Paul Bass Photo
The fence comes down.
An attorney and former New Haven alderman has written the definitive account of the notorious fence that divided Hamden from New Haven’s West Rock public-housing developments.
Thomas MacMillan Photo
The attorney, Steven Mednick (pictured), wrote the report for the town of Hamden’s Legislative Council in response to some constituents’ outrage that New Haven finally had the fence torn down this past May 12.
At 106 pages (with 454 footnotes), Mednick’s account draws on public documents, press accounts, and other evidence to portray a more nuanced view of the drama than found in popular accounts: He argues that both New Haven and Hamden officials were complicit from the start in the construction of the fence, and that officials knew, or should have known, all along that the fence was on New Haven property, and New Haven could have torn it down any time it wanted to. He includes himself — a former city housing authority commissioner — in the group of officials who should have paid more attention to who actually owned the land. The Independent comes under particular criticism from Mednick for offering what he sees as a misleading, simplistic depiction of the fence’s history.
Click here and here to read Mednick’s full report (in two parts).