City seeks agreement for ‘Mulberry Jam’ parklet

NEW HAVEN — The mulberries make great jam.

While the city is waiting for a lease agreement with the state Department of Transportation for the small space on Bradley Street that will be “Mulberry Jam,” a parklet named for the mulberry tree on the property — the berries are going to good use.

John Martin, co-president of the Upper State Street Business Association , said everyone has been helping themselves to the mulberries. Keith Appleby, a senior architect with the firm designing the park, attested that Martin makes great jam.

For the parklet, the money, the volunteers and a contractor are lined up, while Atelier Cho Thompson, an architectural firm in the neighborhood, provided a design pro bono for the project, the vision for which started in 2019.

“We are very close to achieving the vision,” Appleby, a senior architect with Atelier Cho Thompson, said of the flexible space that will feature a low bench wall where the neighborhood can gather.

Martin, one of the main forces behind the development, as well as getting governmental permission for the nearby artwork on the State Street highway underpass, said for decades the space was overgrown and abandoned.

Urban Resources Initiative has helped with the site work and planting, while the East Rock Community Management Team voted to put $20,000 toward it.

In other growth in the Upper State Street area, Alex Opuszynski, one of the newest developers in the area, plans construction at 793 State St., which previously was a blighted structure.

He will be an owneroccupier of the new building and take both retail spaces. He runs Vanguard Private Client Group.

Mary O’Leary / For Hearst Connecticut Media John Martin, Carlos Eyzaguirre and Keith Appleby at Mulberry Park in New Haven, which is not yet completed.