One of the more sublime things about the Internet these days is that someone, somewhere has put up a web site devoted to the very thing you thought of this morning. And so it was one of my midnight surfs that led me to this lovely site, devoted to turning each and every American into a webified Gladys Kravitz. The part I especially love is the ironic use of monopoly houses to pin point the entries on the map. Clever.So check it out, not much going on in Norwalk on the site, but I’m sure that will change.www.rottenneighbor.com
Norwalk: Rotten Neighbours
by turfgrrl
February 24th, 2008 · 53 Comments
Tags: Norwalk
53 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Rotten Neighbours”
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Please remember that the nasty message you leave about your neighbors will also effect your tiny pieces of real estate. Pick your words wisely if you are look to resell your home anytime soon.
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The same can be said for tourism hurt the BBB and hurt the city can’t do much against the two businesses that had their windows smashed out this morning where they had to sit with their stores all morning wondering if after they fix the window when the next one will be broken.Downtown Sono is such a nice place to be when the bars close.
The papers are on vacation as well until tues so any real news about the crime and the chaos we had overnight didn’t happen the papers didn’t report it.
Its a good thing we won’t be marking where the last frostbite victim was this morning there isn’t enough room on any map to count the victims around the homeless shelter is there.
Thats right remind everyone after coming from church the guy who might lose his feet or even legs this morning taken from the homeless shelter may of been better off if there was more in place to help him in our city of Norwalk.
I think your seeing anger at whats happening to us seep out as nasty messages.
The NY bakery enployee who was asaulted this morning by knife nothing nasty can be said I hope he is doing ok its where my friends work and own a business I’m sure nasty is the sentiment this morning and if he was hurt I’m sure pissed may be the next level of emotion.
Its some of our politicians who seem at times to lack emotion when talking about their city . Where is their anger for what is happening to our city? Where are our politicians?
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I think that the last post really hit on the core issues.
Anger, resentment, frustration,hoplessness and apathy.We are turning our backs on eachother on our children and our diadvantaged as well as future generations.
We lock up folks without fair representation, warehouse them, than kick them back on the street after their lives have been shredded. They have nothing and no one and no where to turn.
We take away their ability to compete for education, fair wage employment and deny them access to basic health needs not to mention nutrition and housing.
We send the jobs overseas, import narcotics to anesthetize, disrupt, distract and create a whole new large scale industry to warehouse common folk.
There is no mystery here and no silver bullet. It is going to take a long term commited effort to turn things around.
It can start now, or we can wait for more lives to be wasted.
We can throw are hands up and say why bother its never going to get better and its time to abandond the chaos.
That is a very personal choice but if that view is accepted than surly nothing will ever get better and in fact will get worse, much, much worse.
There is a bumper crop of cocaine headed our way. courtesy of America’s former alies against the Russians and now our sworn enemy the Taliban, things are going to get even crazier for the immediate future.
They will conquer us, if we ignore our neighbors suffering, ecomomically and spiritually.
They have already wrecked substantial havoc on our homeland soil, in our streets. It is just a matter of how much more loss the human spirit can endure before we stand up unite and attack the real enemy of our state, ourselves.
What is the answer?
Compassion.
Compassion for one another and for each owns struggle to live.
We can maintain and even dramatically improve the quality of life for all Americans and return to the America that our forefathers constructed. An America that respects life, liberty, property and healthy happiness.
Can we do it?
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we can do it Courage, it will take some work but we can do it.Too bad about the frostbite person and the bakery guy the town has changed I hope their both ok.
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Thank you #2 and #3 for your thoughts - they are so true. It is really sad that a city like Norwalk can’t even come up with enough space to house the homeless at night and get them out of the cold. I don’t think most people know that the shelter is so crowded that it is necessary for the directors to find alternate places for the overflow to sleep at night. They have been using two local churches that are not near the shelter for this purpose. Why is it left up to the directors of the shelter to find space - why is the city so unconcerned about the homeless that this is never mentioned. If not for the caring people of these churches, many more homeless would be suffering from frost bite and worse. Why doesn’t the city buy back the old Fitch school and provide temporary housing for the homeless. Certainly it would not take that much money to get the place up to code once again - it was a nursing home with many rooms and a full kitchen and cafeteria. There is even a playground where the homeless children could play. Let’s stop spending our tax dollars on nonsense like Oyster Shell Park and do something that would contribute to the well being of many.
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Is the Westport homeless shelter too crowded? What about other neighboring towns, are their homeless shelters crowded?
If Norwalk shelters are so full why not BUS some of them over to our neighbors so that they can lend a helping hand?
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The Fitch school seems like its an alternative why not? This city is certainly in for a expense wake up soon.kiting budgets year after year must stop.
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Wonderful idea about the old Fitch School, but tell me this, do you live in that neighborhood?
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#8 no we live next to the other homeless shelter figure its time to share the wealth of poverty we have plenty here. NIMBY maybe?
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Answer to #8 - actually, I do.
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city hall seems to be our Rotten Neighbours.
Pick your words wisely hurt tourism help our residents enhance the safety of our streets. It worked years ago other places give the city the tools to make it safe before we lose all of our great conveniant businesses that make Norwalk a place to be.Stop giving up the streets to developers and politicians who think they can build and promote a city without taking care of its original owners the old timers.
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I think busing some of Norwalk’s homeless to neighboring towns is the best idea.
This is what NYC mayor Giuliani did and it worked. A cleaner city.
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If Norwalk’s homeless is a problem why havn’t we heard from our council or mayor I think we need to address issues in our town that are problems.
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I believe Westport’s shelter is also overcrowded and turns people away. Are there any shelters in Wilton, Darien, New Canaan? Stamford also has a problem with housing homeless - so to what town are you going to bus the homeless? This seems to be a real hush, hush situation that doesn’t get discussed openly.
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You believe but do you know?
The next time I see a homeless person standing on the freeway entry or exit ramp in Norwalk I am going to give them a ride into Westport or another affluent town.
Now how quickly do you think they will end up back in Norwalk?
I am positive that the Westport police / EMS will be called and then the homeless person will be picked up or released from the Norwalk Hospital where they end up back on our streets. I might even video tape the homeless persons adventure.
Just how many homeless people do you see strolling downtown main street or shopping Greenwich avenue?
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Just how many homeless people do you see strolling downtown main street or shopping Greenwich avenue?
None they are all here in Norwalk
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Hush? Yes its is a true shame that we turn our backs on the ones who fall through the grand canyon cracks into the abyss.
In Fairield county there are only three shelters for familes. one in Stamford that houses up to 24 familes in small 15 X 20 rooms that are shared by the entire family, sometimes a family is afforded two rooms to accomadate the family. Norwalk has a family shelter, located right next to the infamous general shelter, that can accomadate up to five familes. Westport has two four bedroom houses that genearally take only domestic violence cases. Bridgeport has two apartment buildings that can house 12 familes.
Than there are the domestic violence shelters that are staffed only during business hours, One each in Stamford, Norwalk and Westport.
The next closest shelter for a family is in Waterbury which house’s familes in the dark cold dingy basement of an old church now converted into a Red Cross shelter.
Stamford also has a womens and mens shelter and a shelter for the disabled.The mens shelter is dormitory style. the womens and the disabled have assigned rooms.
Norwalk has a dormitory style shelter that seperates familes, women and childern by partitions and sometimes just sheets.
All shelters have strict admission critera such as waiting in line outside at 6pm to register than returning when the shelter opens for the night. Shelter residents are evicted daily in the morning onto the street with no where to go, not even an employment office to turn to, forget training to really escape the trap.
And the soup kitchens, that feed the familes and folks abandond on the street, their pantry’s always running on empty.
All the shelters are filled beyond capacity each and every single night, summer or winter.
Hush, has been the quid pro quo for so so long.
I must beleive that if people really knew how bad things are they would turn off the tv set and get up and out and help those who so desperately need our help.
Yes we need more shelters. Yes we have to bring living wage jobs here and provide the tools that are needed to help folks recover.
That NIMBY dosent float any longer.
These issues are not going to go away, they are already in all our yards.
When are these lives going to be recognized as equal in value to the next, regardless?
Can we afford to choose to continue to ignore the suffering?
Some cities around the country are experimenting with programs that follow the path to recovery by returning dignity to the suffering, not punishing the helpless.
Early results indicate high rates of success.
We cant treat people for the chronic challenges they face if we do not give them a chance.
How can we expect different results if we continue with the same policies that have brought us to this incredibly sad circumstance, apathy.
Can we not locate an unused building and convert it into a safehaven?
Can we not just speak to issues but really put the pressureon our elected leadres to step up to the plate and take immediate action.
Someday, someway, it might be you and your family with no where to rest, no food to feed your hungry children.
Imagine.
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Fire evacuates Norwalks homeless shelter but where it happened on a weekend and wasn’t covered by the papers it didn’t happen.
We always hear about the drugs and booze but only once a year do we read how the kids are doing at the shelter. Its usually a feel good article by The Hour ignoring the problems we as a city are faced with there, where The Hour gets their writers is one story but to produce an editor that never was a great reporter tells you a lot more. Stories on the shelter would not be welcomed since this years budget has been decided by the deaf dumb and blind.But don’t worry if a developer who comes to the table looking for money they will certainly get it.
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#16 My point exactly….
I think we should drop some of these people off in these towns for help.
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I always wonder how people living in the shelter manage to find enough money for drugs and alcohol.
I used to feel very badly for our underserved people, until I saw first hand that many have made their own beds through alcohol and drug abuse.
Sorry to be so cold, but we all get the same free education. And now, kids even have classes in their native language. We never had that growing up.
I know people born into horrible poverty who came here from other countries and when they did, they worked like dogs day and night to get where they are. They earned every penny they got.
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the ones you mention are not accepted at the shelter they sleep under the bridge or laundermats or Oyster park under the deck no one uses. They are for the most part taken to the hospital and sent back to the methadone clinic in the morning.
The homeless we mention are the illegals and the woman with children your not cold just uniformed its at epidemic stages in this city the council and mayor are not cold or uniformed for the most part most of them have agenda’a on their plate and nothing on the plates of the kids in the shelter now thats cold.
GE has done more for the shelter than any of the council members and mayors office rolled into one.We do have at least a few council members who have over the years gone and helped out merrit st, I know of one who isn’t on the council but is no stranger to compassion to bad she isn’t around to make sure the kids are taken care of , yet involved she is working not for a vote but for others.
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Carver Center’s board of directors is trying to make up for the budget shortfall by applying for grants and they are not yet discussing what will happen if the money is not generated, Peterkin said. So far, the center has received a $30,000 grant from the Inner City Foundation, a Bridgeport-based fund, according to Peterkin.
who cares about them let all go under we have no money for people, can we knock it down and build condos?
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Plans taking shape for pool in Rowayton awesome something for Roodner court and washington village kids
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thats it make a homeless shelter at least the lawn will get cut Dave,
To the Editor:
When the current owners bought the old Fitch School property on Strawberry Hill Avenue many years ago, they had to know (going in) that they did not have the “property right” to build condominiums, which was denied by Norwalk zoning last year. They needed zoning approval to raise the “cap” in Residential B zones by the number of condo units proposed which was 29.It started with 4-foot-high front lawn grass, then exterior vandalism, interior vandalism, an arson with an injured firefighter and a bombing that required the services of the FBI and Stamford Bomb Squad. All of this could have been avoided if the developer had been responsible from day one of owning the property by boarding up the buildings and erecting a fence to prohibit entry.
maybe just making it a housing complex to ease the washington village problem would be ideal.
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The same could be said for 93 East Avenue - if the owner had responsibly maintained the building instead of letting it go derelict:
“All of this could have been avoided if the developer had been responsible from day one of owning the property by boarding up the buildings and erecting a fence to prohibit entry.”
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I would give time and money to make 93 east ave a homeless shelter not to be spiteful but to be helpful.
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Good idea. There may be tax credits to turn it into affordable housing or a shelter — if the work is done to the standards set by the Feds and the IRS for National Register propertiies. That means the Sec’y of the Interior guidelines. That would restore it to its former grandeur and give low income people a place not just to shelter but to be proud of. I think it’s a great idea for 93 East Avenue. In fact, when Handrinos was using it for low income housing (his kitchen and cleaning staffs) the place looked pretty good. The folks who lived there were doing some routine maintenance on their own, taking care of the grounds, and planting tomatoes.
I live in the neighborhood - it’s pretty diverse already and I’d welcome residents — no matter what income or no income — into a properly restored 93 East Avenue. I believe that the place you live shapes you even more than you shape the place. That’s why faceless, ugly housing projects are breeders of “ugly” behavior.
That of course begs the question, why the vandalism of the Green? IMHO, it’s the Norwalk Inn trying to show that vandalism in the area is not limited to the property that they want to destroy. That way they can point to tire slashings on East Avenue, vandalism of the Green AND vandalism on 93 as “See? It’s not just us.” Pretty tricky, I say.
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I think 93 East Avenue would make a wonderful HQ for the Republican Town Committee. Considering the Norwalk Motor Inn is already their defacto clubhouse. The house’s demolition by neglect over the past couple of years is a perfect metaphor for their ugly attitudes and behavior…
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A reliable source told The Hour the group of youths operates out of the Meadow Gardens housing complex and their hit list targets youths from other housing projects.
Great Neighbours wouldn’t you say?
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Suppose if you live near there you would worry about an armed holdup with all those guns every day.Them thar mailboxes for guns musta of been a suck cess. Thanks Dick that at the time was all you needed for re-election.
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Getting rid of the guns isn’t goiing to happen without the coperation of the parents. How about a house check of suspected gang members and suspicious persons? What if the police were able to do a check of homes with the permission of the parents to find these guns? Parents say they want to clean up the streets but many times are unaware that thie children are part of the problem until its too late. Why can’t Norwalk have a curfew like other towns? Why is there such a need to protect those who would cause harm? People need to get their heads out of the sand and look at the what alternatives we have right in front of us. Mailboxes for guns is not the end all to crime. Community involvement can be.
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At least everyone is admitting guns and crime has become a problem in Norwalk and is rising someone please tell the mayor.
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You can bring the jackasses to the water but you can’t make them drink it.The House check idea doesn’t sound like a bad idea figures you can read about it here for once it would be nice hearing it from the powers to be.Still it sounds like a great idea.
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Who is doing these couple of hundred house checks? How often? I thought the police were under staffed right now, so we are these searchers coming from? Are the searches for suspected gang members or actual gang members? What about the Constitutional Rights? What happens if guns are found, are the kids arrested? When the police are in the house searching for guns and come across other contraband, then the parents or kids get arrested too? I think that there may be some legal issues. What if the suspected gang member parents don’t allow the house to be serached, then what? The guns will still be therethen, right. Why stop at house checks for guns, lets do it for everything.
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I thought the police were under staffed right now. Nope we are doing fine by the year 2010 we will be hitting our 1994 mark of having enough officers for 60,000 residents.You may be right I’d check and see if any other city has ever had those house checks and if they work at all. No sense in Norwalk being a testing ground for crime we are already one for building and condo developement.
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#35-I don’t know if the police would actually take this step but the suggestion of #31 might possibly work, but parents would have to be part of the solution in these house checks. They would have to give permission for these searches. These kids are storing the guns somewhere. Do parents always know their kids are involved in gang activity or that they carry a weapon? No, but they also don’t want to bury their child either so what would the compromise be? These house checks can be done during regular duty, they don’t have to be raids, they just need parental permission to weed out the weapons. That would not be violating anyones constitutional rights. They parent would need to sign a permission document to do so. Bring canine into the home and sniff out the weapons. I would imagine that most parents would be greatful to get such things out of their homes and off the streets to keep their families safe. You never know unless you investigate what your kids are into. They can be the kid next door and you would never know.
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Bridgeport High Schools now have metal detectors, see Norwalk isn’t the only place that has gangs and guns. A 16 yr old and a 13 yr old arrested for gun pocession. The only difference is Bridgeport is doing something about it. Why does Norwalk procrastinate over something this important. I’ll bet if there were metal detectors in the schools and you brought dogs around the school yard during classes you would find quite a few weapons hidden for after school.
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I agree with every word #38 only difference between the the two schools my kids go to Norwalk so yes I am disturbed Norwalk doesn’t seem to get their fingers out of their ass and do something proactive.
I don’t know about the rest of the city but we got the Local matters magazine in the mail this week and the Mayor simply doesn’t have a clue about the city the kids or the issues.What the hell are we doing with him in office? He is still coming accross as a pompus ass with a title and can’t fathom what our officers on the street are dealing with yet we still have others who worship the developers feet that walk on us.
Yes the dogs in schools and the detectors should be on someones plate which costs money .I truly hope we don’t throw the dice on our kids over a budget crisis we saw coming many years ago.
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After reading the comments here I started searching the web and found the following article.
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#38 the kid with the gun in school had a legit reason we didn’t have the whole story.
BRIDGEPORT — A 16-year-old accused of bringing a loaded 9mm handgun to Bassick High School Wednesday afternoon may have been gunning for gang members he claims shot him in the leg two weeks earlier, police said
So you see there is two sides to each story.This will probably be Norwalks argument for not having metal detectors.
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BRIDGEPORT — A student was caught with a box of ammunition outside Harding High School Thursday evening.
The incident took place while a public forum on ways to improve the school was under way inside.I think after seeing the third incident in a week in Bridgeport it may be wise to think about metal detectors in our Norwalk schools.There seems to be an abundance of weapons on our streets maybe its time to take some precautions.
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So many cases of vandalism have raided Norwalk and the surrounding cities. The tire theft and gazebo destruction, as well as the graveyard mutilations are still fresh in our minds. Therefore, PROTEST! Stand up for what is right!
First Congregational Church is holding a rally against vandalism on April 12 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Come support our cause! -
Can’t find the post to sign up for Flax Hill cleanup. I heard they are going to do Ryan Park too. That’ll be good. That place really needs cleaning.
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First Congregational Church thank you it was a nice post to read on Sunday.To some of us who live in South Norwalk and hear gunshots each night anything is a blessing when it comes to help.
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NNHTKIDS.ORG to sign up for the Flax and Ryan park clean ups.
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Awesome a cleanup we go to Flax hill thank you!
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Its nice to see NNHT reaching out working outside where the kids are.
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NNHT is about the kids. Its about hearing what they have to say and not just preaching at them. Teens have needs and Norwalk is not addressing them. Having attended their meetings they have a whole new approach to reaching the kids. Getting the kids and their parents together to perform community service like this is a great idea because it puts them together for a few hours of doing something they can be proud of. I don’t see any names on the sign up at the NNHT blog so I am assuming that people aren’t really into this helping our teens thing. I’m bringing my kids. Its a day of fresh air and family time that we don’t always get.
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Please remember this Saturday, April 12, there will be a rally against vandalism. However, the location will be on the Norwalk Green (yay!) because we have gotten our insurance policy approved. By the way, if you can, bring a rake. We will be cleaning up the Green.
Please, come, bring friends, and support our cause!
