Taylor died at age 71 after being killed in a car crash while walking along the I-91 near Exit 9 in North Haven. He has left behind a lasting legacy on the city, which has been shaped by his contributions to homelessness activism through U-ACT, the Unhoused Activists Community Team.

“Speaking truth to power [is] the goal of activism,” said U-ACT member Billy Bromage. “Arthur was a … personification of that … He saw what was important, and what was wrong with what was happening.”

Taylor is the second U-ACT member to die in the past year after activist Keith Petrulis died in August.

Taylor was born on Oct. 14, 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The third of five children, he graduated from New Haven’s James Hillhouse High School in 1972. Upon graduation, he attended North Carolina A&T University. He transferred to Shaw University before returning to New Haven to attend South Central Community College, where he joined the basketball team.

Taylor experienced great success playing college basketball, and continued playing sports in his later years. He also enjoyed old-school R&B music, to which he frequently listened and danced. In his obituary, Taylor’s family wrote that he was “blessed with an exceptional memory,” and had a knack for recalling historical events and family happenings.

After living in Georgia and Florida, Taylor returned to New Haven where he became an advocate for fellow seniors experiencing homelessness. Taylor was a founding member of U-ACT, where he pushed for the city to expand affordable housing and increase accessibility for seniors with fixed incomes.

According to Bromage, Arthur played a “key” role in shaping U-ACT’s primary demands, which call on the city to end evictions from public land, stop throwing away the belongings of unhoused New Haveners and install permanent public bathrooms and showers for all.

Taylor regularly attended U‑ACT’s weekly community lunches on the New Haven Green. Additionally, he advocated for increased attention to homelessness at a Board of Alders committee meeting in February 2023. At the meeting, Taylor made suggestions for the alders to use funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to respond to the homelessness crisis.

Bromage said that Taylor had a strong command of public speaking, and often cited well-known activists like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King at U-ACT’s rallies and events. Roosevelt Watkins, a fellow activist who knew Taylor through U-ACT, noted that Taylor was highly articulate.

“The most important thing I would say about him is how he carried himself with dignity, even in the situation that he was in, as far as being homeless,” Watkins said.

On March 4, Taylor moved into the former Days Inn on Foxon Boulevard, which the city converted to a non-congregate shelter. However, he continually questioned why seniors with fixed incomes — like himself — were not given priority on the New Haven Public Housing waiting list.

Watkins noted that at the time of his death, Taylor had obtained a Section 8 housing voucher. However, according to Watkins, Taylor was unable to find a permanent home in the city given the lack of affordable housing in the city.

Bromage said that Taylor frequently had individual conversations with people to discuss injustice surrounding unhoused seniors.

“I think he would frame it as a real moral failing of our society,” Bromage said.

In February, Bromage submitted legislative testimony for Connecticut Senate Bill 145, titled “An Act Appropriating Funds for The Homeless Response System.” In his testimony, Taylor called on the state to secure $20 million for social services to expand housing resources for unhoused people and discussed the ineffectiveness of resource centers in providing seniors with long-term housing.

According to Watkins, the last U-ACT meeting he attended with Taylor was to plan an event for May Day, which will take place on May 1.

“I believe that some people just can’t deal with society and the way it is,” said Pastor Larry Johnson at Taylor’s memorial services on April 12. “Arthur didn’t want to mix with society because society wasn’t right. We’re imperfect people.”

U-ACT was founded in September of 2022.

The post Homelessness activist Arthur Taylor killed at 71, impact on Elm City lives on appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The six “tiny homes” in question were installed by a collective of unhoused activists working with Amistad Catholic, a local nonprofit. After the city’s repeated opposition to the construction — which violated local and state zoning codes — the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, or BZA, granted activists a variance, or exception to the zoning code. While the variance granted by the city is indefinite, exemptions to state building codes are set to expire after 180 days. This has led some city officials to view the structures as a temporary solution to homelessness in the city.

“The project in the backyard was not about tiny homes, it’s not about us developing housing,” said homelessness activist Mark Colville, who headed the “tiny homes” project. “What we’re trying to do is to redefine the issue of homelessness, and to recognize that it’s the zoning laws themselves that are the instrument by which people are being denied [emergency shelter].”

Board of Zoning Appeals retroactively grants zoning code variance 

Upon construction, the “tiny homes” — which fall under the technical category of emergency shelters — violated the city’s zoning codes on several fronts, including being built too close to neighboring property lines and suppressing the limit of units that are allowed to be built on a given property. The structures also violated the Connecticut State Building Code, which does not permit residential structures without a kitchen or bathroom.

The BZA approved the application for an exception to city zoning codes on four conditions, which include the following: only two individuals can reside in each structure at a time, both residents must be direct family members, no more than the six structures currently at Rosette Street are allowed to serve as residences and an easement must be in place for structures that extend beyond the property lines of Rosette Street if Amistad House is sold in the future. 

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker told the News that the state granted the activists an exception to the building code. Unlike the city’s exception, which is indefinite, the state’s exception will expire after 180 days.

“The state made clear that they made this 180-day exception because there’s an emergency because of the winter,” Elicker said.

According to Elicker, after 180 days, individuals living in the homes will have had “ample time” to find alternative accommodations. Due to this, Elicker said he believes the state is highly unlikely to extend the extension past 180 days.

Colville noted that one difficulty with the city’s zoning codes is that they do not include a category for emergency shelters, which are necessary, especially during cold winter months.

“People have to make tough decisions in order to survive when [they] are unhoused,” Colville said. 

Laura Brown, the executive director of the city plan department, confirmed that emergency shelters do not currently exist within the zoning ordinance. However, Brown noted that it would be “ostensibly” possible to change the zoning ordinance to include emergency shelters at some point in the future.

According to the New Haven Independent, activists at Amistad are currently working to expand this legislation for emergency housing.

Potential for a long-term future

“In order to make long-term changes, we need systemic change,” Colville said.

According to Colville, the “tiny homes” project is a necessary component of providing emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

However, he said that he hopes to expand the project throughout the city, namely by designating a parcel of public land to build “tiny homes” for a larger quantity of people. Colville compared his vision for the emergency shelters to models that have been set up in Providence, Rhode Island, where 45 “tiny homes” were designated by the state to a single plot of land. 

Colville noted that these developments have the potential to de-stigmatize homelessness and offer individuals the “respect” that accompanies private space.

Brown acknowledged that in other cities, tiny homes and emergency shelters have served an important purpose in providing emergency housing. However, she said that installing these emergency shelters would not serve as a singular solution.

“It would need to be one piece of a bigger piece of the puzzle toward addressing the broad scope of availability and affordability,” Brown said.

Elicker said that he is opposed to the idea of placing “tiny homes” on public land, saying that this land ought to remain available for all of the city’s residents. 

Instead, Elicker proposed that the alternative pathway to addressing housing challenges within the city should be building more affordable housing.

“The instant you put a home for someone on public land, it becomes not public land, it becomes land for that person,” Elicker said. “We don’t believe that is an appropriate strategy or an effective strategy to have a significant impact on affordable housing.”

Elicker noted that the city’s housing stock has increased by 1,900 units in the past four years and that there are currently 3,500 units in the pipeline. He also emphasized the city’s focus on improving inspections and landlord accountability through plans to restructure the city’s Livable City Initiative in order to ensure that the existing housing stock remains “safe and clean.”

The fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in New Haven is around $1,334. However, the average rent currently hovers at around $1,600.

Additionally, Elicker shared that the city’s Board of Alders is currently engaging in a proposal that looks to expand the legal ability of property owners to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, which can effectively serve as miniature homes. Much like “tiny homes,” these ADUs are relatively small in size but comply with state building codes because they will be equipped with a bathroom and a kitchenette. The proposal likely will be voted on sometime in May, according to Elicker.

Elicker also noted other larger-scale efforts that the city has recently engaged in, including the acquisition of hotels that were converted into non-congregate shelters.

Rosette Village is located in the Hill Neighborhood of New Haven.                                                           

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Brennan will start his work as a contracted consultant in late April after stepping down from his position in Hartford. According to New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, Brennan will work on strengthening LCI’s operations, services and engagement with tenants and landlords.

LCI has come under fire in recent years for failing to adequately address tenant complaints, primarily due to an understaffed team.

Earlier this year, Elicker submitted a budget proposal to expand LCI’s staff and funding. If approved, the proposal will add eight new staff positions and create a new Office of Housing and Community Development that focuses on creating new housing throughout the city.

“LCI has taken a lot of really good steps in recent years to improve the work that they are doing,” Elicker told the News. “We’re looking at ways to improve their work further. Part of that is the budget proposal as submitted to the alders … and part of this is bringing on some outside thought partners to assist as well.”

Brennan told the News that Elicker called him at the end of last year to discuss housing issues in the city and invited him to apply for the contract. Brennan said he felt that the mayor was committed to investing in LCI, and when the city opened bids for the consultant contract, he applied. 

According to Elicker, Brennan was the only applicant for the contract but the mayor underscored that he “brings a lot to the table.” 

After spending 10 years working in the Department of Justice, Brennan joined the New Haven Legal Assistance Association, where he worked in the newly created Community and Economic Development unit for one year. During this time, Brennan spoke to many residents who raised complaints about the quality and affordability of the city’s housing stock.

“Those sentiments map onto the data that’s out there about how many people are rent-burdened in New Haven … There was this confluence of … the high-level data and anecdotal experience of people I was interacting with,” Brennan said. 

Roughly half of households in New Haven are cost-burdened, meaning that over 30 percent of their gross income goes towards housing costs. This is among the highest rates of cost-burdened households of any municipality in the state.

These perspectives led Brennan to center his mayoral campaign on the housing crisis in the city. 

Before moving to his job in Hartford mayor’s office as an inspector general, Brennan also served as an executive director of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, where a third of legal cases concerned housing, he said.

In the Democratic mayoral primary last September, Brennan lost to Elicker by more than a 2-to-1 margin. 

“We’ve always had a good relationship despite the fact that we had a competition last year,” Brennan said of Elicker. 

Under the contract, Brennan will be paid at the rate of $100 an hour, with a maximum monthly compensation of $15,000, according to Lenny Speiller, the city director of communications. Over the course of six months, the maximum compensation will be $75,000. 

Brennan commended Elicker’s proposal to add staff members to LCI, including new inspectors and an attorney. He emphasized that the department should explore legal mechanisms to enforce housing codes.  

Staff changes to LCI may also impact different entities within the city.

Laura Brown, the executive director of the City Plan Department, noted that the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals works alongside on housing and enforcement issues.

“Our staff work closely together,” Brown said.

During the project, Brennan will work with city housing employees and research experiences in other municipalities to recommend structural changes to LCI. He said that his advocacy experiences will inform his work for the city, but he will “keep an open mind.”

Brennan said he expects to finish the work by October. He shared that he does not have any plans after his contract with the city ends but will continue to stay engaged with New Haven. 

“New Haven is my home, and I love the city, and the chance to do this here and work with the people who are living in community is really, really exciting,” Brennan said.

The next fiscal year starts on July 1.

The post Former mayoral challenger Liam Brennan contracted by city to reimagine Livable City Initiative appeared first on Yale Daily News.

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.

As the demand for tenant representation continues to rise, property management services play a crucial role in fostering a balance between landlords and tenants, ensuring that both parties have access to fair and transparent processes.

In cities like Miami, property management services, including those offered by Miami Property Management, provide invaluable support for property owners and tenants alike. These services handle everything from rent collection and maintenance to tenant relations and legal matters, ensuring smooth operations and compliance with local laws.

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. 

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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.

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