by | Jun 6, 2017 11:53 am | Comments (0)
Hailey Fuchs (photo)
Alice McGill with her ladybug.
Alice McGill carefully placed squirmy ladybugs, which she thought were “pretty cool,” on the flowers in the garden of the Mitchell branch library. She helds out her hand as to present the red ladybug for a photo. Then, when she lifted her hands, Alice squealed in surprise as the bug took flight.
by | Jun 5, 2017 7:42 am | Comments (1)
The theater space at Lyric Hall was only a quarter full when the Jellyshirts were ready to play. Through the doorway to the hall, the bar, and the front of the building, voices trickled, a sign that the people who’d come to hear the music didn’t know it was starting.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Jellyshirts,” said vocalist and guitarist Bret Logan. With a quick signal to the rest of the band — Nick Appleby on bass and Scott McDonald on drums — the began to play. And the people came from the rest of the building to listen.
Continue reading ‘Psychedelic Rockers Tip Hat To Sgt. Pepper’
by | Jun 1, 2017 2:00 pm | Comments (3)
Lucy Gellman Photo
Katie Kowalski, who helps disabled people ride bikes.
One recent morning Katie Kowalski was helping get people with disabilities back on bicycles. She had her hands midway up my right calf, working it into a black attachment that was half-bike, half-ankle foot orthotic. She tightened a gear with a blue-headed wrench, then secured velcro straps and double-checked my helmet. With her nod of approval, I hit the pedals hard and headed onto a path at Edgewood Park.
by | May 15, 2017 3:20 pm | Comments (6)
Markeshia Ricks Photos
Westvilians make their top picks.
Before Westville and West Hills neighbors decided on how to spend an annual allotment of $10,000 from the city, they asked themselves a bigger question: Should they even accept the money?
by | May 14, 2017 2:43 pm | Comments (0)
A steady rain couldn’t keep people away from ArtWalk, held in Westville Saturday afternoon. Though the neighborhood’s central streets were missing the usual crowds during the annual event, Edgewood Park stayed lively, and indoor activities in the artists’ studios in West River Arts and Lyric Hall on Whalley Avenue ensured ArtWalk kept its tradition of celebrating the arts — for 20 years and running — alive.
by | May 10, 2017 12:11 pm | Comments (52)
Christopher Peak Photo
Disha Joy Monsanto and business partner Mike Amato at Tuesday night’s hearing.
A businesswoman won permission to open a new lounge and eatery in Westville — then heatedly told a neighboring family they don’t have permission to step inside the doors.
“Don’t show up to my establishment,” Disha Joy Monsanto, the applicant, snapped at neighborhood activist Thea Buxbaum, who sought to prevent her from winning zoning approval to open her restaurant. “I don’t want you there! You’re not wanted there!”
by | Apr 28, 2017 7:38 am | Comments (20)
Paul Bass Photo
Gremse: In discussions about returning.
The old Delaney’s lot has a new owner — along with a renewed effort to rebuild the popular former Westville meeting spot from the ashes.
by | Apr 27, 2017 2:30 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen
Ravski at Jewish Federation town hall on Wednesday night.
Levinson.
When New Haven native Jeffrey Levinson was a senior in college in 1991, he and his sister scraped together $1,800 to help relocate the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven (JCC) from downtown New haven to 360 Amity Rd. in Woodbridge.
Continue reading ‘After Fire, Jewish Community Asks: Where’s The Hub?’
by | Apr 16, 2017 8:50 am | Comments (2)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
SLAM’s Neal shows off the coming upgrades to Chapel Haven’s campus.
With 44 years under its belt, Chapel Haven is ready to make an update to its campus and expand its services for adults with disabilities.
Continue reading ‘Chapel Haven Prepares To Expand Mission, Footprint’
by | Apr 14, 2017 8:01 am | Comments (1)
DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Fr. Emmanual left, and Anne Bates at a Marycare event in Westville in 2009.
When Anne Bates, founder and president of the New Haven based nonprofit Marycare, passed away in December, her shared vision to develop a health center for the underserved people of Ejemekwuru, Nigeria, an unofficial sister “village” embraced by many Westville Village residents, had been realized.
But the hard work of staffing and maintaining the clinic had just begun.
Continue reading ‘Marycare Founder Passes; Mission Moves Forward’
by | Apr 13, 2017 3:05 pm | Comments (6)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Trachten and Decker agreed and then slightly disagreed.
How late should restaurants with bars be allowed to stay open? What should matter more in the decision — the bar’s need to make money, or nearby residents needing sleep?
The Board of Zoning Appeal considered those questions, then decided to allow two proposed restaurant/bars on different sides of town to serve alcohol and provide a reduced amount of parking.
Continue reading ‘Money Wins Out Over Sleep In Zoning Votes’
by | Apr 10, 2017 11:56 am | Comments (4)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
DeLeo prepares to lead the tour.
With the first blue sky in days overhead and wind whipping all around, Frank DeLeo shared a vision of trails along the West River and people biking and hiking near the former Pond Lily Dam just a few feet from the hustle and bustle of traffic and parking lots.
by | Apr 7, 2017 8:00 am | Comments (0)
Allan Appel Photo
The artist with her “Build Your Dream House.”
About to enter the home-buying market in the Trump era?
How about an absolutely great deal on a fantastic unit beautifully located behind a wall?
Liz Antle‑O’Donnell will give you a great, great deal. I mean a fantastic deal on your very own customized home.
And all for only $25.
Is that a great deal or what?
Continue reading ‘Walls And Enigmatic Canyons Come To Westville’
by | Apr 4, 2017 12:46 pm | Comments (1)
DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Kane.
“S‑i-t-z-p-r-o-b‑e. Sitzprobe.”
Edgewood After School Drama Club’s Jaime Kane, who is directing an upcoming stage production of Beauty and the Beast (Jr), spelled it out, explaining, “it’s a theatrical term that means seated rehearsal.”
Continue reading ‘It Takes A Village To Stage “Beauty And The Beast”’
by | Apr 3, 2017 7:45 am | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Among the relatives paying tribute to Tommy Clayton Brown Jr. was one he never got to meet.
by | Mar 30, 2017 12:02 pm | Comments (0)
Lucy Gellman Photo
ECDC members Luis Antonio, Nikki Carrara, Alicia White, Lindsey Bauer, and Tara Lee Burns.
Lindsey Bauer — or maybe it was some version of her former self, or maybe someone else — strode toward a cluster of dancers. She stepped forward. Stepped back. Stepped forward. Kellie Ann Lynch held up a hand and looked at the group, breaking a building tension.
“Do we need a little more up, down?” she asked, her arms swinging as she spoke. Bauer nodded as if to say, yeah, let’s try that. A moment later, she was pushing violently against members of the group — and then she was airborne.
Continue reading ‘At Elm City Dance Collective, You Meet You’
by | Mar 22, 2017 8:37 am | Comments (13)
Thomas Breen photo
Furlow: Drivers go too fast.
Two Alden Avenue neighbors offered different takes on how to slow down cars on their street — while lawmakers tried to figure out how much control they have over how fast people can legally drive in town.
Continue reading ‘Would 5 Miles Per Hour Make A Difference?’
by | Mar 22, 2017 8:09 am | Comments (11)
Lucy Gellman Photo
Clockwise, from top: Engel, Da Silva, Donius, and Brandes.
Westvillers spoke as one Tuesday night in urging zoners to allow a local restaurant team to proceed with turning an abandoned bank branch into a new eatery and watering hole at the corner of Fountain Street and Central Avenue.
Continue reading ‘Westville To Zoners: We Want New Restaurant In Old Bank’
by | Mar 16, 2017 3:14 pm | Comments (10)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Parker and Clausen lay out recommendations.
As plans emerge for some of its empty spaces, Westville’s commercial district has a new suggested plan for denser, less car-dependent development.
by | Mar 13, 2017 7:40 am | Comments (1)
Towards the end of his set, Borts Minorts took a moment between songs to tell the audience something: “It’s good to have something you love that makes your life happy. This is it, guys!”
Minorts was one of two acts to bring their passion to the stage of Lyric Hall Theater on a bitter cold Friday night. This bill, which included the return of New Haven’s Tet Offensive to Lyric Hall for the first time in six months, more than delivered on the promise written on the show flyer to “entertain the crap out of you.”
Continue reading ‘Borts Minorts And Tet Offensive Find The Theater In The Music’
by | Mar 9, 2017 9:19 am | Comments (27)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Knight and Bolduc with Chef Camacho (center) Wednesday night.
Westville welcomed a plan for a new restaurant at an empty former bank building while expressing reservations about another at a former problem bar spot, as developers made their pitches.
by | Mar 8, 2017 1:06 pm | Comments (0)
Vyacheslav Gryasnov — who is performing a solo recital at Lyric Hall this Saturday, fresh off a concert at Carnegie Hall — makes me ask just how near to heaven New Haven is.
Not two weeks ago I heard the Yale Philharmonia in an ideal program: Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 in F major and Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin providing balanced indulgences, with an unfamiliar (to me) Shostakovich — his Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor — for piquancy. On an outstanding evening the Shostakovich stood out, thanks to a commanding performance by Gryasnov, a young pianist from Sakhalin Island, the remotest reach of Russia.
by | Mar 7, 2017 3:00 pm | Comments (5)
DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTOS
A placard outside Postcard Central, signals the sentiment inside.
A group of Westville women who have heeded a viral call for White House resistance gathered to create artful messages that will be mailed on March 15, a figurative stab to the heart of President Trump’s policies and claim of widespread support.
by | Mar 6, 2017 8:46 am | Comments (1)
About halfway through the Butterflies of Love’s set at Lyric Hall on Saturday, singer, songwriter and guitarist Jeff Greene asked the audience, “How many people out there really hate the Butterflies of Love?” All he received back was laughter.
“I was looking for a more negative response,” he replied, then launched into a story about the old days of the band that referenced a negative response they had once received.
“I only operate when I have something to work against,” he stated at the end of the story. That still didn’t deter the wall-to-wall crowd at Lyric Hall from giving the love back, again and again, to this perennially popular local band who made a long-awaited appearance in New Haven. A band that enjoyed local and international success in the 1990s, Butterflies of Love headlined Saturday night, along with Bill Beckett and Procedure Club, for one of only three performances — the second in Asbury Park, N.J., and the third in London, England.
by | Feb 21, 2017 1:29 pm | Comments (1)
DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Manager Bee at store’s entrance Thursday morning.
Standing behind two freshly smashed glass doors cordoned off by yellow crime tape, dejected Westville Wines manager Kumar Bee said he was in shock after a brazen smash and grab robbery today at one of the west side of town’s busiest intersections.
Continue reading ‘Window-Smashers Had Expensive Whiskey Taste’