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COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG

JANUARY 2021 FREE

Housing nixed for Hughes site

Mosaic of West Windsor History project aims to collect community voices, stories

Tract to welcome commercial development

BY SAM SCIARROTTA

Shikha Rastogi has always been dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion. A few years ago, she was finally able to formalize her passion. Two years ago, the West Windsor resident founded SR Mosaic, a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying diverse voices and promoting empathy and awareness of different cultures. “The idea for the foundation goes back multiple years,” she said. “Five women came together. Our mission statement is to bring the diverse community together—it can be through community events, cultural workshops, fundraising activities.” When Paul Ligeti of the Historical Society of West Windsor approached her with an idea that seemed to cover all of those bases, she jumped at the chance to help out. Together, they head the Voices of West Windsor project, a collaboration between the historical society and SR Mosaic that aims to allow people from all cultures tell their stories about life in West Windsor. The initiative started in See VOICES, Page 10

BY SAM SCIARROTTA

Satya Badeti is one of the founding members of the Plainsboro Mask Squad. Its volunteers handsewed 2,200 facemasks last year.

Squad sews for a cause BY SAM SCIARROTTA

What started as a couple of friends trying to do some good during a pandemic turned into thousands of masks sewn by dozens of volunteers. Abhilasha Gupta, Satya Badeti and Elizabeth Cheniara got together (virtually) last year to start the Plainsboro Mask Squad, a collective of local women who coordinated efforts to sew over

2,000 protective facemasks for 40 organizations across the country. “I was just seeing on social media that doctors and other healthcare workers were in shortage of [personal protective equipment],” Gupta said. “I was feeling restless thinking about the situation.” So she started to think about making PPE, specifically cloth masks, herself. Gupta knew how to sew, but she didn’t have her own

machine—until she found out someone she knew was getting rid of one. Gupta scooped it up and started working with her daughter to make masks in their free time. “More and more people reached out, and I thought, ‘How could I do more?’” Gupta said. She immediately thought of her friend, Badeti, who owns a tailoring business. As See SQUAD, Page 6

Housing won’t be coming to the former Howard Hughes site. West Windsor Township announced last month that it entered into a settlement agreement with Atlantic Realty Development Corporation to resolve pending litigation regarding the former Howard Hughes tract at Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road. The 653-acre tract will be developed for commercial use. The agreement makes official a statement made by Atlantic Realty earlier this year. After the company purchased the site from the Howard Hughes Corporation for $40 million in October 2019, it told West Windsor officials that it would keep housing off the tract. “We want to thank Atlantic Realty President David Halpern and his entire team for being open to new development ideas since purchasing the Howard Hughes property,” said West Windsor Mayor Hemant Marathe in a township press release. “It See HUGHES, Page 9

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