Volume LXXVIII, Number 23
Athletic Competitions Honor Memory of Isabella de la Houssaye . . 5 Tour of Princeton Cemetery Marks Completion of Preservation Project . . . .9 MCCC Designated A Hispanic-Serving Institution . . . . . . . . . 10 Reading The Trial 100 Years After Kafka’s Death . . . . . . 16 Kelsey Theatre Presents Bright Star . . . . . . . . 17 La Fiocco Closes Season With Program of Early Baroque Music . . . . . 18 Brazilian Misasi Enjoyed Ride with PU Men’s Rowing, Helping Tiger Heavyweights Take 2nd in IRA Standings . . . . . . 25 With Mathewson Thriving At 1st Singles, PHS Boys’ Tennis Makes Sectional Final . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Sarah Fry Helps PU Women’s Lightweight Varsity 8 Win IRA Title . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 22 Books . . . . . . . . . . 14, 15 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 23 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 33 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 31 Performing Arts . . . 19, 20 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
CFPA Will Feature Nation Magazine’s Katrina vanden Heuvel Katrina vanden Heuvel, publisher, editorial director, and former editor of The Nation magazine, will be the keynote speaker this Sunday, June 9, at the Coalition for Peace Action’s (CFPA) annual membership gathering at the Christ Congregation, 50 Walnut Lane, adjacent to Princeton High School. A sponsor reception with vanden Heuvel will take place from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., with the program, which will also honor three individuals for their work for peace, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. CFPA Executive Director the Rev. Robert Moore, in a June 3 phone interview, emphasized the significance of this event and the urgency of working for peace during this troubled moment in history. “It’s important to have these kinds of events where we gather and feel better informed, but also strengthened in our determination to continue with our movement and hopefully grow it,” he said. Moore went on to note the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the ongoing threat of nuclear conflict. “We’re coping with a lot of very urgent, crisis-type situations, more so than in a long time,” he said. “We need a peaceful way forward, so we’ve been advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and also for the release of the hostages.” The Princeton-based CFPA has been collaborating with sister organizations in southeastern Pennsylvania, Moore added, and has recently held Zoom meetings with six different members of Congress. “Five of the six have come out publicly in support of a ceasefire,” he said. “We feel that has been a big accomplishment.” At the June 9 gathering Moore anticipates that vanden Heuvel, who is president of the American Committee for U.S.Russian Accord and a regular columnist for The Nation and The Washington Post, will be commenting on Russia, the war in Ukraine and other current issues. “She has remained heavily involved in matters related to Russia,” he said, “and has a deep background in that area.” A 1981 Princeton University graduate, vanden Heuvel’s senior thesis was titled “American Victims: A Study of the Anti-Communist Crusade.” She was the editor of The Nation from 1995 to 2019, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on several boards,
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Bike-Friendly Princeton Welcomes All Cyclists May was Bike Month, with National Ride a Bike Day, Bike to School Day, and Bike to Work Day and Week; Monday, June 3 was World Bicycle Day; and Princeton continues to celebrating all forms of biking, with many different organizations and individuals working to make cycling increasingly accessible and safe in the town. “Biking is a great way to get around,” notes Sustainable Princeton on its website. “It’s lower impact than running, faster than walking, and more exciting (and climate-friendly) than sitting in a car. More and more people are catching onto this, using bikes to commute to work, run errands, and exercise.” “The biking community is growing, and I think it will continue to grow, and that’s a good thing,” said Sustainable Princeton Executive Director Christine Symington, who does not have a car and gets around by bike. She continued, “What the town has done so far to make it safer and easier to bike is great. I really have to give credit to folks in town who prioritize biking and making the town safer to bike in. They deserve a lot of credit for pushing the town to be more bike-friendly.” Since 2016 Princeton has been designated by the League of American
Bicyclists as one of six bike-friendly communities in New Jersey, and in 2020 Princeton moved up in bike-friendly status from the bronze to the silver level. The town’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC) is currently working on Princeton’s renewal application, which is due later this month. “In addition to bicycle infrastructure and engineering, the award recognizes the policy and planning which informs Council decisions,” wrote PBAC Chair Laurie
Harmon in an email. She emphasized the priorities of education, encouragement (mainstreaming bicycling culture), equity, and accessibility. Some municipal policies that have contributed to Princeton’s distinction as a cycling town include Complete Streets (2012, updated 2019), the Bicycle Mobility Plan (2017), Climate Action Plan (2019), the Bicycle Parking Ordinance (2020), and the Vision Zero Resolution (2020), said Harmon. Continued on Page 8
Liz Lempert Lauded For Contributions to Consolidated Municipality of Princeton
Among the most significant events in Princeton’s recent history was the 2013 consolidation of the former Township and Borough into a single entity. Serving as mayor when the municipality adopted the measure, and for the ensuing eight years, was Liz Lempert, who was recognized by the town on May 22 with a tree planting and plaque in her honor. The tree is outside Witherspoon Hall, where Lempert was in office for two terms ending in 2020. On hand were Mayor Mark Freda, Princeton Council President Mia Sacks, and Councilmembers Eve Niedergang, David Cohen, Leighton
Newlin, and Michelle Pirone Lambros, along with members of the municipal staff. “I’m incredibly grateful,” Lempert said this week. “I just can’t think of a nicer, more meaningful way to be recognized. It’s a beautiful tree, and I’m looking forward to watching it grow over the years and change colors.” Sacks delivered remarks recognizing Lempert’s contributions to Princeton’s formative years as a consolidated municipality. She thanked her for “leaving behind a solid foundation,” upon which “we continue to build daily.” Continued on Page 11
KICKING OFF PRIDE MONTH: School of Rock Princeton was among the musical performers at the fourth annual Princeton Community Pride Picnic on Friday evening at Hinds Plaza. Attendees share what brought them to the event in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)
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JUNE 7-22 AT MORVEN MUSEUM & GARDEN