Volume LXIX, Number 38 Battlefield Ribbon-Cutting Celebrates Acquisition of D’Ambrisi Property . . . 7 Adapted from 1956 Film, Tennessee Williams’s Baby Doll Comes to McCarter . . . . . . . . . . 21 Author of Fin-de-siècle Vienna, Carl Emil Schorske, Princeton University Professor of History, Emeritus, Dies at 100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 William Alfred Stoltzfus, Jr., a Career Diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Posting First SeasonOpening Victory Since 2006, PU Football Looks Sharp in Routing Lafayette 40-7 . . . . . . 29 With Simon-Ponte Making Immediate Impact, PDS Girls’ Soccer Maintaining Winning Ways . . . . . . 33
Remembering Princeton University’s Prize-Winning Poet C.K. Williams (19362015) . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Area Exhibits . . . . . . . 20 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 27 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Concierge Directory . . 43 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 40 Music/Theater . . . . . . 22 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 28 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 37 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Weddings . . . . . . . . . . 12
www.towntopics.com
Tests Still Pending On Contaminants At AvalonBay Site Officials in Princeton are still waiting to learn the results of testing regarding contamination at the construction site of the AvalonBay rental community on Witherspoon Street. Piles of dirt have been covered up and are being wet down daily, and activity has ceased while testing is done regarding the presence of PCBs and PAHs, revealed earlier this month. “We have not received an update today,” municipal administrator Marc Dashield said on Monday afternoon. “However, we anticipate that we will receive some information sometime this week. We continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis.” AvalonBay has sent out samples for secondary testing. Princeton officials met with the Department of Environmental Protection about the situation early last week. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyl; and PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are both considered dangerous health risks. During an update on the situation at a meeting of Princeton Council September 15, Mayor Liz Lempert said that work at the site was stopped originally because of an accident when a worker fell into an elevator shaft on August 11, before officials were made aware of the presence of harmful chemicals. Council President Bernie Miller commented about communications from the developer. “We’re frustrated by the lack of information from AvalonBay,” he said. “The silence, the absence of a cooperative working relationship really concerns me. We need to make it clear to them that the worst thing they can do in a situation like this is to sit on whatever problem they’ve got and not be forthcoming about it. When they do it, people begin to think, what is the worst case I can be faced with?” Municipal engineer Bob Kiser said that he has been in touch with the developer. “They have said they will share test results with us and the Whitman firm,” he said, referring to environmental consultant Ira Whitman, whose company is monitoring the construction activity. “And Whitman has people on site every day to make sure it’s properly maintained.” Anita Garoniak, who lives very close to the site, asked how the situation came to the town’s attention. “We’re very concerned as neighbors,” she said, adding Continued on Page 16
75¢ at newsstands
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Council Postpones Parking Ordinance
Princeton Council has tabled an ordinance that would have set new rates for the Spring Street Garage behind Princeton Public Library. At a meeting on September 15, the governing body decided further investigation is needed before a vote is taken on the measure, which proposes eliminating the library’s policy of two hours free parking for cardholders and replacing it with one hour free parking for all. Currently anyone parking in the garage gets a half hour for free. One purpose of the ordinance would be to stop those noncardholders who abuse the policy by getting their tickets stamped in the library, allowing them to have two hours of free parking. “The world is full of cheaters,” said resident Deborah Thomas, one of several members of the public who spoke against the policy. Changing the fees would be an unfair “bait and switch” that would penalize less affluent library users who count on the two hours of free parking, she added. Resident Howard Silbersher said he took an unofficial survey of library patrons, asking them what they thought of the proposed ordinance. Six were in favor, 50 were not, and mothers with small children who make extensive use of the library’s programs were particularly upset and angry at the prospect.
Council President Bernie Miller recalled that when the library was expanded and rebuilt more than a decade ago, there was considerable debate about whether to relocate it to the Princeton Shopping Center or rebuild on its footprint in the downtown. “Those who contributed to the construction of the library were promised by both municipalities [former Borough and Township] that if the library was located at its present location on Witherspoon Street, library cardholders would receive two hours of free parking in the garage,” he said. “That is the context of where we are today. That context needs to be considered when we take a look at the fee structure.”
Princeton Public Library director Leslie Burger said there was a misconception that the library was anxious to stop having to validate parking tickets. The library, which installed a self-validation machine last May, is willing to continue the validation process and keep the two-hour guarantee for cardholders, she said. When free parking was temporarily suspended in 2007 because the former Borough and Township could not agree on the subsidy, attendance at the building “plummeted,” Ms. Burger recalled. “After 12 months the Borough and Township agreed to provide two hours of parking in perpetuity.” She added, “I’m all for barrier-free access to Continued on Page 15
Plans Still Uncertain for Post Office But Retail or Restaurant Expected By about November 1, Princeton’s branch of the United States Post Office (USPS) should be relocated to the rear of the former West Coast Video store at 259 Nassau Street. But the fate of its longtime home on Palmer Square has yet to be finalized, according to information provided at a public hearing during a meeting of Princeton Council on September 15. Greg Lackey, a representative of the USPS in Washington, D.C., said that cer-
tain easements need to be granted before the sale of the building can be completed. LCOR Ventures, based in Oakland, California, is the buyer, and has indicated that a retail or restaurant operation would be likely to take over the building. “The buyer can’t purchase until the title issues are resolved,” he said. “At this point, the buyer is not obligated to buy it. We could possibly have to go back and solicit a new buyer.” Continued on Page 17
A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL: Authors and their young readers are having fun at the Princeton Public Library’s Children’s Book Festival on Hinds Plaza Saturday. In this week’s Town Talk you can find out what they discovered and which authors they connected with. (Photo by Emily Reeves)
New Showroom 38 East Broad Street Hopewell, NJ (609) 333-0610
JENNIFER KOH, violin
GRACEFUL PAIRINGS Sunday, September 27 4pm princetonsymphony.org
MMG014_SIS_AD_Strip_r1.indd 1
9/8/15 11:17 AM
ROSSEN MILANOV Music Director
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 | 9:00Health am - 1:00Fair pm Saturday 9/26 Community OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Princeton Location
See page 11.
Community HEALTH FAIR