BPDA transition ordinance goes back to committee
Anthony D'Isidoro
BPDA transition ordinance goes back to committee (Susan Kryczka, The Bulletin: March 7, 2024)
A four-hour Boston City Council meeting on Feb. 29 ended with Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposed ordinance to transition the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) to a new City Planning Department returned to committee for further discussion and debate.
The ordinance proposed codifying the purpose and powers of the new planning department, allowing for the financial transfer of the unit between the BPDA and the city and continuing employment of existing staff. The plan would align with a home-rule petition now under review by the State Legislature. The restructured Boston Planning Department would focus on zoning compliance and comprehensive planning separate from the development review. A Planning Advisory Council would bring together supporting departments, update the zoning code through neighborhood planning processes like Squares + Streets, and update the development review to move toward better predictability and transparency. Boston is the only major city in the U.S. that does not have a city planning department and works with a quasi-public entity like the BPDA.
BPDA Chief of Planning James Arthur Jemison appeared at the meeting with members of his staff and offered some details, saying he would assist the mayor in the transition.
“We try to take a balanced approach to this. The crucial thing to do is to take action on this important first step,” said Jemison. The BDPA current staff works for the BPDA Board, and the change would have the agency working for the mayor.
BPDA Chief Deputy Devin Quirk noted that development has been a separate entity and not under the control of the city since 1960. This has made it hard to coordinate with other city departments. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.”
Chief People Officer Alex Lawrence said that BPDA employees would be transferred to the city by July 1, 2024. Many discussions have already occurred with the staff, recognizing their tenure, residency, and retirement benefits. “We believe this package is competitive with folks,” she said. There will be a coordinated effort to transfer some employees to more appropriate departments like Transportation or Landmarks.
For many of the councilors the lack of detail in the ordinance was problematic. District 6 City Councilor Ben Weber asked, “Is the City Council included in drafting the MOA?” referring to any agreement between the BPDA and the city. “The actual language of the MOA would not require approval of the council,” said Quirk. Council input would be possible in April when a budget would be submitted for revenue to support expenditures with the transfer.
“This is not meant to be the final word but the beginning of the process. You will have budget control for the first time in 70 years,” Jemison said.
“Why now? What do we win and what do we gain?” asked District 3 City Councilor John Fitzgerald. Jemison would be Chief of Planning with oversight over the vast majority of employees.
“What we lack is the trust of many Bostonians. It’s high time to change this,” replied Quirk. In terms of timing, Jemison said, “It’s always the right time to do the right thing.”
Councilor Edward Flynn asked, “Can you expand on transparency?”
“We’ve tried to bring a budget to this body as a courtesy review,” said Jemison. “You will see the details but won’t be able to vote on it. Now you will be able to … ask the tough questions. Finally, you’ll be able to take votes about the budget.”
Flynn responded, “Where does it say that?” Quirk said that the mayor and council have oversight and will be able to review their performance. “Today, there are no requirements for financial transparency,” said Quirk. Jemison added, “When the next board member’s term is up, you can ask them to come here.” Flynn agreed that part of the responsibility lies with the council. “It falls on us to be more engaged, more involved,” he said.
District 7 City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson expressed frustration about the process and ordinance. “The ordinance feels vague,” she said. “It doesn’t speak to policy or programming… I have thousands of questions about policy and planning.” Jemison said he could answer her questions.
District 1 City Councilor Gabriela Coletta, chair of the committee, said, “We are trying to craft the best possible document.” Jemison said he wants to address the policies, but that this meeting was not the right place. “Passing this ordinance gives you that license.”
Public comments focused on climate change’s effect on development, transparency, equity, and affordability. Steve Hollinger, a Fort Point resident, offered an answer to Fitzerald’s “why now” question by saying, “climate change.” Another man supported the mayor’s plan, but said it needed more.
“We’ve been terrible about creating affordable housing. We need the Planning Board in the City of Boston.”
Anthony D’Isidoro of the Allston Civic Association advocated for a bolder plan. “Piece meal changes never endure,” he said.
Some said they fear another powerful governmental body. “The BRA had extraordinary powers. We’re setting up another unanswerable entity. Don’t rush through this ordinance,” said Elliot Laffer of Back Bay.
With so much still to clarify, Coletta said the ordinance would go back to the committee for further discussion.
Boston Bulletin (March 7, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Faneuil Gardens focusing on retention (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: March 14, 2024)
The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) held a meeting with residents, The Community Builders (TCB) and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) recently to present the current plan for the rebuilt Faneuil Gardens complex in Brighton.
The facility now has gotten too old, according to representatives, and will not last long for its current residents. Also, it is technically out of code relative to egress and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, making it unsafe and inaccessible. The complex currently has 258 units. The BRA is looking to increase this to 400 to 500 units with the same number of parking spaces as it has now (154 spaces).
TCB Senior Project Manager David Valecillos and BHA Director of Real Estate Joseph Bamberg said the most important process when it comes to the current residents living at the site is providing a one-way move from their current housing into the new facility, though Bamberg said that might not be feasible for all residents.
“And to current residents at Faneuil Gardens, you have a commitment from BHA and TCB that you all have a right to stay in the Gardens community,” Bamberg said. “There will be some temporary relocation because we’re talking about demolishing buildings and building new ones. We’re going to try to minimize that as much as possible. We’re going to try to have as many one-way moves as possible, so families will move out of their current apartments directly into their brand new apartment.”
Bamberg added that any moving costs, associated costs and even some utility costs (heating, cooling, internet etc.) will also be covered if residents need to temporarily move. Residents were also concerned about the affordability of the units onsite. Bamberg said that the BHA will have a 99-year ground lease with TCB that will further ensure BHA’s affordability requirements for the complex.
“As we have now entered into a development partnership with TCB, we are very clear that the BHA will continue to be in control over what happens in this community and there are several legal mechanisms we will use to ensure the property remains affordable to existing Faneuil residents and future families who will come off our waiting list,” he said. “I do want everybody to be assured that current residents and future applicants from our waiting list are absolutely guaranteed a place in this community, forever really.”
The complex’s design will be focused on providing open areas for children to play while allowing both residents of the complex and Brighton neighbors to cross the complex back and forth between North Beacon Street and McKinney Playground. Valecillos said this was to ensure as much public amenity space as possible was available to residents in the complex and around the area, which includes access to the park, the Charles River and the nearby bus stops.
Residents asked about parking. Resident Sal Pinchera said he felt the lack of parking planned for the 400 to 500 units at 154 parking spaces was problematic. “Is there any way you could put parking underneath?” he asked. “I don’t know if you ever have, but if you drive down North Beacon early in the morning or at night, or Faneuil Street all the way down left and right, it’s literally packed with cars. The parking lots are packed with cars.”
Pinchera said public transportation was not where it needs to be to allow residents enough options for new jobs and advancement. “It’s great to say we should all take the bus, but not many people today work for the same company for 30 or 40 years until they retire, and being here and not wanting to lose your residence here and your job changes or the opportunity is not there anymore, that car is kind of your lifeline,” he said. “I know the city is anti-car right now, but I really think it limits people.”
Vaecillos pointed out that garage spots are usually about $110,000 per space to construct underground, and the more spaces they include basically means the fewer units they would be able to offer residents.
“The financial feasibility of doing that is very rough for us,” he said.
BPDA Project Manager Camille Platt added that traffic would be heavily impacted.
For more information on the Faneuil Gardens Project and to see the plan itself, go to https://tinyurl.com/35vyrev6
Boston Bulletin (March 14, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Hoping for an Allston depression (My Kind of Town/Joe Galeota, The Bulletin: March 28, 2024)
In 2027 there will be a lot of construction taking place in Allston —$2 billion worth. The old Beacon Park Yard, formerly owned by the Boston and Albany Railroad, then the New York Central Railroad, then Penn Central, then ConRail, then CSX, but now owned by Harvard University, is to be the site of Harvard buildings as well as the straightening out of the Massachusetts Turnpike, currently elevated over part of it.
In a certain sense the elimination of the rail yard a few years ago contributes to the high cost of living in Boston in terms of new construction. Products from the South used to be barged over from New Jersey to be trained up here. After the cessation of this ferry service railcars were conveyed across the Hudson near Poughkeepsie, but that huge trestle caught on fire and was refurbished merely as a scenic pedestrian bridge. Now all goods from the South, as well as those from the Midwest and West are put on trains crossing the Hudson near Albany. Whether in boxcars, containers, or trailers, construction material as well as other products for Boston are now off-loaded in Westborough or Ayer, not exactly close to Boston, and then trucked here at no small expense. [There is a small freight yard in Hyde Park near the Dedham line, but no intermodal deliveries are accommodated there.]
The state has secured $335 million in federal money—much less than it sought—for unbending the Mass Pike at the former train yard. Harvard and BU will kick in a combined $100 million, with the city forking over $100 million (as well as that same amount in property tax breaks). These funds will also allow for the building of a bus hub and rail stop known as West Station along the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail line as well as a stop on future Amtrak service to Springfield and Albany. This commuter rail stop should alleviate some of the commuter traffic on the Mass Pike heading toward Brighton, where wonderful, new development for the Bruins, Celtics, New Balance, Channel 2, and other firms has taken place.
The Mass Pike will not be elevated; it will be at ground level. If this is the case, the design would seem to be flawed: While some pedestrian and bike access to the Charles River will be enabled by a ground-level version of I-90, depressing it via a tunnel would allow for more access and park land, as is the case with depressed Amtrak and T Orange Line trackage through parts of Jamaica Plain. Just think of all that land on top of the former Southeast Expressway allowing for the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
Yeah, depressing the Mass Pike here would cost more——with lots of extra digging and relocation of utilities. But if it is not done, we don’t want to regret it later—as is now being rued by some for not connecting North and South Stations during the Big Dig procedures.
ACA reviews planning for Beacon Yards with BPDA (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: March 28, 2024)
The Allston Civic Association (ACA) met with Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Senior Planner Benjamin Zünkeler recently and discussed the planning framework around the Beacon Yards initiative.
This is a massive planning process around the 60-acre site that was the Beacon Yards rail depot. The site will see the realignment of I-90 after the completion of the I-90 Allston Multimodal Project (AMP) and open up the northern side of the former tangle of on- and off-ramps for what ACA President, and decade-long AMP Task Force Member Tony D’Isidoro called “highly desirable land for development.”
“Beacon Park Yards could open up a whole other community unto itself, and of course we want it to be world class and well thought out and planned,” he said.
Zünkeler said right now the project is in its very early stages. As D’Isidoro pointed out, it’s all dependent on the I-90 MultiModal Project, which has just received more than $300 million in funding from the federal government (though D’Isidoro said they likely need another $160 million to be fully funded).
Zunkeler said the BPDA wants to be prepared, however, and is seeking input from the local community using a novel method, at least for Allston. He said on the project page (https://tinyurl.com/sswtx5zk), there is a link to a map program (https:// comap.sasaki.com/bpy/) that will ask you to provide information about what you think is important in the neighborhood.
“This will tell us how to connect to the site through the things that exist around it,” he said. “And we’ve already done some of this mapping, which you can see on the website. But this is a broad swipe across everything that Allston has, and not as unique as what your experience would be specifically.”
The map allows users to plop markers on areas and describe what they are and why they are important to them, as well as allowing users to plug in their usual commute routes through the neighborhood. Zünkeler said the city wants to use this data to educate the planning process toward the new 60 acres of Allston real estate.
“Like do you go along Comm. Ave to Packard’s Corner to get to Boston University?” he asked. “Is that your route into work? I mean this is a pretty interactive map that I think is kind of fun.”
The meeting wasn’t all cheerleading however. D’Isidoro said he’s been hearing a lot of comparisons between this project and the Seaport District, which is currently very expensive, right next to the ocean and built at current sea level (which has been rising one-eighth of an inch every year [https://tinyurl.com/5n78fh45]). The Seaport also has issues with public services, as there is not a fire station in the neighborhood, at least not yet, and development there has been criticized for not properly being thought out.
D’Isidoro said he wanted to hear from Zünkeler how Beacon will be guided by the mistakes of the Seaport. Zünkeler said the height limitation in South Boston won’t be there, and that gives some options for increased height bonuses and therefore more community benefits tied to those bonuses.
“I think everybody has kind of their own opinions on the Seaport,” Zünkeler said. “One major constraint that was true there that we don’t have here is the FAA height limitations. That was unique to the Seaport and set the height of buildings across the whole area, which really impacted what was possible with open space together with development, etc., and that’s a limitation we don’t have here. Another thing I think that is really unique to this place and I think will impact how we think about it, is the infrastructure project.”
The Allston Multi-Modal Project is a train station and bus station project, named West Station, nestled in between the new highway alignment. Basically, I-90 will be pulled south so as to straighten it out in the area of the Allston off and on ramps (which will be taken down for some more compact ramps) and put the new transit station in between the Boston University/ Allston neighborhoods parallel to Ashford Street and Wadsworth Street. In fact, the current proposal for the station, combined with work from the 254-unit 76 Ashford St. development project, would connect the station to Ashford Street by extending Malvern Street with a pedestrian/bus/bike-way.
So, presumably, that would mean there would be pedestrian and bike access from that end of the neighborhood that allows walkers and bikers to skip the Cambridge Street Bridge or the adjacent pedestrian walkway by the old Regina’s/Sports Depot. D’Isidoro and Zünkeler said this will hopefully cut down on auto commuters going through the neighborhoods.
Residents said they want to make sure they don’t get lost in the shuffle, but D’Isidoro said he’s got high hopes for both related projects, as, originally, the plan for this project was to just realign the highway and not update any rail or bus or bike infrastructure at all, which he said would have been a mistake.
For more information on the Multi-Modal I-90 project, go to https://www.mass.gov/allston-multimodal-project
Boston Bulletin (March 28, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Thousands flock to Brighton Bazaar (Hannah Heilman, The Bulletin: April 18, 2024)
On Sunday, April 14, more than a thousand people filtered through the doors of Brighton’s Elks Lodge for an event that’s taken social media by storm: the Brighton Bazaar, a clash between an art fair and flea market.
In the fall of 2021, Andrew Gifford and his partner Emily – both vendors themselves – co-founded the bazaar, hoping to fulfill what they saw as a lack of retail options in the Brighton-Allston area.
“It’s funny because in the 2020 Census, we saw that the average age in Massachusetts is 38. The average age in Allston-Brighton is 28,” Gifford said. “So, there’s a lot of young people who have moved to this area for cost reasons, but it’s weird that there’s not a lot of retail catering to them.”
Since 2021, the bazaar has gained a following. The organization's Instagram, @thebrightonbazaar, has amassed nearly 27,000 followers. Gifford’s email list of vendors has over 1,800 small businesses included in it. Gifford said they put a lot of focus on advertising these monthly events because Brighton is out of the way for many Boston/ Cambridge residents, and they want to bring people to the neighborhood.
Sunday’s bazaar showcased over 100 small businesses, selling a wide variety of products, like vintage clothing, homemade jewelry, baked goods, pottery, plants, vinyl, crystals and more. Gifford said they try to include everyone, in all stages of their business.
Rachel Eaglin, owner of ‘Clover Patch,’ a sustainable jewelry brand, said the bazaar was one of the first markets she sold her products at over a year ago, and she’s been coming back as often as she can.
“I really like the vendors,” Eaglin said. “I got put next to people that I was next to last time and we were like, ‘Oh my God, hey.’ We’re just a little community hanging out. Obviously I love to get sales, this is a really good market for that but I just like hanging and chatting because we’re going to be here all day.”
Kylie Kean, owner of ‘Hey Sunshine,’ just started doing markets and was new to the Brighton Bazaar.
“The goal [of my businesses] is to bring a little bit of sunshine into your daily life,” Kean said. “I make hand-dyed, crotchet earrings that look like the animals and different things, so just really embracing ‘the cute,’ and also trying to make them as sustainable as possible. I started using recycled yarn. I dye everything myself so it reduces the waste there, with scraps.”
Many of the vendors work a full-time job in addition to running their business, including Thomas Csizmadia, the owner of ‘Picker, Packer, and Grumb,’ a vintage clothing business. Csizmadia said he can spend up to six hours a week working on his brand.
“This is something that I’ve been doing since high school,” Csizmadia said. “I’ve been wearing vintage for a long time, since back in the ‘80s, and I’ve been collecting more and more over the years. What I do now is a lot of pop-up shows. I focus on ‘50s and ‘60s, men’s clothing mostly.”
Gifford said their team hopes to open a store in June called the ‘Brighton Emporium,’ located at 406 Western Ave., which will house 30 vendors at a time. After six months, the vendors will rotate. More information on upcoming bazaars and the opening of the store can be found on Instagram @thebrightonbazaar.
Boston Bulletin (April 18, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
AB comes out for St. E’s (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: May 2, 2024)
With seemingly the entirety of the Steward Health Care Hospital system up in the air, the Our Community Our Hospital Coalition brought together nurses and residents to rally against a potential closure of each hospital in seven communities.
Brighton’s St. Elizabeth Hospital, which has been in existence in one form or another since 1868, was the last such rally the coalition held, at least for now. Politicians, organizers, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and members of the local clergy all came out to support the hospital and its staff.
During the afternoon rally, nurses and staff all spoke about their experiences at the hospital and with Steward.
“I just want to share how much the staff here and the people here care about St. Elizabeth’s,” said Nurse Mary Robinson. “I mean I was born here. My brothers and sisters were born here. We all feel very strongly about St. Elizabeth’s staying here. The people here care. They stay late; they stay when everybody stays home for a snowstorm. We’re here day and night dealing with some of the toughest of the toughest situations. This is a wonderful, wonderful place to work. The people I work with are so skilled and so amazing. I am in awe of everyone I have ever communicated with here.”
But while speakers during the day expounded on the tireless dedication the staff puts in day in and day out, several said Steward was doing far less. Masscare’s Maria Termini discussed the death of Sungida Rashid in October of last year at St. Elizabeth’s. Rashid apparently bled to death after giving birth. Rashid died apparently because key pieces of hospital equipment had been repossessed, and not all the staff had been informed.
“They tried to help her, they tried to stop the bleeding, the supplies they needed were embolism coils,” Termini said. “I’m not a nurse or a doctor but I know that these things could have helped stop the bleeding. The coils had been repossessed by the vendor because St. Elizabeth’s didn’t have enough money to pay its bills. So this woman died because Steward was making a big profit.”
Allston Civic Association President Tony D’Isidoro said the hospital is really the anchor of the community and would be a terrible loss for Allston and Brighton.
“This is all about greed,” he said. “I mean the bodies of people just abandoned and strewn across the road as others simply prosper and ignore what’s going on in this community is awful. This is an anchor in our community and I don’t know what we’d do without it.”
State Rep. Kevin Honan said he believes Steward is a glaring example of the need to remove profit from healthcare. “Obviously, our country does have a problem with privatized healthcare,” he said. “It looks like we need to go in a non-profit-type way.”
Resident and patient Mary Helen Black has been in Allston Brighton since 1988 and started coming to St. E’s in 1999. “The people are very kind, and it makes a real difference that I can drive for 10 minutes or take the bus or if it’s a nice day I can walk to my hospital,” she said. “It’s important to have a hospital in the community. It’s still the most dense neighborhood in the city.”
Former Casserly House Director Sister Nancy Braceland also came out to support the hospital and echoed this sentiment. “I’m a patient and I know a lot of people I work with are probably more vulnerable patients, and it makes a big difference that they receive the poor with quality care here,” she said. “I’m heartened by the turnout today. It’s a double community, I think we have people in Roslindale who drive in here and I have a couple of students who work here in housekeeping, and they’re just not sure where their lives are going to go.”
Norwood Hospital’s fate is currently up in the air, as the rebuilt hospital is not yet complete and Steward’s situation doesn’t appear stable (https://tinyurl.com/445tbssw). But the hospital’s landlord, Medical Properties Trust, recently announced to the town government of Norwood that it was taking over the site from Steward and is looking for a new operator.
Nurse Ellen McGinnis has been at the hospital for 26 years. “We need safe, healthy care that’s available to everybody. We’ve been doing that at this site for 110 years. And not because of but in spite of what’s happened with our property, our equipment and our buildings. We are going to keep on doing the work that we have been doing here. We show up. We show up in blizzards, we show up in hurricanes, during the Marathon Bombing, we were here. The night of the shootout? We were here. All through COVID-19, these buildings were open; we took care of patients 24 hours a day.”
McGinnis said Steward has not been exactly helpful in that regard, and blamed the for-profit nature of the company. “It’s not my job to take care of Wall Street, it’s my job to take care of patients," she said.
Boston Bulletin (May 2, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Beacon Park plan coming together (Kwot Anwey, The Bulletin: May 9, 2024)
The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) held a community meeting in the Josephine A. Fiorentino Community Center recently to “finalize the ‘big ideas’ that will shape the Beacon Park Yard plan”, according to the organization’s website.
This development plan, to be fleshed out over the next two decades or so, would effectively create an entirely new community in the currently vacant former rail yard in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood.
“I think, especially given how much construction work is happening and redevelopment is happening in Allston over the past couple years, it definitely feels very premature to make assumptions about what the needs are,” said Allston resident Tiffany Lo. “But at the same time, right, I think the goals of connectivity I think are pretty universal. It’s not really rocket science to expect that more connectivity is good.”
The plans to construct the Beacon Park Yard neighborhood would only be possible after the completion of the Allston Interchange Improvement Project, realigning I-90 and creating a new stop called West Station to be added to the Worcester/ Framingham Commuter Rail Line, creating between 40 to 60 acres of space for development. The hope is to develop the area after the completion of the realignment, potentially adding housing, greenspaces, and decking, placing structures above roads, comparable to the Boylston Street and Mass Ave stretch of downtown above the turnpike.
Harvard owns the land on which both projects would take place, along with the air rights over the construction area, ultimately giving the school jurisdiction to control decking. The state was given “long-term easements” for the rail and highway development, and also controls the edges of the site where bridge connections are.
The forum was centered around broad “frameworks” or big ideas that the BPDA seeks to implement in the development of the area. The three themes are Transportation, Land Use and Cultural, which each featured two or three drafted mock maps on boards around the room.
“Who doesn’t want [an] environmentally friendly environment? Who doesn’t want open space? Who doesn’t want good transportation?” said former longtime member of the Harvard-Allston Task Force, Bruce Houghton. “And once you get down to it, how do you memorialize that? And how do you define that? All the areas that they were defining, everybody’s in favor of. Where the disagreements will come in is how much open space? How much housing? How [many] small businesses, or what kind of businesses do you want in the area?”
There was a noticeable lack of presence of people like activists, elected officials and experts — some of the voices the BPDA called its coalition partners — at the forum, which coincided with another community event on the same night.
Following a half-an-hour presentation about the project by BPDA Senior Planner Ben Zunkeler, the roughly 30 people in attendance walked around, discussed different pilot vision boards in the room with their fellow residents, and spoke to BPDA employees, as well as one Harvard representative and a design consultant with the consulting developing firm BPDA hired.
Stickers and an instruction sheet were given to attendees, who participated in a Voting with Guiding Principles activity. Guiding principles are “informed by community and stakeholder input that has occurred over the last five months”, according to the instruction sheet, and include goals like “Employ Nature-Based Solutions”, and “Regional Multimodal Connections”.
“This discussion is pretty high level, it’s pretty conceptual, which is necessary; I think it’s good to set the tone and the purpose, especially given we can’t actually flush out any specifics until 15 years from now,” said Lo. “But when people are coming here expecting to talk about zoning and… you’re actually being told to just like, kind of think of everything hypothetically in like a very high level, conceptual, hand wavy way, you’re like not in the headspace to have the discussion about concepts.”
During the event, community members repeatedly highlighted the importance of the unification between the two split parts of Allston and better connectivity with other parts of Allston, the incorporation of greenspaces and access to the Charles River, and better access to public transportation towards the city center. Some residents also stressed better walkability and traffic flow, as well as more housing and the preservation of Allston’s music history.
“It does make me hopeful with the sticky notes that folks are putting on the board, and just all the creative ideas, and well how to keep kind of looking towards the future but also at the same time, building things for the community of today and tomorrow, and also just keeping what makes Allston so unique,” said Allston resident Mimi Clemens.
Zunkeler specified that the meeting was not intended to address fiscal or zoning concerns, leaving people wondering who the financial burden of paying for such an extensive project is going to fall on — is Harvard paying for the development, or will it be taken out of residents’ taxes?
“One of the questions I brought up was, ‘Well wait a minute, if all of the restructures for the air rights are for the benefit of Harvard, should that be part of the current Turnpike or should that be Harvard’s expenditure, seeing as Harvard is the one that benefits from it?’” asked Houghton. “Should taxpayers pay for the additional costs for that infrastructure if Harvard is the primary beneficiary?”
Concerns about the changing demographics of the area also overtook the event; with no solid end date in sight for the realignment of the turnpike, potentially taking 10 to 15 years, the Beacon Park Yard project could take over two decades to complete. The project has what some call stark similarities to the controversial massive Big Dig highway project that spanned two decades.
“Anything we do and say right now 20 years down the line might be totally irrelevant,” said Brighton resident, Barbara Conroy. “We don’t know what this area’s gonna look like, what the city’s gonna look like. I mean, look at the Big Dig. That was a big plan to expand transportation in and out, [it] hasn’t done anything. It worked for a while, [but] we outgrew it real quick.”
For more information on the project, check out the BPDA’s project page at https://tinyurl.com/3ynxyf22
Boston Bulletin (May 9, 2024):
Paul Creighton
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Anthony D'Isidoro
Linden improvements, Green Line updates reviewed (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: May 16, 2024)
The Allston Civic Association (ACA) met recently and had only one development proposal to look over, which is rare for Allston and/ or Brighton. City Realty’s Jacob Simmons came in to present changes they have made to the 14-unit proposal for 17 Linden St. in Allston. Simmons said the project will have 11 three-bedroom units, one studio and two two-bedroom units. The project will have 21 percent of its units dedicated to income-restricted affordable housing as per the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP)
Architect Daniel Martinez said the plan has changed due to several comments from a previous ACA meeting. He said at the last ACA meeting, they heard a desire for more of a landscape buffer near the six-space parking area, as well as around the site in general. He also said the residents wanted a more complementary design to the surrounding buildings.
To do that, Martinez said they did an analysis of the surrounding buildings and used that data to inform changes to the design.
Martinez also said they have put in a setback on the top floor to reduce the visual impact of the building. He then showed a before and after photo of the old and new designs. The old design had a standard boxy shape with outcroppings designed to provide architectural variety, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to say the design looks like almost every other residential design proposed in the city for the 10 years.
The new design incorporates a rounded corner by window system going up three stories, includes the upper floor setback and rounds the setback as well to create something at least objectively different.
ACA members overall said they liked the redesign.
“I like it, it looks cool,” said member Christine Varriale. “No complaints.”
“This is a big improvement,” said member Barbara Jaehn.
However, Jaehn asked if the building at 15 Linden has any windows facing the proposal, which, according to Google Maps, it does. Simmons said however it is a “blank wall.”
“I don’t believe there are any windows affected by the project,” he said.
The overall feeling from members was positive. Resident Bob Pessek said he liked the larger three-bedroom units, but said he was worried about college undergrads using them. Simmons said because the bedrooms are larger than the “tiny” three-bedroom units that many students use, they will attract families to the neighborhood.
“It’s most likely graduate students, young professionals and families; that’s who typically looks at these larger units,” he said.
Also at the meeting, representative for State Rep. Mike Moran, Brian Tocchi, gave an update on a Green Line B Line closure coming up. He said most of the closures are now finished, but the B Line needs some time to replace the stone ballast that the tracks sit on, as well as some other upgrades.
“At this point we’re finished for the next couple of months, but the next and final closure of the B Branch is in late July or beginning of August for a three-week shutdown,” he said. “This is to allow the replacement of the ballast, and they will also replace the tracks themselves and do some upgrades to both the signals and the caternary – the overheard wires. This is planned for in July when most of the college students are gone and everybody’s on vacation, so ridership will be down. It would be a three-week period in which shuttle buses would run from Boston College to, I believe, either Blandford Street or Kenmore.”
Tocchi said the hope is that this is the end of major shutdowns, at least for a while. “For at least another year, but that is what we have been told by our friends at the MBTA,” he said.
In other news, District D-14 of the Boston Police Department (BPD) Sgt. Edward McMahon said the commissioner will be coming down to Brighton on May 14, between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
“Commissioner Cox has been doing these around the city every couple of months and we’re going to be doing ours on May 14,” McMahon said. “It’s going to be down at Oak Square, at the Presentation School, in the New Balance Room.”
McMahon said the staff from the department will be there to speak with residents, as well as putting on a presentation on crimes reported in Allston and Brighton.
“They’ll do a comparison between every few years and what issues are important to the community,” he said. “It’s a chance for residents from the community to come out and ask questions and share their concerns.”
Boston Bulletin (May 16, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Boston Bulletin (May 23, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Executive Director
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Anthony D'Isidoro
Potential bad tidings for Allston Green? (Jeff Sullivan, The Bulletin: June 27, 2024)
Boston Bulletin (June 27, 2024):
Anthony D'Isidoro
Funky Auction slams the hammer (Katherine Daly, The Bulletin: July 4, 2024)
The Faneuil Branch Library hosted the 33rd annual Funky Auction in Brighton recently. Held by the Friends of the Faneuil Library, a dedicated group of supporters raising funds to keep libraries open, the event brought the community together in a vibrant display of competition.
The Friends of the Faneuil Library Secretary Jen Marchio said it was nice to go outside and interact with people again. This was the first event held since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it coincided with the reopening of the library following recent renovations. The auction featured raffles, shared meals, and an opportunity to auction off a variety of items ranging from the quirky to the highly desirable. Attendees could bid on items such as toilet paper, homemade baklava, Red Sox tickets, an evening of babysitting, an afternoon tea, and tickets to the Boston Ballet. The auction promised a mix of fun and community engagement, celebrating the library’s comeback.
The event started late in the afternoon, allowing patrons to roam around the library and take a look at the raffle boxes, which included both a kid version and an adult version. This hour of free time allowed attendees to peruse and schmooze before the auction officially began. The library buzzed with anticipation, every inch filled with the energy of the gathered crowd. Children, their faces lit with curiosity and joy, darted between clusters of adults, their laughter mingling with the hum of conversation providing background noise. Parents watched their little ones while engaging in animated discussions about the items up for bid. Many veterans of auctions past sat in groups, their eyes twinkling with nostalgia and interest as they recounted stories of past auctions and shared advice on the value of different treasures they had found over the years.
Retired librarian Virginia Grant expressed her love for supporting the library and her admiration for its new design. She fondly compared it to when she ran the same event 30 years ago.
“Our auctions were always a lot of fun, but there are so many interesting things now,” said Grant. “Since they refurbished the library, it’s been redone all over. We used to have a backyard, where we usually held our auctions; it is different now.”
The auction picked up when most attendees were led into the back room, where a makeshift stage and PowerPoint setup showcased the items. Chairs were arranged in haphazard rows, leaving narrow pathways where people squeezed through, greeting neighbors and fanning themselves with wooden panels they used for the auction. At the front of the room, a display of donated items ranged from homemade crafts and baked goods to antique trinkets and gently used appliances, each marked with little numbers.
Local volunteers took turns as auctioneers, adding a personal touch to the event. These included State Rep. Mike Moran, Cathleen Finn, State Sen. Will Brownsberger, Nancy O’Hara, State Rep. Kevin Honan, Ann Langone, and others. Their energetic calls and friendly banter further enlivened the atmosphere, making the auction a truly community-driven affair.
Since all the proceeds benefited the programs and activities of the Faneuil Library, there was a sense of camaraderie rather than competition when someone was outbid. Laughter, clapping, and friendly exchanges were common as bidders shared in the excitement with the winners.
The room erupted in applause when Mark Baskin raised his panel, number 26, and spent $500 on homemade baklava. Another memorable moment occurred when Moran, acting as an auctioneer, humorously attempted to auction himself off. One of the items was a lunch date with him at a Red Sox game.
“You don’t have to take me,” said Moran, “but I think you’re going to miss out on a great opportunity of having me around.”
The auction reached another peak of excitement when Brownsberger confidently auctioned off a full-length mannequin. His lively calls and attempts to raise the stakes with each bid added to the spirited and entertaining atmosphere. The cheerful response from the crowd made it clear that every one saw the auction as a fun and engaging way to support a good cause.
Elementary school teacher Daisy Zheng said she attended the event to support the library, even though she didn’t win anything. Recognizing the library’s importance, she expressed her enthusiasm for being part of such a wholesome community effort.
“I am a teacher, and I always borrow books here. I’m grateful for the community events that support the library,” she said. “I’m so glad the library is open again. I walk past it daily on my way to work and am happy to support it. I look forward to borrowing books for my classroom and seeing how the kids respond to them or if they try to take them home.”
Near the end of the auction, numbers for the raffle were drawn and called out. Some attendees had left by this time, but Annie Mazzola, President of Friends of the Faneuil Library, reassured everyone that winners would receive their prizes. She expressed pride in the turnout and gratitude for the support she received from her group, acknowledging that the event wouldn’t have been possible without their help.
“I’m so proud to have so many people backing me up. It’s a team effort as we put it all together for the community,” she said. “I don’t think I could get anything done without these people. It was our job to put the fun back into funky, and even though this auction is our last event for the year, we are still looking for members who can always join.”
The event drew to a close with laughter and a cheerful atmosphere, seeming to showcase a sense of unity and community in the Allston Brighton neighborhood. Despite the apparent silliness of the funky auction, patrons could leave the event knowing they supported a good cause — the library.
Boston Bulletin (July 4, 2024):