Business/ Economic Development

Next Stop ... San Juan!

by | Aug 1, 2023 2:30 pm | Comments (41)

Mia Cortés Castro photo

Movimiento Cultural: "Sing it with us! Hello Avelo! Hello Avelo!"

¡Yo soy Boricua, pa’ que tu lo sepas!”

These shouts of celebration and of Puerto Rican pride rang out over Tweed’s tarmac as a host of city and state officials and airport boosters celebrated new direct flights from the East Shore to San Juan, Puerto Rico, starting in November.

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In "Paradise," Birria Becomes Tac-O The Town

by and | Aug 1, 2023 8:51 am | Comments (1)

Asher Joseph Photo

A taco truck customer picks up a piña colada at Long Wharf's "Food Truck Paradise."

Asher Joseph Photo

Mark Aronson’s ivory suit, complete with woven tan sun hat, did not stop him from indulging in the dripping tanginess of three birria tacos during a lunchtime visit to Long Wharf’s Food Truck Paradise.

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Mind, Body, & Soul Arrive In Westville

by | Jul 28, 2023 10:09 am | Comments (12)

ASHER JOSEPH PHOTOS

Jordan Sloshower (center) celebrates the grand opening of West Rock Wellness with friends, family, & city officials.

The three new storefronts on Whalley Ave.

Westville small business owners and city officials cut ceremonial ribbons to celebrate the grand openings of a new mental health center, a new hair salon, and a new poké bowl restaurant on Whalley Avenue — bringing mind, body, and soul to a bustling commercial strip.

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Sunday Storm Sparks Thursday Tweed Debate

by | Jul 21, 2023 11:45 am | Comments (47)

Facebook

Travelers react to latest Tweed flood.

Laura Glesby Photo

Elicker, Abdussabur offer different takeaways at Jepsen mayoral forum.

Days after a rainstorm flooded Tweed airport and left passengers temporarily stranded, mayoral candidates conveyed varying takes on the airport’s economic value and environmental impact to its neighbors.

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Fair Haven, Downtown Biz Boosters Team Up

by | Jul 13, 2023 9:28 am | Comments (11)

Mia Cortés Castro Photo

Attendees at Wednesday's Grand Avenue Special Services District board meeting.

The Grand Avenue Special Services District voted to partner with a sister business improvement organization downtown to try to raise funds to cover the costs of everything from cleaning graffiti off of buildings to power-washing sidewalks to improving the area’s trash collection, all with the goal of making Fair Haven a safer and cleaner place to shop.

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New Grant Program Targets "Underserved Entrepreneurs"

by | Jul 11, 2023 8:36 am | Comments (3)

Joseph W. Williams Jr, Alisha Crutchfield, Paul Robertson, Will Ginsberg, and Mayor Justin Elicker on Monday.

With the help of a grant from a new program designed to help minority and women-owned businesses, Alisha Crutchfield hopes to hire more employees at her wellness-oriented Westville boutique — including those who may not have the perfect résumé, but are willing to learn.

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Witch Bitch Thrift Opens Black Box To Community

by | Jun 26, 2023 8:57 am | Comments (0)

Karen Ponzio Photos

Paxx Headroom performs at the Black Box.

Drag kings, fairy hair, tarot readings, visual art, and a vivacious vibe that pulsed with community: these and more filled the event room, art gallery, and gathering area now known as the Black Box this past Saturday night at Witch Bitch Thrift. The Whitney Avenue thrift store has created a space within its space that can be used for anything from a contemplative sanctuary to a meeting area for clubs, classes, open mics, and more. 

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City Eyes "Responsible Growth" Rezoning For Long Wharf

by | Jun 23, 2023 11:05 am | Comments (7)

Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan vision of city's waterfront to-be.

Brian Slattery photo

City Plan Director Laura Brown on Thursday.

Glass-fronted first-floor retail spaces to create walkable neighborhoods and protect upper-level housing from floods. Density bonuses that encourage residential builds similar to apartment developments downtown. Street designs that calm traffic and create enough space on sidewalks for pedestrians and, say, outdoor seating for restaurants.

Those are just a few of the goals and anticipated land-use standards to be included in the city’s proposed new zoning regulations for the Long Wharf district, which top city officials unveiled in the latest effort to encourage responsible growth” in New Haven’s mostly industrial waterfront.

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Demolition Draws Near For Dixwell Plaza Redev

by | Jun 22, 2023 4:32 pm | Comments (11)

Dixwell Plaza's planned new ConnCAT Place redevelopment.

A demolition notice outside the Elks' former home at 87 Webster St.

Dixwell Plaza’s redevelopers plan to start knocking down vacant buildings in the mid-century shopping plaza as soon as September — as they move forward with a years-in-the-making effort to build up the heart of New Haven’s historic Black neighborhood.

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Hill Pushes Back On Greenwich Plaza Plan

by | Jun 22, 2023 3:56 pm | Comments (2)

Hill North CMT Secretary Maxine Harris-Branham & Hill South CMT Chair Sarah McIver at Wednesday's joint meeting.

City-planned improvements to Kimberly Square.

Energized by the summer solstice sunshine on the longest day of the year, Hill neighbors brought a bit of good-natured heat and opposition to a preliminary city proposal to close off a section of Greenwich Avenue to make a little plaza or public realm” — as part of a broader street-scape redo of Kimberly Square.

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City Gets Ready For The Flood

by | Jun 22, 2023 1:28 pm | Comments (4)

FEMA Flood Hazard Information map; areas of 1 percent annual chance flood hazard shaded in blue.

Thomas Breen file photo

City Plan Director Laura Brown: "The closeness of water that makes the city vulnerable also makes it desirable."

Rising sea levels. More hurricanes. More intense rainstorms. As a coastal city, New Haven has had to think about all that water more than many other places in the country, especially when that water has ended up submerging its streets. 

This has resulted, recently, in greater coordination with neighboring towns and state and federal agencies. It has also made waves in a few of the city’s development projects — most notably Long Wharf and Tweed — as the city balances its immediate economic needs against the coming climate challenges.

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ConnCORP Celebrates Juneteenth Anniversary

by | Jun 19, 2023 8:40 am | Comments (1)

Brian Slattery photo

Myles Tripp and Elaine Roper — ConnCORP’s director of audience development and vice president of culture and community relations, respectively — were on the stage at ConnCORP Saturday evening hyping up the crowd. The immediate reason was a raffle; the larger reason was the celebration of two events: the holiday of Juneteenth and ConnCORP’s fifth anniversary as an organization.

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Whalley Wellness Center Explores Therapy's Frontier

by | Jun 16, 2023 10:56 am | Comments (0)

Brian Slattery Photo

Jamila Hokanson, Sasha Lehrer, Jordan Sloshower, Damian Paglia, Stephanie Kilpatrick, in West Rock Wellness's art gallery.

A team of clinicians and wellness instructors has opened a new mental health center in Westville, offering everything from psychotherapy to mind-body medicine to ketamine-assisted psychedelic therapies. 

This panoply of offerings is unified by their greater aim to create connection and community.

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Abdussabur Dreams Of A Dope Dixwell

by | Jun 12, 2023 9:10 am | Comments (19)

Thomas Breen photos

Abdussabur (right) passing Dope N Delicious lunch ...

... as campaign supporters pass Black-business-boosting business cards.

As takeout containers filled with fried rice, mac and cheese, chicken wings, and salad changed hands — along with business cards promoting the work of New Haven-raised Black entrepreneurs — Shafiq Abdussabur detailed his vision for bringing back the small-business glory days of the Dixwell Avenue of his youth.

Key ingredients to the revival he pitched include collaboration, public safety, local hiring, and making sure City Hall supports locally sourced ventures as soon as they get off the ground.

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Neighbors Push Back As Tweed Waits For FAA's Enviro Decision

by | Jun 8, 2023 9:09 am | Comments (37)

Paul Bass photo

All aboard one of the many new flights leaving from Tweed.

Brian Slattery photo

Tweed Director Tom Rafter: "There's a number of different ways this could go."

It’s time to wait and see what the feds decide.

Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Executive Director Tom Rafter urged that patience and provided other process updates as he told a crowd of roughly 100 people at a contentious annual meeting that federal regulators should weigh in later this summer on the potential environmental impacts of the Morris Cove airport’s planned expansion. 

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Strange Ways Is Ready For Pride

by | Jun 1, 2023 9:12 am | Comments (0)

Brian Slattery Photo

Strange Ways' Val Ruby-Omen and Alex Dakoulas.

New Haven has a way to celebrate Pride Month for all of June, thanks to a series of events organized by Val Ruby-Omen and Alex Dakoulas of Strange Ways in Pitkin Plaza. 

It begins with a vendor fair and queer beer unveiling this weekend at Armada Brewing in Fair Haven and continues at the 151 Orange St. shop all month, including mixers, a pop-up market, a chance to draw a drag queen, and an open mic night.

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