by | Feb 24, 2025 9:39 am | Comments (23)
Jordan Allyn photos
Tending bud at Nautilus Botanicals ...
... owned by Luis Vega (center), celebrating a "dream come true" eight years after cannabis arrest.
Behind shelves of pipes by Bridgeport glass blower Mary Melts and across from a wall of paintings by Westville’s Shady Dankin, budtenders at Nautilus Botanicals invited the public to the grand opening of the city’s third legal pot shop.
by | Jul 25, 2024 5:43 pm | Comments (7)
Asher Joseph Photo
Unique Trujillo, a close friend of Joshua Vazquez, at Thursday's arrest announcement.
Police announced the arrest of the young man they said shot 16-year-old Joshua Vazquez to death one and a half years ago — and arrested the alleged shooter’s mom as well.
Joshua Vazquez’s family and friends gathered at the Shack community center in West Hills Thursday to mourn his murder and to recognize police for arresting his alleged shooter, who is now 19 years old.
by | Jan 15, 2024 11:54 am | Comments (2)
Nobody stole any vehicles in West Hills, West Rock, Westville, or Amity during the first week of 2024.
by and | May 30, 2023 8:35 pm | Comments (30)
Paul Bass Photo
Ward 26 candidates Joshua Van Hoesen and Amy Marx outside the polls Tuesday.
Legal aid lawyer and Democratic ward co-chair Amy Marx will be the next alder for Upper Westville’s Ward 26, after winning a special election to fill the seat left empty by Darryl Brackeen.
by | May 16, 2023 9:04 am | Comments (22)
Paul Bass Photo
Joshua Van Hoesen finally got to speak to an unaffiliated voter on Benton Street about an upcoming special election for alder. But first he had to break form and agree to break a rule.
by | Feb 6, 2023 12:49 pm | Comments (3)
New Haveners in need of wheelchairs, bath seats, walking sticks and more can now borrow those supplies for just a dollar from a Whalley Avenue pharmacy, thanks to a newly opened outpost of a medical equipment charity.
Continue reading ‘Medical Equipment Charity Opens On Whalley’
by | Nov 7, 2022 10:37 am | Comments (18)
A 27-year-old New Havener named Shanice Reyes was struck and killed by a car Friday evening on a deadly stretch of Whalley Avenue.
by and | Nov 3, 2022 6:46 pm | Comments (10)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Ray Pantalena: On track for recreational sales, thanks to Wednesday City Plan Commission vote.
Jordan Ashby Photo
Kebra Smith-Bolden: On track for cultivator license, thanks to Tuesday Social Equity Council vote.
A medical marijuana pharmacist is set to roll recreational bud and edibles onto Whalley Avenue as soon as December — after getting approved for the city’s first ever adult-use cannabis business special permit.
And another leading local cannabis entrepreneur has won a key vote of support from a state council to build out her own “social equity” cultivation and retail ventures.
Continue reading ‘Canna-biz Wins First City Dispensary Permit’
by | Aug 8, 2022 3:01 pm | Comments (3)
Olivia Gross Photo
Atkinson with raffle winner Danny.
Tanaya Atkinson braved the heat -– and not the basketball team -– to give back to New Haven kids getting ready to return to school.
by | May 11, 2022 1:29 pm | Comments (8)
One recent Wednesday morning, before arriving to Whalley Avenue to open his pharmacy business for a day, Victor Fok drove to a patient’s house to teach them how to test their blood sugar levels, free of charge.
At Fok’s previous job at a large corporate pharmacy chain, he would never have had the time and incentive to prioritize patient education. Now, as a co-owner of the recently-opened True-Care Pharmacy in the Amity neighborhood, Fok and his team hope to reach community members where they live with personally-delivered prescriptions, immunizations, and education initiatives.
by | Mar 24, 2022 11:56 am | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photo
Dean Howard in his Frederick Street apartment.
After breaking both of his feet and fracturing his kneecap in a scooter crash on Whalley Avenue, Dean Howard fell behind on rent — and got hit with an eviction lawsuit.
His Stamford-based landlord has now withdrawn the case, after Howard caught up on what he owed with the help of his employer, his dad, and a state assistance program.
by and | Mar 10, 2022 3:43 pm | Comments (0)
Maya McFadden Photo
Majesty Whitaker talks Ukraine and barbershop talk Thursday morning.
The word at Transformerz barber shop Thursday was Ukraine — along with some other topics that had to stay in the shop.
Continue reading ‘Word At The Barber Shop: Ukraine Needs Our Help’
by | Feb 27, 2022 4:34 pm | Comments (10)
Parishioners sing Ukrainian national anthem at St. Michael Church.
Thomas Breen Photo
Myron Melnyk, at right, Sunday with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who invited him to Tuesday night's State of the Union address.
The first Sunday of the war in Ukraine saw prayer services at New Haven’s Ukrainian churches attracting hundreds of patriotic parishioners and supportive political leaders, all determined to see Ukraine remain a free, independent nation.
Ukrainians greeted each other with “Heroyam Slava” — “Glory to the Ukrainian fighters.” Then they prayed, shared heart-rending stories of killed or endangered relatives, and found hope in the continuing fight against Russian invaders.
by | Dec 17, 2021 9:07 am | Comments (3)
After an outpouring of community resistance and a denial of a request for approval of a parking plan, the final kibosh was put on a proposal for a BYO nightclub or “assembly hall” on upper Whalley Avenue.
Google Maps
Shopping strip at 1330 Whalley Ave. where Kenneth Redding had pitched opening an “assembly hall” (in the right corner commercial space above).
The kibosh came in the form a vote against a special exception for Kenneth Redding’s proposed “assembly hall” at 1331 Whalley Ave. at Tuesday night’s Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.
Redding was not present at the gathering. He attended a zoning hearing a month earlier when neighbors came out in force with concerns not only about parking, but about late-night carousing and drinking, and vagrancy in neighbors’ yards.
“I recall an overwhelming negative community presence based on very late hours, bad behavior,” BZA Acting Chair Alexandra Daum said. “I would concur and move to deny, based on community pushback and the City Plan recommendation.
The vote was unanimous. (Read a previous story on the subject here.)
by | Nov 18, 2021 11:06 am | Comments (3)
Google Maps photo
The shopping strip at 1330 Whalley Ave. where Kenneth Redding has pitched opening an “assembly hall” (in the right corner commercial space above).
A proposed BYOB nightclub on Upper Whalley hit another administrative roadblock Wednesday, as City Plan Commissioners unanimously recommended rejecting the venue’s request to share parking with its shopping strip neighbors.
Continue reading ‘City Plan Rejects Upper Whalley Nightclub Proposal’
by | Oct 29, 2021 4:02 pm | Comments (18)
Paul Bass Photos
Upper Westville candidates Van Hoesen and Brackeen this week at WNHH FM: Both are vaxxed.
One candidate handed out assignments to dozens of neighbors: Here’s your street. Here are the doors to knock on. Here are flyers to hand out. Let us know who’s voting.
At another end of the ward, the other candidate set out to meet voters as well. Alone.
by | Aug 23, 2021 1:48 pm | Comments (4)
129 Amity Road LLC
Design for self-storage site at 129 Amity: Plans OK’d. No tenant yet.
Will the third time prove the charm?
That’s the question for a vacant parkway-adjacent Amity lot, where a property owner won city permission to build a four-story self-storage facility — after that same landlord won approvals for projects that never got built.
by | Aug 20, 2021 11:11 am | Comments (2)
Google photos
One of the commercial properties included at the 1475 Whalley Ave. strip mall.
A Bridgeport-based orthodontist bought an Amity strip mall for $5.75 million, in one of the city’s latest property transactions — and a local mega-landlord borrowed more than $3 million with plans of paying down debt and buying more properties, in the city’s latest mortgages.
Continue reading ‘Property Sales Roundup: Amity Strip Mall Sells For $5.75M’
by | Aug 13, 2021 4:39 pm | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden Photo
WNBA’s Tanaya Atkinson at Friday’s giveaway.
Barber Brian MacCalla give 5-year-old Jayce Smith a shape-up at Friday’s back-to-school event.
As basketball star Tanaya Atkinson prepared to fly out of the country, she passed the rock to kids back home in New Haven to ensure they have filled book bags and free fresh hair cuts in time to return to school.
by | Aug 11, 2021 12:11 pm | Comments (1)
129 AMITY ROAD LLC
The proposed new self-storage site slated for 129 Amity Rd.
Plans for a new four-story self-storage facility on the far west side of town moved ahead, with the help of side and rear yard relief from city zoners.
by | Jul 19, 2021 9:58 am | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden Photo
Whitaker giving Scott Martin a cut during nurses’ pitch: “I don’t want my opinion to be everyone’s opinion.
Two city Health Department nurses set up class in a barbershop. The topic at hand — Why should we trust the Covid-19 vaccine? — elicited straight talk about why people choose to remain unvaccinated.
by | Jun 13, 2021 8:17 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Ward 25 Democratic committee members Nicholas Neeley and Malcom Welfare tally results as James Berger reads out the votes.
Mayor Justin Elicker picked up two more resounding votes of support this weekend in straw polls held by Democratic ward committees.
Continue reading ‘Ward 27, 25 Democratic Committees Back Elicker’
by | Jun 4, 2021 11:50 am | Comments (0)
NBC30
Shooting scene on Lilac Street Thursday night.
During a night when two more New Haveners got shot, two mayoral candidates invoked different years to criticize each other’s handling of violent crime.
Continue reading ‘2020 vs. 2006: Mayoral Candidates Year-Check Each Other On Crime’
by | May 12, 2021 9:42 am | Comments (5)
129 Amity Road LLC
The proposed new self-storage site slated for 129 Amity Rd.
Medical marijuana? Nope.
Baconator with a side of fries? Not happening.
What about … self-storage?
Continue reading ‘Self-Storage — Not Burgers, Not Pot — Coming To Amity Lot’
by | May 3, 2021 11:51 am | Comments (9)
(Updated) A 70-year-old pedestrian died after getting struck by a driver on a perilous stretch of Whalley Avenue.
Continue reading ‘Update: Pedestrian Identified In Fatal Whalley-Ramsdell Crash’