New Haven Independent

The firing range is nothing new — it’s been at its place at 710 Sherman Ave. for decades. But last year, city police extended shooting hours into the evening. Neighbors, through Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy, have been working with police to find a way to quiet down the noise. Outside consultants have analyzed the noise.

In a letter submitted to the WEB group Tuesday, Rawls-Ivy advocated “enclosing” the range: Building a noise barrier, like the wooden walls besides highways, to keep the gunshots from echoing across Beaver Hills.

Some said walls are not enough. “Many of us would like to see that building moved,” said WEB member Francine Caplan. Nan Bartow said neighbors are getting more organized. “We’re getting active now,” she said. “We just put up with it before.”

Sgt. Shea, though sympathetic to the echoes, didn’t find relocating the firing range likely.

“The problem is, where to?” he said. “No one has been able to come up with a solution for that.” Neighbors, when asked, shrugged at the question. Shea said shooting practice ends by 9 p.m. If neighbors hear gunfire after that, “it’s gangbangers,” not cops, he said.

In his monthly crime report, Shea detailed a nearby mugging last week on a corner that’s “getting hot”: Whalley Avenue and Hobart Street. A neighborhood man who is trying to organize a block watch on Blake Street was “jumped by 10 kids in a wolfpack,” he said. The kids hit him with a milk-crate.

Shea said police targeted the area over the past week and made several arrests.

In better news, one piece of neighborhood blight will soon be revamped. The notorious Harry’s package store, a poorly kept property in the heart of the Beaver Hills commercial center, is changing hands. Lino Santos (pictured), who owns the Dunkin’ Donuts next to Walgreen’s, plans to demolish the building that houses Harry’s on the corner of Fitch and Blake Streets.

While he’s not too happy about Walgreen’s’ plans for his other property, which would severely cut his traffic flow, he’s optimistic about Harry’s. He aims to build a small plaza with 28 parking spots, a package store, and a Dunkin’ Donuts. Aware that neighbors don’t want another Harry’s, whose owner, in the view of neighbors, was not responsive to complaints, Santos has pledged commitment to neighborhood concerns and given out his personal cell phone number to concerned residents.