Volume LXXII, Number 11
Lawrenceville Area Life On Pages 16-17 Dachau Survivor and Liberator to Speak . . . . 5 Former Infini-T Owner Takes Teas Online . . . . 8 Side by Side on Einstein’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . 20 PU Orchestra Presents Concerto Winners . . . 26 I of the Storm at Passage Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Princeton Men’s Hockey Advances to ECAC Hockey Semis . . . . . . 32 PU Women’s Hoops Wins Ivy Tourney, Will Face Maryland in NCAAs . . 33
Chapin School Art Teacher Tanya Vail . . . 10 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .22, 23 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 29 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 40 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 26 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 38 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Celebrating Pi Day: Happy Birthday, Albert Einstein!
In more than 20 different events held last Saturday and also scheduled for today, Princeton is celebrating the 139th birthday of one of its most famous residents. Albert Einstein, who came here from Germany in 1933 and joined the Institute for Advanced Study, with which he was affiliated until his death in 1955, was born on March 14, 3.14, the numeric equivalent of Pi. The annual celebration, founded and organized for the past 10 years by Princeton Tour Company CEO Mimi Omiecinski, honors Pi, mathematics, science, famous Princeton geniuses, local merchants, and, of course, Albert Einstein, who lived at 33 Mercer Street. “Pi Day Princeton is a real treat for anyone who loves Pi, pie, and Einstein,“ said Omiecinski. “The town of Princeton is nuts for this quirky event and hopes the universe will come visit our town to celebrate Pi Day in Princeton.” Noting the “irrational number of events,” Omiecinski pointed out that, in addition to last Saturday’s activities, today, on Einstein’s actual birthday, there is a tour of Landau’s Albert Einstein Museum on Nassau Street; a fundraiser sponsored by the bent spoon in Palmer Square and Lillipie’s on Harrison Street; Pi Day pop up wedding/vow renewal ceremonies at Princeton Pi pizza shop on Nassau Street; and an interactive STEAM-inspired slime making workshop at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts. The museum dedicated to Einstein, in the Landau fine woolens shop, is featuring Princeton Tour Company guides telling the life of Einstein, from 10-11:30 a.m., including stories of his years in Princeton. Landau will be selling commemorative T-shirts to benefit the Albert Einstein Museum in Ulm, Germany, the town of the scientist’s birth. From 3:14 p.m. to 6 p.m. Princeton Pi invites “genius couples … to an infinitely memorable wedding,” with heart-shaped pizzas and complimentary officiants on site “for irrationally in love pre-registered couples.” The Arts Council of Princeton’s slime-making workshop, 4-5 p.m., best for ages 7-15, will emphasize science, art, and math, with an exploration of “techniques to create the art of handmade slime.” Continued on Page 14
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Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Work Session on Parking Issues Dominates Council Meeting The future of parking in Princeton took up a large portion of Princeton Council’s meeting on Monday, March 12. Julie Dixon of Dixon Resources Unlimited gave an overview of a recently completed study on how the town should approach ongoing problems associated with parking. Keeping up with technology and remaining transparent are key elements of the process, said Dixon, whose company has advised towns and cities all over the country. “We look for realistic implementations and solutions that will last,” she said at the beginning of her presentation. “There is a lot of technology out there, and we don’t want to put you into a closed system.” A visitor’s first and last impression of Princeton is through parking, Dixon said. “Parking really means customer service. You want to make sure it’s a positive experience.” She stressed that not all changes to parking — which involves meters, pay stations, garages, and more — should be made at once. Instead, they should be gradually implemented so as not to overwhelm citizens. Regarding the question of single space parking meters versus pay stations, “It’s not necessarily an all or none solution,” Dixon said. “You’re looking at a hybrid.”
What is key is that all meters or pay stations would take credit cards. Dixon also advocated increasing signage and developing “a clean aesthetic that blends in with the community but is also recognizable.” Mobile payment is a must, she said, not just for convenience but also for validation programs. This type of payment could also be integrated with public transit. Dixon suggested that using license plate recognition at pay stations is preferable
to displaying a ticket on the dashboard, or paying by the space. Before coming up with rate structures, “define what it is you’re trying to obtain,” Dixon said. “If it’s turnover, you don’t want a pay-to-stay model. It depends on the community.” Other topics she discussed included valet parking where a car is dropped off at one place but can be delivered to another, which can reduce congestion; getting citations out of the Continued on Page 14
Architects Present Preliminary Designs For New 5/6 School, PHS Renovation Architects from Fielding Nair International and Spiezle Architectural Group presented their preliminary designs for a 5/6 school and the transformation of the Princeton High School (PHS) building at a special meeting of the Princeton Board of Education at the Valley Road administrative building last night. The plans will continue to be adjusted based on feedback from the Board, staff, students, and the community, as Princeton Public Schools (PPS) prepares to submit its tentative design plans to the State Board of Education in April in preparation for a
facilities referendum on October 2. Cost estimates should be available soon, according to Board Facilities Committee Chair Dafna Kendal. “We are waiting for feedback from the community on the plans presented, and we are aiming to have cost estimates and tax impact available within the next few weeks,“ she said. Though the meeting took place after press time, PPS Communications Director Brenda Sewell was able to share some of the architects’ preliminary plans yesterday afternoon. Continued on Page 13
YOUNG EINSTEINS: Area youths definitely looked the part for the Einstein look-alike contest held Saturday at the Nassau Inn. The event was part of the annual Pi Day Princeton celebration marking Albert Einstein’s March 14 birthday. Participants share their favorite Pi Day events in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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