News From The Compost Heap
by | Jan 10, 2025 11:12 am | Comments (2)
(Opinion) How about this New Haven T‑shirt slogan?: “We’re round and flat.” Decorated with New Haven-crafted frisbees, pizzas, burgers, clocks, and lollipops?
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Union Brings Contract Push To Schools HQ
by | Jan 9, 2025 7:10 pm | Comments (7)
Maya McFadden File Photo
At 54 Meadow: "We are the union... the mighty, mighty union!"
Vereen: "I really didn't think it was going to take this long."
After a full day of preparing students’ meals, John C. Daniels School lead cafeteria cook Latasha Vereen added a coat and scarf to her uniform and headed to the school district’s headquarters — to rally for a new contract and a living wage for public school food service workers.
For Now, At Least It's Warm Inside
by | Jan 9, 2025 12:34 pm | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photos
"Old," leaving the warming center for a bit: "I try not to complain."
David Cox: "This is not where I want to be."
As the temperature outside dipped into the 20s Thursday morning, David Cox sat inside a Dixwell church extended-hour warming center — his legs crossed, bundled up in a coat and scarf and beanie hat, his walker by his side and a window sill lined with Pothos plants behind him.
He didn’t want to be at that warming center. And he didn’t plan on staying long. But for now, with the weather dangerously cold, it was a safe place to be.
Eviction OK'd, After Oral Lease Warning
by | Jan 9, 2025 10:51 am | Comments (8)
Thomas Breen photo
Tenant Gabriella B.: Next time, will make sure to get a lease in writing.
A state judge approved the no-fault eviction of an Edgewood family after cautioning both landlord and tenant about the quicksand-like perils of oral, rather than written, leases.
Feds Grant $2M For Local Urban Un-Renewal Effort
by | Jan 9, 2025 10:07 am | Comments (11)
Brian Slattery File Photo
Signs of community life beneath the Front Street I-91 underpass.
It’s official: the city has received $2 million to stitch up the neighborhoods sliced apart by highways.
Continue reading ‘Feds Grant $2M For Local Urban Un-Renewal Effort’
Lifetime Appointments Pronounced Dead
by | Jan 8, 2025 4:49 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass file photo
Parks Chair Belowsky: No longer term-limited by mortality.
The Board of Alders unanimously voted to uproot the parks commission — along with its lifetime appointees — and compost it into a new board with limited terms.
After Chair Change, Lemar Targets Towing
by | Jan 8, 2025 4:06 pm | Comments (13)
Hugh McQuaid/CTNJ file photo
General Law Chair Lemar: “Have you seen those towing articles?”
(Hartford) Connecticut’s towing industry better watch out. There’s a new sheriff in town — and he’s got his sights set on scrapping storage fees, eliminating “patrol towing,” requiring companies to take credit cards, and otherwise protecting consumers.
Prof/Filmmaker: The Green’s Not Just About Fun
by | Jan 8, 2025 9:26 am | Comments (13)
An opening slide from 2002's Convergence.
“The Green is big enough, gracious enough, generous enough to tolerate many different people.”
And public space — well, “public space is not always fun.” That’s kind of the point.
So argues Elihu Rubin, a Yale architecture professor and documentarian of the Green, as he cautioned against too many permanent changes to the city’s great public square at a time when a redesign is on the horizon.
Continue reading ‘Prof/Filmmaker: The Green’s Not Just About Fun’
Developer, Neighbors Clash Before Zoning Vote
by | Jan 8, 2025 9:19 am | Comments (17)
Zachary Groz photo
Alder Caroline Smith (right): "There are lot of different goals in the neighborhood."
A housing meetup at City Hall quickly devolved into a fiery exchange of barbs over whether or not 23 new apartments above a historic firehouse will help or hurt an East Rock block.
Continue reading ‘Developer, Neighbors Clash Before Zoning Vote’
2024 Crime Review: Homicides, Gunshots Down
by | Jan 7, 2025 3:00 pm | Comments (27)
Nathaniel Rosenberg photo
Police Chief Jacobson (right): “We went to nine less funerals this year."
NHPD data
Homicides and gunshots in New Haven fell by more than 30 percent last year, mirroring a nationwide trend of a post-pandemic drop in gun violence — even as the city saw a year-over-year jump in nonfatal shootings.
Continue reading ‘2024 Crime Review: Homicides, Gunshots Down’
Phase 2 Tax Break OK'd For Ex-Coop
by | Jan 7, 2025 11:10 am | Comments (5)
Architectural rendering of Dewitt Street redevelopment.
The redevelopment of a former housing cooperative in the Hill will soon net 64 new (mostly) affordable apartments, with another 40 units set to be renovated over the next two years — thanks to a second alder-approved tax break.
3 Kings Bring Presents, Preserve Culture
by | Jan 7, 2025 9:29 am | Comments (3)
Laura Glesby Photo
Gisleidy Rodríguez and her nieces, Nathalie and baby Aaliyah, pose for a photo with a volunteer trio of Three Kings.
According to 12-year-old Gisleidy Rodríguez, the meaning of Three Kings Day was “presents.”
But as she skipped around the room with her younger nieces and told the story of the milk she left under her bed for the Three Kings to drink, she gave a different kind of gift to the adults in the room — adults determined to pass on dearly-held traditions to the next generation.
3rd Warming Center Opens; City Activates Cold Weather Protocol
by | Jan 6, 2025 8:43 pm | Comments (2)
Laura Glesby Photo
Youth Continuum's Tim Maguire (right): Winthrop Ave. warming center open as of Monday night.
As snow fell and the temperature plummeted, a third city warming center opened Monday night for homeless young adults looking for a place to sleep and stay warm during winter nights.
Meanwhile, two other warming centers will be staying open 24 hours a day until Thursday, as the city has activated its severe cold weather protocol.
Continue reading ‘3rd Warming Center Opens; City Activates Cold Weather Protocol’
Shoah Witness Renee Hartman Dies At 91
by | Jan 6, 2025 1:10 pm | Comments (6)
Contributed Photo
Renee Hartman got the last laugh on Adolf Hitler.
Dixwell's Varick Church To Stay Put
by | Jan 6, 2025 10:50 am | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photo
Varick Church, to stay at 242 Dixwell.
A historic Black church won’t be leaving Dixwell Avenue after all — now that congregants have voted against moving forward with a plan to sell the building and relocate.