Harborview Residents to Host Mayoral Meet-and-Greet Focused on Manresa Wilds Project

October 22, 2025

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NORWALK, Conn. — Harborview residents will have an opportunity to meet the three candidates for mayor on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Harbor View Clubhouse, 26 Harbor View Ave.

Unaffiliated candidate John Kydes, Democratic candidate Barbara Smyth, and Republican candidate Vinny Scicchitano are scheduled to attend the “Meet & Greet Harborview” forum, where they’ll introduce themselves, share their visions for Norwalk, and answer questions from residents.

Unaffiliated candidate Erik Vitaglione said he is unable to attend the event due to work obligations, noting, “I would have loved to attend, but I am scheduled to work until 9 p.m. If I get out early, I will try to make it, but I will be coming in hot and in work clothes. It is not easy trying to represent the working class as an active member of that demographic.”

Focus on Manresa Wilds

Organizers said the discussion will center around the community’s top concerns, particularly the proposed Manresa Wilds project on the former Manresa Island site. The planned redevelopment would transform the property into a regional destination featuring beaches, trails, an indoor water park, event spaces, a marina, and a 400-space parking lot.

Residents have expressed apprehension about traffic congestion, emergency access, and the capacity of South Norwalk’s infrastructure to handle increased visitors. One of the key questions for candidates asks how they would address those issues and what their positions are on the Manresa Wilds proposal.

Questions on Revenue, Flooding, and Education

Because Manresa Wilds is expected to operate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, another question will focus on whether the city could lose potential tax revenue and what steps the next mayor would take to mitigate the gap.

Other topics include flood mitigation, particularly in high-risk areas such as Woodward Avenue, Water Street, and Route 136, and how each candidate would ensure those neighborhoods receive priority in future infrastructure planning.

The event will also touch on education funding, asking candidates how they plan to address the city’s ongoing challenges in meeting its public school budget needs without sacrificing student performance.

Event Format

Each candidate will give a brief introduction of about three to four minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session using both pre-drafted and open questions from attendees, time permitting.

Organizers encouraged Harborview residents to attend and bring their questions for the candidates.

Comments

3 responses to “Harborview Residents to Host Mayoral Meet-and-Greet Focused on Manresa Wilds Project”

David Muccigrosso

October 22, 2025

The three richest candidates are meeting in the richest neighborhood to discuss stopping a project that could bring housing to those who need it — and yes, even if the proposed project was all “luxury housing”, it’d both (1) put downward price pressure on the rest of the market, and (2) free up other units downmarket and ease the burden on those most impacted by the housing crisis.

So why should we trust them when they say they want “smart development”? Why should we trust that the three richest candidates will do anything but serve the richest interests?

This puts the lie to the whole NIMBY complain about “neighborhood character”. Norwalk’s NIMBYs don’t even LIVE in SoNo! I sure haven’t met any of them in my 7 years out and about in every single corner of the neighborhood.

NIMBY is just the rich serving the rich. “No, not *that*!” “Ugh, too much traffic.”

Why is it that not a single one of these candidates can elucidate a development project they’d like to see done? I can rattle 20 in SoNo alone off the top of my head.

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Erik Dies

October 22, 2025

David, I’ve seen you take issue with longtime residents labeling you a transient, and agree with you there, but hyperbolic nonsense like this really undercuts your points. Go just off the water in Harbor View, and you’ll find an upper middle class neighborhood with homes build on top of each other in a place prone to flooding. If you think Harbor View is Norwalk’s “richest neighborhood” you should take a trip to Wilson Point, or Bell Island.

When I was younger, what separated Harbor View from the power plant was a chain link fence that did little to dissuade bored teens. I mention this only to emphasize the physical proximity. I am staunchly in favor of the Manressa project, but why shouldn’t the residents of Harbor View have a say on a major project in their back yard and likely to increase traffic on the one major road in and out of the peninsula?

You should of course have your say, too, but I fail to see how a few dozen twee townhouses along Washington street are to resolve anyone’s affordability issues. You keep throwing around the term NIMBY; as I understand the acronym this is someone who agrees the thing should be built, but not next to them. How is somebody arguing the thing shouldn’t be built at all a NIMBY?

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1. David Muccigrosso
  
  October 24, 2025
  
  Erik — I was certainly exaggerating for effect, but I disagree that it was crossing the line into “hyperbolic nonsense”.
  
  Fun fact: I’m a long-distance runner, and I actually HAVE been to Harbor View! On my long runs, instead of doing dozens of laps at Vets Park where I usually train, I have made a little project out of zigzagging the entire street grid of Norwalk. I’ve completed all of Rowayton, Harbor View, SoNo of course, Downtown, Flax Hill, the hospital area, and East Norwalk from the train tracks on down to the beach, and all the way eastward from there to Saugatuck. I conservatively estimate I’ve seen about 1/4-1/3 of the city up close and personal (without snooping in anyone’s yards, of course!).
  
  So yes, I’ve seen Wilson Point as well, and several other rich neighborhoods. To be frank, they’re all gradations of “holy crap, I’m NEVER affording THAT”.
  
  Also, my own plan is a BIT more ambitious than “a few dozen twee townhouses”. When I say “Legalize More Of Washington”, I mean that we should build buildings like the ones that line Washington throughout most of SoNo. That’s not “twee townhouses”, that’s 2-4 story buildings with relatively smaller ground-floor retail. This is an extremely strong form of urbanism, because it’s (1) dense enough for the housing above to support local businesses, while (2) the retail is small enough that entrepreneurs can take on relatively little risk for experimenting with business concepts. This strength is WHY those districts like Washington are historically protected in the first place, and why that street is still in business 100 years after it was built.
  
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