***Update…I realize that sometimes I get very reactionary and just start jotting down stuff without checking my attitude at the door. I need to start adopting the whole “disagree without being disagreeable” motto Mercy is always preaching to me, and in that spirit I’m going to scratch out all the areas where I let the moment take me and made what I can only categorize as inappropriate snide comments against Señor McEnroe. My apologies go out to him. Mind you, I still think we need to get beyond the whole who’s best BS, but I can make that point without attacking anybody.***
Our favorite radio personality is at it again. Apparently the aforementioned Colin McEnroe (no relation to Colin Farrell who he’s always mistaken for) was on his show today trying to stir up the whole Hartford v New Haven thing today. Our buddy over at Mira Hartford speaks a little to it here. I’ll give you my quick take.
New Haven is an incredible city. It has some wonderful people doing great community work out there. It has the best youth development programs in the state in LEAP, Unidad Latinos en Accion has kept the local politicians honest and The People’s Center in downtown is a Mecca for regional radicals. But something tells me this is not what Colin McEnroe is speaking about when he continually espouses the apparent superiority of the Elm City over our own Oak Town.
It’s interesting…One of New Haven’s strength is that, for the most part, their founding fathers have never left. There are still members of these old families who remain and invest in the communities, in the arts and in its politics. The only example I can think of are the Pope’s and their admirable work with the Friends of Pope Park (unless someone wants to count Peter B’s Coffeeshop in West Hartford Center back in the day which was opened by a Brainard.)
I, for one, choose not to partake in the quarrel between cities. Both are great urban centers that have a little for everyone. Toads Place is a bastion for live music but tell me who doesn’t like the rocking intimacy of Sully’s? I love the jazz scene in Hartford, it is second to none in New England (including Boston) but I also love me some Firehouse 12 and what that guy has done down there with that spot. Contemporary Art?…why even try to compare RAW with ArtSpace when their collaboration of 50000 Beds two years ago (also with the Aldrich Museum) tell you that they are one in the same….wonderful contemporary centers in separate cities.
New Haven salivates at the corporate presence in our downtown and we always point to Yale and the wonderful things they do. When we first found out that Mercy and I were pregnant and I was running for City Council, the agreement was this…if I lose I move with her to New Haven, if I win, she moves upto Hartford. During that time I was approached by NH officials as well as community groups and merchant associations to begin a “La Paloma” in New Haven. Yes, this little coffeehouse that could was the talk of the town in New Haven. Not only there…but we received offers from Bridgeport and Hard Hi’en New Bri’ain.
So, let Colin continue the comparisons. New Haven…I love you and your Paul Basses and your Henry Fernandezes and your John Hairo Lugo’s and your Joelle Fishman’s as much as I love my birth city. I had started talks with Kika Matos, then Community Services Administrator in New Haven, regarding a cultural exchange between the two cities. The thought was for Hartford to host one of New Haven’s cultural Gems, Bregamos Theater, and they would host ours, Hartbeat Ensemble. Kica took another job before we can get anything cemented, but maybe now is the time to reach out to someone new…