Volume LXXVIII, Number 26
From PHS to Carnegie Hall, Amy Lin is Both Pianist and Scientist . . . 5 Advocates Want to Expand Seasonal Ban On Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers . . . . . . . . 7 PHS 101: Fund Awards 30 Scholarships . . . . . 10 Celebrating Bloomsday With James Joyce and John Lennon . . . . . . . 13 The Sebastians Perform at Trinity Church . . . . . . 14 Princeton Festival Presents “An Evening with Santino Fontana” . . . . 15 PU Men’s Hoops Alum Maddox Achieves Olympic Dream, Making the U.S. 3x3 Hoops Squad For Paris Games . . . . 21 Getting Up to Speed In His 2nd College Campaign, PHS Alum Doran Starred for Williams Men’s Lax . . . 23
Barbara Johnson, Former Princeton Resident and Town Topics Associate Editor, Dies at 92 . . . . 28 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 29 July Preview . . . . . . . 2, 3 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 28 Performing Arts . . . . . 18 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 29 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Transit Study and Sewer Improvements Approved by Council A comprehensive community transit program study, focused on how the routes of Princeton’s mini buses can be more effectively used, was approved by Princeton Council at a meeting on Monday, June 24. A resolution to retain Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc., which the town has utilized in the past, was unanimously approved by the governing body. The idea has been in the works for several years. The goal is to design a program pairing Princeton’s free Muni transit with services “not currently utilized in order to maximize access for all Princeton residents,” Deputy Administrator Deanna Stockton wrote in a memo to Council on June 18. “Consideration will be given to optimize service connections with Princeton University’s Tiger Transit.” Council President Mia Sacks thanked members of the Public Transit Advisory Committee and Sustainable Princeton for their work on the initiative. “We are going to be looking at how our routes can more effectively connect people to places they want to go, so we don’t have empty buses riding around every hour,” she said. “We are looking forward to hearing results from Nelson\Nygaard, which will be implemented next year.” Council also passed two resolutions related to upgrading the existing sewer systems. Arcadis, U.S. Inc. and Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson Inc. were awarded agreements having to do with pump station improvements and the documentation of maintenance holes in flood hazard areas. “This is important not just for maintenance, but as a response to climate change,” said Councilman David Cohen. “We need these pump stations. With rising flooding, these locations are particularly vulnerable. This is a real climate change/sustainability thing.” Council approved a resolution supporting a grant application for improvements on North Harrison Street. The municipal aid grant, from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), would be for resurfacing and widening of sidewalks, and narrowing of the travel lanes between Nassau and Franklin streets, an area where speeding is a problem and pedestrian safety is a concern. Stockton said notification on obtaining the grant would come in November. Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Triumph Brewery Set to Open This Weekend The former post office on Palmer Square is ready for its long-awaited rebirth as the Triumph Brewing Company, with reopening scheduled for this weekend, according to Triumph representative Eric Nutt. It’s been a difficult birthing process since a plan for renovating the old post office was first presented to the Princeton Planning Board in 2017, but Nutt urges the hungry, thirsty, and/or curious to watch the triumphbrewing.com website for details about the reopening. It could be this Friday, he hinted, but certainly by the last day of the month on Sunday. “It won’t be a huge grand opening,” he said. “It’s a soft opening. We’ll build gradually, organically. It will be nice to have a full-service restaurant and brewery back open in Princeton. We’re anxious to get back open.” In a phone conversation on Monday afternoon, Kevin Wilkes, managing partner of Princeton Design Guild, one of four architecture firms involved in the project, announced, “We have our final certification of occupancy issued by the Municipality of Princeton.” He continued, “The Triumph organization is busy training staff this very moment.” He noted that hiring had been a challenge, and there’s still a “Now Hiring”
notice on the website, seeking applications online for all hourly positions. “It did take many months for them to solicit applications, hold interviews, and make selections,” he said, but most of the positions are now filled. Wilkes noted, however, that the operations side of the business is not part of his job description. “My primary responsibility is to turn the post office into a brewery and restaurant,” he said, and that has been a matter not of months, but years.
Originally constructed in 1934, the Palmer Square post office was targeted for closing in 2013. The post office was relocated to a smaller location behind the 7-11 on eastern Nassau Street in 2015, and the Palmer Square building was sold to a private developer. The process, since approval by the Planning Board in 2017, has been challenging, according to Wilkes. “We had to go through state approval of the historic preservation plan, state approval of the Continued on Page 9
Opportunities Abound to Celebrate America’s 248th Anniversary
With July 4 falling on a Thursday this year, celebrations of the holiday are being stretched into something more substantial than the traditional three-day weekend. In fact, the lead-up to Independence Day has been building, both locally and beyond, since Juneteenth observances were held a few weeks ago. From fireworks in Skillman on Thursday, June 26 to a public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Trenton on Monday, July 8 — the site, day, and time where it was first read in 1776 — there are many opportunities to celebrate the anniversary of the American colonies’
official separation from Great Britain 248 years ago. But the focus is July 4. In Princeton, the biggest celebration that day is at Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton Street, where the annual Fourth of July Jubilee will feature activities connecting history and civic engagement. It was Morven, after all, that hosted delegates of the Continental Congress. The historic house was also home to Richard Stockton, one of the Declaration’s signers, and later served as New Jersey’s first governor’s mansion. The festival, from 12 to 3 p.m., includes Continued on Page 8
CELEBRATING PRIDE: Despite the excessive heat, the annual Princeton Pride Parade, sponsored by the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ), made its way from the Municipal Building on Witherspoon Street to an After-Party at the Princeton YMCA on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of BRCSJ)