by | Jun 21, 2023 10:20 am | Comments (3)
Contributed photo
Mayor Elicker (center) at "summer fun" presser at Lighthouse Park.
Summer has officially begun — and New Haven is ready for it, with movies in the park and free basketball lessons and open swims and summer-slump-combatting reading challenges on tap.
by | Jun 16, 2023 11:12 am | Comments (11)
Paul Bass photo
Patricio Ramirez ready to take a shower at Power in a Shower on the Green earlier this week.
Alders moved forward plans to boost funds for a mobile shower program and social workers in the public libraries, as part of two new city contracts designed to help New Haven’s growing homelessness population.
Continue reading ‘Shower Van, Library Social Worker Contracts Advance’
by | Jun 15, 2023 11:57 am | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photo
NHPS COO Thomas Lamb: "Busing prices have increased."
Maya McFadden file photo
A one-year, $30.7 million school bus contract that is set to start in less than a month took another wheel-spin forward — even as local legislators criticized school board members for putting them in an unfairly tight spot.
by | Jun 14, 2023 11:14 am | Comments (8)
New England Golf Cars photo
2019 model New England Golf Cars cart: Gas for now, electric soon?
Seventy-five gas guzzling golf carts are rolling towards another three-year deal for New Haven’s municipal green links — with green energy plans in the works to go electric when the course’s clubhouse renovations are complete.
Continue reading ‘City Swings For Gas-Powered Golf Carts ... For Now’
by | Jun 13, 2023 12:10 pm | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photos
Health Department's current rented home at 54 Meadow.
Health Director Bond and Acting Controller Gormany Monday.
The city’s Health Department plans to stay in rented office and clinic space on Meadow Street through the end of the year as renovations wrap up at its new publicly owned headquarters to-be on Chapel Street.
Continue reading ‘Health Department Eyes 6 More Months On Meadow St.’
by and | Jun 9, 2023 2:33 pm | Comments (12)
Thomas Breen photos
Alder Guzhnay (right): It'd be "great for New Haven to be on the front lines."
ULA's John Lugo (right) at workshop about restaurant worker protection proposal.
Should non‑U.S.-citizens be allowed to serve on local government committees like the City Plan Commission or the Board of Library Directors?
And should the Health Department be allowed to crack down on restaurants for committing wage theft or worker harassment?
Continue reading ‘Immigrant Participation, Protections Eyed’
by | Jun 8, 2023 12:20 pm | Comments (4)
Renderings of apartment buildings one step closer to rising, clockwise from top left: Strong School, Chapel & State, Munson & Henry, Miller Street.
Alders paved the way for 212 more affordable apartments to materialize in four different neighborhoods — including at the former Strong School on Grand Avenue — along with two education initiatives for hundreds of kids and adults.
Continue reading ‘Strong School, Housing Deals Win Final OKs’
by | Jun 7, 2023 2:57 pm | Comments (17)
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Blasting tunes? Time to pay up. Soon. Maybe?
Thomas Breen photo
Police Chief Jacobson and Lt. McDermott at Tuesday's committee meeting.
Watch out, Long Wharf music blasters — the volume on your $10,000 car-attached speaker systems may be lowered soon, now that alders have advanced a bill that would lead to higher fines and confiscated equipment for illegally loud motor vehicles.
by | Jun 6, 2023 4:38 pm | Comments (8)
Tom Breen File Photos
In support: 884 Prez Kymberly Bray and 3144 Prez Gildemar Herrera.
Over 800 city workers have a contract for the first time in nearly three years, now that the Board of Alders has approved two key labor agreements that grant long-awaited raises to public employees.
by | Jun 6, 2023 3:44 pm | Comments (17)
City of New Haven slide
Micro-transit pilot plans, with proposed service area in brown.
Thomas Breen photo
Transit director Aysola: "Always a challenge to move people away from driving their cars."
(Updated) Imagine a city-run Uber equivalent that provides on-demand electric van rides for the same amount it costs to ride the bus.
But only within certain neighborhoods of New Haven. And only if the seven-seat vans are full of passengers looking for a more climate-friendly alternative to single-occupant cars.
by | May 30, 2023 7:00 pm | Comments (7)
Elicker: "We do things as fast as we can." Goldenberg: "I think three months is more than enough time" to respond.
What’s a reasonable amount of time for the city to take to respond to a public-records request?
A mayoral challenger has raised that question as he continues to seek a decade’s worth of methadone-clinic-mentioning government emails that he first asked for nearly three months ago.
The mayor, meanwhile, stressed how time-consuming it can be to appropriately answer asks that cover such large topics and periods of time — especially in a city where roughly 10,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are submitted each year.
by | May 26, 2023 8:29 am | Comments (21)
Laura Glesby photos
Top row, in favor of the contract: Philip Modeen, Raymond Jackson, Robert Mignosa; Middle row, in favor of the contract: Justin Augustine Sr., Charles Blango, Thomas White; Bottom row, against the contract: Helen Rosenberg, Michael Mahon.
An overdue labor agreement for one of the city’s largest unions was hailed by proponents for awarding substantial raises to most — and decried by some municipal employees who won’t get as much of a salary bump.
Continue reading ‘Long-Awaited Contract Advances Amid Discord’
by | May 24, 2023 12:22 pm | Comments (1)
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Current library admin and incoming top city librarian Maria Bernhey.
A current city library administrator and New York Public Library veteran has risen the ranks to become the next head of New Haven’s national award-winning public library system, roughly one year after the death of the city’s former top librarian.
by | May 23, 2023 8:38 am | Comments (19)
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Finance Committee Chair and Westville Alder Adam Marchand, rising in support of the new $662.7M FY24 budget.
City of New Haven data
Assessor's office estimates of FY24 tax bill bumps.
Tax bills are heading up next fiscal year — even as the tax rate drops — thanks to the Board of Alders’ unanimous approval of a final budget that preserves the mayor’s top-line expenditure, revenue, and mill rate numbers.
by | May 22, 2023 3:49 pm | Comments (4)
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Tallying up Friday's school board election results at City Hall.
Contributed photo
Cross sophomore John Carlos Serana Musser.
Wilbur Cross High School sophomore John Carlos Serana Musser will be the next student representative on the Board of Education, after coming out on top in a three-way race for a soon-to-open seat.
by | May 17, 2023 1:16 pm | Comments (2)
School board student rep candidates Laila Kelly Walker, John Carlos Serana Musser, and Hsiu-Mei Chow-Yen, with current board member Dave Cruz-Bustamante.
Making classroom lessons more relevant and engaging, increasing student pride in school facilities’ good repair, and boosting mentorship programs for K‑12 students across the district.
Those top the list of priorities of the three New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students who are now running in an election for a soon-to-open student rep seat on the Board of Education.
by | May 17, 2023 9:04 am | Comments (14)
Thomas Breen photo
Co-op demo, apartment construction in the works on Howard.
A rendering of the to-be-redeveloped ex-Hill Co-Op.
The Board of Alders approved two tax breaks for two different affordable housing projects across town — including at a former Hill co-op, which will see 32 apartments knocked down and 64 built up as part of a first phase of redevelopment.
Continue reading ‘Ex-Hill Co-op, McConaughy Tax Breaks OK'd’
by | May 12, 2023 1:24 pm | Comments (24)
Laura Glesby photo
Finance Chair Adam Marchand: Drop 25 new jobs to avoid more ARPA spending.
A panel of alders left the mayor’s top-line budget and mill rate numbers intact — even as they recommended slashing more than two dozen proposed new positions from the city fiscal plan set to take effect July 1.
Continue reading ‘Alders Cut 25 Jobs From Amended $662.7M Budget’
by | May 12, 2023 9:05 am | Comments (7)
Laura Glesby Photos
Attorney Mednick and Commissioner Furlow charting charter's path ahead.
How much power should politicians have to restructure local government? And which city department heads should have to live in New Haven?
The Charter Revision Commission didn’t land on any answers to those questions at its final scheduled meeting. It voted to let the Board of Alders issue a recommendation instead.
by | May 10, 2023 3:04 pm | Comments (5)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Rick Woods contributing to city coffers outside Affinity.
City government picked up extra cash for cleaner streets and other state-allowed public service programs as local sales rack up for legal pot and mini-liquor-bottle “nips.”
by | May 10, 2023 8:54 am | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen photo
Chief of Staff Matteson (left): Better pay would "help in recruitment and retention."
The Elicker administration is looking to stem the flow of City Hall departures and make top positions more competitive by increasing pay for department heads, coordinators, and other non-unionized managers — through salary range bumps and automatic cost of living adjustments.
by | May 9, 2023 1:03 pm | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photo
Local 884 Prez Kym Bray: New 5-year agreement a "symbol of recognizing and appreciating the work that our members do every day."
911 call center workers, school security guards, parking enforcement officers, and city attorneys are all now closer to landing pay raises, as alders moved ahead two labor accords for groups of municipal workers who have gone nearly three years without an active contract.
by | May 4, 2023 5:59 pm | Comments (29)
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Charter Revision Vice-Chair and Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow (right) at a recent aldermanic committee meeting.
Charter revisers took a step towards endorsing four-year terms for mayors and alders — and a step away from allowing city department heads to live outside of New Haven.
Continue reading ‘4-Year Terms, Residency Requirements Embraced’
by | May 4, 2023 8:52 am | Comments (5)
Rendering of redeveloped Strong School.
Thomas Breen photo
Pennrose Senior Developer Karmen Cheung before the Board of Alders.
A national affordable housing developer’s bid to convert the long-vacant former Strong School on Grand Avenue into at least 50 new apartments took another big step forward, as alders endorsed rezoning and selling the city-owned property for $500,000.
by | May 3, 2023 3:10 pm | Comments (38)
Up next at the former Long Wharf Theatre (clockwise from top left): INSA model smoking INSA pre-rolled joint; theater's former sign on Sargent Dr.; INSA cannabis chocolates; theater's former home in the Food Terminal.
The main stage of the ex-Long Wharf Theatre on Sargent Drive could see cannabis curious customers shopping for weed chocolates and pre-rolled joints by as early as December — according to a newly disclosed 10-year dispensary lease.