agripiery

A Message to the Community:
In mid-February, Supervalu Inc. announced that it was pulling all Shaw's supermarkets out of CT. Immediately upon hearing the news, the Greater Dwight Community Investment Corporation and its partners began examining options and seeking a replacement. No one is willing to accept a "food desert" in this neighborhood, and GDCIC is working initially with Yale University Properties, which has both extensive experience in supermarket real estate and a strong desire to avert this possibility.

It is of critical importance that the community remains engaged on this issue. Attached to this sheet we have included a brief survey, the data from which may be valuable in assisting the GDCIC and its partners secure a new, full-service supermarket for the Dwight location. In addition to distributing the survey, here are things you can do to help:

1. Once Shaw's goes dark at the end of March, help us ensure that the Plaza remains a safe place. Visit the site often and shop at the other stores in the center to that it remains a financially healthy community asset. Also, consider creating a formal block watch.

2. Collect the names and signatures of people committed to having a full-service supermarket in central New Haven, and have them complete the survey attached.

3. Make it known in conversations with friends, elected officials, and inquiring journalists that the community deserves a full-service supermarket in this space. If you have a moment, submit a comment to Supervalu, the owners of Shaw's, at http://www.supervalu.com/sv-webapp/contact/contact.jsp. Let them know how important it is to the community that they assist us in obtaining a full-service replacement store (please keep the messages civil, as we continue to work with Supervalu to reach a mutually-acceptable resolution).

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. WE ARE COMMITTED TO KEEPING THE COMMUNITY INFORMED AS THIS PROCESS UNFOLDS. WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

What can we do as neighbors? We can go door to door and bring this survey to your neighbors! Instructions for returning the survey are on the bottom of the page: http://tinyurl.com/newhavengrocer

Recent layoffs have meant that as of February 28, 2011, the total number of hours that the New Haven main library branch opens have been reduced from 185 hours per month to 148. The branches have taken the brunt of the reductions, with monthly hours reduced from 136 to 96 including elimination of Saturday hours.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/branches_make_last_saturday_loans/

The closing of the libraries is a crucial issue of public space and civic vitality in New Haven. Libraries should be active community hubs where neighbors can meet and cement relationships, not abandoned buildings.

Public Libraries are educational agencies that provide materials and services to all members in the community from preschoolers to seniors. The library is accessible to students for study and research when public schools are not open. The library provides the only computer access some public school students have to complete their homework assignments.

Public Libraries help build a strong economy. Our unemployment rate has been at least 12%, and likely to be above 50% among youth in some city neighborhoods. Many employers have transitioned to online employment applications. Public Libraries provide the only access some people have to computer technology and job searches.

Please "vote" here if you believe that the City of New Haven should immediately restore all of the eliminated library hours, either through re-hiring of laid off employees or through other measures.

Information, updates and additional ways to advocate for this issue will be posted here and you will receive them if you request to be notified of updates.

(I have posted this at the request of an elderly New Haven resident who no longer has access to the internet, due to closing of library hours on Saturday in her neighborhood)

Water running from taps and faucets is brown. Problem apparently shared by others in East Rock .

I am completely disgusted how the NHPD and HANH are both handling the drug trafficking in this area. On several occasions I have seen with my own eyes the exchanges in broad daylight. Like any other concerned citizen, I have contacted the NHPD provided them with plates and discriptions of the seller and buyer for years, and still no changes. Sad part is they know who these kids are. These condo complexes are within 1500 feet of an elementary school. Children are seen everywhere in this area. It makes me sick to my stomach to see what they are being exposed to. I am sick and tired of this and unfortunately resorted to moving. I have been a long time New Haven resident and feel ashamed to call it my home. What will need to happen in order for change to take place???

Please help us set up armed patrols in the 1425 Quinnipiac area. There is a large amount of drug activity from the New Haven public housing authority (Saint Anthony 1, 2, and the Rowe Houses beginning on 1378 Quinnipiac Ave) as well as Quinnipiac Terrace owned and managed by Trinity Management Company. We've been complaining to the NHPD, Sgt. Anastasio and previous district managers with absolutely no progress. People have been complaining to the police dept and after reviewing comments here on Seeclickfix it has been an ongoing issue since 2010! In 2011 the condo association got together with a petition which was sent to State Senator Martin Looney, Mayor Destefano, Rosa DeLaura, Police Chief Esserman, Sgt. Anastatio, Gov. Malloy, Senator Blumenthal, and US Attorney Stein. We did not receive a response back from any of these individuals to comment on our concerns. We have 2 foreclosures in our condo because the owners could not take the crimes committed and rapid drug dealer in our complex with no response from our police department, so they just give up and let their condos go. Our unit owners are scared to let their children play outside due to the fear of the rapid drug dealing and the quality of life. NHPD has abandoned the residences of Quinnipiac Ave and let the drug dealers deal drugs with complete immunity. If anyone would like to help to start an armed patrol or have the contact for the Rabbi in Westville that started an armed patrol there a few years ago, it would be appreciated. The only way to get our community back is if we take it back!

Kids in our complex and from Quinnipiac Ave meet customers at the entrance of the complex to serve their customers drugs

This is a thread to discuss issues related to the ongoing problem of violence in some areas of New Haven and surrounding towns. Please vote here if you want to see this problem addressed and if you agree:

1. Every citizen has the right to freedom from fear: a safe neighborhood and a safe house.

2. No child living in New Haven or anywhere else nearby should have to hear gunshots every week in their neighborhood (I currently do!).

3. A friend recently said "it is easier to get a gun than a quart of milk in my neighborhood." This is obviously not an acceptable situation.

4. A comprehensive community strategy is needed to stop the violence. Elected representatives should be able to explain exactly what they are doing to support the community's strategy.

5. The constant outdoor gunfire at the police training range is not acceptable. People living in Newhallville and Beaver Hills hear constant gunfire from this range and it sends the wrong message.

Please post ideas for community organizing to stop the message, links to relevant pages, etc -- and send the message to everyone that enough is enough!

Related articles:
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/bike_enthusiast_shot_dead/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/murder_in_the_hill/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/coffe_crueller_and_a_chair/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/murder_on_button_st/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/double_homicide_on_front_st/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/while_friend_clings_to_life_shooting_/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/another_year_no_white_/

This property is condemned according to the city, yet it is completely open and is a serious danger for neighborhood children. This property has been sitting in this condition for almost two years. Plus, prostitutes and drug dealers park in front of the house because it is very dark with no lighting. When is the city going to have this house torn down? Will the city patrol the area so that drug dealers and prostitutes no longer hang out right in front of this blighted house?

This intersection needs major work. Narrowing the travel lanes by reducing pedestrian crossing distances would be one of the most effective ways to permanently reduce speeds. The city could also consider raised intersections and roundabouts, as they have in other neighborhoods.

Chris Heitmann wrote:

Cars don’t look like that when crashing at 25mph, which is what the posted speed limit is here and throughout New Haven. On neighborhood streets like Central and Willard, it arguably should be slower, more like 20mph. While the NHPD has done an excellent job of stepping up traffic enforcement in the neighborhood, enforcement will only get us so far. Similarly with education: it’s needed, but will have a very limited impact (no pun intended). The third “E” - Engineering - is where the city can really improve safety here. As Pedro suggests, this intersection is an excellent candidate for a small roundabout (not as big as on West Park, for which there’s no room here). Other alternatives would be bumping out the sidewalk at all four corners, thus narrowing the street and reducing crossing distances, raised crosswalks, and/or pedestrian refuges/planted medians leading into the intersection. The city needs to really study what the BEST solution would be here, and to consult with neighbors throughout. My concern with the idea of another traffic light is that cars would arguably speed more in order to make the light. The solution needs to SLOW PEOPLE DOWN, which would make this safer for cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and the kids who cross and wait here for the school bus every morning.

Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt yesterday and that no pedestrians or cyclists without 3000 pounds of steel to product them were in the intersection when this happened. A big thank you to the NHFD for a job well done and to the Independent for bringing attention to this sadly ongoing yet preventable issue.

A few other residents wrote:

- I live a few houses down on Willard, and that intersection is horrible. You have to pull out almost into the middle of Central to see past the street parking, and people fly up and down Central. It’s the only big intersection in the area without a 4 way stop.

- I was almost involved in a serious accident in high school right at this intersection. A guy in a Camaro was flying down central, and I pulled out from willard not seeing him (since he was so far down the street) and he slammed his brakes hard and just missed me. While I was the “cause” of him stopping, it was the fact that he was going about 60 down central that would have caused the accident.

- Central is a nice long straight run through Westville and people use it as a speedway to cross over New Haven all the time since it links Rt 34 to Whalley. The minimal cost of stop signs at all of the unsignaled intersections would greatly reduce the speeds on this street.

- Thank God no one was killed last night. That is without question one of THE WORST intersections in New Haven. Speed on Central Ave combined with poor visibility from Willard is a recipe for casualties.

See http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/grand_am/

The intersection at Everit & Cold Spring Streets is a dangerous one. The cars rarely stop for the stop sign- braking only when oncoming traffic decides to go. This pattern makes it an outrageously dangerous situation for our kids walking to school. In addition, the one safety precaution in place-- the crossing guard posted at that spot-- is frequently late and generally leaves even before school starts, so the kids who are running late (and not necessarily paying attention to traffic) are left to fend for themselves. Today, the crossing guard did not show up at all. The question is not IF a child will be hit by a car, but WHEN if this continues.

The issue has three parts: 1. What times are the crossing guards SUPPOSED to be present at their stations? 2. How do we ensure the crossing guard is there during the designated times? 3. What can the police do to make it a reasonably safe place for pedestrians to cross? Please help now.

A former comedy club, this Yale-owned storefront at 986 Chapel Street has been empty since before Bruce Alexander came to New Haven in 1998. (Out of fairness to Bruce, Yale didn't take ownership of this piece of the Schiavone portfolio until 1999.)

C'mon Bruce, you're a real estate whiz. I know you and Yale can do better, -- especially given the fact that this is such a great location. Renovate the hideous storefront into something respectable, and then I bet you'll find a good tenant in a hurry.

PS -- It is not okay that next door at 976 Chapel is also a permanently dead storefront. I understand that it is such a big space that it's tough to rent. However, lower the rent if you have to! This is prime real estate, and the neighborhood deserves another lively retail tenant.

Bruce's bio here:
http://www.yale.edu/about/alexander.html

email Bruce, (politely please), at bruce.alexander@yale.edu