Word On The Street: Dumped Trash Disappears

Written by Paul Bass, New Haven Independent

NEW HAVEN, CT — Derrex Conner was on his way to the dump when he noticed a dozen bags trashing the curb on Elm Street between Beers and Orchard.

Conner had noticed the bags there for days. A “jack of all trades” who remodels kitchens and bathrooms and dining rooms, he could tell some contained construction debris. Others contained household trash; animals were getting into those.

On Tuesday morning, Conner was hauling a trailer with old rugs he removed from a relative’s home. So he pulled over and started throwing some of the bags into the trailer.

“I saw some stuff that needed taking care of,” Conner said during a conversation on the 100th edition of the “Word of the Street” segment on WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.

“I like to see the city clean. I decided to pick them up and dump them when I do my dump. I’m a resident. I like to see my city look nice.”

Conner, 48, learned how to fix cars, then work on homes, from his father, the late Floyd Robinson. “He was a hard worker,” Conner said. “He worked construction. He was a jack of all trades.” Conner thinks of his dad when he passes the Bank of America/federal office building across the street from the Green. “He did a lot of the concrete work. He did a lot of the foundation of the building.”

As Conner grew into his teens, he drifted away from the work his father was teaching him, he said. He got in trouble, served time.

“I was a product of my environment” in the 1990s crack era, he said. “I was in the streets to survive. Some people wanna be in the streets; I didn’t want to be in the streets.”

He finally decided to move on with his life, he said. “I became homeless.” Then he “migrated back” to what his father taught him, picked up other skills as well.

Now he has a landscaping business, his favorite job. He goes door-to-door with his snow blower picking up gigs clearing driveways and walks from winter storms. People call him to remodel bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens. (You can reach him at 203 – 361-2256.) He cuts down trees as well. “There ain’t nothing I can’t do,” Conner said.

He put six of the bags in his truck, then headed for Middletown Avenue. He said he didn’t mind shelling out the money; he doubted the bags would add much to the disposal cost. He said he would return tomorrow to see if the other bags remained. If so, he’d haul them away, too.

Click on the video to watch the conversation with Derrex Conner on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.

The New Haven Independent is a not-for-profit public-interest daily news site founded in 2005.