A Statement to Princeton Council
400 Witherspoon St
Princeton, New Jersey
January 12, 2025

(I had originally intended to give this statement at Public Comments on January 12, but got delayed at work and never made it to the meeting. I’ll be giving a different, re-written statement on January 26th.)

My name is Irfan Khawaja; I live in Princeton. I’m here to speak about an issue that in some sense has already been decided, except that the decision is so wrongheaded that even belated criticism seems better than silence. I’m referring to the replacement (or even partial replacement) of the kiosks on Nassau St with electronic versions whose messaging is controlled by the municipality. 

Let me go through some of the things members of this Council have said, from least to most objectionable, and respond to them. 

(1) In the fall of 2024, Central Jersey Local News and Princeton Patch quoted Councilwoman Sacks as saying:

“I am sort of a free speech absolutist,” but if we “go to an electronic option, the government is in charge of who can express a particular idea, and that is what concerns me” (“Future Uncertain for Nassau Street Kiosks,” Central Jersey Local News, Nov. 13, 2024; “Princeton Council Supports Kiosk Removal for Nassau Street Project,” Princeton Patch, Oct. 30, 2024).

It seems to me that a free speech absolutist wouldn’t have stated this objection in a pro forma way, and then voted for what was concerning. She would have stated it in a wholehearted way and voted against. I wish she had. 

(2) The same Princeton Patch article quotes Mayor Freda as saying, “I think the [kiosk] at Witherspoon and Nassau needs to go. It’s too narrow there. It interferes with people walking on the sidewalk.” Too narrow? Six people could easily walk abreast in the space between the kiosk and the wall of the nearest building. You don’t need more space than that to traverse the single yard required to get past the kiosk. 

(3) Several people said they found the kiosks an “eyesore.” Well, I don’t, and neither do a lot of people. Some of you run businesses or likely go to church or temple. If I found one of your businesses or your house of worship an “eyesore,” would that be a reason to get rid of it?

(4) Councilwoman Pirone Lambros is quoted in the same Patch article as saying:

They’re a mess after storms. There’s paper all over. They’re not even environmentally friendly because of the paper that’s used up. 

Since 1946, Town Topics has, every week, delivered hard copy issues to every household in Princeton. The same media company also delivers Princeton magazine to every household each month. The delivery run in each case is between 10,000 and 30,000 copies, delivered by motorized vehicle, and wrapped in plastic. Anyone who walks the streets of Princeton, as I do every day, will have seen these publications littering the streets of this town. The idea that kiosk flyers even begin to approximate this defies common sense in an obvious way. 

If you really want to solve the litter problem in this town, here’s a suggestion: call Bob Hillier of Witherspoon Media Group, tell him to discontinue hard copies and home delivery of his publications, and tell him to go fully online. We don’t have to pay $80,000 to solve a problem that obviously doesn’t exist. But apparently, that’s an option. 

(5) The real crux of the issue was stated by former Councilperson Eve Niedergang. “I’d love to move to a digital display,” she said. “The digital display is then under our control, and it ceases to be a place for the public to interact” (“Princeton Council Supports Kiosk Removal,” Princeton Patch). 

I can’t fault Eve for candor, but it seems not to have occurred to her that Princeton is not her living room, and its residents are not her children. Believe it or not, grown adults don’t appreciate being controlled in this paternalistic way. They resent it, and resent those who make excuses for it–with good reason.   

I’ve belabored all this because we’re on the downward slope of real repression in this country. You’re all Democrats, supposedly the opposite of Republicans. But who could tell? You’ve voted for repression, priced it, and moved on. It’s not the end of the world, just a costly mistake. But the end of the world begins with mistakes like this. 

Just to be clear: We don’t need digital kiosks, even hybridized ones that allow for analog. We don’t need fake narratives about litter control. We don’t need handwaving blather about your aesthetic preferences. And we don’t need to be controlled by anyone. The decision to get rid of the old kiosks expresses an arrogance that demands a response, however belated. I regret that my response comes a year too late. But better late than never.