Volume LXXVI, Number 52
May the New Year Bring You Health and Happiness and Bring Us All One Step Closer to Peace on Earth ———
Readers' Choice Awards Winners . . 22, 23, 24, 25 Art . . . . . . . . . . . .19, 20 Book Review. . . . . . . . 17 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 39 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 38 Performing Arts . . . . . 18 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
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Wednesday, December 28, 2022
Emerging From Pandemic, Princeton Plans Its Future Moving into the new year, most Princeton residents and visitors have taken off their masks and are looking to establish a “new normal,” despite health officials’ warnings and signs of a winter “tripledemic” of COVID-19, along with rising flu and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) cases. Though Princeton continues to suffer from pandemic fatigue, and COVID-19 is likely to provide another surprise or two in the coming year, many signs point to a town emerging from the debilitating affliction. Conflict was widespread in Princeton in 2022. “Without contraries is no progression,” William Blake wrote more than 230 years ago, and many of the stories that will be remembered from the past year in Princeton involve contraries, conflicts — some continuing into 2023, but many resolved — and much progress. Princeton Council returned to inperson meetings in September, though the Zoom option remained and provided welcome access for many. Likewise for workers, shoppers, and businesses, many transitioned back to live physical attendance, but a hybrid mode — part remote —prevailed. Political activity and citizen engagement remained at a high level in Princeton throughout the year, with demonstrations in opposition to hate and bigotry and in support of Ukraine, voters’ rights, gun legislation, abortion rights, and more. The town is moving towards a new master plan, with extensive community involvement and input on the future of Princeton. Affordable housing projects moved forward in 2022, at least some of the parking issues have been resolved, a new waste disposal collection system is in place, and in February Council approved a Special Improvement District (SID), establishing a nonprofit Princeton Business Partnership to support the downtown. In May the hotly disputed question of retail cannabis sale in Princeton was resolved, when Council decided that the cons outweigh the pros, at least for now. A conflict between the town and the University culminated in July when Prospect Avenue was declared a historic district, following the University’s agreement to revise its ES+SEAS construction plans to avoid demolition of a historic Queen Anne house and disruption of the streetscape. And Princeton
University took significant steps to resolve other conflicts in its decisions on renaming buildings and other iconography and its agreement to withdraw investments from fossil fuel companies. Many construction projects moved forward in 2022, with related traffic disruptions on Chambers Street as work on the new Graduate Hotel proceeds, and extensive utility work and new sidewalk construction for Witherspoon Street. A more diverse mix of trees is promised on Witherspoon to replace the invasive Bradford pear trees that were cut down in March. A safer Rosedale Road reopened in August with a new roundabout in place. Princeton University proceeded with construction on several fronts: development of the Lake Campus, a dramatic expansion of the Princeton University Art Museum, the opening of two new residential colleges, and the construction of the new Environmental Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (ES+SEAS) campus. Rider University’s removal of Westminster Choir College from its Princeton campus two years ago remains the subject of litigation, as Rider continues efforts to sell the property, which remains mostly empty.
On issues of sustainability, a plastic bag ban going into effect in May, the gaspowered leaf blower ban in place now for seven months of the year, and an electric vehicle event were just some of many significant initiatives led by the town and the University in the battle against climate change. With a number of new businesses in town, and new leaders at the helm of several organizations, Princeton in 2023 looks forward to resolving some of its ongoing conflicts, completing many projects currently underway, and confronting whatever new challenges the new year may bring. Health Department Challenges
In the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus continued to change in its spread and severity. Demands on the Princeton Health Department and the local medical community were relentless. The year 2022 started amid a surge in cases brought on by the Omicron variant. “Princeton Attempts to Slow Pandemic Spread” read the January 5 Town Topics banner headline, as the surge reached record high case numbers with 161 new cases reported in Princeton in just seven days. On January 10 Mayor Mark Freda and the Office of Emergency Management declared a state of
emergency in Princeton and mandated mask wearing in public indoor spaces. “Since December 21, case counts have exploded at an exponential rate, “Princeton Deputy Administrator for Health and Community Services Jeff Grosser told a Princeton Council meeting. Fortunately, although the virus was spreading rapidly, Omicron proved to be less severe than the 2021 Delta variant. The health department focused on assistance for older, vulnerable residents, hospitalizations remained low, and the surge subsided even more rapidly than it had arrived. Case numbers were declining by the end of January, the town mask mandate ended by February 1, and the Town Topics headline on February 23 read ”Charting ‘New Normal’ as Case Numbers Drop.” Health officials remained cautious, however, and were prepared for a small uptick in cases in April and a larger surge towards the end of May, at which point local schools reinstated mask mandates. As summer arrived the COVID-19 threat again waned, but a completely new virus, monkeypox or mpox, threatened the country, with some of the severest outbreaks taking place in New York City Continued on Page 5
“SUPPORT UKRAINE”: Demonstrators gathered in front of Nassau Presbyterian Church in March at a Peace in Ukraine vigil, sponsored by the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action. The crowd spilled over from Palmer Square’s Tiger Park across the street. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)