JERRY WOLKOWITZ Andrew Hyman, 7, performs an Isshinryu maneuver during a martial arts class at the Monroe Community Center on Tuesday.
MONROE — As the new president of the Township Council, Irwin Nalitt has mass transit on his mind.
"One of my main objectives is going to be to try and get some local bus service into Monroe," said Nalitt, who was appointed by the council as president at the Jan. 1 reorganization meeting.
"Our people want access to Princeton, New Brunswick, East Brunswick and the Route 1 corridor," Nalitt said. "If you have a friend or relative confined to a Princeton facility or at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital [New Brunswick], you can’t get there to visit them. It’s as simple as that."
The four-year terms held by both Nalitt and Councilman John Riggs, who hold the council’s at-large seats, will expire in 2003, along with the term of Mayor Richard Pucci.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Joanne Connolly, who after nine years on the council, was sworn in last week to a new four-year term, will also serve as council vice president. Ward 2 Councilman Gerard Tamburro was also sworn in to serve his first four-year term in office.
Connolly agreed with Nalitt on the need to introduce bus service into the township.
"We have taken the position that more bus service would be beneficial to our residents," Connolly said.
"People like to get out to the areas like New Brunswick, where there are so many theaters and restaurants," said Connolly, who emphasized that the township’s large senior population also wants to see bus service brought to Monroe.
"A lot of residents, especially those in the retirement communities, have voiced their concerns about getting mass transportation in town," Connolly said, adding that the expense of taxi and car services leaves seniors with few travel options.
Connolly, who volunteers for numerous community organizations, also serves as the council’s liaison to the township’s Recreation Advisory Board. As liaison to that board, Connolly has been instrumental in convincing township officials to build a skateboard park. The 90-by-120-foot park, located at the township Community Center on Monmouth Road, opened last month.
"We had 35 to 40 kids come into one of our advisory board meetings with their skateboards," Connolly said of the children who approached board members last spring about building a park. "When these kids heard that another group of kids who wanted a hockey rink built got it the same way, they decided to approach the board, too."
The ice rink is under construction at the recreation center.
"I went back to the council [about both the skate park and the hockey rink] and fought to get these kids what they wanted," Connolly said.