Amity/ Beverly Hills

Canna-biz Wins First City Dispensary Permit

by and | Nov 3, 2022 6:46 pm | Comments (10)

Nora Grace-Flood photo

Ray Pantalena: On track for recreational sales, thanks to Wednesday City Plan Commission vote.

Jordan Ashby Photo

Kebra Smith-Bolden: On track for cultivator license, thanks to Tuesday Social Equity Council vote.

A medical marijuana pharmacist is set to roll recreational bud and edibles onto Whalley Avenue as soon as December — after getting approved for the city’s first ever adult-use cannabis business special permit.

And another leading local cannabis entrepreneur has won a key vote of support from a state council to build out her own social equity” cultivation and retail ventures.

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Ribbon Cut For Grassroots Pharmacy

by | May 11, 2022 1:29 pm | Comments (8)

One recent Wednesday morning, before arriving to Whalley Avenue to open his pharmacy business for a day, Victor Fok drove to a patient’s house to teach them how to test their blood sugar levels, free of charge.

At Fok’s previous job at a large corporate pharmacy chain, he would never have had the time and incentive to prioritize patient education. Now, as a co-owner of the recently-opened True-Care Pharmacy in the Amity neighborhood, Fok and his team hope to reach community members where they live with personally-delivered prescriptions, immunizations, and education initiatives.

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Eviction Withdrawn After Rent Catch-up

by | Mar 24, 2022 11:56 am | Comments (6)

Thomas Breen photo

Dean Howard in his Frederick Street apartment.

After breaking both of his feet and fracturing his kneecap in a scooter crash on Whalley Avenue, Dean Howard fell behind on rent — and got hit with an eviction lawsuit. 

His Stamford-based landlord has now withdrawn the case, after Howard caught up on what he owed with the help of his employer, his dad, and a state assistance program. 

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Local Ukrainians Dare To Be Optimistic

by | Feb 27, 2022 4:34 pm | Comments (10)

Parishioners sing Ukrainian national anthem at St. Michael Church.

Thomas Breen Photo

Myron Melnyk, at right, Sunday with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who invited him to Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

The first Sunday of the war in Ukraine saw prayer services at New Haven’s Ukrainian churches attracting hundreds of patriotic parishioners and supportive political leaders, all determined to see Ukraine remain a free, independent nation.

Ukrainians greeted each other with Heroyam Slava” — Glory to the Ukrainian fighters.” Then they prayed, shared heart-rending stories of killed or endangered relatives, and found hope in the continuing fight against Russian invaders. 

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Lights Out On Upper Whalley Nightclub Proposal

by | Dec 17, 2021 9:07 am | Comments (3)

After an outpouring of community resistance and a denial of a request for approval of a parking plan, the final kibosh was put on a proposal for a BYO nightclub or assembly hall” on upper Whalley Avenue.

Google Maps

Shopping strip at 1330 Whalley Ave. where Kenneth Redding had pitched opening an “assembly hall” (in the right corner commercial space above).

The kibosh came in the form a vote against a special exception for Kenneth Redding’s proposed assembly hall” at 1331 Whalley Ave. at Tuesday night’s Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

Redding was not present at the gathering. He attended a zoning hearing a month earlier when neighbors came out in force with concerns not only about parking, but about late-night carousing and drinking, and vagrancy in neighbors’ yards.

I recall an overwhelming negative community presence based on very late hours, bad behavior,” BZA Acting Chair Alexandra Daum said. I would concur and move to deny, based on community pushback and the City Plan recommendation.

The vote was unanimous. (Read a previous story on the subject here.)

City Plan Rejects Upper Whalley Nightclub Proposal

by | Nov 18, 2021 11:06 am | Comments (3)

Google Maps photo

The shopping strip at 1330 Whalley Ave. where Kenneth Redding has pitched opening an “assembly hall” (in the right corner commercial space above).

A proposed BYOB nightclub on Upper Whalley hit another administrative roadblock Wednesday, as City Plan Commissioners unanimously recommended rejecting the venue’s request to share parking with its shopping strip neighbors.

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2 Millenials, 2 Paths In Ward Race

by | Oct 29, 2021 4:02 pm | Comments (18)

Paul Bass Photos

Upper Westville candidates Van Hoesen and Brackeen this week at WNHH FM: Both are vaxxed.

One candidate handed out assignments to dozens of neighbors: Here’s your street. Here are the doors to knock on. Here are flyers to hand out. Let us know who’s voting.

At another end of the ward, the other candidate set out to meet voters as well. Alone.

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Never Mind Pot. Maybe Self-Storage?

by | Aug 23, 2021 1:48 pm | Comments (4)

129 Amity Road LLC

Design for self-storage site at 129 Amity: Plans OK’d. No tenant yet.

Will the third time prove the charm?

That’s the question for a vacant parkway-adjacent Amity lot, where a property owner won city permission to build a four-story self-storage facility — after that same landlord won approvals for projects that never got built.

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Property Sales Roundup: Amity Strip Mall Sells For $5.75M

by | Aug 20, 2021 11:11 am | Comments (2)

Google photos

One of the commercial properties included at the 1475 Whalley Ave. strip mall.

A Bridgeport-based orthodontist bought an Amity strip mall for $5.75 million, in one of the city’s latest property transactions — and a local mega-landlord borrowed more than $3 million with plans of paying down debt and buying more properties, in the city’s latest mortgages.

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Hoops Star Remembers Kids Back Home

by | Aug 13, 2021 4:39 pm | Comments (3)

Maya McFadden Photo

WNBA’s Tanaya Atkinson at Friday’s giveaway.

Barber Brian MacCalla give 5-year-old Jayce Smith a shape-up at Friday’s back-to-school event.

As basketball star Tanaya Atkinson prepared to fly out of the country, she passed the rock to kids back home in New Haven to ensure they have filled book bags and free fresh hair cuts in time to return to school.

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Motorcyclists Mass After Crash Kills Leader

by | Apr 18, 2021 10:03 pm | Comments (4)

Paul Bass Photo

Memorial Sunday for Danny Velazquez, pictured below on his ride.

Contributed Photo

Memorial candles were lit, engines revved, and cries of Revolucion!” rang out at the corner of Whalley and Ramsdell Sunday evening at the spot where an allegedly drunk driver killed the popular leader of a local motorcycle club.

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