By Anne Levin

At a meeting on Tuesday, November 12, Princeton Council was given a first look at a study being designed to improve safety along a 2.5-mile stretch of the Harrison Street corridor. Representatives from the consulting firm Michael Baker Inc. made a presentation in which the enhancement of pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorist safety is the priority.

Municipal staff members and Pete Kramer of the consulting firm stressed that the presentation is still in conceptual form. The study, which covers Harrison Street from its southern border to Route 206, considered five years of data related to traffic and crashes.

“It’s really about safety more than moving traffic,” said Kramer, who showed a graphic compiled from national data on traffic speeds. While a pedestrian hit by a vehicle traveling at 40 miles per hour has an 80 percent chance of being killed, that figure is down to 10 percent if the vehicle is going half the speed. more

SCROOGE IS BACK: Veteran stage and screen actor Joel McKinnon Miller returns to the lead role in McCarter Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” running December 10-29. (Photo courtesy of McCarter Theatre)

By Anne Levin

When Joel McKinnon Miller signed on in June 2023 to play the notorious miser Ebenezer Scrooge in McCarter Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol last December, he wasn’t entirely familiar with the Charles Dickens classic. But he immersed himself in the play, reading the script numerous times before rehearsals began.

Miller’s characterization was a success; so much so that McCarter has brought him back for this year’s run of the show. A Christmas Carol, adapted by director Lauren Keating, opens December 10 and runs through December 29 in McCarter’s Matthews Theatre. more

By Anne Levin

In an effort to make its services to victims of domestic violence more inclusive, the local nonprofit Womanspace has changed its name to Younity. The rebranding was made official at a gathering of staff, board members, community leaders, survivors, and supporters at Trenton Country Club on
November 13.

“We know that our community is diverse, and we also know that domestic violence does not discriminate,” said Nathalie Nelson, Younity CEO and president, this week. “It doesn’t only affect women. It affects men, children, the elderly — people from all backgrounds. We want to reflect that.”

Founded in 1977 to provide critical services for those affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse in the Mercer County region, Womanspace provides emergency and follow-up services including round-the-clock crisis intervention, short-term emergency shelter, short-term and long-term transitional housing, counseling, and support groups for adults and children. In the last fiscal year, more than 10,000 people received assistance from the nonprofit, according to Nelson. more

By Anne Levin

On Friday, November 15 at 2:30 p.m., municipal and environmental officials will cut the ribbon on Princeton’s newest open space preserve. The 153-acre expanse formerly known as the Lanwin tract has frontage on Province Line and Cherry Valley roads and is located in the northwest corner of Princeton.

The parcel was at one time targeted for a housing development, which would have resulted in the loss of some 4,000 trees that form part of an old-growth forest. But through an agreement struck in October 2021 between the municipality, Bryce Thompson, and Lanwin Development, the tract was acquired for $8.775 million and set aside for conservation and passive recreational use. more

FOLK HEROES: Members of the Princeton Folk Music Society have been busy planning their 60th anniversary season in 2025. From left are Frank Kubitsky, Dave Leonard, Bill Houston, Robert Ey, Mary Curtis, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Peter Hester, Madhumita Chakrabartti, Peter Kernast, Alexandra Radbil, Lisa Roth, and Walt Miziuk. Not present: Pat McDonnell and Anne Gribbon.

By Anne Levin

From its earliest days on the Princeton University campus, the Princeton Folk Music Society (PFMS) has been an active participant in the local music scene. What started in 1965 as an informal organization holding group sings soon grew into a nonprofit presenting such noted folk artists as Mick Moloney, Beppe Gambetta, and Elizabeth Cotton, a tradition that continues today.

The PFMS, which brings the duo Mustard’s Retreat to Christ Congregation Church on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m., is about to enter its seventh decade. To mark this milestone, the 2025 season has been curated to include an especially diverse roster of musical events. Among them are John McCutcheon, The Ebony Hillbillies, Poor Man’s Gambit, and a Phil Ochs Song Night, to name a few. more

BREAKING GROUND: Pictured with local officials, Natalie Tung, fourth from left, co-founded HomeWorks Trenton to give high school girls the tools to succeed. The organization has officially begun the renovation of an existing house into its permanent home.

By Anne Levin

This past weekend, construction got underway on the transformation of a free-standing house into the cozy headquarters for HomeWorks Trenton, an after-school boarding program for marginalized girls who attend the city’s public schools.

If all goes according to schedule, 42 high school girls, staff, and their families will be living in the repurposed, state-of-the-art building on Edgewood Avenue, near Cadwalader Park, by September of next year. The young scholars, as co-founder Natalie Tung refers to them, will go home on weekends but live in the facility during the week. The idea is to provide a supportive environment that will prepare the young residents to excel in high school, college, and beyond through tutoring, leadership development, and community involvement. more

By Anne Levin

With October 2024 in the record books as New Jersey’s driest October in history, a statewide fire ban is now in effect. On October 17, Gov. Phil Murphy issued a drought watch, urging residents and businesses to conserve water.

It hasn’t rained locally in over a month. And there is no real end in sight.

Thursday, November 14 is the first mention of any precipitation, with “rain ending in the morning” as predicted on Accuweather.com. The next possibility is November 22, when “a morning shower followed by a little rain in the afternoon” is listed. And nothing else is predicted until December 10: “Periods of light rain.” more

IT’S STARTING: Local holiday offerings this year will include the return of the Arts Council of Princeton’s Winter Chalets at Hinds Plaza, selling gifts made by artists in various media from November 14 through December 22.

By Anne Levin

The weather is balmy and Halloween is barely behind us, but the winter holiday season is officially on.

Black Friday and Small Business Saturday are several weekends away, with a late Thanksgiving (November 28) shortening the usual gift-buying season. Drawings for Experience Princeton’s “ShopPrinceton2Win” contest began this week, and decorations will soon be hung around town. The goal is to encourage patronage of local stores and restaurants.

“There is a lot of competition out there, especially online,” said Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros, who is the liaison to Experience Princeton, the nonprofit that promotes local businesses. “You go into the big box stores, and the decorations are out. But it’s still not the same experience as going into a local shop. We have some new retail in town, and they all seem to be gearing up.” more

IRISH HISTORY IN 10 POEMS: Pultizer Prize-winning poet and longtime Princeton University Professor Paul Muldoon will read from his work on November 15 at an event on the campus. (Photo by Christine Harris)

By Anne Levin

A survey of Irish history, from the Vikings to the Troubles and beyond, is the focus of a reading by Paul Muldoon on Friday, November 15 at the James Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau Street. “A History of Ireland in 10 Poems” is a free, illustrated lecture presented by Princeton University’s Fund for Irish Studies.

The event is the latest in the Fund’s 2024-25 series, which will also include conversations with leaders of the Abbey Theater, and readings by authors Colm Toibin, Niall Williams, and Fintan O’Toole. The Fund “affords all Princeton students, and the community at large, a wider and deeper sense of the languages, literatures, drama, visual arts, history, and economics not only of Ireland but of ‘Ireland in the world,’” reads a release from the University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. more

By Anne Levin 

Two work sessions dominated the meeting of Princeton Council on Monday evening, October 28. The first was on the concept plan for refreshing Hinds Plaza, and the second was a discussion on removal and replacement of the two kiosks located on Nassau Street.

After hearing a progress report from municipal staff and Arterial, Inc., the consultants on the Hinds Plaza project, Council members and Mayor Mark Freda offered comments and suggestions and aired some concerns. Regarding the kiosks, which are at the intersections of Witherspoon Street and Vandeventer Avenue, the governing body directed staff to remove them while tabling the question of whether and how they should be replaced.

In his presentation, James Ribaudo of Arterial said Hinds Plaza is 20 years old and in need of refreshment and reorganization. The company has held three workshops with the steering committee dedicated to the project, as well as stakeholder meetings, and is compiling a plan based on feedback and their own observations. more

By Anne Levin

Jamie Volkert

Since starting her new job last week as director of Mercer County’s new Division of Travel and Tourism, Jamie Volkert has been busy in meeting after meeting devoted to the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

But Volkert, familiar to Princetonians from her 11 years working for the Nassau Inn, Terra Momo, and most recently as marketing director for Palmer Square Management, has more than the milestone anniversary on her plate.

“We also have the FIFA World Cup coming up in July 2026,” Volkert said. “They’ll be in different stadiums in this area, and it will bring travelers to Mercer County. The timing is perfect.”

Elected this past January, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson created the Division of Travel and Tourism as part of the county’s Office of Economic Development. Known for her work in Princeton as well numerous volunteering opportunities in Hamilton Township, where she sits on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, Volkert was approached once the new division was formed.

“We are really excited for Jamie Volkert to join our team as we launch our new Division of Travel & Tourism,” Benson said in an email. “There is so much to see and to do here in Mercer, and as we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation we have an opportunity to expand Mercer as a premier travel destination.”  more

HONORED: Princeton municipal officials and staff, together with Liza Reed, daughter of the late Ingrid Reed, recently won a Smart Growth Award from New Jersey Future. From left are Planning Board Chair Louise Wilson, Liza Reed, Sustainable Princeton Executive Director Christine Symington, Municipal Administrator Bernie Hvozdovic, Council President Mia Sacks, Councilmember Michelle Pirone Lambros, and Senior Planner Ian Henderson. (Photo by Reed Sacks)

By Anne Levin

Princeton’s Terhune Harrison Mixed Use Village was one of several projects honored October 22 with a Smart Growth Award by New Jersey Future.

The ceremony at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, part of the 2024 New Jersey Future showcase conference, also included a posthumous Leadership Award to the late Ingrid Reed, as well as announcement of the Ingrid Reed For Our Future Fund to support education and training for future Smart Growth leaders.

“It was a special evening for Princeton,” said Princeton Council President Mia Sacks, who worked on the Terhune Harrison project along with Councilmembers David Cohen and Michelle Pirone Lambros. “The award was for sustainable planning. It’s very fitting that that’s what Ingrid was known for.” more