Volume LXXVI, Number 38
Princeton University Concerts’ “Healing with Music” series focuses on The power of music . . . 5 Sustainable Princeton’s eCommuter Fest moves to Westminster campus and expands its offerings . . 10 Artist Mario Moore presents An art talk about “The Great Reckoning . . . . . . .8 PU Football Tops Stetson 39-14 in Opener, Hosting Lehigh on Saturday . . 30 Keegan’s All-Around Play Helps PHS Field Hockey Produce 4-0 Start . . . . 33
Tom Stoppard takes The stage in this week’s Book Review . . . . . . . 18 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 40 Fall Arts. . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 17 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 25 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 38 Performing Arts . . . . . 19 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 40 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Local Schools Lead Sustainability Efforts On Multiple Fronts The Green movement is gaining momentum locally and throughout the country, and Princeton schools are taking leadership roles in showing the way towards sustainability. Princeton Montessori School announced last week that its campus is now powered primarily by solar energy; Johnson Park and Littlebrook Elementary Schools have earned Sustainable Jersey for Schools Certification; and Katherine Monroe, a senior at Princeton High School (PHS), has been selected as one of only two students in the state as a student delegate to the World Food Prize’s 2022 Global Youth Institute. Princeton Montessori on Cherry Valley Road has recently completed a year-long process, including research, procurement, and installation, and is now deriving 90 percent of its energy from the sun. Leading the school’s solar energy project, as well as the Farm-to-School program, the school’s vegetable garden and composting, Princeton Montessori Sustainability Coordinator and ecology teacher Gery Juleff emphasized the teamwork involved in bringing the project to fruition. “The key to finalizing this project was a partnership between my colleagues at the school and on the Board, including Head of School Michelle Morrison and Trustee Peter Egbert, along with our local partners the Circadia Group, Plankton Energy, and Green Power Energy,” he said. He added, “Our installation of the solar panels will enable the school to make its contribution to the fight against climate change, inspire students, and save on energy costs.” Morrison emphasized that this project connects with the Montessori philosophy with its core values of humanity’s relationship with nature and the need to help children learn to be a positive force of change in the world. “We are so proud to be modeling these values with our transition to solar energy, and we are excited to do our part to contribute to a better world,” she said. She went on to point out that in science class middle school students will be learning about solar energy and its positive impact on the environment, while math students will examine consumption Continued on Page 11
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Wednesday, September 21, 2022
ML7 Firm Has Made Offer for Westminster Campus A recent Facebook post by the Westminster Foundation updated the Westminster Choir College community about efforts to restore the school from Rider University in Lawrence Township to its former campus in Princeton. While no definitive conclusion was included, “the fight is not over and our efforts and our commitment are ongoing,” reads the post by Constance Fee, president of the Foundation. The Foundation is a coalition of alumni, students, and supporters of the choir college, which merged with Rider in 1991 and which Rider has unsuccessfully attempted to sell. The post describes an offer made to Rider by ML7, the real estate development and investment firm owned by Jeff Siegel. The firm would purchase the 22-acre campus and return Westminster to that location. ML7, which has offices in Princeton and New York, owns multiple properties in town. “Earlier this year, ML7 made a bid to purchase the campus and the choir college from Rider University,” the post reads. “Although Rider administration responded immediately to the bid, they will not engage in further negotiations with Siegel until the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) claim on Westminster’s Princeton campus is resolved. We have approached PTS about settling their claim, but they wish to await the result of the trial court’s decision on their lawsuit
and for our case to be decided by the Appellate Court.” In a story in the Rider News, a statement from Associate Vice President for University Marketing and Communications Kristine Brown said, “Rider has received many inquiries as to purchasing the Princeton property, including from ML7, but is not in a position to sell until the litigation being pursued by the Princeton Theological Seminary is resolved.” The Foundation and Rider are still
awaiting a decision from the New Jersey Appellate Division of Superior Court about an earlier dismissal of two lawsuits to block the relocation of the choir college to the Rider campus [which happened in 2020]. That hearing took place May 16. The suit from PTS claims it has beneficiary rights to the Princeton campus, because it was named as a steward of the Choir College by the person who originally donated the land for the campus in the 1930s. Continued on Page 9
Rise in Catalytic Converter Thefts Hits Princeton, Four Recent Cases The Princeton Police Department has reported four thefts of catalytic converters so far this month, from cars parked on Stanworth Lane and Lytle Street and two cars on Birch Avenue. There have been eight catalytic converter thefts in Princeton this year, according to Lieutenant Chris Tash. It’s a crime that is expensive for motorists — with replacement costs at $2,000 or more — and frustratingly difficult for police to combat. Removal of the catalytic converter takes thieves just minutes with tools readily available from hardware stores and is usually performed at night. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has reported a sharp increase in catalytic converter thefts nationwide as the value
of the precious metals they contain — platinum, palladium, or rhodium — has increased significantly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tash noted that the converters are usually sold to recyclers, scrap yards or junk yards, which will pay from $100 to $300 apiece. A catalytic converter, part of the car’s exhaust system, is designed to convert environmentally hazardous exhaust from the car’s engine into less harmful gasses. If your catalytic converter is stolen, you’ll know, from the noise and probably the fumes, Tash noted, though your car will still run. “But you’ll have to get it fixed right away,” he added. To help avoid catalytic converter theft, Continued on Page 12
GETTING CLOSER: The demolition and construction continue on Witherspoon Street between Nassau Street and Spring Street, where an improvement project has been underway for months. Despite the disruption, all of the road and sidewalk work on this stretch of the street is expected to be completed by October 31, in time for the holiday shopping season. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)