Well, honeybunch, in jest a few days the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” immortalized by Nat King Cole soooooo many years ago, will be a fond memory. The Autumnal Equinox is upon us, and that means in a very little white trees will start changing colors and the air will git jest a bit brisker each morning. The days are definitely getting shorter as Cobina is waking up in the dark every ayem, and trudging her way to morning ablutions. But, we’re told summer is gonna give on last blast, and then there is Indian Summer to look forward to in the short term. Still, it’s hard to believe the year is coming into the final quarter. Before yew know it, the decorations will be out for the Jolly Ole Elf.
We’re getting close. Already the various emporiums are displaying their costumes for Halloween, and we are only in the middle of September. Tempus does fugit, but retailers make things go faster, it seems.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea things are getting back to the normalcy we see during the academic year. We’ve mused about that before. The kids are ensconced, happily or not, in the classrooms, and the normal rhythm is settling in. Paving is going on all over town, with crews trying to git things accomplished before any semblance of cold comes. And, a lotta the streets that have not seen a fresh coat of asphalt since the Clinton years have been spruced up.
But another thing took place that go Cobina’s attention. We wuz rousting about in the gassamobuggy t’other day when we happened upon Steven Avenue. We go that route sometimes, and it is one of those places in the berg, where people have consistently dumped trash, making the place a mess. And, we ain’t talkin’ little stuff. Couches, other furniture and just boxes of stuff were dumped there. The neighborhood has looked for relief for years.
The DPW has cleaned up the site on various occasions, but it seemed jest as fast as they got it picked up, people would start the cycle all over again. Well, no longer. When cruising the area the other day a shiny new chain link fence was installed along the entire length of the street from the thruway overpass to the corner, making it impossible for the dumpers to do their thing. Good!! One less place for people to make the city a mess. Now if something could be done about Marginal Drive…
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We see that Steven Mullins has got hisself on the ballot again, this time as a member of the Independent Party. As they used to say, TST, there’s a story there. Mullins used to be a pillar of the city’s ever-diminishing Republican Party, and even ran for the mayoral nomination two years ago, against Paige Weinstein and Barry Cohen. Cohen, who had almost beat Nancy Rossi two years earlier, got the nod with Steve coming in second.
But, as has been the case in that party, there was tension, and there still is to a certain extent. Mullins was treated rather badly as if he caused the loss that happened in November. What really happened is the endorsed candidate, Weinstein, was an unknown with a war chest. That didn’t help.
What happened later is the stuff of lore. Mullins determined the current GOP ain’t what he was lookin’ for and resigned from the party. Soooo, now he is running as an independent. What are his chances. Who knows? The last couple of elections people who were thought to be automatically on the short end of the vote, were elected. So, we shall see.
Meanwhile, the GOP seems to be limping along with a partial slate of candidates and nobody at the top of the ticket. One wonders if things are ever gonna change. Not in the short term, that’s for sure.
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Speaking of campaigns, Sammy Bluejay tells Cobina that there is jest a bit of angst on the Demmie side as we head into the campaign for city offices. As you know, Herronner is gonna be running unopposed, and whilst that would be considered a good thing in some respects, in others, not so much.
Y’see, unopposed candidates, especially on the top of the ticket, mean that voter excitement will be a bit cooler than usual. Shoe-ins seldom bring out big votes. A low turnout will not hurt the top of the ticket, but the under ticket could be affected. Therein is the angst.
Low turnouts favor upset wins, and the current council distribution could be affected with the candidates of the two other parties having a better chance than normal of winning. It used to be said a rainy day was bad for Democrats. Same is true effen the Demmies have an unopposed candidate.
A council that has several members from other parties could be a hindrance to the mayoral program in the next term, hence the Demmies right now are trying to figger out how to keep voter turnout – and excitement – up for this go round. We shall see, but we understand where the concern is coming from. We’ve seen how these things affect the result in the past.
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When last we corresponded, there was talk of the demolition of the Debonair Motel being a matter of days or hours. Well, here we are two weeks later, and at this writing, anyway, the building is still intact. Iva Lootey was here t’other afternoon and we were discussing it. That building has lain fallow for quite some time, methinks a decade or more. When they do decide to tear it down, it’s gonna be interesting – and a bit scary – to see what critters are using the place as a domicile.
Cobina has visions of several types of critters finding new digs in the neighborhood once the wreckers start razing the structure. Let’s hope it’s not so bad, but one never knows, does one?
Iva and I were talking about the old place, and how about two decades ago, it really tried to become a more upscale place, and hosted many an event in the main dining room. But it’s hard when you’ve got a motel set up. Once that building is razed and the area cleared, we hear condominiums are in the offing. That will be the last real property to be knocked down and rebuilt.
The only other one is the former Captain’s Galley site. That now is seven feet or more below the reconstructed Beach Street, and we hear that there are some whispers about something going into the area. We shall see. That is an area that has seen many of the building along Third Avenue Extension taken down because of the flooding. Maybe somebody has an idea about getting business back up there. Still, isn’t the land owned by someone else? That seems to be part of the problem.
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The Wag happened by t’other day and noted that the former Forest School cum Allingtown Library building along Forest Road has now been annexed by the University of New Haven for class space. It has a new name, Allingtown Hall. That means that for all intents and purposes, UNH has use of all of the Allingtown Center – and a good thing. The revitalization of that area, through Dave Beckerman over the years, has become a rather comely entrance into the city. We all remember what it looked like before.
Now, if someone could figger out what to do with the former Forest Theater parcels the entire area will be complete. And, like we said, when we remember what it was, ‘tis quite an improvement. The only we need now is a final determination on the Allingtown Library, and where its new digs will be. It’s been more than five years now since the place was closed. It’s high time some movement was made on getting the branch back up and running.
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I haven’t mentioned this in a while, so it’s high time I do. The former “Haven” property is still being overrun by Mother Nature whilst providing a nice view of the harbor. Still, whilst the views are nice, there seems to be no movement as to whether something is happening over there.
It’s been 11 looooong years since the Haven project was announced, and 28 years since the “Water Street Project” was given a big fanfare announcement. Needless to say, nothing has happened since. This is not good for the neighborhood, and certainly ain’t good for the city. One wonders if anything is going on, or if the developers are just hoping the land will somehow fall into the harbor.
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Finally, Nelly Nuthatch perched on the sill recently and sez that she got a look at the members of the constabulary at a local eatery one morning and was wondering jest how young they were. As we git older people look younger than they are, she realized, but the guys fillin’ out the uniforms looked jest this side of high school graduates, though we know they like a college degree these days.
The WHPD is on a youth movement, I guess, and with the new pension packages they receive, maybe they’ll stick around until they hit the dread age of…. 30.
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With the bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez