Volume LXXVI, Number 27
Local Pollinator Project Launched by FOPOS . . 5 Warrior-Scholar Boot Camp at Princeton University . . . . . . . . . . 7 Princeton Summer Theater Presents The Great Gatsby . . 13 Director of Athletics Quirk Retires After Decades Leading Hun Sports . . 23 PFC Barcelona Primed For Nationals, Sparked By Partnership of Matar Grandi, Matese . . . . . 25
Going Places With Bob Dylan’s Acclaimed Song “Key West” . . . . . . . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 28 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 27 Performing Arts . . . . . 14 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 28 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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PU Math Professors Win Fields, Gauss, And Abacus Awards Princeton University Mathematics Professor June Huh has been awarded the 2022 Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) for his work in transforming the field of geometric combinatorics. At the July 5 award ceremony in Helsinki, Finland, Huh and three other mathematicians received the Fields Medals — which are presented every four years to researchers under the age of 40 — honoring their past achievements and their promise of future accomplishments. At the same ceremony, Princeton University Professors Mark Braverman and Elliott Lieb were also honored by the IMU with awards for their contributions to mathematics and related fields. Braverman received the Abacus Medal for achievement in mathematical aspects of information science, and Lieb received the Gauss Prize for mathematical contributions with significant applications outside the field. The IMU Fields Medal citation noted that Huh, “using methods of Hodge theory, tropical geometry, and singularity theory, with his collaborators, has transformed the field of geometric combinatorics.” Before joining the Princeton faculty in 2021, Huh was a professor at Stanford University from 2020 to 2021 and earlier a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and at Princeton. He was born in California in 1983, but grew up in Korea, where he dropped out of high school to devote his efforts to writing poetry. He received his undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy at Seoul National University (SNU). Under the mentorship of Fields Medalist Heisuke Hironaka, Huh transitioned into the field of mathematics, earned a master’s degree at SNU in 2009, and eventually went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2014. Since then he has received numerous awards for his work in mathematics. Huh is “a remarkable mathematician whose work is reshaping the field of geometric combinatorics,” said Princeton University Mathematics Professor and Department Chair Igor Rodnianski, as quoted in a press release from Princeton University’s Office of Communications. “His mathematical talent is only matched by his amazing ability as a communicator. Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, July 6, 2022
West Windsor Planners Approve Warehouse Project Last week, the West Windsor Township Planning Board approved the first phase of a 5.5 million-square-foot development along U.S. Route 1, Clarksville Road, and Quakerbridge Road. The vote in favor of the sprawling project was not unexpected. “We weren’t surprised by the outcome,” said resident Tirza Wahrman, among the residents who registered concerns about traffic, stormwater management, and other issues during public comment at the Planning Board’s June 1 meeting. The Planning Board voted 6-2 in favor of the initial phase, which includes three warehouses totaling 3 million square feet with a combined 461 loading docks and 507 trailer parking spaces. The second phase, which proposes four warehouses, has not yet come up for approval. The applicant, Bridge Point WW LLC, also lists 150,000 square feet of retail space, 192,000 square feet of office space, a multi-pump gas station, and two hotels as part of the project. There are 45 days to appeal the decision once the final conditions are registered. “There are a lot of very, very unhappy residents, so it is very possible that a group will file an appeal,” Wahrman said Tuesday.
Construction of warehouses cannot begin until the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) approves a connection between a new road on the property and Route 1. Additional permits are needed from the Department of Environmental Protection for wetlands disturbance and flood hazard area control. At the June 27 meeting of Princeton Council, Mayor Mark Freda said he and Councilwoman Mia Sacks were keeping an eye on the project and urged Princeton
residents to be aware of its potential impacts. In an email on Tuesday, Sacks said, “We anticipate that a final resolution will soon be adopted by the West Windsor Planning Board with a significant number of conditions. Princeton will be focused on the conditions related to traffic congestion, stormwater, and potential impact to drinking water.” Wahrman said those opposed to the project welcome the input of neighboring Continued on Page 8
Joint Effort Safe Streets 2022 Plans Nine Days of Celebrations in August
“Dedicated to the memory of our ancestors,” Joint Effort Safe Streets 2022 has announced nine days of tributes, education, sports, and celebration, all in the Witherspoon-Jackson (W-J) neighborhood of Princeton starting on August 5. Three “Hot Topics” discussions will highlight the proceedings with participants considering “Reparations in New Jersey” on August 9 in the Princeton Public Library; a panel on “Racism in America: What Does It Mean for Princeton?” on August 11 at the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church; and “Education, Development, Affordable Housing, Marijuana, Candidates Forum, and
More” on the agenda for August 13 at the First Baptist Church. A Gospel Music Festival and Black Family Recognition will take place at the First Baptist Church on August 7 with 12 Black Princeton families — the Broadways, the Campbells, the Edwards, the Fishers, the Livermans, the Macks, the Maddens, the Masseys, the Newlins, the Parkers, the Smiths, and the Wells — being recognized and awarded a community print. The W-J family remembrance program will recognize 12 Black Princeton families every year, said lead Joint Effort Safe Continued on Page 10
FOURTH OF JULY JUBILEE: Morven Museum & Garden’s annual Independence Day celebration, held in person for the first time since 2019, featured educational activities, games, dancing in the gardens, live music, food trucks, and more on Monday afternoon. Participants share their favorite way to celebrate the Fourth of July in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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