The Pro And Con Of City Life, Filardi Bikes Out Of Bridgeport

Con Filardi could not believe what he stumbled upon 15 years ago when the attorney looked for a waterfront home, as he described in this 2002 New York Times article. Bridgeport, more specifically the breathtaking views of St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea, became his home. No more. Once active in many things Bridgeport, Filardi moved out of the city last week for Stamford, disillusioned, according to this essay by John Marshall Lee, a neighbor in Black Rock.

Another retired friend departed Bridgeport this week. And not by way of the CT Post obituary pages either, thank the Lord. He came to Bridgeport from Greenwich by accident more than a dozen years ago.

Looking for a lot in Fairfield he happened to turn left instead of right after coming off I-95 and spotted a great building lot in Black Rock. He researched and found it was $90,000 and could not believe that it was so inexpensive, especially after finding a less satisfactory lot in Fairfield for nearly a million. He had explored the CT coastline for more than two years and had a home design in mind to build with wonderful shore views. After a couple more years of research and review he bought a lot and built his dream home.

As a neighbor you likely came to know Con Filardi as an active and intelligent retiree who had practiced law but had wide ranging interests. He is a man of culture and taste and his home and grounds were ever well tended. Within three weeks of settling in he found a bill from the WPCA for $8,000 for a sewer assessment. That was a surprise. He met and joined with neighbors and discovered that the City had never before assessed properties for a sewer improvement or extension. On investigation it also seemed to have something to do with Ganim family lots and residences in its routing and the FBI was looking at all such matters. The action was fought by the neighborhood and defeated it. But it was, in a word, “welcome” to the way Bridgeport works.

Con learned that Bridgeport was always looking for new sources of income. His legal experience suggested a possible solution like the mortgage tax used in NYS. He shared his expertise with the Mayor Ganim’s office for more than one year and indeed went to Hartford to inform. Bill Finch as Senator suggested he draft a bill. After two weeks of work in the law library Con presented a proposed bill to Bill who evidently sat on it. It did not move.

Meanwhile he had been to an event at the Klein and was impressed with the bronze doors. He recognized that they had seen better days. He volunteered to fund the renovation of the doors. While he was at it he noticed that maintenance was necessary on the windows above the doors including cleaning and glazing. He contracted for the work and spent over $10,000 of his personal funds to complete the project.

One block to the east of the Klein Auditorium is the Wheeler Fountain crafted by the famed Gutzon Borglum. It had fallen into serious disrepair and Filardi kept pestering the Administration to restore it or give it to a neighboring town. Borglum is best known for the presidential carvings at Mt. Rushmore but Con knew that he had grown up in Stamford and had left several treasures in Bridgeport. The fountain did get funded by a grant and fixed several years later and its original service in providing water for horses drawing carts and carriages was recalled.

Tax increases annually, low voter turnouts, failure of citizen voice to make itself heard to elected representation and general unwillingness of leaders to look beyond the end of their noses, left him disillusioned. He had traveled to Bilbao to see Frank Gehry’s architecture, which had made that city a world destination and advanced Con’s notion that it was what Bridgeport needed. After all, before Gehry’s work, Bilbao and Bridgeport shared much in common as former heavy manufacturing areas.

Con could be seen on his bike riding through the Black Rock neighborhood with a smile on his face and a good word for everyone as recently as last week. He had tried to help the City with his legal smarts, his NY experience and his cultural awareness, but ultimately the return to Bridgeport on his money, time and spirit were not enough to continue in residence.
Black Rock with its proximity to great views of Long Island Sound and the sky will continue to call to newcomers. Hopefully it will thank Con Filardi, if belatedly when he again visits, and perhaps embrace those newcomers with vision and ability to invest more generously in the future? The horses that drank at the Wheeler Fountain needed no urging to quench their thirst in the late 18th Century. The people in leadership in the 21st Century were guided to “the water” of better financial management and economic development by Con as he viewed it but they refused to drink. Time will tell.