Author Archives: William Hall

1) Four bags hang from silver metal chains. They are evenly spaced in the dimly lit room, and it is cold and dark because construction isn’t yet finished. There is no flooring. On one wall, an old speed bag, almost deflated, hangs from its platform. The walls are mostly white, and columns support the huge »

When Thea Buxbaum told her cab driver that she was moving into New Haven’s Westville neighborhood, he was shocked. The neighborhood was one of New Haven’s most troubled, split between some of the city’s wealthiest homes and its poorest. “Why would you want to move here?” he asked, incredulously. “That’s why,” she said, pointing. “Do »

Sunday, Oct. 30, 6:30 p.m. It’s already dark by the time my two friends and I get to the occupied part of the New Haven Green. We walk over to the food tent, where people are standing around in a circle, talking about movies. A woman in her mid-20s asks me if I plan on »

Getting caught with your hand in the entryway condom bag. It’s not worth getting them for free. Going to Toad’s for the first time. Well, and every time after that. Opening the gates the wrong way. Somebody’s behind you, and you can’t tell whether to push or pull. Your expensive private-school education never prepared you »