Middletown State Rep. Quentin "Q" Williams killed in wrong-way crash on Rt 9

One of Middletown's bright lights has been extinguished. State Rep. Quentin Williams (formerly Phipps) was killed when his car was struck by a wrong-way driver as he returned from Gov. Lamont's Inaugural Ball. Williams and the wrong-way driver, Kimede Mustafaj of Manchester, were both pronounced dead on the scene. 

https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/middlesex-county/cromwell/wrong-way-crash-investigation-cromwell-route-9-connecticut/520-92dbf19a-8bc5-4fc1-a1fc-0ef3aa57384b

Per State Senator Matt Lesser, there will be a vigil for Quentin Williams Friday night on the South Green. 

"First Thursdays" Start in Middletown's "NoRA" Neighborhood

Click pics to enlarge

With the slogan "It's All Good In the Hood", three businesses on the very north end of Main Street are inviting everyone to "come hang out in the neighborhood."

Last night, Eli Cannon's Tap Room, NoRA Cupcake Company, and Krust Pizza Bar kicked off what they expect to be a monthly event.  So far, so good.

"We started planning this a week ago, and it just blew up on social media" said Carrie Carella, owner of the wildly successful cupcakery.

"NoRA"--meaning north of Rapallo Avenue--was coined by Eli's owner Phil Oullette to help promote the district.  Combining food and drink specials, along with a "pop-up market" at the cupcake shop, all three businesses were hopping last night.  Eli's and Krust offered an "East Coast vs. West Coast" tap takeover, with Eli's featuring Sierra Nevada beers and barley wine from the left coast, and Krust throwing down with Brooklyn Brewery.  Carella has developed connections with a variety of businesses and artisans at various farmer's markets where her cupcake truck is a regular feature.  They offered jewelry, tea, beauty products, hand printed goods and more while a DJ spun beats.

Rory Gale of Hartford Prints said "I feel like Hartford and Middletown need to be more connected.  There's the same level of vibrancy, so much going on here."

Eli's was doing it's usual brisk business, and Krust was stuffed.  Probably a good thing they're expanding into the space next door.

Carella said next month she hopes to include even more of the neighborhood in the planning.  There may be a theme of all-Connecticut produced food, beer and goods, but nothing's decided yet.

Around Middletown in 80 Days: Day 33

Explore the Widest Main Street in America

Come take a stroll down Main Street, Middletown and celebrate the widest main street in America! The recent "Renaissance" in Middletown has created a thriving cultural environment in our downtown, giving our town both charm and appeal. Among locations to explore are numerous shops (from toy stores to jewelers to Ecuadorian gift shops), or dine at our extensive array of restaurants (from Thai cuisine to Italian cuisine to Mexican cuisine and more), or relax at a cafe, or visit an art gallery. The possibilities are endless! Discover the wealth of culture and excitement that Middletown has to offer and as always, keep your eyes peeled for Phileas Fogg.

A more complete listing of Middletown Business' can be found at:
http://www.middletowndowntown.com/default.asp

Now you see it, Now you don't!

Anyone recognize the scene in this picture? I was so excited to see this completely blank wall this evening, that I drove back around to take a photo just for you.

Need a hint? Here's what it looked like before.



That's right! After 11 months, the graffiti on Hartford Avenue has been cleaned off. It took the combined actions of the Mayor's office, the Downtown Business District, the Police and the Department of Public Works -- but eventually, the state Department of Transportation came and painted it over.

Perhaps there are cynics among our readers who think it's easy to get rid of graffiti, or that it doesn't matter since it might just get tagged again tomorrow. But -- and you can hum America the Beautiful here -- I'm glad to live in a town where people care enough to stick with the messy, boring work of getting this stuff done. So here's my public thank you to Billy Russo, Mayor Seb, Marie Kalita Leary, Karen Atwell, Police Chief Baldoni and even Mr. Spitola of the D.O.T.

To me, it's a sign that we might just be tenacious to make this whole thing work. We just have to stick with it. There's certainly plenty of other graffiti in town for us to practice on!

Special Exception for a New Nightclub

UPDATE ON THURSDAY, JULY 24: Last night, the PZC voted to approve the special exception to open a nightclub, with the conditions that were recommended by the Planning department (see below).


Tonight the Planning and Zoning Commission will consider an application for a Special Exception to create a nightclub on the second floor at 106-110 Court Street, between Main Street and DeKoven Drive. The applicant, Ted Tine, is planning to operate a seafood restaurant on the first floor, and is proposing what he calls a "jazz lounge" on the second floor.

Students of our local zoning code will know that "restaurants" are permitted outright in our downtown (the B-1 zone). Some of our downtown restaurants also have a lively bar and have musical entertainment -- but as long as they offer a full menu, they still count as restaurants. But when there is more focus on the alcohol & entertainment than on the food, that becomes a "nightclub". Middletown used to permit nightclubs in the downtown without any restrictions. But, the PZC changed that in 1994, and they now require any new nightclubs to receive a "Special Exception" before they can open. This process allows the Commission to consider the neighboring uses and any potential disturbances before they permit the new business to open (of course, any business that serves alcohol has to receive a state permit as well). Personally, I think this was an excellent step for downtown, and contributed to our development as a restaurant destination, instead of a bar destination, which was more the case in the 1980's (Anyone remember Sal's?)

In this case, the PZC will hear from Mr. Tine that he plans to attract an older, after-dinner crowd that wants to sit and have a glass of wine or cognac while listening to jazz or blues music. He's renovating a building that has been vacant for a long time, and clearly has made a significant investment. I toured the space and he seems to be making nice use of the high exposed ceilings and brick walls. This new use has the support of the Chamber and the Downtown Business District. Mr. Tine apparently has a long history of running similar establishments in Provincetown, Massachusetts, most recently the Euro Island Grill.

Tonight, the PZC may decide to approve or deny the Special Exception, or they can approve it with conditions -- which would allow the new business to move forward while protecting the City's interests at the same time. The conditions which have been proposed by the Planning Department would state that the "Special Exception" approval of the new nightclub would be rescinded if there were violations regarding public health or fire codes, or issues regarding under-age drinking, and that a change in ownership or concept would require a new Special Exception.

I think these conditions are wise, as we try to balance the interests of all the components of downtown, and should not interfere at all with Mr. Tine's plans to open his club. If you'd like to comment or watch the proceedings, come to the Planning and Zoning Meeting at 7 pm tonight at City Hall.

Main Street to be transformed into back lot for moviemaking

On Saturday July 26th, Middletown's Main Street will be used as the set for an independent film, Once More With Feeling, being shot in New York and Connecticut. The film is "about a father, grandfather and respected psychiatrist who grabs hold of a microphone and can’t let go." I'm not sure exactly what that means.


While the film is being pitched as "Hollywood comes to Middletown" the posted NY crew calls describe it as a "low budget, independent feature," being produced by PHC Productions.

It'll be fun to have a movie shot here, low budget or no, but we shouldn't overplay the economic benefits to Middletown or Connecticut. As for public relations for our Main Street, one never knows. Remember Mystic Pizza was also a low-budget, independent film with then-unknown actors.

Recognizable actors include Chazz Palminteri and Drea de Mateo.

Main Street from Washington to Court will be shut down for production between 8 am t0 noon, and from Court to College from noon to 4 pm. Residents are invited to watch the production as long as they cooperate with filmmakers and the local constabulary.

Tag You're It - part 2

Graffiti really bothers me.

I think that it tells people who want to commit various crimes that Middletown is Open for Business. I do not think it is a beautification issue. I think it is a public safety issue.

Even if some of the graffiti is just vandalism and is not linked to a larger gang problem, I think that leaving it up shows that we tolerate a high level of uncivil behavior -- and I think that's the wrong message.

Last year the Downtown Business District (DBD) and the Central Business Bureau (CBB) focused a lot of energy on this problem. The police caught some of the people doing the graffiti, they were prosecuted, assigned community service, then we (the DBD) bought the product to clean the graffiti, and supervised the people who were caught as they did their community service cleaning up the tags in the downtown. This took a lot of effort and attention on the part of several people: Marie Kalita Leary (Downtown Manager), Vinnie Amato (for pressing for a process of having those caught do the clean-up), the Downtown Guides (particulary Dennis), and Police Chief Baldoni and the downtown beat cops and lots of others. Eventually, all the graffiti in the DBD and Main Street corridor was removed, unless a building owner refused help.

Of course, eventually, when the warm weather returned, the grafitti came back. But this year, it's not appearing in the areas that are covered by those organizations -- and any graffiti that DOES appear in the DBD is quickly cleaned by the Downtown Guides. Instead, the graffiti runs in a ring around the Main Street area.

At this point, much of the graffiti is on public property -- such as street signs and those electrical boxes (not sure who is really in charge of those.) In early Spring this year, my kids and I compiled a list of all the graffiti we could find, which we gave to the Police, and we gave Public Works and Wesleyan a list of the graffiti on their property -- and both did clean some of it up (for example, under the highway bridges on DeKoven/East Main in the photos from the earlier post on this subject). But now there is a lot more and we seem to have some very persistent taggers. There's no doubt that when it comes to graffiti, when you clean it up, it will get replaced and this escalates until one side gives up -- and unfortunately, we seem to be the ones who have given up. I think part of the problem is that it costs time and money for Public Works to clean up graffiti -- and if you don't check it EVERY DAY then the clean-up is not as effective as it might be. Also, I know the police have done various stake-outs and other methods to try to catch more of the perpetrators, but as you can imagine, it's a little random. In cases of continued re-tagging, like the electrical box across from the Synagogue, I wonder if a camera might be useful. So, it's important for citizens to be advocating for graffiti clean-up and to ask the Mayor to support Public Works and the Police in making this a priority.

I'd welcome any suggestions that anyone has about how to tackle this problem.

As for the few private property owners who have graffiti on their buildings, like the gas station on South Main shown in the last post, anyone reading this is welcome to stop by those businesses and ask them to please paint over the graffiti -- it's been there a long time. And if they haven't reported to the police that they have been the victim of vandalism, then they should do that -- but it's time to move ahead and clean up the mess.

(Photos: Pearse Pinch)