Volume LXX, Number 4 New Terminal for Trenton Mercer Airport . . . . . . 7 Snowy Night Meditations on the Stories of Chekhov and the Films of Turkish Director Ceylan . . . . . 15 Gladys Isabel Lewis (Lady Lewis), 98, Wife of NobelPrize-Winning Economist Sir Arthur Lewis, Dies . . . . 29 Tiger Men’s Basketball Primed for Ivy Tests Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 PDS Girls’ Hoops , Senior Healey Develops Into Solid Performer . . . . . 27
New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Ashley Bouder Teaches a Master Class at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio . . . 14 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 31 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Music/Theater . . . . . . 14 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 29 Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 31 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Service Directory . . . . 30 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Council Postpones Bond Ordinance Vote On Open Space Land Princeton Council decided Monday night to postpone until February 8 a decision on the $4.4 million purchase of a 20.4-acre parcel of vacant land between Mt. Lucas Road and Route 206. The land, slated to be preserved as open space, would be purchased with $2.2 million funding from the Mercer County Open Space Fund, $153,000 from the Williams Transco Pipeline project, $100,000 from Friends of Princeton Open Space, and additional funds from the NJ Green Acres Program, with little or no municipal funding required, according to municipal administrator Marc Dashield. Council’s plans for the purchase were derailed, at least temporarily, by Governor Chris Christie’s decision to delay release of the Green Acres funds in order to make them a part of the budget process, rather than a decision of the legislature. The debate in Trenton continues, according to Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, not about whether Princeton will receive the Green Acres money but over how the Green Acres funding will be determined. “The message I got was that the money would be there,” she said. The two-week postponement in approving the ordinance would make the February 15 closing date impossible and perhaps jeopardize the purchase. Council will seek further assurances of the Green Acres funding before their February 8 meeting. The bond would not take effect, and the closing could not take place, until 20 days after the Council passes the bond ordinance. The land, which would be purchased from Princeton Land Development LLC, would be added as open space to the Princeton Ridge Preserve, and the development company has agreed to abandon its application and plans for construction of 36 townhouses on the property. Five of the six Council members, as well as the mayor, who cannot vote on this issue except in the case of a tie, spoke in favor of the purchase, as did several residents who contributed during the public commentary period. Bernie Miller was the one Council member clearly opposed to the ordinance, claiming “we’ve exceeded the goal of the Master Plan for open space, but we continue to acquire open space.” Mr. Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Town Digs Out After Massive Winter Storm
As the sun finally emerged following one of the worst snow storms in the history of the Eastern seaboard, Sunday was a day of transition in Princeton, where 22 inches of snow were reported according to the National Weather Service. Early in the day the snow and wind, which had reached blizzard conditions Saturday evening, subsided, The state of emergency was lifted, flood waters at the shore subsided, power outages were restored, and Governor Chris Christie returned to New Hampshire after a twoday interruption in his presidential primary campaigning. People emerged from their houses, many for the first time in more than 36 hours, and the massive snow-shoveling project began, along with some sledding, snowball fights, and snowman making. Almost all area schools were closed Monday, but New Jersey Transit trains and buses, which had been suspended for much of the weekend, were back in operation, with some delays, and area airports were gradually restoring normal service. “This was a tough one,” said Princeton Director of Infrastructure and Operations
Robert Hough. The local public works road crews of about 35 were on duty from 9 p.m. Friday straight through to mid-day Sunday, and they were back Monday morning continuing with snow removal and clean-up. “The biggest problem was that the snow continued to come, one wave of snow after another,” Mr. Hough described. “It was a very big event, one of the worst I’ve seen, but the crews came through.” Main roads were passable by the time of Sunday morning’s lifting of a travel ban,
but many side streets were still snow-covered, parking on many streets was impossible, and mountains of snow everywhere made visibility and walking difficult. Sunday night and early Monday frigid temperatures made for dangerously icy conditions, but puddles of slush began to mix with ice as warmer temperatures arrived Monday afternoon and Tuesday. Road crews were focused Monday and Tuesday on clearing one-way streets and other locations where emergency vehicles Continued on Page 6
Fraga Announces Bid for Council While Simon Decides Not to Run The list of Democratic candidates for Princeton Council continues to grow, with Leticia Fraga, the former chairperson of Mayor Liz Lempert’s re-election campaign, the latest to announce her intention to run. But Council member Patrick Simon, who was considering re-election to the governing body or a run for mayor, announced last week that he has opted to do neither. “After careful consideration, I have decided that I will not seek reelection
to Princeton Council this year, and also that I will not seek election to the office of mayor of Princeton,” Mr. Simon said in an email. “Instead, I will focus my efforts in 2016 on serving out the remainder of my current term on Princeton’s municipal council to the best of my ability. I am very grateful to the members of the Princeton community who have stepped forward to run for local office, incumbents and newcomers alike, and to those others Continued on Page 8
WINTER LIGHT: After Saturday’s storm a picture-postcard snow scene graces the grounds in front of the Graduate College’s Cleveland Tower . Princeton residents talk about their favorite snow day activities in this week’s Town Talk . (Photo by Emily Reeves)