The large, colorful flowers on Railroad Place at the Westport train station — next to the steps leading up to the westbound tracks — are gorgeous.
But, I thought, too many passengers are too rushed to notice it the arrangement.
Happily, I was completely wrong.
Last week’s Photo Challenge (click here to see) was quickly identified by Sandy Rothenberg, David Sampson, Andrew Colabella, Orlando Lehnder-Reilly, Seth Schachter, Ptti Brill, Michael Szeto, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Jim McKay, Jeff Loechner, Micheal Simso and Mousumi Ghosh.
Nice to know that whoever is responsible for, and tends, them — I’m guessing the Westport Police Department, which oversees the station — is appreciated.
We head inside for today’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Adrian Mueller)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Five years ago this week, Westport was just settling into the new reality of COVID.
The weekend’s nice weather had brought large crowds to Compo Beach, though the parking lots were closed. Town officials — worried about close contact (even outdoors), and cars parked all along Soundview Drive — scrambled to react.
Soundview Drive, the first weekend after the lockdown. Town officials quickly cracked down on parking there.
The Trader Joe’s line wrapped along Compo Acres Shopping Center storefronts. Only a few shoppers were allowed in at a time. The checkout line was — like every other part of life — dictated by “social distancing.”
Schools desperately tried to figure out “distance learning.”
Trader Joe’s enforced social distancing rules — with their own very recognizable font.
And that was just the first couple of weeks.
Five years later, how have we changed? What effects linger — negative or perhaps positive? What do you remember most about those uncertain, frightening days?
Earlier this month, “06880” asked readers to weigh in. Here’s what you said.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, I was living with my husband in a very. comfortable house. He had a heart condition, but we enjoyed what we had, and managed to do many things. Then COVID struck, and I learned that my best friend from high school was one of the first 1000 deaths.
In May we decided to move to a senior housing domicile. It was beautiful, and well-maintained. My beloved husband lived there for 5 days; then he passed (from his heart condition). A few weeks later, I was diagnosed with COVID and quarantined for 15 days in a new home, where I knew no one and was totally isolated.
So I can’t say that the pandemic treated me favorably. I’ve gotten all the shots I could possibly need to protect me against the next outbreak of something — I hope. — Bobbie Herman
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We were raising our son in a 1- bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. Wanting more space and family, we gathered a few things and our cat, and went to stay with my mother in my hometown of Westport. We expected to be there a few weeks, a month at most.
As spring and summer passed, my husband and I got used to the spaces, the beach, the green. We got spoiled with multiple bathrooms, a convenient washing machine and drive-thru Starbucks. We got to know the town better, the stores, the people, and eventually looked into the schools. When we saw that a cute house was less than a decent 2-bedroom in our neighborhood (crazy, this was 2020) we decided to stay.
Five years later I miss New York terribly. I miss my community, and easy access to all that culture. But I am happy with our decision to stay. We have settled nicely, embraced the town that has changed so much since my childhood yet is so familiar. I knew we were settled in when we did something I would not do in the city: adopted our dog. — Juliet Koskoff Diamond
Late March, 2020: Starbucks’ drive-through was one of the few places that seemed normal. So long as you didn’t get out of your car. (Photo/Rob Hauck)
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Not for all, but it was a glorious time for my husband and I. We started the pandemic as new grandparents. Our daughter and her husband moved from the city into our home, thinking it was only temporary.They ended up purchasing a home in Fairfield. Now we have 5 grandchildren, 4 of whom were born during the pandemic (the first was 5 months before. That’s how our life changed, all for the better: It gave us an immersion of love and family time.
And we never got COVID — until last July. — Dorothy Robertshaw
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I was a “COVID person.” My husband, our son (who was 3) and I moved to Westport right before official lockdown. We didn’t know a thing about the town, only what our realtor told us. We didn’t have much time to decide so moving here was definitely rushed.
Turns out, it was the best decision. A few years later after restrictions loosened we could really discover the town. COVID was the worst thing to happens to us in a very long time, but it led us to Westport and for that, we are thankful! — Cubie Vinson
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We experienced grand plans interrupted. Our daughter was studying abroad in Cannes, excited for the culmination with the Cannes Film Festival celebration (she’s a cinematographer), our son was a senior at boarding school and navigating college acceptance and revisit days. Some amazing trips booked for my hubby and I. All of which cut short with kids returning home — the lovely silver lining to the COVID cloud.
I personally managed group purchasing contracts with hospital systems across the country. We manufactured systems/kits for infectious disease testing at hospitals, VAs, clinics. I was part of the pandemic response trying to allocate kits. We were not prepared to manufacture at a rate beyond understanding. It was insane. And just when we thought it was subsiding, the surges would hit again, and again.
Five years later: Kids graduated, happy and working. Squeezed in a few trips with my hubby. Me? I left the COVID-induced crazy corporate life, having gratefully served the pandemic response that culminated a career in diagnostics, to open a chocolate shop — in Connecticut of course! Life is sweet with a little bite of happy. — Laureen Haymes
Remember COVID testing? This was the scene at St. Vincent’s Medical Center on Long Lots Road, a few days before Christmas 2020. (Photo/Randy Ford)
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In April, during the beginning, my wife and I were blessed with our first grandchild. We had to visit while standing outside the sliding glass doors of their home. We had our second grandchild 2 years later, but we still had to do all of the precautionary steps. We then had to visit my wife’s aging parents at the nursing home while standing outside of their window (thankfully they were on the first floor).
When we opened back up at work (framing shop), we went from gallery exhibits to appointment only, which the clients actually liked, so we kept that for a while. Now I take appointments if the client prefers but it is “walk-ins welcome” again. I keep masks on hand and sanitizer if that makes a client feel more comfortable. How did it change me? After the two shots and one booster, I have a constant white noise. — Jay Cimbak
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We really never changed our lives. We entertained, got together with friends, traveled again to Croatia and several other international destinations .., easy to use points. No crazy panic as in the US, life continued, kids went to school and learned. It was just another illness like measles and diphtheria — except this escaped from a Chinese lab and globally spread because of global travel. — Jeff Schaefer
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Real estate market prices of home values have skyrocketed. Long after COVID was over, Westport was exponentially higher than other neighboring towns to move to. More commercial spaces are occupied as well, lot of growth in town plus the population increase.
Lot of new residents, excited to live here and find that “home” feeling but also get used to the constraints of living in a town that was first settled in the 1600s by the Bankside Farmers. Fridays in town during “rush” hour is a reminder of the relaxed COVID days, but before that, going from Westport to Greenwich or the NY border in under 30 minutes was heaven. No traffic.
Towns have their ups and downs. Can we continue to keep climbing, or will the demand soften and relax and slow development, enrollment rate and demand to live here? — Andrew Colabella
Commuting patterns changed dramatically durng COVID. This was the Westport trian station in May 2020. (Photo/Caroly Van Duyn)
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The permanent change is to mental health, and I’m not sure it recovers. If you Google “US School Shootings,” post say 2022 is pretty horrific. 115 and 116 in 2018/19/20, 327 in the school year ending 2023. Isolating kids, not great, although many Fairfield county towns did a nice job opening fall 2020 classrooms.
Adults haven’t fared much better. Employers have had to threaten and/or beg their employees to come back. Many of us have big jobs with big responsibilities and big benefits so we comply, but large swaths of America are still entrenched at home even in 2025. Good for some, bad for most.
It’s easy to second guess all the decisions, and there were bi-partisan wins and losses. I remember on 9/11/01 thinking that was the most traumatic thing I’d go through. In some respects, the lingering effects of the pandemic have been way worse. — David J. Loffredo
(Since 2009, “06880” has been “where Westport meets the world.” If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
It took 62 years. But the Staples High School boys basketball team scored another FCIAC championship.
The Wreckers won the league title last night, pulling away at the end. Seeded #2, they knocked off top-ranked Ridgefield 68-58, before a raucous Fairfield University crowd.
It was the second victory for Staples in 6 days over the Tigers. Last week, on the road, the Westporters denied Ridgefield’s bid for an undefeated FCIAC record, on the last day of the regular season.
It was also the first FCIAC crown, in 3 straight trips to the finals.
Adam Udell — named MVP of the title contest — led the victors with 24 points. Fourteen came in the crucial 4th quarter. Matty Corrigan added 19 more.
Next up: the state tournament. The boys — seeded 4th in the 16-team Division I — host their first game on Tuesday (March 4, 6:30 p.m.). They face #13 Kolbe Cathedral.
The girls basketball team begin their state title quest too, away.
Adam Udell heads to the basket. (Photo/David G. Whitham for The Ruden Report
Wearing championship medals, Wreckers celebrate their first FCIAC title in 62 years. (Photo courtesy of Staples boys basketball)
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Bruce Springsteen is coming to VersoFest!
Well, not exactly.
But pretty close.
On Saturday, April 5 (1 p.m.), a free panel discussion on the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” features an all-star cast of The Boss’s collaborators and experts.
They include Mike Appel, Springsteen’s first manager and co-producer of “Born to Run”; former Columbia Records promotions director Michael Pillot, who spearheaded the album’s promotion, plus music historians Robert Santelli and Kenneth Womack.
The panel will be hosted by author and pop culture historian Arlen Schumer. In 1978 he was art director of Thunder Road, the first magazine devoted to Springsteen’s life and music.
Co-host Dick Wingate is a former music industry executive who managed the production of Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” and many other influential albums.
VersoFest highlights also include a conversation between Patti Smith and Westport journalist/rock memoirist Alisyn Camerota; a concert with the Wallflowers; a chat with hardcore punk legend Henry Rollins and Nabil Ayers, president of the record label Beggars Group; interactive art exhibits; a graffiti workshop led by visionary artist 5iveFingaz, and a weekend family kickoff celebration.
Sunday (April 6) caps off the weekend with a VersoFest Oral History Podcast live recording with David Letterman musical director Paul Shaffer, and “Saturday Night Live” tour de force Christine Ohlman.
Click here for the full VersoFest schedule, plus tickets and more information.
Tuesday’s charrette at the Senior Center was an early step in discussions of possible construction of a combined Police/Fire/Emergency Medical Services facility. (Click here to read yesterday’s “06880” story on that meeting.)
Town officials noted the scarcity of available land for the approximately 10 acres needed for the project. The best site, they said, is at the current I-95 Exit 18 commuter parking lot.
One of the posters displayed at the event showed locations of current police and fire stations, schools, and other town-owned property.
Click below to see. Red dots indicate current fire and police facilities; green dots show public schools, and yellow shapes indicate large town-owned properties.
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This is not your kid’s school “show and tell.”
The Westport Prevention Coalition invites parents to a special “hands-on” meeting March 6 (12:30 p.m., Town Hall Room 201).
The topic is “Today’s Emerging Substances & Our Youth.”
Attendees can “browse through today’s substances,” learn about new products being marketed, hear about the risks of gaming and gambling, and pick up free parenting handbooks and resources.
Edibles are an ever-changing part of the cannabis market.
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A reader concerned about “the usurpation of commuter parking spaces at the Westport train station by Avis car rental” writes: “While they have specially reserved spaces, they typically take another 10-15 commuter spots with impunity and without penalty.
“This was fine during COVID. But now that ridership is increasing, especially with the implementation of the congestion tax, commuters need all our convenient spots — particularly at 6 a.m., on cold or rainy days.”
“06880” reached out to the Westport Police Department, which oversees parking at the town’s 2 train stations.
Deputy Chief David Farrell says, “Avis rents 20 designated spaces at the Saugatuck station – and they pay the daily fee for each. If they utilize other spaces, they receive $25 tickets per vehicle. Now that more people are using Metro-North, strict enforcement is underway.”
Avis cars in non-designated train station spots, earlier this month.
On Sunday, 150 people walked from the Westport Country Playhouse to the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
There they placed orange balloons, in memory of the 2 “flame-haired” little boys murdered by Hamas, after being kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
On Tuesday night, co-organizer Jennifer Wolff and her husband went downtown, to remove the deflating balloons.
Two had fallen into the Saugatuck River — in the shape of a heart.
“It felt like an appropriate sendoff,” Jennifer says.
“I hope whomever this balloon heart passes thinks of the Bibas boys, who were put to rest that day with their mama.”
(Photo/Jennifer Wolff)
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The Planning & Zoning Commission took a field trip Tuesday to Baron’s South.
Their tour of the 22-acre property included Golden Shadows, the 1950s-era “mansion” owned by Baron Walter Langer von Langendorff, the perfume mogul. It, and adjacent buildings, are being considered for affordable housing.
Former Representative Town Meeting member Harris Falk took up the invitation to join the tour. He dressed in his trademark colorful outfit.
Inside the house, P&Z member Neil Cohn noticed that Falk’s get-up blended in almost perfectly with the Baron’s wallpaper.
Harris Falk, inside the Baron’s mansion. (Photo/Neil Cohn)
One more special Westport arts figure has been added to next Thursday’s relaunch of the Susan Malloy Celebration of the Arts: Gina Rattan.
The 2004 Staples graduate — a Broadway director and creative consultant — joins artist Miggs Burroughs, arts leader Melody James, and singer/actor Melissa Newman for the March 6 (7 p.m.) evening of conversation and storytelling. All are Westport residents.
Weston actor James Naughton will moderate the panel discussion, focusing on how Westport has become a magnet for artists, performers and creatives for decades; how the town’s artistic spirit has evolved, and continues to thrive in new and exciting ways; and the role of the next generation in carrying forward Westport’s rich cultural heritage.
Jerry Kuyper captured — with a camera, from a safe distance — this Tuesday night visitor on Rayfield Road, for our daily “Westport … Naturally” feature.
“The bluestone walkway is just under 2 feet wide, for scale,” he says.
And finally … as soon as you saw the story on the Bruce Springsteen event at VersoFest (above), you knew what today’s featured song would be, right?
After 50 years, it’s still one of the great rock songs of all time.
(There’s no place left to hide. Please click here to support your hyper-local, 24/7/365, Boss-loving blog. Whether you were born to run, or have always stayed in the 06880, we thank you.)
Train tracks near Exit 18 … (Photo/Patricia McMahon)
… and, speaking about the Westport train station, photographer William Weiss says: “What looks like weeds is actually nature showing us survival skills. This is a small but hardy group of Juniperus Virginians/Eastern Red Cedar tucked away in the main line track against the westbound platform. There is no other green thing down on the tracks within sight.”
“Walkable cities” are environmentally, socially and economically vibrant.
Can Westport become a “walkable town”?
Sustainable Westport thinks so.
On June 4, the non-profit group brings urban planner Jeff Speck to Bedford Middle School (6 p.m. reception, 6:30 presentation).
Jeff Speck
Speck — whose books include “Walkable City: How Downtown Saves America, One Step at a Time” — speaks nationally on how towns and cities can embrace walking and biking.
In February, he addressed a capacity crowd at the New Canaan Library.
But Westport is a bit different from our suburban neighbor, Speck acknowledges. For one thing, a river runs through us.
For another, our train station — the town’s transportation hub — is located away from downtown.
Speck has been to Westport. He likes it.
“You’ve got good bones,” he says. “A lot of places don’t have a traditional downtown, with small streets and buildings that make it walkable.”
Westport “is starting on third base.”
What will get our home town to home plate?
As with any walkable, bikable community, 4 things are part of the framework. It must be “useful, safe, comfortable and interesting.”
“Communities like Westport don’t like to change,” Speck notes.
“It’s not complacency. It’s a fear of losing what they have. I understand that.”
But, he adds, change is often necessary for “resilience and longevity.”
One obvious place to look is the Post Road. Speck knows it’s a state route; the town does not control it. But, he says, there are ways to make it “calmer, and more welcoming.”
More controversial might be his thoughts about downtown. He advocates apartments — and a parking garage hidden behind them — at the Baldwin lot on Elm Street.
Jeff Speck thinks a parking garage — and apartments in front — would make downtown more lively and “resilient.”
More people, and easier parking, would make downtown more lively, Speck says.
“A lot of people would love to live in smaller units: young people, older ones. The more bodies you have downtown, the better it can weather the economic storms that visit our communities.”
He’s seen the “shock and outrage” that accompany suggestions like that, in dozens of communities. That fades, he says, when they see how well those ideas work.
Two places where, he says, these hidden parking lots work are Northampton, Massachusetts and Frederick, Maryland.
Speck has another idea — one that he was unaware is currently causing great debate here.
He was surprised, when he visited Westport, to see that “the waterfront is a parking lot.” He’d prefer “a linear park” along the Saugatuck River.
“If I wasn’t so busy, I’d draw it up myself,” he says.
Some of Jeff Speck’s ideas align with those proposed originally by the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee, for more green space by the Saugatuck River. The idea is controversial.
Another “major opportunity” is to add more housing near the train station.
The area is “under-utilized,” he says. “People can live right by the railroad. It’s a healthier lifestyle, for themselves and the planet.
“You learn in Planning 101 to bring housing to transit, and transit to housing.
One challenge to ideas like those, he reiterates, is that “communities generally don’t like to change.
“Most people in most communities would like more apartments. They just don’t want them near them.”
Most public meetings until the last decade “pitted NIMBYs against the business goals of developers,” Speck explains. “Planners had to choose which they wanted.
“Now you’ve got pro-housing, pro-sustainability, pro-biking people, who just want to see their community do the right thing. They’ve been effective.”
Speck had not heard of Bike Westport, a non-profit dedicated to making Westport more safe for biking and walking.
But, he says, “Bike groups have been my biggest supporters. I hope they show up.
“It will be a lively discussion, I promise.”
(Click here to register for Jeff Speck’s June 4 talk, and more information.)
(“06880” regularly covers the environment, real estate, local politics, transportation — and the intersection of them all. Please click here to support our hyper-local journalism. Thank you!)
Ferry Lane West — the official but seldom-used name of the road running along the eastbound side of the Westport railroad station parking lot — is a well traveled road.
But in their rush to get to or from trains, few folks look around.
Those that do might notice — and wonder — about the long and high brick wall rising next to them.
And, it seems, only a few people have noticed the good-sized red wooden door, set deep into the wall.
That door was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
Andrew Colabella, Scott Brodie, Seth Schachter, Dan Vener, Lynn Untermeyer Miller and Michael Simso were the very observant readers to correctly identify the mysterious door. (Incorrect guesses included the Kings Highway North cemetery, Viva Zapata, and a Compo Beach bathroom.)
The 1,675-foot long wall was built as part of a privacy agreement, when the Cockeroft family sold some of their estate to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
Over time, their handsome home — built around 1890, and accessible via a steam launch from New York City — deteriorated.
Around 1950, Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, Lincoln Kirstein of Lincoln Center and arts patron Joseph Verner Reed tried to build an American Shakespeare Theatre and Academy on the property. Proximity to the train station was a major piece of the plan.
The price for all 21 acres: $200,000.
But many residents objected. There were also concerns that it would draw audiences away from the Westport Country Playhouse. (Others argued that a Shakespeare Theatre would enhance the town’s reputation as an arts community.)
The theater was never built here. It opened in the aptly named town of Stratford, Connecticut in 1955, and was moderately successful until ceasing operations 30 years later.
In 1956 Westporters Leo Nevas and Nat Greenberg, along with Hartford’s Louis Fox, bought the property for residential development, called Stony Point.
Little remains of the original estate. But the brick wall — and that odd, little noticed door — is still there. (Click here for more details.)
Here is this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Richard Hyman)
(If you enjoy our weekly Photo Challenge — or anything else we post — please consider a tax-deductible contribution to “06880.” Just click here. Thank you!)
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Five years ago this week, Westport was just settling into the new reality of COVID.
The weekend’s nice weather had brought large crowds to Compo Beach, though the parking lots were closed. Town officials — worried about close contact (even outdoors), and cars parked all along Soundview Drive — scrambled to react.
Soundview Drive, the first weekend after the lockdown. Town officials quickly cracked down on parking there.
The Trader Joe’s line wrapped along Compo Acres Shopping Center storefronts. Only a few shoppers were allowed in at a time. The checkout line was — like every other part of life — dictated by “social distancing.”
Schools desperately tried to figure out “distance learning.”
Trader Joe’s enforced social distancing rules — with their own very recognizable font.
And that was just the first couple of weeks.
Five years later, how have we changed? What effects linger — negative or perhaps positive? What do you remember most about those uncertain, frightening days?
Earlier this month, “06880” asked readers to weigh in. Here’s what you said.
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In May we decided to move to a senior housing domicile. It was beautiful, and well-maintained. My beloved husband lived there for 5 days; then he passed (from his heart condition). A few weeks later, I was diagnosed with COVID and quarantined for 15 days in a new home, where I knew no one and was totally isolated.
So I can’t say that the pandemic treated me favorably. I’ve gotten all the shots I could possibly need to protect me against the next outbreak of something — I hope. — Bobbie Herman
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We were raising our son in a 1- bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. Wanting more space and family, we gathered a few things and our cat, and went to stay with my mother in my hometown of Westport. We expected to be there a few weeks, a month at most.
As spring and summer passed, my husband and I got used to the spaces, the beach, the green. We got spoiled with multiple bathrooms, a convenient washing machine and drive-thru Starbucks. We got to know the town better, the stores, the people, and eventually looked into the schools. When we saw that a cute house was less than a decent 2-bedroom in our neighborhood (crazy, this was 2020) we decided to stay.
Five years later I miss New York terribly. I miss my community, and easy access to all that culture. But I am happy with our decision to stay. We have settled nicely, embraced the town that has changed so much since my childhood yet is so familiar. I knew we were settled in when we did something I would not do in the city: adopted our dog. — Juliet Koskoff Diamond
Late March, 2020: Starbucks’ drive-through was one of the few places that seemed normal. So long as you didn’t get out of your car. (Photo/Rob Hauck)
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Not for all, but it was a glorious time for my husband and I. We started the pandemic as new grandparents. Our daughter and her husband moved from the city into our home, thinking it was only temporary.They ended up purchasing a home in Fairfield. Now we have 5 grandchildren, 4 of whom were born during the pandemic (the first was 5 months before. That’s how our life changed, all for the better: It gave us an immersion of love and family time.
And we never got COVID — until last July. — Dorothy Robertshaw
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