AAJA-Philly Trip to West Windsor, NJ, on 6/8

Please join us on Saturday, June 8, as AAJA-Philadelphia will be making a special visit to West Windsor, New Jersey (near Princeton), to meet Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and several community representatives and professionals from the greater Princeton area.

West Windsor is an eclectic town with a 37% Asian American population and many successful people living and working in the area. It is directly the midpoint between New York and Philadelphia, accessible via train.

West Windsor’s Asian American leadership is unique and intriguing — Shing-Fu Hsueh, the town’s mayor since the spring of 2001, is a first-generation Taiwanese American. Hsueh sits on the national board of SmartGrowth America and advises President Obama’s staff on matters of urban development and ecological concerns.

The Town Council President is Kamal Khanna, an Indian-American entrepreneur. Hemant Marathe, the head of the school board for West Windsor-Plainsboro (one of NJ’s best districts), is also Indian American.

This will be a good opportunity for AAJA-Philly students and journalists to discuss a number of issues impacting the Asian American community in a growing, prominent suburb next to Princeton and the challenges of being an Asian American rising in the U.S. political arena. There are also many corporations and different career opportunities in the Central New Jersey area.

Schedule:

Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Meet at the West Windsor Community Farmers’ Market (featured in the NY Times).

The market is located in the parking lot of the Princeton Junction NJ Transit train station. It is easy to get to from Philly via SEPTA, then NJ Transit. See below for schedule times.
(For driving directions, see www.westwindsorfarmersmarket.org/directions).

11:45 a.m.: Meet with Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh in West Windsor’s town hall.

12:30 p.m.: Meet and interact with the other Asian American leaders. This will be done in an informal setting.

• Get the Septa regional rail train from Market East (9:40am), Suburban Station (9:45am), or 30th Street Station (9:49am), heading to Trenton, NJ.  One way fare is $10.  The train will arrive in Trenton at 10:35am.
• At Trenton, transfer to the New Jersey Transit train.  It leaves at 10:59am, and will arrive in Princeton Junction at 11:12am.  One way fare is $4.75 — purchase tickets on the platform at the NJ Transit ticket kiosk.
• Meet other AAJA-Philly members at the farmers’ market, and walk to Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh’s town hall together.

For further train-travel questions, contact board member Michelle Shinseki at mshinseki@gmail.com.