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Friday November 22, 2019 vol. CXLIII no. 110
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IN TOWN
Tenants of 20 Nassau Street to lose offices, storefronts By Evelyn Doskoch Contributor
The 140 tenants of 20 Nassau Street, recently sold for $32 million to the hotel chain Graduate Hotels, are not just shocked by the news that they will soon lose their long-held office spaces and storefronts in downtown Princeton — they are outraged. “It’s scandalous, unscrupulous, heartless,” said one tenant, whose business has occupied its current 20 Nassau Street location for 34 years. On Nov. 8, several tenants received a letter from Pablo A. David of Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, the real estate developer that owns Graduate Hotels. The letter, which came after an “open house” meeting, held on Monday, Nov. 4 between tenants and the new owners, describes the options available to tenants in light of the building’s sale. “Rental rates will not change, and we recognize and respect the terms of all leases in effect,” the letter states. “If your current lease is monthto-month, know that we feel confident we can accommodate you through at least April 2020.” However, it has become clear that the transition will
not be quite so seamless. On the Chambers Street side of the building, four businesses have already shut their doors — including Gilded Lion Antiques, Pins & Needles, The Angel’s Touch Florist, and the Banmu Garden Gallery. In the next few months, others will follow. “Obviously we’re all upset,” said a representative of Bucks County Dry Goods, whose storefront on Nassau Street faces Rockefeller College. She explained that she received no direct notification of the sale and instead found out through an acquaintance that her store’s lease, set to expire in December, would not be renewed. “We’ve been here two, almost three years,” said the representative. “Our lease was up — we weren’t sure, to be honest, if we were going to sign or not — and they said, ‘no, you’re not getting a new lease.’” Others agreed that the notification process for tenants seemed abrupt or uneven. “We just learned they sold the building, and we were not really notified about that,” said the owner of CG Gallery. “On the first of November we learned we have a new landlord, and that’s basically it.” For still others, the first See NASSAU page 2
IN TOWN
STUDENT LIFE
JAMES ANDERSON / DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Actors were told that the bulding was safe to enter, as long as they entered through a back stairwell.
Triangle Club rehearsal space asbestos-free, U. confirms By James Anderson Contributor
The University has confirmed that the Triangle Club has not been at risk of asbestos exposure while rehearsing at 171 Broadmead Street, despite misleading signage early this year. The two-story brick building is located beyond the stadium and the baseball fields and formerly housed the University NOW Day Nursery. UNOW, which has partnered with the University since 1970 and grants preference to children of University faculty and students, was moved in September 2017 to a new building across the
building but left immediately when their peers pointed out the signs at the entrance warning of asbestos. They decided to rehearse on the lawn that day instead. When the officers later asked the administration whether the building was safe, they were told to go ahead as long as they used a back stairwell rather than the main entrance. Several members have reported eye irritation and sore throats this year, and the choreographer has experienced headaches, which added to their concerns about the warning signs. See TRIANGLE page 2
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Veterans of Future Wars: The U. satire that became a national controversy Senior Writer
JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
17 of the 135 estimated construction days have passed.
Alexander Road closure causes problems for local business owners By Omar Farah Contributor
This September, as part of a collaborative infrastructure project between the New Jersey State Government and Mercer County’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, it was announced that Alexander Road would be closed for a duration of six
In Opinion
months. As of today, only 16 of the estimated 135 days of construction have elapsed. Yet the local business community is already feeling the effects of the closure. According to small business owners, the effects permeate far beyond Alexander Road and pose a serious threat to local businesses See ALEXANDER page 3
Editorial assistant Madeleine Marr continues to scrutinize gender disparities at Princeton and in academia more broadly, while columnist Braden Flax criticizes Cami Anderson’s educational policies in light of her recent visit to campus and the Princeton Iranian Students Association speaks out on recent protests in Iran.
In 1936, the Veterans of Future Wars began on the University campus as a joke between a handful of students, but soon exploded into a nation-wide phenomenon before collapsing, all in a little over a year. Named as a jab at the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, the Veterans of Future Wars started as a satirical movement protesting the early payout of controversial “soldiers’ bonuses” to World War I veterans, as well as the possibility of the United States entering another war. They argued that, as long as Congress was handing out money, they ought to grant a soldiers’ bonus to every man between the ages of 18 and 35. The VFW reasoned that, since all men in that age group could potentially be drafted and possibly die in future wars, they should receive their bonuses in advance while they were alive to enjoy them. The movement was sparked in March 1936 when two roommates, Urban Joseph Peters Rushton ’36 and Lewis Jefferson Gorin, Jr., ’36, attended a film screening. Before the film began, the theater played a newsreel reporting on the Adjusted Service Compensation Act (ASCA), which sped up the payment of soldiers’ bonuses (totaling $2 bil-
lion) to World War I veterans, or almost $36.5 billion in today’s dollars. This accelerated payout struck Gorin and Rushton as irresponsible, as so many were still suffering from the hardships of the Great Depression. The two roommates met up with a group of friends and drafted a manifesto, which they published in The Daily Princetonian. At first, the document attracted little notice, but the group continued to publish ads — such as the one above from May 1936 — and newspapers across the country began to publish stories. Within weeks, what had started as a joke between frustrated students had become a national phenomenon. With the bloody shadow of World War I still looming over the country, the VFW’s cynical anti-war satire resonated with students across the country, who were scared of becoming cannon-fodder in another overseas conflict. Students at Vassar College attempted to form “the Association of Gold Star Mothers of the Veterans of Future Wars,” a group which would buy any mothers, or potential mothers, “an immediate trip to Europe … to view the future burying places of their present and future children.” The Vassar students’ efforts caused a “firestorm” and were denounced by Vassar Presi-
Today on Campus 12:00 p.m.: Join Robbie LeDesma for “The Science of Food Preservation,” a workshop in which attendees will learn about pickling as a means of food preservation. StudioLab
dent Henry Noble MacCracken as a “breach of good taste.” The campus organizer, Mary Converse, was prohibited from forming an organization by that or any other parody name. Many other university administrations followed suit. “I don’t think anyone intended for it to be more than a joke,” said Joseph Fronczak, a history professor at the University, who includes the Veterans of Future Wars in his U.S. foreign relations class. “It’s just so cynical and ironic,” he said, referring to the group’s gloomy message that “war was imminent.” “They were a little condescending to the press. They were, to some degree, disrespectful of those who disagreed with them. And this is in the 30’s, so you imagine people are wearing suits and smoking pipes by the fire: you expect to be earnest. Instead they were this scathing critique of war, but also of the super-patriotic, worthier-thanthou attitude of some veterans groups who were lobbying for bonuses.” He added that part of what makes the group so interesting is their lack of a clear political alignment. “They don’t quite map out as left or right … they weren’t really even isolationists. They were idSee VETERANS page 3
WEATHER
By Rose Gilbert
PAGE 6
street. The building did contain undisturbed asbestos, but it was removed between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1 this year. “Some of the floor tile and some of the materials used to adhere the floor tile contain asbestos that is firmly bound into the matrix of the material,” Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Robin Izzo wrote. “A licensed abatement contractor removed floor tile in some of the renovation areas with a licensed consultant inspecting and monitoring the work activities.” The week of removal, a few Triangle members entered the
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