The Hill

Teen Homicide Victim Laid To Rest

by | Dec 9, 2024 3:25 pm | Comments (5)

The late Uzziah Shell, as shown in a photo shared by family members at Saturday's funeral.

Friends wore shirts that read Forever 16 with a photo of Uzziah Shell. Ushers handed out tissues to grieving classmates. Mothers wrapped their arms tightly around their kids. A portrait of Uzziah holding a sign reading I’m Thankful For” and adorned with colored Post-Its smiled from the altar. 

That was the scene on Saturday at Life-Giving Water Church on Howard Avenue, where a packed house of friends, family, and city leaders gathered to celebrate the life of Shell, the 16-year-old Riverside Academy student who was shot and killed on Goffe Street late last month.

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As Temps Drop, Tiny Shelter Residents Double Up

by | Dec 6, 2024 10:46 am | Comments (9)

Jabez Choi photo

Robert Harris: “When we do bundle up, it’s tolerable."

The tiny shelters (right) behind 203 Rosette.

A group of unhoused neighbors have taken to sleeping two or even three to a room inside unheated pre-fabricated tiny shelters that are still standing in a Rosette Street backyard.

When we do bundle up, it’s tolerable being in there,” said Robert Harris, as he pointed at a row of white Pallet shelters. But sometimes it’s colder in these because it can be like an ice box.”

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2nd Arts High School Comes Into Focus

by | Dec 5, 2024 9:26 am | Comments (4)

Maya McFadden File Photo

At Betsy Ross's Winter Fest: High school performers, coming soon.

Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (BRAMS) will have an inaugural ninth grade class next year — as the district works to transition the 5 – 8th grade middle school to a 7 – 12th grade high school in order to better accommodate students’ high demand for arts instruction. 

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The Lives Of Afghan Women, Through Their Own Lens

by | Nov 1, 2024 8:49 am | Comments (0)

Brian Slattery photo

It’s two photos of people engaged in the same act — one a child and one an adult — practicing a custom centuries old. For the viewer, it’s a glimpse into a space usually not seen outside the community. 

The label below the photo on the left quotes an Afghan woman named Seema: Prayer is very important for us and our children. We start teaching our children to pray when they are about 5 years old; mainly mothers are the ones who teach them at home. When bad things happen, Afghan women go to Allah and ask for help. My husband had an accident, and this is my 5‑year-old daughter; after prayer, she is saying her du’as and asking for help for her dad. Here she is holding a tasbih and wearing the hijab, at this age they only wear the hijab for prayers. I’m so happy when I see them praying to God — to Allah.” As Aryana, quoted at the bottom of the photo to the right, says, Afghan women love their religion and trust God.”

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1 Week Later, Rally Protests Police Shooting

by | Sep 27, 2024 9:59 am | Comments (18)

Nathaniel Rosenberg photos

Protest organizer Kerry Ellington: “The police could have chosen a nonviolent alternative."

Conley's cousins Tamara Flint, Ronisha Moore, and Maya Harris, at Thursday's protest.

A week to the hour after a fatal confrontation between police and 36-year-old New Havener Jebrell Conley, protesters gathered at the car wash where the shooting took place — to criticize law enforcement for how they handled last Thursday’s attempted arrest, and to describe Conley as more than just his criminal record.

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Time For Supervised Injection Sites?

by | Sep 20, 2024 3:51 pm | Comments (71)

Laura Glesby photo

Myra Smith: "I feel powerless when it comes to this population."

Myra Smith walked into the Wilson Library Branch with her mind made up about supervised substance use centers: It is NOT coming to the Hill. It’s not.” 

She left with more openness to the concept as a way to address the opioid crisis that has overwhelmed her neighborhood. I’m not saying I’m totally against it. This sounds wonderful,” she said — as long as it’s implemented with care for the surrounding community.

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"Union Square" Sketches Revealed

by | Sep 13, 2024 4:22 pm | Comments (65)

Contributed Rendering

Renderings for the future of the Church Street South site, including a "central green" pictured here, were revealed...

Laura Glesby Photo

...at a packed meeting on Thursday.

Townhomes shift into high-rises as the buildings transition from the Hill to Downtown, anchored by a central green.” In the mix is a coffee kiosk, an outdoor theater, and a pedestrian promenade.

A team of architects and designers sketched out those ideas on Thursday for a future mixed-use, mixed-income development at the vacant site of the former Church Street South housing complex and the current Robert T. Wolfe public housing apartments.

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Poultry Market Proposal Slaughtered

by | Sep 11, 2024 2:00 pm | Comments (21)

Laura Glesby photo

Thomasine Shaw, next to BZA member Gemini Rorie: The proposed poultry market would have been too close to people, "endangering their health."

The Board of Zoning Appeals denied a proposed poultry market with on-site, on-demand chicken slaughtering on Tuesday night, following a stream of contentious public testimony that invoked concerns about Islamophobia, bird flu, and the wellbeing of the neighborhood.

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Tiny Shelter Resident Rejects Branford Move

by | Sep 10, 2024 12:08 pm | Comments (29)

Jabez Choi photo

Joel Nieves, staying at Rosette for now: "I'm not alone anymore."

With the help of an extension cord providing power to his CPAP machine, Joel Nieves is still living in a tiny shelter on a Rosette Street backyard — two months after the city ordered the power turned off for him and his unhoused neighbors.

In that same time, the Elicker administration has also offered Nieves a new, more permanent place to stay, along with security deposit help.

The problem for Nieves — which has led him to turn down that housing help — is that the replacement apartment is two towns away, in Branford.

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Puerto Rican "Trailblazer" Eulogized

by | Sep 6, 2024 3:56 pm | Comments (1)

Allan Appel Photo

At Cordova's funeral service Friday.

contributed photo

Celestino Cordova: Borinqueneer and community advocate.

Dedication to service for others, personal resiliency, and don’t forget those family pig roasts on local beaches beginning at 3 a.m. (It takes time to roast a whole pig.)

These were some of the values and memories evoked Friday morning at a solemn burial mass for Celestino Cordova, one of the New Haven Puerto Rican community’s true trailblazers.

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Candidate Commits To Community, Communication

by | Sep 5, 2024 3:40 pm | Comments (12)

Jabez Choi Photo

Miguel and Sandra Pittman, on the Hill campaign trail.

Shauna Williams-Smith had never been visited by a local politician before this week. She also didn’t know about the Board of Alders, let alone the special election to replace former Ward 3 Alder Ron Hurt later this month. 

But on Wednesday, Miguel Pittman showed up at her Stevens Street door to pitch his run for the neighborhood legislative role — and won a pledge of support from a Hill resident newly engaged with local politics.

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Addiction Anguish Heard On The Doors

by | Sep 3, 2024 10:34 am | Comments (17)

Laura Glesby photos

Ward 3 alder candidate Angel Hubbard kicks off the campaign launch: “I will never judge anyone for having an addiction. We do need programs.”

Rafael Rodriguez and Steven Fontanez (right) are working hard to help themselves and others out of addiction, as they told Hubbard, Valerie Boyd, and Justin Elicker.

Steven Fontanez is running out of time. He has only a few days left to stay at a sober housing program, and he hasn’t had luck finding an apartment.

Giselle Orosco is running out of patience. She’s tired of guessing whether the people who lie down outside her house are overdosing or merely asleep.

Angel Hubbard is running to be an alder for them both.

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"Jammin" Salmon Seasoned Straight From Jamaica

by | Aug 8, 2024 11:34 am | Comments (1)

Brian Slattery Photos

Damien Clarke sauteeing vegetables at Jammin Jamaican.

Salmon and chicken, en route to being served.

Damian Clarke, chef and owner of Jammin Jamaican Cuisine at 611 Washington Ave. in the Hill, set to work preparing a salmon entree that has become one of the restaurant’s more popular dishes.

First, he chopped peppers and onions into neat strips. He folded a bunch of scallions in half before dicing them, using both onions and salmon to maximize the flavor. Then he sliced some thyme for extra seasoning.

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Stolen Cop Car Crashed Into Church

by | Aug 7, 2024 10:42 am | Comments (21)

Dashboard video sound begins at 0:29. “Get your gun out!” shouts the driver to the cop. “Shoot!”

Open the door,” a 49-year-old man shouted at a police officer sitting in the passenger side of a parked cruiser on Congress Avenue. 

The man said he was being followed. He told the officer to get out of the car.

The officer unlocked the vehicle, tried to radio for help, and the man got in — and started driving.

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