Wooster Square

Early Ed Center Rebounds From Pandemic

by | Mar 15, 2024 3:36 pm | Comments (3)

Thomas Breen photo

Chloe (bottom right) with site director Michelle Reyes and teacher Lauren Safady at Friday's classroom reopening.

Wearing a unicorn-decorated shirt bearing the message Kindness Is Pure Magic,” 3‑year-old Chloe danced through the ribbon-cutting for a reopened toddler classroom on Olive Street — as a leading childcare provider recovered from a pandemic-imposed setback.

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Health Dept. Move Centers "Wellness"

by | Feb 1, 2024 5:26 pm | Comments (1)

City Health Director Maritza Bond Thursday at her department's new HQ: Wellness the new "holistic approach."

City officials cut the ribbon on a health and wellness” center — and hoped the fresh color scheme and branding strategy could sell STI tests, school physicals and flu vaccinations to the public as presents rather than punishments.

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Empty Lot Owner Dodges Foreclosure. Again

by | Dec 19, 2023 1:14 pm | Comments (25)

Sam Gurwitt file photo

Derrick Draughn: "It's not about the money. I just choose not to pay it until I feel like it."

A highway-adjacent vacant lot on the northern edge of Wooster Square wasn’t sold at a foreclosure auction on Saturday.

It almost was. But for the third time in a decade, the property’s owner retained control after paying off years of back taxes just in time — and kept alive a dream of building on the site himself, or selling it to someone who will.

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HSC English Assignment: Use TikTok!

by | Dec 12, 2023 9:00 am | Comments (17)

Maya McFadden Photo

HSC students with English teacher Amy Brazauski.

A TikTok-focused English project for High School in the Community (HSC) sophomore Diana Robles brought her to the realization that when I read a news article, I sort of just believe what it says.” 

Now she thinks twice — about where the story was published, and about its credibility and potential bias.

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Happy Holidays! = Bar Crawls, Valet Crunch

by | Nov 27, 2023 8:20 am | Comments (15)

Allan Appel Photo

Time to call in the alders: City's Kathleen Krolak, sustainability intern Lewis Johnson III at the Ives CMT meeting.

Eating, drinking, shopping, and soon enough being ho-ho and merry are all roaring back post-Covid, which is good news for Downtown and Wooster Square and the city’s economy. 

However, that also means parking woes and complaints from both merchants and residents are on the rise. And don’t forget about the dreaded 8,000-person bar crawl.

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700 Free Turkeys Fly At Food Pantry Giveaway

by | Nov 17, 2023 3:04 pm | Comments (5)

Thomas Breen photos

Luz Ayala (center) with friend Paula De La Cruz, and plenty of food ...

... at Friday's Thanksgiving giveaway at Loaves & Fishes.

Luz Ayala lifted up a frozen turkey wrapped in plastic and netting and talked through the culinary transformation that bird will go through on Thursday for Thanksgiving.

She’ll peel back the whole turkey’s skin and stuff it with a blended mix of green peppers, onions, olive oil, cilantro, and garlic. Then she’ll baste the bird in butter and pop it in the oven as she works on making a side of stuffing — also filled with meat, she said apologetically to this vegetarian reporter — for her visiting family members sitting down for dinner at her Columbus Avenue table.

She’s ready for that annual big cook. And, thanks to a bustling food pantry turkey giveaway in Wooster Square, she won’t have to worry about stretching her budget to buy the meal’s centerpiece.

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Grand Ave. Housing Transformation Gets Green Light

by | Nov 9, 2023 4:25 pm | Comments (48)

A rendering of the new apartment building at 873-897 Grand.

Prospective builders of 112 new apartments have gotten the go-ahead to help fill a blighted stretch of western Grand Avenue — despite opposition from neighbors convinced that a six-story complex would wreck the corridor’s character rather than revitalize it.

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Mike P. Skips Polls, Heads To Scrapyard

by | Nov 8, 2023 2:11 pm | Comments (18)

Thomas Breen photo

Rolling down Chapel Street towards the scrapyard.

Mike P. doesn’t remember exactly when he last voted. It was probably a decade ago, likely for President Barack Obama. 

As he pushed a shopping cart full of bicycle wheels and mattress frames and long metal poles to a Chapel Street scrapyard, he reflected on what would convince him to return to the polls: a candidate committed to making a very, very, very noticeable difference for the homeless community.”

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5 New Cherry Blossom Trees Take Root

by | Nov 3, 2023 8:57 am | Comments (9)

Abiba Biao photo

Tashi at work planting cherry blossoms in Wooster Sq.

Drenched in sweat, Tashi loaded up a wheelbarrow with nutrient-dense wood chips and mulch from a truck, ready to wheel it to his tree planting crew in Wooster Square. Although the work wasn’t glamorous or pretty, it would be worth it in the spring when the cherry tree’s blossoms come into bloom. Until then, the newly planted trees would have to rest and gain their energy under the autumn sun.

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Columbus Defenders Call For Statue's Return

by | Oct 9, 2023 1:54 pm | Comments (32)

Thomas Breen photo

David Generoso by the ex-Columbus statue's plinth: "We think it was was something that was stolen from us unjustly."

A half-dozen members of a group called the Italian-American Defense League gathered in Wooster Square Park to celebrate Columbus Day — and to renew their call for a return of the long-gone statue depicting that federal holiday’s namesake.

The group charged with coming up with a new Italian heritage-celebrating sculpture for that same spot of Wooster Square Park, meanwhile, has now raised $320,000 out of its $400,000 goal.

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Back-To-School Bash Showcases Conte Pride

by | Sep 27, 2023 9:18 am | Comments (0)

Abiba Biao photos

Sophia Quinones, A’mya Foust, and Malaysia Bowden, coloring a “Conte Pride" poster.

At the Conte West back-to-school bash.

Seventh graders Malaysia Bowden, A’mya Foust, and Sophia Quinones were quick to agree that science was their favorite subject. Thanks to their teacher Mr. E, also known as Cecil Royal Estes III, they weren’t just learning about electrons at Conte West — but also about emotional regulation skills with his lessons, Mindfulness with Mr. E.”

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Republicans Endorse Goldenberg For Mayor

by | Jul 26, 2023 12:49 pm | Comments (34)

Thomas Breen photo

Tom Goldenberg, with Dave Agosta: "I believe that there is enough that holds together and that we share in common than what separates us."

Democratic mayoral challenger Tom Goldenberg will be listed on the Republican Party line on November’s general election ballot, now that he has accepted the local GOP’s endorsement for the city’s top elected office.

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Reelection Party Says Yes To Housing, No To Strip Clubs

by | Jul 10, 2023 1:35 pm | Comments (43)

Thomas Breen photo

Alder Cupo: "To know that there is a LGBTQ+-friendly affordable housing set of units [coming to] our city makes me believe that it is possible to win more."

Surrounded by elected officials and fellow Yale union organizers, Wooster Square Alder Ellen Cupo kicked off her reelection campaign by focusing on affordable housing initiatives the city has gained in the past few years — and the strip club her neighborhood pushed away.

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Italian Festa Celebrates 123rd Year

by | Jun 23, 2023 5:03 pm | Comments (2)

Kian Ahmadi photo

Fran Calabrese stands by her "Amalfi" shirt tent

Dressed in a blue tee shirt with Amalfi” printed across the chest, Fran Calabrese remembered walking hand in hand with her grandfather to a Wooster Square-hosted celebration of St. Andrew when she was just three years old.

Now 70, Calabrese returned on Thursday to that very same neighborhood Italian festa — which for her is about carrying on the traditions of Amalfi and honoring the miracle performed by New Haven’s patron saint.

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HSC Grads Look To Tomorrow's Light

by | Jun 14, 2023 3:47 pm | Comments (1)

Abiba Biao photo

HSC Salutatorian Gian Rodriguez: "The future is ours to say."

Try to find a way to make the world a bit brighter than it is today.

Local artist Kwadwo Adae and High School in the Community Salutatorian Gian Rodriguez delivered that hope- and sorrow-filled challenge in separate graduation ceremony speeches Tuesday as they painted a path forward in Wooster Square Park.

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