Staples High School freshman Ryan Felner lives near the beach. The other evening — the first nice one after a spell of bad weather — he launched his drone into the sky.
Click on photo to enlarge. (Photo/Ryan Felner)
The result: an unfamiliar, bird’s-eye view of a very familiar scene.
And an opportunity to be grateful for all that we have.
On April 15, it doesn’t take Einstein — or even a very good accountant — to know that Westporters pay more than the average American in taxes.*
We don’t have exact figures for exactly how much more. But — thanks to the MIT Data Lab, which crunches numbers from census and other figures — we do have an interesting statistical picture of our town. For example:
Westport has lots o’ lawyers.
A screen shot showing Westport’s race and ethnicity data. “Other,” “Native” and “Hawaiian” populations are even lower. Click on image to enlarge.
For more Westport facts and figures, click here
*Unless their name appears in the Panama Papers.
(Hat tip: Bill Ryan)
You, I and the rest of the world may think that the Red Barn — the iconic restaurant opened in 1933, and operated continuously through last year — is located on Wilton Road, nestled up against Merritt Parkway Exit 41.
Think again!
According to a state Department of Transportation poster currently hanging in Town Hall, offering facts, photos and a map of ongoing Merritt “enhancements,” the Red Barn is across the river, one exit away.
Click on map to enlarge
See? It’s right there, at northbound exit 42 on Weston Road!
Let’s hope the DOT is a bit more diligent with their actual “enhancement” work.
Posted in Restaurants, Transportation
Tagged Connecticut Department of Transportation, Merritt Parkway, Red Barn
Westport is filled with men and women who give and give, then give some more. When there’s a job to be done or an organization to help, they’re the first to volunteer.
But it’s hard to imagine any 2 people who do more, in more ways, than Bill Mitchell and Gerry Kuroghlian.
Bill Mitchell
Bill — a 1961 graduate of Staples High School — remains connected to his alma mater through Staples Tuition Grants, Players and sports. He’s been president of Rotary, deacon at Saugatuck Congregational Church, honorary chair of Homes With Hope, and a board member of the Levitt Pavilion, YMCA, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Sacred Heart University and the Jewish Home for the Elderly. He’s offered his store — Mitchells — to help raise millions of dollars for groups like Near and Far, and the Inner City Foundation.
Gerry — a Fairfield native with a Ph.D., who spent nearly 40 years as a Staples English teacher, where he influenced thousands of students and colleagues — now serves as an ESL instructor at Mercy Learning Center, and a master’s degree student teacher at Sacred Heart.
But both men have found some of their most meaningful volunteer opportunities at Kolbe Cathedral High School.
The Bridgeport private school — 80% of whose students need financial assistance — has a proud record. Last year, every graduating senior was accepted to college. Together, they earned $15.2 million in scholarships and aid.
Bill and Gerry’s contributions to their successes are profound.
In 1999, Bill joined Kolbe’s Shepherds program. He sponsored and mentored freshman named Marques Brown, providing one-on-one support (and cheering at his basketball games). They became lifelong friends. In 2010, Marques — now a successful adult — established the William E. Mitchell Humanitarian Award, for a Kolbe graduate with “concern for others, compassion, a positive attitude and a big heart.”
Bill continues to aid Kolbe by securing speakers for fundraisers, sharing networking contacts with students and staff, and providing leadership opportunities for all.
Dr. Gerry Kuroghlian
Gerry’s volunteer work includes national education organizations, cancer and diabetes groups, Westport Library and United Church of Christ.
But Gerry spends nearly every afternoon at Kolbe. He’s a tutor, SAT and ACT advisor, and college application essay guide. He has arranged for 1,000 books to be donated to the library.
Gerry also organizes cultural field trips to Fairfield University and New York City. He attends sports events, chaperones the prom, and continually shares his philosophy that it is the responsibility of each individual to make a difference.
Now Kolbe Cathedral is giving something back to these 2 very giving men. On Sunday, May 1, the school’s annual “Making a Difference Celebration” celebrates Bill Mitchell and Gerry Kuroghlian.
It’s a fundraiser, enabling Kolbe to continue making a difference in the lives of teenagers.
They — and their school — are just a few miles from Westport. It’s a journey Bill Mitchell and Gerry Kuroghlian take often.
What a difference it makes.
(Kolbe Cathedral’s Making a Difference Celebration begins at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 1 with a mass at St. Mary’s Parish in Greenwich. Dinner at Gabriele’s Steakhouse in Greenwich follows at 6:30 p.m. For more information, or to make a donation in honor of Bill Mitchell or Gerry Kuroghlian, call J0-Anne Jakab at 203-368-2648 or email jjakab@kolbecaths.org.)
Bill Mitchell with Marques Brown (Kolbe Cathedral ’03).
Gerry Kuroghlian and Bryan Tacuri. The Kolbe Cathedral senior has been accepted at 7 colleges, including Fairfield, Sacred Heart and the University of Connecticut.
Steve Ginsburg has been nearly every kind of lawyer.
He practiced sports law with a big Chicago firm (“that’s as cool as law gets,” he says). He helped rebuild the judicial system in Sarajevo, served as general counsel of a New York tech company, returned to Illinois as general counsel of a state agency that regulated banking and finance, then did legal work as a healthcare and education consultant.
He’d never been part of a Jewish group. But when a friend asked him to be the Anti-Defamation League’s #2 guy in the Midwest, Ginsburg agreed. The organization’s broader mission of fighting for social justice everywhere resonated with him.
Then his wife — who works for Starwood — was transferred to the hotel chain’s Stamford headquarters.
Fortuitously, the ADL’s Connecticut regional director job was open. A few months ago, Ginsburg was hired.
Steve Ginsburg
It’s an intriguing time for the ADL. In the US, and around the globe, hate speech and bias crimes are on the rise. The ADL is a leader in anti-bullying and anti-bias education. Many of its national programs were created in the Connecticut office.
Ginsburg and his wife bought a house in Westport. They knew little about the town, beyond its reputation for excellent schools and a strong Jewish community. Plus, it was halfway between Stamford, and ADL’s New Haven office.
They’ve found something more than they expected: A place that is truly committed to all forms of social justice.
That fits well with the ADL’s mission. Right now it’s focused on fighting groups that have been singled out for prejudice, particularly the Muslim, LGBT and black communities.
Soon after Ginsburg arrived, a mosque in Meriden, Connecticut was shot at. Muslim students in the state said they were afraid to go to school.
ADL worked with Muslim religious leaders, school superintendents and boards of education to create an educational program. It includes “Islam 101,” case studies of issues faced by Muslim students in schools, like clothing and holidays, and a panel of teens and college students telling their life stories.
Ginsburg hopes the Connecticut program becomes a national model. It could also be expanded to other groups, like Hispanics.
Connecticut ADL has helped the US attorney’s office and FBI do security training for mosques. They’re modeled on previous training programs for synagogues. Nationally, ADL is the top trainer of law enforcement, focusing on hate crimes and extremist groups.
“We’re building a way for the ADL to play a major role in the current disconnect between law enforcement and African Americans, in the wake of Ferguson, Chicago and Baltimore,” Ginsburg says.
“Something could happen close to home — in Hartford, New Haven or Bridgeport,” he adds. “We need to marry ADL’s relationships and trust with law enforcement, and our anti-bias education. We want to be part of the solution.”
Of course, Ginsburg notes, the ADL continues to fight anti-Semitism, and attacks on Israel. The organization monitors college campuses, where the Boycott Divest Sanctions movement and free speech issues have become flash points.
There’s a lot going on, and Steve Ginsburg eagerly takes it all on.
But he still finds time — in his new Westport community — to coach his son’s baseball team.
Maybe he’s not so far from his first job — in sports law — after all.
Posted in Organizations, People, Politics
Tagged Anti-Defamation League, Connecticut Anti-Defamation League, Steve Ginsburg
At least, that’s what photographer Stacy Waldman Bass said about our fitfully starting spring, as she snapped this beautiful photo earlier today.
Click on photo to enlarge
Several alert “06880” readers sent me links to yesterday’s Wall Street Journal “My Ride” story on Tom Topalian.
In it, Tom Topalian tells how he and brother Phil started their Good Humor business. It’s a cool story, centered around a converted 1967 Ford F-250 pickup.
It’s also a story that “06880” readers might remember. I told it first — in June 2010. Nice try, WSJ.
On the other hand, their economics reporting beats mine.
2010, “06880”: Tom (left) and Phil Topalian, and their much-loved truck.
2016, Wall Street Journal: Tom Topalian and his Good Humor Truck. (Photo/Jesse Neider for Wall Street Journal)
Posted in Beach, Local business, Media, People
Tagged Good Humor truck, Phil Topalian, Tom Topalian, Wall Street Journal
The Chinese call this the Year of the Red Fire Monkey.
In Westport, it’s the Year of 8-30g.
That Connecticut statute allows developers to override local zoning regulations if less than 10% of a town’s housing stock is “affordable” (according to state formulas).
Towns can apply for a 4-year moratorium from being subject to 8-30g if they can show “affordable housing equivalency points” equal to 2 percent of their housing stock. During the moratorium, towns can rezone, encourage mixed-income housing, or work with developers to build projects together.
Westport mandates that any multi-family housing proposal must be at least 20% affordable.
Of the proposed housing development at 1177 Post Road East, 30 of the 94 units would be “affordable.”
But 8-30g overrides virtually all local regulations — height, density, location, anything really except public safety or environmental.
So any developer may offer a plan that includes 30% affordable housing.
He won’t say he’s selling 70% of his units at what are high-end market rates.
Right now, Westport is debating 2 proposals: Hiawatha Lane and 1177 Post Road East.
The 70 affordable units proposed for Hiawatha — off Saugatuck Avenue, near I-95 Exit 17 — while technically not part of an 8-30g proposal, would bring us over the points needed for the 4-year moratorium.
So would the 30 affordable units proposed as part of the 94-apartment building at 1177 Post Road East, opposite Crate & Barrel.
However, the moratorium would not take effect until either of those projects is actually built.
Until then, any developer can buy property in town, and file an 8-30g proposal.
Several housing developments around Westport — Hales Court, Sasco Creek, Canal Park, the former Saugatuck Elementary School on Bridge Street — prove that Westport cares about affordable housing. And we do it right.
Some of the housing at Hales Court.
The next couple of years, though, may see a bit of monkey business.
The developers’ — not the red fire monkey — kind.
At the risk of over-exposing Mike Kulich — the 2004 Staples High School graduate who runs one of the world’s 100 most visited websites — here we come.
Kulich’s site refuses to serve any computer with a North Carolina IP address. He says those blank screens will stay in place until the Tar Heel State repeals a bill that is takes away rights for the LGBT community.
Mike Kulich said his website believes in equality for everyone.
XHamster’s new pro-LGBT rights logo.
That website is XHamster. The list of options proves Kulich is right. There is something for everyone.
Everyone searching for porn, that is.
The Staples grad is not the first person refusing to do business in North Carolina. Bruce Springsteen canceled last Sunday’s concert in Greensboro, to protest the law.
That got a lot of publicity. But nothing has changed.
Kulich thinks his move can help.
“Porn has the power to do what Bruce Springsteen can’t,” he says.
(I’m not the only media outlet covering this story. It was #1 on Reddit this morning. To read the Washington Post‘s take, click here. Hat tip: Dick Lowenstein)
Posted in Media, People, Politics, Staples HS
When Tracy Yost’s husband was transferred to Santa Cruz, she stayed behind in Bethel. Her twin daughters were finishing high school, and she had a great job as a fitness director in Greenwich.
A year later, Tracy joined him in California. When she could not find fitness work, her husband encouraged her to unwind.
Tracy Yost
She hiked, played beach volleyball, and biked and walked everywhere. She fell in love with the wonderful weather, and “came alive.” She had never been so happy.
Looking back, she saw that she’d been caught up in Fairfield County’s long, daily marathon of work, driving, and running a high-pressure household.
Eighteen months later — right after her youngest daughter was accepted at Cal Poly — her husband’s company asked him to return to the East Coast. Tracy was devastated.
She moved back on January 16, 2015 — her birthday. With her driver’s license expired that day, she could not rent a car at the airport. Besides which, the airline lost her luggage.
But someone lent her a car. A friend took her to the Spotted Horse. She realized she’d be fine.
Leaving California, Tracy knew she wanted to live somewhere near the water, in a town influenced by New York with a vibrant downtown. Her home would be no bigger than 3,000 square feet — without a pool.
She had a preconceived, not-good notion of Westport. But realtor Lisa Duguay said, “It’s a jewel — a real community. People really support good organizations. There’s a great beach.”
Tracy found a perfect house near downtown. She and her husband moved in.
Then came 9 weeks of snow. And, a month after arriving, Tracy was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Today — after an operation and radiation — she believes it was cancer, not Santa Cruz, that made her understand she has only one life. She needed direction, and had to take care of herself.
Westport is not Santa Cruz. But it has its own charms.
She started juicing, and going to hot yoga. And she thought of what she could do for others.
Assessing her new life, she looked back on what she missed: Connecting with people in a fun, leisurely way. The California coastline. The “pedestrian” lifestyle.
Then she thought: Hey! I live on a coastline. I have a degree in fitness. I can do something recreational, connecting people with the beach, downtown, and a lifestyle that does not always have to be crazy busy.
Westporters were already rowing, and renting stand-up paddleboards.
But no one was renting bikes here. Whoa!
Bob Hogan, of Fairfield County SCORE — the organization that offers free advice to budding entrepreneurs — helped her write a business plan. They did it during her radiation. (“Now you have focus!” he said.)
Which is how and why Westport Bike Rentals is ready to take Westport by storm.
Tracy bought 20 bikes, and a van. She developed a few Westport routes (and can customize more, on request).
Riders call 203-917-9533, click on www.westportbikerentals.com, or email thebikelady@westportbikerentals.com. She meets them, delivering bikes for one of 3 options: a twilight ride ($25), 6 hours ($39) or all-day ($49). Helmets and a bike lock are included.
Tracy brings her bikes to riders, via van.
Tracy chose her 3 drop-off locations carefully. One is Long Lots School.
Another is the Imperial Avenue parking lot. The bike can be locked for a walk downtown, through Baron’s South, then over to Granola Bar — or anywhere else.
Saugatuck train station is the 3rd spot. Tracy has a contract with Metro-North, so riders can purchase a ticket and bike rental together.
The idea is not just to hop on a bike and pedal. Tracy wants riders to “go slow and explore.” In other words: Don’t just ride. If you’re heading through Longshore, stop at Pearl and have an appetizer. Then examine the graveyard on the exit route.
She offers plenty of pre-planned routes. Some are “low-key and chill,” with stops at places like the Black Duck or Christie’s Country Store. Others are “hip and happenin'” (Bartaco, Neat).
Tracy enjoys getting lost in history, so many of her routes take riders past historic sites and landmarks.
Tracy Yost, with some of her 20 bikes.
She kicks off Westport Bike Rentals with a series of Monday 2-hour twilight rides. They’re free — but donations are accepted. Each week, a different local non-profit will benefit. The first — on May 2 — aids Staples Tuition Grants. (Click here for more information, or to sign up.)
Tracy says “I want to be part of the local community.”
It sounds like she already is. And bikers, explorers and everyone else should be glad that her local community is Westport — not Santa Cruz.
(Anyone signing up for Tracy’s newsletter receives 10% off a May rental — and a copy of “The Bike Lady’s 10 Secret Locations to Chillax in Westport.”)
Posted in Beach, Downtown, Environment, Local business, Longshore, Organizations, People, Places, Transportation
Tagged Staples Tuition Grants, Tracy Yost, Westport Bike Rentals
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