Box 63 fails city health inspection

July 30, 2012 6:06 pm Leave a Comment

City health inspectors gave student favorite Box 63 two weeks to clean up its act after it failed a recent health inspection.

In the latest round of health inspections that ended last week, Box 63, which opened its doors in New Haven last fall, received a score of 70 out of 100. Inspectors cited the presence of fruit flies, rodent droppings, chipped paint and an unsanitary staff bathroom among the health risks that the restaurant must address.

Box 63 and three other eateries that received a score below 80 were given two weeks to make changes before inspectors returned. But none of the restaurants were so unsanitary that they needed to be closed immediately, as has happened during inspections in the past.

Sanitarians from the city health department tested 22 restaurants over the course of five days, 18 of which passed with need for further inspection. Louis’ Lunch, which claims to have offered the world’s first hamburger, received the inspection’s high score of 95.

City inspectors typically review every establishment that serves food between one and four times per year.

Three arrested at Toad’s for selling ecstasy

February 18, 2012 3:03 pm Leave a Comment

There was another kind of ecstasy at Toad’s Place Thursday night — three men were arrested for selling MDMA, or Ecstasy, at a show.

New Haven Police Department officers arrested the three men at a dubstep event at Toad’s after they were caught with ecstasy powder, NHPD spokesman David Hartman said. While ecstasy is commonly found as a capsule or tablet, its powder form is ingested by mixing it with a liquid or by snorting it.

Phillip Masucci, 18, of Wallingford, Conn., Jonathan Lecuyer, 26 of Fairfield, Conn. and Steven Goodwin, 21, of East Haven, Conn., were all charged with sale of a hallucinogenic substance. In addition, Masucci and Goodwin were charged with conspiracy to sell a hallucinogenic substance. Lecuyer and Goodwin also face possession charges.

Bespoke is closing this weekend

February 1, 2012 9:31 am Leave a Comment

In some sad news certain to rock campus, Bespoke, the College Street staple famous for its drinks, friendly bartenders and expensive food, will be closing on Feb. 4 after six years of business, according to an announcement posted to its website.

Like a phoenix, a Moroccan steakhouse called “Gilt” will rise from its ashes, in time for Valentine’s Day. Gilt’s website includes a menu, which features courses like Spiced Saffron Couscous, Fish Tagine and French Fries. The cocktail menu has not yet been released, so keep checking the website like it’s SIS. We’ll be checking, anyway.

YPD introduces new SMS tip system

January 25, 2012 10:29 pm Leave a Comment

Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins tweeted Wednesday to introduce YaleTip, a new anonymous mobile text tipoff system.

The new service — available by texting yaletip and a message to the YPD to 67283 — processes messages through a third-party, thereby protecting the identity of tipsters, YPD Assistant Chief Steven Woznyk explained in a Wednesday email to the News. With the new system, open to all members of the Yale and New Haven community, the YPD hopes to get more information to assist in its investigations of dangerous or criminal activity. With services where one can receive sms, one could get the things they want to convey easily.

“These types of technological advances assist law enforcement agencies as well as make it easier for community members to provide information to police that may assist in various investigations,” Woznyk said. “Like Bulldog Mobile, we wanted to keep up with various technological advances to better serve the community.”

If the YPD requires more information, all correspondence is routed through the third-party vendor to protect informants’ identities.

Gov. Malloy wants Sunday beer and liquor sales

January 14, 2012 5:33 pm Leave a Comment

In a move that seems destined for celebration here at Yale, Gov. Dannel Malloy hopes to give you more time to buy your beer.

Malloy is expected to propose changes to state liquor laws that would allow supermarkets and package stores to sell alcohol on Sundays, the Hartford Courant reported on Friday. Malloy also wants to extend the hour until which liquor can be sold until 10 p.m., and allow bars to stay open until 2 a.m. every night, not just Fridays and Saturdays. He is expected to announce these proposals in a Sunday press conference.

While these changes have been proposed in the past, they have never received the governor’s support and have failed to pass the state legislature.

Malloy hopes the proposed changes will boost revenue, but critics say that won’t happen. Instead, they argue that Sunday alcohol sales will only decrease customer traffic the rest of the week while forcing businesses to pay to remain open another day.

Proponents of the changes, meanwhile, argue that the state must allow liquor sales on Sunday to stay competitive with Massachusetts and New York, which allow alcohol to be sold every day of the week. They have also said that increased alcohol sales could bring in as much as $5 million per year to state coffers.

Sophomore proposes new gate near Toad’s

4:13 pm Leave a Comment

After 80 to 90 Quinnipiac University students were cited for public urination last fall, a Morse sophomore has proposed a new security gate between Toad’s Place and Mory’s to keep hooligans out.

In a Saturday morning email to Morse and Stiles students, Alex Fisher ’14 put forward a proposal he said he submitted to the Yale College Council’s 10K Initiative that would allow for the installation of a swipecard-access gate on the path that leads from York Street to Morse and Stiles. The gate would be placed “near the rear boundary” of Toad’s, and would be activated between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“Students living in Morse and Stiles will be able to return to their colleges in a safer environment, and students living in other colleges will be able to visit friends in Morse and Stiles without having to navigate an unruly, drunken and aggressive crowd when they try to return home,” he wrote in his proposal to the YCC. “In short, this scheme would benefit any Yale student who values civility and personal safety.”

The YCC’s 10K Initiative allots $10,000 of the student council’s budget to student plans to improve life on campus. Fisher said his plan could be implemented immediately with the cooperation of Yale Security and the Yale Police Department, and would likely cost about the same as other swipecard-access gates.

Members of the 10K Initiative Exploratory Committee, comprised of YCC members and other students, will select five ideas from all those proposed and present them to the student body for a vote.

Richter’s will reopen “before the snow melts”

December 28, 2011 7:42 pm Leave a Comment

Six months after turning off its tap, historic Chapel Street pub Richter’s is slated to re-open under new management in early 2012, the New Haven Independent reported Wednesday.

John Ginetti, co-owner of 116 Crown, took over Richter’s last summer with hopes of revitalizing the bar, famous for its 150-year history in downtown New Haven and for serving half yards of beer. Ginetti said in August he hoped to reopen Richter’s sometime in the fall, but found it in worse condition than he anticipated. The barroom tiles were “caked black” and the old kitchen could not accommodate crowds, he said. Now Ginetti’s working to fix this lack of “infrastructure,” replacing the kitchen equipment and much of the venue’s flooring, he told the Independent.

As he rebuilds Richter’s, Ginetti is also working to preserve its history. Opened in 1858, the bar was renamed the Taft Tap Room when it became a part of the Hotel Taft in 1910. It survived Prohibition as a speakeasy, but closed its doors in 1970. The bar was reopened by undergrad H. Richter Elser ’81 in 1983 and became a popular campus hangout. Ginetti told the Independent that many of the pub’s historic decorations will stay, including a moose shot by Elser’s maternal grandfather in 1908 and a collection of crew paraphernalia from Elser’s days on the Yale men’s crew team.

“The bones of the place are really quite fantastic,” Yale spokesman Michael Morand ’87 DIV ’93 said in August. “It’s not as if you can really go in and do a radical makeover.”

Ginetti told the Independent the new Richter’s will be open “before the snow melts.” We’re hoping that means it will be open in time for Feb Club.

Elm Bar tries to add karaoke machines, gets rejected

December 15, 2011 8:05 pm Leave a Comment

If you were hoping to let all that finals week angst out by belting Fleetwood Mac in public, Elm Bar might not be the place for you.

In a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Tuesday night, the Board of Aldermen rejected an application from Elm Bar owner Punhon Chan to bring karaoke and DJ equipment to the Elm Street haunt, the New Haven Independent reported. The bar, a hotspot for local residents and off-campus Yalies, currently hosts live metal bands, but the Board sided with neighbors who complained about the noise the additions would bring.

Martin Hallier, who co-owns 115 Howe St. around the corner, said noise from the bar is “out of control,” going on until 1 or 2 a.m. and leading some tenants in his building to complain.

Elm Bar, which took over the longtime home of Rudy’s Bar and Grill last year, has come under fire in the past for noise violations, public urination and drunken behavior originating from the bar, according to the Independent. The Board vote to turn down Chan’s application was unanimous.

Yale Daily News

Tag Archive: Nightlife