Seen and Heard in Norwalk: Unusual closeness, and a bump in the night

NORWALK, Conn. – Here are some items of interest that were seen or heard recently in Norwalk:

Pols in the park: This is big, Mac

Mayor Richard Moccia was among the local politicians gathered in Ryan Park Friday to applaud Ganga Duleep, mother of Councilwoman Anna Duleep.

Why was the mayor applauding someone who has been publicly bashed by Republicans? Because Ganga Duleep is president and founder of the Friends of Ryan Park, which is the only organization in Connecticut to win a $5,000 grant from the McDonald’s corporation.

Out of hundreds of applications, the McDonald’s New York Metro Nutrition Network chose five winners; the money will be used to fund a month-long summer program for children and young adults “encapsulating the goal of providing them the tools necessary to fight the ills plaguing the neighborhood (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, illiteracy and unemployment) and lead to a healthy, productive life via the medium of stress relieving meditative pesticide free organic gardening and outdoor sports coupled with good nutrition for body and mind,” according to a proclamation signed by Moccia.

But state Sen. Bob Duff summed up Duleep’s accomplishments the best.

“Ganga, you and your volunteers, everybody, really have brought this park back to life,” he said. “You put people back in here. You put plants back in here, something that I think a lot of people didn’t think could happen; was unimaginable in a way.”

Anna Duleep said teenagers had enjoyed painting the fence at the park.

“I know how hard it is to get teenagers to smile. … I saw teenager after teenager give my mother a hug because they know how much she cares about them,” she said.

She spoke of the urban environment that is Norwalk.

“Norwalk is sometimes described as a big city and sometimes described as a small town. I like to say we are a small town with the population of a city. … We all wear several different hats and we all know each others’ business,” she said.

Moccia sat with his opponent in the election, former Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling, during a friendly, convivial lunch in the park. No Big Macs were served.

Dem candidates keep friends close, opponents closer

Rilling and the younger Duleep have come up with an inventive solution to the need for a Democratic campaign headquarters – serious business will be done in the Van Zant Street building that has been the base for Rilling’s campaign, while parties will be held in Duleep’s sheriff campaign headquarters on Wall Street.

That’s 29 Wall St. Republican HQ is at 20 Wall St. According to Google Maps, the two headquarters are 262 feet apart.

Is the bromance over?

Councilman David Watts attended Wednesday evening’s East Norwalk candidates forum to watch Moccia, Rilling and others discuss issues, and for that he is currently driving a rented car.

A 25-ish Moccia campaign volunteer backed into Watts’s car.

The doors are dented, he said, declining to allow a photograph be taken.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Art Scialabba gave his version of events in an email.

“I guess two wrongs don’t make a right,” he wrote. “The volunteer didn’t see David’s car (black or dark blue at night is hard to see) and David’s car was not parked in a proper parking space.”

But there’s more…

NancyOnNorwalk didn’t park in a proper space either – they were all taken. The reportermobile was parked along the chain link fence in the back, in front of the city of Norwalk mayor’s SUV, which was also illegally parked.

He said, she said

Animosity among Zoning Commission members spilled out into the hallways of City Hall Thursday night with an argument that began at last week’s Plan Review Committee meeting.

“You have to know when to stop,” new Commissioner Linda Kruk said to Commissioner Mike Mushak, who had been pushing, again, for answers about the $500,000 Norwalk Transportation Management Plan in relation to the BJ’s Wholesale Club application.

Chairwoman Emily Wilson was moving the meeting along when the little discussion at the far end of the table resulted in an insult.

“I spent several hours researching BJ’s,” Kruk said. It’s a good company that donates generously to the community.

Mushak says he said, “Oh, just what we need, another Moccia yes person.”

Kruk says he called her a “brainless Moccia rubber stamp.”

Unfortunately, the truth does not lie in a recording of the meeting, as Wilson’s voice drowns the conversation out.

Kruk and Mushak angrily argued about it Thursday night, the voices audible to those attending the Oak Hills Park Authority nearby.

“You don’t know me yet,” Kruk said several times.

“If you have been treated like I have been treated by Republicans … ” Mushak said several times.

“You stomped all over me when all I wanted to do was quell the anger in the room,” she said.

Balloons are us

BJ’s opponent Diane Lauricella thought she had a great idea for a Wednesday afternoon press conference – happy face balloons to illustrate just how tall the store would be if built.

Lauricella, Anna Duleep, Nancy Rosset and Lynn Detroy laughed when they released the balloons as press cameras clicked, as they hadn’t taken the wind into account. The balloons only got up to the proper 30-foot height briefly.

The effort became moot within an hour, when the BJ’s application was withdrawn.

Lauricella and Diane Cece had been involved in organizing resistance to the application, with whispered conversations in City Hall with concerned residents who had attended Plan Review Committee meetings. Those conversations led to other meetings, which they kept under their hats.

They’re not divulging details, but Duleep and Lauricella talked about a Monday night meeting of the Norwalk Association of Silvermine Homeowners, attended by about 100 people, to discuss the results of their research into the application.

Word is opponents were doubly relieved the application was withdrawn. They were planning to burn much midnight oil overnight getting ready for the Zoning Commission hearing on the topic, which was canceled.

A shout out to a foe

Oak Hills Park Authority members were talking about the need to market the course, lamenting that all they get is negative publicity, when OHPA Chairman Bob Virgulak made a suggestion, according to several witnesses.

“Maybe we should have Diane Lauricella do our marketing,” he said. “She’s in the paper every day.”

NEON board member ponies up

Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON) board members were being informed recently of the costs for their upcoming day-long retreat when member Susan Weinberger interrupted to voice an objection.

“I am very uncomfortable about having NEON, with their financial issues, pay for it. Can’t each one of us pitch in a little money? I don’t even think $100 should be incurred by NEON,” she said.

A staff member had been talking about $100 for rent of a Stamford facility, and having lunch catered.

Board member Mike Berkhoff ended the discussion.

“I’ll cover it,” he said.

Board member Jack O’Dea then said he would “double it,” to pay for the food.

Dancing in the streets…

… and in the parking lot, the park, and now the Bijou Theatre.

Tim Currie’s Motown Review Band (sic) popped up this summer with a concert at, of all places, Currie’s Tires on West Avenue. Its debut was so well-received that another show was scheduled, which led to an appearance at the Oyster Festival.

Next up? Another freebie at the West Avenue tire shop Oct. 5, and a shot as opening act for the 10-piece Generation Blues Band at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at Bridgeport’s Bijou Theatre.

Correction 1:10 p.m.: Duleep and Lauricella did not say they organized Silvermine homeowners.