On October 5, 2008, The New York Times Magazine sent photographer Matthias Clamer to West Rock Avenue, in New Haven’s Westville section, to shoot a photograph of its residents; the photograph (part of which is reproduced here) 
accompanied my article about what it likes to live on the street. During the photo shoot, Lee Faulkner, the producer of the Castaway podcast, interviewed people who lived on the street, then edited the interviews into a podcast for the Times. But the Times insisted that he cut the 15-minute podcast down to three minutes, leaving many of our most fascinating New Haven interviews on the digital editing-room floor.
Here, then, for the first time, is the original editor’s cut.
Coming next month in Castaway #9, an interview with Madison Art Cinemas owner and former York Square manager Arnold Gorlick, in which he talks about his life in film…
A well produced podcast thatsounded like one of those great NPR reports that paints a picture with authentic local sounds and voices. I was at the shoot and spoke a few words with the interviewer. As I reflect several months later on the question of what is special about West Rock Avenue, I would add that the burgeoning Arts communities with new galleries and studios, The Friday night wine tastings at Westville Wines, and the occasional musical concerts featuring local talent at Kehler-Lidell Art Gallery, make our street and community very special indeed.