Green Proprietor: ​“We Are Not The Committee Of ​‘No’ ”

No, the proprietors of the Green are absolutely not against changing with the times. Quite the opposite, as long as the future changes reflect the values of the past and the common good is served. 

That’s one of the main takeaways from a conversation with Judge Janet Bond Arterton, chair since 2007 of the Committee of the Proprietors, a self-perpetuating quintet that shares control of the look and uses of the Green with the city.

The Independent recently spoke with Arterton as part of an ongoing series of interviews about the Green’s past, present, and future — all sparked by city plans to reconfigure bus routes and enhance amenities on the New Haven’s central public greenspace.

The Proprietors committee dates back to 1810. Chaired by Arterton, the other committee members include Anne Calabresi, Robert Dannies Jr., Kica Matos, and David Newton.

“The five trustees act to preserve the Green’s history, preventing its commercialization and ensuring that it remains an open and beautiful green space for enjoyment by the community,” the group states on its website.

Arterton, a retired federal judge, weighed in with her thoughts. She believes this might be a pivotal moment in the nearly 400-year history of the glorious common ground that makes New Haven New Haven.

Some other key takeaways from the Independent’s interview with Arterton?

No, the committee is not some kind of spooky, secret organization — their chair has no idea where that image comes from.

And, yes, she wants New Haven to know that there are no employees, and no ongoing private revenue source, and that the city being perennially too cash-strapped to achieve all the good things on the list has been a problem for generations.

Read more about the modern history of the group that is formally known as the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands at New Haven here. And read Arterton’s interview with the Independent in full below.

Independent: What’s your view historically of the Green and the Proprietors’ role over time and now?

Arterton: It has been the heart of the city since the founding of the colony. [The original colonial owners’ descendants] set up a committee of citizens to hold the land in trust and have the rights to convey the land, which was done for all the divided land. But to maintain this central public square as such, that’s been the charge and it’s evolved over time.

Can you elaborate on how the Proprietors’ view has changed?

The ​“public interest” is the underlying premise of the charge. The functions have changed enormously over time. We’ve had a jail, stocks, a burial ground, all sorts of buildings, a state house, churches, the original Hopkins school. The mandate of the Proprietors is to be future oriented but to reflect the past. The basic question of resources has driven a lot of the direction. And, yes, in the form of inaction.

And how do you view the resources question today?

The city is very economically strapped in terms of its Parks Department and the Proprietors do not have a revenue stream. I’m optimistic going forward as the city’s obtained funding for significant changes around the Green, like the bus routes. While those are not the purview of the Proprietors, they’ll drive what’s feasible for the Green.

Maintaining the public square has always been challenging and there will always be needs unmet. We’ve just set up the New Haven Green Conservancy and it will be an entity that will have the capacity to do major fundraising. Maybe we are due for a major capital fund campaign, as was had 30 years ago. That, plus private funders, plus the city’s ability to capture supplemental resources, all point in a very good direction. But nothing happens overnight. 

And I think that’s a very good thing because change in such a large, important, 400-year-old space with its own history should be contemplative, thoughtful. And it should also be informed and we are trying very hard to meet those standards.

What are your thoughts about commerce on the Green, as including that appears to be an important ingredient, like some sort of a café, with bathrooms, in the evolving plans?

We’ve tried very hard to thread that needle and not have rampant commercial undertakings. That is, commerce that is consistent with the overall purpose, which is enjoyment and use. So the idea is you translate from market place. That was one of the purposes as you could bring your livestock, handicrafts, but then there weren’t any Stop & Shops to go to. 

When you take that concept and make it future-oriented and reflect the past is why we’re interested in pursuing the idea of some kind of kiosk for people who come to the Green to enjoy the festivals, or on a lovely day to pick up a cup of coffee or a tasty bite to eat, to make the Green something more than a walking-through.

Whether or not that will be feasible and how and in terms of seasons and if it can support itself financially, this all needs to be carefully looked at, particularly since the initial ideas are to be wed with a couple of well-managed, cleaned, and supervised bathrooms, and that suggests larger questions and we’ll examine them as proposals come in. 

Can you elaborate on the bathroom question, because that frequently comes up especially in connection with people’s negative view of the Green?

We had an advisory committee that preceded the conservancy and one of their ideas was a café. Well, we never found the right word for it, but it was not to be a permanent structure. The bathroom part is a quandary that plagues us forever. We call it ​“potty talk” on our agendas. So there is no easy path forward or consensus that it [provision of bathrooms] should be on the Green. But very nearby is a possibility. 

For example, there are spaces along Chapel Street, at the ground floor, that may very well be converted. They’re near the Green and can serve the need of those with no place to go or little kids who can’t hold it. The concept that this public square accommodates all kinds of interests is how it’s reflective of the common good. But that doesn’t mean there are no conflicts.

Regarding general hygiene and maintenance of the Green, the litter, and so forth, participants at the public meeting and commentators of the Indy’s articles have asked why the Town Green Special Service District ambassadors are not detailed to do regular pick-up and cleaning?

The ambassadors, as I understand it, are employees of the Town Green Special Services District and it receives city funding. That means that the city’s unions claim an interest in who is doing maintenance work. And it’s from their standpoint bargaining unit work. And this has been an issue for the district and the city going back a ways. That’s one of the problems they have had carrying out their desire to maintain the Green.

On the other hand, we’ve had contractual relations with Town Green Special Services to make sure they put out chairs and tables all around the fountain, to clean up litter, and then put them away so they are secured for the next day. The concept of how you keep the Green clean as you would like is a confounding one because the city agrees it will maintain the grounds and pick up the trash, but it’s never really been staffed [enough].

We have a lot of variation. How to have the city deploy its limited personnel to take care of this is a continual question. We have a new parks director and we are looking forward to working with him. It may well be, going forward, that there could be some kind of endowment to supplement the keeping of the Green clean and maintained. The directors of the Conservancy hopefully will reflect a broader sweep of the community and will have the foresight and also the means to do something about it and we are very hopeful this will represent a new dynamism. 

I was struck in my reading about the Green that back in the early 1960s Mayor Richard Lee, not long after the assassination of President Kennedy, proposed erecting a statue of JFK on the Green. A wag (and maybe a Republican?) among the Proprietors responded, in effect, that Lincoln and McKinley too were assassinated and yet there are no statues of them on the Green. What’s your view on such ideas and in general how history lives, or does not, on the Green? And how might that be addressed and enhanced?

Yes, there are so many people who have done significant things who would be appropriately honored, and then we would have no place to walk! So, yes on the idea of drawing that line and having no statues. But we would very much like to utilize all the resources and we’re going to start with historical informational posters on the back of our signs on the Green. And we’re going to teach what went on, on the Green, for better or worse 

[Arterton references an upcoming program, spearheaded by members of Trinity Church, to mark the last slave sale in New Haven, held on the Green, in 1825, and to create commemorative markers of same.] This may well translate into programs in the schools so kids think of it not as green space but in the larger context of their city.

Destination play areas including an amenity like a skating rink are among the mosts popular ideas going around. What’s your take on these?

The Green is not a playground and it is not a park in that sense. Where people play and entertain themselves is very much up to their creativity, but putting swings and sand boxes on the Green? I don’t think so.

The skating rink, however, is such an appealing idea. We’ve researched it. We’ve actually had a proposal. But there are a lot of problems associated with a rink. The swampy characteristics caused other Proprietors to say ​“No” when an underground parking garage was proposed. 

While the Proprietors is not a committee of ​“No,” when there’s a proposal that impinges on the health of the Green, it’s the entity that does say ​“No.” That doesn’t mean it can’t be done as the technology is improving. It’s such an appealing idea in winter but so expensive, and it may be a race against time, but that doesn’t mean we’re abandoning the idea. If we can figure out how to make it feasible I think it would be something we’d take under consideration. 

Why did you decide to join the Proprietors, to take on the responsibility? And can you name a high point and a low point from over the years?

My court, the federal district court, looks out on the Green, so the Green was a daily experience for me. It’s very special. You don’t see this in other cities our size. Most of the New England towns used to have greens but over time they were sold off, so this was interesting and unique. So full of historical perspective And it was a way to take a deeper dive into it. I got interested in what an asset it is for the greater New Haven community and how I could be a part of that.

I can remember some years ago, it would have been in the late 1990s, when the Met performed its music on the Green. It was such a magical night. The Green was packed, and the little kids began to move toward up to the barrier close to the stage. They were just in awe, and the elm trees made a crown around the Green and encapsulated it. I was working late in the court house. I knocked off to join those little kids up in the front!

In 2018, if you’re looking for low points, [the wave of synthetic marijuana poisoning overdoses that swept the Green in August of that year] that was one that seemed illustrative of so many problems and we very much wanted to leap into the breach and get positive things going on the Green. That’s when we started the ​“popups,” and since we’ve sponsored local artists to get people back on the Green so they are glad to be there. And we continue. We’ve hired a director of Green activation programs and she’s responsible for pulling together New Year New Haven. She’s an employee of Arts & Ideas and we pay her salary, so there’s that synergy. She has the arts and ideas and we have the structure.

I consider [being among the five Proprietors] an honor and a real privilege. What’s really exciting is that this seems to be a moment afoot to make appropriate changes that will improve this common and wonderful resource. But that has to be done carefully and thoughtfully, and the people’s input is very useful, so we will proceed apace.

Thank you very much for your time.

See below for other recent articles about the Green.

• City Historian: The Green’s Constant Is Change, &​“Public Good”
• Prof/Filmmaker: The Green’s Not Just About Fun
• Green Remakers Face Grave Question
• Big Changes Eyed For The Green