by | Sep 18, 2023 9:00 am | Comments (3)
Karen Ponzio Photos.
Silent Book Club New Haven selections for September.
Are you one of those people who grabs a book with all intentions of plowing through a decent number of pages and ends up not reading any — distracted by the phone, the TV or household chores? The Silent Book Club might be perfect for you.
by and | Sep 15, 2023 12:03 pm | Comments (24)
Allan Appel photo
Surprised non-Democrat Anthony Carter, with Bella Vista moderator Patricia Solomon.
“I’ve been a Democrat all my life,” said May, an 81-year-old Newhallville resident who said she’s voted at Lincoln-Bassett School every election since she bought her home in 1985.
Except she wasn’t a Democrat on Tuesday. She found out from a moderator that she had been re-registered as an “unaffiliated” voter, ineligible to vote in the primary.
May was one of at least dozens of people across the city to find out on Tuesday that they couldn’t vote because they weren’t Democrats. To many, including May, that news came as an inexplicable surprise.
Continue reading ‘Unexpected Unaffiliateds Turned Away At Polls’
by | Sep 11, 2023 4:23 pm | Comments (34)
Laura Glesby photo
Developer Yves Joseph and Mayor Justin Elicker at "Canal Place."
“We are building, building, building,” Mayor Justin Elicker declared before the rising metal skeleton of what will eventually become 168 mixed-income apartments, in a part of the city rendered nearly unrecognizable by a flood of new housing construction.
Continue reading ‘168 More Apartments On The Rise In Dixwell’
by | Aug 29, 2023 2:24 pm | Comments (18)
Thomas Breen photos
Lance Thomas, on Winchester Ave: "There's too much gun violence."
414 Dixwell, one of many Ocean properties up for sale.
Ocean Management affiliates sold another nine local rental properties over the past month — while Mandy Management affiliates sold six buildings of their own and bought one anew — as “For Sale” signs continue to pop up on front lawns across Newhallville and Dixwell.
Continue reading ‘"For Sale" Signs Multiply As Ocean Keeps Selling’
by | Aug 29, 2023 8:23 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery photo
Making a sailboat from the squiggly plastic of a 3D gun. Making even more complex objects from 3D printers. Exploring the open worlds of videogames. All of these and more — much more — happen at the Teen Center and Makerspace Drop-In, Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, located in the Q House at 197 Dixwell Ave. The event and the space are intended to help library patrons learn to create, explore the library more deeply, and have fun doing it.
by | Aug 25, 2023 9:20 am | Comments (2)
Lisa Reisman photos
Order's up: Deari'e's Surf & Turf, at Dixwell's Dope N Delicious.
David James, Deari'e Allick, De'Ari Allick Jr., De'Ari Allick, and James Nelson on a recent afternoon at Dope N Delicious.
Talk about a dream summer internship.
Deari’e Allick, who’s 14 and a student in culinary arts at Eli Whitney Tech, spent the last two months whipping up dishes that range from lamb chops with smashed potatoes to the Pineapple Bowl to, on a recent afternoon, Surf & Turf.
Her boss is her father De’Ari Allick, owner of Dope N Delicious, a pocket-sized joint specializing in southern comfort food, seafood, and soul food at 300 Dixwell Ave. De’Ari learned to cook from his mother Audrey Maysonet. De’Ari passed it on to Deari’e.
by | Aug 24, 2023 5:17 pm | Comments (0)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
The new facade for the Edith Johnson apartments at 114 Bristol St.
Tenant Jackie Reilly puts her handprint on the wall to commemorate the renovations — and express her excitement for more fun to be had in the building's overhauled communal space.
Jackie Reilly is ready to play bingo, practice chair yoga, and hold Christmas parties in her apartment building’s new common room — now that a long-coming $5.2 million renovation of the nearly 50-year-old Edith Johnson senior public-housing development in Dixwell has wrapped.
Continue reading ‘Upgrades Unveiled At Edith Johnson Towers’
by | Aug 18, 2023 11:46 am | Comments (15)
Thomas Breen photo
Prez Walker-Myers, with Mayor Elicker: "You probably never thought I'd be here doing this ... But today is your day."
Mayor Justin Elicker and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers traded words of praise — and even a hug — as the two city leaders stood side by side, to their own surprise, and encouraged local labor advocates to help keep the same “team” in office for the next two years.
Continue reading ‘Elicker, Walker-Myers Embrace Unexpected Alliance’
by | Aug 4, 2023 11:58 am | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden photo
Troup's summer meals backbone: Cafeteria worker Robin Jones.
Mother of three Falilat Enny stopped by Troup School to visit a friend who her kids call “grandma” — because she has loved to serve Enny’s three girls free meals for breakfast and lunch all summer.
Continue reading ‘Free Summer Meals Come To Quiet Close At Troup’
by | Aug 4, 2023 9:16 am | Comments (10)
Laura Glesby file photo
Desmone Gambrell-Claxton and Fabian Menges present their group's ideas for the Armory (pictured above).
The abandoned armory on Goffe Street is starting to house dreams of sports facilities, small businesses, social services, and citywide celebrations.
But before neighbors’ visions for the historic structure can become a reality, the building will need to be cleared of asbestos, sealed off from water, and bolstered to support more weight.
Continue reading ‘Armory Ailments Detailed, Futures Floated’
by | Aug 3, 2023 3:06 pm | Comments (38)
Thomas Breen photo
Anthony Geritano, Jr. and Hari Venu: "I wish you and I had met a few years ago."
Dixwell alder-hopeful Anthony Geritano, Jr. didn’t get Hari Venu to sign his petition to appear on the Democratic primary ballot this September.
But the recent Yale graduate with papers in hand did get a crash course from the recent Yale PhD who answered the door on just how persistent the town-gown divide remains — and got the chance to make his own pitch on what to do about it.
Continue reading ‘Challenger Finds Yale Quandary At Dixwell Doors’
by | Jul 27, 2023 4:34 pm | Comments (3)
File photo
Free throw contest at previous Stop the Violence, Start The Love hoops tournament.
There’s a basketball tournament this Saturday at Goffe Street Park, and it’s no ordinary one.
Along with deejays spinning lively tunes, as well as dance and drill teams adding pomp, circumstance, and style, the event will feature a kids’ free throw, layup line, and three-point contest as well as an adult dunk contest, and a host of kids’ activities like moon bounces, face painting, and a prize giveaway.
All are designed to further a goal made clear in the tournament’s name: “Stop the violence, start the love.”
Continue reading ‘Basketball Tourney Seeks To Stop Violence, Start Love’
by | Jul 24, 2023 5:06 pm | Comments (1)
ASHER JOSEPH PHOTO
Jackie Bracey (right): "Home comes from your heart."
“Hope is the seed of love, of Black folk, and of all people. And that’s what this building is,” ConnCAT CEO Erik Clemons said as he addressed a 100-person crowd gathered to celebrate Dixwell Plaza one more time before it’s knocked down and redeveloped.
by | Jul 24, 2023 7:35 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery Photos
Thabisa Rich at arts collective kickoff.
Musician and arts organizer Thabisa Rich stood before a packed room inside the NXTHVN arts complex at 169 Henry St. on Friday evening, ready to announce a new initiative. “I don’t know if I should be nervous or excited,” she said, “because this is a dream come true.”
Continue reading ‘Rich Arts Collective Finds Wealth In Being Humble’
by | Jul 21, 2023 10:38 am | Comments (7)
Team Dixwell-Newhallville: Alder candidates Jeanette Morrison, Troy Streater, and Brittiany Mabery-Niblack.
Three New Haven natives are running as a team for alder seats in Wards 20, 21, and 22 in Dixwell and Newhallville.
by | Jul 14, 2023 4:42 pm | Comments (3)
Courtesy of Rachel Kline Brown
State Rep. Pat Dillon reads to LEAP summer campers on Friday.
An assistant schools superintendent, a state senator, and a Dixwell alder, among many others, dropped in to the Q House’s gymnasium on Friday to help read to young New Haveners and inspire an early love for books.
Continue reading ‘Students Hit The Gym, With Books, For LEAP Read-In’
by | Jul 5, 2023 8:42 am | Comments (0)
SHAN Wallace
New Haven Block Party.
SHAN Wallace’s New Haven Block Party captures the essence of its title and then some. It conveys something of the way the past and present can collide on some of Dixwell’s streets, how the shadows of what used to be there can feel as present as what’s there now. But it honors what’s there now, too: the people, the places, the energy that make up the neighborhood as we experience it today. True to the season, it feels like a hot summer day, when windows are open and radios are loud, and people are ready to talk to each other on stoops and street corners in ways the colder months won’t allow.
by | Jun 30, 2023 12:20 pm | Comments (2)
Maya McFadden photo
Book Award recipients with New Haven Links President Toni Harp.
Howard University, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), University of Hartford, and Morgan State University are the next stops for seven New Haven high school graduates who each got a helping hand from a historic Black female advocacy organization to chase their higher-education dreams.
by | Jun 29, 2023 12:43 pm | Comments (26)
Thomas Breen file photo
Riding the bus up Dixwell ...
Thomas Breen photo
... to be made faster, cleaner, more efficient, thanks to Bus Rapid Transit program, as described by state transit chief Garrett Eucalitto Thursday.
City, state and federal officials took a victory lap Thursday at a politician-packed press conference celebrating a new $25 million grant that will speed up and electrify bus travel on Dixwell, Grand, Whalley, Congress and Columbus Avenues.
by | Jun 26, 2023 4:06 pm | Comments (6)
Laura Glesby Photos
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison cheers on Q House healthcare.
At the newly opened Cornell Scott Hill Health Center at 197 Dixwell.
Gayle Hall, a self-described “lifetime member of the Q House,” celebrated a newfound chance to see her doctor at the newly-revived community center in the neighborhood she calls home.
by | Jun 26, 2023 12:04 pm | Comments (2)
Asher Joseph photo
Doreen Abubakar (center) helping a senior attendee pot her plant.
“Everyone, be quiet! I want to know which one I got.”
A hush fell over the roughly 30 seniors gathered on the second floor of the Q House community center as the gardeners-in-training attempted to find the flower that corresponded to the leafy sprouts in front of them.
by | Jun 22, 2023 4:32 pm | Comments (11)
Dixwell Plaza's planned new ConnCAT Place redevelopment.
A demolition notice outside the Elks' former home at 87 Webster St.
Dixwell Plaza’s redevelopers plan to start knocking down vacant buildings in the mid-century shopping plaza as soon as September — as they move forward with a years-in-the-making effort to build up the heart of New Haven’s historic Black neighborhood.
Continue reading ‘Demolition Draws Near For Dixwell Plaza Redev’
by and | Jun 19, 2023 4:22 pm | Comments (1)
Kian Ahmadi photo
Jermaine Galberth at Scantlebury Park's splash pad on Monday.
As two-year-old Jermaine Galberth, Jr. pushed his little sister Jasmine’s stroller through the Scantlebury Park splash pad, proud dad Jermaine, Sr. watched his children at play — and remembered when he was a kid and there was little more than sewer water in a place now teeming with much healthier opportunities for cooling off.
by | Jun 19, 2023 12:29 pm | Comments (1)
Kian Ahmadi photo
Drummers Michael Mills and bandmates Brian Jarawa Gray and Paul McGuire on Saturday.
One hundred and fifty eight years ago today, Joseph Sills of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment watched as Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed all enslaved African Americans free in Galveston, Tex.
On Saturday, Sills’s direct descendent, Kelly Mero, helped honor her ancestor and the historic episode of Black freedom he participated in through a Juneteenth celebration she organized in the Dixwell neighborhood.
Continue reading ‘From Galveston In 1865 To Wexler-Grant In 2023’
by | Jun 19, 2023 7:21 am | Comments (1)
Eleanor Polak Photos
Juneteenth parade marchers gather at the Green.
A parade and a panoply of music, speeches, vendors, and community on the Green connected Dixwell and downtown for a celebration of a new national holiday honoring the history of Black freedom.
Continue reading ‘Juneteenth Marchers Mark Black Liberation’