by | Jul 9, 2025 10:05 am | Comments (1)
Volunteers at work at 715 Orchard.
Thunder, light drizzle, and high temperatures Tuesday afternoon did not stop Lenora “Lil Mama” Turner, Paul and Katie Hawkins, and Ava and Helen Green from weeding, watering, and doing other work at the Orchard Street community garden — where some of those neighbors have been volunteering for the past three decades.
by | Jul 8, 2025 9:20 am | Comments (4)
Philip Modeen, "like [a] living Mr. Rogers," reads to kids (and parents) Monday morning at Stetson.
In the company of other kids, 1‑year-old Kolé stacked building blocks with mom Jamilah Prince-Stewart as the duo took part in one of several activities available at Stetson Library’s latest installment of Stay and Play.
by | Jul 4, 2025 10:57 am | Comments (6)
Sonia Ahmed photos
Shalepia Piper grills a sausage at her cart Thursday afternoon.
A regular hot dog with chili cheese and New York-style onions, Shalepia's go to order for herself.
Shalepia Piper recalled dusting off her father’s hot dog cart in his garage a couple months ago as she decided to start a business of her own — as a second-generation New Haven food cart vendor.
Continue reading ‘Like Father, Like Daughter, Like Hot Dog Vendor’
by | Jul 1, 2025 10:59 am | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photo
Officers speak with displaced tenant Anthony Winfrey.
NHFD video of the fire, via X.
Chief John Alston Jr. speaks with the Independent at the scene.
Firefighters climbed to the roof of a three-family home on Dixwell Avenue an hour after a two-alarm fire broke out there Tuesday morning to finish the job.
Continue reading ‘Firefighters Battle Stubborn Dixwell Ave. Blaze’
by | Jul 1, 2025 9:54 am | Comments (1)
Jisu Sheen photo
Three of Syla Alexandria Artis Branch's five children: Linda Branch, Paulette Branch, and Frances Branch-Walker.
On the altar were pages of handwritten sheet music, a bible, a heartfelt card, and a homemade CD.
After 16 years, “I can still hear her voice,” said Paulette Branch, the youngest of five children of Syla Alexandria Artis Branch, a legendary pianist and organist from New Haven.
Syla had made the CD herself; on it her music and voice are recorded for perpetuity. From now until Nov. 23, the CD along with the rest of the altar will be on display at NXTHVN in Dixwell, one element of local artist Arvia Walker’s “Reverence: An Archival Altar” exhibition.
The altar, accompanied by a painting and video of Syla, is part of Walker’s effort to commemorate the “giants” of New Haven’s Black History.
Continue reading ‘NXTHVN "Archival Altar" Showcases Local Black History "Giants"’
by | Jun 27, 2025 1:54 pm | Comments (13)
Laura Glesby Photo
Barbara Vereen and Claudine Wilkins-Chambers debate speed bumps as Steve Winter ponders crosswalk distances.
City of New Haven image
A rendering of what the "Dixwell Reconnection Projet Plan" could bring.
The future of infrastructure in Dixwell and Newhallville might look like speed tables, crossing lights, and hints of jazz in metalwork echoing New Orleans’ French Quarter.
Fifty people filled the Q House’s Toni N. and Wendell C. Harp Historical Museum Thursday evening to hear how two grants could make that future a reality — and to weigh in on the changes they want to see in their already-changing neighborhoods.
by | Jun 23, 2025 2:13 pm | Comments (1)
Jisu Sheen photos
2-year-old Skylar preparing for a carnival game.
Jisu Sheen
The Mighty Marching Blue Machine, a New Haven-based band of kids from ages 13 to 24.
Girls basketball in the gym.
“It’s been a robust day,” said Kara Wallace at an all-day Juneteenth celebration at Dixwell’s Q House — a day of art, food, sports, resources, and commitment to collective education and Black culture.
Robust was an understatement.
by | Jun 18, 2025 10:21 am | Comments (3)
Lisa Reisman photo
Rachel Allen (right), with Isabelle Harris: “This keeps me going, keeps me happy.”
At precisely 5:10 p.m., Rachel Allen knocked on the door of Isabelle Harris’ first-floor flat at Victory Gardens Apartments on Dixwell Avenue. Harris was expecting her.
“Hey darlin,’” Allen said, handing her a Styrofoam container.
Allen, 80, has been bringing meals to 15 of her neighbors every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since early 2024. The food comes from the Fresh Starts program, which was established by her grand-nephew Marcus Harvin. The program, headquartered in the basement of Pitts Chapel Unified Free Will Baptist Church, has Harvin and his team, including Harris, assembling meals from excess food from area universities, as well as Haven’s Harvest, to ensure no one goes hungry.
by | Jun 17, 2025 5:43 pm | Comments (2)
Maya McFadden file photo
At Tuesday's eighth-grade promotion ceremony on Foote St.
Grad Dylan Garcia Castillo with mom Wailny: "Most of the teachers are really good and that's what makes the school the school."
Maya McFadden photo
Keynote speaker Sara Wexler, granddaughter of school's namesake Isadore Wexler: He was "a man who was ahead of his time."
Wexler-Grant School sent off its final eighth-grade class of 24 students Tuesday morning — as the Dixwell school community plans to leave its Foote Street building and merge with Newhallville’s Lincoln-Bassett School next academic year.
by | Jun 16, 2025 9:37 am | Comments (1)
Lisa Reisman photo
Anthony Dawson promoting early cancer detection.
After a blood pressure cuff tightened and loosened around his arm at a packed Q House gymnasium, Orlando got a reality check.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can put you at risk for stroke, heart attack, and other problems, Yale New Haven Health nurse Cheryl Hoey told him, upon pronouncing his blood pressure a little high. Nearly half of adults who have hypertension don’t realize it.
“Let’s talk about what you can do,” she said, before counseling him on diet and exercise and recommending that he make an appointment with his primary care doctor.
It was part of a larger message at the Men’s Health Awareness Expo, which took place last Saturday and which began with a one-mile community walk led by Dwight Alder Frank Douglass and Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, as well as members of the Delta Iota Sigma chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
by | Jun 3, 2025 12:34 pm | Comments (2)
Lisa Reisman photo
Gaylord Salters (L.O.R.D) with son Gaylord Salters, Jr. (Junthatsit), daughter Gabrielle Salters, and Rev. Iona Smith-Nze.
Change the narrative and turn it into something positive. Change the hustle and turn it into something good for the ‘hood.
Those words, from co-founder Gaylord Salters Jr., sum up the mission of Double G.I. (short for Go Get It), a new clothing company, which recently unveiled its Fabric Over Fish Scale streetwear collection at New Haven Apparel on Dixwell Avenue.
by | Jun 1, 2025 7:50 pm | Comments (1)
Mona Mahadevan photos
Geanni Center Step Team steps fiercely down Dixwell.
Alanna Herbert led the way.
The organizers gathered for a celebratory post-parade photo.
Donning a sparkly pink gown and regal tiara, Alanna Herbert cupped her hand and waved to hundreds of cheering spectators along Dixwell Avenue.
As the first-ever Freddy Fixer Parade Queen and 2024’s Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven, she said it felt “empowering” to wear crowns that honor each side of her mixed-race heritage.
Herbert rode in a small, cream-colored convertible at the head of the Freddy Fixer parade on Sunday afternoon, leading 87 floats of marching bands, synchronized dancers, and community groups from Bassett Street to Lake Place.
by | May 19, 2025 10:27 am | Comments (4)
“You’re going to love the last part!” third-grader Chris (also known as CJ) told me Saturday morning about Annie, Jr., the musical he and his castmates would perform at Wexler-Grant School later that day. He was enjoying a waffle breakfast with the cast and crew — warm, syrupy plates of motivation for the big show ahead. Director Jaminda Blackmon, along with assistant Ms. Lynn, doled out waffles and encouragement.
Continue reading ‘Waffles Set Stage For Wexler-Grant "Annie, Jr."’
by | May 12, 2025 9:23 am | Comments (1)
Mona Mahadevan photo
Linda McLaughlin, Naomi Campbell, and Brenda Adams enjoy the appetizers and iced tea from Cafe Orchid.
At the entrance of the Dixwell Q House’s gym, Monica Spruill walked the purple carpet and paused beneath a balloon arch for photographs.
“There are not a lot of places for [senior citizens] to go,” she lamented. But Saturday evening, she and more than 220 other seniors gathered for a prom-like gala hosted by the New Haven Elks Club.
by | May 9, 2025 4:58 pm | Comments (3)
Dereen Shirnekhi photos
The team at a "friendly" preseason matchup.
Players Aleksei Armas and Renford Morgan (two on the left), excited for the season ahead.
The New Haven United Football Club kicked off its inaugural season in the Elm City Friday — with a Dixwell press conference celebrating the return of semi-pro soccer to town.
by | Apr 28, 2025 10:54 am | Comments (0)
Jisu Sheen photos
Santana, Amayah, and Neváe of the S.A.N. girls.
Rich reading a zine from Ty's table.
In another era, artist Mahogany Rich went on a first date with her now-ex at Roller Magic in Waterbury. The couple earned a bag full of tickets at the arcade and spent it all on Flippy Frog toys.
“Then we broke up, and now it’s art.”
On Sunday afternoon, those same Flippy Frogs dangled from beaded chains at Rich’s vendor table at New Haven cultural org Kulturally Lit’s graphic novel and comic conference DiasporaCon, where they faced a brighter, or at the very least weirder, future.
by | Apr 16, 2025 5:11 pm | Comments (9)
Laura Glesby photos
ConnCORP leaders, including Erik Clemons and Carlton Highsmith, celebrate the final beam...
... which bears Kim Harris's signature among many others, as Nina Silva photographed.
As the final beam of ConnCAT’s future health-job-childcare hub rose on Dixwell Avenue, Kim Harris and Julia Ficklin each thought of generations past and generations to come.
For Ficklin, that beam meant a longtime dream of her late husband, Alder Tom Ficklin, clicking into place.
For Harris, it meant a trove of resources for the children she teaches starting to materialize.
by | Apr 10, 2025 9:45 am | Comments (1)
Lisa Reisman photo
Member of the maternal health program and baby at recent session at the Q House.
Chantell Thompson’s teenage daughter recently came home from school with her nose pierced. Thompson was livid. Then she took a deep breath. She cooled her thoughts.
“Instead of telling her she did something that would mess up her face — that’s a hot thought — I reframed it as ‘she’s exploring, she really wants a nose ring, and my job is to show her the proper way to care for her nose to avoid infections,’” Thompson told the eight women listening intently around a table. “My job is to tell her that if you ever want to do anything in the future that involves piercing, let me know and let’s create a plan.”
The scene was the Q House on a recent Thursday evening. Thompson, along with Kaussar Rahman, was leading the penultimate session of a 12-week maternal health program run by the nonprofit Mind Blossom, Inc., which provides mental health education and consulting.
by | Apr 8, 2025 5:49 pm | Comments (5)
Zachary Groz photo
Chief Jacobson, with Asst. Chief David Zannelli: "We’re going to do everything possible to find out who did this."
(Updated) The two victims of a double homicide in the Dixwell neighborhood Monday night were friends — and evidence found by police at the scene of the fatal shooting point towards a potential robbery or drug deal gone wrong.
by | Mar 31, 2025 10:09 am | Comments (17)
Maya McFadden photo
Wexler in-school suspension coordinator Doug Bethea: "A lot of people from this area can't go to Newhallville."
Keyana Calhoun fought back tears at the thought of her five elementary school-aged children being transferred from Wexler-Grant School in Dixwell to Lincoln-Bassett School in Newhallville.
She felt blindsided by the public school district’s decision to merge the two community schools. And as a Newhallville resident herself, she’s been working hard to keep her kids far away from what she considers to be her home neighborhood’s negative influences.
Continue reading ‘Wexler Parents Worry About Surprise Merger’
by | Mar 21, 2025 12:17 pm | Comments (19)
Thomas Breen photos
Wexler-Grant in Dixwell, to merge with ...
... Lincoln-Bassett in Newhallville.
Grappling with low enrollment and decaying buildings, the city’s public school district plans to merge Wexler-Grant and Lincoln-Bassett into a single PreK-8th grade school next academic year.
That doesn’t mean the total number of schools in New Haven will drop, however, as the district then plans to convert the current Wexler-Grant site into a new alternative middle school focused on “project-based learning.”
by | Mar 18, 2025 3:41 pm | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen photos
ConnCORP's Ian Williams, with ConnCAT's Steve Driffin: This redevelopment project represents "a total transformation" of the corridor.
At work on Monday.
Nearby, underground, in the Construction Academy's new classroom.
As a construction crew worked to lay the foundation for “ConnCAT Place on Dixwell,” redevelopers behind the neighborhood-transforming effort gathered in an underground classroom a few hundred feet away to lay the foundation for a more diverse, locally rooted construction workforce.
Continue reading ‘Dixwell Rebuilders Plan Construction Academy’
by | Mar 18, 2025 9:24 am | Comments (0)
Jisu Sheen Photo
Raven Mitchell at Saturday's sneak preview.
165 Years of House, the documentary that New Haven teacher and filmmaker Raven Mitchell is carefully constructing, describes concentric circles of community working together to support young people’s development. Mitchell uses this lens, based on a model called Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, to describe the importance of Hillhouse High School over its 165 years of existence.
From interpersonal bonds in the family to parent-teacher relationships, connections to media and beyond, according to this model, each circle of community has an impact on the other levels and, ultimately, the child at the center.
On Saturday afternoon at NXTHVN art gallery in Dixwell, several of these circles were at play as Mitchell presented a sneak peek of her documentary-in-progress to a room full of intergenerational love, support, and family of all kinds.
Continue reading ‘Hillhouse "Family" Thrives On Screen & In Person’
by | Mar 17, 2025 12:56 pm | Comments (16)
Thomas Breen photo
More apartments, fewer bedrooms, coming to Henry St.?
The new owner of a pair of historic Dixwell row houses is seeking permission to reconfigure them into more apartments — raising concern from at least one neighbor about the impact on neighborhood parking.
Continue reading ‘More Apartments Sought For Dixwell Row Homes’
by | Mar 14, 2025 12:55 pm | Comments (0)
Timo Fahler
it's happening, can you feel it (my inheritance).
The plaster hand protrudes from the wall, dangling the gun from its trigger guard. It’s a precarious situation. Were it a real gun, there’d be a danger of it going off. But the gun is actually fashioned from glass; as a symbolic gesture, the gun is dangerous to others, even as it is also in danger of being broken. With a flick of that finger, a bullet could fly, or the gun could fall to the ground and shatter — or both.