Mayor outlines housing, safety and bioscience growth; alderry approves extension for Elm City Compass program

Mayor (name not specified) delivered a State of the City address to the New Haven Board of Alders that emphasized housing growth, public-safety investments and the local economic impact of new bioscience construction while the board moved several administrative and contract items, including an extension for the Elm City Compass program.

The mayor said New Haven has “over 7,000 new units in the pipeline,” with “over 25% of those affordable,” and set a municipal goal “to build 10,000 new units of housing with at least 30% of those units affordable — 10,000 units in 10 years.” The speech credited expanded code enforcement, higher fines for serious health and safety violations, and changes to a local tenants’ union ordinance that lowers the organizing threshold from 10 units to 5 units per property.

The address also outlined public-safety measures: the mayor said violent crime and gun violence have declined and highlighted continued installation of public-safety cameras, noting more than 300 cameras already in place and a goal of 500 citywide. He described a joint regional task force on auto theft that the city helped create and said the city has recovered stolen vehicles and made arrests since the task force launched.

On economic development the mayor cited large private projects: he referenced an $838,000,000 neuroscience center and a planned…