by | Oct 15, 2018 7:41 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photo
The carved faces of immigrants. A sea turtle diving beneath the waves. A quilt full of mythological animals.
As part of Artspace’s City-Wide Open Studios, The Eli Whitney Barn on Whitney Avenue once again opened its doors to artists who took over the old wooden space and transformed it, for Saturday and Sunday, into a gallery filled with art that was suffused with memory.
by | Oct 9, 2018 7:58 am | Comments (13)
Thomas Breen photo
260 Humphrey St.
A three-family East Rock house sold for more than twice what it cost in 2005, while a nonprofit dropped a decaying Newhallville single-family home that it couldn’t find enough money to rebuild.
by | Sep 20, 2018 8:01 am | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen photo
EDWINS owner Brandon Chrostowski (center) with New Haveners Scott Lewis and Bobby Johnson on Monday night.
When Brandon Chrostowski was 18, he was arrested for drug possession and for running from the police in his home city of Detroit. He could have gotten 10 years behind bars, but a judge sentenced him to probation and no prison time instead.
Now Chrostowski owns and runs a nationally celebrated French restaurant where he teaches the formerly incarcerated to be chefs, waiters, and house managers, extending the second chance that he received decades ago to a population of diligent, aspiring culinary employees just looking for an opportunity to work.
by | Sep 14, 2018 7:49 am | Comments (5)
Thomas Breen photo
Olmo chefs and co-owners Craig Hutchinson and Alex Lishchynsky with Olmo general manager Tessa Cooney.
Tamales made with fermented pork sausage and farina. Coal-roasted vegetables served with housemade ricotta. A 32-ounce dry-aged ribeye steak.
Oh yeah, and one-dollar bagels, baked in house every morning and available seven days a week.
Those are a few selections from the eclectic menu of Olmo, the new restaurant, catering service, and take-out spot that will replace the recently closed Caseus Fromagerie & Bistro at the corner of Trumbull Street and Whitney avenue downtown.
by | Sep 9, 2018 10:24 am | Comments (8)
Allison Park Photo
Robyn Porter and Chris Murphy at mActivity.
“Democracy is on the ballot” this November, and advocates for women’s health need to make their voices heard.
by | Sep 6, 2018 12:27 pm | Comments (0)
Martin Sexton.
Folk tinged with blues and R&B. Folk tinged with pop. Just straight-up folk.Whatever the word means to you, the CT Folk Fest and Green Expo is likely to have it when it takes over Edgerton Park this Saturday, Sept. 8, featuring a range of performers and vendors from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
by | Sep 4, 2018 2:41 pm | Comments (1)
Lary Bloom Photo
On Labor Day, I watched from across the street as a young man walked up to the front door of an abandoned East Rock storefront and tried to peek through the shaded windows. Where, he must have wondered, was the drug counter, the mini-post office, the usual human bustle?
by | Aug 23, 2018 1:13 pm | Comments (0)
Mike Franzman Photo
Kingston Farady and Betzabeth Castro.
A half-hour before Elm Shakespeare Company’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost is set to start in Edgerton Park, several of the cast members strut onstage with instruments — a guitar, a banjo, a bass, a trumpet, a sax, a drum — to explain that they’re going to warm up the crowd. And warm the crowd they do, with take after enthusiastic take on early jazz, with a few more modern flourishes thrown in. It’s the kind of music that makes the audience tap their feet and chuckle spontaneously. It’s also a great encapsulation of Elm Shakespeare’s approach to this not-often-performed Shakespeare play. This Love’s Labour’s Lost is smart, lighthearted, full of energy, and a lot of fun.
Continue reading ‘Elm Shakespeare Does A Winning “Love’s Labour’s Lost”’
by | Aug 15, 2018 1:38 pm | Comments (7)
Thomas Breen photo
Lamont at Wednesday’s presser.
President Donald Trump endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski for governor Wednesday, leading Democratic contender Ned Lamont to call the two “joined at the hip.”
by | Aug 12, 2018 12:11 pm | Comments (13)
Thomas Breen photo
Local 34 prez Laurie Kennington pumps Lamont at Saturday’s rally.
Ned Lamont lashed out at his opponent at a final get-out-the-vote rally in New Haven — not the opponent he needs to beat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, but the one he expects to face in November.
by | Aug 1, 2018 8:01 am | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photo
Democratic candidate Ned Lamont gets some firsthand Elm City art experience as he paints alongside local artist Kwadwo Adae on Newhallville’s women’s empowerment mural.
Tim Herbst: “We have to dig out of this hole.”
How best to protect endangered arts funding at a time of statewide fiscal crisis?
For three candidates participating in a forum in New Haven, the answer lies in fixing underfunded pensions.
Continue reading ‘3 Candidates See Pensions As Arts Villain’
by | Jul 5, 2018 11:39 am | Comments (1)
Allison Park Photo
As the sun set and the anticipation started to rise, the first few fireworks were shot off close to 9 p.m., creating a canvas of white smoke over the sky.
by | Jun 26, 2018 12:46 pm | Comments (6)
Allan Appel Photo
The stantion on Orange near Linden, looking north.
Will the next advertising stanchion from Bike New Haven, the city’s bike share program, be erected cheek by jowl with a 1905 Civil War monument? And is that appropriate?
And instead of beer or national-chain burgers, could the bike station advertisements feature more bike-appropriate healthful concerns like a local gym, or even mom and pop stores?
by | Jun 19, 2018 12:09 pm | Comments (0)
To introduce her first song, “Sweet to Me,” Caroline Doctorow told a quick, acerbic story that was the genesis for the song’s title. She knew a man once who practiced singing and playing the guitar all the time, to the irritation of his wife.
“What is the point of all this?” Doctorow related her saying. “You’re never going to be Elvis.”
‘His reply: “I may not ever be Elvis, but it doesn’t cost you anything to be sweet to me.”
“That couple isn’t together anymore,” Doctorow added.
Continue reading ‘East Rock Concert Series Comes Full Circle’
by | Jun 15, 2018 3:50 pm | Comments (14)
Officer Doug Pearse thought he and his partner still had a “50 – 50” chance to rescue a suicidal woman at East Rock’s summit. Then she stood up at the precipice of a rock and bent her knees above a deadly drop.
by | Jun 14, 2018 12:21 pm | Comments (25)
Christopher Peak Photo
Jaqueline Carleton McFadyen makes case to zoners.
Millennials in East Rock would gladly downsize to one-bedroom apartments — if the city rules didn’t make them hard to build.
Zoners heard that argument from a young couple who rehab historic homes and have a new project requiring a deviation from what’s allowed in even a high-density residential area.
by | Jun 14, 2018 12:20 pm | Comments (20)
Allan Appel Photo
Looking south on Orange from Linden.
When Andrea Konetchy heard workmen pouring concrete across from her house at the corner of Linden and Orange streets, she thought: Fine, the sidewalk is being repaired.
To her dismay, what emerged was a new sidewalk, but a eight-by-five-foot metallic stanchion bearing a McDonald’s advertisement.
The ad is part of the city’s popular new bike share program, Bike New Haven, whose architecture program, placement, and advertising content are upsetting some people other neighborhoods as well.
by | Jun 14, 2018 8:03 am | Comments (8)
Tom Breen Photo
Lehman Brothers engraving plant on Foster Street, overrun with weeds.
Christopher Peak Photo
Miguel Almodovar.
A project testing the feasibility of selling condos in New Haven won an endorsement from city planning staff, calling the proposal to convert an abandoned printing press into townhouses and apartments “a solid example” of adaptive reuse.
by | May 17, 2018 12:15 pm | Comments (0)
Police appealed for the public’s help in catching up with a “sexual deviant” who has been flashing and poking at people in East Rock.
by | May 16, 2018 3:40 pm | Comments (12)
Thomas Breen photo
Martin Looney with Lamont Tuesday.
New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont and his city-centered approach to economic development — but warned against a plan Lamont had supported just a few weeks ago to expand New Haven’s airport.
Continue reading ‘Looney Endorses Lamont, Cautions On Tweed Expansion’
by | May 15, 2018 6:42 pm | Comments (3)
Glenn Schulman Photo
Stevenson Road in Upper Westville.
A storm that whipped through the state Monday evening spared New Haven the worst of it — but still felled trees throughout the city and left much of East Rock and Westville without power.
by | May 15, 2018 1:19 pm | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen photo
Foes-turned-running mates Lamont, Bysiewicz in New Haven Tuesday.
Rich guys shouldn’t fund their own campaigns for governor?
Susan Bysiewicz was no longer making that case Tuesday, as she publicly signed on as lieutenant governor running-mate with leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont.
by | May 11, 2018 12:05 pm | Comments (8)
Christopher Peak Photo
Elon and Stephanie Boms plead.
A college administrator asked for a bigger sign for athletic offerings. A couple sought permission for a two-story extension to move in relatives. Parents looked to build a side garage to safely transport their highly allergic daughter.
All three East Rock quests depended on proving “hardship” to win a variance to New Haven’s zoning rules.
Continue reading ‘3 “Hardship” Pitches: How Would You Vote?’
by | May 4, 2018 5:27 pm | Comments (2)
Thomas Breen photo
New Haven’s Albertus Magnus College, which has recently stepped up its commitment to closer town-gown relations, inaugurated its 14th president on Friday afternoon with calls for study, prayer, service, and community.
by | Apr 26, 2018 4:08 pm | Comments (7)
Thomas Breen photo
The State-Trumbull parking lot. Inset: Matthew Nemerson.
State Street visitors will have 75 more public parking spaces available to them on weekends and on weekdays after dark thanks to a mutually voluntary termination of an exclusive parking arrangement between the city’s parking authority and Goodfellas Restaurant.