Thomas MacMillan Photo
Mayoral candidate Toni Harp embraced the idea that New Haven should grow by 10,000 people over the next 10 years, with many of them inhabiting new waterfront apartments. And she accepted the endorsement of the guy who came up with that idea.
The embrace and acceptance came at two Monday afternoon press events, first on Long Wharf Drive then at Dixwell Plaza.
State Sen. Harp (pictured), one of six candidates for mayor, was joined by Nemerson, a former New Haven Chamber of Commerce head and, until Monday, the seventh candidate in the race.
Nemerson (pictured to her immediate left) Monday abandoned his quest to become mayor and threw his support behind Harp, who has been racking up one endorsement after another recently. She also received the endorsement of 20 Dixwell small businesses Monday.
Harp is running to replace Mayor John DeStefano, the 10-term incumbent who’s leaving office at the end of the year. The Democratic primary is on Sept. 10.
On Monday, Harp unveiled a new “position paper” on economic development, staking out three ideas: promote an “innovation culture,” make Long Wharf into a “green-energy” mixed use development, and revitalize the main streets of New Haven neighborhoods.
Long Wharf
“For 30 years I’ve wanted to run for mayor in the worst way. And I guess I did it,” Nemerson (pictured) joked, standing by Harp’s side on Long Wharf Monday afternoon.
Nemerson said he got into the race before Harp declared, when he thought he could be the candidate to build a broad coalition of support. “Toni’s the one who’s done it,” he said.
Nemerson and his campaign treasurer, Angel Fernandez-Chavero, are now joining the Harp campaign as co-chairs of the steering committee, working on economic development policy.
Nemerson is bringing some of his campaign platform planks with him to the Harp operation. He spoke on Monday about his proposal that New Haven focus on bringing 10,000 new residents to town in the next 10 years.
Harp said that was an idea that she was initially unsure about, but has since come to embrace: “We have to do it.”
In the past, Nemerson has spoken about the importance of developing Long Wharf, an idea that Harp took up at Monday’s press event.
“This is an underdeveloped part of the city,” she said. She stood near the long shuttered Long Wharf visitors center, facing a small parking lot, with algae-covered water lapping the shore behind her.
“There should be apartments overlooking us,” Nemerson said. People should have an “opportunity to enjoy the views.”
“This is a part of our destiny,” Nemerson said. The waterfront could be developed to attract people and businesses from Boston and New York, he said. “Thousands and thousands of young graduates will be going to cities that look like New Haven can look.”
Harp said she’d like to see high-speed ferries running from New Haven to New York, getting people there in an hour.
Harp said she’d like to bring “green industries” to town. In her position paper, she wrote that “greening” the city’s economy would distinguish the city competitively and create jobs.
Long Wharf and downtown are not that far away physically, Harp said. “We have to connect them with our minds.”
Dixwell
She made a similar point 45 minutes later, at another press conference outside the Stetson branch of the city public library in Dixwell Plaza. She pointed out that Broadway, which is hailed as a thriving retail center, is only three blocks away. She called for the breaking down of barriers between neighborhoods, so that Broadway-style success extends all the way up Dixwell Avenue.
Harp was joined at the library by a couple dozen supporters, including Newhallville Alderwomen Delphine Clyburn and Brenda Foskey-Cyrus.
She drew another parallel, to Long Wharf: Dixwell has not received the attention it should, she said. She said the neighborhood hadn’t received any investment in about 20 years.
Antoine Scott (pictured), who grew up in the neighborhood and now runs a limousine business, said he remembers when Dixwell was thriving and bustling in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Too many million-dollar developments have come into the city without taxpayers seeing a benefit, he said. “Toni Harp will fight for the businesses of the city.”
Harp promised to she help small businesses connecting them to programs available at the state level. Small business owners “can’t walk into City Hall and get help for your business,” she said. “I want that to happen.”
Harp said she’d also work to develop the main streets of the city’s neighborhoods, commercial corridors like Dixwell Avenue and Grand Avenue. She later mentioned the work that Westville has done through the Connecticut Main Street Program, which helps fund “place-making” efforts for that neighborhood.
Harp pitched another idea: Put “mini City Halls” in New Haven neighborhoods. City Hall can seem inaccessible, far away from some neighborhoods, and with little parking available. She said the city should open branches of City Hall in neighborhoods, to allow people to pay tickets and get questions answered. She said the mini City Halls could be part of police substations.