Jason Blum, Monmouth Junction
To the editor:
Will it ever end? As I write this I can think of four debates that seem intractable and all four deny the many for the very few.
The first concerns West Windsor’s plans to overhaul, for the public good, the Princeton Junction train station, into a town center concept that could be the envy of many a municipality. To those who are up in age, you will probably die before a decision is finally made.
The second concerns the arts district in Princeton near the Dinky station. Again, to my elderly friends, sorry, you’ll never have the chance to enjoy it.
The third is the NFL lockout and finally, overhauling entitlements and facing adult realities that 535 members of Congress and one immature president need to do instead of looking to the next election cycle and actually fix what is obviously broken.
Yes, the NFL will play, but only after 20 something millionaires become tens of millionaires. Will our esteemed government take this opportunity to do something truly heroic and salvage a system for future generations by putting aside their never ending desire to be re-elected, uh, no.
But let me talk about the first two issues. What do they have in common? Power of the very few.
Two incredibly great projects will be stopped by a total of eight to ten council people in two towns who believe in their self-worth so much that they have the blind selfishness to deny thousands the opportunity to both prosper and enjoy the greatness of the arts, renewed urban design, and simply a nicer environment. Be honest, as of now West Windsor is a little dull.
Why does this selfishness have to happen? It seems that average citizens who run and win elected office at any level turn into power-absorbed dolts who take themselves far to seriously.
Princeton University and Intercap have bent over backwards, and I do not have any ties to either, ( I was rejected by Princeton in 1987, their mistake), to make these projects work for everyone. This cannot be allowed to happen. These two projects must go forward.
If we let them die because of the whims of a particular mayor or councilperson whose pride was hurt because residents had the nerve to actually disagree with them and their frail feelings were upset or because they see nothing being done in Washington, so nothing should be done here, then get rid of them.
These two projects when completed will be testaments to the strength of New Jerseyans not the brilliance of cowardly local politicians.
Jason Blum
Monmouth Junction
