Special Report: A Day In The Life Of Fair Haven, East Rock And Newhallville

From dreams pursued on cracked asphalt to a first-day-of-spring surprise hatched in a laundromat, from a gender-bending ​“fresh” cut to a 46-pound meat bargain and stood-up Mormons on a Fillmore Street stoop, the Independent spent a day tracking the rhythms of neighborhood life.

Reporters spent the day in Fair Haven, East Rock and Newhallville Wednesday filing hourly reports about people and institutions that don’t usually make headlines, but do make New Haven tick. Our coverage begins below with the night shift, with Happy Hour and God Hour; see what happened earlier in the day by clicking these links:

• Late afternoon on the court and in the ring.
• Open doors and lunchtime favors.
• Getting to work and school, and down to business.

Happy Hour Meets God Hour

8:15 p.m. Fair Haven: Mormons Get Stood Up On Fillmore Street

It happens more often than not, Elder Richardson said. You make an appointment to talk about El Libro de Mormón — and the potential convert doesn’t show up.

That’s what happened on Fillmore Street in Fair Haven. Elders Richardson and Gonzalez, two of four Mormon missionaries assigned for two years to work in New Haven, were ready to discuss Jesus Christ. But the man they arranged to meet at number 9 was nowhere to be found.

It’s something to do with the culture, Richardson said as he stood on the porch of the house. Hispanic people don’t want to say no directly, so they say yes and then don’t follow through, he rued.

Richardson and Gonzalez, both 19 years old, took the apparent brush-off in stride. They planned to head back to Grand Avenue and do what they always do when they get stood up: Try talking to more people.

“It’s a sifting process, to find the ones who are ready,” Richardson said.

Some people swear at them, some people brush them off, but some people tell them they’d been praying for someone to come to them, Richardson said.

It happened to Richardson himself. He arrived in New Haven three months ago from Arizona, and was assigned to work in Spanish. Starting from scratch — he took Spanish in junior high school — he had been struggling to learn the language. He prayed that God would send him a Spanish-speaking partner, so that he could learn faster.

Wouldn’t you know? Gonzalez arrived from Los Angeles. He was raised bilingual by his Salvadorian parents. Richardson’s prayers were answered.

Since then, the two have been joined at the hip. As part of their two-year Mormon missionary work, the pair have to follow the ​“sight and sound” rule. You should always be able to see or hear your partner.

They have other rules too. No TV. No contact with your family except by email once a week. They work six days a week starting with prayer, study and exercise in the morning, then pounding the pavement or following up on appointments until the nighttime.

They live with two other missionaries in an apartment on Elm Street near Yale, where they do all their own cooking.

“Lots of cereal,” Richardson said.

Every morning they take the bus to Fair Haven and set to work. They’ve been more successful than their flat-mates, a fact that they attribute to Latino openness to religion. ​“They’re just more open to talking about Jesus Christ and God,” Gonzalez said.

But the man they had arranged to meet on Fillmore apparently wasn’t open. Richardson dialed his number. No answer.

He and Gonzalez stepped off the porch and headed toward Grand Avenue in search of that open door.

TM

7:30 p.m. Newhallville: All Hail For Kale

As Bible Study broke up at one of the neighborhood’s most venerable houses of worship, no one was talking about happy hour. Not only was booze off the menu; so was meat. And stomachs were grumbling, as parishioners vowed to stick to the last leg of a spiritual fast.

Twelve parishioners took that vow home as they left Community Baptist Church Church on Shelton Avenue.

“We’re doing a Daniel fast,” explained Community Baptist student pastor and Yale Divinity School student Lyvonne Briggs. ​“It’s inspired by the book of Daniel — you eat only foods that come from the earth.”

Wednesday was one of the last of the Master Life classes for Community Baptist, a 24-week course aligned with the season of Lent. Twelve individual groups of 12 people each meet on different nights through the week with a goal of pushing their sense of church beyond the Sunday boundaries into the other areas of life. They’re considering the disciplines of prayer, reading, journaling, and spirituality embodied.

And then there’s the fast. Members can eat veggies, nuts, fruit, grains and legumes: no meat, breads, dairy or processed foods. They’re eating the way the Prophet Daniel ate in biblical times. Briggs, for example, was headed home to make dinner with fresh bought groceries: sauteed kale, onions and grape tomatoes with roasted potatoes. She said she’s felt healthier and more alert since she started fasting, but also more spiritually in tune.

“I feel like the physical mirrors the spiritual during a fast,” she said. ​“I may be denying myself dairy, but I’m praying more. And I might not be drinking any wine, but I’m spending that time reading scripture.”

Just before the end of their session, Pastor J. Lawrence Turner referred to a bible verse in Ephesians 5:18: ​“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

The verse doesn’t say don’t drink, Pastor Turner said. It says do not be drunk.

“If you’re incapacitated because of intoxication, you’re open to anything. But drunkenness leads to a loss of boundaries, and that’s dangerous.”

“Anything else y’all want to share? You all look tired,” the pastor said. ​“You know, when you commit yourselves to God, the ways of the world and attacks from the Devil come hard.”

They closed in prayer and filed out quickly, each headed home for a Daniel-inspired meal: veggies maybe, but no wine.

UR

7:10 p.m. Newhallville: Latonia Gets A Drink, After All

Latonia Brown (aka ​“T”) was all business when she came to the bar at Knickerbocker Golf Club. She didn’t want a drink. She wanted a job.

Brown has served drinks for more than two decades; she got her first job at the old Erica’s on State Street three months shy of her 17th birthday. (She wasn’t serving drinks yet.) She’s worked the Ebony Lodge, the Elks, Mr. Ray’s after-hours club above Dixwell Plaza … and Knickerbocker’s, the cozy club across Sherman Parkway from the police training academy. She was there in the 1990s. She never forgot how nice a place it was, or how much she liked the people. She remembered the upstairs public crowd and the live deejay. She remembered the quieter vibe in the private room downstairs, where leading figures in the African-American community like schools chief Reggie Mayo and former Police Chief Melvin Wearing would hang out. She remembered how ​“downstairs you could smoke.” (The club marks its 87th birthday this year.)

Brown ran into club member Rusty at the bar Wednesday night. She said she just got laid off. She’d love to come back. He had her fill out a form, promised to bring it to the next members’ meeting.

“It’s a trade for me,” Brown, who lives near the club, said of working bars. ​“And I’m good at it. I’m a people person. And I never forget how to pour a shot of liquor, and pour it on point.”

It was happy hour all night at the club, drinks $1 off. Before leaving, Brown and her mom Blondell ended getting up served after all. A member offered to buy them drinks on the house. Brown asked for a coconut Ciroc; the club was out. She got a Peach schnapps instead. And reacquainted herself with the Knickerbocker spirit.

MT

East Rock 7 p.m.: Praise The Lord — & The Mai Tais

Jonathan Glassman sat down at Archie Moore’s on Willow Street for a happy hour drink and some spicy hot wings, trying very hard not to get any of the orange wing sauce on his bright white tuxedo shirt.

“I thought he was going to be dressed up, too!” Glassman said, pointing to his laughing friend Dave Elkodsi, who dressed in plain clothes.

Glassman and Elkodsi belong to the Cosmopolitan No. 125 Masonic lodge that meets on Whitney Avenue. The two friends planned to meet for wings at Archie Moore’s before attending a ritual event (it’s top secret) at the lodge Wednesday night. Only thing is, Elkodsi left his tux in the car.

Oh well. Glassman’s pristine shirt didn’t stop him from tucking into the wings, which dripped with the spicy orange buffalo sauce.

The two friends paused to groan at a particularly brutal soccer moment playing out on the screen before singing the praises of the chicken wings. The wings are something of a phenomenon at Archie Moore’s.

“Teriyaki, barbecue and hot wings — I love them all,” said Aaron, who declined to give his last name. Aaron works at Yale University and he and his three friends said they’re a big fan of the bar and the menu.

“Those four guys are here from 4 to 6 almost every day after work!” said Dustin Haddad, one of the bartenders. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., the restaurant offers a happy hour — $1 off all drinks and $2 off appetizers. The appetizers range from the famous wings to a plate of fried pickles.

“We get so many different kinds of people here,” Haddad said. ​“It’s like a barber shop, but a bar.”

Aaron unwound with a Budweiser, but he and his friends agreed that the Saturday specialty is where it’s at.

“Mai Tais!” Aaron said, explaining that one of the weekend bartenders always comes prepared with his own personal Mai Tai recipe.

“We always get Mai Tais on Saturday,” Aaron said.

While the bar-goers at Archie Moore’s sang the praises of hot wings and Mai Tais, a group over at Christ Presbytarian Church on Whitney Avenue sang the praises of God and the possibility of Mai Tais in heaven.

The group of about 15 wrapped up their church dinner in the basement with a video presentation about faith. They paused the video intermittently to discuss the topics while munching on salads and drinking iced tea.

“What does heaven really look like?” one dinner guest asked. ​“I mean, it’s easy to picture it as a beach where you sit around drinking Mai Tais all day.”

Will heaven be like the current reality, with all kinds of culture and productivity happening all over the place?

“I guess our view of heaven is so floaty and immaterial, so it’s interesting to consider a place where all those cultural aspects still stand,” said one woman.

“God is sovereign and he puts us into these vocations for a reason,” another man added. ​“Why would he do that for only a very short moment in reality? It’s not a stretch to think that would carry on in some way.”

CE

6:25 p.m. Fair Haven: What Do You Mean, ​“Happy Hour”?

Ben Little drained a $1.50 mug of Genessee, but stayed away from the harder stuff while he recovers from his recent stroke.

Little, who’s 59, was one of a dozen regulars bellying up to the bar Wednesday evening at Lou’s Lodge at the corner of Blatchley Avenue and Clay Street.

At other bars, it might be called happy hour. Not at Lou’s Lodge. ​“Happy hour goes from morning to night because the prices are so cheap,” said Anthony Ornato, whose dad started the bar in 1962.

Glasses of draft Gennessee are $1 each. A mug like Little’s is $1.50. And you can get a beer and a shot for $5.

That’s what keeps 52-year-old Gerard Shelton coming back. He said he’s been coming in five days a week for 25 years. He said he stays for a couple of hours and then heads home, leaving the late night scene for a younger crowd.

“I’ve got my Sponge Bobs on by 7 o’clock,” he said.

TM

Fill-Up Time On The Way Home

5:05 p.m. Fair Haven: 46 Pounds Of Flesh Beckon

Five pounds of pork. Five of stew beef. Two pounds of slab bacon. Five pounds of pigs feet and turkey wings, two of sirloin steaks.

All of that flesh — 46 pounds in all from four different animals — landed in Karen Edwards’ cart on the way home from work. It was ​“Super Saver” day at La Super Marqueta on Grand Avenue.

Total cost for her haul, which included eggs and potatoes: $105.95. Half is headed for Edwards’ freezer, half for the fridge. It should last a month.

Under the store’s bulk discount program, she got 15 percent off the lowest prices usually available.

Edwards, a phlebotomist with the Yale University Health Plan, discovered La Super Marqueta’s great bargain for animal eaters on a tight budget a year ago through a Latino friend at work. She comes every month.

“Isn’t that awesome,” Edwards said of the bargain as she stood in line with her 18-year old daughter, SCSU freshman Alexsis Sessions.

As only a part-timer at Yale, Edwards said, she relies on such shopping deals. ​“I save a ton of money,” she said as she handed storeowner and manager Felix Perralta her debit card.

Perralta said he has offered the deal since 1999; most of the customers come between the first and tenth of the month and purchase the super saver or versions of it with food stamps. But for loyal customers like Edwards, the super saver is super pretty much throughout the month.

He has between 100 to 125 customers a month for the super saver, 70 percent of whom use food stamps for their purchase.

Asked what was for dinner tonight, Alexsis said, ​“I’m hoping for ribs.” Her mom said she’d barbecue them, but in the oven.

As they took their haul in five plastic bags to the waiting car, the line at the meat counter in back of the store was seven deep.

Price of Wonder bread: $3.79
Price of Bimbo brand bread: $2.49
Price of a gallon of milk: $4.19

AA

4 p.m. East Rock: ​“T” Stocks Up On Porgies

On his way home from work, Theoplis Wright, Sr. walked into State Fish Farm Market at 892 State St. and ordered the usual — six pounds of
porgies.

“I love fried fish,” he said. ​“I come over here from City Point all the time for these. But it’s not all just for me, now.”

He plans to share the porgies with his family. The porgie, a small silver fish, is great for frying and pairs well with a salad, he said.

“But you can eat them with whatever you want,” he said. ​“You know how they say, ​‘Different strokes for different folks.’”

Wright won’t fry up all six pounds of fish tonight, but probably most of it.

“I’ll probably freeze a few and save them for later,” he said.

Helen Chen took a break from watching her Chinese soap opera to help Wright with his order. Wright threw several of the small silver fish in a basket and handed it to Chen for weighing. At $2.49 per pound, the whole order cost Wright about $15. He seemed satisfied
with the price.

“He’s a good customer!” said Chen, as she got to work hacking away at the scales on the fish.

Chen cleaned the fish for Wright while her son did his homework at the front of the store. The family, originally from China, has worked at the fish market for about 10 years now.

She continued hacking off heads and scraping out innards while Wright talked about his epic, Greek-influenced first name.

“Theoplis — it’s like Greek,” he said. ​“Most people can’t even pronounce it! People call me ​‘T.’ I got that nickname from back when I was in school.”

He even named his son Theoplis, although people call him ​‘Theo.”

(State Fish Farm doesn’t sell milk or bread.)

CE

4:45 p.m. Newhallville: RJ Refuels

The grill was hot at Moe’s Corner Store on Division and Dixwell in the Newhallville neighborhood. Rick Jones, known around the neighborhood as RJ, stopped in for his late-afternoon meal.

“Lemme get that beef patty Mouhammed,” he called. ​“Heeeeeeeeey!”

They expected RJ at Moe’s. He lives in the neighborhood, hangs out all day. He comes in the morning for some fuel. He comes in later in the afternoon for some fuel.

Mouhammed Annagar was behind the counter, cooking up a storm in a white paper hat. His cousin Bob Jandali ran the cash register and answered phones.

“Bob, you don’t have that good chicken and rice today, huh?” asked RJ, who’s 28. ​“That’s the best stuff — they got the seasoning, they got the beans mixed in. Hey Mouhammed, lemme get cheese on that patty too. Yeah, my man.”

RJ paired his patty with a single-serve cup of soup, pouring boiling water into the styrofoam container and stirring it up.

“I start off the day here with an egg and cheese sandwich,” RJ said. ​“So good, you know? They do it right. Wish they had chicken rice today, but this is damn good too.”

RJ peeled the paper off his patty melt and stuck a straw into his Capri Sun juice pack. He pronounced his meal low-carb.

Rhonda Renee sauntered in. She lives right next door to the corner store. She’s been in the neighborhood for 27 years.

“How you doing, now?” she asked RJ. ​“I see — putting something in that stomach of yours. That’s good. They got rice tonight?”

No rice, she was told.

Bob called RJ and Renee regulars. ​“I know these guys. I know mostly everyone in the neighborhood,” he said.

His most popular items? Dutchies — the $1.25 cigars sold individually. And packs of cigarettes, and individual candies.

“But he’s just giving those away to the kids all the time,” RJ said.

“Sure, when they’re not stealing them,” Bob remarked with a laugh.

He said summers are the store’s busiest season.

“But not today,” said RJ. ​“People want to be outside, you know, enjoying the sun, walking their dogs. Otherwise they’d be in here, in and out!”

Bob doesn’t like people standing around, RJ explained. But everyone respects him. If they don’t, they know to stay outside.

Price of bread: $2.49
Price of a gallon of milk: $4.59

UR

5:20 p.m. East Rock: Shopping Light

Luis Mendosa didn’t need dinner. He’d been noshing all day at Temple Grill, where he works as a dishwasher. So when he stopped by Tlaxcala Grocery on State Street on his bike, he was looking for ​“my favorite Mexican foods and a drink.” He ended up with pastries known as conchas, Mini Mantecadas brand snack pastries, totis donitas con chile y límon (chips), and a Sidral Mundet (apple soda). He also bought phone cards to call back home.

Price of a gallon of milk: $3.75
Price of bread rolls: 50 cents (No loaves were for sale.)

AM

“Happy” Day Wraps Up For Tats, Online Orders

9:35 p.m. Fair Haven: Happy Block Gets A Sober Visit

The cops came. The cops left. ​“The God” and Terry Ritter went back to celebrating on ​“Happy Block.”

The cops left the block, at Poplar and Saltonstall, around 9:30 p.m. They came on a report of a fight in progress.

The fight had started a block away, according to Ritter (pictured). ​“The cops always come here first,” she said. “‘Cause we’re happy down here.”

The brawlers had left by the time four cop cars arrived; another conflagration erupted soon after at Blatchley and Grand. (It was that kind of night in Fair Haven, and across New Haven, with cops chasing reports of fights amid the breakout of warm weather.) Before leaving, the cops did find a 14-year-old boy on Poplar. He wasn’t part of the fight, according to Sgt. Rose Turney, one of cops of the scene. But he did mouth off at the cops, and ended up with a disorderly conduct charge. He was released to his mom.

“He’s not very happy,” Turney said. ​“Unfortunately, some people can’t behave.”

As the cops departed, merriment returned to the Happy Block. A half-dozen people hung out on Ritter’s stoop, braiding hair and talking. Other people were gathered on two porches across the street. The smell of marijuana was in the air.

“Terry!” called someone from a second-floor window. ​“What are you doing?”

“That’s ​‘Neighbor,’” Ritter said.

Ritter shouted with Neighbor for a minute.

Who are you talking to? Neighbor asked.

“I’m gonna be in the paper!” Ritter responded, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

Then ​“The God” arrived. He showed his back. That’s what cops see when they roll up, he said: He turns and walks away.

TM

10 p.m. Newhallville, East Rock: Good Day For Wings & Tats

It was good day for online orders at Wings Madness on Dixwell Avenue in Newhallville, Desmond Mills said at 10:05 p.m. as he picked up a broom and the last customer picked up the night’s last spicy takeout.

“It was a busy day” because of the newly warm weather, said Mills, who owns the popular chicken joint with his brother Garfield. People feel like going outside, not cooking, when the nice weather breaks, he said. Some 15 to 20 orders came in via the Internet, starting mid-day and building as the night wore on.

Over on State Street at 9 p.m., Greg Pack, backpack slung over one shoulder, was leaving Studio Zee after tattooing all day. He was exhausted, he announced — and ready for a home-cooked meal. ​“It’s been a long day,” he said. ​“We had a client come in from New York. I stayed an extra hour to finish her tattoo.”

Mrs. Zee — wife of Zee himself and co-owner with her husband of the venerable tattoo shop (it’s been around for more than 20 years) — followed Greg to the door to let him out and lock up after him.

“Zee’s still in the back cleaning up,” she said. ​“I’ll stay ​‘til he’s done.”

On a typical day, Zee’s is open for walk-ins and appointments from 12:30 to 8 p.m, Tuesday through Thursday. They have clients come from all over the world, said Mrs. Zee. They once had two French Legionnaire soldiers — on leave for a weekend — come in around Thanksgiving for a few days of near full-body tattooing: French Polynesian-inspired designs, as the pair recalled.

But today was exceptionally busy, they said — for a Wednesday.

“Sometimes, I think the spring-like weather gets people in less clothes, they start to see more of their skin, they start to think about a little tattoo,” said Mrs. Zee.

“Yeah,” Pack chimed in, ​“and they might be seeing more of other people’s tattoos — for a little inspiration.” Then he headed out the door, excited for a bit of rest and an evening at home.

“It was a solid day for you, wasn’t it, Greg,” said Mrs. Zee, holding the door open for him. ​“You didn’t pick your head up once.”

Two blocks over on State, web designer Chris Garaffa was working late and taking a smoke break outside his home above Christopher Martin’s. (The noise from the bar doesn’t bother him, he said; ​“and when I get thirsty, I can just head downstairs for a beer!”) Garaffa, a stalwart of Occupy New Haven, works from home; despite the nice weather he spent most of the day inside working, he said. But he managed to take a break and go for a walk to enjoy the sun. ​“I’m just enjoying my second spring in New Haven,” said Garaffa, who moved here from Bridgeport. ​“This weather is just beautiful.”

MT, UR, EC

Click here, here, & here for stories earlier today on Newhallville, East Rock, & Fair Haven.