New Haven Independent

Pizzerias To Cool Off

by Thomas MacMillan | January 8, 2010 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Two pizzerias will shut their doors earlier than usual tonight. In the wake of a late-night double-shooting, the neighborhood’s top cop asked them to help him defuse a dangerous mix of “booze, girls, guns, and bad blood.”

Dwight District Manager Lt. Ray Hassett made the request to Alpha Delta Pizza and nearby Brick Oven Pizza to close at 1 a.m. on weekends for the next month or so. Their abbreviated hours are in effect as of the new year. Previously, they had been staying open until 3 or 4 a.m.

The two restaurants, by the corner of Elm and Howe Streets, do a brisk business at that hour. After the bars let out on Fridays and Saturdays, patrons head straight to the corner to pick up a slice.

It was during just such a late-night gathering that two men were shot on Saturday Dec. 26. One was hit in the heel, the other in the thigh. (The police investigation into the shooting continues, according to Lt. Lisa Dadio, who’s running it. “We are still pursuing numerous leads and information that detectives have uncovered,” she reported.)

Lt. Hassett is the top cop in the Dwight neighborhood, which includes the two pizza places. The double shooting, plus other recent violent crimes in the area, led to his request that the restaurants close up early for a while. The idea came from the police in his district, he said.

Hassett termed the approach “crime prevention through environmental design”: when a trouble spot develops, you tackle the underlying factors.

Hassett’s comments came after the monthly meeting of the Dwight Community Management Team this week, at which he had explained his strategy to the group.

Having the pizza places close earlier “eliminates that as a gathering spot,” he told the team. “It’s smart policing.”

Lt. Hassett later said a similar strategy was employed three or four years ago, when violence spiked in the area.The plan worked then to decrease crime, he said.

Hassett said he doesn’t know why people gather at the corner of Elm and Howe after last call, but they’re not walking there. “It’s mostly a drive-up crowd.”

As the crowd swells, around 2 a.m., it includes many people who have been drinking. They may carry over disagreements from the bar, Hassett said. It becomes a “big social spot” with a volatile combination of “girls, booze, guns, and bad blood.” Unlike at the nightclubs, there are no bouncers to cool things down, and things can get violent.

The last month has seen two shootings, a “cutting” and a homicide just a couple blocks away from the corner, Hassett said. “I don’t want the public to be injured,” he said. There’s a .40 caliber bullet hole (pictured) in the door jamb of Alpha Delta.

So he recently asked the two pizzerias to close early for the time being. Both businesses were happy to comply, he said. “I appreciate their cooperation.”

The early-closing strategy is just part of a variety of policing tactics to deal with the problem area, Hassett said. Officers pay extra attention to the corner of Elm and Howe after the bars close, he said. They crack down on motor vehicle violations like double-parking. When the shots were fired on Dec. 26, his officers had just been in the area and were heading around the block on their way back, Hassett said.

Askin Made The Sign

Askin Ozdemir (pictured at the top of the story) was working at Alpha Delta Pizza that night. He said he was cooking in the back when he heard two gunshots. He looked up and saw customers running towards him, screaming and yelling. They were trying to get away from the bullets flying out front.

The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26. It was busy, as it usually is at that time, said Ozdemir, a cook. The restaurant sells a lot of food after 2 a.m., he said. “They want a slice, they want a steak and cheese.”

Closing at 1 a.m. means losing some business. Ozdemir said he understands the need: “It’s for our security.”

He agreed with Hassett’s assessment: Beefs that begin in the bars sometimes develop around the pizzeria. “The problems didn’t start here,” he said.

So last weekend, Ozdemir made a sign for the locked door. It read, “Sorry, we are closed for pickup.” (Alpha Delta still does late-night deliveries.) Ozdemir said he saw a number of people walk up and try the locked door, then walk away, disappointed.

The cook said he doesn’t know why Alpha Delta has become an after-hours gathering spot. He offered guesses. “We serve good food. And we always have smiles on our faces.”

Alpha Delta will be closed early on weekends for the rest of the month, Ozdemir said. “Why not? It’s no big deal. Yeah, we lose customers, but we don’t worry about that.”

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Comments

Posted by: anon | January 8, 2010 12:13 PM

What about Pizza House?

Not sure this is the best approach. For community safety, shouldn't there be more activity on the street, not less?

It seems that more rigorous traffic and quality of life enforcement at night would be a better approach, and catch more of the illegal weapons and drugs out there. I see police doing traffic stops early in the evening, but never this late at night when a lot of the accidents and shootings take place.

Posted by: JackNH | January 8, 2010 12:25 PM

So who's going to reimburse these guys for their lost business? NYPD should do its job, and not ask small businessmen to do it for them.

Posted by: RAY WILLIS | January 8, 2010 12:52 PM

I agree with Anon. They'll just go to Pizza House. Or Mamouns. Or Mandala Bistro. Or Cody's. If the customers are driving there it just means they'll just drive somewhere else. So basically Lt. Hassett is pushing it onto someone elses beat. And then when that person pushes it on, and they push it on, we're dealing with a business curfew being aggressively "suggested" by the police. So now, because there is crime, instead of the police having a presence at these popular late night spots they're shutting them down so they can sit next to each other in the parking lots of churches all night doing nothing. This isn't the answer, this is laziness.

Posted by: Bike New Haven | January 8, 2010 1:02 PM

Hassett said he doesn't know why people gather at the corner of Elm and Howe after last call, but they're not walking there. "It's mostly a drive-up crowd."

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say most of those drivers are over the legal limit when they pull up to Alpha Delta. Why not set up a DUI checkpoint, catch any potential murderers (i.e. drunk drivers), and also diffuse any drunken altercations.

BTW, I do appreciate Hassett's proactive outlook on policing.

Posted by: NotforNothing | January 8, 2010 1:55 PM

What the article leaves out is the fact that in the winter of 2008, there were two similar late-night shootings at ADP. So in less than two years, that's three incidents and four people shot, just one block from Yale and in the middle of a student neighborhood. "Houston, we have a problem".

Look, at issue isn't downtown's nightlife. Instead it's punks who are ready to settle personal beefs with knives and guns. (please don't suggest it's somehow okay for bullets to be flying in our vibrant downtown environment.)

In Alpha Delta's case, given their history, the best answer would be a decent camera system as a deterrent, covering both inside and outside. That way if someone is dumb enough to start shooting, at least the police would have them on tape.

In terms of the clubs, if a clubowner is catering to a clientele that might bring a knife or a gun into their premises, the only answer is metal detectors. Everyone could take an easy lesson from Toad's, which records ID's and faces, and uses metal detecting wands when appropriate. (Last I checked, people weren't getting shot at Toad's.)

Folks, we're all in this together. No one means to pick on Alpha Delta. But to do nothing but wait for the next person to get shot is not the answer. There needs to be a significant response, and together we've got to become smarter about our downtown.

Posted by: Volvo | January 8, 2010 2:42 PM

I believe Pizza House is already closed by 11PM, so it's not really an issue for them. Mamoun's is open until 3, but I've lived near there for the last 5 years and the drunks that show up after the bars close have always been peaceful.

DUI checkpoint sounds like a decent idea.

Posted by: jawbone | January 8, 2010 3:17 PM

I'm surprised nobody has ever been shot at Cody's late-night. That place is off the chain after hours.
They do have a cop on duty usually and a rad, special "cop entrance" on the side back by the kitchen.

Posted by: Bill Saunders | January 8, 2010 4:10 PM

Why doesn't Yale station a cop outside of Alpha Delta? The corner of Elm and Howe is certainly within their area of concern. Plus they already have that new security headquarters right down the street.

Or is that just for show?

Posted by: Whatsername | January 8, 2010 4:59 PM

I'm not sure how I feel about:

It becomes a �big social spot� with a volatile combination of �girls, booze, guns, and bad blood.�

I understand booze, guns and bad blood, but how do girls come into play? Is it beef about girls that's causing problems? Men posturing to look good in front of girls? Is there a gang of girls out there egging on people to shoot each other?

And as long as I'm pointing it out, the term "girls" is really incorrect.

Also, NOTFORNOTHING said:

Nope, it's not okay for bullets to be flying in our downtown environment. In fact, it's not okay for bullets to be flying around, period.

NOTFORNOTHING also said:

Yeah, see, that statement coupled with the one above makes it sound like keeping the area around Yale safe should be a priority--and that almost sounds like it should be even MORE of a priority because of Yale students--but in fact, it's a priority for all the citizens of New Haven, both temporary and more long-term, should be kept safe.

Don't really want to pick on you, NOTFORNOTHING, but I guess it's just that the comment sits funny.

Posted by: It takes a village | January 8, 2010 7:48 PM

I agree that Yale should help by posting police in the area at least in the late night hours when the clubs are getting out. This is not because Yalies are in anyway more of a priority than the rest of us New Haveners, but because they happen to have additional officers that are located in the immediate downtown area that could help. Also,why are there not more traffic stops to check for drunk drivers leaving the clubs? My "kids" are now young, legal-age adults that sometimes go downtown at night and I would welcome additional police for everyone's safety.

Posted by: kevin | January 8, 2010 10:23 PM

They should try and shut down some of those crack dealers instead of pizza shops. Go get the guns off the street not hungry people.

Posted by: walt bradley | January 8, 2010 11:36 PM

Joyce Chen has finally gotten her wish seven years later.

Posted by: Take Back the Streets | January 9, 2010 8:13 AM

The response should not and cannot be for us to close our businesses lock our doors and hide inside when the sun goes down. Why impose an inverse curfew like this on the law obiding folks while the killers take more and more control.

More business, more lights, more peaceful activity. Hassett knows who the thugs are and he should arrest them or force them indoors when the sun goes down. If he does not know who they are, get him out of there and find a Manager who will get to the bottom of this.

Instead, he allows drugs to be sold in playgrounds and school lots or allows people to congregate at "hot spots" with the theory that at least he has it contained to a few locations. UNACCEPTABLE. Bust the hot spots. Shine a light on the illeal behavior. When they move on, bust the next one. Force them to conform to the law.

Kids should be playing in the playground. Schools should be a safe place from the dangers of the neighborhood. Folks should be able to run their business or get a slice of pizza without being shot or slashed or bullied by thugs.

No nonsense enforcement of existing laws is the key. It worked in NYC, Trenton and many other places.

Stop asking us to conform our lives to accommodate the law breakers and start enforcing the law.

Posted by: ROBN | January 9, 2010 10:17 AM

"...the neighborhood�s top cop asked them to help him defuse a dangerous mix of �booze, girls, guns, and bad blood.�" NHI

WHATSERNAME,

Like booze and guns, "girls" are objects to be consumed, possessed and sometimes defended to symbolically increase the defender's manhood....and of course, the term "girl" indicates the essential smallness and unimportance of womanhood relative to manhood.

(sarcasm intended)

Posted by: Mister Jones | January 9, 2010 11:57 AM

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Years ago there were late night shootings at Broadway Pizza and in the Athenian Diner parking lot.

Pizzerias To Cool Off

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