Everyone from city aldermen to roller derby-er Evviva Weinraub (pictured) spoke in support of having a new roller rink in town, but the idea lost out for now to a better-funded plan to expand a local bakery and create new jobs.
The legislative (as opposed to roller) action took place Wednesday night at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Community Development Committee.
The committee voted to approve the sale of a roofless, asbestos-ridden building at 108 Food Terminal Plaza to Joe and MaryAnn Montesano, owners of local bakery Something Sweet. The Montesanos plan to clean up the building and expand their growing business.
Isee Greenwood (pictured) had hoped the city would give the lot to her instead. Instead of watching New Haven kids shoot each other, Greenwood said, she wants to teach them to roller-skate. By building an entertainment complex with a roller rink, arcades, mini movie theater, and food court, Greenwood said, she can lure teenagers from the streets. In order for kids to even walk through the door, she said, this complex must be on neutral — non-gang — territory. Like Long Wharf.
Greenwood and a crew of supporters won the chance to make their case Wednesday night thanks to an earlier protest outside City Hall.
Sandra McKinnie (left), an Edgewood community activist, said that kids in her neighborhood have been agitating for a roller rink for years now. With youth crime rates up and armed civilians patrolling the streets of Edgewood, McKinnie stressed the importance of creating safe gathering places for teens. “If you don’t see the urgency for it now,” she told aldermen, “then let’s sit back for six months and see, those statistics will break everybody’s hearts.”
Local youth activist Maurice “Blest” Peters deplored the City’s prioritization of baked goods over its children. “Our children, we can’t just keep feeding them cake,” Peters emphasized. “Do we really want to save our children or is everything about the bottom line: money?”
Chrissy Bonanno (at left in photo), the city’s deputy chief of economic development department, insisted that her office’s decision to recommend Something Sweet’s proposal over Isee Greenwood’s rink was not about money.
Though 108 Food Terminal Plaza — which was repurchased by the city in 2006 — was appraised at $460,000 in June of 2006, a recent investigation of its interior reveals asbestos and lead problems as well as an almost non-existent roof, significantly lowering the property’s value. The Montesanos’ business plan, submitted in response to an open RFP (Request for Proposal) last year, promised to fix these problems while transforming the building into a warehouse that will provide 25 new jobs and increased property taxes for the City. In return, the Montesanos would pay only $100,000 for the property, according to their proposal.
Bonanno and her economic development and LCI colleagues voted unanimously for Something Sweet over Greenwood’s proposal, as well as one submitted by food distribution business LC Cash-N-Carry and another by FTP Realty.
Both Bonanno’s team and the aldermanic committee were supportive of Greenwood’s vision. They said the Long Wharf property is not the best spot for it. The neighborhood’s industrial character and heavy truck traffic might pose security concerns for Greenwood’s rink, and the decrepit state of the building is a massive financial obstacle, they said.
“Let’s not limit ourselves to city land,” Bonnano said, encouraging Greenwood to consider other sites for the roller rink. “We don’t have that much land, and it’s trouble land. That’s how we end up with it.”
Joe Montesano (pictured with MaryAnn) estimated he would spend about half a million dollars before the building would be in good enough shape to house his warehouse. Something Sweet is a for-profit bakery which exports its cakes and pies to Florida, Maine, and Minnesota; it has experienced a 35 percent average growth in the past 10 years.
The Montesanos need the space to expand their business operations. Since they already have freezer space next door, 108 FTP is a perfect location for them.
Greenwood’s start-up business plan appeared shaky in comparison to the Montesanos’, especially when Long Wharf Alderwoman Dolores Colon asked about its financial backing. Greenwood vaguely alluded to “private investors,” but her plan was not fully developed.
“I want you to have a roller skating rink,” Colon said. She has taken Greenwood around her Hill neighborhood to garner support for the roller rink. “But I don’t want to be in the position of turning down Something Sweet and having them leave town and then having the building stand empty.” Colon implied that if the aldermen decided not to approve the sale to the Montesanos and to instead issue another RFP, Greenwood would not be able to pitch a financially viable plan for the property.
Any doubts aldermen entertained regarding Greenwood’s finances they quickly balanced with praise for her vision. “I think we all,” East Rock Alderman Ed Mattison said, “or I know I, believe you have incredible energy and force and vision and I believe we want to do what we can to help you out.”
Among Greenwood’s supporters was Evviva Weinraub (pictured at the top of the story), a member of Connecticut Rollergirls, part of an all-female roller derby league that would benefit from a New Haven roller rink. Weinraub pointed out that the new rink would not only serve as a gathering place for New Haven youth, but would attract visitors from across the state. The Rollergirls could also act as positive role models for New Haven girls, Weinraub said. “We’re young, athletic women, we do community service, and we have a desire to be part of a community.”
Click here to visit the Rollergirls website and learn the rules of roller derby.
Arguments like this were clearly not lost on the aldermen, but the committee eventually sided with Something Sweet for the Long Wharf property. SBI’s Frank Williams suggested that Greenwood look at alternate properties with fewer interior problems that she could rent until her business established itself. Though gang-neutral territories like Long Wharf are now few and far between in New Haven, aldermen seemed committed to helping Greenwood help New Haven teens.
Winding up the meeting, Downtown Alderwoman Bitsie Clark pleaded with Greenwood “not to lose the faith,” not to let her energy diffuse into inactivity.
Until Greenwood’s roller rink materializes, however, New Haven (and communities in other states) will benefit from an extra warehouse worth of Joe and MaryAnn Montesano’s crumb cakes.
Common sense prevailed. Otherwise the taxpayer would have had to fund the acquisition and the ongoing operation.