Jon Brion
Jon Brion is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer. He performed with The Excerpts, The Bats, The Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has produced music for artists like Fiona Apple, Kanye West, Aimee Mann, Brad Mehldau, of Montreal, Rufus Wainwright, Robyn Hitchcock, Sky Ferreira, his film scores include Hard Eight, Punch-Drunk Love, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees, New York, ParaNorman, Lady Bird, Christopher Robin. He released his debut solo album, Meaningless, in 2001. Brion was born in New Jersey, he comes from a musical family. His brother and sister became a violinist, respectively. Brion had difficulties at Hamden High School and at the age of 17 left education, opting instead to play music professionally. From 1980–85 Jon was part of the band The Excerpts, along with Stephen Harris, Dean Falcone, Jim Balga, Bobby Butcher & Spike Priggen. In the early 1980s, Brion and musician/producer Bill Murphy began a writing collaboration in New Haven, Connecticut.
They enlisted bassist Don "Riff" Fertman and together formed The Bats. The Bats released a single, "Popgun", one album, How Pop Can You Get?, on Gustav Records in 1982. The recordings had much critical acclaim, but little commercial success, the trio disbanded. In 1987, Brion moved to Boston, where he played solo gigs, formed the short-lived band World's Fair and became a member of the last touring version of Aimee Mann's new wave band'Til Tuesday, he contributed guitar work to Jellyfish's 1993 album Spilt Milk, in 1994, joined Dan McCarroll, Buddy Judge and ex-Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner in the short-lived pop band The Grays. He played guitar on The Wallflowers' hit song "One Headlight", using a screwdriver, sitting atop a nearby amp as a slide. Brion played numerous instruments on Sam Phillips' 1996 release Omnipop. Brion is featured as keyboardist and drummer on Marianne Faithfull's 2003 album, Kissin Time, co-wrote a song, "City of Quartz", for her next work, 2005's Before the Poison.
After being recognized as an accomplished session player, Brion branched out into production on then-girlfriend Mann's 1993 solo debut and its follow-up, I'm With Stupid. He has produced albums by Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Eleni Mandell, Rhett Miller, Robyn Hitchcock, Brad Mehldau and Evan Dando, co-produced Kanye West's Late Registration in 2005. In the fall of 2002, Brion began producing the album Extraordinary Machine with Fiona Apple, but she brought in producers Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew to complete the album. Brion's versions leaked onto the Internet, where the album gained a cult following long before its official release. Brion performed on some of the tracks for Sean Lennon's 2006 album Friendly Fire. Lennon said. It's like having a weird alien prodigy in your room."More Brion has produced recordings by British pop performer Dido and Keane, as well as 2010's False Priest by Of Montreal. Brion produced Best Coast's second album, released in early 2012. Brion was signed to the Lava/Atlantic label in 1997, but was released from his contract after turning in his solo debut album Meaningless.
He is rumored to be working on his second solo full-length album at Abbey Road Studios. Brion is an accomplished film composer, having started scoring by working with director Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom he has a preferential working relationship. In addition to scoring many of his films, Brion contributed music to Boogie Nights and had a cameo in the film as a moustached guitar player. In his film soundtracks, Brion is noted for his use of early analog sampling instruments the Chamberlin and Optigan, to create near-realistic emulations of certain instruments, he has earned Best Score Soundtrack Album Grammy nominations for his work on 1999's Magnolia and 2004's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Brion was hired at the last minute to write the incidental music for The Break-Up, he has scored and provided original music for I Heart Huckabees, Punch-Drunk Love, Step Brothers, ParaNorman, The Future, New York, Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird and Disney's Christopher Robin. He did live composition for a musical commentary on the Step Brothers DVD.
He composed the score to the Disney/Pixar short film, The Blue Umbrella, working alongside Sarah Jaffe. He dated comedic actress Mary Lynn Rajskub for five years until they broke up in the fall of 2002. Brion is renowned for his regular Friday-night gigs at the Los Angeles club Largo, which feature covers and original songs, a variety of instruments and occasional guest musicians and comedians, he works instead using audience suggestions as a jumping-off point. His extraordinary use of layered loops and frequent adoption of a "jigsaw puzzle" approach to performing songs have captivated the capacity crowds at Largo and earned Brion a strong following. Recent shows have featured spontaneous appearances with singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, Gillian Welch, vocalists Fiona Apple and Rickie Lee Jones, singing old jazz standards like "My Funny Valentine", with upright bassist Stephen Patt (
Congregation Mishkan Israel
Congregation Mishkan Israel, in Hamden, Connecticut, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Connecticut, the 14th oldest continuous operating synagogue in America as well as the oldest continuing synagogue in New England. It was founded by 15 - 20 New Haven Jewish families from Bavaria, in 1840, when Jews were not allowed to form their own religious societies; these families took turns hosting services and event at their homes until the Connecticut Legislature, in 1843, enabled Jews to establish synagogues by allowing non-Christian organizations to incorporate in the state. Mishkan Israel’s first gatherings were held in a room above the Heller-Mendelbaum store at the corner of Grand and State Street in New Haven, Connecticut; this did not sit well with the New Haven Register, which reported on May 26, 1843: “Whilst we have been busy converting the Jews in other lands, they have outflanked us here, effected a footing in the centre of our own fortress.”It became a Reform synagogue as early as 1856.
In 1856 the congregation purchased the former Third Congregation Church, a Greek revival building on Court Street between State and Orange Street. The 1897 building, 55 Audubon Street on the corner of Orange Street in New Haven is now used as a performing arts space for ACES Educational Center for the Arts, a performing arts high school, it is a contributing building in the Orange Street Historic District. The architects were Thomas Tryon; the congregation moved to Ridge Road in Hamden in 1960. Mishkan Israel became a bastion of liberal religious thought and social activism in the 50’s and 60’s. Rabbi Robert E. Goldburg was an outspoken advocate for civil rights, was arrested in a freedom march along with Martin Luther King and other clergy in 1964. Earlier, Dr. King had delivered a sermon at Mishkan Israel in 1961, helping to dedicate the new facility, which had relocated to Hamden, it is said to have been Dr King’s only preaching from a pulpit in the greater New Haven area. Rabbi Goldburg stirred congregants’ passions with his strong and eloquent political voice raised in support of racial justice and opposition to the Vietnam War.
Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, Alger Hiss, Stokely Carmichael, William Sloan Coffin were guest speakers at the behest of Rabbi Goldburg; the current rabbi at Mishkan Israel is Herbert N. Brockman, the spiritual leader at Mishkan Israel for 28 years. Rabbi Brockman teaches and engages in community projects, has been at the forefront of interfaith understanding and justice, not only in New Haven, but nationally and internationally; the current Cantor is Arthur Giglio, who holds a Master of Sacred Music and Diploma of Hazzan from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Brockman decided that a fitting tribute to Rabbi Goldburg and Martin Luther King’s historic connection to Mishkan Israel would be an annual Martin Luther King Interfaith Service which he inaugurated in 2010; the late peace activist Bruce M. Cohen served as rabbi of Mishkan Israel prior to founding Interns for Peace; the Mishkan Israel cemetery was created in 1843. Synagogue website
Wayne Escoffery
Wayne Escoffery is a jazz saxophonist based in New York City. Since 2000, he has been working in New York City with Carl Allen, Eric Reed, the Mingus Big Band. Other musicians performed with include Ralph Peterson, Ben Riley, Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Bill Charlap, Bruce Barth, Jimmy Cobb, Eddie Henderson, he has worked with vocalists including Mary Stallings, Cynthia Scott, Nancie Banks, LaVerne Butler, Carolyn Leonhart. In addition to performing with his own Quartet featuring David Kikoski, Ugonna Okegwo and Ralph Peterson, Escoffery performs and tours with Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet, The Mingus Band, Ron Carter's great Big Band, Monty Alexander, Amina Figarova and many others, he is a member of The Tom Harrell Quintet and has been since 2006. He has co-produced four of Harrell's latest recordings. In 2014 Escoffery won the 62nd Annual Downbeat Critics Poll for rising star on the Tenor Saxophone and in 2010 won a Grammy with The Mingus Big Band. All About Jazz's J. Robert Bragonier said that Escoffery "is a talented youngster capable of long, flowing lines, noteworthy creativity, a broad range of expressiveness."
Wayne and his mother emigrated to the United States and settled in New Haven, Connecticut in 1986. At age eleven, Escoffery joined The New Haven Trinity Boys Choir and began taking saxophone lessons from Malcolm Dickinson. At sixteen, he left the choir and began a more intensive study of the saxophone, attending the Jazzmobile in New York City, the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. During his senior year in high School, he attended the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut. He met Jackie McLean, a well known alto saxophonist and founder of the jazz program at The Hartt School. Escoffery was awarded a scholarship to attend The Hartt School, where he studied with McLean for four years, earned a bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance summa cum laude in 1997, he attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. During this time, he performed and studied with several jazz greats.
In 1999, he moved to New York to begin his professional career. Escoffery married vocalist Carolyn Leonhart in 2004; the two have one child, have collaborated on many performances, appear together on several albums. 2001: Times Change 2004: Intuition 2007: Veneration: Live at Smoke 2007: If Dreams Come True – Carolyn Leonhart & Wayne Escoffery 2008: Hopes and Dreams – Wayne Escoffery & Veneration - with guest: Tom Harrell 2009: Uptown 2010: Tides of Yesterday – Carolyn Leonhart & Wayne Escoffery 2012: The Only Son of One 2014: Live at Firehouse 12 2015: Live at Smalls 2016: Black Art Jazz Collective: Presented by the Side Door Jazz Club - with Jeremy Pelt, James Burton III, Xavier Davis, Vincente Archer, Johnathan Blake 2018: Vortex 2018: Black Art Jazz Collective: Armor Of Pride - with Jeremy Pelt, James Burton III, Xavier Davis, Vincente Archer, Johnathan Blake 2007: Light On 2009: Prana Dance - co-produced by Escoffery 2010: Roman Nights - co-produced by Escoffery 2011: The Time Of The Sun - co-produced by Escoffery 2012: Number Five - co-produced by Escoffery 2013: Colors Of A Dream 2015: First Impressions: Debussy And Ravel Project 2019: Correlations - with Joshua Bruneau, Xavier Davis, Dezron Douglas, Jonathan Barber Official site Review of Veneration at JazzChicago.net
Arnold W. Brunner
Arnold William Brunner was an American architect, born and died in New York City. Brunner was educated in Manchester, England, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Early in his career, he worked in the architectural office of George B. Post, he was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects after 1892 and was appointed by Theodore Roosevelt to the United States Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D. C, he was a member of the New York Fine Arts Commission, the American Civic Association, The Century Association, The Engineer's Club, The Players, the Cosmos Club in Washington D. C. the National Institute of Arts and Letters, The Union Club of Cleveland, several other organizations. In 1910, he was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, became a full member in 1916. Brunner was known as a city planner, made significant contributions to the city plans of Cleveland, Rochester, New York, Maryland, Colorado, New Jersey, Albany, New York. Brunner was, for a short time, partnered with Thomas Tryon as the firm Tryon.
Brunner designed several notable buildings including, with Tryon, the 1897 Congregation Shearith Israel, on Central Park West, New York, to house the United States' oldest Jewish congregation, founded in 1654. No attempt was made to convey an "eastern" vocabulary, as was being done for other Jewish congregations: Brunner and Tryon provided a forthright Roman Baroque temple with a projecting three-bay center that contrasts with the windowless ashlar masonry flanking it and contains a recessed loggia entrance under three large arch-headed windows, articulated by a colossal order of Corinthian columns surmounted by a pediment over a paneled attic frieze. Another synagogue designed by Brunner was Temple Israel at 201 Lenox Avenue, at 120th Street, in 1907; the limestone building was not designed in the typical Moorish Revival style of other synagogues of the time. According to David W. Dunlap, the building "looks like a Roman temple until you notice the Stars of David in the column capitals and spandrel panels", "may rank as the single best Neoclassical synagogue in Manhattan".
Brunner designed improvements at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, the Stadium of the College of the City of New York - known as Lewisohn Stadium, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the U. S. Post Office, Custom House and Courthouse in the Group Plan conceived by Daniel Burnham, John Carrère, Brunner in 1903 to create a new urbanistic center for Cleveland, a rare realisation of a "City Beautiful" plan. Other work in Ohio included the Monumental Bridge in Toledo and Denison University in Granville, Ohio, he won the competition for the design of the U. S. State Department Building in Washington D. C. Students' Hall at Barnard College was built in 1916 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Brunner designed a bascule bridge over the Maumee River in Toledo, that remains in use today, as the Martin Luther King Bridge. Brunner's design introduced an innovative design for keeping streetcar power lines taut, yet allowing them to be safely raised with the bridge deck.
Other lift bridges copied this innovation. Notes Media related to Arnold W. Brunner at Wikimedia Commons
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a coastal city in the U. S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, is part of the New York metropolitan area. With a population of 129,779 as determined by the 2010 United States Census, it is the second-largest city in Connecticut after Bridgeport. New Haven is the principal municipality of Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 862,477 in 2010. New Haven was the first planned city in America. A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating what is known as the "Nine Square Plan"; the central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark. New Haven is the home of Yale University; as New Haven's biggest taxpayer and employer, Yale serves as an integral part of the city's economy.
Health care, professional services, financial services, retail trade contribute to the city's economic activity. The city served as co-capital of Connecticut from 1701 until 1873, when sole governance was transferred to the more centrally located city of Hartford. New Haven has since billed itself as the "Cultural Capital of Connecticut" for its supply of established theaters and music venues. New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees that gave the city the nickname "The Elm City". Before Europeans arrived, the New Haven area was the home of the Quinnipiac tribe of Native Americans, who lived in villages around the harbor and subsisted off local fisheries and the farming of maize; the area was visited by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block in 1614. Dutch traders set up a small trading system of beaver pelts with the local inhabitants, but trade was sporadic and the Dutch did not settle permanently in the area. In 1637 a small party of Puritans wintered over.
In April 1638, the main party of five hundred Puritans who had left the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of the Reverend John Davenport and London merchant Theophilus Eaton sailed into the harbor. It was their hope to set up a theological community with the government more linked to the church than that in Massachusetts, to exploit the area's excellent potential as a port; the Quinnipiacs, who were under attack by neighboring Pequots, sold their land to the settlers in return for protection. By 1640, "Qunnipiac's" theocratic government and nine-square grid plan were in place, the town was renamed Newhaven, with'haven' meaning harbor or port; the settlement became the headquarters of the New Haven Colony, distinct from the Connecticut Colony established to the north centering on Hartford. Reflecting its theocratic roots, the New Haven Colony forbid the establishment of other churches, whereas the Connecticut Colony permitted them. Economic disaster struck Newhaven in 1646, when the town sent its first loaded ship of local goods back to England.
It never reached its destination, its disappearance stymied New Haven's development versus the rising trade powers of Boston and New Amsterdam. In 1660, Colony founder John Davenport's wishes were fulfilled, Hopkins School was founded in New Haven with money from the estate of Edward Hopkins. In 1661, the Regicides who had signed the death warrant of Charles I of England were pursued by Charles II. Two of them, Colonel Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe, fled to New Haven for refuge. Davenport arranged. A third judge, John Dixwell, joined the others. In 1664 New Haven became part of the Connecticut Colony when the two colonies were merged under political pressure from England, according to folklore as punishment for harboring the three judges; some members of the New Haven Colony seeking to establish a new theocracy elsewhere went on to establish Newark, New Jersey. It was made co-capital of Connecticut in 1701, a status it retained until 1873. In 1716, the Collegiate School relocated from Old Saybrook to New Haven, establishing New Haven as a center of learning.
In 1718, in response to a large donation from British East India Company merchant Elihu Yale, former Governor of Madras, the name of the Collegiate School was changed to Yale College. For over a century, New Haven citizens had fought in the colonial militia alongside regular British forces, as in the French and Indian War; as the American Revolution approached, General David Wooster and other influential residents hoped that the conflict with the government in Britain could be resolved short of rebellion. On 23 April 1775, still celebrated in New Haven as Powder House Day, the Second Company, Governor's Foot Guard, of New Haven entered the struggle against the governing British parliament. Under Captain Benedict Arnold, they broke into the powder house to arm themselves and began a three-day march to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Other New Haven militia members were on hand to escort George Washington from his overnight stay in New Haven on his way to Cambridge. Contemporary reports, from both sides, remark on the New Haven volunteers' professional military bearing, including uniforms.
On July 5, 1779, 2,600 loyalists and British regulars under General Wil
New Haven County, Connecticut
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U. S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the population was 862,477 making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's largest cities, New Haven and Waterbury, are part of New Haven County. New Haven County comprises the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. County governments were abolished in Connecticut in 1960. Thus, as is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there is no county government, no county seat; until 1960, the city of New Haven was the county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, snow removal and schools. In some cases, neighboring towns will share certain activities, e.g. schools, etc. New Haven County is a group of towns on a map, has no specific government authority; the county Sheriff system was abolished by voters and replaced by State Judicial Marshals in 2000.
As a result, the state judicial system in New Haven County has three judicial districts: New Haven, Ansonia-Milford, Waterbury. Following the process of unification of New Haven Colony with Connecticut Colony in 1664-65, cohesion could be improved. New Haven County was constituted by an act of the Connecticut General Court on May 10, 1666, along with Hartford County, Fairfield County, New London County; the act establishing the county states: This Court orders that from the east bounds of Guilford vnto ye west bounds of Milford shalbe for future one County wch shalbe called the County of N: Hauen. And it is ordered that the County Court shalbe held at N: Hauen on the second Wednesday in March and on the second Wednesday in Nouember yearely; as established in 1666, New Haven County consisted of the towns of Milford, New Haven, Guilford. The town of Wallingford was established in 1670 in unincorporated area north of New Haven and formally added to New Haven County in 1671. In 1675, the town of Derby was established north of Milford.
In 1686, the town of Waterbury was assigned as part of Hartford County. Waterbury was transferred to New Haven County in 1728. In 1722, most of northwestern Connecticut was placed under the jurisdiction of New Haven County. Eight years in 1730, the eastern half of northwestern Connecticut was transferred to the jurisdiction of Hartford County. By mid-1738, with the exception of the towns of New Milford and Salisbury, the entire territory of northwestern Connecticut was under Hartford County. In 1751, Litchfield County was constituted consisting of all the towns in northwestern Connecticut. Between 1780 and 1807, several more towns were established along the northern boundary of New Haven County, resulting in the alteration of the limits of the county; the final boundary alteration leading to the modern boundary resulted from the establishment of the town of Middlebury on October 8, 1807. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 862 square miles, of which 605 square miles is land and 258 square miles is water.
It is the second-largest county in Connecticut by total area. The terrain is flat near the coast, with low hills defining the rest of the area, rising only in the north of the county; the highest elevation is close to the northernmost point in the county, found at two areas of 1,050 feet above sea level in the town of Wolcott. The lowest point is sea level. Notable geographic landmarks include West Rock and East Rock. Hartford County Middlesex County Fairfield County Litchfield County New Haven county is bounded on the south by Long Island Sound. Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge As of 1960, counties in Connecticut do not have any associated county government structure. All municipal services are provided by the towns. In order to address issues concerning more than one town, several regional agencies that help coordinate the towns for infrastructure, land use, economic development concerns have been established. Within the geographical area of New Haven County, the regional agencies are: South Central Central Naugatuck Valley The Valley The geographic area of the county is served by the three separate judicial districts: Ansonia-Milford and New Haven.
The Ansonia-Milford jurisdiction has one in Derby, the other in Milford. The Waterbury and New Haven judicial districts have superior courthouses located in Waterbury, New Haven. Law enforcement within the geographic area of the county is provided by the respective town police departments. Prior to 2000, a County Sheriff's Department existed for the purpose of executing judicial warrants, prisoner transport, court security; these responsibilities have now been taken over by the Connecticut State Marshal System. Fire protection in the county is provided by the towns. Several towns have fire districts that provide services to a section of the town. Founded in 1937, New Haven County has a county-wide fire-protection agency called "New Haven County Fire Emergency Plan" based in Hamden to "Coordinate Mutual Aid - Radio Problems, assist members of county at major incidents if requested, provide training". Water service is provided by a regional non-profit public corporation known as the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority.
The Regional Water Authority supplies water to most of the towns within New Haven County, excluding the Waterbury area and the towns of Guilford and Madison. The Regional Water Authority is one o
Connecticut
Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the United States. As of the 2010 Census, it has the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index, median household income in the United States, it is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford and its most populous city is Bridgeport, it is part of New England, although portions of it are grouped with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-state area. The state is named for the Connecticut River which bisects the state; the word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for "long tidal river". Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutchmen who established a small, short-lived settlement called Fort Hoop in Hartford at the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers. Half of Connecticut was part of the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established in the 1630s by the English.
Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded the Connecticut Colony. The Connecticut and New Haven colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a royal charter; this was one of the Thirteen Colonies. Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, the fourth most densely populated of the 50 states, it is known as the "Constitution State", the "Nutmeg State", the "Provisions State", the "Land of Steady Habits". It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States; the Connecticut River, Thames River, ports along Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition which continues today. The state has a long history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford and hedge funds in Fairfield County. Landmarks and cities of Connecticut Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York, on the north by Massachusetts, on the east by Rhode Island.
The state capital and fourth largest city is Hartford, other major cities and towns include Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury, Danbury, New Britain and Bristol. Connecticut is larger than the country of Montenegro. There are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut; the highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state. The highest point is just east of where Connecticut and New York meet, on the southern slope of Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts. At the opposite extreme, many of the coastal towns have areas that are less than 20 feet above sea level. Connecticut has a long maritime history and a reputation based on that history—yet the state has no direct oceanfront; the coast of Connecticut sits on Long Island Sound, an estuary. The state's access to the open Atlantic Ocean is both to the east; this situation provides many safe harbors from ocean storms, many transatlantic ships seek anchor inside Long Island Sound when tropical cyclones pass off the upper East Coast.
The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state. The most populous metropolitan region centered within the state lies in the Connecticut River Valley. Despite Connecticut's small size, it features wide regional variations in its landscape. Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners of the state contrast with its industrial cities such as Stamford and New Haven, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New London northward up the Connecticut River to Hartford. Many towns in northeastern and northwestern Connecticut center around a green, such as the Litchfield Green, Lebanon Green, Wethersfield Green. Near the green stand historical visual symbols of New England towns, such as a white church, a colonial meeting house, a colonial tavern or inn, several colonial houses, so on, establishing a scenic historical appearance maintained for both historic preservation and tourism. Many of the areas in southern and coastal Connecticut have been built up and rebuilt over the years, look less visually like traditional New England.
The northern boundary of the state with Massachusetts is marked by the Southwick Jog or Granby Notch, an 2.5 miles square detour into Connecticut. The origin of this anomaly is established in a long line of disputes and temporary agreements which were concluded in 1804, when southern Southwick's residents sought to leave Massachusetts, the town was split in half; the southwestern border of Connecticut where it abuts New York State is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County, containing the towns of Greenwich, New Canaan and parts of Norwalk and Wilton. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 17th century, culminating
