by | Sep 13, 2022 3:38 pm | Comments (7)
Thomas Breen file photo
Ed board member Darnell Goldson at Monday's alder hearing.
Board of Education member Darnell Goldson took on the role of whistleblower as he criticized the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) contracting process as unduly shielded from public oversight, and as overly favorable to the current school bus provider.
by | Sep 13, 2022 9:10 am | Comments (17)
Thomas Breen photo
At the main branch on Elm St.
City libraries remain closed on Sundays 11 weeks into a fiscal year in which they are supposed to be open, with the Elicker Administration citing staff shortages as the biggest roadblock so far to realizing a heralded budget promise.
Continue reading ‘Despite Budget Vow, Libraries Closed On Sundays’
by | Sep 12, 2022 9:33 am | Comments (11)
Markeshia Ricks file photo
City Plan Commission Chair Radcliffe, set for another term.
Hill community advocate, civic volunteer extraordinaire, and City Plan Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe won another three and a half years on the local land-use body during a continued remaking of New Haven’s landscape, thanks to a unanimous reappointment vote by the Board of Alders.
by | Sep 9, 2022 11:21 am | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen photo
The empty lot at 27 Valley Pl. North today ...
City of New Haven photo
... and in wake of March 5 blaze.
A fire engulfed and destroyed a World War II-era single-family house on the far west side of town in March, leaving the building in such a dangerous state of disarray that the city hired a contractor to demolish it one month later.
This week, the Board of Alders closed the loop on at least one chapter of that now-houseless West Hills property’s history, when local legislators voted unanimously to approve spending $62,585 to cover the cost of tearing down the building.
by | Sep 7, 2022 3:06 pm | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photo
Tenants union advocates Kay Pittman and Luke Melonakos-Harris celebrate Tuesday's vote.
Tenants unions now officially have a seat at the table in New Haven city government, thanks to a new law approved by alders Tuesday night.
by | Sep 7, 2022 11:04 am | Comments (2)
Brian Slattery Photo
Night Market in the 9th Sq. in May.
Downtown streets will ditch cars for arts for parts of October, thanks to two different sets of road closures approved by the Board of Alders.
by | Sep 7, 2022 9:41 am | Comments (13)
City government now has an officially adopted plan for how to overhaul New Haven’s bike, pedestrian, and public transit infrastructure to promote safe, connected, and car-free travel.
Next up: Applying for federal funds to help make that vision a reality.
Continue reading ‘Alders OK "Safe Routes" Active Transit Plan’
by | Sep 6, 2022 1:25 pm | Comments (21)
Sophie Sonnenfeld photo
At EastCoastin 2021 in the Annex.
Thomas Breen file photo
Bike life event organizers Sal Fusco and Gabe Canestri.
The Elicker Administration has filed suit against the organizers of the “EastCoastin 2021” motorcycle event in a bid to collect on roughly $92,000 worth of police, public works, and traffic employee overtime spent on last year’s unpermitted Annex gathering.
by | Sep 6, 2022 12:24 pm | Comments (5)
Thomas Breen photo
Tuesday midday at Whitney and Trumbull.
(Updated) A driver was taken to the hospital Tuesday after driving through the heavy rainstorm — and then crashing into a house at Hobart Street and Whalley Avenue.
by | Sep 6, 2022 8:47 am | Comments (16)
CIRCA
Map of New Haven areas vulnerable to increased flooding.
Floods in City Point. Heat waves in tree-sparse, lot-heavy Newhallville. More storms that require evacuation. More periods of drought.
As climate change progresses, those conditions will become the new normal for New Haven, especially for the heat- and flood-vulnerable neighborhood of Fair Haven, reported officials tracking the trends.
An environmental transformation is already in motion. But, the officials said, the city can adapt its current infrastructure and prevent carbon emissions from making the problem worse.
Continue reading ‘Maps Show Climate Change's Neighborhood Impacts’
by | Sep 2, 2022 2:02 pm | Comments (28)
Laura Glesby file photo
Kai Addae (left) and Max Chaoulideer (right) at City Hall hearing.
The city’s planned overhaul of bike, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure is on a fast track to potential approval, as officials race to meet a mid-September deadline for a crucial grant.
by | Aug 24, 2022 12:20 pm | Comments (1)
Laura Glesby Photo
Erick Santiago cuts Alberto Reyes' hair on the Green Tuesday.
“I’m tired of being outside,” said Jazel Brown as he waited in line for a haircut. He’d had a stressful few weeks of missing medication, sleeping in hospital beds, and witnessing a violent attack near the downtown church steps where he typically sleeps.
In the middle of a hard month, Brown stumbled across a glimmer of kindness in Erick Santiago’s weekly volunteer barbershop in the center of the New Haven Green — where a “One-Stop Pop Up” provided him with a fresh cut, a place to charge his phone, a medical check-up, and the possible beginnings of a new friendship.
by | Aug 18, 2022 5:58 pm | Comments (14)
File Photo
Hutcherson: I'm "fall guy" for mismanaged health dept.
A third-party investigator found that poor communication by the city’s fired former public health nursing director was largely what led to hundreds of Covid-19 vaccine doses being mishandled by the city Health Department in late 2021 and early 2022.
by | Aug 18, 2022 1:18 pm | Comments (11)
Paul Bass photo
City social services director Mehul Dalal in August 2021.
Two years to the day after the Elicker Administration first announced plans to launch a non-cop emergency response initiative — and one year after a pilot program was initially supposed to start — the social worker-centered team has still not begun responding to certain 911 calls.
City public safety departments haven’t even been trained yet on how this nascent program will work.
Continue reading ‘2 Years Later, Crisis Response Pilot Yet To Start’
by | Aug 17, 2022 3:14 pm | Comments (27)
Laura Glesby Photo
Iline Tracey testifies: New Haven kids will succeed.
“When I hear those numbers, it makes me cringe,” Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers told Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey.
Speaking at a public hearing, she was referring to New Haven Public Schools’ test scores from the past year, which officials have referred to as a reading and math “crisis.”
“Our students are resilient,” Tracey responded, and they need “indestructible hope.”
by | Aug 4, 2022 9:23 am | Comments (19)
Thomas Breen photo
Disability Services Director Gretchen Knauff pitches law-language change.
The term “handicapped person” will be changed to “person with a disability” in city law as part of an advancing set of proposed terminology changes.
by | Aug 3, 2022 3:03 pm | Comments (23)
Thomas Breen photo
Rose-Wilen and Piscitelli on Tuesday: "Long Wharf is the city's neighborhood."
The city's vision for a denser, mixed-use, redeveloped Long Wharf.
A proposed one-year building moratorium on Long Wharf is now one vote away from adoption — after alders and city planners made clear that certain projects, like Fusco’s planned new 500 waterfront apartments, would not be affected by the land-use pause.
by | Aug 3, 2022 12:00 pm | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen file photo
Cracking concrete outside of the boathouse.
Alders signed off on paying outside attorneys $159,000 in total as legal bills keep mounting for an ongoing court battle centered on cracking concrete outside of the Canal Dock Boathouse.
Continue reading ‘Cracked-Concrete Boathouse Legal Fees Increase’
by | Aug 2, 2022 1:45 pm | Comments (3)
Contributed photo
A draft rendering of the Living Village addition, at the top left of the map, as it fits into the Divinity School's existing structure.
Thomas Breen photo
Yale’s plans to build a new eco-friendly dormitory for divinity school students moved ahead, as alders unanimously signed off on a resolution stating that the project doesn’t require any amendment to the university’s central campus parking plan.
by | Aug 2, 2022 11:46 am | Comments (32)
Thomas Breen photo
Pressure from activists, like these attendees at a June public hearing, led to an addition of housing dollars.
City-backed housing programs got an extra $4 million boost on top of a planned $14 million, as alders signed off on a final amended version of how the Elicker Administration should spend $53 million in federal pandemic-relief aid.
by | Aug 2, 2022 8:50 am | Comments (2)
Thomas Breen photo
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison at Monday's meeting.
City of New Haven map
Cannabis zoning map proposal from April; legal sales districts shaded in purple. Thanks to Monday's vote, the port district in the Annex is no longer of that purple, legal cannabis zone, and parts of Long Wharf are.
Cannabis dispensaries can now legally set up up shop in certain business and industrial districts in town — including on Long Wharf — thanks to a new set of zoning regulations approved by the Board of Alders.
by | Jul 25, 2022 3:12 pm | Comments (5)
Yash Roy Photos
Yash Roy Photos
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Sonia Cruz, and Mike Piscitelli at Monday's event.
As nations dither and the planet bakes, New Haven is getting ahead of the curve on preparing contractors in green construction and environmentally responsive design.
Continue reading ‘Diplomas In Hand, Climate-Conscious Contractor Corps Ready To Build Green’
by | Jul 21, 2022 12:41 pm | Comments (2)
Two New Haveners have tested positive for the monkeypox virus, and city officials are working to stem the spread.
Continue reading ‘City Issues Monkeypox Alert After First 2 Cases Confirmed’
by | Jul 19, 2022 2:49 pm | Comments (5)
Yash Roy Photo
Fair Rent Commission Executive Director Wildaliz Bermudez and City Corporation Counsel Patricia King present tenant union proposal to alder committee.
Tenant unions are now one step closer to getting a seat at the table in New Haven government.
by | Jul 15, 2022 10:16 am | Comments (4)
Yash Roy Photo
Deputy Health Director Brooke Logan, left, pitches plan to alders.
New Haven’s alders first voted to declare racism a public health emergency. Now it is looking for federal help to put the city’s money where its mouth is.
Continue reading ‘Seeking Federal Help, City Readies Effort To Target Asthma’