Ex-Alder Claudia Herrera and current Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith led a team of city officials to the corner of Market and James streets. They approached the abandoned community garden and the adjacent yard littered with trash, and shared their hope that the lots will one day become affordable housi ng. On their way to that corner, they brainstormed new crosswalks, curb extensions, graffiti deterrents, and street lights with the traffic, anti-blight, and police representatives who’d joined them. Herrera, who formerly represented East Rock and Fair Haven’s Ward 9 on the Board of Alders, and Smith, Herrera’s successor, convened the group on a frigid Friday afternoon for the latest in a recurring series of neighborhood walks — part of an ongoing effort to bring more city attention to the northwest corner of Fair Haven. Among the city officials were the Livable City Initiative’s (LCI) Maggie Fernandez (the neighborhood specialist assigned to Fair Haven) and Frank D’Amore (the deputy director of neighborhood and property services), police District Manager Sgt. Chris Alvarado, and Traffic Safety Engineer Dimitris Koutoumbas. Herrera, Fernandez, Alvarado, and D’Amore. When they arrived at James and Market, they found two side-by-side lots separated by a chain-link fence. The two James Street lots. On the left side of the fence, at the corner itself, is an unused lot owned by a Bridgeport resident named Vincent Quinto, whom the Independent was unable to reach for this story. D’Amore wandered around the parcel to examine piles of litter that had accumulated, a violation of the city’s blight code: some cinderblocks, the remnants of a metal bed frame, a tattered middle-grade novel, an array of empty plastic cups and jugs, and a lonely glove. On the other side of the fence is a city-owned lot that, according to Herrera, was once a community garden, but is no longer being tended to. The property is enclosed, with a garden hose and a couple of planters visible through the fence. “The hope is to work with the Land Bank to combine these into one big lot,” explained Smith. The Land Bank could purchase the lot currently owned by Quinto and build affordable housing in its place. (The Land Bank didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for this story.) There’s a lot of “drug activity” on that corner, according to Alvarado. “This would be a good spot for lighting.” Litter on the corner lot. The group also spent time at the triangular island at the intersection of Alton and Monroe, where Herrera said cars frequently park illegally along the diagonal stretch. The illegal parking affects other drivers’ visibility, Herrera said. She said she suspects that those drivers are responsible for much of the persistent litter problem at the triangle, which Herrera has worked for years to help beautify with new trees “One option,” proposed Koutoumbas, ”is to extend the curb.” The city could paint the adjacent part of the the road a similar color to the sidewalk and add delineators, signifying an extending pedestrian area and a no-parking zone. Koutoumbas suggests a curb extension by the triangle. “Having another light shining here” could help, too, Koutoumbas added. He noted that the city will have more funding for traffic safety projects with the rollout of new traffic enforcement cameras that will lead to automatic tickets. He also said he’d mark down the spot for additional traffic enforcement. “That seems like three concrete solutions. That’s great,” commented Smith. Herrera turned to Koutoumbas, a newcomer to the group. “Where have you been hiding?” she asked with a laugh. Meanwhile, Alvarado noted down a couple of houses in the area that Herrera identified as sites of potential drug dealing. Herrera also pointed out what she described as an uptick of graffiti in the area. She led the group to a cluster of industrial buildings along James and Main streets. The team reported this fallen street sign to their colleagues via SeeClickFix. Livable City Initiative Neighborhood Specialist Maggie Fernandez said that she’s begun conversations with nearby property owners about removing graffiti from their properties when warmer weather comes. The cold makes it hard for fresh paint to dry, she explained, while power-washing might lead to unsafe pools of ice on the sidewalk. So she’s reluctant to send out formal citations about graffiti in the wintertime. Herrera asked Alvarado if a cluster of tags on a Main Street fence were gang-related. “This doesn’t look like gangs,” Alvarado said, citing the bubble letter style. He snapped a photo to send to a colleague just to make sure, and soon reported back a similar opinion. Herrera also said that there’s often illegal parking along Main Street, noting one truck parked halfway on the sidewalk. “I think they should raise the sidewalk,” said Alvarado, pointing out the cracked and sloping pavement. “It looks like a driveway.” “Regardless,” said Koutoumbas, “this sidewalk should be fixed.” Koutoumbas said he’d also like to put a crosswalk at the Main and Castle intersection, noting that there’s a childcare center on the corner. Alvarado at the corner identified for a possible crosswalk. Nearby, Fernandez pointed to a newly patched-up roof, explaining that the owner had fixed the holes after she sent him a notice. A trio of squirrels danced between the rooftop and a nearby tree branch. “See? Now they can’t get in there anymore,” Fernandez said. “Sorry, guys!” Fernandez had advocated for this roof to get patched up. Along the way, an affable community cat joined the crew to learn about the nuts and bolts of graffiti removal. Former Alder Herrera and current Alder Smith working together. The post New Housing, More Crosswalks, Less Graffiti Imagined For Fair Haven Blocks appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less