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Alameda Animates Mill River District Visioning

by | Dec 10, 2024 2:41 pm | Comments (14)

Can the city help bring this vision to life?

Oh, that's an alameda. Cool!

Imagine an alameda — a long shady tree-lined walkway — running down the middle of Blatchley Avenue all the way from Grand Avenue to the Quinnipiac River. 

And how about building up underused lots into lots more housing on East Street and on Wolcott?

Those were a few of the neighborhood-changing ideas that emerged Monday night at 162 James St., CitySeed’s new building, where city economic development officials convened a second public meeting for citizen input to envision a now-and-future identity for the Mill River District.

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On Edwards, Up Goes The Neighborhood?

by | Dec 10, 2024 11:17 am | Comments (38)

Zachary Groz photo

Tory Sansing at Spruce Coffee meetup: "We simply want the city to recognize the value of the zoning rules."

Might the 15 Edwards old firehouse soon look like this?

An East Rock landlord’s plans to convert a vacant historic firehouse into a five-story apartment building has sparked a debate around preserving character vs. creating new places to live in a vibrant mixed-use stretch of Upper State Street.

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Ribbon Cut On Renovated Drop-In Center

by | Dec 9, 2024 5:26 pm | Comments (7)

Laura Glesby photos

Dolores Jeter at Monday’s ribbon cutting: “It’s like my prayers have been answered from 30 years ago.”

Hello laundry and shower and medical and more.

Dolores Jeter watched the blue ribbon whirl apart to celebrate Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen’s new all-in-one drop-in center. 

She nearly teared up thinking back to her life 25 years ago, when she herself was homeless and had to zig-zag across the city each day in order to meet each of her needs. 

Do you know how many times I had to cancel out on an appointment because I didn’t have the fare to get the bus? Or I was too tired to walk?” Jeter said.

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Teen Homicide Victim Laid To Rest

by | Dec 9, 2024 3:25 pm | Comments (6)

The late Uzziah Shell, as shown in a photo shared by family members at Saturday's funeral.

Friends wore shirts that read Forever 16 with a photo of Uzziah Shell. Ushers handed out tissues to grieving classmates. Mothers wrapped their arms tightly around their kids. A portrait of Uzziah holding a sign reading I’m Thankful For” and adorned with colored Post-Its smiled from the altar. 

That was the scene on Saturday at Life-Giving Water Church on Howard Avenue, where a packed house of friends, family, and city leaders gathered to celebrate the life of Shell, the 16-year-old Riverside Academy student who was shot and killed on Goffe Street late last month.

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No Smoke Shops Here. No Smoke Shops There

by | Dec 9, 2024 12:51 pm | Comments (23)

City Plan Department map

Under proposed zoning update, new smoke shops wouldn't be allowed to open within the orange circles, which describe a 3,000-foot radius for each existing licensed tobacco retailer.

Would barring new smoke shops from opening within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, and places of worship do enough to protect neighbors from those retailers’ harmful wares?

Would imposing a 3,000-foot buffer between new and existing tobacco sellers only serve to protect existing stores’ monopolies” on their blocks?

And, taken together, would these two distance restrictions effectively impose a citywide ban — when the law’s sponsors simply want to limit, but not outlaw, new shops from popping up?

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City Prepares For Trump II Deportations

by | Dec 6, 2024 4:23 pm | Comments (41)

Thomas Breen file photo

Schools Supt. Madeline Negrón: “I am ready to stand and fight for the education that every child deserves … regardless of their immigration status.”

Retraining city employees on the welcoming city” executive order. Confirming public school students’ emergency contact information. Securing federal grant money in contracts as soon as possible, before it can be revoked.

Those are some ways that New Haven officials are preparing — not panicking — ahead of an anticipated immigration crackdown promised by the incoming president.

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Teen Victim's Sister Pleads For Peace

by | Dec 6, 2024 4:13 pm | Comments (8)

Maya McFadden Photos

Daily Jackson's sister Curnijah Howard (left), best friend Corey (middle) and other sister Dalonna (right) at Thursday's memorial ...

... where friends and family celebrated the life and mourned the death of 17-year-old Daily Jackson.

Daily Jackson’s sister Dalonna called for young New Haveners who are mourning her late brother’s homicide to not retaliate, because all city teens have a lot to live for.”

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Enson's Marks 100 Years In Style

by | Dec 6, 2024 12:33 pm | Comments (3)

Contributed photo

Snazzy threads? Yankees seats? Mid-century Enson's had you covered

It’s no small thing to stay in business for a hundred years, but Enson’s Gentlemen’s Fashions at 1050 Chapel St. has accomplished that feat of entrepreneurial longevity. 

The reason? There’s a surprisingly old-fashioned thread — pun very much intended — that runs through the decades.

Nice things, great customer relations, and all these years, we’ve had great tailors.”

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As Temps Drop, Tiny Shelter Residents Double Up

by | Dec 6, 2024 10:46 am | Comments (9)

Jabez Choi photo

Robert Harris: “When we do bundle up, it’s tolerable."

The tiny shelters (right) behind 203 Rosette.

A group of unhoused neighbors have taken to sleeping two or even three to a room inside unheated pre-fabricated tiny shelters that are still standing in a Rosette Street backyard.

When we do bundle up, it’s tolerable being in there,” said Robert Harris, as he pointed at a row of white Pallet shelters. But sometimes it’s colder in these because it can be like an ice box.”

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Zoning Hurdle Removed For Childcare

by | Dec 5, 2024 3:09 pm | Comments (13)

Contributed by Melissa Cardoso Guerrero

Melissa Cardoso Guerrero (right): Zoning approval "was kind of a challenging process."

Longtime early educator Melissa Cardoso Guerrero spent multiple months and $350 seeking zoning relief this past summer, with the goal of expanding her Fair Haven-based childcare center beyond her current six-child limit.

As of this week, childcare providers no longer have to go through that zoning board process in order to open up in a residential district — an effort to remove one barrier for those hoping to start, move, or expand a childcare center in New Haven.

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YNHH "Tops Off" New Neuroscience Center

by | Dec 5, 2024 10:18 am | Comments (9)

Zachary Groz photo

Beam me up, YNHH.

High in the sky, two crewmen from CT Ironworkers Local No. 15 & 424 waited for a crane to haul in an enormous beam.

The workers started as motionless dots against the deep blue backdrop. As the beam neared, they went into action, harnessing each side and battling the wind to get the slab to click into place.

When it finally did, the external structure of the Adams Neurosciences Center at Yale New Haven Hospital was officially complete — eight years after concept, and two after groundbreaking.

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2nd Arts High School Comes Into Focus

by | Dec 5, 2024 9:26 am | Comments (4)

Maya McFadden File Photo

At Betsy Ross's Winter Fest: High school performers, coming soon.

Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (BRAMS) will have an inaugural ninth grade class next year — as the district works to transition the 5 – 8th grade middle school to a 7 – 12th grade high school in order to better accommodate students’ high demand for arts instruction. 

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