Volume LXXVIII, Number 8
Summer Camp Guide Pages 17-24 Annual Film Symposium At Rider University . . . 5 Black History Comes Alive at Arts Council Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 James Li, PU Freshman And 2023 PHS Graduate, Dies After Being Struck By Dinky Train . . . . . . 8 PU Glee Club Hosts Spiritual Ensemble . . . 13 PU Men’s Hoops Tops Yale, Tightening Up Ivy League Title Race . . . 27 Weber Stars as Undefeated PHS Girls’ Swimming Wins Sectional Title . . . . . . 30
Billie Holiday (1915-1959) Sings During Black History Month . . . . . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 25 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 36 Green and Healthy Princeton . . . . . . . . . 2, 3 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 10 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 26 Performing Arts . . .14, 15 Real Estate. . . . . . . . . 36 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Panelists to Explore Past, Present, Future Of Affordable Housing Friday, February 23 is the last day to view the exhibit devoted to the Princeton Affordable Housing Map at the Bernstein Gallery in Robertson Hall of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA). The show is being unofficially ushered out with a special panel discussion being held in the building the evening before. The past, present, and future of affordable housing in Princeton is the topic of the event featuring Fern Spruill, chair of the former Princeton Civil Rights Commission (CRC); Edward Truscelli, executive director of Princeton Community Housing; and Matt Mleczko, a Ph.D. candidate at the University, in a conversation moderated by Anastasia R. Mann, lecturer and founding director of SPIA. Admission is free and open to all. It begins with a reception from 4 to 5 p.m., followed by the panel from 5 to 6:30 p.m. While the exhibit is ending, the document that inspired it remains interactive and available online at spia.princeton. edu/events/princeton-affordable-housing-map. The map was created by the independent Princeton Affordable Housing Project in an effort to collect and record histories related to affordable housing in Princeton. The project dates back to the summer of 2020, and was borne out of a partnership with the CRC and the University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement as well as SPIA and the University’s School of Architecture. “It was weeks after the murder of George Floyd, when there was a kind of reawakening of the confronting of systemic racism in this country,” said Mleczko. “The idea was to address racial inequalities, studying housing inequities and how that relates to segregation. We were also addressing the long-term trend in the decline of the Black population here. A lot of what we had heard from neighbors and longtime residents of Princeton was that the segregation is really still ongoing.” The project “seeks to understand how stark housing inequality in the municipality came about, and provoke questions and suggestions for future development in housing,” reads a press release about the panel discussion. The map offers viewers “a tour of Princeton’s affordable Continued on Page 9
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Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Nassau Swim Club Lease Terminated After more than 50 years of welcoming swimmers to its pool in the woods off Springdale Road, the Nassau Swim Club (NSC) has received notice that Princeton University is terminating its lease as of April 23. Though faced by the challenges of declining membership and a variety of financial setbacks over the past decade, the NSC remains a much loved Princeton institution, and the current members and their families are not going to go away quietly. “Tell Princeton University that Nassau Swim Club is Worth Saving!” reads a change.org petition, posted by the NSC board, that by the morning of February 20 had gained more than 460 signatures in less than a week. “NSC is a beloved summertime tradition for many people and its loss will be felt deeply, in Princeton and beyond,” the petition states, describing PSC as “an important community asset.” “I’m very disappointed in the decision to terminate NSC’s lease because it’s a deep and irreversible loss to the town,” wrote Monica Skoge, NSC membership chair and a Princeton University graduate school alumna, in an email. “NSC is a Princeton tradition, having been around for over 50 years, and has a devoted community of past and present members.”
In addition to the petition, Skoge and a group of NSC members have mounted a membership drive and fundraising campaign. They are continuing to appeal the University’s decision despite the rejection of their January 30 request (four pages plus supporting documents) that the University not terminate the lease. In a February 19 email, Princeton University Director of Media Relations Jennifer Morrill reiterated the University’s determination to terminate the PSC lease on
April 23. The University plans to remove the pool and related structures, but does not have other immediate plans for use of the land at this time, she added. In an October 23, 2023 email, Princeton University Director of Business Services Sandra Parisi notified the NSC that the University would be exercising its right to terminate the January 13, 1970 lease agreement with NSC in six months. The email pointed out that the University and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Continued on Page 9
With New Owners, Kopp’s Cycle Prepares For Next Chapter in Its 133-Year History
Kopp’s Cycle on Spring Street, the oldest continually running bike store in the country, has been bought by Princeton Property Partners (PPP). They are looking forward to a reopening this spring in time for the cycling season. PPP has purchased the business and the property, and as it looks for possible partners in the enterprise, it will be making a few changes in carrying on the proud Kopp’s tradition that dates back to 1891. “What we’re doing is looking to find the best way to launch it into its next century,” said Andrew Capone, a consultant
working with PPP on the project. ”We are aware of the history and the good will of the business and how meaningful it is to the community.” He noted that the store has been shut down since December 1, but bike repair work has continued. Charlie Kuhn, the owner of the business, which his father Fred (Fritz) Kuhn, a cycling coach at the national and Olympic levels, purchased from the Kopp family (the original owners) in 1948, declined to be interviewed, but noted in an email that he had to retire for health reasons. “PPP has been a godsend, and they are planning Continued on Page 8
DUELING PIANOS ON ICE: Two baby grand pianos were carved entirely out of ice on Sunday afternoon on the Green at Palmer Square, and then used as bases for a frosty musical showdown by the Flying Ivories. (Photo by Sarah Teo)