Yale Demolishes York Townhouse

Around 1997 when Yale decided to buy the foreclosed commercial properties of Joel Schiavone (RIP) from the banks, nobody else wanted them. New Haven was such a mess that students were afraid to come to Yale. They had the foresight to make this purchase and control the commercial district near the campus and gave grants to employees to buy housing near campus when no one else wanted it either. Yale is far from perfect, but they deserve some credit for New Haven’s renaissance.

I do not concur.
New Haven has a better harbor , better rail station better airport two Interstste highways, more diverse geography and if you replaced the Yale buildings with high rise high density housing and retail like Stamford has and moved the public housing out of the frontiers like valley street and the old ribicoff houses behind SCSU and put them in accessable areas we'd be fine. Plus you got SCSU, youd still have UNH and Quinnipiac just out of town and the cross sound ferry would make more sense being out of new Haven harbor.
And if Yale wasn't here there a good chance new Haven would have remained the capitol city.
And it's extra 50 miles from NYC would make it more affordable then Stamford, North Jersey and long island but close enough to be a hub of ancillary services and industry .

New Haven has never been or hopefully will never be like either Bridgeport or Stamford.
It’s a fantastic arts and creative, educated, liberal, open minded, immigrant attracting, vibrant mix of all walks of life community. We used to all mix and mingle together and I’d like to see more of that again. i’ve seen the shabby 1970’s turn into the vibrant 1980’s, turn into the generic and bland mall store and empty storefront 1990’s-2020’s, but I believe if we have more support for independent, quirky, ethnic, creative businesses, and if Yale stops with their unreasonable month to month leases and required later evening and weekend and holiday hours, and doesn’t turn all its commercial spaces into academic uses or student housing, then we could have a renaissance that would attract more people to visit, live, work and play here. Yale’s retail and other commercial spaces have been uninspired and mostly empty. We need things that attract and appeal to all demographics, not just Yale affiliated. Many first floor retail has been left empty. We need to shop and dine and socialize locally to support independent businesses and so we can mix and mingle in with the community again. Having your items delivered instead or shopping and dining in person in, is isolating and not putting eyes on the street.

Many of the businesses struggle because of the lack of parking and the bland, mall store commercial tenants that focus on students instead of a wide variety of demographics. Plus Yale as a landlord has terrible lease restrictions that impact small businesses.
Losing the movie theaters and Long Wharf theater and the Yale Coop and other quirky, unique retailers and places to be entertained and to eat and drink that suit lots of different demographics, has hurt Downtown.

I wish I knew what boom you’re referencing, is it the boom of homeless and drug addicts wandering the streets? The boom of Herion needles littering the parks? Or a boom of come and go businesses like LL bean, Patagonia, Au Bu Pon… my favorite was that Taco Bell with booze, that was a great addition to the culture of the area. And the York Cinema and other small movie theaters were crushed by their corporate completion, now the New Haven area only has two movie theaters in the county and they are both the same corporate monopoly. But don’t worry they have lazy boy seats and bottomless nachos sooo could be worse.

The York Sq cinema closed because they couldn’t get film distributers to give them films.
Bow Tie cinemas was hurt by the pandemic.
The COOP was forced out by Yale because Yale only wanted retailers who would stay open later in the evenings and on weekends.
I think there’s a mixed bag for the positives and negatives in changes in the city. I’m angry about the demolition by neglect and historic buildings with character being destroyed for empty lots and ticky-tacky cheap petrochemical material new builds that look like LEGO blocks. I’m angry independent retailers and beloved businesses have been forced out by Yale lease restrictions, and replaced with big business, mall chain, high end, student body focused merchandise. Or sit empty.
I’m angry that town-gone mixing places have disappeared. All the things that made our Lottie city unique, special, quirky, fun, that we have lost.
But there are some new places that I really like. Mostly not with Yale as a landlord.

I'm counting on you to make informed, insightful commentary to counterbalance my idiocies!

Like any city, change is inevitable. Some will embrace it, and some will rail against it. Those who knew and loved the "old" New Haven have a reason to feel unsettled. With all the changes we've seen over the years, who wouldn't feel saddened and maybe even angry by the loss of so many wonderful establishments we spent so much time with? I would list all my long-lost favorites (I'm sure my list would coincide with many of my fellow New Haveners), but I suspect, like many others, my list would be too long. But what's one to do? Yale controls the overall city vision, which is a plain, cold, hard fact. I'd like to see more collaboration between Yale and whoever makes up that group of citizens who comprise a real New Haven-centric town commission - (BoA, good luck with that.) Having said that, I still do like a lot of things about New Haven, and as "ignatius" comments, a lot of those things are Yale-centric. Still the absolute best city in CT.

Yale is not interested in any housing crisis. Their students and staff can afford to pay and many now look outside of the city for housing. This property will come off the tax rolls and the rest of us will PAY dearly for the privilege of having Yale U and YNHH in our city.