If approved, the proposal will split the Livable City Initiative. The newly created Office of Housing and Community Development will take responsibility for the creation of new housing in the city, while LCI will solely focus on housing inspections. The mayor also hopes to add eight new housing-related positions. 

City activists have critiqued LCI due to delayed inspection and unresolved complaints, often leaving tenants waiting months without receiving support from the city.

“It’s clear every day that housing is one of the biggest challenges that we’re facing as a city,” Elicker told the News. “While we’ve made a lot of progress, we have a lot more work to do, in particular, in two areas. One is increasing the number of affordable units in the city, and two is … improving our ability to inspect existing housing stock to ensure that it is safe.”

In total, these two housing programs will get more than $1.4 million in additional funding compared to the last fiscal year. Elicker’s proposed budget also allocates an additional $300,000 to support unhoused people. 

The proposed Office of Housing and Community Development

Included in the city budget is Elicker’s proposal to create a new Office of Housing and Community Development, which will partner with local organizations to build new housing and administer grants for future housing projects. If approved, the office will be a part of the city’s Economic Development Administration Division.

Currently, the Livable City Initiative is responsible for this work. 

Staff at the LCI who worked on housing development will be transferred to the new office, and an additional position — deputy director of Economic Development Administration — will be created to oversee it, according to Elicker. 

“It’s more appropriate for this work to be done within the Economic Development Administration,” Elicker said. “Economic development is the place [to which] developers first go when they’re wanting to start projects.”

Michael Piscitelli, the head of the city’s Economic Development Administration Department, explained that the new office will distribute funding for ongoing housing projects. According to Piscitelli, there are currently 3,500 new housing units in the city’s development pipeline — about 40 percent of which are affordable. 

Some of these projects are led by the city, such as a new series of townhouses on Grand Avenue, while other units are being built by external housing developers. The new office will support the projects by monitoring construction and providing technical assistance on grant applications.

In addition to supporting housing construction, the office will be in charge of administering grants for construction projects approved by the Board of Alders. Some of these grants include funding from the federal Office of Housing and Urban Development, which annually administers between $3 and $4 million in funds to the city of New Haven. Additionally, the office will draw on funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan.

Piscitelli noted the need for affordable housing across the state of Connecticut. He said that the city has built 1,900 new affordable housing units in recent years but that the overall gap in affordable housing in Connecticut is upwards of 90,000 units. The new office will help improve housing policy, looking to increase the number of affordable units in the city, Piscitelli said.

Changes and improvements to LCI

The budget proposal will also add seven new staff positions with the Livable City Initiative, the agency that, under the proposed plan, will focus only on enforcing housing code and public space requirements throughout the city.

“I think [it’s] very important for LCI to focus on the core mission, what it was originally created for, which is ensuring our existing housing stock is of high standards,” Elicker said. 

Five of the proposed staff are housing inspectors, who, if approved by alders, will join the current team of 13 inspectors. 

According to Elicker, the attorney employed at LCI will join the Office of Housing and Community Development. The mayor thus proposed adding an attorney who will continue to work with LCI on housing compliance and inspections. LCI will also receive a new administrative assistant.

According to Piscitelli, these new positions will expand LCI’s capacity to engage in on-site inspections of rental units and section eight units on behalf of the city’s housing authority. 

LCI’s work entails a multi-step process of inspecting units, issuing orders based on code enforcement inspection and ensuring that landlords comply with these orders. Piscitelli said that staff expansion would increase efficiency within the agency, allowing LCI to make better use of government resources and increase the timeliness of their work. 

“We’ll be expecting a high level of process improvements such that we’re good on the timelines and we address the issues and make sure that our outcomes are good for the tenant who may live in the unit,” Piscitelli said.

Karen DuBois-Walton, the executive director of New Haven’s Housing Authority, noted the significance of improving LCI’s efficiency. 

“The city must increase its capacity to meet the requirements of the landlord licensing program,” DuBois-Walton wrote in an email to the News. “City resources can be most effective [by diving responsibilities].”

Alder Adam Marchand, a chair of the Board of Alders finance committee, which plays a major role in the budget adoption process, commended Elicker for paying attention to housing in his budget proposal. 

The finance committee will have its first budget public hearing on March 14.

The post Proposed budget rethinks city housing programs appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Emerson Tenants Union registered with the City of New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission at City Hall on Friday morning, becoming the city’s fifth tenants union and the first to form against a landlord other than mega-landlord Ocean Management. Union leaders Kolokotronis and neighbor James Blau began efforts to unionize earlier this month after the pipe-burst caused significant water damage and made Kolokotronis’ apartment unlivable. Blau, who lives directly beneath Kolokotronis, experienced similar repercussions from the leak, leading both tenants to temporarily move out of their homes.

After being met with little responsiveness from their landlord, a pastor at the next-door Trinity Lutheran Church, the pair shared their concerns with neighbors, who had similar negative experiences with the landlord. Within 27 hours, Kolokotronis and Blau gathered support to unionize from the required majority of renters — 13 of the 18 occupied units signed on.

“It’s not just us as a group of tenants that are standing up and trying to have a voice in our building,” Kolokotronis said while describing the motivations to unionize. By recognizing the union, he explained, “the city is behind the collective power.”

Unlike the city’s four previously existing tenants unions — which all formed against Ocean Management — this is the first that has formed against a small landlord. According to Connecticut business records, the Emerson Apartments were purchased by Trinity Lutheran Church in 2000, which then developed Emerson Apartments LLC, a separate entity that manages the property.

On Friday, attorneys James Giulietti and Jeremiah Morykto issued a statement on behalf of the Emerson Apartments, which noted that the units at the apartment complex were licensed by the city’s Livable City Initiative and had been inspected by the New Haven Fire Marshal in 2023. According to the statement, all requirements of these two authorities were “complied with and met.” The attorneys also wrote that Emerson Apartments LLC has “had a good relationship with all its tenants” since its formation in 2000.

Raymond Sola, the landlord of the Emerson Apartments, did not reply to multiple requests for comment by the News.

In their request for collective bargaining, the tenants union submitted a letter that listed four topics that landlord-tenant negotiations will seek to address, including timely building maintenance and a multi-year rent schedule, which tenants hope will prevent year-to-year rent increases.

“We have come to collectively see and realize that our eyes, ears, and voice are essential to proactive upkeep that ensures we reside in a clean, safe, and thriving building environment,” reads the letter, which was obtained by the News.

Also included is a request to establish a regular meeting between tenants and the management or landlord of the Emerson Apartments to discuss updates and issues regarding the building. Additionally, the letter includes a clause that advocates for the right of first refusal and right to a first bid — both of which serve as “insurance measures” against tenant displacement in case another landlord purchases the building, according to Kolokotronis.

If the landlord chooses to sell the property, the right of first refusal would give tenants of the Emerson Apartments the option to match or refuse an offer on the complex before the landlord can sell it. Similarly, the right of first bid would grant the tenant union the ability to issue the first bid on the sale of the property if union members wish to do so.

“For us, this is about being proactive,” Kolokotronis said. “This is a way to guard against corporate displacement. It’s a way to guard against corporate landlords becoming further entrenched in the state.”

Kolokotronis, who has prior experience organizing tenants unions, said that recent events at the Emerson Apartments led him to “connect the dots” with his past housing experiences. While the flooding triggered the unionization, according to Kolokotronis, other incidents of landlord unresponsiveness encouraged residents at the Emerson Apartments to come together in support of the union.

Fellow tenant Kenneth Naito MUS ’24 explained that he supported efforts to form a tenants union, especially after experiencing similar living concerns, including a cracked ceiling and mold, that were met with “no serious action” by the landlord.

Wildaliz Bermudez, the Director of the Fair Rent Commission who also officiated the union’s registration process on Friday, explained that the FRC will serve as an intermediary between the Emerson Tenant Union and their landlord moving forward.

In addition to granting the Emerson Tenant Union official recognition, registering with the FRC will protect members of the tenant union against potential retaliation from their landlord. Lee Osorio, a field representative for the FRC, explained that existing conditions at the Emerson Apartments reflect a broader pattern of unsafe living conditions throughout the city.

“I would hope that this shows other apartment buildings that this is not difficult to do,” Blau said. “You just need the majority of apartments to sign a letter and you can get certified as a tenants union — it’d be great if that spread.” 

The Emerson Apartments are located at 284 Orange St.

The post City’s fifth tenants union forms in response to burst pipe appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Warming centers typically provide unhoused people with food and a place to spend the night during winter months, operating from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Tuesday’s extreme conditions prompted the city’s warming centers to adopt severe cold-weather protocols, during which they operated 24 hours a day instead of the usual 12. Tuesday’s weather also led several warming centers to accommodate people beyond capacity. This called into question the centers’ ability to accommodate everybody looking for shelter — a concern which prompted expansion and reform efforts that have been ongoing throughout the winter.

Warming centers respond to decreased temperatures

According to Program Manager Shellina Toure, Varick Memorial increased its capacity from 39 to 42 people in response to the severe cold weather. Upon this Rock underwent a similar response, opening its doors to over 60 people in response to the extreme conditions on Tuesday. 

Toure noted that although the warming centers always house more people in response to severe cold weather, there is often simply not enough space to accommodate everybody who stops by. However, the warming centers’ need to expand beyond capacity is not limited to extreme weather conditions. 

Delana Lawrence, the assistant director at Upon this Rock, explained that the center changed its location to 130 Orchard St. in order to accommodate more people than in previous winters, as its former Grand Avenue location only accommodated 30 people. When the new location opened on Dec. 1, it was equipped to accommodate 47 people, but that number has since expanded to 60 in response to increased demand.

“Cold or warm, we still hit our capacity every night,” Lawrence said. 

She added that the warming center plays an important role in addressing needs beyond just relief from cold weather. In addition to distributing hot meals every night, it serves as a “safe environment” that provides people with a peaceful night’s rest.

Toure explained how the need to continuously stay open remains a reality, especially in response to an increase in the number of people looking to the warming centers for food and shelter.

“We’ve definitely been seeing new people … people move on, they get housed or they go into shelter … they leave the warming center,” she said. “But then you see another wave of new people come through [the warming centers].” 

Ongoing efforts seek to address capacity constraints

Several of the city’s centers have engaged in private efforts to expand services. Toure stated that Varick has recently collaborated with nonprofits Bridges of Hope and fREshSTARTs to provide dinner at the center each night.

Teddy Natter, the supervisor at the 180 Center, explained that the Center is undergoing a second phase of expansion funded by private donations, rather than by the city. The construction entails 17 permanent beds, showers, laundry services and a commercial kitchen.

Natter explained that this addition will serve as “somewhere for people that aren’t looking to just crash — they’re looking to actually utilize the stepping stones to get employed and get housing, and get out of the situation that they’re in.” 

According to Natter, this construction project is roughly three-fourths of the way done, and will likely be finished at some point this year.

Community members highlight potential improvements for warming centers

Prior to Tuesday’s snowstorm, homelessness activist Roosevelt Watkins — who is homeless — raised several complaints regarding the city’s warming centers with The Unhoused Activists’ Community Team, or U-ACT, a New Haven homelessness advocacy group that was established in June 2022.

Watkin’s advocacy led U-ACT to file six demands with the city of New Haven, which involve extending warming center hours to 10 a.m. each day, providing guests with “comfortable places” to sleep, guaranteeing all guests a warm dinner, informing guests on how to file grievances if a center fails to follow the city’s policies, permitting transgender guests to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity and adding at least 50 spots at warming centers for the winter of 2024-25.

The first demand stems from Watkins’ main complaint: After the warming centers close at 7 a.m., people typically seek shelter in the city’s public libraries, which do not open until 10 a.m.  — leaving many people without shelter for a three-hour period.

According to Bromage, U-ACT’s second demand addresses a city policy that prohibits warming centers from providing guests with cots. Instead, the centers provide guests with chairs, blankets or yoga mats to sleep on.

“If our goal is to not have people freeze to death, that’s not a sufficient way to acknowledge the humanity of someone,” Bromage said. “We need to aim for a much higher standard of dignity and acknowledgement of people’s human rights.” 

Watkins pointed out that this city policy is meant to maximize warming centers’ capacities — adding cots to centers would limit the amount of guests they could accept.

According to Bromage, these sleeping conditions are especially harmful for elderly unhoused people, who make up an increasing percentage of the national unhoused population. Recent studies show that about 50 percent of unhoused single adults are over the age of 50. 

U-ACT hopes warming centers will both increase their capacity and provide guests with cots so that the centers do not “take away [spots] to accommodate for laying down,” according to Bromage.

However, since this demand has not been met, Watkins said that warming centers should prioritize meeting their current capacities over supplying cots to guests.

“I would rather be uncomfortable than [have people] out in the cold,” he said.

Bromage explained that some of the city’s warming centers pay for warm meals out of pocket or receive food through donations, rather than from city funding. This inspired U-ACT’s third demand to provide all of the center’s guests with a warm dinner. 

U-ACT’s fifth demand was prompted by Upon this Rock lacking accommodations for transgender guests who hope to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity, according to Bromage. 

“It’s both a lack of acknowledgement of the legal requirements to make bathrooms available and lack of training for warming center staff,” Bromage wrote to the News.

Bromage and Watkins emphasized that this issue largely affects transgender women, since cisgender female guests who have experienced male violence often feel uncomfortable sharing the bathroom with transgender women. They mentioned potential solutions, such as implementing gender neutral bathrooms and improving training for Upon this Rock’s staff members.

Brother Barry, one of the deacons at Upon This Rock Ministries who did not provide his last name, denied U-ACT’s allegations.

“We don’t do that. We treat everybody equally,” he said. “We cater to all people.”

The other two shelters have not experienced this issue: Watkins said that Varick’s staff has accommodated transgender guests, while Bromage added that 180 Center has single-occupancy bathrooms. 

U-ACT shared its demands at a Feb. 9 City Hall meeting, which was also attended by representatives of the city’s warming centers and the United Way of Connecticut, another nonprofit organization. 

The warming centers were most receptive to the first demand, especially since 180 Center already provides religious programming during the day, according to Bromage. However, like Watkins, the centers’ representatives noted that their limited capacity makes it difficult to address the second demand.

Bromage told the News that U-ACT plans to continue advocating for its demands to be met.

“It will certainly be a lot of pushing on getting funding… to get more people [in the centers], but in a way where they’re laying down [and] they’re not putting their health at risk every night,” he said.

Varick Memorial AME Zion Church is located at 242 Dixwell Ave.

Correction, Feb. 27: This article has been updated with the correct spelling of Shellina Toure’s last name and with a clarification of U-ACT’s third demand.

The post Warming centers reach capacity as temperatures drop appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Residents of the Lenox Street Tenant Union, leaders of the Connecticut Tenants Union and Mayor Justin Elicker spoke about the importance of tenants unions in checking landlord power. Organizers then stuck a printed petition to Ocean’s window after borrowing tape from the thrift shop next door, Witch Bitch Thrift. 

“We want Ocean Management to be able to sit down with us and have a real conversation so that we can have real things happen,” said Alisha Moore, an organizer of the newly formed union.

The Lenox Street Tenants Union, the city’s fourth tenants union, formed in November at 195 and 199 Lenox St. in the Fair Haven Heights neighborhood. Residents organized after discovering that Ocean Management was looking to sell the two properties and that the majority of residents were on month-to-month leases. Fearing eviction or significant rent increases if the building changed ownership, residents from all 11 units voted to unionize. 

The petition alleged that Ocean has not addressed mold and water damage, failed to perform regular maintenance and did not regularly collect garbage. 

Hannah Srajer GRD ’25, president of the CT Tenants Union, said that Lenox Street Tenants Union members had spent hundreds of dollars of their own money on maintenance after Ocean failed to respond to multiple calls and emails. Srajer said that one union member had been injured after a porch collapsed beneath her.

“Do we need members of our community to break their bones and pay for lawyers for the landlords of the city of New Haven to follow our housing laws?” Srajer said. 

Last September, the Blake Street Tenants Union — the city’s first tenants union — made history as the first tenants union in Connecticut to enter collective bargaining negotiations with their landlord, Ocean Management. 

Srajer expressed a desire to engage in similar negotiations between Ocean and the union at Lenox Street. She explained that future negotiations with Ocean will ultimately look to secure leases that provide tenants with safe conditions, stable rent, improved communication with Ocean and protection from retaliation against union members.

“The families at the Lenox Street Tenants Union don’t just deserve an actual lease — which many of them don’t have,” Srajer said. “They deserve a multi-year lease with terms and conditions that they negotiate based on what they know they need and deserve.”

Union leaders demanded that Ocean respond to the petition within one week, asking for a reply before Tuesday, Feb. 13. Srajer noted that establishing this deadline will help keep Ocean accountable and establish a timeline for negotiations to begin. She also noted that if Ocean does not respond to the petition, representatives of the union will continue to push for negotiations.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker shared that he “stand[s] in solidarity” with Lenox Street Tenants Union, noting the influence of 2022 legislation that enabled the formation of tenants unions in the city.

“Ocean Management is not keeping these properties at a level that is healthy and safe and humane for the tenants, and whether it’s flooding or mold, rodents or just general maintenance,” Elicker said. “The expectation and the requirement of landlords is to keep their properties at that level so that tenants have a good place to live.”

Elicker also noted that the Liveable City Initiative, a government agency that enforces housing codes across the city, currently has two open cases at the 195 and 199 Lenox St. properties.

Other tenants affiliated with the union also spoke about their past experiences with Ocean Management. 

Ocean Management did not respond to a request for comment.

Cruz Vasquez said that in her four years living at the Lenox Street property, Ocean Management never removed snow from the ground or salted the road outside her home, which made for “very dangerous winters.” According to Vazquez, Ocean’s responses to tenant inquiries have either been ignored or delayed.

Another tenant, Claudia Figueira, said that rainfall often floods her first-floor apartment, and that Ocean has failed to answer her maintenance requests.

“That’s why we’re asking that someone from management is there to pick up the phone when we call,” Vasquez said in Spanish.

All four of New Haven’s tenants unions formed at Ocean-owned properties. 

The post Lenox Street Tenants Union demands landlord enter negotiations  appeared first on Yale Daily News.

On Thursday, New Haven’s NAACP branch unveiled the United States Postal Service’s 47th Black Heritage Stamp honoring Motley. The event was held at the Dixwell Community Center, also known as the Q House, and featured performances from several artists including St. Luke’s Steel Band, violinist John Randolph and Shades of Yale. In celebration of Motley’s life and legacy, the event culminated in an unveiling of this year’s stamp which is an intricate portrait of Motley designed by artist Charly Palmer.

“Inspiration. That is the first word that came to mind when I saw the new Black Heritage Month stamp honoring the late and great Constance Baker Motley,” Vanessa Roberts Avery, the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut said at the event.

Born and raised in New Haven, Motley left a lasting legacy in the city. After attending James Hillhouse High School, Motley worked for the National Youth Administration before matriculating at Fisk University, a historically Black university in Tennessee. 

After attending Columbia Law School, Motley served as a law clerk for Thurgood Marshall — the first Black Supreme Court justice — where she contributed to landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education. One of the nation’s most influential civil rights leaders, Motley was the first Black woman elected to the New York State Senate in 1964. She was elected Manhattan borough president in 1965 before becoming the first Black woman to become a federal judge in 1966.

Motley received one of the NAACP’s most prestigious awards, the Spingarn Medal, at the 2003 NAACP National Convention and was an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first intercollegiate Black sorority.

Dori Dumas, the president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, noted that events like Thursday’s help to honor trailblazers who “paved the way.”

In addition to celebrating Motley’s life and achievements, the event also touched on New Haven’s history as a center for community and civil rights advocacy.

“It’s amazing to kick off Black History Month this way, and to reflect on the past,” New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said. “And I think more importantly, as Ms. Dumas said, reflect on the work that we have ahead of us.”

Elicker noted that 2024 marks the 165th anniversary of Hillhouse High School and the 100th Anniversary of the Q House.

Upon its founding, the Q House was intended to foster community life for New Haven’s predominantly Black community and served as a home base for initiatives like Connecticut’s first Black Girl Scout troop, after-school programming and civic forums. The location of Thursday’s ceremony was particularly significant, given that Motley frequented the Q House in her youth.

“This is a historic space, as Constance Baker Motley herself spent many days here,” Dumas said. “It was important that we had it here.”

Several other speakers noted the significance of celebrating Motley in New Haven. Constance L. Royster, Motley’s niece, even referred to the event as a “hometown celebration,” acknowledging the centrality of New Haven to Motley’s work. 

The Q House is located at 197 Dixwell Ave. 

The post Black Heritage Stamp honors New Havener Constance Baker Motley appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Historically, New Haven’s proximity to the water served a largely economic purpose, facilitating the movement of commercial goods in and out of the harbor. However, recent developments including the effects of climate change and the call for more housing in the city have led city representatives to rethink the significance and use of the city’s coastlines.

“As our value for the water and the waterfront has changed over the decades, we’ve realized that there are different and perhaps more valuable uses for that land,” explained Laura Brown, executive director of the City Plan Department.

Changing attitudes have manifested in several construction projects that seek to revitalize the city’s connection to the water. The largest of these projects is the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan, an ongoing construction plan that envisions the development of five waterfront neighborhoods in the Long Wharf area linked together by a park and walkway.

The construction at Long Wharf seeks to foster connectivity between city residents and the coastline while also boosting economic growth. Brown explained that the construction will facilitate access to the shoreline and help foster a communal appreciation for the waterfront. Additionally, commercial developments will attract more residents to Long Wharf, fueling the economic vitality of businesses already present in the area, including the Long Wharf food trucks. 

In partnership with Fusco Corp., a construction management company, the plan also entails the construction of a 500-unit residential complex that will help to address the need for additional housing in the city. 

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker explained how recent regulations regarding water pollution have improved the cleanliness of waterways, increasing the desirability of residing in waterfront neighborhoods. 

“There’s been more interest in beautifying cities and embracing cities as a source of residential housing that was not the focus 40 or 50 years ago,” Elicker said. 

In addition to bolstering community and financial development in the Long Wharf sector, the plan will prioritize coastal resiliency in response to climate change. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn explained that the coastal location of Long Wharf made the area susceptible to flooding. 

In accordance with the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan, the city has built over 200 bioswales in the downtown area that will address this threat, facilitating drainage and thus reducing the potential for flooding. 

According to Zinn, much of the remaining construction outlined in the plan is set to begin in 2024.

“It is our responsibility not only to do something that’s resilient and responsible from a climate perspective but also serves all the needs of residents… needs for jobs, for education, for opportunity,” Zinn said.

Other construction projects throughout the city similarly look to revitalize the city’s waterfronts and facilitate movement between the waterfront and the city center.

Brown discussed the recent opening of Hotel Marcel, which is located in the Long Wharf district and includes a view of the waterfront. The Hotel, which was originally built in 1970 as the headquarters of the Armstrong Rubber Company, repurposes historic brutalist architecture to draw people to the New Haven waterfront. 

According to Brown, development in New Haven has largely occurred in the form of “redevelopment” — in other words, maximizing the use of space in previously developed areas. 

Additionally, the city is looking to install a new bicycle and walking trail in partnership with the  Shoreline Greenway Trail initiative, which includes building a 25-mile corridor that runs from East Haven to Madison. The city is also looking to expand the Mill River Trail, which will link different areas of the city while improving public access to the waterfront.

These developments also highlight a shift away from constructions that have historically cut off public access to the city’s waterfront. According to Brown, urban renewal decisions in the 1950s and 60s led to the construction of the Route 34 highway which ran through the city and cut off neighborhoods from the shoreline. Ongoing efforts such as the Downtown Crossing initiative, Brown said, will seek to reverse these impacts, transforming Route 34 into a system of urban boulevards reconnecting New Haven neighborhoods.

These waterfront developments are not limited to the coastline — riverfront developments similarly seek to make use of existing waterways within the city.

One such effort includes the ongoing construction of a 10,000-square-foot commercial-industrial building at the former site of the Bigelow Boiler Co. on River Street.

Elicker said that he views River Street as a “major opportunity” for the city to “embrace the waterfront and connect people to it again,” and emphasized his belief that the city should focus on residential development in the area in addition to industrial development.

Ongoing construction at 500 Blake St. in Westville is expected to provide 129 additional units of market-rate housing. Melinda Agron, a principal architect working on the project, explained that the project seeks to revitalize access to the neighboring West River through the construction of a multi-use riverside pathway.

Elicker described reconnecting with the waterfront as a “broader pattern” that characterizes recent constructions in New Haven. 

“There’s been a realization by many cities that the waterfront is a very important asset,” Elicker said.

The Long Wharf Development Plan was first adopted in 2019.

The post Construction trends show city efforts to revitalize waterfronts appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Alyse Sabina, the president of DESK’s board of directors, said that these developments will allow DESK to “move beyond the traditional soup kitchen model and provide comprehensive homelessness services for our community.”

DESK, a nonprofit organization that provides services to New Haven’s unhoused and food-insecure community, opened its State Street location as a low-barrier drop-in and resource center in 2021. Renovation plans will expand the organization’s capacity to provide relief services by allowing more room to accommodate clients and service providers as well as constructing a new kitchen and clinical facility. The construction will begin next week and is scheduled to be completed in July 2024.

According to Steve Werlin, DESK’s executive director, the new construction will expand the building’s existing dining area and install a new servery along with an energy-efficient kitchen. Other additions to the building will include shower facilities, a computer station, consultation spaces for outreach workers and a medical clinic staffed with providers from the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center.

In addition to providing clients with immediate relief resources, Werlin shared that the center’s staff members will also connect people to additional resources like shelters and housing, medical care, mental health services, substance abuse treatment and mainstream services that can provide stability for personal finances. 

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker discussed the city’s support for the DESK initiative, explaining that groups like DESK have influenced other non-profit organizations to “think differently about how to provide services.” 

Werlin explained that DESK’s resource center encompasses a novel multifaceted approach to addressing homelessness by consolidating various services under a single roof.

Elicker also mentioned that the city has supported DESK in its efforts by contributing $150,000 to the construction project.

Other sources of funding for the construction have come from several public and private resources, including $1.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and additional contributions from organizations including the State of Connecticut, The Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, Connecticut Foodshare, Yale University and Yale New Haven Health Systems.

Funds raised for the construction amount to roughly $3.2 million. However, given that the total expense for the construction is expected to be roughly $3.9 million, DESK coordinators are still in the process of reaching out to other donors who might help cover the remaining cost.

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro expressed her support for DESK’s commitment to promoting “health, community and equity” in New Haven. She also explained how DESK has adapted to providing services amid changing conditions within New Haven. She noted that the organization was initially formed in 1987 and has since expanded services through “progressive strategies and empathetic approaches,” including the addition of a program that serves dinner to unhoused people five nights a week as well as a weekly food pantry program.

After elaborating on plans for the upcoming construction and expressing their enthusiasm for the expansion, DESK representatives and elected officials took turns breaking down a wall on the first floor of the building with a hammer to inaugurate the construction project.

Werlin explained how the walls symbolically represent barriers to accessing life-saving basic needs and stigmatizing unhoused and food-insecure people.

“Here at DESK… we knock [walls] down, and we build bridges,” he said.

In addition to providing services at State Street, DESK distributes meals at other locations in downtown New Haven including 311 Temple St. and 57 Olive St.

The post Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen to expand appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The carbon monoxide exposure originated from a propane-powered concrete cutter being used at the construction site, according to University spokesperson Karen Peart. New Haven Fire Department Chief John Alston explained that the cold temperatures outside might have affected ventilation in the building, potentially exacerbating the effects of the leak.

Emergency responders were first called to the scene around 7:35 a.m. after a construction worker fainted on the sidewalk near Howe Street. The unconscious worker was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital. After being notified of the worker’s exposure to carbon monoxide, the fire department and American Medical Response reported back to the building to check for a gas leak. 

New Haven Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana shared that emergency responders detected around 350 parts per million of carbon monoxide at the construction site. Standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Association prohibit worker exposure to more than 50 ppm averaged over an eight-hour time frame. 

In an interview with the New Haven Independent, Mayor Justin Elicker said that carbon monoxide monitors “should have been used.”

According to Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell ’95 DIV ’09, Yale is currently leasing the space at 73 Howe St. from the city. The New Haven Independent reported that the University had hired Babbidge Construction Company to run construction at the site. According to New Haven Fire Chief John Alston, the site did not have CO monitors installed — which, according to Peart, was the responsibility of the construction company.

Babbidge Construction Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Campbell also told the News that emergency service workers also investigated the neighboring 79 Howe St. and 32 Edgewood Ave., which house the Yale Security Department and the Yale School of Art Gallery. According to Peart, 79 Howe St. was evacuated.

Sources interviewed by the News disagreed on the affiliations of the 14 hospitalized individuals. In a statement to News 8 WTNH, Elicker said that four individuals were Yale Security employees and the remaining ten were contractors. However, Peart wrote in a message to the News that five were Yale Security employees, while only nine were affiliated with Babbdige.

The worker initially found unconscious was transported to a hyperbaric chamber at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. He was still in critical condition as of Wednesday night, according to Fontana.

A team from the Occupational Safety and Health Association, or OSHA, arrived at the scene on Wednesday to begin an investigation of the incident. Per OSHA policy, the agency has up to six months to complete the investigation and determine whether a violation of workers’ rights occurred.

Yale community members were notified of the incident through an email and text  from the Yale Alert System at 10:55 a.m., which stated that police and emergency personnel were actively responding to a “medical incident” near 73 Howe St. At 11:48 a.m., a second email from the alert system stated that the area surrounding 73 Howe St. was deemed all clear and had “opened to normal traffic.”

73 Howe St. is located between Edgewood Avenue and Chapel Street.

Correction, Jan. 18: A previous version of this article included one instance of “carbon dioxide” instead of “carbon monoxide,” which is the correct compound name. It has since been amended.

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Fearing a mass eviction, the tenants organized under the guidance of the Connecticut Tenants Union, with all 11 units unanimously voting to unionize. On Nov. 17, residents of the Lenox Street properties filed with New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission to officially form the Lenox Tenant Union.

“Unions are so important in this moment when tenants face high rent increases or no-fault evictions that totally upend people’s lives, sometimes overnight,” Luke Melonakos-Harrison DIV ’23, the vice president of the Connecticut Tenants Union, said. “When there’s no legal protection to fall back on, what [tenants] fall back on is each other and the power of acting collectively.”

The union at Lenox Street is the fourth tenants’ union to form in New Haven. All of the city’s tenants unions — located at 311 Blake St., 1476 Chapel St., 1275-1291 Quinnipiac Ave. and now, Lenox Street — are at Ocean-owned properties.

Alisha Moore, one of the members of the Lenox union, recounted knocking on doors to talk with neighbors and create open communication about shared complaints with Ocean. When tenants met at one of the apartments in the building to discuss unionizing, a bilingual tenant interpreted between English- and Spanish-speaking residents to facilitate communication.

“This community — we’re a family,” Moore said. “[The possibility of eviction] feels like we’re being forced to break our family apart. When things don’t happen that we need to happen, we do it together. This has just brought our community closer together.”

Moore explained that residents of the Lenox Street properties did not receive notices regarding the renewal of their month-to-month leases, which sparked concerns among residents that they would all be asked to leave the property during the holiday season once their leases were up.

Continued miscommunication between Ocean and residents at Lenox Street exacerbated these concerns. According to Moore, two tenants at 199 Lenox St. had signed new leases on their apartments. However, when they accessed an online portal that Ocean uses for tenants to pay rent, they found that the dates on the lease were different from the dates on the lease they had signed.

Tenants feared that if their building switched ownership, they would either be evicted or face significant rent increases. Organizers from CT Tenants Union, a statewide tenants rights organization, helped residents through the unionization process. Mark Washington, a member of the Blake Street Tenants Union who helped organize the union at Lenox Street, said that many tenants feel they are “not being valued as human beings” by their landlords.

“What we did at CT Tenants Union was just help them collectively put their voices together and use that power to achieve their goals,” Washington said.

Poor living conditions also motivated tenants to unionize. According to Moore, multiple tenants had complained to Ocean about a mouse infestation that was never addressed. There were also safety concerns: Moore said the building’s fire escape was falling down, there were problems with lighting on the property at night, some doors had broken locks and there was a severe leak above her shower.

According to Moore, a Liveable City Initiative inspection revealed broken smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. She said that the poor conditions made her fearful for the health of her newborn son.

Rosa Ferraro-Santana, the Ward 13 alder representing Fair Haven Heights, said that tenants’ unions can help ensure that renters receive the living conditions they expect when they initially sign their leases. Ferraro-Santana identified patterns of neglect at properties owned by Ocean, one of the largest mega-landlords in the city. Ocean owns over 1,000 apartments across the city. 

Ocean’s attempt to sell 195 and 199 Lenox Ave. may also be part of a larger pattern. The New Haven Independent reported last summer that Ocean and Mandy Management, another mega-landlord in the city, have been selling properties, particularly in the Newhallville and Dixwell neighborhoods.

Tenants across Ocean properties have accused the landlord of poor living conditions and neglect, and Ocean has been fined multiple times in housing court for housing code violations. 

Ocean Management did not respond to a request for comment. 

While state law allows local governments to establish fair rent commissions, which handle complaints and prevent landlords from charging excessive rents, state law does not allow local governments to establish their own rent control laws, nor does the state have any laws limiting the amount that landlords can raise the rent.

“Part of the unionization process is people realizing that protections for tenants in this state are thin,” Melonakos-Harrison said. “Landlords can do a lot. They have a lot of unchecked power to displace people overnight and break up communities that have been neighbors for a long time.”

Moore said that the Lenox Street union hopes to contact the Fair Rent Commission as well, and explained that one of the primary goals of the union is ensuring that, if the properties are sold, the new landlord will provide tenants with new leases with fair rent prices. 

According to Wildaliz Bermudez, Executive Director of New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission, there is a precedent of tenants’ unions contacting the Fair Rent Commission. 

Blake Street Tenants Union filed retaliation complaints against Ocean in August after Ocean served eviction notices to 16 union members amid negotiations. The union withdrew the retaliation complaints after signing a memorandum of understanding with Ocean, where the landlord agreed to rescind the evictions and re-enter negotiations. The Chapel Street tenants union also filed a complaint with the Fair Rent Commission due to concerns about living conditions. The complaint was closed after Ocean made the requested repairs.

“There’s power in numbers,” Washington said. “We’re fighting power structures, systemic structures that have been in place for years … to form these unions and give that power back to the people is everything.”

Lenox Street is located in the city’s Fair Haven Heights neighborhood, east of the Quinnipiac River.

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“We want to bring people inside, but ultimately our goal is to work with people throughout the winter to get them into permanent housing,” said Margaret LeFever, a representative for United Way of Greater New Haven. “Cold weather resources like warming centers are critical to ensure that no one dies outside, which we have already seen across the state this winter.”

The warming center was opened in collaboration between the city’s housing department and United Way, a social services organization based in New Haven. The center will be open every night on a walk-in basis and will provide unhoused individuals with a place to sleep along with blankets, food and beverages. Hours of operation extend from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., with extended hours to be implemented in the case of extreme weather.

According to Velma George, the city’s Coordinator for the Homeless, warming centers provide additional support to ensure that people remain safe and warm throughout the winter. The centers are meant to supplement New Haven’s seven permanent shelters — which will soon include an additional eighth shelter at a location formerly owned by the Days Inn.

Unlike permanent shelters, warming centers do not typically operate year-round. The Orchard Street location is one of three warming centers operating in New Haven this season, with the others located at 438 East St. and 242 Dixwell Ave.

The new center will be run by Upon This Rock Ministries, a Christian organization located at 884 Grand Ave. Pastor Valerie Washington explained that the ministry had previously served as a warming center for unhoused people at its Grand Avenue location. The new warming center will help the organization provide shelter to more individuals throughout the winter. The prior location had a capacity of approximately 25-30 individuals. 

“I believe that God has blessed us and opened the door to enlarge the space to bring more people in,” Washington said.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker noted that in recent years, winter warming centers have remained open throughout the entire summer due to an uptick in the challenges faced by individuals experiencing homelessness. With vacancy rates at a low, the state of Connecticut is currently experiencing a housing shortage, making it increasingly difficult for unhoused individuals to gain access to affordable housing. 

LeFever estimated that roughly 270 individuals will be sheltered outside in the Greater New Haven region this winter. She added that the five warming centers throughout the Greater New Haven area will have space for approximately 175 individuals in total.

The Orchard Street warming center will serve both individuals and adult couples. George added that the city is currently in the process of opening a family triage center at 209 Terminal Ln. According to George, the triage center will be opening within the next few weeks and — unlike other warming centers — will serve families.

Elicker added that the warming centers are also an opportunity for the city to engage with service providers in order to support unhoused people and connect them with resources to find more permanent housing opportunities. He also noted the presence of eight daytime navigation hubs throughout the city, where service providers will work to meet the needs of unsheltered and unstably housed individuals. These centers provide various resources including meals, showers, healthcare and housing navigation services.

In addition to expanding access to emergency housing, Elicker said that the city has engaged in various other efforts to expand long-term housing resources including building more affordable housing units within the city.

“Ultimately, this challenge isn’t going to be resolved if we don’t expand access to affordable housing; have more housing, period,” he said.

Prior to opening as a warming center, the space was used as a storage facility for the New Haven Public Schools Board of Education.

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