By Saturday, the sun was out and the shops and restaurants of downtown Princeton were thronged with patrons.
By: David Campbell
Princetonians took a time-out this weekend from the round-the-clock live coverage of the terrorist attacks that kept many glued to their TVs since last Tuesday.
Around 7 p.m. Friday, many residents emerged from their homes and gathered on front porches to take part in a nationwide candle-lighting in remembrance of the more than 5,000 persons estimated to have died from terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Some attended vigils at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on Nassau Street and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton on Cherry Hill Road.
By Saturday, the sun was out and the shops and restaurants of downtown Princeton were thronged with patrons.
The bicycle and pedestrian pathways of the Delaware & Raritan Canal bustled with activity.
And everywhere you looked, T-shirts, hats and the antennae of automobiles flew the American flag.
"It was packed here all weekend long," said James Hicks, supervisor at Starbucks Coffee on Nassau Street. "It looked like a holiday here all weekend. There were lines backed up to the door."
Mr. Hicks said customers were patient and polite, despite the long lines. He said the crisis seemed to bring out the best in many.
"I think it made people a little more aware, at least to treat people a little nicer," he said. "We were swamped."
Margaret Knapp, co-owner of Micawber Books on Nassau Street, said, "We noticed last week the store just emptied out. People were not coming into the store."
She said the terrorist attacks postponed Micawber’s first week of textbook sales to Princeton University students.
"They weren’t coming in," she said.
But come the weekend, students and regular book buyers were back in force.
Micawber co-owner Logan Fox said, "We have a big weekend," indicating that nontextbook sales accounted for about 40 percent of business.
Mr. Fox said books on the Middle East, terrorism and the prophecies of Nostrodamus sold especially well over the weekend.
He said his distributor for Nostrodamus-related books told him copies sold out by Friday.
Patrons crowded the bars and dining rooms of The Annex and Triumph Brewery, both on Nassau Street.
"We had an outstanding weekend," said Rich Carnevale, co-owner of The Annex. "Maybe people were fed up with being glued to their TV sets. I think they got a little stir crazy."
Mr. Carnevale said many patrons who stayed home from work Wednesday and Thursday visited The Annex’s bar to reconnect and to watch the days’ events unfold on the bar’s two television sets.
"People were information-starved," Mr. Carnevale said. "During the day, we were getting a lot of stock market people coming down here with nothing to do."
He said there also were plenty of "armchair quarterbacks" at the bar "espousing their opinions on what they would do. You’re talking about the greatest tragedy, the biggest news story of the millennium."
Adam Fitting, co-owner of Triumph Brewery, said bar business Friday and Saturday "seemed to be extremely busy. We noticed quite a few in here, a mix of people who came to watch the news and discuss it, and in the evening to be around other people."
Mr. Fitting said he held a meeting with employees following news of the terrorist attack Tuesday to decide whether they should stay open, and gave anyone who had to leave the option to do so.
"A couple of people went home but in general, most people stayed," he said.
Friday and Saturday night saw bargoers "trying to let off a lot of steam. There was no real rowdiness or anything."
Mr. Fitting said "community contexts" such as neighborhood bars and restaurants are essential in troubling times.
"I really think ultimately the course and solution to all these troubles lie in the hands of the people we see on the street every day," he said.
The Princeton Public Library saw plenty of traffic over the weekend after a week that was slow except for the people who gathered in front of the television set up near the door, said Janie Hermann, information services librarian.
The weekend saw an increase in visitors to the library, families in particular.
"There were a lot of moms and dads reading to their children," Ms. Hermann said. The video shelves, she said, "got this empty look to them" as many stopped in to grab a movie or two to take their minds off the week’s events.
"I took some home because I had reached the saturation point myself," she added.
Video stores in Princeton saw customers renting few action adventure films, but plenty of lighter fare, according to store managers.
"A lot of comedy went out," said Ann Langoski, assistant manager of Premier Video on Route 206.
Linda Eckler, manager at West Coast Video on Nassau Street, said that "by Friday, people had had about enough of the TV coverage," and turned instead to comedies, family dramas and black-and-white classics.

