By Anne Levin

Princeton Council approved an ordinance Monday night amending the parking regulations on Witherspoon Street between Nassau Street and Paul Robeson Place/Wiggins Street, eliminating the free 30-minute parking in what is known as the service lane in front of Small World Coffee, Jules Pizza, and adjacent businesses.

The ordinance designates the service lane as Loading Zone Only between 6 and 10 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. Use by non-commercial vehicles during those days and hours is prohibited.

Parking is allowed in the service lane from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. Sundays to 2 a.m. Mondays. Parking will be metered for up to 90 minutes from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and from 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

The rest of Witherspoon Street north of Spring to Paul Robeson Place/Wiggins Street will be metered for up to 90 minutes from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sundays. more

FEZZIWIG AND FRIENDS: As Ebeneezer Scrooge, Joel McKinnon Miller is at the center of the action at the Fezziwigs’ Christmas party in “A Christmas Carol.” (Photo courtesy of McCarter Theatre)

By Anne Levin

Joel McKinnon Miller has a distant memory of seeing A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis when he was in high school. Other than that trip in his home state, and taking his own children to a production years later in Los Angeles, the actor’s association with the Charles Dickens classic has been limited.

But since signing on last June to play Ebeneezer Scrooge in McCarter Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol, on stage through December 24, Miller has immersed himself in everything Ebeneezer — down to his genuine mutton-chop whiskers. And he figures he has read the script, adapted by director Lauren Keating, every day since he knew he had the job. more

By Anne Levin

Princeton Planning Board’s unanimous vote last week to approve the municipal Master Plan came after more than five hours of public testimony, mostly from residents who urged the board to delay voting until more research and public discussion.

But the board, which presented the plan after more than a year and a half of work including open house events, surveys, interviews, and special listening sessions, opted to proceed. More than 225 people attended the Zoom meeting, which was the second of two public hearings on the issue. The November 30 hearing was scheduled because time ran out before all of those signed up at the first one on November 9 had a chance to comment.

The meeting began with a presentation by the town’s planning director Justin Lesko, outlining some tweaks based on meetings with Historic Preservation Commission and historian Clifford Zink. Lesko also said he had met with residents from Battle Road, Ober Road, and Newlin Road to address concerns about proposed density. more

THE WAY IT WAS: The Old School Baptist Meeting on Broad Street in Hopewell was the subject of a painting done in 1869.

By Anne Levin

When Hopewell Public Library Director Barbara Merry was planning the library’s December Speaker Series, formerly known as Wednesday Night Out, she asked some past participants if they had any ideas for a presentation.

Among them was archaeologist Ian Burrow, who suggested doing a talk on the history of the Old School Baptist Meeting on Broad Street in Hopewell Borough. Since then, what started out as a single lecture has grown into an evening program with six presentations on different aspects of ongoing efforts to preserve the key historic site.

“The Old School Baptist Meeting of Hopewell: New Research, Investigations, and Plans,” will take place at Hopewell Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, December 13 from 7-8:30 p.m. Burrow, who will talk about the 1747 graveyard associated with the church, is also the moderator. more

By Anne Levin

Michael Pratt

Since becoming the conductor of the Princeton University Orchestra in 1977, Michael Pratt has written countless program notes for the concerts the ensemble performs at Richardson Auditorium and on tours throughout the world. But he had never written fiction — more specifically, historical fiction — until the pandemic put a pause to his regular routine.

That’s when he began to imagine a story that would combine the two most important things in his life: music and love. The Copyists, about a 21st century pianist who travels back in time to 1785, where he works for his idol, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, came out this past fall.

Describing the book as “Outlander meets Amadeus,” Pratt said that the book “kind of wrote itself.” The first version was 110,000 words, and he hired someone to get it down to 95,000. more

By Anne Levin

Having listened to comments from some 80 residents — half at a public hearing on November 9, half at a second hearing on Thursday night — the Princeton Planning Board voted unanimously 9-0 to approve the municipal Master Plan that was first presented to the public last month. Last night’s Zoom meeting, which lasted nearly five and a half hours, was attended by more than 230 people.

While many urged the Planning Board to hold off on voting, some members of the public spoke in favor of approving the plan.

The document has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. In the past few days, there was a petition signed by nearly 1,000 residents asking the board to hold off on a vote, a FAQ explaining points of the plan written by Planning Board Chairwoman Louise Wilson, an open letter from the Princeton Board of Education (BOE) saying leaders of the School District were not given enough opportunity to provide input, and a letter from Wilson in response.

Board of Education President Dafna Kendal read the BOE’s November 28 letter, which was addressed to Princeton Council and the Planning Board, at the meeting. In addition to stating the BOE was not sufficiently consulted in the crafting of the plan, the letter addresses the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements with developers of three apartment complexes going up in town. The schools do not receive funds from any of these PILOTs. Wilson read the letter that she wrote in response to these concerns.

After the last member of the public delivered a comment last night, members of the board issued comments of their own. Board member and Princeton Councilman David Cohen said “Change is hard, and people would rather pretend that it is possible to keep Princeton just the way it is. Unfortunately, people are also conflating this plan update with large, new multifamily developments currently going up in town. These developments are part of our court-mandated affordable housing settlement and are completely independent of and unaffected by the Master Plan revisions. They should not influence our deliberations.”

Cohen also pointed out that none of the people who urged the board to delay the vote offered alternative solutions. more

By Anne Levin

As of Tuesday afternoon, 688 people had signed a petition started by the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development (PCRD) urging the Princeton Planning Board to pause the approval of the Community Master Plan.

The plan, which has not been updated since 1996, was presented by the town’s Planning Board last month, and was the subject of a public hearing on November 9. Because time ran out before all of those signed up had a chance to comment, the Planning Board has continued the hearing to its meeting this Thursday, November 30 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.

Municipal staff and consultants have been working on the plan for the past year and a half. Surveys, interviews, open house events, and special listening sessions were included in the process. But the petition calls for more public input.

“As residents of Princeton, New Jersey, we are deeply concerned about the proposed Draft Master Plan, which up-zones many properties to allow for increased density on each lot,” the petition begins. “This proposed plan could have serious unintended consequences due to proposed changes to the land use plans. It appears that there has been a failure to take into account the impact on our environment, existing infrastructure, schools, property taxes, traffic and parking conditions, and even our mature trees. Princeton is known for its beautiful green spaces and historic charm. The current up-zoning proposal threatens the very characteristics that attract residents and visitors to Princeton.”  more

By Anne Levin

During a work session at its meeting Monday evening, Princeton Council heard a report on the proposed renovation of Community Park South, the 26-acre expanse bordered by Route 206, Birch Avenue, Community Park School, and Community Park Pool.

Since last February, a steering committee made up of municipal staff; two members of Council; and representatives from the Princeton Environmental Commission, the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, the public schools, and other stakeholders — along with Suburban Consulting Engineers — have been holding public meetings and soliciting information through public surveys.

Seven possible concept designs were considered before the Princeton Recreation Commission recommended Concept A, “following strong considerations that whenever possible open space for structured and unstructured play should be provided, and that mayor and Council should work to provide additional parking convenient to the site,” according to a letter sent to Mayor Mark Freda and Council last week. more

By Anne Levin

The disintegration of local journalism was the impetus for a day-long forum that will take place Saturday, December 2 at Princeton Public Library. But panelists and speakers taking part in “Journalism in Democracy” are not necessarily predicting a scenario that is all gloom and doom.

“The collapse, nationally, of local journalism as a resource for communities across the country is part of this, and there are a number of themes,” said Cliff Robinson, the library’s public humanities specialist. “The main thing we wanted to convey is while there is a lot of reason for alarm, there are also things people can do. It doesn’t have to be a completely pessimistic take.”

Panelists for the event come from Princeton University, Rutgers University, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), and the media.

Following check-in at 10 a.m., the first panel discussion is “Democracy, Citizenship and the Power of the Powerless” with Dan-El Padilla Peralta, associate professor of classics at Princeton; Rachel Devlin, associate professor of history at Rutgers; and Stanley Katz, president emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies. Christopher Fisher, associate professor of history at TCNJ, is the moderator. more

By Anne Levin

After hearing from more than 30 of the approximately 160 people who signed on to the November 9 public hearing held over Zoom about the proposed Master Plan, the Princeton Planning Board opted to continue the hearing to its next meeting on November 30 before making a decision on whether to vote in favor of the plan.

In the meantime, the Master Plan is the focus of a meeting on Saturday, November 18 of the non-governmental community group Princeton Future, being held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Community Room of Princeton Public Library. The meeting, also available virtually at princetonlibrary.libnet.info/event/9547479, is billed as a conversation rather than an opportunity for comments limited to three minutes, as is the format at municipal meetings. more

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: A Princeton institution since 1993, Small World Coffee celebrates its 30th anniversary next month with special events and offerings at its Witherspoon Street location, shown here, and its Nassau Street store, as well as several locations throughout town. (Photo courtesy of Small World Coffee)

By Anne Levin

Last September, Small World Coffee co-founder Jessica Durrie read a column in the New York Times about the surgeon general’s report on loneliness in America. The report cited loneliness as an epidemic — more dangerous to health than obesity, smoking 15 cigarettes, or downing six alcoholic drinks in a day.

The column, by Nicholas Kristof, made Durrie profoundly sad. Since its inception three decades ago, Small World has valued the cultivation of community connections as much as the creation of perfect house blends. The 30-year anniversary of the company was coming up, and she knew she had found a theme. more

By Anne Levin

Rian Julka

Five years ago, Rian Julka’s mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease (PD). When the pandemic forced the family into lockdown a few years later, Julka — then a middle school student at New York City’s Trinity School — knew that her condition made his family especially compromised.

Julka put together a spreadsheet to help his mother. Through social media, the spreadsheet evolved into a resource for people all over Manhattan who were coping with lockdown. The spreadsheet helped them find what they needed, and post what they could offer others. Word got out, and local press outlets picked up the story. While still in middle school, Julka was recognized for his efforts by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.

Since then, the family has moved from Manhattan to Princeton. Julka is a junior at The Lawrenceville School.

The spreadsheet became the inspiration for moversandshakers.info, a website developed by Julka that offers Parkinson’s patients information on medical research, clinical trials, and tips to slow down progression of the disease. The site also sponsors a podcast that is hosted on Apple and Spotify.  more