Abiba Biao Photos.
If a passer by wasn’t paying attention when they turned on to Henry Street, an array of vintage cars might have made them think they were back in the 1980s. At the center of the action, Tim Allen and Kenny Langston chatted with anyone who stopped by, eager to share their enthusiasm and chat animatedly about rare automobile wonders.
This was the scene last Saturday at NXTHVN’s inaugural block party and car show, organized in collaboration with Sweets & Sounds Entertainment. Held on Henry Street between Orchard and County Streets, the event also celebrated the closing of the exhibition Glory, which ran from early March through the end of this month.
Over 200 people attended to check out the cars, mix and mingle with vendors, and nibble on offerings provided by several food trucks on site.
For Angel Dahfay (pictured below), founder of Sweets & Sounds Entertainment, the idea came out of seeing a car show in Hartford. While Dahfay has hosted many community events through Sweets & Sounds and in her role building programming on the New Haven Green, the car show and block party marked something completely new.
“We want[ed] to, like, close off the street, give the people in the community something to experience and that's exactly what we did,” she said, adding that she plans to make it an annual event. “It’s always going to grow bigger and better every time.”
While DJ Lexos set the tunes outside for jump rope, hula hooping, and other games, nearly two dozen small business owners turned NXTHVN’s large atrium into a party of their own. Carrying a variety of items from bags to baby books was Sandra Enimil with her business Pretty Afrika. The business has grown and evolved since it was started by her mother, Theresa Sam, in Chicago several years ago.
Originally, Sam used her love for sewing to build out a craft business, creating a customer base one stitch at a time. Enimil, meanwhile, makes jewelry, with a special flair for beading. When she moved to New Haven during the pandemic, Pretty Afrika came with her.
In addition to her work and her mother’s, the duo sources materials from West African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Mali among others.
“Whenever I'm moving someplace, I like to find artists, cause artists are always, like, creating and in community and in communication,” Enimil said. It was ultimately that curiosity that led her to NXTHVN, after receiving the organization's email updates and learning about the work that it does. “So I sought out anything that sounded even remotely artsy to get on their list.”
Across Onika Bent’s table nearby was an array of kimchi flavors from of Black Girl Kimchi. Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented dish made from salted and brined vegetables that are seasoned generously with gochugaru, a kind of Korean red pepper. While the dish is traditionally made with cabbage, Bent’s kimchi takes on a life of its own with a twist from the African diaspora, using ingredients like collard greens, mustard greens, and okra.
In a nod to the Jamaican and Caribbean diaspora, some of her recipes are also based on fruits like chayote, nopales, and escovitch.
“It’s a Southern meets Caribbean mashup,” she said of the inspiration behind the flavors. Eleven years and one job transition in—Bent left her job as an accountant last year to focus on the food business—her work is paying off. Bent recently won the $10,000 Chris Marcocci Emerging Brand Award at the Big Connecticut Food Event in April.
“It's really a big leap of faith, but you know, when something higher than you speaks to you, you have to answer it.”
After attending the Bowen Field car show in early August, Kenny Langston was approached by Marrisa Del Toro, assistant director of programs and exhibitions, to curate cars for the block party. Langston brought a 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88, produced by General Motors. The Oldsmobile line was discontinued by General Motors in 2004.
Tim Allen, who has been collecting cars for over 50 years, brought a 1985 Buick Riviera to display, its sleek spearmint green paint shining in the afternoon sun. He’s had the Riviera for eight months and it has 46,000 miles on it, he said with a smile. Both Allen and Langston have been interested in cars since they were kids.
“You have to get something that you like, and you have to really enjoy doing it because it costs a lot of money at times,” Langston said.
He added that the event was filled with “beautiful weather and all around beautiful people.” Allen concurred, saying that it’s “real pleasant to be out somewhere with no conflict.”
“That’s what you’re going to always get when it comes to cars and people showing their cars off,” Langston said as he hopped back in. “You’ll never hear a problem at a car show. Think about it. You see everything on the news, you never see a problem at a car show.”
This piece is part of the Pincus Family Foundation's inaugural Youth Content Collaborative, through which YAJI students and alumni are able to report on other Connecticut organizations that are generously supported by the Pincus Family Foundation, without which YAJI would not be possible.