by | Jul 22, 2013 12:11 pm | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Lead volunteer organizer Jesse Hardy lived at 185 Ashmun.
Shirlee Gray never called the old Elm Haven apartments, where she raised six kids, “the projects.” Nor did her neighbors. They identified where they lived by whether their buildings rose two or three stories — or eight to ten. Hence the name on the T‑shirts they all wore to Scantlebury Park: “Ashmun Street High Rise/Low Rise Reunion.”
by | Jul 16, 2013 1:56 pm | Comments (0)
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Pastor Eldren Morrison hosts a mayoral debate in June.
The Dixwell pastor who seeks to open a new charter school in his neighborhood has withdrawn his proposal, with plans to resubmit it in the fall.
Continue reading ‘Varick Pastor Revises Charter School Application’
by | Jul 4, 2013 11:24 am | Comments (28)
Paul Bass Photo
“I love you!’
“I love you, man!”
“Now put that on your wrist, man. Represent!”
by | Jul 3, 2013 12:08 pm | Comments (14)
Toni Harp’s signs came down. A Kermit Carolina sign went up. But the battle for the vote at 48 Foote St. may not be over yet.
by | Jul 1, 2013 4:07 pm | Comments (48)
When mayoral candidate Kermit Carolina noticed an opponent’s sign on a Dixwell front lawn, he found he had some explaining to do — about a misunderstood notion of “special-interest” money.
by | Jun 30, 2013 12:11 am | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photo
Arthur Tyson grew up in the old Elm Haven and Brookside projects, where he pitched horseshoes in his backyard seven hour a day seven days a week. He became a champion, ranked number two in the world, with an 83 ringer percentage, and is now the only African-American in the National Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame.
by | Jun 28, 2013 9:20 am | Comments (9)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Morrison.
Dixwell Alderwoman Jeanette Morrison launched a reelection bid with one top priority for the neighborhood: Find a way to reopen the shuttered Q House.
by | Jun 25, 2013 5:33 pm | Comments (2)
Paul Bass Photo
A funeral turned out to be the right place to find a wanted man. But not the right time to nab him.
by | Jun 25, 2013 8:08 am | Comments (2)
Allan Appel Photo
State child-welfare authorities took away Nadine Diaz’s twins Molli and Joel six weeks after they were born. She had been using drugs and had severe post-partem depression; it was hard to stay on a path to recovery with little support at home.
That’s when she turned to ‘r kids Family Center, a small adoption and reconnection agency that does huge things in the lives of struggling families. Diaz got her kids back in April.
Monday afternoon Diaz and other families celebrated the organization’s tenth year with a block party outside ‘r kids’ home at 45 Dixwell Ave. The party featured popcorn, ices, hugs, music, and stories about treating people even in the most dire straits with respect and dignity.
by | Jun 24, 2013 8:30 pm | Comments (30)
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.
Continue reading ‘Harp Takes Nemerson’s Endorsement—& Ideas’
by | Jun 18, 2013 2:11 pm | Comments (4)
Allan Appel Photo
Nysir Harris, Thomas Boynton-Comba, and violist Benn.
It’s not every string quartet concert where you can run through the splash pad, lick a cool Sponge Bob pop, and then climb on stage and sit down next to the violist.
Continue reading ‘Daddy! Daddy! It’s The ... String Quartet Truck?’
by | Jun 3, 2013 11:33 am | Comments (0)
The doors to the old Dixwell Q House. But outside the plaza was alive with children painting, playing violins — and meeting a clown.
by | May 28, 2013 8:15 am | Comments (50)
“I’m not supporting someone [just] because of the color of their skin,” Greg Morehead called up to the second-floor window on Admiral Street after introducing yet another neighbor to “my friend Justin.”
“We don’t do that,” agreed the woman on the second floor. Then she gave Morehead’s “friend” all the time he wanted to make his pitch.
by | May 26, 2013 9:32 am | Comments (0)
Some approached the open casket in tears or hugging each other. Others knelt in respect and meditation and then kissed Hattie Turner’s forehead. A man patted her hand in farewell; a woman rearranged one of her white satin garments as if to tuck her in.
by | May 24, 2013 1:39 pm | Comments (13)
Paul Bass Photo
Henry Fernandez asked voters in Dixwell to choose him as the next mayor — but to vote him out if he fails in a crucial task, “dramatically improving public schools.”
Continue reading ‘Fernandez: Don’t Reelect Me If Schools Stay The Same’
by | May 20, 2013 3:22 pm | Comments (2)
Allan Appel Photo
Lillian Brown listened intently to a scene from a play about white flight in a mythical American town in 1959.
It didn’t take the 95-year-old veteran Newhallville political activist long to add some lines of painful autobiographical fact to the compelling fiction she’d just heard: “When we came in [to Division Street] to purchase our house [60 years ago], the white families all put their houses up for sale.”
Continue reading ‘In Dixwell, White Flight Script Rings True’
by | May 20, 2013 8:55 am | Comments (1)
Stacy Davis Photo
Hundreds of people packed Wexler-Grant School’s gymnasium to watch their favorite drill teams stomp their feet and succinctly move their arms to loud drum beats — as a renowned local team returned to take on newer challengers.
by | May 19, 2013 8:25 pm | Comments (5)
Melissa Bailey Photo
The Mob Squad.
Spectators Teairra, Ajaya and Arie stayed warm and dry.
A little drizzle didn’t stop “Action Jackson,” Spiderman, the Mob Squad, and far-flung drill teams from rolling, stomping and roaring down Dixwell Avenue Sunday for the annual Freddie Fixer parade.
by | May 17, 2013 1:58 pm | Comments (2)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
New Haven’s Nation marched in the 2010 parade.
The annual Freddie Fixer Parade, which draws thousands of people from throughout the region to Dixwell Avenue, begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Then, at 4 p.m., the seven Democratic candidates for mayor all plan for the first time to participate in a debate together, this one focused on economic development.
Continue reading ‘2 Sunday Fixes: The Freddie Parade & A Mayoral Debate’
by | May 9, 2013 3:17 pm | Comments (0)
Provided by Arts & Ideas Festival
“The Thing” — aka “The Jellyfish” — is about to descend on Dixwell and Fair Haven.
by | Apr 18, 2013 1:21 pm | Comments (0)
They made a ruckus at Stetson Branch Library — with permission.
by | Apr 9, 2013 8:48 pm | Comments (12)
Paul Bass Photo
It wasn’t officially a mayoral “campaign” event at the Elks Club Tuesday night. But it sure felt like one.
Continue reading ‘Hundreds Jam Elks Club For Carolina Campaign’
by | Mar 25, 2013 8:11 am | Comments (10)
Paul Bass Photo
With four mayoral candidates looking on, Clifton Graves presented an election-year choice to an African-American church crowd: Organize as one voice. Or prepare to be “pimped” again by City Hall.
Continue reading ‘Black Power Plea: Don’t Get “Pimped” Again’
by | Mar 24, 2013 5:25 pm | Comments (4)
Allan Appel Photo
Worship at Varick regularly draws 1,150 people in three separate and consecutive services on Sunday.
If Paul the Apostle asked for financial assistance on his way to preach in Rome. So can Varick Memorial Zion Church ask the state for financial assistance on the way to establishing the Booker T. Washington Academy charter school.
by | Mar 24, 2013 10:30 am | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
Dr. Darden offers praise to those praising her.
Her congregants honored her as a true woman of God, a founder of their church, and a pioneering female pastor for 30 years. Since it was Dr. Mattie Atkinson Darden’s 87th birthday, the City of New Haven put some frosting on her cake: a corner named in honor.
Continue reading
‘Dixwell Corner Named For
Pioneering Female Pastor’