Volume LXXVIII, Number 21
Carillon Recitals Are Popular Attraction for Local Residents . . . . . . 5 Grad Students Vote “No,” Postdocs “Yes” on Unionization at PU . . . 10 National Nonprofit Partners With PU to Open Libraries In NJ Prisons . . . . . . . .12 Princeton Singers Celebrates Double Anniversary with Concert Of Diverse Music . . . . 19 McCarter Stages Winnie Holzman’s Choice . . . 22 Junior Attacker Barlag Stars as PHS Boys’ Lacrosse Makes MCT Final . . . . . . . . 30 Sparked by Leadoff Hitter Jolly, Hun Softball Advances to 3rd Straight Prep A Title Game . . . 33
Patricia Highsmith’s New York Returns in This Week’s Book Review . . 18 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 26 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 36 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 15, 16 New to Us. . . . . . . . . . 27 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 35 Performing Arts . . . . . 23 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 11 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 36 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6 Welcome Summer . . . . 20
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Gaza Protesters Depart; Seminary Students Make Similar Demands After a continuous sit-in of nearly three weeks — first in the McCosh courtyard then on Cannon Green behind Nassau Hall — Princeton University’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment dispersed on the evening of May 15 following a final rally. In a statement issued on the last day, the demonstrators declared, ”Our fight for divestment and Palestinian liberation continues undeterred.” Described by The Daily Princetonian student newspaper as “both a protest and a community space,” the Gaza Encampment from April 25 to May 15 was a place for speeches and rallies, singing and chanting and poetry reading, town hall gatherings, conversations, meeting and eating together, and sometimes quietly reading or studying. Through rain and shine, cold and hot weather, the numbers of demonstrators fluctuated widely. The University administration did not allow tents or sleeping. Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber sent a message to the University community on May 13 warning that the protesters must leave Cannon Green. Signs and barriers were put in place around the green stating, “This space is closed in preparation for University events,” and Eisgruber noted, “To continue the sit-in would involve significant and impermissible disruption of University activities. The protesters are of course free to express their views in many other permissible, non-disruptive ways.” The Council of the Princeton University Community Resources Committee met on May 14 for an initial assessment of requests from the Gaza protesters for the University to divest and dissociate from companies involved in Israel’s military and apartheid policies. In response to demonstrators’ demands that charges and disciplinary action against the students who had been arrested be dropped, Eisgruber suggested the possibility of a “restorative justice” process which could “minimize the impact of the arrest on the participating students.” He emphasized that the arrested students would be accountable for their actions and required to accept responsibility for violating University policy, but that the University “would rapidly conclude the University disciplinary process,” making it possible for the students to participate in Commencement. Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Planning Board Postpones Special Jugtown Meeting Now that the May 23 special meeting of the Princeton Planning Board devoted to the proposal for a 15-unit apartment building in the Jugtown Historic District has been postponed, residents who oppose the plan and the developer in favor of it will have to wait until a future meeting is scheduled before a final decision on the project is reached. The Princeton Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) spent two nights last week, May 13 and 14, listening to testimony from both sides of the issue, ultimately recommending that the Planning Board turn down the proposal as presented. The developer, 344 Nassau LLC, has proposed to build an attachment to the rear of the 18th-century Joseph Hornor House at 344 Nassau Street, which was recently recognized by Preservation New Jersey as one of the 10 most endangered historic buildings in New Jersey. The project would include three units that are designated as affordable. The Hornor House is one of four buildings at that intersection with Harrison Street that are considered to be historically significant. The issue of significance was the focus of many objections to the proposal. Author and historian Clifford Zink, a Jugtown resident and one of several people to deliver prepared remarks, said that the proposal goes against the town’s historic preservation ordinance because of its height, width, the size of the windows. The size and mass of the
four-story addition “is the opposite of a backdrop, which is what is called for” in the ordinance, he said. Historian Mark Alan Hewitt said the house is unique, with important features both inside and out. “This historic house is not just any historic house,” he said. “It is one of the oldest houses in Princeton, and it is an old house in Princeton with really significant integrity.” The developer’s application to demolish part of the rear of the 1985 addition to the
house, in order to connect the old part to the new, was rejected by the HPC. The new section would be more than 44 feet tall; the Hornor House is 29 feet tall. While project architect Marina Rubina described architectural features that would relate to those of the existing house, others suggested the new building would tower over the old, and the large, new windows would be out of character. Rubina said that because of the addition, 68 percent of the house is not historic. Continued on Page 11
2024 Primary: Early Voting Next Week, New Block Ballot Design for Democrats
As Princeton voters go to the polls for the 2024 primary elections — in only one week for the first day of early voting on May 29 (through June 2), and in less than two weeks for Election Day voting on Tuesday, June 4 — Democrats and Republicans will vote for candidates to represent their parties in the November election for president, as well as candidates for U.S Senate and for the House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 12th District. They will also select candidates in races for three Mercer County Commissioners, Princeton mayor and two Council members, and two County Committee members. The two spotlighted races include the competition for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Robert Menendez, who
is not running, with Andy Kim, Lawrence Hamm, and Patricia Campos-Medina on the Democratic ballot and Curtis Bashaw, James Murphy, Albert Harshaw, and Christine Serrano Glassner on the Republican ballot; and the race for a seat in the U.S. Congress, with Princeton resident Daniel Dart challenging incumbent Bonnie Watson Coleman for the Democratic nomination, and Republicans Theodore E. Jones Jr. and Darius Mayfield competing for their party’s nomination. Princeton Mayor Mark Freda faces no competition in his reelection bid for the Democratic nomination, and no Republicans have filed to compete in the November mayoral race. Council incumbent Leighton Newlin and new Council Continued on Page 14
TRIPLE CROWN: Members of the Hun School baseball team are all smiles after they defeated Lawrence High 10-2 in the Mercer County Tournament championship game last Thursday night at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. Hun, which won the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) title earlier this spring and went on to win the Prep A state championship last weekend, became the first team in program history to win all three crowns in the same season. For more details on the postseason run by the Raiders, see page 32. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)