Culture & Community | Arts & Culture | Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills | Possible Futures
Anderson with NHPS students waiting for their school bus, which never showed up, on Tuesday. Possible Futures Photo.
When Lauren Anderson walked into Possible Futures on Wednesday morning, the Edgewood Avenue storefront was 31 degrees. Big Mama, the monstera plant who has become a beloved part of the store, sat on the floor surrounded by blankets. Couches remained unoccupied, as they had been for the past week. Extra granola bars and handwarmers, the supply dwindling, sat snugly in place.
Anderson she did what she’s been doing for over a week now: she turned on five space heaters—up from four, because she is freezing—careful to keep some of the lights and appliances off as not to fry the building’s power. She put up a notice on social media that the store would be open for browsing and pick ups. And then, she hoped for the best—which in this case, maybe looked like 45 degrees by the end of the day.
Anderson, who has run the bookspace at 318 Edgewood Ave. since 2022, is going on her eighth day without heat in the store, a disturbance that has caused event cancellations, limited business hours, and left kids in the neighborhood literally out in the cold—or more aptly, in in the cold—while Anderson scrambles to get answers on when she can expect to be comfortable in the space again.
As of Wednesday morning, Isaac Shaer of Chazak CT LLC, the limited liability company that currently owns the building, said that technicians were on-site in the building’s basement to install “an entirely new furnace and duct system to ensure there are no further issues.” The residential units upstairs, both of which house families, currently have heat.
“Our model of existing is that we need to be a place that people can count on,” Anderson said in a phone call Tuesday night, after coming home from a long and cold day. “Part of the whole point of being an independent bookstore is that it's like a warm hug, like a warm place to go. When there isn’t heat, the whole ethos of the place is undermined.”
On one (currently mittened) hand, it’s about the need for basic utilities—heat, water, appliances that run without blowing out the power grid—in a small business that has become one of New Haven’s most beloved third spaces. On a given day, Possible Futures is many different things: a place for book browsing and buying, a coffee shop, event space, literary salon and after-school hangout, complete with young “Bookspace VIPs” who live in the neighborhood and have all but joined the staff.
That's harder when there isn't heat (there in also a leak in the back bathroom, Anderson said). In the past eight days, Anderson has had to cancel a zine-making event with Hamden SEPTA, a Mahjong Haven meetup, a CT Readers of Color book club, community service hours for high school students volunteering at the bookstore, and the first day of work for an intern from Southern Connecticut State University’s arts administration program. Now, she said, she’s worried about two events this weekend, a knitting circle scheduled for Saturday morning, and a comedy show from Shawn Murray on Saturday night.
Perhaps more distressing for her: she’s not able to be there in the same way for neighbors. On Tuesday morning, Anderson welcomed in a group of New Haven Public Schools students who live in the neighborhood, and didn’t want to stand in the 15-degree weather while waiting on a 2-hour snow delay. Outside, a plow had left messy, graying snowbanks on the sidewalks, and feet of crusted snow where most of the curb cuts should be. She gave out handwarmers and granola bars, grateful that a member of her Steamy Futures book club had dropped off hot cocoa packets. When the school bus didn’t come after an hour, she ended up walking one of the kids home.
It’s part of the other hand she feels like she’s constantly weighing. On the municipal level, she sees city officials herald New Haven’s small businesses when they open—but doesn’t always see the same support when those businesses need marketing help, parking relief, or assistance with their leases and landlords. Even before Sunday’s storm dumped a foot of snow on the street, for instance, parking outside the store could be difficult. Now, it’s basically impossible.
“If New Haven's gonna be a city of start ups, it can't just be about ribbon cuttings,” she said.
Reached Wednesday afternoon, Edgewood Alder Evette Hamilton said that she’s frustrated by the situation, particularly the length of time that the heat has been off, and the lack of communication Anderson said she has received from the landlord. As a city official, a neighbor, and a fan of the bookspace—every year, Possible Futures is a partner on the Edgewood Youth Day Block Party—she sees her friend and colleague struggling to keep her doors open, and it makes her upset.
“Who protects a small business person like Lauren?” she said in a phone call. “Who takes responsibility? Because you know what, it’s not right. Absentee landlords who do not live in this community need to do a better job of supporting tenants. Everything goes back to landlords doing their jobs. At the end of the day, it’s about taking care of our folks.”
Shaer, who is in the city land records listed as the primary contact for Chazak CT LLC, said that the company sent technicians out “immediately” when it first heard about the issue several days ago. In a phone call Wednesday morning, he added that he understands and appreciates the value of the bookstore in the community, and hopes that the furnace will be up and running within the next few days.
“Although the current heating system is only about three years old, we have decided to move forward with installing an entirely new furnace and duct system to ensure there are no further issues,” he wrote in an email Wednesday morning. “Our goal is to provide a long-term solution and restore reliable heating. The technicians have been on-site for the past few days and are currently completing the installation.”
When asked for a timeline in a follow-up phone call, he said that he does not have one but hopes that the furnace and duct work will be installed within the next few days.
Wednesday afternoon, Anderson said she could hear technicians working in the basement, where they had been for most of the afternoon. The store was mostly quiet, save for a sixth grader who had come in, hands snuggled into their gloves, to find a book about U.S. Rep. Illhan Omar. With five space heaters, it had gotten to 48 degrees. At one point, a couple walked into the store, and Anderson hopped off the phone to help them.
“This is a very sad version of our vibe,” she called out, her voice still audible through the receiver. She encouraged them to imagine a cozy, warm version of the space, where patrons were walking . “It’s usually more like a warm hug.”