Volume LXXIII, Number 43
Poetry Festival Features an International Array of Poets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Third Person Charged in Illegal Dumping Case . . 10 Golden Age of Harlem Comes Alive at McCarter . . . . . . . . . 10 PU Orchestra Begins Season with Percussion Concerto . . . . . . . . . . . 18 McCarter Theatre Presents Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . . . . . . . 19 No . 6 PU Women’s Hockey Opening 2019-20 Campaign This Weekend . . . . . . . . .28 Stuart Field Hockey Makes Inspiring Run to MCT Title Game . . . . . .32
Legendary N .Y . Knicks Coach Red Holzman Is the Subject of This Week's Book Review . . . . . . . . 17 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .22, 23 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 25 Classified Ads . . . . . . 39 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Music/Theater . . . . . . 20 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 37 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Environmental Forum, Sustainable Princeton Fight Climate Change “It’s Getting Hot Out There…Weird Weather and Other Climate Change Anomalies” is the title of a panel discussion at the upcoming Princeton Environmental Forum, and as the planet seems to be heating up rapidly, environmental action is intensifying on both sides of Nassau Street. The Forum, beginning this Thursday, October 24 at 4:30 p.m. and continuing through the day on October 25 at Alexander Hall’s Richardson Auditorium, will feature an array of more than 40 speakers and seven different panels, including mostly Princeton University faculty leaders and alumni who are making significant contributions in the environmental field. The Forum, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI), will open with remarks from Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, followed by a panel discussion focused on major environmental challenges we currently face, according to PEI Director and Professor of Environmental Studies and Civil and Environmental Engineering Michael Celia. Friday’s conference will include panel discussions on climate change (its impacts and possible solutions), biodiversity, water, the role of environmental humanities, and a concluding session on how to break the current logjams which prevent meaningful action both nationally and locally. Andrew Winston, a 1991 Princeton University graduate and noted speaker and author on the topic of sustainable businesses, will deliver the lunch keynote address Friday on “Megatrends and the Big Pivot: Doing Business in a Hotter, Scarcer, More Open and Connected World.” Celia noted that the different panels represent key environmental issues that also correspond to major areas of strength in Princeton University’s program. “We are building significant strength in the environmental humanities,” he wrote in an email, “so we decided to make this an explicit topic of one of the panels, even though most of the panels will include both social science and humanities elements.” He continued, “We decided to highlight our efforts in the humanities to emphasize the point that complex environmental Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Alexander Closure Begins November 6 When dangerously deteriorated structural conditions on the Alexander Street bridge closed the roadway for several days last April, Princeton municipal leaders and local police were taken by surprise. But this time around, the town has gotten plenty of notice. Starting Wednesday, November 6, and continuing for an estimated 135 days, Alexander Street will be closed between Lawrence Drive in Princeton to Canal Pointe Boulevard in West Windsor. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), owner of the D&R Canal Bridge, has contracted with Anselmi & DeCicco, Inc. to replace the bridge
structure. Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (MCDOTI) has contracted with Marbro, Inc. to replace the truss bridge over Stony Brook and a stream culvert located south of Lawrence Drive. This weekend, from 8 p.m. Friday, October 25 through 5 a.m. Sunday, or earlier if possible, the road will be closed for preparatory work. In the meantime, variable message boards have been warning motorists for weeks of the impending 135-day closure. A special website (bridgeclosure.princeton.edu) has been posted by Princeton
READY FOR HALLOWEEN: Costumes were encouraged on Saturday afternoon at Tricks and Treats, hosted by the Arts Council of Princeton and the Princeton Shopping Center . The free event featured Halloween-inspired art activities, live music, and sweet treats . Participants share their all-time favorite Halloween costumes in this week’s Town Talk on Page 6 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
University, and there is a link on the municipal site (princetonnj.gov) devoted to the project. Princeton Police Chief Nick Sutter is urging residents to follow traffic updates, once the road is closed, on the department’s Nixle, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. “The roads are going to be very congested,” he said at a press conference Monday, October 21. “When it comes to volume, it’s going to be tough. But we’re doing everything we can to be ready.” Representatives from the Princeton Continued on Page 9
Theological Seminary Will Pay $27M For Slavery Reparations Princeton Theological Seminary has announced a commitment of more than $27M to be spent on scholarships, new hires, and a multi-year action plan as “acts of repentance” for its ties to slavery. Amidst a national debate, which has involved presidential candidates, legislators, educational institutions, and others, over what is owed to the descendants of slaves by those who benefited from slavery, last Friday’s announcement was a response to a report published by the Seminary in October 2018 after conducting a two-year historical audit. “The report was an act of confession,” said Dean of Students and Student Relations Vice President John White. “These responses are intended as acts of repentance that will lead to lasting impact within our community. This is the beginning of the process of repair that will be ongoing.” The Seminary’s historical audit on slavery “points to the complexity and contradiction inherent in the Seminary’s story and in our national story,” the report noted. The audit revealed that the Seminary, founded in 1812, did not own slaves, and its buildings were not constructed with slave labor, though it benefited from an economy that “was thoroughly driven by slave labor and production.” There were investments in mid-19th century banks and donors who profited from slavery. Several of the first professors and board members either owned slaves or used slave labor at certain points in their lives. The faculty and many board members were deeply involved in the American Colonization Society, which Continued on Page 12