by | Jan 18, 2023 5:37 pm | Comments (4)
Laura Glesby photo
Maceo Troy Streater knocks on Ann Garrett Robinson's door Wednesday.
A team of formerly-incarcerated campaigners rally behind Streater.
Door after door, Maceo Troy Streater set out in the neighborhood where he’s lived his whole life to campaign for a newly vacant alder seat — and to convince neighbors that personal and political change is possible.
by | Dec 21, 2022 6:27 pm | Comments (9)
Nora Grace-Flood file photo
Wilbur Cross's athletic complex: Ready for plastic repairs.
Synthetic turf prevailed over goose poop-laden grass — as high school athletes won not a football or soccer game but a civic debate against environmental advocates concerning the harms and benefits of replacing Wilbur Cross’s chronically muddy sports area with a field of plastic fibers.
Continue reading ‘Turf Tops Grass After Field Repair Debate’
by | Dec 12, 2022 7:07 pm | Comments (8)
File photo
Brown: Coming back to NHPS.
Former High School in the Community Building Leader Matthew Brown is heading back to the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district to become Wilbur Cross High School’s third principal so far this academic year.
Continue reading ‘Matthew Brown Tapped As Wilbur Cross Principal’
by | Dec 9, 2022 2:21 pm | Comments (48)
Laura Glesby Photos
Tripping hazards on Audubon St.
Dave Agosta: "It is not possible for people with disabilities to 'travel' in New Haven. They can only 'navigate hazards.'"
Spotting a loose brick on the Audubon Street walkway, David Agosta nudged it with the tip of his toe — then reached down and handily uprooted the cube.
That block could have caused a twisted ankle or worse, the downtown disability rights advocate said, especially for pedestrians who get around using walkers or crutches or canes.
Mobility hazards like these have led him to ramp up his broader critique of New Haven’s accessibility by filing a formal complaint with the federal Department of Justice.
Continue reading ‘Disability Advocate Pounds Pavement For Safer Sidewalks’
by | Dec 5, 2022 1:49 pm | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photos.
Sarah Dunn and Kelly Kancyr.
On Saturday evening, four singer-songwriters — Sarah Dunn, Kelly Kancyr, Lisa Roberts, and Lys Guillorn — made Gather, the cozy coffee shop on State Street where just about anything and everything can happen, even cozier. They filled the eclectic space with their songs, stories, and a heavy dose of camaraderie and joy, each bringing their own unique sound and occasionally getting a little help from a friend.
by | Dec 1, 2022 11:32 am | Comments (15)
Allan Appel photo
Common Ground high school students, staff, and safe streets advocates at a sign-making workshop in November.
A few days ago, I made the mistake of crossing the street.
by | Nov 29, 2022 1:58 pm | Comments (7)
Paul Bass photo
COMPASS crew members Yichu Xu and Nanette Campbell help out Ollie Cooper at crisis team's launch on Nov. 1.
New Haven’s new COMPASS team of social workers and “peer recovery specialists” has responded to 60 calls so far in its nascent effort to provide non-police help for people in crisis — and the city should know by this spring just how successful this intervention initiative has been.
Continue reading ‘1 Month In, Crisis Team Has Responded To 60 Calls So Far’
by | Nov 22, 2022 11:58 am | Comments (2)
Laura Glesby file photo
Alex Depavloff swirls Nan Rosa's oat milk chocolate cone.
Nan, Lux, Ben, and Gus Rosa with their dad, Evan, digging in on some Sunday afternoon East Rock ice cream.
As New Haven’s first wintery weekend settled over Orange Street, the sign outside Elena’s On Orange lit up — and welcomed a steady stream of families seeking solace from the acerbic wind in a sweeter kind of cold.
by | Nov 18, 2022 10:49 am | Comments (2)
Allan Appel photo
Volunteer Kevin McCarthy and Tusker Pickett at the Trowbridge Environmental Center Thursday.
Years ago when Anna Pickett was potty-training her boys, taking them walking outside could be a challenge because she was always on the look-out for a bathroom.
Back then if she was in the College Woods area of East Rock Park, she often could not find one.
No longer — thanks to a city effort to reopen long-shuttered public parks buildings and turn them into active community centers. With working bathrooms.
Continue reading ‘Book Club, Bathrooms Beckon At Reopened Park Center’
by | Nov 17, 2022 8:56 am | Comments (6)
Take a last look: Sign changes to "G Cafe" next week.
Keeping the joe flowing: Andrea Corazzini.
New Haven may still be part of a blue state, but it is no longer a safe space for Blue State Coffee.
by | Nov 9, 2022 3:07 pm | Comments (18)
Laura Glesby photos
A contingent of Wilbur Cross community members, including Board of Ed Student Representative Dave John Cruz-Bustamante, art teacher Melody Gallagher, and soccer captain Matteo Festa.
Laura Glesby photo
A lightly muddy Blake Field on Friday afternoon.
Broken ankles. Used syringes. Mud-induced match cancellations. Low morale.
Those were just a few of the high school sports-related obstacles that Wilbur Cross coaches and students spoke out about having to surmount time and again, as they successfully urged alders to move forward with long-awaited upgrades to the East Rock Athletic Complex.
Continue reading ‘Student-Athlete Pleas Power Field Repairs’
by | Nov 4, 2022 9:10 am | Comments (2)
Lary Bloom photo
Last glimpse of an autumn wonder.
You stumped me, you sly and courageous one.
by | Nov 2, 2022 1:48 pm | Comments (8)
Thomas Breen photo
New sidewalk under construction on Pearl St.
Construction has finally begun on a new sidewalk along a perilous stretch of Pearl Street that connects Yale’s business school with one of East Rock’s main corridors.
by | Nov 1, 2022 9:25 am | Comments (5)
ALIYYA SWABY PHOTO
John Martin: Soon off to his next wheeled adventure.
After eight years of building up the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op, John Martin has purchased his first gas-powered vehicle — and is taking off on a six-month sabbatical via van while the shop he founded changes gears.
by | Nov 1, 2022 9:13 am | Comments (0)
Graham Honaker
Wren 1842.
The repeated image of a women’s face, in what could be a space helmet. A school of fish. Household objects. A spiraling line of red, moving across it all. It feels like graffiti, like Andy Warhol a little. It has some pop art in it, but there’s texture and grit to it, too, a sense of dirt. What does it mean? What do we want it to mean?
by | Oct 28, 2022 3:33 pm | Comments (21)
Maya McFadden photo
Chemistry teacher/professional arm wrestler Mike Selearis gives Principal Carolina some tips as he faces off against student champ Jordin during Wilbur Cross's weekly "Wellness Wednesday" programming.
Wilbur Cross High School Interim Principal Kermit Carolina announced over the PA that students had “30 more seconds to get to class.” Less than a minute later, he had his arm draped around a student’s shoulders.
“Mr. Carolina, this is the first time I got caught in the sweep today,” the student said. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”
Continue reading ‘Seeking Stability, Cross Principal Hits The Halls’
by | Oct 28, 2022 9:29 am | Comments (9)
Maya McFadden file photo
John Geanakoplos on Wilbur Cross' existing running track.
New fencing for Rice Field. New soccer equipment for Blake Field. A “multi-sport field and track” at Wilbur Cross.
Those upgrades and others might soon come to three East Rock sports fields if the Board of Alders approves accepting state and possible federal funding.
Continue reading ‘East Rock Athletic Fields Upgrades Advance’
by | Oct 17, 2022 2:35 pm | Comments (18)
Noel Sims photo
Former pharmacy site: New cafe still on tap.
Allan Appel file photo
Common Grounds co-owner Dena Jara and attorney James Perito with cafe photos at a November 2018 East Rock management team meeting.
A “Common Grounds” cafe duo still plans on opening up a long-delayed new coffee shop at the former East Rock Pharmacy site on Orange Street — even as their growing company takes over three now-shuttered Blue State Coffee locations downtown and in the Hill.
by | Oct 13, 2022 1:43 pm | Comments (13)
Thomas Breen File Photo
Claudia Herrera at the 2019 Democratic Town Convention.
Fair Haven community activist, Democratic ward co-chair and professional dental assistant Claudia Herrera will be the next alder for Ward 9 — not because she especially wants the job, but because she couldn’t bear the thought of an “empty chair” representing her neighborhood.
by | Oct 7, 2022 3:02 pm | Comments (8)
Thursday's City Plan Commission meeting.
Three city parks and a flood-prone west side road are slated to receive millions of dollars worth of upgrades thanks to a bevy of state and federal aid coming New Haven’s way.
Continue reading ‘Parks Upgrades En Route Thanks To State, Federal $’
by | Oct 2, 2022 3:01 pm | Comments (49)
John Tarka: It's been real.
Newly instated Wilbur Cross High School Principal John Tarka announced he is leaving his role as leader five weeks into the academic year.
Continue reading ‘Cross Principal Bolts After 5 Weeks Of Classes’
by | Sep 19, 2022 1:18 pm | Comments (1)
Laura Glesby Photo
Laverne Watts-Boatwright with shirt & grandson's last Facebook post.
Photo contributed by Tayea Mittchell
Balloons on raffle bicycles spell out Trequon Lawrence's nickname.
Jay Portee’s last conversation with his best friend, Trequon Lawrence, spanned three text messages in 2021. The pair dreamed up a back-to-school celebration they wanted to organize for local kids.
One year after Lawrence was murdered at the age of 27, the event he had once imagined came alive at the hands of his surviving friends and family — filling East Rock Park with an abundance of school supplies, family activities, and memories of a man who died too soon.
Continue reading ‘Tre's Memory Lives On In Back To School Bash’
by | Sep 12, 2022 9:39 am | Comments (0)
At the edge of Edgerton Park on Saturday, peeking from beneath the reddened cliffside of East Rock, a small stage on a winding path lined with pines held the final song of Moonrise Cartel’s set. Next to them, a field opened up to a man in a brown wizard hat, a circle of pastel yoga mats where children embodied woodland animals through yogic poses, people juggling, and long ribbon silk fans that got carried and lifted by the day’s wind. As Moonrise Cartel finished their last song, the sound of a bell was heard from somewhere off in the field as the voices of Goodnight Moonshine rose up from over the hill. The CT Folk Festival and Green Expo was back, after a two-year hiatus.
Continue reading ‘Back In Edgerton Park, CT Folk Fest Shakes Off The Cobwebs’
by | Sep 8, 2022 9:10 am | Comments (0)
The walls of mActivity — like the walls of other New Haven-area businesses — keep getting a little brighter, thanks to an embrace of public art that is now transforming buildings outside and in. In the case of mActivity, the art is the result of series that began in 2017. Curated by Barbara Hawes, the series has hosted a wide array of New Haven-based artists, from public art maestro Kwadwo Adae to graffiti artist Michael Deangelo, from photographers Phyllis Crowley and Sean Kernan to painters Vienna Hinkson and William McCarthy.
For the rest of the month of September, visitors can now see the works of artists Esthea Kim and Eliza Shaw Valk, whose work mirrors the mood of the hottest season and, in keeping with the fitness center’s mission, captures some of the renewed spirit many have found in exercise during the pandemc.
Continue reading ‘Latest Art Installation Renews Spirit At mActivity’
by | Sep 4, 2022 12:26 pm | Comments (32)
Thomas Breen File Photo
You can drive here Sunday. Not Monday.
Drivers can steer their cars to the summit of East Rock Park again for now — on Sundays, from only the Davis Street entrance on the Hamden side.
Continue reading ‘Cars Allowed Again In East Rock Park -- On Sundays’