29 comments

  1. Jimfox // Jun 8, 2015 at 5:00 pm
    The safest way to get to Captain’s Cove in Black Rock

    Dear Mayor Bill Finch, to avoid any complication in driving though Black Rock, I’d like to help you out so you don’t have a flat tire or a broken axle like so many of us have had in these past eight years driving under extreme road condition here in the Rock.

    First, most streets in Black Rock are still in terrible condition. Some streets haven’t been paved for over 25 years, and other streets like Grover’s Ave have been half paved, and some of our streets are so filthy dirty in Black Rock maybe it’s time we borrow a street sweeper from Fairfield for a few weeks, after all we do have shared services with other towns. Maybe you can mention how Black Rock is going to get a Four Million Dollar walking bridge for the Fairfield Train Station and the Bob Keeley streetscape money so long overdue at your kick-off day at Captain’s Cove and also how you shortchanged the BBOE out of Millions! Just a few talking points for you, Bill!

    Your best bet when coming into Black Rock is to look for those green signs that say “Bridgeport @ Work,” those are the streets that have been recently paved, it’s the signs that have your name on them! But in most cases we can’t use them to get to Captain’s Cove.

    I first wanted to take you down Fairfield Ave, then left onto Ocean Terrace but with all the new construction going on at Longfellow School and those nasty airborne particles like asbestos and PCBs in the air I’m sure you should have encapsulated the ground before digging, but you know best, being the green Mayor of this fine city.

    The best route is to get off I-95, take exit 24, at the end of the ramp take a left turn onto Cambridge St. You are now in Fairfield, go to the next stop sign, continue straight to the stop light, take a right, continue to your next light and take a left onto Black Rock turnpike, continue over Bullard’s overpass until you get to Canfield Ave. Take a left onto Canfield Ave, it was best we take this route to avoid the eyesore of the Black Rock Bank and Trust Building, another one of your eight-year promises/follies yet to add to the tax rolls. Continue to the second stop sign and take a right onto Princeton St., again we avoided Circular Ave which has not been paved since the 1960s not to mention the three very large trees that are hanging at a 45 degree angle ready to fall into the street and onto the two homes directly across the street.

    Next at the end of Melrose Street take a right onto Ellsworth St and look for the green signs with your name on them, at the corner of Prescott St take a left on to Prescott, cross over Harbor Rd onto Yacht St. and follow signs to Captain’s Cove.

    Hey Bill! It would be nice if you avoid using your own car and bring the street sweeper!

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    1. Hahahaha … The streets were not even paved. All they did was add one inch of an oily resurfacing material. Sure to be destroyed by plows come winter. Also worth noting, the only time a street gets paved is election year … the only time one gets paved this early is in primary season!

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  3. I think that’s at the corner of Ellsworth and Prescott.

    When they finished paving that approx 300-ft stretch of Prescott, they put up one of these green signs on either end.

    “Road Improvement Program”

    Where I grew up, they called it maintenance.

    When I paint the trim on my house where the paint has worn off, is that a home improvement program? It’s maintenance.

    I think “road improvement” would be accurate for something like the 1,200-ft half-million-dollar-plus driveway the city had installed for millionaire developer Manny Moutinho on Sikorsky Airport property in Stratford.

    www .ctpost.com/local/article/Lawyer-Bridgeport-dragging-feet-on-driveway-5679972.php

    Memo to Mayor Finch: Please install a pat-yourself-on-the-back machine in the privacy of your own home, on your own dollar, and stop using our tax dollars so wastefully.

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  4. How embarrassing. Pete Spain, you are so on the money with your comments. I honestly wonder how much money, including installation costs, have these ridiculous signs cost taxpayers.

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  6. Did anyone expect that management of City roadways was the responsibility of anyone other than a City Department (unless we are talking about a State road)?

    As commented on for weeks now those signs, at $165 or $375 or whatever are unnecessary because this is about maintenance not a new road on a list of citizen priorities. Will the trucks picking up recyclables every other week or the public facilities truck bring a sign to post where my green bin is placed at the curb? Isn’t that the same thing?

    At this point folks, please don’t cancel the purchase order for that pat-yourself-on-the-back machine just yet because the appearance of those signs for weeks now while we wait for the safety marking squad to come by, is getting annoying and over the top to many people. The publicity is becoming counterproductive. In other words, do we see the machine as a pat-yourself-on-the-back machine or a kick-yourself-in-the-butt contraption? Time will tell.

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  7. When I was an alter boy at Holy Rosary Church, Father Constantino once told me “Son, you get nothing extra in the eyes of the Lord for doing what you’re supposed to do!”
    It’s the city’s responsibility to fix the roads, that’s why we pay taxes. Finch shouldn’t be patting himself on the back for doing what he’s supposed to do.
    FYI: I’m counting the days the green sign has been up on Grandfield Ave. I first saw it on May 8th. No work so far. Today I drove past and a hubcap was leaning up against it. I should have taken a picture.

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    1. Quentin Dreher, thanks for that quote, “When I was an alter boy at Holy Rosary Church, Father Constantino once told me “Son, you get nothing extra in the eyes of the Lord for doing what you’re supposed to do!” That statement is like an unspoken mindset for firefighters, just do your job.

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  8. I agree about the signs being silly, but overall I think Black Rock looks better now than it did five years ago. Now someone needs to fix up the old bank.

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  9. I was an alter boy at Saint Peter’s church until I got fired!
    On Sunday I was supposed to come from behind the alter with a lit candle, and light all the other candles on the alter when Father O’Shaughnessey sang when the “angels lit the candles.”
    Then he started to sing again this time a little louder “When the angels lit the candles.” By this time Father O’Shaughnessey was turning red. “WHEN THE ANGELS LIT THE CANDLES” at the top of his lungs and my reply was “AND THE CAT PEED ON THE MATCHES!”

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  10. I went to the Woods End Deli today and quite frankly, Wood Ave. and a few other streets in that area had just been paved and it made a world of difference. Why all the negativity?

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    1. It’s about the signs, Godiva. Why is this administration, which is responsible for roads each and every day of every year, suddenly posting signs about road improvements accomplished near primaries and an election? If the signs’ expense, variously quoted at between $165 and $375 per sign is near accurate, where was this money planned for as the signs neither make your drive smoother nor add to the visual quality of life. Negativity? Get it now? Time will tell.

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  11. The sign they put on North and Park had the wrong district Council People, i.e., Austin and McCarthy so I brought this to their attention. They replaced it with a sign entitled: “Briarwood Avenue Road Improvement Project” with Councilman Olson and Brantley’s names. Some kind of a bad joke I suppose. hahaha.

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  12. The signs just represent a quiet reminder to residents and visitors that Bridgeport is getting better every day. 🙂 And a little pat on the back by the Mayor and Councilmen.

    I did like the post by Mr. Spain. It must really irk you when you go for a cup of coffee at D and d and they have a tip jar. Or paying an extra dollar for using your credit card at the Merritt canteen for purchases under $10 when you do not get charged at McDonalds for buying a dollar coffee with your card and no tip jar. I know, none of these have to do with the Green signs. I will tell you what bothers me more. Christmas lights that stay up all year and campaign signs that are up eight months after an election. Did it bother people when Joe Ganim was promoting Bridgeport using tax dollars as a way to promote his gubernatorial bid? He and then-wife Jennifer. It didn’t bother me but G-d forbid our Mayor would have been seen riding his bike or fishing or taking his boys to Beardsley Park, that would have been a political nightmare. I can live with the signs. We survived the barrage of signs a year ago. Better we demand platforms and visions from the opposition. They are not going to win by criticizing our green-sign Mayor.

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    1. Did you notice the gaping foundation hole that’s been there for six years across from the Woods End Deli across from Lewis Lawn and Donnelly Park? That’s owned by the City. Surprise, It’s Bridgeport!

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  13. It’s not the signs that upset people, it’s the waste of taxpayers’ hard-earned money!
    Like the park to nowhere, and 170 units of housing on the East Side with a 40-year tax abatement and free land for the next 60 years!
    If Finch is wasting it on self-promotion road improvement signs, then what else will Joe Ganim find when he takes office?

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