by | Aug 13, 2021 2:47 pm | Comments (8)
Thomas Breen photo
Carla Vallati, back in uniform, outside the Omni.
After 15 months out of work, Carla Vallati returned to her job cleaning rooms at the Omni Hotel — and credits local labor-friendly pandemic legislation for helping.
by | Aug 12, 2021 8:39 am | Comments (9)
Interboro Partners
A former Strong School hallway in disrepair.
A long-vacant Grand Avenue school building could become a cafe where Fair Haven kids learn about agriculture, cooking, and entrepreneurship. Or a housing complex specifically for teachers, with a child-oriented gathering space in the former elementary school gym — or a “makerspace” collective, buzzing with artists at work.
Continue reading ‘Neighbors Brainstorm Strong School Future’
by | Aug 11, 2021 12:11 pm | Comments (1)
129 AMITY ROAD LLC
The proposed new self-storage site slated for 129 Amity Rd.
Plans for a new four-story self-storage facility on the far west side of town moved ahead, with the help of side and rear yard relief from city zoners.
by | Aug 9, 2021 9:25 am | Comments (17)
Thomas Breen photo
The still-vacant former “State Building” on Bassett Street.
Natalie Kainz photo
Devin Avshalom-Smith, Kim Harris: Include neighborhood in next steps.
City plans to convert a long-vacant publicly owned building on Bassett Street into a worker-owned laundry have fallen apart — leaving the fate of Newhallville’s former “State Building” in limbo, and prompting the city to look elsewhere to build up the commercial laundry co-op.
by | Aug 6, 2021 12:05 pm | Comments (18)
Actor/ producer Michael Jai White pitches plan recently in New Haven (at right); East Haven label (left) eyeing Fair Haven move.
Two visions to revive long-abandoned industrial stretches of Fair Haven clashed, as a potential new brewer and a potential new movie production company sought support of neighbors.
Continue reading ‘Beer & Movies Duke It Out On River Street’
by | Aug 5, 2021 6:04 pm | Comments (3)
Sophie Sonnenfeld photo
On National Oyster Day, Fair Haven celebrated its oyster farming history while looking forward to future steps.
by | Aug 4, 2021 3:15 pm | Comments (22)
Thomas Breen photos
Construction workers, construction critics at Fair & Union Wednesday.
Proposed site of 186 new apartments.
Wooster Square neighbors took to the streets Wednesday to fight a planned new 186-unit market-rate apartment complex — opening the latest front in a building-boom debate over what new housing should get built, where, and for whose benefit.
by | Aug 2, 2021 9:43 am | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen file photos
Public testifiers on IZ proposal. Clockwise from top left: Darren Seid, Claudette Kidd, Benjamin Trachten, Anika Singh Lemar.
City of New Haven
Inclusionary zoning map overlay.
An “inclusionary zoning” (IZ) law is headed toward the final stages of approval after a debate over how, if at all, it might affect the city’s current building boom and quest for more affordable housinng.
by | Jul 27, 2021 8:43 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photos
Jamon and July Rouse, Johnathan Mitchell, and Shannon Harrell, Jr.
PU$H is a clothing line run by three friends who grew up together around New Haven — Shannon Harrell, Jr., Johnathan Mitchell, and Jamon Rouse — with a passion for sports, fashion, and improving the situation for themselves and their community. But it’s really the product of a family, the “family we chose,” Mitchell said.
Continue reading ‘New Haven Gives Friends A PU$H Into Fashion’
by | Jul 21, 2021 5:18 pm | Comments (8)
Natalie Kainz Photo
Eric Hummel, Carmen Rodriguez, MaryEllen Hummel McMahon, Elicker, William Hummel Jr. and John Hummel.
In 1933, German immigrant brothers William and Robert Hummel purchased a bankrupt sausage factory on New Haven’s Congress Avenue for $1,000. Using a special blend of spices they had refined from their time as apprentice sausage makers in Germany, they established the Hummel Brothers sausage factory.
Continue reading ‘88 Years Later, Hummels Keep Smoking The Dogs’
by | Jul 21, 2021 3:51 pm | Comments (18)
The owners of Unger’s Flooring have a plan.
The longtime, struggling Grand Avenue retailer is looking to add two floors of apartments to its buildings, add townhouses in the back of the rarely used parking lot, and rescue a long-blighted building adjacent to the lot. The plan would also include converting an old masonry building across the avenue into five more apartments
The result: “An adaptive reuse of three blighted structures in a corridor where there’s a mixture of homeless people, neighborhood people, and it could certainly use some life.”
Continue reading ‘Neighbors Skeptical About Adding Floors To Unger’s Flooring’
by | Jul 20, 2021 9:52 am | Comments (2)
Contributed photo
Marshall cleaning up a scene on A&E’s “Dirty Rotten Cleaners.”
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Marshall gets ready for action.
Sadie Marshall’s team packed up her gear to answer a call to clean up two decomposing bodies, after answering a separate call from the A&E Network to broadcast her “Dirty Rotten” work to the nation.
by | Jul 19, 2021 2:53 pm | Comments (4)
Owner Josue Santana at his new restaurant across from Stop & Shop.
Inside a new fast-food Puerto Rican restaurant on Whalley, Chef Raul Santiago combines richly seasoned pork fried rice, pinto beans, and oven-marinated pork onto a plate. He then tops the entire dish off with a large serving of sweet plantains.
“That’s it!” said Santiago, holding out a plate of Arroz con Gandules.
Continue reading ‘Today’s Special: Mambo Arroz con Gandules’
by | Jul 16, 2021 1:44 pm | Comments (16)
John McFadyen
Design with planned new building at bottom right.
Four under-utilized and individually unusable parcels of land across from the Corsair apartment complex on the old industrial patch of upper State Street are slated to become the site of 75 market-rate units. Look for solar arrays on the roof and interior design features to appeal to people who have gotten used to working from home during the pandemic, among other amenities.
by | Jul 15, 2021 12:26 pm | Comments (1)
Natalie Kainz Photo
Customers check out produce at the Sunset Farm booth.
Six new vendors reopened CitySeed’s Downtown Farmers Market after a pandemic pause — and used the occasion to test out Chinese at-home meal kits, vegan granola mixes, and “No Trace” soaps they hope to develop into thriving commercial lines.
by | Jul 14, 2021 4:43 pm | Comments (8)
Epimoni
Renderings for Fair St.
When the easternmost block of Fair Street reopens as a public thoroughfare after 60 years, it will not be a new edition of Court Street with cute benches and shops.
Think rather of a dark alley serving as a driveway for another looming massive private development whose pricey market-rate rents will do little to address affordable housing needs.
One alder, at least, portrayed the planned reopening of that street. Another praised it for bringing back to life a dead street, with the potential to connect Wooster Square to the train station and the Hill.
A slew of Wooster Square neighbors registered opposition to approve the planned street reopening for now. While the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce said, in effect, All aboard!
by | Jul 13, 2021 9:29 am | Comments (2)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Vercillo and LaPiano.
Where does one find Snoopy keeping company with NSYNC and the Sweathogs? In Westville, and more specifically, at Lower Forms, the new vintage and resale clothing store located on 16 Fountain St.
The store celebrated its grand opening this past Saturday with an onslaught of happy shoppers combing through the racks for T‑shirts, jeans, and more.
Continue reading ‘Lower Forms Raises the Bar With New Vintage Clothes Outlet’
by | Jul 8, 2021 6:11 pm | Comments (3)
Natalie Kainz Photo
Alisha Crutchfield-McLean cuts the ceremonial ribbon.
Sending the aroma of essential oils, flowers, and bath products out into the surrounded Westville neighborhood, Alisha Crutchfield-McLean officially opened the doors to her new store BLOOM on Thursday.
The lifestyle boutique, marketplace and community center at 794 Edgewood Ave. celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by 50 city and state officials, staff, and Westville residents. The community gathered to sample an array of health products, get to know one another, and ponder the role of BLOOM in their city.
Continue reading ‘Lifestyle Boutique Springs To Life In Westville’
by | Jul 6, 2021 9:05 pm | Comments (40)
Thomas Breen photo
Tweed deal outlines revealed in May; fine print was released Tuesday.
The runway lengthens, a new terminal and garage get built, and the name “New Haven” remains under newly released terms of a proposed 43-year lease between the city and Tweed’s airport authority.
The deal includes lifting of a weight limit on local aircraft — and the teeing up of a long-term sub-lease with a deep-pocketed private investor.
Those terms, and many more, were revealed Tuesday in a new proposed amended and restated lease and operating agreement between the city and the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority and a proposed ordinance amendment.
by | Jul 5, 2021 2:11 pm | Comments (3)
Emily Hays Photo
Stephen Ross and Jason V. Watts outside their soon-to-open restaurant and music spot.
Jason V. Watts and Stephen Ross are bringing food from across the African diaspora — from jollof rice to jerk chicken to collard greens — to the spot the former home of the high-end Indian restaurant Thali.
The new restaurant, Jazzy’s Soul Kitchen and Lounge, is slated to officially open at the corner of Orange and George in September.
by | Jul 2, 2021 3:12 pm | Comments (28)
Thomas Breen File Photo
Nadine Horton with Steve Fontana: Helping businesses find solutions.
Two Whalley Avenue restaurant owners have noticed a lot of business taking place outside their new storefront. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of business they had hoped for.
Continue reading ‘Whalley Businesses Tackle Loitering, Drugs’
by | Jul 2, 2021 1:03 pm | Comments (10)
Natalie Kainz Photo
Alisha Crutchfield-McLean at her new lifestyle boutique.
A “community oasis” is blossoming on the corner of Edgewood and Central Avenue — where handmade birdhouses hang from the ceiling, flowers spring from shelves, and a garden sprouts lavender.
by | Jun 27, 2021 8:05 pm | Comments (6)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Zinc owner Donna Curran with U.S. Sen. Blumenthal at the restaurant Friday.
Donna Curran, owner of Zinc Restaurant across from the Green on Chapel Street, received word in May that she was getting federal pandemic assistance — and then a month later a letter arrived basically saying, “Never mind.”
Continue reading ‘Visiting Zinc, Blumenthal Vows To Deliver Restaurant Pandemic Relief’
by | Jun 25, 2021 10:25 am | Comments (2)
Ramen noodles bathed in a clear chicken and dashi broth, topped with a gooey, soft-boiled ajitama egg, shiitake mushrooms, and torched char siu combined into a riot of flavor at Menya Gumi, a self-described “hole-in-the-wall” ramen restaurant on Orange Street.
by | Jun 24, 2021 7:33 pm | Comments (1)
Natalie Kainz Photo
Yosef Shteirman.
For 21-year-old Yosef Shteirman, participating in New Haven’s construction jobs pipeline program has been a way to reconnect with his father’s legacy.
When his father passed away 10 years ago, Shteirman couldn’t pick up the skills that his father might have taught him in the construction field. Now Shteirman is committed to carrying the torch in the plumbing industry.
Continue reading ‘Pipeline Preps 7 For Construction-Boom Jobs’