue down through my property under College Road to the golf course to what seems to be a still-operating water purification plant.

When I have tried to determine if my information was correct, and to ascertain if an environmental impact survey has been made, I have not received a reply from any of the pertinent (state, region, county) authorities with whom I have spoken: all point to Princeton municipality, which at last account could not reply that any such survey had been made. Has one now been made? Will such a study be made before potentially disrupting the underground water networks?  more

To the Editor:

Now that the municipality’s Sustainable Landscaping Ordinance summer restrictions are officially in place, here are a few simple ways to help ease the transition if you employ a landscaper:

• Let your landscaper know that it is OK not to use a leaf blower to clear grass clippings from sidewalks and patios.
• Ask your landscaper to use electric mowers to clear debris instead of blowers.
• Allow your landscaper to charge their electric equipment on site.
• If you own a residential-sized electric leaf blower, make it available for your landscaper to use and help them out by having it charged and ready.

 more

To the Editor:

Tuesday, June 7, is the primary election and it is important for all citizens to exercise their right to vote. We strongly recommend that registered Democrats support Bonnie Watson Coleman’s re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives and vote for our dedicated and hard-working Princeton Council members Mia Sacks and Michelle Pirone Lambros to represent the party for another term.

Unlike other states, New Jersey has made it easier rather than more difficult to participate in the electoral process. Once again, early voting will be available at the Princeton Shopping Center, 301 North Harrison Street (by Rita’s Water Ice), on Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday, June 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Any Princeton voter can cast their ballot at this site during the early voting period.

For those who prefer to vote on Tuesday, June 7, you can find your district polling place on your sample ballot or by checking the New Jersey state website at voter.svrs.nj.gov/polling-place-search. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on that day. more

To the Editor:

We are once again faced with a horrifying mass shooting of innocent children, this time at a grade school in Texas. This is predictable and will continue unless we take effective action. We now average about two mass shootings per day in the U.S.

When Australia suffered a mass shooting by a man with an assault weapon in 1996, in which a single person killed 35 people, they banned assault weapons nationwide. There hasn’t been another mass shooting since. Denying potential shooters this weapon of war designed for the battlefield, makes mass shootings much less likely, if not impossible.

We need to exercise the political will to keep these battlefield weapons of mass destruction out of civilian hands. We can make it happen. If necessary, it can be done by the U.S. Senate making an exception (which takes only 50 votes) to the Senate filibuster that makes 60 votes necessary to passage of new laws. more

To the Editor:

At the risk of alienating some of my neighbors but with no intention to do so, as a resident of the Edgerstoune community for just about 28 years, and with absolutely no affiliation to Hun, I enthusiastically support and agree with the Hun School’s request for rezoning the Mall and Mason House lots. I also agree with Susan Ward’s comments regarding Hun (if available to you), but nonetheless Hun’s application to upgrade their infirmary and move offices into the property they own and therefore support their students in a more effective manner.

The Hun School has been in the neighborhood in one form or another since 1914 and a respected and responsible asset to our small community. They have educated thousands of students and attract many worldwide. Personally, I feel it my civic duty as part of the silent majority to support this important institution.

I would also not be telling the truth if I didn’t say that there are times that I’m unhappy with this neighbor. It sure is inconvenient to dodge cars during graduation and reunion. But I also have been annoyed at my neighbors’ dogs barking in the middle of the night, finding little green bags on my yard on occasion, and listening to the generators going on and off during odd times of the night. Living in a neighborhood requires understanding and appreciation of the needs of others and I have empathy for all. more