Winter Wonderland

As in, I wonder where my fence is?  and, I wonder where I'm going to put all this snow?

Some of the folks across the street started shoveling at 7 a.m. I didn't. I crawled back in bed, read the news about the Governor asking everyone to stay off the roads, and decided I would probably not be able to do everything I had planned for today.

Eventually I tried going outside. The sun was shining, which was great.

By the time I finally got my boots and coat on, the guys next door had shoveled a path to the street along my sidewalk and through my driveway. After I started shoveling, one of the guys came out to help.

This is the path from the driveway to the front porch. Earlier this winter, I tried shoveling all the way down to the dirt. I gave up on that about three storms ago.

The view down Wood Street. The good thing about all this snow is that neighbors are being even more neighborly than usual. There's a "we're all in this together" attitude.

The impressive thing about the snow in my front yard is that it faces south, so you would think the sun would have melted it down a little. Nope.

My driveway. Just barely wide enough to get my car out. Barely.

There was some hostility expressed when the city plow driver refused requests to plow the common area in back of the row houses, which is understandable since our lives are at risk if the fire engines can't get into the common area because there's so much snow, and it's way too big an area to shovel.

Also, quite frankly, there is absolutely nowhere left for us to pile up the snow. We desperately need the city to bring the heavy equipment and haul away some of the snow piles.

This is the moment I've been waiting for all month. The snow in the back yard is now the same height as the fence!

Snow Pig

The latest creation at MD Auto on North Main Street.

Previous snow sculptures included the New Year's monster and an old-fashioned car (which I didn't get a photo of).

The N-Word

The latest controversy in the Waterbury schools (I say "latest" because it seems like there's a new controversy almost every week) involves the use of the n-word in a play which will be performed at the Waterbury Arts Magnet School. The controversy has reached the notice of The New York Times, which wrote about it in the ArtsBeat blog.

The play in question is August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," the second installment in The Pittsburgh Cycle, which the Pulitzer Prize winning author wrote to chronicle the African-American experience decade by decade. When it opened at the Yale Repertory in 1987 and again on Broadway in 1988, the cast included Angela Bassett, L. Scott Caldwell and Delroy Lindo (who earned a Tony nomination).

Wilson's play uses the language of the early 20th century, because it is a historical drama. Unlike the pop culture stars of today's world, Wilson uses the n-word to remind us (and for kids, to teach them) why this word is so unpleasant and disturbing. Wilson grew up in Pittsburgh and, according to a short biography, he had full experience of being called a nigger by racists who used the word to intimidate and demean him. That racism led him to drop out of high school, choosing instead to study on his own. His use of the n-word in this play is necessary for both historic accuracy and to convey the racism that was rampant at the time.

The average teenager today hears the n-word constantly, in music and in everyday speech. I have overheard young children calling each other niggers, and referring to themselves as niggers. I have heard it used by adults wanting to sound "cool". This is the youth culture today.

I'd much rather have the kids at the Arts Magnet School learn about the history of the word through this play than to continue to use it blindly in everyday speech.

The controversy that has arisen will potentially have some benefit. The kids performing the play are now acutely aware of what a powerfully negative word it is. And they are probably learning a thing or two about censorship in a country that constitutionally protects freedom of speech.

Tryphena McNeil and Some of Waterbury's Gypsies

I've started watching The Riches on Netflix, and one of my first reactions was surprise at the concept of Irish Travelers (similar to Gypsies) in the United States. Then, by coincidence, I came across a reference to Tryphena McNeil, "Queen of the Gypsies," who died in Waterbury in 1915. Two random pieces of information inspired me to do some research, unveiling an often-overlooked part of Waterbury's history.

Tryphena McNeil's daughter, also named Tryphena, was baptized in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church at South River, near New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1901. Then seven years old, Tryphena was conjectured to be the "first gypsy ever baptized in the Episcopal Church" by The New York Times (18 July 1901). Although referred to historically as gypsies, their surname suggests they were travelers. There seems to be ongoing debate among scholars, Travelers and Gypsies as to whether or not their tribes are interconnected in this country.

Tryphena McNeil died at Waterbury Hospital in late April, 1915. Accounts in several newspapers said the McNeils were camped at the Simonsville section of town, while others said the queen died during or after stomach surgery. The Hartford Courant reported on April 28 that all her belongings, including her wagon and silk dresses, were burned in a traditional ceremony in Waterbury. McNeil was buried in Guttenberg, NJ on Memorial Day. She was survived by her husband, King Samuel McNeil, and four daughters. The election of her successor took place in Waterbury.

A funeral service was conducted for Queen Tryphena in Waterbury by Rev. J. N. Lewis, Jr., rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, with about 150 people in attendance. At the close of the service, the "representatives of the different tribes placed beads, combs, brushes, hair pins, jewels, etc. in the coffin" along with two hats.  The Hartford Courant (29 April 1915) described this as a "Romany gypsy" custom allowing the deceased to travel the river Styx in comfort.

The Courant ran a photograph of the funeral, with the coffin open, on May 3. In attendance was Nellie Palmer, aspiring to be the next queen; Sister We-Ha-Ka, representing a tribe of Cherokee affiliated with the McNeil tribe; Tryphena's sons John and Samuel, daughter Tryphena, husband King Samuel McNeil; and chief John Buckland.

On May 9, the Hartford Courant reported that the McNeils spent a lot of time in Waterbury. Their camp "was pitched on the old rye lots in the southern section" of Waterbury. Despite their nomadic life, the McNeils were not poor. Tryphena's estate was said to be valued at $50,000 and included a tract of land in Providence, Rhode Island. She had an estimated $30,000 in cash, which she kept in a guarded chest, not trusting banks (according to the newspaper article). After her death, King Samuel deposited a valise of money at the Waterbury Trust Company (the article claims the bills were so old and worn they had to be exchanged by the U.S. Treasury).

The McNeils were not the only travelers or gypsies to spend time in Waterbury and surrounding towns. Dan DeLuca's book about The Old Leather Man has a great photograph of a "gypsy camp" in Thomaston as well as an excerpt from the Waterbury Daily American (1 March 1877) reporting that "there are gypsies camped in a bend below us" in Woodbury.

The New York Times reported on May 31, 1879 that "For several weeks past a band of gypsies have been hanging about Ansonia, doing an apparently thriving business in horse-trading, fortune-telling, &c." After a complaint was made about a theft that was cleverly woven into a fortune-telling, the goods stolen were returned and "the chief of the gypsy gang paid a round sum to have legal proceedings stopped." The group decamped and set up a new camp a little further south.

In 1922, a gypsy named Mrs. Annie Marino, a resident of Waterbury formerly of Charlestown, Massachusetts, was reportedly robbed of cash, jewelry and gold coins by three men, one of whom, John Arestos, was the godfather of her youngest child (Hartford Courant, 4 Aug 1922). Marino lived at 10 Chatfield Avenue and may have originally come from Portugal (Hartford Courant, 6 Aug 1922).

Also in 1922, on August 5, Waterbury's Health Officer Thomas J. Kilmartin and the Superintendent of Police George M. Beach launched a campaign to ban nomadic gypsies from Waterbury (Hartford Courant, 6 August 1922). Kilmartin and Beach were responding to "numerous complaints" of thefts related to caravans passing through and cited "unsanitary conditions" of stores rented as fortune-telling parlors, the tendency of "ten or fifteen gypsies crowding into one small tenement" and the "lack of proper facilities." Health officials appear to have issued repeated appeals to property owners, asking them to refuse to rent storefronts for use by fortune tellers. The article went on to detail some of the thefts. Frank Denners of New Haven "was stopped on the Middletown road and robbed of $5" by a young woman. James Hanlon, a local grocer, complained that gypsies stole $15 cash from his register and $20 in groceries, canned goods and jellies. The gypsies disappeared into the woods toward Southington. (The Waterbury city directory for 1922 lists a James Hanlan who owned a delicatessen at 370 West Main Street.)

The city's crusade against gypsies continued into November. Frank Martinoff, said to be the "presiding chief" (Hartford Courant, 6 Nov 1922), was given nine hours to leave Waterbury or spend 30 days in jail. Martinoff was "found guilty" of renting a store at 654 South Main Street under false pretenses, claiming that he was going to open a tinware and crockery shop. The landlord paid a visit and "found it swarming with gypsies. Mattresses, blankets, cook stoves, clothing and various other equipment littered the floor." An estimated four families were living in the store. The article quoted Judge William J. Larkin, Jr. as declaring "There'll be no fortune telling in Waterbury. The city has enough detectives to go out and get the necessary evidence and if any complaints are made the entire band will be compelled to leave the city." The Courant estimated that at least 100 gypsies were camping out in stores throughout Waterbury.

Another band of gypsies were warned out of Waterbury in 1923 (Hartford Courant, 19 September 1923). The group numbered about 95 people, traveling in seven cars and two trucks. They were ordered to leave town by Superintendent of Police George Beach after a steward at the Waterbury Country Club complained that he had "almost" lost money to one of the women of the group.

In 1925, Nicholas John, king of some 48 gypsy families throughout the United States, died in the phrenologist parlor he operated at 166 South Riverside Street in Waterbury (Hartford Courant, 6 Feb 1925). John left a will bequeathing an estate worth $10,000 to his wife, Queen Rambunkah, with mention made of his sons George, Wallace and Miller (no mention was made of daughter Tina, Eula and Ruby; the New York Times reported that their mother explained at the reading of the will that daughters never inherit). Funeral ceremonies, attended by representatives from around the country, were held in Waterbury before his burial in Yonkers. The New York Times reported that there were two rival successors, both claiming to be his brothers: Frank Josef, John's second-in-command, and Ritasra Jurka of Yonkers (11 Feb 1925). A third contender, Frank Mitchell of Harlem, claimed to have been duly elected as the new king.

The New York Times followed the story with in-depth analysis on March 15, 1925. According to the Times, a "strong faction of the Serbian tribe" backed Frank Josef to be the new king. A group in Yonkers backed Ritasra Jurka, while Frank Mitchell, "an Americanized gypsy," announced that he had been elected at New York's Palace Casino Theatre. The Times saw the feud between the three would-be kings as a battle between the Old World and the New World. Josef and Jurka were both over 60. They and their followers adhered to the tradition of a three month period of mourning before the new king should be elected. The "Americanized" Mitchell declared himself to have been elected king within days of the old king's death. The final outcome of the dispute does not appear to have been reported in the newspapers, but Mitchell seems to have held onto his title with at least some tribes.

City Hall Re-Dedication

(For photos of what the building looked like before the $32 million restoration and upgrade, see my 2006 blog post. For photos during restoration, see my July 2010 blog post. And if you really have a lot of time to kill, you can click on my City Hall blog label to read all the posts I wrote during the long fight to save this building, and Bryan Baker's blog in November and December 2006 for his efforts during the 2006 struggle.)

Saturday was the re-dedication ceremony and official re-opening of the Municipal Building on Grand Street. Pretty much all the city's political officials attended, including former Mayors Bergin, Santopietro and Caligiuri.

It seemed strange to me for some of the former Mayors, especially Bergin and Santopietro, to be honored at the re-dedication, since it was under their watch that the building was allowed to fall apart. Granted, one cause of the decay was the lack of a proper maintenance plan, which goes back before Bergin. But the building should never have been neglected for so long. I guess it's a symptom of the larger problems. The city suffers from decades of infrastructure neglect, from years of poor management. We're finally moving in the right direction, but I can't help worrying that the building will fall apart again. Waterbury Development Corporation, which did such a magnificent job revitalizing the building, has prepared extensive manuals with instructions on the correct maintenance procedures for the building, but there is no guarantee that future administrations will adhere to the guidelines.

Okay, enough doom and gloom for today. On to the celebration of what has been accomplished!

I missed part of the opening ceremonies, but arrived in time for the flag raising and national anthem.

The ceremony was accompanied by the Fulton American Band.

The crowd filled the entourage (Cass Gilbert's name for the piazza in front of the building), which was created for public gatherings.

The beautiful, painted copper-clad and gilt cupola.

The patriotic and Classical eagles on top of the pilasters on the building's facade.

More of the crowd, listening to the speeches, which included one by Cass Gilbert's great-granddaughter. My favorite part of her speech was her family's motto: "If you're not going to do it right, don't bother."

A few people wandered across the street during the speeches, waiting for their chance to go inside and see the gorgeous building.

Waterbury's visual icon of patriotism, Ziggy, arrived toward the end of the speeches.

It took at least ten minutes for everyone to get through the entrance.

Complimentary cookies, hot cocoa and sandwiches were served by Café B-Muse (open weekdays for lunch at the Mattatuck Museum). The first and second floors were pack with people. It's probably the one time when there will be a line of people eagerly and joyfully waiting to enter the Tax Collectors office.

A few people resting on the railing overlooking the grand staircase.

The Veteran's Memorial Chamber. There is a supply of folding chairs and tables that get set up in this room as needed for various meetings.

The clock and stencils over the entrance to the Veteran's Memorial Chamber.

Mayor Jarjura outside the entrance to the Mayoral suite of offices.

Happy people in the Aldermanic Chamber. Larry Depillo (seen posing with outspoken activist Lisa Lessard) fought the restoration of the building tooth and nail every step of the way. I hope he now puts his energy into ensuring that the building will be properly maintained going forward.

The Chase Building across the street, seen from the original Mayor's Office. It's next in line for a maintenance overhaul, but so far Mayor Jarjura has said its restoration needs to wait indefinitely.

The architecture is so graceful, with so many places that lend themselves to beautiful compositions.

Tom Chute was present, broadcasting the event on WATR 1320.

The entourage without the crowd. The fountain is now, after decades, in working order, but is turned off for the winter.

There is one more celebratory event scheduled, a gala on January 8. You can register for the gala on the special City Hall website, or by calling the Mattatuck Museum (203-753-0381).

Snow Beast

I saw this on my way home tonight, while stopped at the light on North Main and East/West Farm Streets--a giant snow monster, decorated with red spray paint, with "Happy New Year" painted on the side.

Seasonal Images

Here's a batch of festive photos for you. Merry Christmas!

Downtown Waterbury, starting with The Green.

The Lombard Building is decked out this year, with Christmas music playing outside.

The Dunkin' Donuts in the Apothecaries Building always has a nice window painting. The rest of the building, in case you haven't been downtown lately, is being completely renovated for upscale apartments.

A new downtown Bank Street business, Something New, Something Old, did a fantastic window decoration.

Tony's Men's Shop, always elegantly decorated. If only men dressed this well every day!

A few of the trees inside Howland-Hughes.

Lamp post decorations on Bank Street.

There are a lot of houses decked out with lights everywhere in Waterbury. There are a couple of triple-deckers on Wood Street with all three porches decorated. The most spectacular display I've seen is over by Hamilton Park. They had the decorations (on the house and filling the front yard) set up immediately after Halloween.

And, finally, a reminder that the freezing cold temperatures have a purposed--without the cold, we wouldn't have the beauty of frost on windows!

City Hall Building

I volunteered to give a couple of tours of the dazzling newly-restored and updated city hall building today. An older couple on one of my tours came to this country (and Waterbury) many decades ago. Their parting comment to me was to express delight at finally seeing an appreciation of history and historic architecture equal to that of Europe. They know times are hard, and likely to get harder, but seeing such a magnificent building restored to its glory warms their hearts and lifts their spirits.

There is talk about plans to do more tours in the coming months--keep an eye on waterburycityhall.com for notification when that's finalized.

In the meantime, you can get a look at the building at the rededication ceremony at noon on January 1st, and watch a couple of sneak-peeks below thanks to videos made by the Republican-American newspaper.

Aldermanic Vacancy

I've stayed away from this topic until now. I figured it would best be handled by the Republican Town Committee and other Waterbury Republicans, since they are the ones most immediately and directly impacted by this (I'm a Democrat). Republican Bryan Baker has been addressing the issue on Facebook and in a recent blog post. The responses from the Mayor (on Facebook and in today's newspaper) have been disheartening and even repugnant.

It has been more than three months since Alderman Paul V. Ciochetti resigned from the Board of Aldermen, and Mayor Jarjura is in no hurry to name his replacement. The tipping point for me was a Brass Tack in today's Republican American newspaper. Mayor Jarjura was quoted as saying that fourteen aldermen (instead of the full fifteen) is "more than enough" and that only a "few self-interested parties" want a fifteenth alderman. This is outrageous.

The Mayor is the only person with the authority to name a replacement for Alderman Ciochetti. This gives him the full weight of responsibility to the voters and a tremendous amount of power. By dawdling and avoiding his responsibility, he is creating a dangerous precedent and a tremendous amount of animosity and distrust.

If Ciochetti had been a Democrat, a member of the same party as the Mayor, would he have taken this long to replace him? No need to wonder--just look back to 2008. Sandra Ramirez resigned from the Board of Aldermen late in March 2008. The vacancy was filled in June 2008.

Although the newspaper quoted Jarjura in a way that suggests he has no particular intention to appoint a fifteenth alderman, he wrote on his Facebook page (in response to Bryan Baker asking when the seat would be filled) that "I plan to fill the vacancy after the first of the year." No specific time next year, just some time next year, with no reason for the delay given. This is pathetic and disturbingly lackadaisical. If I were a Republican, I would be furious. As an American and a Democrat, I am disturbed and concerned.


Mayor Jarjura is showing a total disregard and a huge amount of disrespect towards the voters. There are a couple of highly qualified young Republicans who would be excellent Aldermen and who would do a good job of representing their constituents. Since our Aldermen are all at large, not by district, their constituents include all the citizens of Waterbury - Republican, Democrat, Independent and Unaffiliated. By not appointing the fifteenth aldermen, Mayor Jarjura is disrespecting all the voters.

We need every single one of our Aldermen, not however many the Mayor has decided we need. He has a sworn duty to uphold the city charter. His comments in today's newspaper display a total disregard for the charter--if he feels like he can snub his nose at the mandated number of aldermen, what other parts of the charter does he feel like he can ignore?


His quote in the newspaper suggests that he doesn't think he needs to appoint a fifteenth alderman because only a "few self-interested parties" have been telling him to do so. That's no way to run a government. How often does anyone tell him to obey the law? Probably very infrequently, but he is still presumably a law-abiding citizen. 

How does he define "self-interested"? As I understand it, the Republican Town Committee gave him several names to choose from.  Does that make them self-interested? It's the Republican Town Committee's duty to make sure they retain their duly-elected representation in the city government. They are also representing the interests of their constituents. Maybe the Mayor has forgotten that he, too, represents the interests of all of Waterbury's citizens, no matter what their party affiliation (or lack thereof).


Mayor Jarjura has a responsibility to appoint a fifteenth aldermen. By shirking his duty, he is presenting an image of himself as an irresponsible and disrespectful leader. Has he considered that there are several reasons why there hasn't been as much of a clamor for a fifteenth alderman? At first, I think most people assumed there was no need to nag him, because he would of course fulfill his obligation to the voters. Then there was an assumption that he was waiting for the elections to pass--Jason Van Stone, as pointed out in Baker's blog, was almost elected to the Board of Aldermen last year, losing by a mere 91 votes. Van Stone is a likely contender for the vacated seat, but he was running for state office this fall. It made sense to assume that Jarjura was waiting to see if Van Stone won that election before appointing him to the Board of Aldermen. The election came and went, and there still was no appointment. Then, sadly, Mayor Jarjura's father passed away. Naturally, no one was going to nag him about the vacant seat on the Board of Aldermen while he was in mourning. Many people figured he should be allowed some breathing room, that he would get back to work and appoint the fifteenth alderman within a couple weeks. Now those couple of weeks and many more have passed without an appointment. Instead, we've been "treated" to disrespect bordering on abuse of power.

I'm left wondering why the Mayor has decided to wait until next year to select a new Alderman. The only conjectured reason I've heard that seems like a possibility is a little bit devious and underhanded. If a Democrat switches parties and becomes a Republican, how long is the waiting period before that new Republican can be appointed as such to the Board of Alderman? I have no idea, but it's one of the suppositions that is floating around town. Since Mayor Jarjura has not bothered to show us a little courtesy and explain the delay (other than he doesn't think it's important to fill the vacancy), we're left with rumor and conjecture.


I've written and said many times that most of the city's elected officials don't care about my neighborhood. Now I begin to see that certain elected officials are so extremely self-interested that they don't care about anyone other than themselves and their yes-men. I hope that Jarjura sticks to what he has promised and does not run for Mayor again--his ego is getting way too big.

City Taxes

While doing some research on Waterbury's industrial history, I came across an interesting tidbit of information in Volume I of Pape's History of Waterbury (1918). In 1905, the widow of Augustus Sabin Chase purchased land to create a park in memory of her husband. She donated the park to the city, which led (somehow, not explained by Pape) to a charter amendment "providing for an annual tax for park purposes of one quarter of a mill passed the General Assembly and became a law operative for 1906."

Furthermore, "The appropriation under the new tax brought about rapid improvements particularly at Hamilton Park. Boats were placed on the lake for the first time. Flower beds were laid out, trees were set out, and work was begun on the swimming pool and on the athletic field."

An abundance of park improvements followed over the next few years. A playground was created at Locust and Walnut Streets, the Green was given new soil and seeded with grass, a marsh at Hamilton Park was turned into a lake and a baseball field and lawn tennis courts were laid out. By 1913, Hamilton Park "had become the great breathing place of the city."

I don't know what happened with the park department budget. I can see that they are woefully underfunded, but I don't know if they are still budgeted for a quarter of a mill.

[UPDATE: Since posting this, I've been informed that a quarter of a mill in Waterbury is currently about $1.25 million and that the Waterbury park department operating budget is about $2.1 million. For comparison, the New York City park department operating budget in 2008 was $340 million, while Central Park alone has an operating budget of about $20 million; Lincoln, Nebraska (with a population of about 251,000) has a park operating budget of $11.35 million for its 6000 acres of parks and open space; Lowell, Massachusetts (population of about 104,000) had a park department budget of $2.7 million in 2009.]

If city taxpayers were told that the mill rate was to be increased by a quarter of a mill in order to pay for improvements to the parks, I think they would be happy about that. In fact, the same is probably true for any city service--when we're told the mill rate is going up in order to maintain the status quo, taxpayers rightfully get upset. We're being asked to pay more without getting more, which is hard to stomach when we're not getting enough as it is. But if we were told that the mill rate is going up in order to pay for desired additional city services (like good sidewalks, better enforcement of anti-blight and anti-litter laws, improved parks), I think most taxpayers would be willing to make that sacrifice (assuming they can afford it!).

Details

There was a bad fire Monday night, reported in today's Rep-Am. Since the fire happened just down the street from me, I'm very aware of the details. Reading the article in today's paper reminded me of just how unreliable a newspaper account can be. I'll start with reprinting the key portion of the article as it ran in the paper, then correct a few details and add a somewhat important angle that was left out.

City firefighters stop blaze from spreading

Row house residents displaced

BY LAURESHA XHIHANI

REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY — Five peo­ple were displaced after a fire damaged their Wood Street home early Tuesday.

Deputy Fire Chief Rick Hart said the fire, reported at 12:30 a.m., started in the base­ment and spread to the first floor of a row house at 255 Wood St.

[Deleted for copyright reasons]

One man living in the base­ment got out on his own, be­fore firefighters arrived. Another person living in the first floor was not home at the time of the fire.

[Deleted for copyright reasons]

Okay, first of all, the fire was at 225 Wood Street, not 255 Wood Street. I find it interesting that the article states the fire was reported at 12:30 a.m., since the fire engines and police cars arrived at about 11:45 p.m. At 12:15 a.m., I was standing outside watching the firefighters put out the blaze. By 12:30 a.m., the fire was under control and almost completely extinguished.

It's also interesting to see the differences between rumors and official stories (this is getting away from the article). During the fire, word spread quickly that the fire started in the basement (confirmed in this article). By the next day, the word in the community was that the man living in the  basement was smoking crack, fell asleep, and his still-lit crack pipe set his mattress on fire. Today the word in the community is that the fire marshal has determined that the fire was started by a cigarette accidentally starting a mattress fire. So, same basic cause, just a difference in what the guy was smoking.

Now for the important angle that was only barely hinted at in the newspaper article: the Scovill row homes are single-family houses.  225 Wood Street, owned by Anthony and Lucy Karanja, has been illegally subdivided into three apartments, one per floor. This is a typical slumlord sort of thing to do and, indeed, the property has been a source of problems for the community, as you would expect from any property owned by a slumlord. I don't know if the Karanjas were the ones who subdivided the house--they purchased it in 2008 from Susan Stell, who in turn purchased it in 2005 from the estate of Mildred Pinchbeck. Mrs. Pinchbeck is fondly remembered in the neighborhood and took good care of the house, which was her home. It's sad that her home has fallen into the hands of slumlords.

In addition to operating an illegal apartment house (one man rented out the basement, another man rented out the first floor, and a woman with two little children rented out the top floor), the Karanjas appear to be delinquent in paying their taxes on the property and are in the process of selling the house--there is a sale pending realtor sign outside the house.

Another element to the story, which was completely left out of the article, is the functionality of the fire hydrants. According to one witness, the firefighters had trouble getting enough water pressure from the hydrants and may not have been able to use the first hydrant they tried. There is no official report about this, just the eyewitness account. From what I saw (I didn't go outside until about 20-30 minutes after the fire engines arrived), it did seem like it took a while for them to get the hoses running.

In response to the fire, the Scovill Homes Association is going to see if we can get some fire safety information for residents. We're also going to work on creating a fire lane between the houses on Wood and Ives Streets to make it easier for the firefighters to get to the backs of the houses (where they have the best access to the basements).

Rell Responds

Well, she sort of responds. I was so upset about the proposal to shut down the Waterbury train line, I wrote the following email to Governor Rell and the local CT delegation:

Governor Rell has proposed shutting down the Metro-North branch lines to Waterbury, Danbury and New Canaan. I am strongly against this proposal. The branch lines are a fundamental necessity. The state should be spending more money to improve the service on the branch lines and promoting commuter ridership, which would reduce traffic congestion on the highways.

For the past two years, I was a regular commuter from Waterbury to New York City. I was completely dependent on the branch line. Without the Waterbury train, there is no way I would have been able to keep my job—I either would have had to quit or I would have been fired.

If the Waterbury branch line is shut down, the only way to get to the main line is to drive to Bridgeport. This would increase the morning commute time for anyone leaving from Waterbury, since there is almost always a traffic backup on Route 8 near Derby. This would also nearly double the cost of the commute to New York City, from about $350 a month to more than $600 a month. When I was commuting to NYC, I was just barely able to afford $350 a month. There is no way I would have been able to afford to drive to Bridgeport. Driving all the way to NYC is even more expensive and time-consuming.

Shutting down the branch line will create a severe hardship for the people who commute from Waterbury to New York or Stamford. Some of the commuters might end up losing their jobs if the branch lines are closed—which will increase the number of people who need the heating assistance.

The Waterbury train line is also used by college students traveling to their campus in Bridgeport. It is used by patients who receive regular medical treatment in Bridgeport. It is used by workers whose jobs are in Bridgeport.

The job market in Waterbury is dead. Job placement specialists are advising those of us who have been laid off to seek jobs in Stamford, New York, New Haven and Hartford. Shutting down the branch lines removes our ability to find employment in some of the few places left where companies are hiring.

I immediately received an auto-reply thanking me for my interest. This afternoon I received a real reply, but it wasn't from Rell herself, it was from her assistant:

Dear Ms. Guest:

Thank you for your correspondence to Governor Rell regarding rail funding. The Governor truly appreciates the time you took to write to her office. Please accept this response on the Governor’s behalf.

Governor Rell does not approve or support cuts to the Metro-North branch lines – Danbury, Waterbury or New Canaan. The list of cuts was prepared by the Office of Policy and Management as a menu of options for the Legislature to consider as a way to fill a funding hole in the winter home heating assistance program for seniors and low-income families. The Governor has worked too hard and too long to ensure that Connecticut’s transportation system is upgraded and continues to move forward. Governor Rell is committed to commuter rail and will continue to advocate for it until she leaves office.

Thank you again for sharing your comments and concerns with Governor Rell and do not hesitate to contact our office in the future.

Sincerely,

Linda Sandiaes

Staff Assistant

Office of Governor M. Jodi Rell

I like how Rell has swiftly distanced herself from the proposal, even though she was the one who submitted it. Last week, she was content to take credit for the proposed budget cut (along with proposed cuts to other essential items including school bus transportation and the CT Commission on Culture and Tourism). This week she claims that she had nothing to do with the proposal, it was someone else's fault.

I also had very nice email responses from Anthony D'Amelio and Selim Noujaim. D'Amelio assured me that the Waterbury delegation would be speaking to Governor Rell about the issue later this week, while Noujaim wrote that he was appalled by the proposal and will be fighting it "tooth and nail."

Congressman Chris Murphy was also upset by the proposal to shut down the branch lines and held a press conference at the Waterbury station this afternoon, right before he had to leave for D.C.

A full complement of news media was present, as were quite a few supporters of the train line--Reggie Beamon, Peter Dorpalen, Peter Marcuse, Main Street Waterbury, Waterbury Development Corporation, Mayor Jarjura, Alderman Pernerewski, and State Senator Joan Hartley (who sent me an email just as I was finishing this blog post, letting me know she spoke at the press conference today). I was there mainly to represent the commuters who are dependent on the train (the upside of being laid off--I've got plenty of free time!).

I chatted briefly with Congressman Murphy before the formal event began. It was gratifying to have a chance to point at the old abandoned SNET building (now owned by the state) while explaining that tearing it down would reduce the number of car break-ins, and to point to the security cameras and explain that their video feed really should be going to the Waterbury Police Department, not just to the MTA in New York.

It's a long, slow process, but if we keep fighting, we'll keep seeing improvements.

Rell's Parting Proposal

I'm having another Homer Simpson moment today, feeling reduced to gibberish because I've been confronted with something so absurd and outrageous I can't get my words out fast enough in response.

Governor Rell, in her final days in office, has proposed shutting down the Metro-North branch lines to Waterbury, Danbury and New Canaan, reallocating the branch lines' $5 million state budget for the Low-Income Home Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This comes a year after she proudly spent $60 million (mostly federal money) to upgrade the Danbury line.

Adding to the absurdity of the proposal is the information (in today's Rep-Am), that the Department of Social Services has reported a $70 million balance in the LIHEAP fund, which suggests that it doesn't need the $5 million from the branch lines.

The bulk of the absurdity is the concept that shutting down the branch lines would be a good idea. Connecticut has close to the highest unemployment rate in the region. The Metro-North branch lines take commuters from places where there are almost no jobs (like Waterbury) to jobs in Stamford and New York City. I spent the past two years working in New York City while living in Waterbury, and my ability to retain that job was completely dependent upon the existence of the branch line. My train pass cost me approximately $350 a month. Parking in Waterbury is free (and I learned to park my car at the entrance to the station, where it can be seen from the road; cars that park near the platform are hidden from the road by an abandoned building, which the state refuses to demolish; the parking spaces hidden by the abandoned building are nearly always full of broken glass from thieves breaking into the cars parked there; Metro-North installed security cameras, after which the break-ins stopped briefly--but then the thieves apparently figured out that the video footage goes to NYC and is not available to the Waterbury police, who would actually be able to identify the thieves).

The downside to taking the train from Waterbury is the limited schedule of six trains each way per day. I tried driving to the main line, parking in Bridgeport, but this was obviously a bad idea. The difference in the fares is negligible--I'd save $19 a month in the train fare leaving from Bridgeport instead of Waterbury. But then you have to add in the cost of driving the 33 miles twice a day between Waterbury and Bridgeport (330 miles a week), plus the cost of parking in Bridgeport, which is not free (I don't know the monthly rate, but the daily rate is $6, so it's safe to estimate at least $100 per month). To sum that up, taking the train from Waterbury to NYC costs about $350 a month. Driving to Bridgeport and taking the train from there costs over $600 a month.

In addition to the cost of driving to the main line, there is also the danger and the hassle. Route 8 can be relied upon to have a massive traffic backup as you approach Ansonia/Derby, adding at least 20 minutes to the morning travel time. Shut down the Waterbury line, and there will be an increase to the number of vehicles traveling on Route 8 in the morning. At night, traffic jams are less likely on Route 8, but after a very long, exhausting day, the chances that I will be in a car accident are higher. When I take the train, I don't have to worry about getting into an accident.

Another alternative to driving is taking a bus. I looked into taking the bus, but that's even more expensive than driving to Bridgeport and taking the train from there. And the bus line is also subject to traffic delays, which the train is not.

I'm rambling a bit here, but I want to clarify that shutting down the branch line will create a severe hardship for the people who commute from Waterbury to New York or Stamford. Some of the commuters might end up losing their jobs if the branch line is closed (and might then increase the number of people who need the heating assistance!).

The Waterbury train line is also used by college students traveling to their campus in Bridgeport. It is used by patients who receive regular medical treatment in Bridgeport. It is used by workers whose jobs are in Bridgeport.

The job market in Waterbury is dead. Job placement specialists are advising those of us who have been laid off to seek jobs in Stamford, New York, New Haven and Hartford. Shutting down the branch lines removes our ability to find employment in some of the few places left where companies are hiring.

Justine Chase

Justine Whittemore Chase (born in 1906) was a daughter of Waterbury's Frederick Starkweather Chase and Elsie Rowland Chase--the same Chase family that founded and owned Chase Brass & Copper. Fred Chase and his large family lived at 165 Grove Street with eight servants (as listed in the 1910 and 1920 Census Records). The family also had a home overlooking Lake Quassapaug in Middlebury. A portrait of Justine's sister, Frederika, is at the Mattatuck Museum.

A few years ago, I picked up a memoir Justine Chase published in 1988, A World Remembered, at John Bale Books. Many of the illustrations were paintings by her mother, Elsie Rowland Chase. It's a lovely little book, with a very nice blurb by May Sarton, one of my favorite authors, on the back cover.

Justine Chase, from the little I can glean (mostly from the book's dust jacket), had a fascinating life. Her poetry was published in the Atlantic Monthly, she collaborated on several plays, and held leading roles in several Broadway plays including Kind Lady. When that play was produced as a film starring Basil Rathbone, Chase appeared as his wife Ada.

Justine Chase as Ada, in Kind Lady (1935)

The movie can be watched on YouTube, broken into nine segments. Chase first appears about seven minutes into the third segment (embedded below), playing the supposedly ailing wife of Rathbone's con artist role.



Chase moved to England after World War II.

A Little Bit of Excitement

I was (and am) sitting at my desk in my home office just now, researching the history of Chase Collegiate School, when I heard a noise at the window. The cat sleeping next to me heard the noise too, and boy did he wake up fast! The noise was being made by a White-Breasted Nuthatch, a regular visitor to my birdfeeder, but one of the more difficult birds for me to photograph. He moves quickly when he's at the feeder, and tends to stay on the far side of the feeder. But now, after months of trying to photograph him, here he is, posing sweetly for me.

He must be feeling extra brave today, because he stuck around for a full minute. Maybe he couldn't see well through the window. He seems completely indifferent to my cat, who was so excited to be this close to a bird.

Below us, I noticed the Mourning Dove hanging out in her usual spot on the branches. I've never seen a dove try to eat at the bird feeder, but there's almost always a dove hanging out while the smaller birds feed. There's a Blue Jay, also large, that swoops in, grabs a sunflower seed, then flies back to a tree branch to crack it open and eat it. I'm not sure what the doves do. Maybe pick up discarded seeds that fall on the ground?

After I photographed the dove, I realized there was someone on the ground also staring at her (not one of my cats).

I've been trying to buy one of those seed-shaped bells for my other birdfeeder, which I keep just outside the dining room window, but the stores don't seem to be carrying them. But I guess everyone is happy with the sunflower seed feeder!

Missed a Spot!

Last month, the city finally sent a crew over to my neighborhood to repair our crumbling sidewalks. We've been requesting this for years, so we were happy to finally get a result. But it turns out that it wasn't much of a result. The first bit of disappointment was learning that the city would be slapping a  layer of asphalt over the sidewalks--if we're lucky, this will last five, maybe ten years before it needs to be redone. There's a section of asphalt sidewalk that was put in on Long Hill Road after a washout in 2008, and it looks like it won't last another winter, already bubbling up, cracking and otherwise showing that it is just about ready to be washed away again. Slapping a layer of asphalt on sidewalks is ultimately a waste of money. Carefully laid-out, professionally installed concrete sidewalks last decades. They are more expensive in the short run, but significantly less expensive over the long term.

We weren't pleased to be getting asphalt instead of concrete, but we figured it was better than nothing, would improve public safety, and would help us in our efforts to improve our neighborhood. Our next disappointment came when we realized that the city was not going to do a thorough job. Not every stretch of sidewalk needed to be repaved, but they completely missed numerous sections that are a wreck. The other week, I watched a small child ride his tricycle along the new sidewalk on Carpmill, but when he got to Wood Street, where the sidewalk was a disaster, he switched to riding in the street.

Here are a few examples of sidewalk that should have been patched but weren't. There are a lot more sections, some of which are far worse than these.