Streets of Stamford

It's like Christmas in January!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 20:11:00 +0000

What kind of amazing news could pull me out of blog hibernation? Only the coolest thing to come to Stamford since, well, me.

START YOUR ENGINES!!!!!

Stamford go-karting complex set for 2018 opening

I cannot overstate how excited I am about this. I've been complaining for years that there are not enough entertainment options in Stamford, and this place fills that need perfectly. Racing, video games, virtual reality, and bowling - all in one place! If you need me later in 2018, I'll be here. (Now if we could just get a new movie theater with stadium seating...)

PROST!!!

I've also complained for years that there aren't enough Bavarian bier halls around here, so you can bet your lederhosen that I'll be spending a lot of time at Harlan Haus!

Harlan Haus Brings Steins & Schnitzel to Downtown Bridgeport

The arrival of Harlan Haus is as awesome as Heidi Klum, Claudia Schiffer, and Diane Kruger inviting me to an Oktoberfest bikini party.

Between this place and The Archive, a cult movie and vinyl record store, there might be hope for Bridgeport yet! (I kid our neighbor to the northeast. I'll never forgive the mayor for booting the Bluefish, but there are still a lot of great things to do in the BPT. Plus they have Vietnamese food!)

OH HALL YEAH!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 17:24:00 +0000

Guess what, dear readers. It appears that my post from 2009 has finally paid off!

Not only will our beautiful 1916 post office survive, but it will now mail food directly into my tummy! The new plan is for this landmark building on Atlantic Street to house a Chelsea Market-style food hall. If all goes as planned, we will finally have a cheese shop here in Stamford!!! As much as I enjoy flying to Paris every few weeks to purchase fresh fromage (I live in Fairfield County, so I just assume I'm wealthy enough to do that), it'll be much more convenient to be able to buy it right here in town.

Since my wish for a cheese shop has come true, I think my next post will be about turning the vacant UBS building into America's largest bierhall. Prost!!

Some great gift ideas for the kids! All new items best quality high performance!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 14:54:00 +0000

Forget about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it's Engrish Wednesday! What's Engrish? It's the delightful mangling of English seen mostly in Asian countries. Engrish.com is a vast repository of hilarious examples.

I found these at a certain store here in Stamford that will remain unnamed, but if you look around the old block, Buster, I'm sure you'll find it. Then you can take care of all your holiday shopping with these oddly-translated products. The kids love 'em! Even if they have no idea what they are.

First up, is it a truck? No, it's a Toys King! Or maybe it's a car, as the decal on the hood says, right under a record-spinning grunting face. Um...what? You can usually judge these toys by how many periods they put at the end of a sentence, so you know this is a good one...........

Life can be stressful in the city. There's a lot of pressure. Once in a while you need to feel some power & steady freedom on a blue double-decker bus.

Now trending: #StyleCityCulture

If you're still unsure about this bad boy, just remember that the car headlamp is bring while go forward. Sold.

This next car is so awesome it's endorsed by Perkins! Yes, everyone's favorite place to stop on the interstate, hit the bathroom, and eat some soggy pancakes put their stamp of approval on a car so wonderful 100% and the best design new thing.

Heck, this car is so superioir powered that it even mitzte the sound of horses!

Maybe your son or daughter wants something a little more realistic. Well, it doesn't get more realistic than an emulational car, does it?

Perhaps Emulational Car is a little too high-octane for your kids. If that's the case, you can get them Top Grade Dance Racing! Does it dance? Heck yeah it does! Come on, it says "dance" three times on the front of the box!

What goes better with a dancing truck than Jazz Drum Rock Instruments?

Your kid can put on their own cool open dream concert with some tide music fashion by you and new music touch function!

Your little drummer's band will need someone jamming on a Guitar Excellent! All new items , it cannot be missed!

Is your little prodigy more into Rachmaninoff than rocking out? Then they'll surely love a musical instrument piano.

Over in the girls' section you'll find this totally legitimate and not at all bootleg Princess Kitchen!

I can't figure out this next box at all. The Engrish on here is just complete nonsense! It's like they made up their own silly language.

Well, at least Jenifer approves.

Enough girlie stuff - let's see what they've got for the boys. Oh heck yeah, it's Super Ninja, the Ninja Turtles' beefy cousins!

What do boys like more than roided-up turtles? Robots!

Especially ones with glary light and sound effect! Wait, just the one? I guess Falcon makes up for it with his Super Heighten power and finger that can curve.

Here's a game the whole family can enjoy. It's Happy Stitching! Who's This?

Wait - if it's a self-correcting puzzle, do you even have to do anything?

Finally, a little something for the moms. After a long day of shopping for your family, treat yourself to this fine item.

Remember the meaning of the holiday season: Month is ch! Where yerymaryer to all, and to all a good night!

Ghost Signs II: The Return of Ghost Signs

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 19:16:00 +0000

Since my first post about ghost signs was such a big hit, I figured I'd do the Hollywood thing and make a sequel!

Starting in the South End, we find this great wall-sized ad on Pacific St.

This laundromat on Shippan Avenue has a nice, big Coca-Cola sign on the side.

A few weeks later, the "laundromat" sign broke, revealing that this used to be Vic's Cycles. Was Vic's a motorcycle shop?

I'm sad that Chinese Mirch is gone, but the demolition of its building on Atlantic Street revealed this classic sign for a long-gone antiques store.

Continuing the demolition theme, I'll never again get to enjoy Plateau's lacy Malaysian crepes, but the site of its former home revealed another subtle ghost sign.

Any clues on where that arrow used to lead?

Up above the Plateau site on the side of the Montana for Men building, you'll find this large, faded ad. If you squint, it looks like it says "(something) stores and hamsters." That can't be right.

On the other (west) side of the building, all the way at the top, you'll find another sign that's impossible to make out.

This sign is at street level on the same wall. It might be the same logo or name, but it's been painted over, too. COM-something?

On the other side of the BarBQ/McFadden's building, all the way at the top, you can just make out a sign with "Martin" in script below "ANK." Any guesses?

On Main Street near Bobby V's, you'll find this awesome sign inside the front door of an apartment building. It's doubly awesome that the building owner kept this sign intact. I'd love to find out what restaurant was advertising its blue plate dinner.

I found this barely legible sign on Summer Street in the alley next to Barcelona. Any clues as to what it said? It looks like a jumble of letters painted over each other. I want to believe that it said "The A-Team Parking Only."

I don't think this sign on Washington Boulevard is that old since Seasons Too is still around, but it still counts!

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, some old signs saw the light of day for the first time in probably decades. Here are a few on West Broad Street near Matthew's Bakery.

Sandy also uncovered this "Veterans" sign on Cove Road, across from Pat's Hubba Hubba. Was this a VFW hall back in the day?

While they aren't ghost ads, these old signs on the First County Bank building next to the Stamford Town Center are cool.

Over in Glenbrook, some old train or trolley tracks have poked their way out from under Taylor Reed Place.

I saw this old-school classic in the Wall Street section of Norwalk. It looks like it had lights on it at some point. I'm sure the American Pickers guys would try to buy it. The best part is that Norwalk Luggage is still around! As a side note, I'm fascinated by the Wall Street area in Norwalk. I'll write a dedicated post about it soon.

Port Chester has a few ghost ads as well. Here's one that says "RANGES HEATERS".

Here's another one for a product that undoes something. Maybe it was some kind of correction fluid or adhesive remover.

I saw this massive building from the train many times before I finally walked around all sides of it and figured out what it was. It used to be the Embassy Theater, a classic vaudeville and movie theater - heck, a movie palace.

Here's a link to some photos of the once-magnificent interior of this historic theater: After the Final Curtain: Embassy Theatre. I hope the Embassy gets the restoration it deserves, much like its neighbor The Capitol Theatre did.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this round of ghost ads and other urban artifacts. If you see anything else that looks old and cool, drop me a line and I'll check it out!

Eats of Stamford: Paloma

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:29:00 +0000

Despite our three wonderful beaches and priceless views of Long Island, it's easy to forget that Stamford is, in fact, a coastal city. This is partly because much of our waterfront has been used for industrial purposes until recently. With the wave of development at Harbor Point and elsewhere, it seems like we'll get to enjoy more and more of our coastline. If you can't wait until Cummings Beach resembles 1940s Havana, a great place for waterfront dining is Paloma, from world-renowned chef and Food Network star Aarón Sánchez.

This thick tome is just the drink menu. Seriously!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Paloma with a veritable plethora of fellow bloggers from CT Bites, Food Dudes, Talk-a-Vino, Hamlet Hub, Savory Sweet Eats, CT Lifestyles, Home Place Blog, Fairfield County Foodie, RestaurantsCT.com, Hey Stamford!, and Connecticut Magazine. What a crowd!

Paloma's menu offers a variety of Latin-inspired dishes that will scratch any itch you may have. Like chicken? Try the Cuban marinated roasted chicken. Ribs? Braised short ribs. Seafood? You get the picture. Enough of my blathering - let's go to the photographic evidence.

First up were the appetizers, starting with Lobster Ceviche in a passion fruit habanero sauce. It was sweet, spicy, and delicious.

Next was Tai Tiradito - raw snapper in a spicy sauce. I love sushi beyond words, so give me raw fish and I'm happy. Add some spice to the mix and I'm even happier.

Continuing the app parade were shrimp tempura (top) and crab (bottom) tostadas. Perfect little finger foods!

This little skillet of joy is Queso Fundido. It's got huitlacoche, wild mushrooms, and jalapeños. Yeah, it was awesome.

Albóndigas are meatballs (obviously), and these bad boys were rich and delicious. They came in a chipotle broth with mint and queso cotija on top. The astute reader will have noticed that all of these appetizers had some kind of spicy ingredients; Chef Aarón is known for his love of everything picante. Heck, he even has a show called Heat Seekers, where he suffers and sweats through insanely spicy dishes for our entertainment!

Mexican Street Corn comes topped with chipotle crema and queso cotija. I'm pretty sure I ate that entire plate.

OK, enough foreplay - on to the entrees!

These braised short ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. The veggies were delicious, as was the horseradish gemolata. 10/10; would eat again.

Cuban-Style Chicken is marinated roasted chicken served with a pickled salad and tamarind chicken fried rice. Yummmmm.

This is Garganelli Pasta, and the sauce is ground chorizo, cauliflower, and grilled escarole in a tamarind reduction. Another clean plate for me.

These jumbo shrimp might be the illegitimate offspring of Godzilla. Seriously, they were HUGE. They came with chile de arbol butter, which is buttery and spicy - two of my favorite words!

For a brief intermission so you can digest, here's a shot of the awesome wood-fired grill where the magic happens.

OK, that's enough of a break. It's time for dessert!

Believe it or not, these are churros! These little round balls of deliciousness are filled with dulce de leche and served with agave-vanilla crema on the side. They were warm and sugary and amazing.

Not to be outdone, here's cheesecake in a jar! It's got salted caramel (oh yeah), crumble, and whipped cream, with a cherry chunk cookie on the side. Leave room, yo.

Almost as good as the food at Paloma is the atmosphere. If you can, I highly recommend eating outside on the patio. You're right on the water, surrounded by the sights and sounds of Harbor Point.

Man, just writing this post made me hungry again. Meet me at Paloma!

Get excited for Ethopian food!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Sun, 31 May 2015 01:29:00 +0000

First we lost Galangal. Then Egané, followed by Plateau, Chinese Mirch, Rodizio Grill, Saigon Cafe, and the incredible Kit's Thai Kitchen. Restaurants that feature interesting and different food seem to have short lifespans here, but, alas, there's hope! Teff is coming soon! They're going to serve Ethiopian and Eritrean food right across from Mill River Playground. Ethiopian food is hard to describe, but it's probably unlike anything you've had before. I love the meat dishes served extra spicy. I'll definitely write a mouth-watering post about Teff once they're up and running!

Mysterious Manhattan Street

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 20 May 2015 18:46:00 +0000

Just blocks from the gleaming new high-rises at Harbor Point and the hopping bar and restaurant scene of downtown Stamford lies a pocket of utter decay. If you've ever been to the train station, you've probably driven right past Manhattan Street, which is tucked in between Atlantic Street, the Urban Transitway, and the train tracks.

This odd little street has intrigued me ever since I happened upon it during my ramblings about town. Even when the buildings were occupied they were in bad shape, and they've gotten worse since being vacated. The condition of these buildings, and that people were living and gathering in them, is startling considering the general affluence of our city and county.

Now that the whole street is empty (as part of the train station redevelopment), it holds a whole new level of interest for me, since I've always been fascinated with abandoned buildings and urban decay.

I'll add some captions to provide context or commentary, but I think the pictures mostly speak for themselves.

This is a close-up of the notice taped to the red door above.

This was the view inside that slightly ajar door in the picture above.

On the door was another warning from the city about the dangerous condition of this building.

The owners apparently took the matter seriously, because when I walked by a week later, the door was boarded up.

And a week after that, it was secured with a steel roll-door.

I don't want to turn this into an editorial, but who keeps buildings that they own in this horrible state? I don't understand why someone would buy expensive real estate and then let it crumble to the point where it's basically condemned. Were they taking the loss in property value as a tax write-off? Were they just betting on the train station development to push the values up? Even if that were the case, why would you forgo even the most basic maintenance, especially considering people were living in the buildings? I can't imagine the conditions that people had to tolerate inside those apartments.

Here's a look inside the window with the bars on it:

One of many broken upstairs windows.

This furniture store moved to a new location on Henry Street, and the old store was the site of an arson in December.

More open and broken upstairs windows.

That DirecTV dish looks a little out of place on such a decrepit building.

A creepy open cellar door.

An antique radio-TV combo inside the vacant church.

Another abandoned church.

Does anyone have any idea when this store closed? Even before the street was vacated, I never saw it open. Did anybody ever buy anything there?

Another creepy basement door.

Apparently, this wasn't a coffee shop but a club - and the site of a murder in 2011.

At the corner of Pacific Street and the Urban Transitway sits this new or renovated building, but it's completely empty. My guess is that its surroundings make it a hard sell.

At the end of Pacific Street you'll find this great old brick factory building. You can almost picture those giant wooden double doors being used to bale hay or unload Yale and Towne locks.

Bonus: a partial ghost sign!

Here's a shiny rendering of the proposed redevelopment at the train station site. That smaller building on the left looks like it's on the site of present-day Manhattan Street. Maybe the owners of the abandoned buildings that currently line the street were, in fact, hoping for generous buyouts. We'll see what happens with this ambitious -- and contentious -- project.

Feeling the love at Amore 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 03:02:00 +0000

The original Amore Restaurant was a classic, old-school Italian joint on Hope Street in Springdale that served great pizza and pasta. The Stamford Pizza Tour even crowned it the best pizza in Stamford in 2009! So what happens when a six-time World Pizza Champion takes over a championship restaurant? Freaking food magic, that's what.

Bruno DiFabio (not pictured: his World Pizza Championship belt)

That champion is Bruno DiFabio, who is also a Chopped judge and international restaurateur. He made his very first pizza at Amore years ago, and he's now come full circle. After buying the establishment from the retiring original owner, Bruno rechristened it Amore Cucina & Bar and did a full renovation, giving it an updated, modern feel and expanding the bar area.

But you're not here to read about interior design, are you? Let's get to the food! I was fortunate enough to be invited to a media tasting dinner where Bruno and his executive chef Jared showcased their inspired creations, starting with Bruno's claim to fame: pizza!

Amore offers two distinctive categories of pizza, square and round. The round pies are cooked in the wood-fired oven while the square ones are cooked in the gas-fired oven.

Wood, fire, cheese, crust, yum.

This is the Juliet: house mozzarella, gorgonzola doce, fig jam, prosciutto, agrodolce. It was delicious. I love anything fig, so when you throw fig jam together with savory, salty prosciutto, I'm a happy camper.

Next is the Pitt Master (no relation to Brad). It has pulled pork (another of my favorite things in the world), red onion, mozzarella, BBQ sauce, and agave nectar. This one was a little sweeter than I personally prefer, but it was still delicious.

Moving on to round pies, first up is the New Haven White, featuring little neck clams, Amore bacon, house mozzarella, and smoked lemon juice. Despite the name, this isn't an attempt to copy the signature pie at Frank Pepe's; it doesn't have the classic oily, charred crust or the same cheese blend. It's just a delicious white clam pie.

This pizza is For the Queen, and it features San Marzano tomatoes, flor di latte mozzarella, pecorino romano, basil and, yes, a sunny-side-up egg in the middle. It was a little runny from the egg, but so rich and delicious.

I also tried the Holy Cheesus pizza, which had burrata, ricotta, pecorino, mozzarella, parmigiano, and black pepper. It was so delicious and peppery that I ate it before I could take a picture. I guess I'll just have to go back and try it again!

I was getting full by this point, but I pressed on in the name of blogging about delicious food. The sacrifices I make for you, my loyal readers!

The next round of dishes were cichetti, or small plates. Pictured above is the Polenta, which is topped with a pork and wild mushroom ragu and shaved parmigiano reggiano. I love all of those things, and when you put them together...oh yeah.

OK, I'll admit it: this was the first time I'd ever tried octopus...and I'm glad I did! Jared roasted these, so the outside was perfectly crispy while the inside was tender and meaty. They came in a puttanesca sauce with crispy capers and shaved olives. I did cut off the suction cups, though. Baby steps.

Is that sushi? Yes, sort of. It's with calabrian chilies, parsley, dehydrated pancetta, and red onion. I love raw tuna, and this had spicy chilies to boot. So awesome.

It's like they read my mind. I love goat cheese on salad, and the Beet & Rucula adds it to braised red beets, arugula, and candied walnuts. Yum.

I forgot to take a picture of the carrots agrodolce, which came with spicy pickled raisins. As you can imagine, they were delicious, too. Did I mention the spicy pickled raisins? I couldn't stop eating those bad boys.

Round 3! Pasta!

Spaghetti e Pepe has black pepper, blacked artichokes, pecorino, and shaved parmigiano reggiano. Yet another dish I couldn't get enough of. Gimme that black pepper!

More clams! This time they were over linguine, with pancetta, garlic, green onion, dehydrated bacon, and lemon zest. Another winner.

And finally, the main events of the evening...

In this corner, chicken scarpariello with house sausage, pickled and sweet hot peppers, and duck fat finger potatoes! Oh my goodness, this dish was amazing. I could eat the finger potatoes for days.

And in this corner, pork osso bucco with broccoli rabe, warm potato salad, pancetta, and parmigiano reggiano. The osso bucco was like buttah - it fell off the bone. All the trimmings were just icing on the delicious pork sundae.

Feeling full? Lean back and unbutton those pants because we're not done yet! It's dessert time!

Beignets? Nope, fried Oreos! I'd seen these at county fairs, but I just couldn't bring myself to indulge...if only I had known what I was missing. These warm little bundles of joy are doughy (with just a hint of crunch) on the outside, while the inside is all melty, gooey chocolatey goodness. They came with a shot of pretzel milk, which I didn't try, but it did smell delicious and very pretzel-y.

And, finally, a waffle with tomato jam and whipped cream. Tomato jam might sound strange, but it's got just the right amount of sweetness to nicely complement the waffle and whipped cream.

With so many amazing dishes to choose from, it's hard for me to pick a favorite. I guess there's only one way to decide a winner - Bruno, if you're reading this, I'm ready to go title-for-title and put my World Waffle Eating Championship on the line in a no-holds-barred winner-take-all waffles-vs.-pizza steel cage match!

Or I'll just keep going back to eat at Amore until I can make up my mind.

But the challenge still stands! Name a time and a place and I'll be there!

Social media stuff:
Amore Cucina & Bar on Facebook
Bruno DiFabio on Instagram
Executive chef Jared Falco on Instagram
MaxEx Public Relations on Facebook

Stuff to do inside because it's colder than the Arctic outside

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 02:30:00 +0000

- Warm your heart by making a donation on March 5, Fairfield County's Giving Day. This is a 24-hour, online-only campaign to raise $1 million for over 400 nonprofits working in Fairfield County.

- Get toasty with the bikini bombshells of "Thunderball" at The Avon on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. It's the 50th anniversary of this classic James Bond movie, and The Avon is showing a brand-new 4K digital restoration!

- Enjoy some warm pea soup during "The Exorcist" at The Avon on March 24 at 8:30 p.m. Mmm...sacrilegious...

- Watch Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen heat up the screen in "The Thomas Crown Affair" at The Avon on March 25 at 1:00 p.m. Sure, the score is pure late-60s cheese, but it's still a cool movie. Plus, this screening is free!

Fairway Firefighter Food Face-off Follow-up!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 00:13:00 +0000

After Belltown Fire Department wowed the judges at the Fairway Firefighter Food Face-off, they chose the Stamford Fire Safety Foundation to be the beneficiaries of a Shopping Night, where 10% of all purchases went directly to the Foundation. Well, Fairway shoppers clearly wanted to help, because the Foundation received a whopping $3,186!!

Gotta love oversized checks.

Would you like a pierogi with your baguette?

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:48:00 +0000

It's an international free-for-all here in Stamford! First up is the Ukrainian festival at St. Basil's College on Glenbrook Road. It takes place on Sunday, September 14, at 11 AM. The festival will feature music, dancing, food, crafts for sale, and more! For more information, check out the festival's Facebook page: Connecticut Ukrainian Day Festival.

Parlez vous Franglais? is a new social/dating event with an interesting premise: Guests have several 12-minute conversations - six minutes in English, and six minutes in French. I've heard that a bawdy Frenchman showed up for the first gathering and started teaching the other participants all the choicest dirty French words! The next one will take place on September 23 or 24 at Bar Rosso, so keep checking their website to confirm and to RSVP.

My French is worse than Clark Griswold's, but if someone starts up an English/German Oktoberfest event, I'm there!

Baseball in Hartford - a $60 million mistake?

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:31:00 +0000

I love baseball. I've attended games from Buffalo to Nashville. Heck, I'd love to see a minor-league team here in Stamford. However, there are so many things wrong with the current proposal for a minor-league ballpark in Hartford that I don't know where to begin, but I'll try.

If ballparks were money-makers, private businesses like teams or real estate developers would be all over them. I'm guessing that stadiums are, in fact, not money-makers, since so many teams stick their local city/county/state with the bill for the construction and upkeep of the stadium. Pretty sweet deal - for the teams.

Why should any municipality build a facility for a private business to begin with? How about a building for Stop & Shop? Why not a building for my blogging empire? Perhaps it's because Mayor Segarra has stars in his eyes over the prospect of being known as the mayor who brought baseball to Hartford - but this is a poor use of public funds.

To take it a step further, not only would this be a publicly-owned building built for a private tenant, but it's a single-use tenant! This isn't an arena or a concert hall or a convention center. It's a baseball stadium, and baseball stadiums are good for one thing: baseball games (and maybe the occasional outdoor concert or wrestling show).

To take it another step, this would be a city-owned building with a private single-use tenant - and said tenant would only use the building about 70 times a year! So that's $60 million of public money to construct a building that will be empty 290 days a year. How is that a sound investment? Can you imagine a city spending $60 million to build a giant warehouse that's only used for the two months before Christmas?

Regarding that investment, I'd love to hear from Mayor Segarra how much the stadium will cost the city after interest, and how long it's estimated to take the city to pay back the loan and turn a profit on the stadium, assuming that's even in the projections. And will there be an ironclad commitment from the Rock Cats to stay in the stadium for a certain number of years, so the city isn't stuck with an empty stadium and a huge debt?

Speaking of projections, you've probably heard the overly optimistic projections for this project: that 10% of game attendees will stay in Hartford hotels; that the team will draw more than 7000 fans per game (they currently draw 3500 per game); that the stadium will directly and indirectly create more than 600 jobs (with no explanation of how exactly this number would happen).

There are so many ways this can go bad. Let's take a quick and unscientific look at some of the ways:

- Mayor Segarra can drive down to Bridgeport for a prime example of what's wrong with this plan. Bridgeport built a stadium and an arena in a neglected part of the city that's separated from the downtown by a major highway (just like in Hartford), but this hasn't sparked the kind of economic development the city predicted.

- An arena falls into disrepair and then obsolescence, e.g.: Nassau Coliseum.

- A stadium is demolished before the city's loans to build it are even paid off, e.g.: Seattle Kingdome.

- A team decides to move out of a fairly new stadium because they can make more money from luxury boxes in a newer, publicly-funded one, e.g.: Atlanta Braves.

- A team cries poverty to get the city to build it a new stadium, then is revealed to have millions more than it claimed. That was the Miami Marlins, who, once they got their shiny new stadium, sold off all of their good players. (Sidenote: any elected official who believes a cry of poverty from someone who owns a freaking baseball team needs his or her head checked.)

- A team holds its home city or county hostage for a new stadium by threatening to move: countless examples.

In a recent appearance on WNPR's Where We Live, Mayor Segarra cited the success of Dayton, Ohio's minor-league ballpark as an example of what Hartford is trying to do. He talked about how the Dayton Flyers have sold out the stadium for fifteen straight seasons. That's all well and good, but let's be honest: we don't live in prime minor-league baseball country. We have an abundance of sports teams and other big-time activities that occupy our time. The Bluefish draw decently, but I don't think anyone would say that they've been a runaway success.

Mayor Segarra and Shawn Wooden, President of the Hartford City Council, also talked a lot about the stadium as being just one part of a multi-faceted development for the Downtown North area of Hartford. The stadium is intended to be the catalyst that sparks interest from developers who'll fill in the rest of Downtown North with ancillary development - retail, housing, etc. This isn't a bad idea, but it's not a simple matter of "if you build it, development will come." Sure, that might happen, but do you really want your city to spend $60 million (plus interest) on a risky proposition like that? If it were that easy to spur development, then cities would go nuts with building "catalyst" projects. Governments can and do build things that encourage development - things like colleges, transportation systems, etc. - but this is a whole other matter, and the resulting development usually follows indirectly. Without a firm commitment from a developer to build the ballpark as part of a larger development (the hypothetical one that Mayor Segarra and company believe will materialize around the ballpark), then the ballpark could end up as a lonely outpost surrounded by everyone's favorite urban sight: surface parking. In other words, without a fully-realized, fully-(privately)-funded, multi-faceted development plan, this ballpark is a huge risk - and cities should not be in the real-estate speculation business. What if the city builds the ballpark and then the real estate market tanks again?

Now, if ballpark-as-anchor is the plan, then the city should sell (or lease) the land for the stadium to a developer who will handle the construction of the stadium. A city building a stadium to raise tax dollars on the property around it is like a struggling movie theater deciding to make its own movies. In other words, stick to the business you know. Cities shouldn't be in the business of running ballparks, arenas, and the like.

They also talked about the need for private financing for the project, but wouldn't answer host John Dankosky's questions about how that would even work. Wouldn't an investor want to be a part-owner? Since then, the mayor has bowed to political and public pressure and agreed to make it a public-private venture. Here are two articles about the developers' proposals:
Plans For Hartford Stadium, New Municipal Offices Revealed
Hartford Gets Four Proposals For Stadium, Development

As awesome as a brewery and ballpark sound, I'm still not sure how these public-private partnerships would work. Would the developer build the ballpark with the city's money, then the city would own it? Would the developer and the city co-own and co-manage the ballpark? It's all very murky, which is not a good sign for the taxpayers.

Overall, here's the thing to remember: if stadiums were money-makers, private companies would own and run them. Since they're clearly not, we, the public keep getting stuck with the bill. And that stinks.

Fairway shopping night for the Stamford Fire Safety Foundation!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 16:10:00 +0000

I couldn't make it to this year's Fairway Firefighter Food Face-off, but I'm excited to share the news about the winning team's shopping night! Belltown Fire Department has chosen the Stamford Fire Safety Foundation Fund, a public charity that raises funds to provide free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire prevention education materials, and to support public life safety initiatives to all of the Fire Departments within Stamford. 25% of all sales from registered customers at the Stamford Fairway (699 Canal Street) on Wednesday, August 6, from 4 to 10 PM will go to the Foundation! Heck, 25% of my cheese purchases alone could probably fund their operations for a year. :)

Coming up at the Avon: Lost Boys, Lost Town, Wizard of Oz, and vote for the next Cult Classic!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 20:05:00 +0000

Not only is the Avon showing The Lost Boys next Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.; not only are they showing Lost Town, a documentary about Trochenbrod, the only all-Jewish town that ever endured outside of Palestine (with a post-film Q&A); and not only are they celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz; but now they want you - YES, YOU! - to pick the Cult Classic to be shown on October 21!

Here's the link where you can vote for the digitally restored movie you most want to see - https://epoll.me/vote/ACQPcspHz9U/we-want-our-audience-to-decide-which-digitally-restored-film-would-you-like-to-see-for-our-october-21st-cult-classics-screening

I cast a write-in vote for The Gingerdead Man, a movie about a murderous gingerbread cookie featuring a star turn from Gary Busey. I'm pretty sure it swept the Oscars that year.

Updates; Frozen at the Avon; firefighters face off at Fairway; more good stuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 01:59:00 +0000

I'm sure all of my loyal readers have noticed that my posts have been few and far between lately. While I've been asleep at the wheel (at the keyboard?), so much cool stuff has happened in Stamford - new restaurants, new food trucks, new buildings, a beer garden right next to my office! In my defense, I have two young sons (4 years old and 8 months old), and it takes a lot of time and energy to train half of the Yankees' future infield.

I also don't have a smartphone, which makes it hard to post to Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Tumblr, Tinder, MySpace, and all the other social media sites the kids these days are using. The rate plans are finally getting cheaper, so yes, I'll get a smartphone soon.

Plus, I can't keep up with the great new crop of Stamford blogs, especially OmNomCT and Hey Stamford! I do have a few new posts in the works, so keep checking back, but make sure you update your bookmarks to streetsofstamford.blogspot.com. Streetsofstamford.com won't work anymore.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff!

- Head to the Avon Saturday for a Frozen Sing-Along! I know, I know - you've finally gotten "Let It Go" out of your head for the second time (after the Blu-ray release) - but not only will you get to see it on the big screen with subtitles for the songs, you'll get to see it in the historic, beautiful Avon Theatre! And their popcorn is the best in town - real butter, too!

- After rescuing Anna and Elsa, warm up at Fairway's third annual Firefighter Food Face-off! Teams from Cos Cob, Noroton Heights, Westport, and Belltown fire departments will cook up a storm on Saturday from 12-3, and a panel of judges will pick the winner! The winning team will receive a $500 Fairway gift card and a shopping night to benefit a charity of their choice. There will be music, games, giveaways, and more!

- Back to movies...Mill River Playground plays host all summer long to Animation Celebration, free showings of some great animated kids' movies! Despicable Me 2! Everything is awesome with The Lego Movie! Epic! Rio! Plus it's an awesome playground!

Keep checking my site for some more cool things to come!

Play with your food at Fairway!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 21 May 2014 20:11:00 +0000

The folks at Fairway have another fun family food event, brought to you by the letter F! Bill Wurtzel, author of “Funny Food 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfast," will be in the Stamford store on Saturday from 1-3 to teach families how to create funny food art.

The ingredients will include waffles, strawberries, raisins, pita, bananas and much more. Bonus: Mr. Wurtzel is a triple threat - he'll also sing a special funny food song! Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase. Register at customer service or online at www.fairwaymarket.com.

The South End is dead

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:17:00 +0000

Death, taxes, banks, and CVSs. You can always count on those four things in Stamford, and the South End is not immune to the CVS scourge. Coming soon, right across from Fairway:

My main issue with this isn't that it's yet another CVS in Stamford (the 1449th, by my count), or even that it's a generic, boring CVS that looks like every other CVS. My biggest issue is that it's a one-story standalone building with a huge parking lot in a part of town that should have much higher density in its buildings.

The city and BLT essentially have a blank slate down there, but instead of creating new and interesting buildings and neighborhoods, we get this. I can't believe the city planners approved this bland suburban box in such an urban setting. Why couldn't this CVS be incorporated into an apartment building like the Walgreen's on East Main Street? Ugh.

The (new) Old House comes to East Main Street!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:08:00 +0000

What's the one thing that could bring me out of winter hibernation? Food! Especially good food! And The Old House's new location will definitely have good food!

The Old House on Selleck Street serves up awesome Peruvian and Guatemalan food, but it's kind of hidden in an industrial part of town. This new second location on East Main Street (near Casa Villa's second location) will put it right on a main road with plenty of eyes (and stomachs) passing by every day.

The most well-known Peruvian dishes are ceviche and lomo saltado, but my favorite meals from The Old House are the tallarin de pollo (stir-fried chicken, veggies, and spaghetti) and the chaufa de pollo (same thing but with rice instead of spaghetti). They're savory and delicious without being greasy. I've only had a few Guatemalan things from The Old House, and I liked the pupusas (corn cakes topped with combinations of cheese and meats).

The new restaurant is slated to open in April, but I'll post a follow-up when it's up and running.

Food truck fundraising fiesta - tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:31:00 +0000

What's better than eating good food? Eating good food for a cause!

Tomorrow from 11:30 am-2 pm, the local all-star food truck lineup will be in one place for the first time! Maddy’s Food Truck, Melt Mobile, The Local Meatball, LobsterCraft will all be in the circle in front of The Beer Garden at Harbor Point, and each truck will donate a portion of their proceeds to T he Food Bank Of Lower Fairfield County. Maddy’s and The Local Meatball will be donating 10%, and if their sales are over $500 they will donate 20%! Melt Mobile & LobsterCraft will be donating 10%.

To recap:
Step 1: Eat awesome food.
Step 2: Help the Food Bank.
Step 3: Return to work, sleep off food coma under desk.

Directions:

View Larger Map

Don't be a cotton-headed ninnymuggins - come see Elf at the Avon!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 20:25:00 +0000

There are certain traditions that signal the start of the holiday season: Christmas music in the stores (in August), people trampling each other for $200 HDTVs, the first snowfall, me complaining about the first snowfall, and watching unforgettable Christmas classics like "A Christmas Story" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

This year, everybody's favorite ~~theater~~ theatre, the Avon, gets into the holiday spirit with a free screening of "Elf"! Watch as Buddy the Elf searches for his long-lost father in the concrete jungle of New York City. Will Buddy's new family accept his odd, sugar-fueled ways? Will he find love with a pre-"New Girl" Zooey Deschanel? The only way to find out is to come to the Avon on Saturday, December 7, at 10:30 a.m.! Or you could just rent the VHS from Blockbuster. Oh, wait...

The Avon also has some awesome Cult Classics to get you through the cold, dark months of winter and beyond:
Thursday, Dec. 5, 9 PM - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Thursday, Jan. 28, 8:30 PM - Wayne's World
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 8:30 PM - Zoolander
Tuesday, Mar. 25, 8:30 PM - Back to the Future
Tuesday, Apr. 22, 8:30 PM - The Dark Crystal
Tuesday, May 27, 8:30 PM - Army of Darkness*

*If you've ever wanted to meet me and tell me how much you love this blog, I'll be at this movie. I'll be the guy dressed as Ash. I'm serious.

My mayoral endorsement

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 15:33:00 +0000

The Stamford electorate has been clamoring to hear who I'm endorsing in the upcoming mayoral election, so here ya go. To help me decide who to pick, I sent the set of questions below to both the Martin and Fedele campaigns.

1) What steps would you take to earn your place in Stamford history as the mayor who finally filled in the infamous "Hole in the Ground"?

2) How would you promote smart urban initiatives such as walkable communities, bike lanes, mass transportation (including the possibility of light rail), etc.?

3) Do you have any intention of trying to bring a minor league baseball team to Stamford?

4) I think Stamford needs a first-class entertainment complex (like New Roc City, only nicer), so if you agree, how would you go about attracting such a development? On a related note, the Majestic movie theater is a one-story building in the densest part of downtown Stamford; would you promote redeveloping that site into a taller mixed-use building that still housed a movie theater?

5) Stamford has plenty of affordable housing for the lower-income people, but how would you keep Stamford affordable for the middle section of the income range?

6) Metro-North has built additional stations in Fairfield and New Haven while Stamford has debated the construction of the East Main Street station for years. What would you do to move this project along?

Their responses:

Martin: ______________________________.

Fedele: ______________________________.

I didn't forget to type their answers - they never responded. Not even a "we'll get back to you as soon as possible" auto-reply.

So as a result of this blatant snub of my mildly popular local blog, in the 2013 Stamford mayoral race, Streets of Stamford is endorsing...Mayor Goldie Wilson! He cleaned up Hill Valley, so I'm sure he'll do the same for Stamford.

Feel free to voice your opinions of Mayor Goldie Wilson in the comment section, but keep it civil.

Want to buy your very own island? Now you can!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:42:00 +0000

Are you tired of making plans for world domination at Starbucks? Do the librarians at the Ferguson always shush you when you cackle maniacally while stroking an albino cat? If so, you're probably a supervillian in need of a private island where you can make your plans for world domination in peace - and you're in luck, because you can buy one right here in Stamford!

All you need is $12,800,000.

Loyal readers may remember my post from 2008 about the private island off the coast of Stamford: The most exclusive neighborhood in Stamford. Well, I came across this real estate listing the other day: Seriously, there's an island for sale.

Some highlights:

Even if you somehow get past the gates, that water is teeming
with sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.

Here's a lovely outdoor setting for your steal-all-the-world's-gold planning sessions.

Behind that painting is a video-link to the U.N. for issuing demands.

What a lovely parlor/enemy agent interrogation chamber.

One of these books opens the passageway to the secret laboratory, but which one...?

After a hard day of scheming, even megalomaniacs need to relax by the pool sometimes.

This island was once valued at over $25 million, so $12.8 million is a steal. Heck, you could use all the money you saved on a submarine dock to get to your secret underwater lair that much quicker!

Anyway, if you need me, I'll be out shopping for a satellite-mounted multi-directional full-range ultraviolet ocean evaporation ray. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

From the back burner: beer and meat!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 01:11:00 +0000

Now that I'm caught up on 2 Broke Gossip Gilmore Gastineau New Girls Next Door, let's cover some topics I've been meaning to get to!

Half Full Brewery
You're all aware by now that Stamford has its own booming micro-brewery, Half Full Brewery. They've been all over the local press and blogosphere, and even got a visit from Governor Malloy. They also just celebrated their first anniversary!

They started with one simple IPA and they've just kept creating quality brew after quality brew. It's amazing how consistently good their beers have been!

I had a chance to sit down with Conor Horrigan, founder, owner and "Chief Beer Philosopher" of Half Full Brewery to chat about his beers, his passions, and basically the whole story behind Half Full.

To Conor, it's all about "living life with the glass half-full" and "chasing the dream." Based on how Half Full has exploded in its mere one year of existence, I'd say Conor has succeeded at both.

But it's not just about the business at Half Full. Conor is also committed to making Half Full an active, positive part of the fabric of Stamford, which includes donating brewery tours as fundraisers, organizing park cleanups, and other community-oriented initiatives.

Conor wants to focus on his employees' passion projects; for example, Chief Beer Artist Jen wants to encourage more women to learn about craft beer.

There's no doubt about Conor's desire to build a community around the brewery. For instance, Half Full recently hosted a "Craft over Craft" meeting as a complement to Ignite Stamford. It was a lively discussion about how to make Stamford "the greatest city on Earth." Ideas included: light rail, bike lanes, more trees, and more art and culture.

Fun fact: Half Full's building used to be an eggplant-frying factory. Yum!

One of my main questions for Conor was, why Stamford? They could've found a warehouse anywhere else in the state for much less. Here's his answer, paraphrased: "I saw all the development, and a lot of excitement. This is a densely populated area - it's where the customers and accounts are. It's also a great community that would support a local business; people are proud of Stamford, and this is important to breweries, since they make a super-local product. There are also lots of new restaurants here with new and unique concepts, and I wanted to be a part of that excitement. Also, there are no breweries down here, so I saw the opportunity for craft beer here and for people to learn about better beer. The people are hungry for something like that here - they'll pick it up strictly because it's local. We brew right here - you can smell it - the community can come in and see the people behind it. Beer is a very communal product."

All I can say to that is Prost!

Also - pumpkin beer!

Dinosaur BBQ
I don't have enough superlatives to describe Dinosaur BBQ. Every meal I've had there has been simply awesome. It's a giant temple to all things smoke and pork. Your experience starts in the parking lot, since the smell of all that deliciousness hits you the moment you get out of your car - or when you walk over, if you're one of those people lucky enough to work down the road! The ribs are the best in the area, and the pulled pork is heavenly. Speaking of Heaven, Dinosaur BBQ is pretty much how I imagine it would look - BBQ, beer, football...yeah.

Since I work in the general neighborhood, I've used their takeout service plenty of times as well, and it's always been a great experience. They get every order right, even if you make substitutions, and they're always willing to split the bill when everyone pays on their own, unlike some places that give you a hassle about doing so.

Also - temporary tattoos!

Plan B Burger Bar
Yup - more awesome meat! Plan B makes the best burger in town, hands down. And the variety! You can get so many different kinds of meat and so many toppings! I'm slowly working my way through their checklist, I mean menu, and I've loved every burger so far. The service is also top-notch - everyone is friendly and knowledgeable.

Also - Parmesan tater tots! I loved them so much, I found a recipe online and made them at home!

Yoo tawkin' to me? Fuggedaboutit!

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 14:59:00 +0000

One of the hardest things about being a native of Long Island living in Connecticut is not hearing that singular, unmistakable accent. It took me a while to figure out what "cah-fee" was; it's what people up here call caw-fee.

Well, I'll get a chance to bask in Lawn Gyland-ish and Brooklynese when The Avon presents "If These Knishes Could Talk" next Wednesday, September 11, at 7:30, at the Avon. "If These Knishes Could Talk" tells the story of the New York accent: what it is, how it's evolved, and the love/hate relationship New Yorkers have with it.

And yes, I still call it Noo Yawk.

The other (w)hole in Stamford

noreply@blogger.com (Streets of Stamford) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:27:00 +0000

Now that Port Chester has a Whole Foods, every town and city on the New Haven Line's main branch from Port Chester to Milford has one, except for Bridgeport, Stratford, and oh yeah, STAMFORD. We're only the second-biggest city in Connecticut, for crying out loud. Even Danbury has a Whole Foods!

The traffic whiners killed the proposed Whole Foods at Bull's Head, so I hope that someday a big, multi-use downtown development will incorporate one, kind of like the one at City Center in White Plains. While they're at it, we could use a state-of-the-art movie theater, an arcade, and a bowling alley. What's that? New Rochelle has all of those things in one place? WHAT THE HECK?? Is there an evil tycoon keeping Stamford from enjoying things other cities have, like Cohaagen withholding air from the people of Mars??

"A minor-league baseball team? In Stamford?? BAH!"