Volume LXXIII, Number 5
Valentine’s Day Pages 18 & 19 New Series at Morven Glimpses Great Homes, Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Marking the Year of the Pig . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Listening to Eddie Lang on the Eve of Schubert's Birthday . . . . . . . . . . 14 No . 1 PU Women’s Squash Primed for Ivy Showdowns . . . . . . . . 25 Hun Girls’ Swimming Wins 1st County Crown . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Music Teacher Alex Mitnick Ignites Passion at Princeton Montessori School . . . . 8 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 24 Classified Ads . . . . . . 35 Dining & Entertainment. . 22 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Music/Theater . . . . . . 15 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 33 Profiles in Education . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 35 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Bayard Rustin Center Opens Its Doors, Seeks Social Justice for All
In the spirit of the legendary civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, whose homosexuality caused him to face intense discrimination during his lifetime, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRC), settling into its new home on Wiggins Street behind the HiTOPS building, is reaching out to provide support to all who seek its services. Remodeled as a community space for gatherings, the BRC will be hosting a panel presentation tonight, January 30, at 6:30-8:30 p.m on LGBTQI Cultural Competencies, including information about language and definition of terms associated with the LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning, intersex) community — just one of many events planned for the new center. “I wanted our kids and families to have open space to have rainbow dances, screenings, lectures, workshops, and symposiums,” said BRC Founder and Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber. “I want it to be a community activist center and a safe space for all.” Sponsored by the BRC, the Princeton Public Library, PFLAG Princeton, and HiTOPS, tonight’s session, moderated by Seda-Schreiber, will include discussion of definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity and how the two interact; a primer on pronouns; the LGBTQI experience, hetero-normativity, gender binary, and privilege; changing our systems, policies, and procedures to be inclusive and non-binary; and how to be a good ally to the LGBTQI community. Panelists will include HiTOPS Program Manager Alex Aikens, PFLAG/TNET Princeton member Michele Mazakas, and others. “This is about how we name ourselves and each other,” said Seda-Schreiber. “It’s about who we are and making sure we see no one else as the other. We do this by listening and asking questions.” “We need a place where all can come and move forward together,” states the BRC website www.rustincenter.org, “galvanizing each other to be and to do our best, to be our most loving and most understanding selves, both individually and collectively.” It continues, “We need an environment wherein kids (and adults) will learn and Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Council Tables Witherspoon Parking Ordinance Having received numerous emails and listened to concerns from business owners and residents about an ordinance which would make meters along Witherspoon Street in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood available for all-day parking, Princeton Council opted to delay discussion and action on the measure. Several members of the public took to the microphone at Council’s meeting on Monday, January 28, to air their views about the proposal. Additional topics included the delay in restoration of Dinky service, and a bill, scheduled for Senate vote, that would give public utilities and cable companies the authority to cut down trees on public and private properties during extreme weather events. Regarding the Witherspoon Street parking ordinance, Mayor Liz Lempert said a public hearing is still set for February 11, but action would not be taken at that time. “The reason why we are doing this is to help our businesses,” she said. “It helps to hear from all of you when we aren’t helping. It helps to hear there has to be turnover in that section. We issued a public notice for the ordinance hearing next month. So we will still hold that
public hearing, but we won’t act on the ordinance when it comes up.” Part of the controversial parking overhaul that has been the subject of much discussion, the Witherspoon Street meters currently allow parking for three hours. Making them available for all day, likely to be taken by employees of businesses on Nassau and neighboring streets, would have a negative effect on Witherspoon Street businesses. Jackie Fay, owner of the Grit + Polish beauty
salon at 160 Witherspoon Street, said that if short-term parking is taken away, her customers will have nowhere to park. “I understand the big parking problems in the uptown section, but your ordinance will barely make a dent in things, affecting 30 spaces while forcing me and others out of business,” she said. The parking spots would be taken by 9 a.m., well before her salon’s peak hours of 12 to 5 p.m. “As of now, my business requires five to seven Continued on Page 11
Princeton Fire Department Plans To Combat Dwindling Volunteerism With the numbers of volunteers in a steady decline over the past several years, Princeton may be heading away from an all-volunteer fire department to a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters. In the coming months the Princeton Council will be considering proposals to hire personnel to help support the declining numbers of volunteer firefighters, according to Princeton Municipal Administrator Marc Dashield. “We’re having problems getting volun-
teers,” said Robert Gregory, Princeton director of emergency services. “There’s been a significant drop in numbers.” Gregory cited several challenges facing the fire department, including young, inexperienced drivers; lack of available affordable housing, with many volunteers living out of town and being unable to respond quickly; and Princeton being a town with over 50 percent professional people and travelers who are often not home. “We’re not the only town that faces this,” Gregory said. He pointed out that Continued on Page 4
NO TRAIN COMING: The track remains empty at Princeton Station as the Dinky shuttle train is now expected to be out of service until the spring. Riders share how the Dinky’s closure has affected their commute in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
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