Residents of Pine Street seek memorial for David Bradford.
By: David Campbell
The Princeton Borough Council voted Tuesday night to create a special memorial fund for Princeton University economist David Bradford, who died Feb. 22 from third-degree burns he sustained in a fire at his Pine Street residence.
Neighbors and friends of Professor Bradford want to rehabilitate an existing pocket park on Pine Street and name it in his honor. The council declined to take formal action on that proposal, suggesting instead that neighbors themselves organize to prepare plans and raise money for the upgrades.
As for naming the park, Councilman David Goldfarb recommended neighbors simply start calling it the David Bradford Park and see if it catches on, similar to the way, he said, that Palmer Square’s Tiger Park originally got its name.
Councilman Andrew Koontz brought up the proposed park project after receiving a written request from William Flemer IV of Hibben Road. Mr. Koontz noted the deceased economist was the "heart and soul" of Pine Street’s annual block party.
Addressing the council Tuesday night, Mr. Flemer called the Pine Street park a "modest park" that could use some sprucing up. "Clearly there’s room for landscape rehabilitation," he said, recommending that a fund be set up in Professor Bradford’s name to help finance improvements.
Peter Westergaard of 40 Pine St. said the university plans a memorial event for the economist on May 20, and he recommended that the council approve creation of a fund to which donations can be sent which the governing body did, by a unanimous motion with Councilwoman Wendy Benchley absent.
"There is an excellent opportunity here to do something meaningful," Mr. Westergaard said.
Professor Bradford was a teacher of economics and public affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He was a member of Princeton’s faculty since 1966. During his career, he focused on economics in the public sector and served three U.S. presidents.
He was a member of President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1991 to 1993 and deputy assistant secretary for tax policy in the U.S. Department of Treasury from 1975 to 1976, when he directed an influential study on income tax reform, according to the university.
The economist sustained third-degree burns to much of his body after a fire erupted in his Pine Street home, where he was found by police shortly after midnight on Feb. 8. Before he died, he remained in critical condition in the burn center at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was 66.
Police said the blaze was started after several candles were lit on a Christmas tree.

