At its meeting on Monday, the Princeton Town Council addressed recent reports of antisemitic graffiti in public spaces, passed an ordinance to expand affordable housing, and addressed a proposal from local youth to lower the voting age for school board elections.
Mayor Mark Freda opened the meeting with a statement responding to a letter he received from the Jewish Center of Princeton regarding the recent vandalism of property near the Center with unspecified graffiti. Freda said that Princeton police had responded to the incidents and reported it to state and local law enforcement agencies.
Freda’s announcement came after the Princeton Police reported on Sept. 4 that over the course of the past three weeks, they had responded to several incidents of graffiti which they deemed to be antisemitic “bias intimidation incidents,” first beginning on Aug. 15.
“Our police have taken proactive measures, including increased patrols at the Jewish Center and in areas where graffiti has been reported, [and] the Police Department has also met with representatives from the Jewish Center to hear their concerns and outline the steps the Department is taking to address the situation,” Freda said at the meeting.
The council also voted on Ordinance 2025-15, which would create a new affordable housing district: 17 units of affordable housing, available at the new Avalon Bay development near Princeton Shopping Center.
Freda argued that the planned separation of the affordable housing units and standard units could result in reduced square footage and lower-quality interiors for the affordable housing compared to neighboring buildings. Councilwoman Mia Sacks countered that affordable housing regulations dictate that “the buildings with affordable units cannot be in a place that’s less desirable.”
Freda contended that, in his experience, affordable housing projects had not been up to par with the quality of standard-priced units in the same area. The council briefly debated holding off on passing the ordinance for another week, but Councilman Leighton Newlin advocated against pausing the vote, saying that they shouldn’t “let perfect be the enemy of good.”
The ordinance ultimately ended up passing shortly after. It is now heading to the planning board.
As part of its affordable housing obligations under New Jersey law, Princeton is supposed to create 276 new units over the next decade.
The council then passed resolutions which extended and established various municipal maintenance contracts and implemented a deer management program, and the floor was opened for public comment. Princeton High School (PHS) students Ash Nieman and Avantika Palayekar spoke, calling upon the council to consider lowering the voting age in Princeton for school board elections to allow 16-year-olds to participate.
Nieman began by praising PHS’s civics education program, but expressed frustration that students were unable to put skills learned in school into practice.
“We as youth have to practice civic engagement and duty. And I would say that one thing that will make us successful citizens and adults is exercising the right to vote,” he said.
Palayekar added that students needed to be able to play a role in school board selection because the decisions the school board made would directly shape students’ everyday experiences in school. She noted “how extremely important [it is] to make sure that we properly represent our constituents.” Although parents are able to vote, and can be influenced by their children’s perspectives, “it really isn’t the same as letting the students themselves vote,” Palayekar emphasized.
Councilman Brian MacDonald, who had spoken with the students previously, said that he was looking into the legality of their proposition, and told his fellow councilmembers that he thought they would “see [the] students again as we continue to move forward, and can give more consideration to their thoughtful requests that we enfranchise them to vote in school board.”
The next Town Council meeting is on Sept. 23.
Leela Hensler is a staff News writer and Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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