by | Feb 23, 2023 11:29 am | Comments (31)
Contributed design rendering
Congress/Davenport apartment plan, slated to replace to-be-demolished properties like 326 and 348 Davenport (below).
Thomas Breen photo
A California-based developer has purchased nine Hill properties for a combined $4.35 million — advancing plans to construct 194 new apartments on Congress and Davenport Avenues.
by | Feb 9, 2023 4:02 pm | Comments (45)
Paul Bass file photo
The former Church Street South property, above and below.
Elicker (at bottom left): "Disappointed & frustrated." Northland's Gottesdiener (bottom right): City's version "inaccurate at best, a lie at worst."
Five years after bulldozers demolished the 30-building Church Street South community across from Union Station, the land remains a fenced-off wasteland of prime real estate with no signs of progress on plans to rebuild.
by | Feb 9, 2023 3:05 pm | Comments (21)
CONTRIBUTED BY THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN
Rendering of a proposed new "Gateway District" on Long Wharf.
Laura Glesby Photo
Community members hear a presentation at the Betsy Ross School Parish Hall.
A park and pedestrian-friendly walkway where cars now roar down Long Wharf Drive.
An automotive trade school where the former Gateway Community College building is starting to crumble.
A new home base for all of the APT Foundation’s New Haven substance-use treatment programs in a building specifically designed to address neighbors’ concerns.
Those ideas stand at the center of a new plan put together by top city officials on how to transform Long Wharf — a waterfront neighborhood currently dominated by big-box stores, parking lots, and the highway — into a mixed-use district bustling with education, healthcare, and outdoor recreation.
by | Feb 6, 2023 5:04 pm | Comments (13)
Paul Bass Photos
Drew Ramsey and Javon Hailey clear Kimberly Park's invasive vines.
Paul Bass Photo
Dayton Death Row.
Five towering trees were sentenced to death on a crowded west side street. Meanwhile, across town, stewards whacked at vines in a reclaimed park to enable other trees to survive and thrive.
Continue reading ‘Street Trees Condemned; Park Trees Preserved’
by | Feb 6, 2023 3:02 pm | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden photo
History teacher Pete Chase talking hydroponics as a way to keep students present and paying attention in the classroom. “I want to get them off those phones and playing in dirt.”
A trio of 3D printers worked at lightning speed making hydroponic-friendly pots in Riverside teacher Camar Graves’ classroom — as the alternative-public-academy educator worked just as diligently finding novel ways to connect with his students at a time when many remain glued to their phones and struggling to focus.
by | Feb 1, 2023 3:23 pm | Comments (4)
Laura Glesby Photos
Gladys Mwilelo reading to Clemente 6th graders Wednesday.
Jeremiah Pierce and classmates listen to Mwilelo's story.
After reciting a verse she composed herself, Gladys Mwilelo asked the class of curious Roberto Clemente sixth-graders peering back at her: “Do any of you write poems?”
“I share them with my little brother,” answered Yulianisse Féliciano with a wry smile. “He laughs at me.”
Mwilelo knows what it means to offer a voice that no one seems to know how to hear. When she first arrived in New Haven as a refugee, she didn’t know a word of English — and none of her classmates could speak Swahili.
So she responded to Féliciano with encouragement: “I promise you, one day I will be glad to read your poem.”
by | Jan 24, 2023 11:02 am | Comments (23)
Thomas Breen photo
Two-families on the rise: A construction worker on the job on Downing St.
The only contractor to respond to a city bid to build a new two-family house in the Hill won the contract at a price of $690,000 — or roughly $246 per square foot — raising questions about just how much it costs to construct small-scale residential developments in New Haven in 2023.
by | Jan 23, 2023 1:30 pm | Comments (15)
An off-duty Board of Ed security officer detained a teen allegedly in the act of breaking into his car — then found himself detained by the police, and arrested.
Continue reading ‘Security Guard Arrested After Confronting Alleged Thief At His Home’
by | Jan 19, 2023 5:54 pm | Comments (3)
Paul Bass file photo
Krikko Obbott: “We’ve been wanting to do this for years."
The "warehouse" at 212 West St. Obbott is looking to convert into apartments.
A Hill illustrator and museum owner is moving ahead with plans to attract more creative talent to West Street, after winning a first slate of approvals needed for turning part of his property into artist apartments.
by | Jan 19, 2023 9:45 am | Comments (33)
Allan Appel file photo
Sandra's owners Miguel and Sandra Pittman: Planning to push back on zoning board rejection.
Nora Grace-Flood photo
The contested outdoor refrigeration containers on Arch St.
City zoners turned down a Congress Avenue culinary institution’s bid to store five outdoor fridges in a residentially zoned area — following testimony from the restaurant’s neighbor that the restaurant’s expansion has resulted not just in nationally renowned chicken wings, but also pesky rodents and stenches.
The restaurant’s owners now plan to contest that decision so that they can continue to keep corn, sugar, flour and plenty of perishables nearby as they look to continue serving the neighborhood they’ve long called home.
by | Jan 18, 2023 11:17 am | Comments (9)
Laura Glesby Photo
The view down South Frontage from York Street, where the sidewalk ends.
Proposed changes to South Frontage Rd. from York to College St.
What will it take for South Frontage Road to be a safe street for pedestrians and cyclists?
The city is betting on raised crosswalks, a bike lane, and an extension of York Street’s two-way stretch.
by | Jan 17, 2023 12:28 pm | Comments (23)
Kimberly Wipfler photos
Hannah Srajer and Emmett Santisi (right) make their rent-cap-bill pitch to Hill resident Johnna Davis during Saturday's canvass.
Hitting the doors in the Hill.
Tenants rights advocates from across Connecticut descended on the Hill to knock on nearly 100 doors in their bid to win local renter support for a new rent-hike-stifling legislative campaign.
by | Jan 16, 2023 2:04 pm | Comments (3)
Thomas Breen file photo
Scrap metal ready for recycling at 808 Washington.
An international metal recycling company has purchased a Hill scrapyard that it has run and leased for the past nearly two decades, in one of the city’s latest property deals.
Continue reading ‘Real Estate Roundup: Hill Metal Scrapyard Sold For $1.3M’
by | Jan 11, 2023 3:52 pm | Comments (14)
Laura Glesby Photo
Hill South neighbors and city officials break ground.
Archidesign Group
A rendering of the future house.
Clustered atop a long-barren Howard Avenue lot, Hill neighbors and city officials grabbed their shovels and scooped up piles of dirt that will soon sit beneath a two-family, owner-occupied house.
by | Jan 9, 2023 8:35 am | Comments (1)
Lindsay Skedgell Photos
At Saturday's Three Kings Day celebration at 148 Sylvan Ave.
Toys were abundant this Saturday at the annual Three Kings Day celebration held at Casa Otoñal Community Center on Sylvan Avenue.
by | Jan 6, 2023 9:58 am | Comments (1)
Brian Slattery photos
Movimiento Cultural drummers and dancers liven up Wilson Library.
Kids making crowns for themselves, with and without parental aid.
As Movimiento Cultural Afro-Continental’s drummers played driving rhythms and singers instructed families in the traditions of bomba, one young dancer learned fast about the ways that she could converse with lead drummer Kevin Diaz during the ongoing library-hosted Three Kings Day fest.
She made a gesture, and Diaz, fully attentive, responded with a crack from his drum. She gestured again, and he responded in kind on his instrument. The smiles that passed between them needed no words to convey their meaning.
by | Dec 16, 2022 5:19 pm | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden File Photo
Eighth grader Dakarai Langley leads "Would Anyone Care?" dance about suicidal awareness.
With a look of defeat, Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (BRAMS) eighth grader Dakarai Langley lifted his left foot and dangled it over the edge of an auditorium stage as a song shook the dark room with the lyrics: “Would anyone cry if I finally stepped off of this ledge tonight?”
And then Langley kept dancing, proving to everyone in the room before him just how lucky this city is to have this young artist call New Haven his home.
Continue reading ‘Winterfest Wows At Betsy Ross Arts Showcase’
by | Dec 14, 2022 4:27 pm | Comments (8)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
At the Greenwich Ave. C-Town: More aisles, coming soon?
A Kimberly Square supermarket is looking to stock more shelves and serve more shoppers — by first paving more parking spaces and later tearing down a two-family home.
by | Dec 14, 2022 1:33 pm | Comments (0)
Maya McFadden file photo
At Angela's Unique Creations ribbon cutting on Kimberly Ave. in February.
An online holiday party replete with ugly sweaters and good cheer brought into focus a vision for a bustling, business-friendly Kimberly Square .
Continue reading ‘Hill Holiday Party Q: How To Help Kimberly Square?’
by | Dec 6, 2022 9:00 am | Comments (1)
Kimberly Wipfler photo
Nova and Zora Zanders at Sunday's Hill holiday fest.
Eight-year-old Nova and her three-year-old sister Zora shared big smiles as they posed for a photo on Santa’s lap. When St. Nick asked Nova what she wants for Christmas this year, she surprised him. She said she didn’t care about what to ask for.
“I just want to be grateful no matter what I get.”
Continue reading ‘Hill Holiday Bash Brightens Kimberly Square’
by | Dec 1, 2022 11:13 am | Comments (30)
Maya McFadden Photo
At NHPS's recent "reading expo" at Betsy Ross Parish Hall.
The city’s public school district is now down to five choices for which state-sanctioned program to adopt as it builds out an enhanced K‑3 literacy plan that is required to follow the “science of reading,” which emphasizes learning how to sound out words instead of looking for other clues.
Continue reading ‘Choices Narrowed For Schools' Reading Pivot’
by | Nov 18, 2022 2:28 pm | Comments (54)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
George Ashline: Preparing to winter-proof his tent on Rosette Street.
Fried onions, crispy potatoes and buttered bagels filled the kitchen of the Hill’s Amistad House — and spread a warm, starchy scent along Rosette Street and into the tents of neighbors camped out in the Catholic Workers community’s backyard.
That was the scene on a residential block of the Hill where a crew of “economic refugees” is currently camping out together on a tenth of an acre of land as a means of both fighting for housing justice and seeking sanctuary from shrinking shelter and increasingly harsh and unpredictable New England weather.
Continue reading ‘"Human Rights Zone" Grows In Hill Backyard’
by | Nov 18, 2022 12:28 pm | Comments (10)
Noel Sims photo
Thomasine Shaw, Ernest Pagan, and Alder Carmen Rodriguez at Thursday's meeting.
The public space at the new Coliseum site redevelopment will be a true “gateway to the city” that is open to all — and not a fenced-in private courtyard like what currently sits one block away in front of the Knights of Columbus tower.
City officials and a Norwalk-based redevelopment team made that promise during the latest community meeting about a mini-city’s worth of rebuilding now underway in New Haven’s “Tenth Square.”
Continue reading ‘Coliseum Redo Promise: Park Will Be Public’
by | Nov 16, 2022 3:04 pm | Comments (1)
Dr. Ece Tek, Chief Medical Officer, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center; LindyLee Gold’s grandson Ari Kroop; Michael Taylor, CEO of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center; LindyLee Gold, President of the Amour Propre Fund and recently named Chair of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center Foundation board; and local attorney Keith Bradoc Gallant, who assists with the Amour Propre Fund.
Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center has received the largest donation in its 55-year- history, a $1 million infusion that will support a wellness center within a new facility for women in recovery from addiction.
Continue reading ‘Record Donation Supports Hill Health Center For Women In Recovery’
by | Nov 8, 2022 7:19 pm | Comments (0)
Maya McFadden Photos
Jackie Randolph and Treasurer hopeful in Westville Tuesday.
Alder Carmen Rodriguez and State Rep. Juan Candelaria with Holly Jiang and Betty Fludd outside Clemente in the Hill.
When Jackie Randolph arrived at Davis Street Magnet School Tuesday, she wasn’t expecting to see her neighbor Erick Russell.
But she was expecting to vote for his hometown candidacy for statewide office.