Allan Appel Photo
Puddle on “The Lot” looking towards Chapel Street.
Shortly after Monday’s afternoon deluge, a huge puddle formed in “The Lot.”
That’s the anvil-shaped public property at Chapel and Orange where people take a rest, wait for the bus, and, at times drink and urinated in public.
Now there’s a new problem: A different kind of water that’s not going away.
Some local denizens like Wilfred Bacote sat nearby and mused.
“Ridiculous. For all the taxes people pay, they need to put in a pump here,” he said.
Bacote (pictured in foreground) and several of his friends all said that the situation happens frequently after a rain, and that the puddle, which makes it impossible to follow the walkway on the cut-through, usually disappears within two days, depending on weather.
If the problem is well known to users of the property, it was news to Department of Public Works’ Chief of Operations Jeff Pescosolido.
“We do have areas that due to some settlement, you do get puddling issues. We will definitely look at it and give it to repair if required,” Pescosolido said,. Some [repairs] can be very expensive, or it can be a quick shim.”
One of Bacote’s friends called it a health hazard. Another said, “The police of New Haven should be made to take a bath [in it].”
A third bemoaned the puddle but credited the city in one respect: “They did get rid of the rats.”
Pescosolido noted the problem and said a city inspector will check out the location at the earliest tomorrow morning.
If a repair is necessary, it might not occur for another month, he added.
The only way to really fix this problem is to develop the space.