Home Care In Cromwell, CT

An elevator in a Cromwell condominium building hasn’t been working for months. It’s making life difficult for some elderly and disabled residents.

“It’s hard, it’s been, I would say, a rough summer keeping her inside the house,” said Yanet De los Santos.

She hasn’t been able to get her mom outside much since June when their apartment building’s elevator broke.

The mother and daughter rent together on the third floor.

“She has like really late-stage Alzheimer’s already,” said De los Santos.

And it’s not just impacting them, but other neighbors living in the Cromwell Gardens condo complex, too.

“My wife is handicapped, she’s in a wheelchair,” said Jim Krostoski. “She really hasn’t left the building in say four months.”

Krostoski’s son has had to start ‘working from home’ in the home he’s owned in this building for six years all to avoid scaling three flights of steps twice a day, every day. He has cerebral palsy.

“I’ve been trying. I’ve called even the fire marshal, according to them, they’re still under the law,” said Krostoski.

De los Santos has been trying too, “What am I supposed to do? And we’ve been watching the news all the time, and I know about you guys.”

Fed up she initially reached out to Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra Responde reporter Betsy Badell, who teamed up with NBC CT Responds to investigate this complaint.

While our teams like to work together to help resolve problems in both English and Spanish, this story is a lesson for all of us.

The Town of Cromwell tells us it can’t take action because the complex was built before building codes existed for elevators. The elevator was built in 1973.

The state’s Bureau of Elevators says this isn’t in its purview either.

So we kept reaching out to other experts throughout the state.

Housing advocates we spoke to say an issue like this falls under the Fair Housing Act.

This means residents should have the right to request other accommodations, like moving to a unit on the first floor, but this isn’t easy since this is a condo complex with multiple owners and condos already rented out.

“And I’m like OK maybe a week or maybe one day it’s down, whatever, we can live with it, but since June,” said De los Santos frustrated.

The building’s property manager says a new motor was installed this summer, but the decades-old elevator couldn’t keep up, so it has to be completely modernized.

This fix falls to the stakeholders: the owners of the condos.

Cromwell Gardens Condominium Association has selected a new company and agreed to pay the $40,000 improvement, according to the property manager.

On Oct. 12, the manager told NBC CT Responds he believed would be up and running in four weeks time.

We’ve reached out to him twice since then, but haven’t heard back.

To De los Santos’ dismay, it’s still not up and running and she’s running out of patience.

She’s filed complaints with the state and is contemplating moving, a tough task as she takes care of her mother.

“What if something happens? What if I need to take her out [of the building], like, quickly?,” she said.

At last update, De los Santos says she received a text from her landlord that the manager says elevator repairs will be complete by the end of the week of Dec. 3. NBC CT Responds will be keeping an eye on it.

CROMWELL — The Texas Roadhouse restaurant under construction on the site of the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant in the shopping plaza anchored by ShopRite supermarket on 45 Shunpike Road is expected to open early next year.

Stuart B. Popper, the town’s planning and development director, says the new restaurant is expected to open in the “winter of 2024.”

Peter Christian, an official of three companies involved in the development, said in an email, "We are on schedule to open our doors at the end of March 2024."

Texas Roadhouse’s website gives a taste of its culinary emphasis, advertising “Hand-Cut Steaks, Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs, Made-From-Scratch Sides, Ice-Cold Beer, and of course, our irresistible Fresh-Baked Bread.”

The restaurant will cater to the dinner crowd Monday through Thursday, with hours of operation of 3 to 10 p.m., according to a document submitted to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission. At the end of each week, it will open earlier to serve lunch, with hours of 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

The Texas Roadhouse chain is 30 years old, starting in Indiana.

”Kent Taylor opened the first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993,” the chain’s website says.

The new Cromwell building is larger than the Ruby Tuesday building by about a third — roughly 8,000 square feet compared to 6,000 square feet, according to a “development narrative” submitted to the town with the application to build the new structure by Professional Engineer Will Walter of Alfred Benesch & Co.

The restaurant is expected to have about 40 employees, Walter wrote in the development narrative.

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the application on March 7, according to a letter sent two weeks later from Chairman Alice Kelly to the developer HBN-CSC, LLC.

The “members” of HBN-CSC, LLC are two other companies, and all three receive mail in care of The HB Nitkin Group in Greenwich, according to online state business records.

HB Nitkin is a real estate investment company founded in 1984 by Helen and Bradley Nitkin, according to its website.

Restaurant patrons will be free to use spaces anywhere in the Cromwell shopping center’s large parking lot. But the restaurant’s “dedicated lot,” on the east side of the “collector drive aisle” through the shopping center lot, will include 106 spaces, down from the 124 offered by Ruby Tuesday but more than the 101 spaces required, Walter wrote.

He said there will be five parking spaces for the handicapped in the restaurant lot, which he said meets requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Connecticut’s Building Code.

Looking at the shopping center’s parking lot as a whole, after the “reconfiguration,” it will have 1,134 spaces, according to Walter. That’s about 12 percent more than the 1,010 spaces Walter said are required.

The engineer also promised a renovation of the parking lot, which he said was in “poor condition” when he wrote the development narrative in December 2022.

At least part of that work has been done, as the part of the lot north of the restaurant building is new.

As to landscaping, Walter wrote, “A rhythm of street trees is consistent with existing trees, and foundation plantings will consist of evergreen coverage and seasonal interest plants. They consist of native and drought tolerant species.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission added one condition to its approval of the site plan modification. It required a long-term maintenance plan for the parking lot and stormwater infrastructure, with the property owner filing annual reports to the town engineer and zoning officer on completed maintenance work.

CROMWELL — A couple who already operate a restaurant at the Berlin train station are planning to open a second restaurant, which will also include a banquet hall, in Cromwell next month, with the exact timing depending on regulatory approvals.

The new restaurant is to be called The Oliver Cromwell Tavern and will occupy the building at 150 Sebethe Drive that formerly housed Taphouse 150.

The owners of the new restaurant, Craig and Micheline Lentini, also operate the Tavern on the Trax at 845 Farmington Ave. in Berlin.

Craig Lentini says the Cromwell restaurant will be “a hometown place,” with pictures of Cromwell on the walls and a name that evokes the town and its history.

“It’s going to be very cozy,” he said.

Lentini said the new restaurant will feature what he calls “American food,” such as pizza, pasta and steak. He said the dishes will be “easily customizable.”

“You got a lot of choices in Cromwell,” Lentini said of the town’s increasingly competitive restaurant business, which is soon to include a Texas Roadhouse and probably a new Mexican restaurant, currently awaiting Planning and Zoning Commission approval, called the Fuego Mexican Grill.

“I think we’ll fit right in,” he continued. With multiple restaurant options, he explained, a town “becomes more of a destination.”

“I think it does well to have competition,” he said. “It makes you up your game too.”

Lentini said the new restaurant will be able to accommodate about 90 people. He said the banquet room will have a capacity of 100 to 120 people and will be largely separate from the restaurant, although it may be used as overflow space for the restaurant when necessary.

He said the new restaurant will look significantly different from Taphouse 150, explaining that he and his wife are “trying to rebrand the building.”

Lentini said the building is “pretty much up to code” but that the renovations will replace things that were worn out.

“It’s a very big investment,” Lentini said of the new venture. “It’s a scary time, but confidence goes a long way, and I’m confident in our product.

“It’s all about the employees and how much effort you put in,” he continued.

Those employees will include the couple’s two grown daughters — Amanda and Maegan — both of whom have other jobs but plan to help at the restaurant when they can, their father said.

The banquet room will be a new type of venture for the family. But Craig Lentini said they have done catering at the Tavern on the Trax and now will be expanding that service to include a place to serve the food.

He is also aware of the political calendar, saying the election year introduces an element of economic uncertainty into business planning.

The restaurant plan received approval from the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in December. Lentini said it is still awaiting approvals from the local Health Department and the state Liquor Control Commission, which will determine when it opens.

He said he hopes to open in early February rather than later in the month.

Jan 21, 2024

By Alex Wood

Alex Wood has been with the Journal Inquirer since 1985 and joined Hearst Connecticut Media Group when it acquired the JI in 2023. He has covered courts for more than 30 years along with a number of other assignments. He is married with a grown daughter and son-in-law, teaches church school, and enjoys riding a bicycle, hiking, listening to music and watching a small part of the cornucopia of video entertainment now available through streaming.

CROMWELL — A full-service Mexican restaurant is being proposed to occupy the site of the former Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub at 36 Shunpike Road.

The Planning and Zoning Commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposal for the Fuego Mexican Grill on Tuesday evening. But the hearing was postponed to Feb. 6 due to the weather, according to town Planning and Development Director Stuart Popper.

Gloria Barajas of West Hartford, one of the partners in the new venture, said the owners hope to add outdoor seating and renovate the interior of the building, which, she said, “needs a lot of work.”

She said her partners in the venture are brothers Santiago and Pedro Meza, who have a few restaurants in Ohio.

Barajas said all three partners were born in Mexico and that the Fuego Mexican Grill will feature “authentic Mexican food,” including meat dishes and some vegetarian offerings,

She said they are trying to open the Cromwell restaurant in May but that the opening date may be pushed back to June.

Barajas said she came to the United States at age 18, settling in North Carolina for a year before moving to California, where she got married.

She said she was involved in starting a Mexican restaurant in Connecticut in 2000 and has worked for that company since then.

The zoning application for the Cromwell restaurant seeks a permit to operate a “full service restaurant with the sales of alcoholic beverages,” according to the Planning and Zoning Commission’s legal notice for the canceled Tuesday public hearing.

When the commission took up the issue of scheduling the public hearing at its Dec. 19 meeting, one of its members said, “We’re really excited to see the Ninety Nine occupied,” according to a video recording of the meeting.

Cromwell's Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub was one of three Connecticut restaurants that the Massachusetts-based chain abruptly closed on Nov. 28, 2022.

Jan 17, 2024

By Alex Wood

Alex Wood has been with the Journal Inquirer since 1985 and joined Hearst Connecticut Media Group when it acquired the JI in 2023. He has covered courts for more than 30 years along with a number of other assignments. He is married with a grown daughter and son-in-law, teaches church school, and enjoys riding a bicycle, hiking, listening to music and watching a small part of the cornucopia of video entertainment now available through streaming.

CROMWELL — The banner acknowledging Cromwell’s 2023 Division IV boys basketball championship hangs on the wall behind the backboard at the south end of Jake Salafia Gymnasium. It’s hard to miss, but also the furthest thing from coach John Pinone’s mind.

“What championship?” inquired Pinone, who has won three at Cromwell.

December is not the time to think about defending a title. The Panthers are a vastly different group in 2023-24 than last season’s veteran, battle-tested championship team.

This year’s squad is 2-2 out of the gate, relying on freshman starters Ben Burdick, a 4-foot-something guard sporting a shiner at a weekend practice, and 6-1 shooter Ben Symecko while others recover from injury and condition their football legs.

“We are a work in progress,” Pinone said. “We’re still missing our point guard (junior Bryant Mention) to a wrist/thumb injury and RJ (Acosta, one of only four seniors on the roster) is just getting back from a foot injury. It’s forced us to go with our younger kids, who are getting better every game at the varsity level.

“It’s a huge jump from eighth grade to being a starter on varsity. We’re getting there. I haven’t had two freshmen playing varsity ever. I tell them, ‘This isn’t eighth grade. You don’t get a day off. You don’t take a play off or you’re going to get exposed.”

Cromwell still has one of the state’s top talents in senior Victor Payne, but the 6-foot-3 guard/forward attracts the attention of multiple defenders and will need scoring help. Payne scored 33 points in Cromwell’s opener, a 52-49 road loss against Morgan, but no other Cromwell player scored more than five.

“We felt we let that first game get away,” said Pinone. “It was a good opportunity to get one (win) on the road at Morgan, which is not going to be easy (for any Shoreline team) this year.

“I think we’ll see guys run at Victor and make him into a passer rather than play one-on-one against him. We’ll see a lot of zone. We run a lot of motion stuff to keep him going and coming off screens. Again, we know that it’s coming. Someone’s going to be open and they have to make shots.”

The Panthers lost to SMSA at home to fall to 0-2. They were down by double digits in the first half, and while Payne did not play in the second half due to injury, Cromwell got as close as two points before SMSA pulled away for a 50-40 win.

“It was encouraging to see us cut it to two without Victor,” Pinone said, “but it was discouraging to see SMSA get it back to eight to 10. Some of that is a lack of experience on our part. It will take a while for the other guys to get comfortable.”

After a 36-point win over North Branford, the Panthers hosted longtime Shoreline rival Valley Regional. Ahead by five at the half, Cromwell played its best quarter of basketball to date, scoring eight straight points to establish a permanent double-digit lead.

Senior Keanu Gomez scored 10 points in the quarter and finished the game with 19, while Payne added nine and checked out in the fourth quarter with his second 33-point game of the season. His brother Vaughn, a 6-3 junior, had the best defensive game of any Panther, rebounding, blocking shots and altering others.

“He’s somebody in there that’s long and can block shots,” Pinone said. “He gets out in transition and rebounds it pretty well. I’m concerned about his offense. I want him to be a 10-point scorer a night. He’s got to play bigger and it’s going to take a while for him (after a football season that ended in the Class S championship game on Dec. 9) to get into basketball shape.”

The Panthers play their next three on the road, starting with non-conference opponent Rockville on Friday. Next week, they visit East Hampton on Jan. 3 and Haddam-Killingworth on Jan. 5 before returning home Jan. 9 for their only regular-season game against Portland.

From there, Cromwell plays a string of five straight against small-division Shoreline teams before ending January with a home game against Morgan, the team it beat to win the Shoreline championship last winter.

“We’ll be good in February,” Pinone said.

Morgan boys clicking in Shoreline early

Morgan looked every bit like the team to beat in the Shoreline Conference this season when the veteran Huskies rolled up East Hampton in a 39-point win.

The Dec. 22 game in East Hampton was expected to be a barometer of where the Bellringers stand against the experienced Huskies on the large-school side of the conference. But Morgan decided this one quickly with leads of 22-6 after one quarter and 40-16 at halftime.

“East Hampton has been an excellent offensive rebuilding team so far, so it was a strong point of emphasis to keep them off the glass,” Morgan coach Frank Rossi said. “They had 11 offensive rebounds, but we limited their second-chance points to only five.”

“We also talked about how limiting their second-chance points might create fastbreak opportunities for us,” Rossi added. Which it did. We had 23 points in transition.”

Rossi’s deep dive into the stat sheet also produced these gems: 23 forced turnovers on 16 steals, and 16 assists on 30 made field goals.

Meanwhile, the Huskies showcased their traditionally strong perimeter game, finishing with 15 3-point baskets. Robbie Estabrook made six and produced a game-high 22 points. Three others scored in double figures.

Brady Lynch led East Hampton (2-2) with 15 points.

“This was a total team effort and every guy was dialed in on what we needed to do,” Rossi said. “I think we got East Hampton rattled early and they struggled to recover. They are a good team, but I think in the end the fact that we had four-to-five experienced seniors on the floor for most of the game was important for us. I’m sure this will be a different game the next time we meet, but our experience is important in these early-season games.”

Local baseball lookahead

From the “it’s never too early to think about baseball” department, Middletown High and Post 75 head coach Dan Botti gives us three players to watch in 2024:

**Middletown senior AJ Quinn: The catcher played only 15 games in Post 75’s summer season due to a concussion, but he still hit .378 with a .500 on-base percentage. Quinn also batted .355 in the fall season for Post 75. He is committed to play for American International College.

**Corey Turcotte, another Middletown High senior, broke out in the summer with a .375/.468/.587 slash line over 25 games. Turcotte is primarily a first baseman, but his versatility on defense sets him up as an every-inning player next spring and summer.

**Silas Barrett played all nine positions for Post 75 and spent a few weeks in the summer with the 19U 75ers. Barrett, who transferred to Coginchaug from Xavier this school year, played corner outfield for the Legion squad, batting .393 in 12 games, and pitched.

This and that

**The four-game suspension of Middletown boys basketball coach Eric Holley ends with the Blue Dragons’ game against St. Joseph in Trumbull on Thursday. Holley’s first appearance on the sideline comes Jan. 3 at Bristol Central, and his first home game will be Jan. 12 against Plainville. Middletown is 1-2.

**Considering the success of the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame Holiday Classic last winter, many were surprised to learn that a second edition was not scheduled for this December. Middletown, Portland, Valley Regional and New Britain were involved in 2023, with the Dragons beating Portland in the championship game. “The tournament was not something that was scheduled or discussed to be held annually,” MHS athletic director Elisha De Jesus said. “There could be a possibility of hosting again at some point in the future but nothing is set in stone.”

**The Coginchaug boys basketball team has a strong core of seniors, with five players 6-2 or taller up front. The Blue Devils have won four straight to start the season and opposing coaches have taken notice.

**Local product Andre Drummond of Woodrow Wilson Middle School fame made his first start of the season for the Bulls on Tuesday night and delivered 24 points and 25 rebounds in a 118-113 win over Atlanta. Filling in for injured center Nikola Vucevic, Drummond made 11 of 13 shots and played 39 minutes. "I still believe I'm a starter in this league," Drummond told reporters. "But the position I'm in now, I take it and play to the best of my ability."

**Sandy Tucci just finished a seventh season in his “dream job” – as an assistant on Choate’s football staff. Tucci’s area of focus is defensive backs and wide receivers.

**The New Year’s Day bowl slate includes Wisconsin against LSU playing in Tampa. The Tigers have a Middletown connection in Jim Hofher, who is wrapping up his second season as director of advance scouting. Hofher has coached all over in the college game, including stints as a head coach at his alma mater, Cornell (eight years), and Buffalo (five). Hofher played football for Larry McHugh at Xavier during the Falcons’ 34-game winning streak in the early 1970s.

**Eastern Connecticut State’s backcourt has a decidedly local flavor in Kya Mayo of Middletown and Nevaeh Clark of Cromwell. Clark averages 9.6 points per game and leads the Warriors in assists and 3-point field goals. The freshman also is tied for the team lead in steals. Mayo, a junior, averages 6.5 points per game.

**With another golf season, PGA Tour edition, about to kick off in Hawaii, I recommend two books written by Alan Shipnuck -- “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (Unauthorized) Biography Of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar” and “LIV And Let Die.” They are page turners. Some of the behind-the-scenes stuff is hard to believe, but Shipnuck is a great reporter. Pure gold.