68 Howe Street

Today, 68 Howe Street is a vacant property, which formerly hosted Miya's Sushi Restaurant (which closed in 2020). 68 Howe Street is a one story brick building with a basement. It is a simple rectangular commercial vernacular building dating from 1929. Perhaps its most interesting feature from the outside is the stained glass panes at the top of the storefront windows, perhaps influenced by the Art Deco movement. Two doors in a recessed entryway lead into Miya’s, which is partially divided into two by a wall that has an opening. On one side there is a bar and several tables. On the other, are more tables, as well as a sushi making station. The site was originally a wooden home built sometime in the 19th century. In the first transaction I could find about the property, Charity Duke, wife of John C. Duke acquired the property in 1835. John C. Duke was a “colored well-known carman” who is recorded to have lived at 43 Howe Street. It is interesting that the property was in the name of a woman fairly early in the nineteenth century and especially the wife of a “colored” man, three decades before slavery finally ended in America. John C. Duke died in 1852, and it looks like his widow remarried and sold the property as Charity Lathrop, wife of Luke Lathrop, in 1860 to Mary A. Hotchkiss. She passed it on to Grace E. Hotchkiss who became Grace Doolittle and then Grace Benham. In 1876 the ownership of the property temporarily passed to Isaphene Hillhouse “to secure the payment of $3000.” After this amount was paid, the property was returned to Grace Benham in 1881. During this time, the property was most likely a rental, since upon Grace’s death in 1894 the property did not go to her still living husband, but seemed to go by default to her nephew, Harry S. Hotchkiss. He then died in 1899, leaving everything to his wife and after her death to Lucius Hotchkiss Bennett, provided he gives his mother Cora Bennett a monthly allowance, and to the Congregational Society of Naugatuck. In 1928, after Maria Hotchkiss had died, these three entities (Lucius, Cora and the Congregational Society of Naugatuck) all give up their right to the property, and it was sold to DeBussy Kusterer Company, a real estate company. As ownership of the property passed from hand to hand, 68 Howe Street was serving as a two family rental home. According to the New Haven directory, in 1913 it was home to a Mrs. Jessie F. Carter, a stenographer for the railroad office building, and a Frederick Robinson, who worked for the Steward Rivet and Washer Co. In 1924, Henry F. Grim (a chauffer) and his wife Edith lived at 68 Howe Street along with Bertha J. Avery and Bertha K. Avery, who was a clerk for the Winchester Rifle Arms Company. In 1925, Mr. Nelson H. Jones, in the real estate and insurance business, was the last listed occupant of the house. From 1926 to 1929 the property was listed as vacant. On March 20, 1929 (several months before Black Tuesday) DeBussy & Kusterer received a permit to build a masonry store costing $8,000 on the site. In 1930, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Trading Company, more commonly known as an A&P, set up shop in the new building. The A&P lasted through the Great Depression until 1939. During 1940 and1941 the property was again vacant and then in 1942 Mr. Charles P. Vilnis (also Vilniskis) opened up Nuway Food Market. During this period it appears that DeBussy Kusterer had tried to sell the property to Samuel Horowitz, but he never finished paying them the mortgage and instead took out a second mortgage from them. So on July 19, 1944, after the American victory in Europe, but before the defeat of Japan, Charles P. Vilnis bought 68 Howe Street. On July 23, 1951 Vilnis was granted a permit to erect a partition to divide his store into 2 stores. In April of 1952 he was granted a permit to erect a woodframe masonite belt sign. In 1953, Nuway Market continued in 68 Howe, but 68a Howe is occupied by Lottie’s Laundy, a self-service laundromat run by Mrs. Gladys Maresca, a nurse and widow of Henry E. Maresca. On April 2, 1954 Charles Vilnis was granted a permit to erect a masonry partition, presumably making the division more permanent. By the early 1960s, Lottie’s was been replaced by Nu-way Kwick Wash, a laundry run by Helen M. Vilnis, Charles’ wife. This husband and wife team continued in the building until 1972, when Nuway Market is replaced by East West Trading Co., another grocery store, but Nu-way Kwick Wash continued in 68a. Helen Vilnis was listed alone in the directory, so presumably Charles died sometime during 1971-72. Helen Vilnis must have sold the property to the owners of East West Trading company, a Korean-American couple named Shang Jin and Sukki Hahn, because on March 3, 1972 Shang Jin Hahn was granted a permit to make minor interior repairs totaling $1,000 to 68 Howe Street as the owner. Although only the East West Trading Co. is listed in the directory for 68 Howe Street in 1984, the current owner, Yoshiko Lai, says that when she bought the property in 1985 it housed two businesses: a Korean grocery store and an American laundry. At that time she had been running Miya’s Sushi from a rented space at 1217 Chapel Street since 1982. She bought 68 Howe with the intention of slowly renovating it and moving her business there. The site was vacant from the time she bought the property until Miya’s Sushi opened there in 1991. On August 9, 1990 she was granted a permit to make interior alterations for a new restaurant including bringing the building up to fire code and making it handicap accessible. She describes the building as in very bad condition when she bought it, but with a strong foundation and a good basement. She also put in a second toilet and the kitchen. On October 24, 1990 the building was granted a certificate of use and occupancy for a restaurant limited to 48 seats. Miya’s Sushi continued at 68 Howe Street, and was eventually run by Yoshiko’s son, Bun Lai before it closed in 2020. The property is now vacant with no clear plans for development.

The history of 68 Howe Street shows the transition from residential to commercial, as the neighborhood switched from mainly Greek revival wooden houses to a mixed use neighborhood with commercial and apartment buildings. 68 Howe Street also had an interesting history of minority and female ownership from Charity Duke in the nineteenth century to Yoshiko Lai today.

In spring 2025, the building was finally brought back to life with an event hosted by Elihu Rubin's Field Methods class, featuring projects about various New Haven sites. The building served as an exhibition space for the final projects and a host for conversation between students and members of the local community. Bun Lai and his sister Mie-Sara Lai were in attendance and stated that the event made them excited about the future possibilities of the building. Although no plans are in place for development, 68 Howe may continue to host temporary pop-up events in the future. The Field Methods event was covered by the New Haven Independent: https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/miyas

OWNERS

1835: Charity Duke and John C. Duke (black carman)

1860: Mary A. Hotchkiss (sold to by Charity Duke)

·      Later: Grace E. Hotchkiss (later known as Grace Doolittle or Grace Benham)

1876: Isaphene Hillhouse (temporarily “to secure the payment of $3000)

1881: Grace Benham

1894: Harry S. Hotchkiss (nephew of Grace Benham, upon her death)

1899: Maria Hotchkiss (wife of Harry Hotchkiss, upon his death)

1928: Lucius Hotchkiss Bennett (father or stepfather of Harry Hotchkiss?)

1929: DeBussy Kusterer Company

1944: Charles P. Vilnis

1972: East West Trading Company

1985: Yoshiko Lai (owner of Miya’s Sushi)

1999: Mie Sara Lai

2001-Present: Bun Lai and Tetsuo Lai

TENANTS

1913: Jessie F. Carter (“stenographer for the railroad office building”) and Frederick Robinson (worker at the Steward River and Washer Co.)

1924: Henry F. Grim (chauffeur) and his wife Edith; Bertha J. Avery and Bertha K. Avery (clerk for the Winchester Rifle Arms Company)

1925: Nelson H. Jones (real estate and insurance worker)

1926-1929: Vacant

1930: The Great Atlantic and Pacific Trading Company (A&P)

1940-1941: Vacant

1942: Charles P. Vilnis / Nuway Food Market

1953: Nuway Food Market and Lottie’s Laundry (run by Gladys Maresca)

1960s: Nuway Food Market and Nu-way Kwick Wash (run by Helen Vilnis, wife of Charles Vilnis)

1972: East West Trading Company (grocery store) and Nu-way Kwick Wash

1985-1991: Vacant; doing repairs

1991: Miya’s Sushi

2020-Present: Vacant

The New Haven Atlas from 1888 shows primarily small wooden buildings at the corner of Howe and Chapel. Seventy-Howe Apartments (last Howe Place Apartments) is not here yet.

A Sanborn map from 1923-1930 shows an increase in density, and the block populated with primarily masonry buildings in the immediate vicinity of 68 Howe. 68 Howe is now shown here as a masonry building with two wood structures to its south (64 and 66 Howe—presumably single-family homes like 68 Howe used to be; also shown in the 1888 atlas). With the current presence of the Novella (opened in 2015), the corner of Howe and Chapel is now a large residential development with ground floor retail, which ate up 64 and 66 Howe. Seventy-Howe Apartments is shown in this Sanborn map, and still exists today as Howe Place Apartments.

68 Howe has always been privately-owned, but was formerly a wooden house (first single-family, then two-family rental). The purchase of the property by DeBussy and Kusterer mark its transition into commercial use and its conversion to a masonry building (shown in the Sanborn map). It remains today as a commercial masonry building.

The site’s history reveals an increase in density and the transition from wood construction to masonry construction.

68 Howe has a history of minority and female ownership since its original wood house structure. Its first owner was Charity Duke, a black woman whose husband was John Duke (a well-known carman). This ownership was particularly unusual, as this was 30 years before slavery ended in the US. The same wood house was owned by several women throughout its history who all either bought it directly, or managed the property after their husbands’ deaths. At some point in the building’s history, it became a two-family rental home.

Once purchased and converted to a masonry building by DeBussy and Kusterer, the property became commercial space with programs adjacent to residential life (laundry, grocery store, etc.). In 1972, Korean-American couple Shang Jin and Sukki Han bought the building and opened East West Trading Company, starting the period of 68 Howe as an Asian-owned property.

When Yoshiko Lai purchased the property in 1999 and relocated Miya’s Sushi here (formerly located at 1217 Chapel Street), this began a period of vibrant community exchange where local residents and students could gather over food. The Lai family celebrated various cultures, often employing other immigrants to work at the restaurant.

This building illustrates a shift from the masonry residential buildings which occupied the street during its wood home era to a more commercial present-day context (the Novella replaced smaller properties on the corner for high-rise residential and ground floor commercial space).

As it currently stands, the building is quite different from those that immediately surround it (to its right is the multi-story Novella apartment building—new construction with retail at the ground floor, and to its left is Howe Place Apartments—another multi-story apartment building in a more traditional style). Looking beyond these two buildings, there are a few sprinkled between the highrises that resemble 68 Howe: there’s the extremely similar House of Naan restaurant which is also symmetrical, two storefront windows, single story (although its façade was covered with shiny black paneling to cover the masonry structure). Rudy’s, at the corner, is also a masonry commercial building, but with slightly more ornamentation and two stories. 1220 Chapel Street, across the corner, is also simple masonry one story, while Tandoor stands out as an aluminum diner-style building. The masonry YMCA is across the street, but still retains a somewhat residential character.

The buildings in this block are primarily residential or commercial, consistent with the site’s history as a residential area. Most of the commercial properties are occupied, so 68 Howe is a bit of an out-of-place vacancy. The block is not extremely active, but it has the potential to have a downtown-like atmosphere. With CEA moving in across the street, this area may become more vibrant in the coming years.

The current masonry building is a simple 33 x 64’ box with a 7 x 33’ canopy on its east (street-facing) side. There is a small alley on its north (right) side. The building is relatively plain in ornamentation (other than a keystone and a stepped frieze). The canopy spans the entire width of the building and marks a datum right below the frieze. The building façade is symmetrical (indicating the past two-tenant interior) and is primarily masonry with the exception of two symmetrical wide storefront windows, some wood paneling, and red and black tiling right above the storefront windows. The building is likely “vernacular commercial” style.

The addition of the non-masonry elements are likely attributed to the renovations done by Yoshiko Lai in 1985, including the addition of a second toilet, the kitchen, ADA access, and fire code-compliant changes.

Prior to the alterations done by Yoshiko Lai, Charles Vilnis (former owner of the property) erected a masonry partition to bisect the building, creating 68 Howe and 68a Howe, where he and his wife ran Nuway Market and Nu-way Kwick Wash.

1888 New Haven Atlas

Sanborn Insurance Map (1923-1930)

1938 Union and New Haven Trust Company Insurance directory

1964 New Haven, West Haven, East Haven, Woodbridge directory

1986 New Haven directory

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/miyas_ark_moored_on_howe_street

https://nhpt.org/howe-street

https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/miyas-sushi-building-on-howe-marketed-for-2m

https://nhba.yale.edu/building?id=126

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/11/11/american-dream-2-0/

https://gis.vgsi.com/newhavenct/Parcel.aspx?pid=18621