Check-Out Today's Enrichment Activities at our Allston Brighton Libraries
Anthony D'Isidoro
Faneuil Branch Presents Toddler Story Time
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Stories, songs, and fingerplays to encourage language and literacy for very young children and their caregivers.
Presented by the Faneuil Branch Library at the Presentation School Foundation, 640 Washington St, Brighton.
Please contact Ann at alan...@bpl.org for information.
Brighton Branch Presents LEGO Builders Club
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Kids ages 5-12 can stop by for open LEGO-building time! All children need to be accompanied by an adult.
LEGO bricks will be provided! We do not recommend bringing LEGO bricks or sets from home.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact Allison at ah...@bpl.org for information.
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Toddler Story Time
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Miss Hope is back with Story Times, every Tuesday at 10:30 am in the Children's area. Miss Hope will read a few books and we will sing a few songs together. There will be optional craft and theme appropriate coloring pages. Story Times is geared towards ages 2-5.
No registration required. Watch the Honan-Allston Facebook page for cancellations or sign up for email notifications at this link: https://forms.office.com/r/3Gx...
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact Hope at hge...@bpl.org for information.
Honan-Allston Branch Presents ESOL Conversation Group
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Practice speaking English with other adult learners in an informal and friendly group setting. The group is led by a volunteer teacher and will take place in person at the Honan-Allston Branch.
Class requires basic English-speaking skills. Beginner students should contact the department for a list of beginner class options.
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
For more information, contact the Honan-Allston Branch at 617-787-6313 or the Literacy Services Department at literacy...@bpl.org or 617-859-2446.
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Shut Up & Write
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Whether you're writing a novel, blog, research paper, essay, resume, melody, poem, or to-do list, you're invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice.
We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write alongside other writers, so join us for an hour of uninterrupted writing at the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library. Instead of just thinking about doing it, come and get some real writing done with other like-minded writers.
SCHEDULE
4:00 pm - Quick Intro & Writers' Discussion
4:15 pm - Shut Up & Write! for 1 hour
5:15 pm - The End + Writers' Chat
While writing is very solitary, connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers can be cool, so stick around after our hour of silent
writing if you'd like to chat and catch up with other attendees.
Happy writing and we look forward to seeing you at the library!
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact Paul at pfl...@bpl.org for information.
This is a hybrid event. If you'd like to attend virtually, refer to the registration details.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://boston-public-library....
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Faneuil Branch Presents Bilingual Sing-along
Thursday, February 9, 2023, 10:00 am-10:45 am
Songs, fingerplays, and action rhymes in English and Spanish for young children and their caretakers.
Presented by the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library at the Presentation School Foundation, 640 Washington St, Brighton MA.
Please contact Children's Librarian, Ann Langone at alan...@bpl.org for more information.
Brighton Branch Presents Family Book Club - First Meeting!
Thursday, February 9, 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
For kids in grades 3-6 and their adults. Each month we’ll choose a book as a group to read together (grown-ups too!) and talk about at our following meeting along with a related activity. You will never be in trouble for not being able to read by the time we meet!
At our introductory meeting we'll talk about the types of books that we have read and vote on a book to read together. If you can't make the first meeting, no worries! We'll post our book selection to our Facebook page and next month's event listing so you can join in whenever you can.
Please contact Allison Hahn at ah...@bpl.org for more information.
Honan Allston Branch Presents Baby Lapsit
Thursday, February 9, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Come sing some songs, learn fingerplays, play with sensory items and puppets, and hear a story with Miss Hope. This program is geared towards babies ages 6 months to 2 years. Baby Lapsit will take place in the Children's area.
No registration required. Watch the Honan-Allston Facebook page for cancellations or sign up for email notifications at this link: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=cVxz-pXXAUywrgn6dBWysf5EOfF3W-RLp2OW6BXtZ0hUMURBTEZaUVNORkg5RjNTQ0hBOTcwUUlZRC4u
Please contact Hope Genty at hge...@bpl.org for more information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Little Wigglers' Lapsit: a Future Readers Club program
Friday February 10, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Join Brighton Branch Children’s Librarian Ms. Allie for stories, songs, rhymes, and other early literacy activities! This program is best for ages 0-2, though siblings are always welcome. This program is designed for caregivers and children to participate in together!
This program is not intended for large groups. Preschools and daycares, please contact Ms. Allie at ah...@bpl.org to arrange a visit and a Story Time just for your class.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Future Readers Club Story Time
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Join Brighton Branch Children’s Librarian Ms. Allie for stories, songs, rhymes, and other early literacy activities! This program is best for ages 3-5, though siblings are always welcome. This program is designed for caregivers and children to participate in together!
This program is not intended for large groups. Preschools and daycares, please contact Ms. Allie to arrange a visit and a Story Time just for your class.
The Future Readers Club is for children ages birth to kindergarten and their caregivers, a club to support reading aloud to the very youngest children! Learn more here: https://www.bpl.org/future-readers-club/
Brighton Branch Presents All Levels Vinyasa Flow Yoga at Brighton Branch
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 4:45 pm – 5:45 pm
Vinyasa is an active, movement-based class that unites the breath with physical poses to cultivate a meditative state of mind. Your YogaPro will guide you through a series of postures that improve balance, strength, flexibility, and overall mobility. Modified posture variations will be offered to accommodate all bodies, including how to use props or household prop substitutes. Your YogaPro will also offer wisdom from yoga philosophy to inspire your journey. You’ll conclude with total stillness and relaxation. This class is perfect for people who like to be active. Please be sure to bring your yoga mat.
Click here to register and reserve your spot!
Learn about your instructor: Emily Luongo
"Yoga has drawn me to the practice on my mat because it makes me feel physically and mentally fit. With each intention for my practice, I am welcomed back to the space of connection with my breath, body and mind on my mat. I strive to help my students find that same connection on their own mats and to feel the benefits of yoga that I love. I am 200hr Teacher Training certified as of May 2020 from Radiant Yoga in South Boston under the direction of Chanel Luck. When I’m not on my mat, you can find me trying out the latest recipe trend on TikTok, exploring New England, or binging reality tv shows."
About YogaHub
YogaHub was founded upon the idea that personal well-being is the essential ingredient for humanity to thrive. We believe that the practice of yoga, far more than what meets the eye, is a way of living that cultivates happiness and success. We aim to empower every individual with the practice of yoga, and to channel welfare throughout the pulse of every organization we serve. YogaHub provides virtual and onsite yoga classes for businesses, as well as professional development for yoga teachers. Learn more on their website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
FAQ
Am I doing it right?
There are infinite ways to practice yoga poses, and thus, “right” is somewhat subjective. In fact, the classical yogic texts rarely even mention physical poses, let alone precise instructions for how to do them. Over the course of your practice, you will learn posture variations so that you can make wise choices in class or in your at-home practice. For more on “doing it right” check out our blog post on why you can stop worrying and love the process.
How do I prepare for class?
Class begins right on time; please arrive early. Clear your space and silence distractions so that you can get the most out of the experience. Check the class description to see if you will need any props. Wear comfortable clothes that you can move and breathe in. Refrain from eating for about one hour before practice.
I’ve never tried yoga or meditation before. Is this right for me?
Yes! Yoga and meditation are learned by doing the practice itself, not by prior study. The best way to overcome the fear of the unknown is to dive right in. You are most welcome to ask questions before and after class.
Please contact the Brighton Branch at brig...@bpl.org for more information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Black History Month Program for Children: Wee the People
Friday, February 24, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Join Wee the People in the Born on the Water program.
Retrace the journey, survival, and triumph of the first African Americans. Inspired by the award-winning New York Times 1619 Project, this program features a reading of the children’s book Born on the Water, a craft activity, and a look at the underwater world of the Smithsonian’s Slave Wrecks Project, whose divers search to rescue stories of shipwrecks from the trans-Atlantic slave trade. For children ages six through eleven years old.
Funding for this program was made possible by the Boston Bruins Foundation.
Presented by the Brighton Branch of the Boston Public Library at 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton, MA 02135.
Please contact Allie Hahn at ah...@bpl.org for more information.
Honan Allston Branch Presents Peacock Among Pigeons: A Musical Story Time
Friday, February 24, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Peter is a peacock, one of the most colorful and exotic birds in the world, but somehow he's found himself flocking with a bunch of pigeons who are always making fun of his unique appearance. Finally, Peter feels he has no choice but to leave his life with the pigeons behind, and on his journey he meets other colorful birds who help him realize how beautiful he is.
Join us for this musical Story Time and crafts program offered in partnership with the Boston Gay Men's Chorus!
Presented by the Honan Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library at 300 North Harvard St, Allston, MA 02134.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Jim Vrabel: When and Where in Boston
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Local historian Jim Vrabel will demonstrate his Boston History Database, When and Where in Boston.
When and Where in Boston is an illustrated database and website that aims to collect short (one sentence to one paragraph) descriptions of pretty much everything that's happened, been said, done, built, written, or created in Boston from 1630 until yesterday. Curated by an editorial board, it will include an Encyclopedia of Boston History, Biographical Dictionary, Street Directory, This Day in Boston History, and other features that will allow users to search and sort by key words or subject to learn about the history of the entire city.
Jim Vrabel is a former newspaper reporter, longtime community activist, and local historian. He is the author of When in Boston: A Timeline & Almanac (2004) and A People’s History of the New Boston (2014).
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact brighton@bpl.org for information.
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, PG-13) - Movie Night
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 5:00 pm - 7:45 pm
Join us for a free screening of the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022, PG-13) at the Honan-Allston Branch on Wednesday, March 15.
Popcorn and soda will be provided.
Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M'Baku, Okoye, and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world
powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact Paul Flagg at pflagg@bpl.org for information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Bingo Night!
Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Join us at the library for Bingo Night!
Don’t know how to play? It’s simple! The host calls out numbers for attendees to mark off on their bingo card. The first player to mark off five in a row and call out BINGO! wins the game and will receive a prize.
With multiple games throughout the night, players will have plenty of chances to win.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
The Brighton Commoners presents a poetry and prose reading night. This event will feature local community storytellers and poets.
Please join us to hear these original writings. No registration required.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact brighton@bpl.org for information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Monday, April 3, 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Best for children ages 6-12, come challenge a friend or someone new! Chess sets will be provided. This program does not have a formal instructor, but Ms. Allie will teach the basics to new players. No registration is required.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact Allison Hahn at ahahn@bpl.org for information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Crafternoon: Fusebeads
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Come make fun pixel art creations using fuse beads (perler beads). It is a free craft space, so kids are encouraged to make whatever their imagination desires! Drop-in, no registration required!
This craft does use a hot iron and small pieces so it is not advisable for kids under 3.
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact Hope Genty at hgenty@bpl.org for information.
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Game Night
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
It's all fun and games at the library!
Come play your favorite board games with friends.
We have classics like Chess/Checkers/Backgammon, Clue, Connect 4, The Game of Life, Jenga, Monopoly, Sorry!, Trouble, Uno, Yahtzee, and playing cards.
Snacks and drinks will be provided.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Thursday, April 20, 2023, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
For children ages, 3-8 years old will marvel and enjoy the puppet show from Rosalita’s puppets.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Brighton Branch Presents Nonfiction Night: Thunderstruck
Thursday, April 20, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Truth can be stranger than and as compelling as fiction. April’s read for the Brighton Branch nonfiction book club is Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck. Stop by the front desk to check out a copy.
About the book: In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, an unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact kluca@bpl.org for information.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Social Justice Art-Making Workshop
Thursday, April 27, 2023, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Calling Allston residents! Take action in your community through a collaborative mug-making project with Allston artist Gustavo Barceloni. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn an easy printmaking activity to reflect on stories and symbols of Allston using ink and paper to create a take-home souvenir. Then you’ll have a short one-on-one conversation with Gustavo about your history with Allston and aspirations for its future. He'll guide you in how to set your intention for positive change by pushing mark-making tools into clay slabs. In his studio, Gustavo will transform your stamped clay into a ceramic mug for his exhibition A People's History of Allston at the Harvard Ed Portal this summer.
Participants are then invited to celebrate their contributions at the exhibition reception on June 8 and can collect and keep their mug when the exhibition ends in mid-September. No previous experience required. Open to all ages however children under 18 years old must bring an adult to participate in the 15 minute interview portion of the workshop. Conversations will be audio recorded for the artist's use and participants will be asked to sign a media waiver.
About the project: A People's History of Allston is a mug-making project where neighbors share their stories, record them in clay, and pledge to take action on local issues.
The collection of community-generated artwork will be exhibited in A People's History of Allston at the Harvard Ed Portal's Crossings Gallery, June 6–September 14, 2023.
Please register through the
Harvard Ed Portal website. Admission
is free.
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact Carin O'Connor at coconnor@bpl.org for information.
Brighton Branch Presents Family Book Club
Thursday, April 27, 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
For kids in grades 3-6 and their adults.
Each month, we’ll choose a book as a group to read together (grown-ups too!) and talk about at our following meeting along with a related activity. You will never be in trouble for not being able to finish the book by the time we meet!
April's book is a graphic novel, The Secret Garden on 81st Street, written by Ivy Noelle Weir and illustrated by Amber Padilla. It is a reimagining of the 1911 classic, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
This program has rolling admission; if you want to join, please attend a meeting to vote/pick up the next read!
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents ReadBoston Storymobile
Thursday, July 20, 2023, 1:15 pm – 2:00 pm
Join us at the Honan-Allston Branch for interactive stories for children told by professional storytellers! Best of all, every child who attends takes home a free book.
No registration is required for individuals, but groups must call ahead to branch to register.
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Please contact allston@bpl.org for information.
Brighton Branch Presents Nonfiction Night: Buried in the Sky
Thursday, July 20, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
July's nonfiction book club title is Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day by Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan.
Stop by the Brighton Branch front desk for a print copy.
Synopsis: When eleven climbers died on K2 in 2008, two survived: Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama. The Sherpas' astonishing tale became the stuff of mountaineering legend. This white-knuckle adventure goes from their villages in Nepal to the peak of K2, recounting one of the most dramatic disasters in alpine history from a new perspective.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact Kris at kluc@bpl.org for information.
Faneuil Branch presents Bilingual Sing-along
Thursday, July 20, 2023, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Songs, fingerplays, and action rhymes in English and Spanish for young children and families.
No registration required.
Faneuil Branch is currently closed for renovation. This Program takes place at the Presentation School Foundation, 600 Washington St, Brighton, 02135
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Fixit Clinic
Saturday, August 5, 2023, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Celebrating repair by conveying basic troubleshooting skills, Fixit Clinics are do-it-together hands-on STEM-oriented fix-n-learn community-based exploration and
discovery workshops staffed by volunteer Fixit Coaches who generously share their time, tools and expertise to consult with you on the disassembly, troubleshooting, and repair of your item.
So bring your broken, non-functioning things - electronics, appliances, computers, toys, sewing machines, bicycles, fabric items, etc. - for assessment, disassembly, and possible repair. Workspace, specialty tools, and guidance will be provided to help you disassemble and troubleshoot your item. Whether you fix it or not, you’ll learn more about how it was manufactured and how it worked, and be ready to share your new-found confidence and insight with your friends, neighbors, and the community at large.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Check It Out! Telescopes
Saturday, August 12, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Did you know the Brighton Branch has 2 telescopes available for check out? Join us to learn more about stargazing and get a hands-on telescope demonstration from
the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston.
The telescopes must be handled carefully. Ages 9 and up.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Please contact brighton@bpl.org for information.
Brighton Branch Presents Mocktail Matinee: Little Women
Saturday, August 12, 2023, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
The Brighton Branch presents ‘Mocktail Matinee,’ a summer movie series for adults. Each showing will be accompanied by a mixed (non-alcoholic) drink! Seltzer water will also be available.
Registration is encouraged to help us plan: https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/645a9edef554266063c304d0
Writer-director Greta Gerwig has crafted a film that draws on the writings of Louisa May Alcott and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March reflects back and forth on her fictional life. The beloved story of the March sisters, four young women each determined to live life on her own terms, is both timeless and timely.
Run time: 135 minutes. Rating: PG.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents 5 Steps to Restart Your Fitness Journey
Thursday, August 17, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Looking for ways to incorporate your fitness goals into a busy schedule? Laura Mahoney, local Certified Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition Coach, will discuss steps you can take to add fitness to your everyday life (without losing all your free time).
Anyone interested in general fitness will find something interesting here! No registration required.
About Our Speaker
Laura Mahoney has been a local Certified Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition Coach for 12 years. Starting as a part time 1:1 trainer at a YMCA, she worked her way up to become a Fitness Manager at a corporate gym and has been running her own online fitness business for three years while getting the privilege of being wife and mom.
She focuses on creating a balanced life through fitness and nutrition, helping busy women to feel overall better & more energized, and usually that goes along with
increasing strength, losing inches and weight.
She believes that every woman deserves the right to feel their best and most confident, while being fully supported in their journey.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Grab a paddle and challenge your friends to one-on-one ping pong matches or form teams for epic battles.
We’ll have multiple tables for casual play and for the table tennis tournament.
Get active, have fun, and enjoy a little friendly competition!
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Nonfiction Night: Rockaway
Thursday, August 24, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
August's nonfiction book club title is Rockaway: Surfing Headlong into a New Life by Diane Cardwell. Check out the e-book https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C14816910 instantly from Hoopla or visit the Brighton Branch front desk for a print copy.
Synopsis: Unmoored and disconnected from her high-octane life, Diane Cardwell finds herself staring at a small group of surfers coasting through mellow waves toward shore. Rockaway is the riveting, joyful story of one woman's reinvention. As Cardwell begins to find her balance in the water and out, superstorm Sandy hits, sending her into the maelstrom in search of safer ground. In the aftermath, the community comes together.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Teen Book Club: Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzalez
Friday, August 25, 2023, 4:00 pm – 4:45 pm
Summary: Will and Ollie have a perfect summer together falling in love, but once vacation ends Will stops texting Ollie back. When Ollie and his family move, he's shocked to discover they've moved to Will’s hometown. But the Will at school is very different from the Will Ollie met this summer. Can Will figure out how to be true to himself before he loses Ollie forever?
A limited number of copies are available at the Circulation Desk for pickup or you can reserve your own on bpl.org.
You do not need to have read the book to attend book club! New members are always welcome to join and help us choose which book we'll read next.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Paper Airplane Flight School
Saturday, August 26, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Participants will learn the basics of making different types of paper airplanes. Then, using their newfound knowledge and library supplies, kids will build their own airplanes to fly for distance, tricks, and overall style.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn ahahn@bpl.org
Brighton Branch Presents Summer Reading Social
Saturday, August 26, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Join us at the library for an adult arts and crafts event!
Unleash your inner artist as you color your own stained glass window cling. Discover the joy of crafting and take home a beautiful, personalized decoration for your windows. Let your creativity shine!
Email pfl...@bpl.org to reserve your window cling today.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Family Movie Night: Encanto
Thursday, September 21, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:45 pm
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn ahahn@bpl.org
Brighton Branch Presents Nonfiction Night: Stiff
Thursday, September 21, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Nonfiction Night is a book club focusing on nonfiction titles of all kinds. Join us in September to discuss Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.
Visit the Brighton Branch front desk for a print copy.
About the book:
For two thousand years, cadavers – some willingly, some unwittingly – have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender confirmation surgery, cadavers have helped make history in their quiet way.
Stiff investigates the strange lives of our bodies postmortem and answers the question: What should we do after we die?
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Boston Youth Poet Laureate Alondra Bobadilla
Friday, October 6, 2023, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Anthony D'Isidoro
Friday, October 13, 2023, 10:30 am – 11:00 am
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Saturday, October 14, 2023, 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm
On Saturday, October 14 from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm there will be a partial solar eclipse visible from most of the United States. In Boston, we will be able to see between 10% and 20% of the Sun covered by the Moon.
Join us at the Brighton Branch Library to experience this exciting event! Graduate research scientists from Boston University will be on hand to help library patrons observe the eclipse safely as well as explain the science of the eclipse and other solar science. In case of overcast weather, we will meet indoors to discuss the eclipse and how we can observe the Sun from space.
No registration required; supplies are limited and must remain at the library for others to use.
Presented in partnership with Dr. Nicholas Gross of Boston University’s Center for Space Physics.
Children (Ages 0-5)
Children (Ages 6-12)
Families
Anthony D'Isidoro
Saturday, October 21, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:45 pm
Get ready for Halloween with a horror-comedy screening! We'll be watching Cocaine Bear (2023), directed by Elizabeth Banks.
Run time: 96 minutes. Rated: R. Viewers under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.
About the movie: An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens congregate in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound black bear goes on a murderous rampage after accidentally ingesting cocaine.
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Minecraft with TD3 Innovative Gaming
Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm
For kids ages 8-12. Play through challenges and explore new worlds on TD3's private Minecraft server. Laptops will be provided, but kids are welcome to bring their own device if they choose. This program begins promptly at 4:30pm.
Registration required! Call 617-782-6032 to sign up.
Suitable for: Tweens (Ages 9-12)
Type: Games/Gaming
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn ah...@bpl.org
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Bingo Night!
Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Join us at the library for a lively Bingo Night!
Don’t know how to play? It’s simple! The host calls out numbers for attendees to mark off on their bingo card. The first player to mark off five in a row and call out "BINGO" wins the game and will receive a prize.
With multiple games throughout the night, players will have plenty of chances to win.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Young Adults (Ages 20-34 )
Type: Games/Gaming
Language: English
Email pfl...@bpl.org to receive a reminder for this program.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Friendship Bracelet Craft Night
Thursday, November 30, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
An evening meeting to craft with company! We'll have lots of beads and string for participants to make bracelets to take home, or you can bring your own craft and work alongside others. The choice is yours!
No registration required. This event is for adults.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Arts & Crafts
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Movie Mondays: A Man Called Otto (2022)
Monday, December 11, 2023, 3:00 pm – 5:15 pm
Start your week off with a movie!
On Monday, December 11, we are showing A Man Called Otto (2022), the comical and moving film based on the bestselling book by Fredrik Backman; starring Tom Hanks.
Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving suicide attempts, and language. Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes.
English subtitles.
About the film: The story of Otto Anderson, a grumpy widower whose only joy comes from criticizing and judging his exasperated neighbors. When a lively young family moves in next door, he meets his match in quick-witted and very pregnant Marisol, leading to an unexpected friendship that will turn his world upside down.
Suitable for: All Adults
Type: Film
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Author Talk: Wayne M. Miller - Burn Boston Burn
Monday, December 14, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
In the early 1980s, Boston was set ablaze.
Over a two-year period, 264 buildings were torched, intentionally set on fire, resulting in millions of dollars of damages and hundreds of injuries. Told by ATF Special Agent Wayne M. Miller, who lived this investigation for three years,
Burn Boston Burn is a tale of domestic terrorism and internal corruption.
Following the talk, there will be time for audience Q&A. Wayne M. Miller will also have copies of his books for a sale and signing afterward
.
Light refreshments provided by the Friends of the Brighton Branch.
About the Book:
Burn Boston Burn is the astounding true crime case about a conspiracy of 9 men, including 3 Boston cops and a Boston firefighter, who burned Boston and surrounding communities in the early 1980s due to tax-cutting measures that caused layoffs of hundreds
of police and firefighters. Over 2 years, the city was ablaze with nightly multiple-alarm fires, sirens wailing through the streets and people too afraid to sleep.
Told by the ATF Federal Agent who lived this domestic terrorist investigation, Wayne Miller interweaves the activities of the arsonists with those of the investigators, the firefighters, and the citizens of the area. He has photos and videos of actual fires
from the case. An arsonist’s journal provided the basis for insights into their words, actions and thoughts.
About the Author:
Wayne M. Miller was a Special Agent, Criminal Investigator and Certified Fire Investigator for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Boston for 25 years. He has been involved in numerous high profile illegal firearms, bombing and arson cases.
As a member of the ATF National Response Team, Mr. Miller responded to several major fire and explosion incidents. During his public and 18-year private career, he examined more than 2,300 fire and explosion scenes in 43 states plus provided expert testimony
in numerous Federal and State courts.
Mr. Miller has been a member of the International Association of Arson Investigators since 1984 and has held numerous positions within the MA Chapter of the IAAI. Besides teaching fire investigation as an Adjunct Professor at Cape Cod Community College for 2 semesters, he has been a speaker on fire-related topics over 120 times throughout the United States and in Canada.
His books include Burn Boston Burn – The Largest Arson Case in the History of the Country, and Bang Boom Burn – Explosive True Crime Gun Bombing, and Arson Cases from a Federal Agent’s Career.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Older Adults, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Author Talk, Local History
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Wayne Yeh
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB64525C365237CABCCEC5D31EAF8CA%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Author Talk: Wayne M. Miller - Burn Boston Burn
Thursday, December 14, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Science Heroes: Break the Ice!
Saturday, December 16, 2023, 11:30 am – 12:15 pm
Join us on a quest to discover the ‘coolest’ thing in science: DRY ICE! This program with Talewise takes us on an interactive adventure of science and stories. Best for children ages 5-11.
Registration is not required for individuals, but groups wishing to attend should contact the library in advance.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Featured Events, Math & Science
Language: English
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Email Contact: C Richardson crich...@bpl.org
Brighton Branch Presents Science Heroes: Break the Ice!
Saturday, December 16, 2023, 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
Join us on an adventure about Professor Noble and the Science Heroes, who try to thwart an icy-hearted villain from freezing the entire planet! This program with Talewise takes us on an interactive adventure of science and stories. Best for children ages 5-11.
Volunteers help conduct each experiment as the whole audience gets involved in changing variables and making predictions! We’ll even bring some of the dry ice experiments out into the crowd for everyone to experience.
No registration required, best for kids ages 5+.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 6-12), Tweens (Ages 9-12)
Type: Featured Events, Workshops & Classes
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents A Hygge Time: Creating Cozy Moments Together
Wednesday, December 27, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Let’s embrace the holiday spirit and spread the joy of hygge as we fill bags with cozy essentials for the Allston community.
Revel in the warmth of hot cider, delightful snacks, and casual conversations while stuffing these comfort-filled bundles. Bring joy to the season and share the gift of coziness with fellow participants.
Email pfl...@bpl.org to receive a reminder email for this event.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Featured Events, Workshops & Classes
Language: English
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Email Contact: Paul Flagg pfl...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Hygge New Year's at the Library
Thursday, December 28, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Do you love being cozy, but you're tired of being inside your house? Adults are invited to join us for a hygge-inspired evening! Hygge is the Danish idea of coziness and contentment. It is a great way to create joy in the winter.
We'll have the (video) fire roaring, tea, adult coloring sheets, origami star supplies, and simple corners set up to sit and read.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Arts & Crafts, Featured Events, Holiday Celebration, Mental Health
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Noon Year's Eve
Saturday, December 30, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
Staying awake until midnight can be tough...so let's celebrate at midday instead! Join Librarian Allie for a themed craft and festive countdown to the
(almost) start of 2024.
This is a drop-in program. Participation is offered on a first-come, first-served basis until supplies run out. No registration required. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 0-5),
Children (Ages 6-12),
Families, Tweens (Age 9-12)
Type: Arts & Crafts, Featured Events, Holiday Celebration
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn ah...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
City of Quincy Zoning Ordinances
Section 5.3.5 (4) Off-premises sign. The construction of new off-premises signs, including billboards, is prohibited throughout the City, and the City may not issue permits for their construction or relocation. No use variance shall be granted to vary this provision.
Town of Weymouth
The town council has voted to ban new digital billboards in Weymouth by overturning the zoning that allowed one on Route 3.
Councilors unanimously approved a petition by a citizens group to eliminate a zoning district on Route 3 that allows billboards.
Town of Reading
8.4 Prohibited Signs, General The following signs are prohibited in all zoning districts. See Section 8.5 Signs by Zoning District for specific prohibitions.
k Billboards
(Billboard: A large, off-premises, outdoor board for displaying advertisements that are either static or animated, and which is subject to regulation by the Office of Outdoor Advertising of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation)
Anthony D'Isidoro
Massachusetts’ good times not rollin’ like they used to (The Editorial Board, Boston Globe: January 9, 2024)
Mid-year budget cuts usher in an era of belt-tightening.
Massachusetts’ good times not rollin’ like they used to - The Boston Globe
The economic sky isn’t falling in Massachusetts — but the state government’s tax revenues are no longer coasting along at a level of growth that for the past several years seemed to know no bounds. And that means some tough choices in the near term and a sober approach to the state budget in the year ahead.
“The economy is growing year over year. It’s just not growing as fast as anticipated,” Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz said Monday at a briefing to unveil $375 million in mid-year spending cuts the administration is making to the current $56 billion budget to deal with this year’s revenue shortfall.
The state, he said, will need to cope with a 12- to 18-month period “where we will have to do some belt-tightening.”
Slowing revenues also mean that next year’s budget, which Governor Maura Healey is expected to file at the end of the month, will have to make up for $1 billion less in revenues than anticipated for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The so-called consensus revenue figure also announced Monday — agreed to by the secretary and the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees after consultation with economic experts — was $40.202 billion, plus another $1.3 billion from the 4 percent millionaires surtax that must be earmarked for education and transportation needs.
The Healey administration’s approach to dealing with the shortfall is commendable not simply for what it did but what it did not do to close this year’s budget gap. It did not touch the state’s $8 billion rainy day fund, which Gorzkowicz insisted was indeed for “extraordinary circumstances” where revenues are actually declining, not situations where they’re simply increasing less than expected. Nor did it dip into a $700 million escrow account, which Healey has been eyeing to deal with the migrant shelter crisis. It did not cut local aid or school funding.
Instead, it opted to cut $375 million from more than 60 accounts, including what Gorzkowicz noted were about $20 million in local earmarks, many of them for nonprofits. It was the first time mid-year cuts had to be made since 2016.
Now, every one of the thousands of line items in the state budget has a constituency behind it, a group counting on money that won’t be coming their way. So none of this is easy or completely painless. But dealing with small cuts halfway through the budgetary year is far less painful than looking at an insurmountable deficit at year’s end.
The big-ticket item was $294 million (in gross reductions) for MassHealth’s fee-for-service payments. But administration officials said the state’s redetermination of need effort, in which the state has scrutinized MassHealth recipients to ensure they are still eligible for the program, has indeed lowered overall costs.
The rest of this year’s shortfall will be covered by some $625 million in non-tax revenue, including earnings on investments and untapped departmental revenues.
The good news is that because employment is still high, withholding taxes and sales tax revenues are holding up.
“What we’re experiencing now is a soft landing,” the secretary said. “But we’re here to make sure we have a balanced set of solutions.”
There will, of course, always be those who insist that the state is in this situation because Healey gave away too much to “the wealthy” in a tax reform bill approved last year. That group includes Senator Jamie Eldridge. “At the end of the day, earmarks are not going to cover this budget deficit,” he told the Globe. “I am very troubled that we just passed a tax reform package where over a third of the tax cuts went to the wealthy. I think that’s extremely concerning.”
In fact, that bill was aimed at making the state “more competitive,” Gorzkowicz said Monday. It was also aimed at helping lower income residents stay in their homes or afford day care or services for other dependents, something Healey reiterated in her formal letter to legislators informing them of the budget cuts.
When times are tough — or at least a little tougher — it’s easy to turn on one another or default to a favorite bete noire like “the wealthy.”
But the budgetary year ahead will require a thoughtful approach. The shortfall is real and will need to be dealt with. The sooner that reality sinks in on Beacon Hill, the better.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Home of the Week: Keep tabs on Allston’s comings and goings from this 2-bedroom rental (Megan Johnson, Boston Globe: January 10, 2024)
Pet-friendly development offers a tenant lounge, garage parking, a roof deck, European stylings, expansive windows, and a balcony.
55 Brighton Ave., Apt. 511
$4,600 a month
Style Contemporary
Year built 2023
Square footage 875
Bedrooms 2
Baths 2 full
Pets $75 per month, per pet
It doesn’t matter if you call it by its classic name, “Packard’s Corner,” or its more recently deemed moniker, “Packard Crossing,” living in the heart of Allston means access to one of Boston’s most lively communities.
Officially named 55 Brighton at Packard Crossing, the contemporary-style brick building, completed just last year, features 77 residential rental units and one commercial space. Tenants started moving into the building last summer, and there were three vacant apartments as of press time.
A rendering of 55 Brighton at Packard Crossing, which has 77 units.THE HAMILTON CO.
Step into the lobby, which features modern European-style trim, high ceilings, and wide white walls. You’re greeted by a 24/7 security guard and have access to a package and seating areas and a mailroom. A landing features two elevators.
Unit 511 is a two-bed, two-bath space on the fifth floor. From the elevator, a right turn and a short stroll to the end of the hallway leads to the entrance of the 875-square-foot unit. Step inside the bright space, which features hardwood floors throughout (except for the bathrooms), and you’re greeted with a view of Allston/Brighton and beyond from the living room windows. To one side is a kitchen featuring gray and white wooden cabinets, energy-efficient stainless steel appliances, and stylish granite countertops. Measuring more than 153 square feet, the space also offers an L-shaped, European-style bar that accommodates three seated guests comfortably. Across from the kitchen, you’ll find a coat and utility closet.
Continue into the living area (228 square feet), where large windows overlook a bustling Brighton Avenue.
The windows in the living room, which is open to the kitchen, overlook Brighton Avenue.THE HAMILTON CO.
“The windows, particularly in the upper levels, are really nice because you have a great view and a lot of light comes in,” said Dimosthenis Vazakas, residential leasing manager for The Hamilton Co. “It’s a great environment.”
Step into the hallway to enter the guest bathroom, which has small gray tile flooring, a bathtub, and the same granite on the single vanity as in the kitchen. Back in the hall, there is a closet containing a washer/dryer and the HVAC system.
The bathroom off the kitchen comes with a single vanity and a tub/shower combination.THE HAMILTON CO.
The primary bedroom, which measures 164 square feet, has a double-door closet and balcony access. Vazakas said the balcony is roughly 100 square feet and could accommodate four people comfortably.
“If you peek over the rails, you see Brighton Avenue and the sunset,” said Vazakas, who added that you can watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. “It’s a nice place if you have company over to relax and socialize or if you want to go outside and read a book and enjoy the nice weather.”
The suite offers a bathroom with a step-in shower and the same stylish granite countertops as the rest of the unit.
The primary suite boasts a double-door closet and a private balcony.THE HAMILTON CO.
The primary suite bath includes a step-in shower.THE HAMILTON CO.
The second bedroom measures 133 square feet. It has a single-door closet and a window overlooking both Brighton Avenue and the balcony.
Hardwood flooring, seen here in the second bedroom, runs throughout the apartment.THE HAMILTON CO.
Tenants have access to the second-floor fitness center at no extra charge. There’s also a tenant lounge with a kitchen that can be booked for private events. The development offers two outdoor spaces for tenants to enjoy: The first is the courtyard — which comes with three gas grills, a fire pit, and an overhang for inclement weather.
“It’s very quiet back there as well. It’s great to offer something like this where people can go in and have a little peace,” Vazakas said.
The second outdoor space, the six-floor rooftop, boasts unparalleled views of the neighborhood. From one side, you’ll see as far as the Prudential Center and downtown Boston, and from the other, you have an unobstructed view of Lower Allston and Brighton Avenue, according to Vazakas.
Pets are welcome at 55 Brighton for an additional charge, but support and service animals are free. There’s a two-pet limit, as well as a 60-pound weight cap and breed restrictions.
The building provides keyless entry to all tenants through a program called Latch. Using a phone app, tenants have access to their units and all of the building’s community spaces and elevators. The building also features a parking garage, accessed through the back of the lobby, where each space can be rented for $325 per month.
This prime location in the heart of Allston provides access to the neighborhood’s beloved spots, including a thriving international food scene. For those who take public transit, the Packard’s Corner stop on the MBTA’s Green Line B branch is just 800 feet away.
Hamilton is currently offering one month of free rent and flexible lease terms and will not charge a broker’s fee if the tenant leases directly from them.
tahir h
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB64520FECC473B639DB2171FBAF6F2%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
Nancy and Bob
On Jan 12, 2024, at 10:41 AM, tahir h <tahi...@gmail.com> wrote:
What a bargain
On Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 10:37 AM Anthony D'Isidoro <anthony...@msn.com> wrote:
Hello Everyone,
The stark reality of a housing affordability crisis.
Tony
Home of the Week: Keep tabs on Allston’s comings and goings from this 2-bedroom rental (Megan Johnson, Boston Globe: January 10, 2024)Pet-friendly development offers a tenant lounge, garage parking, a roof deck, European stylings, expansive windows, and a balcony.
<GlobeC.jpg>
55 Brighton Ave., Apt. 511
$4,600 a month
Style Contemporary
Year built 2023
Square footage 875
Bedrooms 2
Baths 2 full
Pets $75 per month, per pet
It doesn’t matter if you call it by its classic name, “Packard’s Corner,” or its more recently deemed moniker, “Packard Crossing,” living in the heart of Allston means access to one of Boston’s most lively communities.
Officially named 55 Brighton at Packard Crossing, the contemporary-style brick building, completed just last year, features 77 residential rental units and one commercial space. Tenants started moving into the building last summer, and there were three vacant apartments as of press time.
<GlobeD.jpg>
A rendering of 55 Brighton at Packard Crossing, which has 77 units.THE HAMILTON CO.
Step into the lobby, which features modern European-style trim, high ceilings, and wide white walls. You’re greeted by a 24/7 security guard and have access to a package and seating areas and a mailroom. A landing features two elevators.
Unit 511 is a two-bed, two-bath space on the fifth floor. From the elevator, a right turn and a short stroll to the end of the hallway leads to the entrance of the 875-square-foot unit. Step inside the bright space, which features hardwood floors throughout (except for the bathrooms), and you’re greeted with a view of Allston/Brighton and beyond from the living room windows. To one side is a kitchen featuring gray and white wooden cabinets, energy-efficient stainless steel appliances, and stylish granite countertops. Measuring more than 153 square feet, the space also offers an L-shaped, European-style bar that accommodates three seated guests comfortably. Across from the kitchen, you’ll find a coat and utility closet.
Continue into the living area (228 square feet), where large windows overlook a bustling Brighton Avenue.
<GlobeE.jpg>
The windows in the living room, which is open to the kitchen, overlook Brighton Avenue.THE HAMILTON CO.
“The windows, particularly in the upper levels, are really nice because you have a great view and a lot of light comes in,” said Dimosthenis Vazakas, residential leasing manager for The Hamilton Co. “It’s a great environment.”
Step into the hallway to enter the guest bathroom, which has small gray tile flooring, a bathtub, and the same granite on the single vanity as in the kitchen. Back in the hall, there is a closet containing a washer/dryer and the HVAC system.
<GlobeF.jpg>
The bathroom off the kitchen comes with a single vanity and a tub/shower combination.THE HAMILTON CO.
The primary bedroom, which measures 164 square feet, has a double-door closet and balcony access. Vazakas said the balcony is roughly 100 square feet and could accommodate four people comfortably.
“If you peek over the rails, you see Brighton Avenue and the sunset,” said Vazakas, who added that you can watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. “It’s a nice place if you have company over to relax and socialize or if you want to go outside and read a book and enjoy the nice weather.”
The suite offers a bathroom with a step-in shower and the same stylish granite countertops as the rest of the unit.
<GlobeG.jpg>
The primary suite boasts a double-door closet and a private balcony.THE HAMILTON CO.
<GlobeH.jpg>The primary suite bath includes a step-in showerTHE HAMILTON CO.
The second bedroom measures 133 square feet. It has a single-door closet and a window overlooking both Brighton Avenue and the balcony.
<GlobeI.jpg>
Hardwood flooring, seen here in the second bedroom, runs throughout the apartment.THE HAMILTON CO.
Tenants have access to the second-floor fitness center at no extra charge. There’s also a tenant lounge with a kitchen that can be booked for private events. The development offers two outdoor spaces for tenants to enjoy: The first is the courtyard — which comes with three gas grills, a fire pit, and an overhang for inclement weather.
“It’s very quiet back there as well. It’s great to offer something like this where people can go in and have a little peace,” Vazakas said.
The second outdoor space, the six-floor rooftop, boasts unparalleled views of the neighborhood. From one side, you’ll see as far as the Prudential Center and downtown Boston, and from the other, you have an unobstructed view of Lower Allston and Brighton Avenue, according to Vazakas.
Pets are welcome at 55 Brighton for an additional charge, but support and service animals are free. There’s a two-pet limit, as well as a 60-pound weight cap and breed restrictions.
The building provides keyless entry to all tenants through a program called Latch. Using a phone app, tenants have access to their units and all of the building’s community spaces and elevators. The building also features a parking garage, accessed through the back of the lobby, where each space can be rented for $325 per month.
This prime location in the heart of Allston provides access to the neighborhood’s beloved spots, including a thriving international food scene. For those who take public transit, the Packard’s Corner stop on the MBTA’s Green Line B branch is just 800 feet away.
Hamilton is currently offering one month of free rent and flexible lease terms and will not charge a broker’s fee if the tenant leases directly from them.
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB64520FECC473B639DB2171FBAF6F2%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/CAH3m2RPdn9XvGK%3D%2BAOi2ZkBYV-dL_53jzK0HGqb7i8WHRoVx5g%40mail.gmail.com.
Ricky Meinke
Anthony D'Isidoro
Hello Everyone,
A little history before you read the article.
On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the Boston City Council approved (7-5) acceptance of a total of $3.4 million in federal grants for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, (BRIC) a BPD unit that collects data and video used to fight crime and terrorism - and which maintains a database of Boston residents accused of being members of local gangs.
Councilors Baker, Breadon, Coletta, Durkan, Flaherty, Flynn and Murphy voted to accept the grants, Arroyo, Lara, Louijeune, Mejia and Worrell voted no.
Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was not present.
On December 13, 2023, the Boston City Council approved (7-5) acceptance of $175,000 federal grant more specifically aimed at the BRIC, to hire two more data analysts and create more detailed crime-statistics reports for use at meetings with neighborhood associations.
Councilors Baker, Breadon, Coletta, Durkan, Flaherty, Flynn and Murphy voted to accept the grant, Arroyo, Lara, Louijeune, Mejia and Worrell voted no.
Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was not present.
On December 13, 2023, the Boston City Council rejected (6-6) a $13.3-million anti-terrorism grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security (Docket 1796 below).
Councilors Baker, Coletta, Durkan, Flaherty, Flynn and Murphy voted to accept the grant, Arroyo, Breadon, Lara, Louijeune, Mejia and Worrell voted no.
Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was not present.
Docket 1796 Message and order authorizing the City of Boston to accept and expend the amount of Thirteen Million Three Hundred Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($13,317,200.00) in the form of a grant from the FY2023 Urban Area Security Initiative, awarded by the United States Department of Homeland Security, passed through the MA. Executive Office of Public Safety & Security, to be administered by the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management. The grant will fund planning, exercise, trainings, and operational needs, that will help prevent, respond to and recover from threats of acts of terrorism, including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive incidents.
Tony
US Representative Jake Auchincloss demands Boston City Council accept $13 million in federal anti-terrorism funding (Niki Griswold, Boston Globe: January 12, 2024)
U.S. Congressman Jake Auchincloss (L) sent a letter to the Boston City Council demanding the members vote to accept
anti-terrorism grant funding after the council voted to block the measure in December.JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF
US Representative Jake Auchincloss sent a letter to Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune Thursday urging members to accept more than $13 million in federal anti-terrorism funding he described as crucial “considering heightened threats of terrorism fueled by antisemitism and anti-Zionism.”
The City Council voted 6-6 to reject the grant in December, blocking funding meant for the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, which is comprised of Boston and eight neighboring municipalities, including Brookline, which is part of Auchincloss’ district.
A spokesperson for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said Friday that the mayor will refile the grant for the council’s approval before the body’s first full meeting of the year at the end of the month.
In the letter sent Thursday evening, Auchincloss, who is Jewish and a Democrat, urged the council to approve the funding when it is brought back in front of the body.
“The Israel-Hamas War has heightened our region’s need for counter-terrorism security measures,” Auchincloss wrote. “Greater Boston is a national hub for the Jewish community. As antisemitism proliferates, counter-terrorism funding is more pertinent than ever. Impeding its disbursement could undermine the trust of Greater Boston’s Jewish community.”
The US Department of Homeland Security grants the funds annually to the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region. Last year, Brookline used the funds for “personnel training, technology upgrades, new public safety vehicles, and community preparedness measures,” Auchincloss stated in the letter, adding that the grant is designated for cities with a high risk of terrorism activity, and has historically been approved unanimously by the council.
Auchincloss slammed the council for the December vote in Thursday’s letter, saying the $13.3 million in funding is urgently needed. He cited recent congressional testimony by Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who said he sees “blinking lights everywhere,” and is “especially concerned about the possibility of Hamas supporters engaging in violence on the group’s behalf.”
Auchincloss also expressed concern over preliminary data collected by the Anti-Defamation League, which indicate reports of antisemitic incidents have “skyrocketed” since Oct. 7.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Veronica B Smith Multi Services Senior Center:
Due to inclement weather, tonight's planning for Medicare workshop has been postponed. Stay tuned for the new date! Stay warm, inside & dry!
Anthony D'Isidoro
Virtual Abutters Meeting (17 Linden St)
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 @ 6:00 pm
Proposal: Construct new 5 story 14-unit residential building with 6 off-street parking spaces. Raze existing structure under short form permit number
Link: https://bit.ly/17lindenstreet
Passcode: 889 2735 4189
By Phone: +1 646 931 3860 US
Access Code: 889 2735 4189#
If you cannot attend this meeting, have any questions or comments about this proposal, or need interpretation services, please contact in advance: Frank Mendoza Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (617) 635-2678 | francis.men...@boston.gov
Please note, the City does not represent the owner(s)/developer(s)/attorney(s)/applicant(s),. The purpose of this meeting is to get community input and listen to the resident’s positions on this proposal. This flyer has been dropped off by the proponents per the city’s request.
Property Owner: A Limited Liability Company, LLC (City Realty)
500 Lincoln St, 2nd Floor, Allston, MA 02134
17 Linden St (2100689000)
Property Type: Three Family
Owner Occupied: No
Lot Size: 59.00’ X 110.00' X 59.00' X 110.00' = 6,490 sf
Living Area: 2,651 sf
Year Built: 1920
Zoning SubDistrict: 3F-4000 (Three-Family Residential)
Sale Date: 1/26/2023
Sale Price: $1,080,000
Grantor: Marija D. Keturakis
Grantee: A Limited Liability Company, LLC (City Realty)
Ali Iaria
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/89691666-6a35-48c2-b07b-17ea8b5ed79fn%40googlegroups.com.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Nonfiction Night: Sounds Like Titanic
Thursday, January 18, 2024, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Nonfiction Night is a book club focusing on nonfiction titles of all kinds. Join us in January to discuss Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman's memoir Sounds Like Titanic.
Visit the Brighton Branch front desk for a print copy.
About the book:
Sounds Like Titanic tells the unforgettable story of how Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman became a fake violinist.
Struggling to pay her college tuition, Hindman accepts a dream position in an award-winning ensemble that brings ready money. But the ensemble is a sham. When the group performs, the microphones are off while the music―which sounds suspiciously like the soundtrack to the movie "Titanic"―blares from a hidden CD player. Hindman, who toured with the ensemble and its peculiar composer for four years, writes with unflinching candor and humor about her surreal and quietly devastating odyssey.
Sounds Like Titanic is at once a singular coming-of-age memoir about the lengths to which one woman goes to make ends meet and an incisive articulation of modern anxieties about gender, class, and ambition.
Suitable for: All Adults
Type: Book Group, Featured Events
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Steward Health Care’s financial issues could spell catastrophe for the state (Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: January 19, 2024).
Steward Health Care news: potential closures, layoffs in future (bostonglobe.com)
Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals include Carney Hospital in Dorchester (above) and St. Elizabeth’s Medical
Center in Brighton.PAT GREENHOUSE
Steward Health Care, a for-profit health system that serves thousands of patients in Eastern Massachusetts, is in such grave financial distress that it may be unable to continue operating some facilities, according to public records and people with knowledge of the situation. The fast-moving crisis has left regulators racing to prevent the massive layoffs and erosion of care that could come if hospital services were to suddenly cease.
Steward runs nine Massachusetts hospitals, mostly in Boston suburbs and underserved cities from the Merrimack Valley to the South Coast. But the national operator has shown escalating financial difficulties for at least the past three years, according to public records. This month, Steward’s landlord revealed in a news release that the health system hadn’t been paying its full rent for months and would contemplate selling off hospitals nationally.
In a statement, Steward blamed its challenges in part on the relatively low rates it receives for services to Medicaid patients. And even for patients with more lucrative commercial insurance, Steward said, its hospitals still are paid less than what academic medical centers get.
“This gap has only continued to increase and most community hospitals — including Steward hospitals in Massachusetts — are suffering losses that jeopardize their ability to continue to offer services,” Steward said in a statement.
Steward did not answer specific questions about its plans by press time, saying it needed more time to gather information. According to a person with direct knowledge of the situation, Steward has told state regulators that it has until the end of the month to make a plan that will satisfy its lenders.
In ongoing conversations with the state, Steward has requested state money, voiced a desire to transfer ownership of some hospitals, and at times said it may have to close some facilities, according to the person, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of ongoing conversations. In December, Steward publicly announced it will close its rehabilitation hospital in Stoughton.
The system has not publicly announced any further closures, as would be required by state regulations, and the contours of the state’s response remain unclear. Nonetheless, the specter of more shuttered facilities is raising alarm throughout the health care industry.
While Steward is a wide-ranging organization that includes physicians and specialists, state officials and other health industry executives have been especially concerned about the company’s hospitals.
Steward’s facilities include Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, and Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River.
Statewide, hospitals are already struggling to accommodate all the patients coming to them for care, and a further reduction in capacity could create dangerously long wait times and overwhelm remaining facilities. In the 12 months ending September 2022, Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals reported that they admitted more than 46,000 patients.
Company officials said that 70 percent of Steward’s patients are covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Closures could make it harder for this vulnerable population to access care.
Steward has 33 community hospitals across nine states, and employs more than 40,000 people. In Massachusetts, only two companies — Mass General Brigham and Beth Israel Lahey Health — operate more hospitals.
Steward Health Care System hospitals in Massachusetts
The national company counts 33 community hospitals and 30,000 employees across nine states.
St. Anne’s Hospital (Fall River)
Holy Family Hospital (Methuen & Haverhill)
Morton Hospital (Taunton)
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (Brighton)
Carney Hospital (Dorchester)
Nashoba Valley Medical Center (Ayer)
Good Samaritan Medical Center (Brockton)
Norwood Hospital (Norwood – Temporarily closed)
New England Sinai Hospital (Stoughton – Closing)
“If a failure of Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals were to occur, the impact for the rest of the health care system in the state could be severe,” said Ellen Lutch Bender, a Boston-based health care consultant who has been advising hospitals here on the ongoing capacity crisis. “Our hospital system is overburdened now and there’s no wiggle room to accommodate for the increased patient demand that would be brought on by shuttering the Steward hospitals.”
Governor Maura Healey’s administration confirmed that it has been in talks with Steward over its financial situation.
“We are exploring all options to ensure that patients across Massachusetts continue to have access to the care they need and that our health care system is stable,” said Karissa Hand, Healey’s press secretary.
Robbie Goldstein, commissioner of the Department of Public Health, said the agency was closely monitoring and working with Steward.
“When health care facilities or services close, we are always concerned about any potential disruption to patients, healthcare workers, families, and communities,” he said.
For years, the health system has not filed financial disclosures that other hospitals routinely provide to the state. Steward claims the state has no statutory authority to collect confidential business information that it will not keep private. Whether it will ever have to is the subject of ongoing litigation between the state and Steward.
Even without financial disclosures, public records reveal some issues. A Globe review found Steward was the subject of at least 14 Massachusetts lawsuits filed by vendors and employees over unpaid invoices since 2022, according to state court records. The sums involved in those disputes ranged from thousands to tens of millions of dollars.
Internal signs have also hinted at problems. In a memo sent this month and obtained by the Boston Globe, Steward acknowledged “2023 was a tough year.” The company said its financial problems are due to rising interest rates and labor costs, an increasing Medicaid population, and difficulty collecting bills.
While Steward is a private company, public filings from its landlord, Medical Properties Trust, have also raised alarms.
Steward had been paying rent on its properties in Massachusetts after selling and then leasing back the real estate to Medical Properties Trust in 2016. And according to bond rating agencies, Steward is currently MPT’s largest tenant, comprising 20 percent of the revenues for the real estate investment trust.
On Jan. 4, Medical Properties Trust said in a press release that Steward had delayed paying a portion of its September and October rent to the company, and had continued to make partial monthly rent payments. By Dec. 31, total unpaid rent under its lease with MPT was approximately $50 million.
Medical Properties Trust had agreed to provide a bridge loan of $60 million to Steward. But it said that as part of the plan, Steward was pursuing “the potential sale or re-tenanting of certain hospital operations as well as the divestiture of non-core operations.”
Steward is not alone among hospitals facing financial stress over the past few years. In its statement, Steward pointed out that many community hospitals in Massachusetts specifically have struggled.
“While we are pursuing inequities and our aggressive advocacy for fairer reimbursements, Steward is advancing an action plan to strengthen its liquidity, restore its balance sheet and put the tools necessary in place to continue forward as a key provider of healthcare services to our patients, communities, physicians, and employees,” the statement said.
Despite its national footprint, Steward’s genesis was in Massachusetts. Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management created the company in 2010, starting with the purchase of several Massachusetts hospitals from Catholic system Caritas Christi Health Care.
According to the person with direct knowledge of the ongoing conversations, Steward ultimately came to the state to discuss its financial troubles. More recently, Steward has told the state it must have a restructuring plan no later than the end of January, though it was unclear whether the timing was a reflection of Steward’s own desires or if the deadline was one imposed by its lenders, the person said.
Representatives from Steward have also told state regulators that they are interested in transferring ownership of hospitals, the person said. However no other operators had approached the state with such a plan, and the state was not yet evaluating any specific transactions, according to the person with knowledge of the talks.
The person said the state officials are waiting for Steward to outline their next steps, while applying pressure on the company to come up with answers that would prevent a public health emergency.
The concern over Steward closures elsewhere has led to significant state action. In 2020, Steward told Pennsylvania officials that its hospital in Easton, Pa., would have to close in a matter of days unless it received state funding. Officials soon provided millions of dollars in financing to keep the hospital open, according to media reports at the time.
Massachusetts regulators have hired an external firm to advise them on the Steward situation, and state officials have voiced a willingness to do what is necessary to protect patients and preserve jobs, the person said. The state could go as far as to declare a public health emergency, which gives state regulators broad authority to take steps such as transferring patients between hospitals.
Meanwhile, other hospital executives have been talking with state regulators over concerns about the possible effect on their facilities if Steward locations were to close.
John McDonough, who teaches in the department of health policy and management at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, said many industry observers have been paying attention to the increasingly public signs of distress at Steward.
And if other health systems take over for Steward in Massachusetts, some have worried about further consolidation of the hospital market, increasingly dominated by a few players.
“There is concern [about consolidation],” McDonough said ”But that concern has to be balanced with the other potential of losing all of these facilities, and the impact that would have.”
In Massachusetts, Steward hospitals are geographically located in multiple areas of the eastern part of the state, from Holy Family Hospital campuses in Haverhill and Methuen, to Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
As state officials work with Steward on what comes next, health care providers in areas near Steward facilities are anxiously waiting for a resolution. Typically, hospitals must give the state 120 days’ notice before closure, but they sometimes begin to wind down their operations before that — challenging other health systems to absorb their patients.
Already, hospitals in the southeastern part of the state have had to accommodate the volume when Steward’s Norwood Hospital closed in 2020 due to flooding. The emergency room associated with Steward’s Quincy Medical Center closed in November 2020. And Brockton Hospital suspended operations in 2023 due to fire, closing approximately 200 more inpatient beds.
At South Shore Health, an independent health system in Weymouth unaffiliated with Steward, doctors are caring for an average of 500 patients a day, with peaks that reach as high as 560. Those figures are not only far beyond the 374 licensed beds the hospital has, but have escalated from patient volumes seen even this summer.
The torrent of patients coming through the doors has been so unrelenting, that hospital management is disaster planning on a daily basis.
Dr. Allen Smith, CEO of South Shore Health, said his hospital could not accommodate the volume if another hospital nearby were to close.
“This could be extremely worrisome. I’m not trying to get melodramatic,” Smith said. “If this is a sudden closure, it is extremely dangerous.”
South Shore got a preview of what that might look like in October, when Steward’s Good Samaritan Medical Center closed to ambulance traffic for a day due to a flooding and power issue. Dr. Jason Tracy, chief medical officer for South Shore Health, said the hospital’s entire infrastructure mobilized to accommodate about 30 additional ambulances that day, on top of South Shore Health’s average of approximately 130.
Just as South Shore reached the threshold of what it could accommodate, Good Sam reopened to ambulance traffic.
While South Shore could accommodate another hospital’s ambulance traffic for 24 hours, Smith said “it’s not even possible” to do so every day for months. Such a closure — especially if it came without months of notice — would require regional and statewide planning done to a degree it has not yet entertained.
“We are stretched to the max,” Smith said. “There are no other tricks up our sleeve.”
Anthony D'Isidoro
Please come on by and show your support!!
Anthony D'Isidoro
Mayor Wu makes case for BPDA home rule petition before legislative committee (Niki Griswold, Boston Globe: January 22, 2024)
In testimony before a legislative committee Monday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu urged lawmakers to approve a home rule petition to legally restructure the Boston Planning and Development Agency as part of an effort to streamline and promote transparency of the city’s development processes.
Wu’s petition, passed by the City Council last March, requires approval from both legislative branches and the governor in order to dissolve two legal entities the city’s powerful development agency operates under, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Economic Development and Industrial Corp. of Boston. It would consolidate the bodies into one quasi-governmental entity called the BPDA, and calls for a change of the agency’s stated mission from “urban renewal” and “eradicating blight,” to increasing “resilience, affordability, and equity” in development.
Wu told lawmakers she also plans to introduce an ordinance to the City Council next week to “codify other pieces of the bigger vision,” including bringing the BDPA’s operations under City Hall, and transitioning its staff to the city’s payroll.
The change would make the agency, which has operated separately from city government since the state created the BRA nearly seven decades ago, accountable to the City Council, which will have oversight and approval powers of its budget, Wu said.
“We need a modern, transparent, and predictable system that’s accountable to our residents and communities that development is supposed to serve,” Wu said in testimony before the joint committee on community development and small business.
The proposals are part of Wu’s effort to redesign the city’s development approval process, though it doesn’t go as far as abolishing the BPDA entirely, which Wu had called for on the campaign trail and in a white paper published in 2019.
It remains unclear how the BPDA would operate differently under City Hall’s jurisdiction.
The home rule petition is an important step in Wu’s plans to ensure Boston is a sustainable place for families of all income levels to live and thrive, she said. Wu is also working to change the city’s zoning laws, an effort led by the BPDA director and the city’s chief of planning Arthur Jemison.
Wu told lawmakers that Jemison, who also testified before the committee Monday, has already taken steps to improve the department’s processes in order to better match community needs.
One of those priorities is reforming the Article 80 process, which is the agency’s current development-review process that involves mandatory public input opportunities and developer briefings.
But some representatives of community organizations testified Monday against the home rule petition. Stephen Fox, chair of the South End Forum, a coalition of neighborhood groups, said he wants more details on, and codified processes for, community input and engagement when the BPDA is under City Hall before lawmakers approve the home rule petition.
“It strengthens the ninth floor of City Hall, the BPDA home, and it does very, very little for communities. In fact, it’s the BPDA on steroids, as we see it,” Fox said during his virtual testimony.
Senator Pavel Payano, a Democrat who represents First Essex in the state Senate and is also co-chair of the joint committee that heard testimony Monday, said he anticipates the committee will take action on the bill in the next couple of weeks.
Fox and other other representatives of community organizations expressed opposition to the current Article 80 review process, particularly with the makeup of the mayor-appointed steering committee that is providing recommendations on how to improve the process. Anthony D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civic Organization and a member of the steering committee, defended its efforts as he testified in support of the home rule petition.
“The [current] process isn’t working ... every project has a different outcome in terms of how it was managed,” said D’Isidoro. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a more consistent, standardized process across the board where we treat every project the same way, we conduct our due diligence in the same way, and we allow for significant engagement in the community.”
While the mayor’s steering committee includes several representatives of developers and real estate organizations, D’Isidoro said it is in communication with stakeholders, holding regular meetings to keep people informed on the committee’s efforts, and working with consulting groups that have conducted numerous focus groups and interviews to inform the final recommendations the committee will eventually release for public comment.
Changes to the Article 80 process and community engagement do not fall within the purview of the home rule petition, according to the mayor’s office and a spokesperson for the BPDA.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Hospitals at risk of closing? Steward Health Care reportedly owes $50M in back rent (Jim Morelli, Boston 25 News: January 22, 2024)
Hospitals at risk of closing? Steward Health Care reportedly owes $50M in back rent (msn.com)
It has nearly 600 beds and a national reputation for cardiac surgery, but is St. Elizabeth’s Hospital In Brighton destined for closure?
Reports indicate that Steward Health Care, which operates St. Elizabeth’s and a handful of other hospitals in Massachusetts, is in deep financial trouble.
Steward Health Care reportedly owes tens of millions of dollars in back rent on properties, including St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Carney Hospital In Dorchester.
In addition to those company troubles are challenges facing nearly every hospital nationwide: low staffing, high demand, increased costs and decreased or inadequate insurance reimbursements.
Steward entered the Massachusetts market about 14 years ago, when it purchased a group of hospitals that included Carney Hospital in Dorchester. But the company has taken some financial hits in recent years.
In 2020, a flash flood forced the closure of Steward’s Norwood Hospital, which is being rebuilt, but with fewer beds than the old hospital.
Just last December, Steward made the kind of medical history no hospital chain wants to make, by announcing the April closure of New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton.
It is just the fourth time in recent years an entire hospital in Massachusetts is closing.
Last week, Mass General, the state’s largest hospital, warned that it was routinely facing unprecedented crowding.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University | America's Rental Housing 2024
Executive Summary
Rental markets are finally cooling as a decades-high volume of new supply has come online, outpacing demand. Nevertheless, more renter households are cost burdened than ever before, and a record number of people are experiencing homelessness. Pandemic resources temporarily shored up the housing safety net, but the need for rental assistance remains greater than ever. Additionally, the aging rental stock requires significant investment to address structural inadequacies, inaccessibility, and climate risks. Making these investments is challenging, given the current market environment of increasing operating expenses and high interest rates. Despite today’s difficult conditions, strong demand from the Gen Z, millennial, and baby boom generations should ensure that the rental market slowdown is short lived.
Rental Markets Are Softening
Rental markets are rapidly cooling after a period of significant overheating. Rent growth has almost completely stopped, following historically high rent increases in both 2021 and 2022. In the third quarter of 2023, rent growth plummeted for professionally managed apartments to just 0.4 percent, down from 15.3 percent in early 2022, according to RealPage (Figure 1). While rents slowly rose across property classes, the pace of growth was under 1 percent in the third quarter of 2023 for lower- and higher-quality apartments alike.
This abrupt deceleration was geographically widespread, with rents even falling in some markets. In the third quarter of 2023, rents for professionally managed apartments dropped year over year in 32 percent of the 150 markets tracked by RealPage, including many in the West. Just 1 percent of markets posted rent growth of at least 10 percent in the third quarter of 2023, a sharp turnaround from the previous year when rents in half of the markets increased at that rate. While the slowdown is a welcome change for renters, asking rents still remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
Some of the deceleration may be explained by the large number of new units that have come online and pushed up vacancy rates. After hitting a pandemic low of 5.6 percent in late 2021, the rental vacancy rate was 6.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023, according to the Housing Vacancy Survey. The rise in vacancies has been even more pronounced in the professionally managed apartment sector. In the third quarter of 2023, 5.5 percent of these units were vacant, above pre-pandemic averages and more than double the all-time low of 2.5 percent set in early 2022. Vacancy rates in this sector rose fastest in the South, reaching 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
Slowing demand has also helped rental markets stabilize after a tumultuous 18 months. Renter household growth surged in the second year of the pandemic, then tumbled before returning closer to pre-pandemic levels (Figure 2). In the professionally managed apartment market, growth in demand peaked in the first quarter of 2022 with the net addition of more than 700,000 households year over year before plunging to a net loss in the fourth quarter. Following modest quarterly increases in demand through the first half of 2023, an additional 91,000 new renter households formed in the third quarter, nearing pre-pandemic increases.
Unaffordability Has Hit an All-Time High
Though rent growth has recently slowed substantially, the extended period of rising rents during the pandemic propelled cost burdens to new heights. At last measure in 2022, a record-high 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. This is an increase of 2 million households over three years and entirely offsets the modest improvements in cost-burden rates recorded between 2014 and 2019 (Figure 3). Among cost-burdened households, 12.1 million had housing costs that consumed more than half of their income, an all-time high for severe burdens.
As a result, the share of cost-burdened renters rose to 50 percent, up 3.2 percentage points from 2019. The financial strain has been felt across the income spectrum. Since 2019, cost-burden shares have risen the most for middle-income renter households earning $30,000 to $44,999 annually (up 2.6 percentage points) or $45,000 to $74,999 annually (up 5.4 percentage points). Higher-income households also saw their burden rate increase by 2.2 percentage points. Households earning less than $30,000 annually, a population already grappling with persistently high burdens, recorded a 1.5 percentage point increase.
The dwindling supply of low-rent units is only worsening cost burdens. In 2022, just 7.2 million units had contract rents under $600—the maximum amount affordable to the 26 percent of renters with annual incomes under $24,000. This marks a loss of 2.1 million units since 2012 when adjusting for inflation. The spike in asking rents during the pandemic accelerated the trend, with more than half a million low-rent units lost just between 2019 and 2022.
These losses have contributed to a decades-long challenge for renters: rent increases are outpacing income gains. Median rents have risen nearly continuously since 2001 in inflation-adjusted terms and are 21 percent higher as of 2022. Meanwhile, renters’ incomes have risen just 2 percent during the same period.
Consequently, residual incomes—the amount of money available after paying for rent and utilities to cover other needs—have dropped significantly. Those with lower incomes are especially squeezed. Renter households earning less than $30,000 annually had an all-time low median residual income of just $310 per month in 2022, down 47 percent from 2001 after adjusting for inflation. Further, the vast majority of these renters are cost burdened. For this substantial subset, the median monthly residual income was just $170. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a single-person household in the most affordable counties needs about $2,000 each month to cover nonhousing needs.
Such tight budgets force financially vulnerable renters to make dreadful choices. Center tabulations of the 2022 Consumer Expenditure Survey indicate that severely cost-burdened renter households in the lowest expenditure quartile spent 39 percent less on food and 42 percent less on healthcare than their unburdened counterparts. Others may end up living in overcrowded or structurally inadequate conditions, threatening their health and well-being.
A Record Number of People Are Experiencing Homelessness
Though pandemic-era protections and financial supports temporarily reduced eviction filings, these resources are largely expired or winding down, and housing instability is once again on the rise. The Eviction Lab estimated that eviction filings dropped 58 percent from the start of the pandemic through the end of 2021, aided in part by federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums and the $46.55 billion Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program. However, by mid-2023, many states had nearly depleted their ERA funds, and eviction filings had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Still, the pandemic raised awareness of the importance of stable housing, and many state and local governments are building on that momentum. About half of the ERA administrators surveyed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicated that they plan to continue operating their programs after exhausting their federal allocations. And since 2021, three states and 12 local governments have enacted right-to-counsel programs to connect eligible renters at risk of eviction with legal representation. While these efforts are helpful, they do not function at the same scale as federal policies and funding sources.
Like evictions, homelessness has grown as housing costs have increased, hitting an all-time high of 653,100 people in January 2023 (Figure 4). In the first years of the pandemic, renter protections, income supports, and housing assistance helped stave off a considerable rise in homelessness. However, many of these protections ended in 2022, at a time when rents were rising rapidly and increasing numbers of migrants were prohibited from working. As a result, the number of people experiencing homelessness jumped by nearly 71,000 in just one year. Included in this increase were an additional 22,780 people staying in places not intended for human habitation, including on the streets, in cars, or in abandoned buildings. In 2023, the total number of people experiencing homelessness in unsheltered locations reached 256,610, the highest on record.
Rising unsheltered homelessness is a longer-term and geographically widespread trend. The number of unhoused people staying outside shelters increased by more than 83,000 people (48 percent) between 2015 and 2023. This population grew quickly in expensive states like California, Washington, and Oregon, where shelter resources were already strained, but more affordable states also recorded increases. Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas were among the states with the largest growth in the number of people unsheltered as housing costs have risen.
The current administration has made additional federal resources available to reduce homelessness and expand support systems. This includes an unprecedented $3.1 billion through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) existing Continuum of Care program. Significant monies have likewise been allocated via the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, including the $5 billion HOME-ARP program for services, shelters, and housing, plus 70,000 Emergency Housing Vouchers. State and local governments have also invested more than $3.8 billion of their fiscal recovery funds in homelessness services and housing. Even so, considerably more affordable housing and rent subsidies will be needed to prevent further increases in homelessness, to help rehouse people at scale, and to reduce the costs of the homelessness response system.
Holes Are Widening in the Housing Safety Net
Rapidly rising rents, combined with wage losses in the early stages of the pandemic, have underscored the inadequacy of the existing housing safety net, especially in times of crisis. Because rental assistance programs are not an entitlement, they only serve one in four income-eligible households. Their reach has been further constrained by insufficient budget outlays in the face of growing need. Though the number of very low-income renter households grew by 4.4 million between 2001 and 2021, the number of assisted households in this income range increased by just 910,000.
Consequently, 60 percent of very low-income households (8.5 million) who were eligible for but did not receive rental assistance spent more than half of their income on housing or lived in severely inadequate housing conditions—sometimes both. This was a substantial increase from the 47 percent of unassisted households (5.0 million) with worst case housing needs in 2001 (Figure 5).
The subsidized stock and rental assistance programs that do exist have vulnerabilities, too. The dwindling public housing supply, home to 835,000 households in 2022, has a maintenance backlog estimated at $90 billion. To address the huge need for repairs in an environment of insufficient capital funding, the Rental Assistance Demonstration program lets public housing authorities convert their units to longer-term, stable Section 8 contracts. More than 225,000 public housing units have been converted to date, enabling housing providers to leverage other funding sources for improvements and redevelopment. Still, many more resources are required to sufficiently address the scope of the needed repairs and improvements and preserve this critical stock.
The subsidized supply also faces expiring affordability periods and maturation. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has supported more than 3.6 million units since its creation in 1986. These units have a minimum 30-year affordability requirement (with longer timelines in some states), after which they can flip to market-rate rents. Recent estimates suggest that affordability periods for more than 325,000 units are set to expire between 2024 and 2029. Another 7,000 units are lost prematurely each year when owners use the tax code’s qualified contract option to opt out after an initial 15-year period. Likewise, the entire stock of Section 515 units managed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), home to 378,000 renter house[1]holds in rural areas, is facing mortgage maturities that threaten continued affordability.
Housing Choice Vouchers are another crucial housing subsidy facing challenges. Vouchers assisted 2.3 million households in 2022, covering the difference between 30 percent of a household’s income and their area’s fair market rent. The subsidy relies on participation by private-market landlords, who are not required to accept the vouchers in most places. Further, the unit inspection and approval processes add time and complexity that may deter some landlords from participating, especially in hot markets where the incentive to participate can be lower.
Voucher holders also struggle with the program. They may not be able to find a landlord who accepts vouchers or a suitable apartment that meets the program’s guidelines. About 40 percent of people who receive a voucher are unable to use the subsidy in the short amount of time allotted by the program to sign a lease.
While there have been proposals to expand the national housing safety net and preserve affordable units, shortfalls in federal rental assistance programs and worsening cost burdens have prompted state and local governments to act to the extent that they can. States and localities are leveraging other federal resources, such as state and local fiscal recovery funds, to support affordable housing.
A number of states, counties, and cities issued a record $17.2 billion of multifamily bonds in 2020 to supplement LIHTC allocations. Nationwide, states and cities also generate about $3 billion annually through housing trust funds to meet local housing needs. All of these efforts are crucial but fall short of the growing need.
Aging Rental Stock Will Require Reinvestment
The rental stock is older than it has ever been. The median age was 44 years in 2021, up from 34 years two decades ago. Although building construction standards and repairs to existing units have helped to minimize the problem of structural inadequacy, a large number of rental units still fall short of baseline habitability and safety. Nearly 4 million renter house[1]holds live in physically inadequate units with problems such as structural deficiencies, a lack of upkeep, or inconsistent provision of basic features like electricity, hot and cold running water, or heat. Even among units that meet the criteria for physical adequacy, many still have significant unmet repair needs. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia estimated in 2023 that it would cost $51.5 billion to address the physical deficiencies of the occupied rental stock.
Much of the rental stock does not meet householders’ accessibility needs. The rapidly growing population of older adults will increase demand for accessibility features, given that the occurrence of disabilities rises with age. According to a 2023 survey conducted by Freddie Mac, nearly half of renters with disabilities say their homes are minimally or not at all accessible. Respondents most often reported needing bathroom mobility aids, home security systems, no-step entries, and accessible electrical outlets.
The rental stock also needs significant energy efficiency and electrification modifications to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the high energy costs squeezing lower-income renters. Rental homes— especially those in small multifamily buildings—use more energy per square foot than owner-occupied homes, according to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. Older homes also use more energy than newer homes and have significant efficiency and electrification needs.
A one-time infusion of $3.5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is helping some renters and rental property owners with home retrofits. Similarly, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provided $8.8 billion in efficiency and electrification improvement rebates for market-rate housing, including rental units, and $1 billion for efficiency upgrades to HUD-subsidized properties. However, more incentives are needed to meet the challenges of retrofitting the existing rental stock and ensure that new rental units are constructed with high energy performance in mind.
Another growing threat to the quality of the nation’s stock of rental housing comes from the increasing frequency and severity of weather- and climate-related hazards like wildfires, flooding, earthquakes, and hurricanes. More than 18 million occupied rental units (41 percent) are located in areas with substantial expected losses from such events. Simultaneously, a growing number of insurers are declining coverage in high-risk housing markets, making it increasingly difficult and expensive for property owners and renters to obtain and afford the insurance needed to cover potential losses. To protect households and communities, states and localities will need to push for hazard mitigation and climate adaptation measures for individual properties and across regions.
High Interest Rates Have Depressed Market Activity
With interest rates rising into 2023, the cost of debt to acquire and build multifamily properties has risen. At the same time, high treasury yields have increased the cost of equity, as apartments must provide greater returns to investors to compete with Treasury notes.
Against this backdrop, borrowing and transaction activity has declined. More than half the banks surveyed by the Federal Reserve reported that demand for multifamily loans has decreased. Further, nearly two-thirds of multifamily lenders tightened their underwriting criteria in response to uncertain property performance and interest rate hikes. Multifamily mortgage borrowing was down 48 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2023.
As the cost of capital has risen, property prices have dropped. The beginning of 2023 marked the first time that apartment prices fell year over year in more than a decade. By the third quarter, prices were down 13 percent, a remarkable turnaround from the peak 23 percent growth rate posted at the beginning of 2022.
Falling property prices reflect rising capitalization rates—an indicator of returns used to compare investments. According to Moody’s Analytics, cap rates fell through 2022 before rising by 0.9 percentage points over the first three quarters of 2023 to 5.8 percent. In the current environment, higher-risk multifamily investment can be less attractive than lower-risk Treasuries.
For those who already own rental properties, net operating incomes are rising at a slower pace as rent growth moderates and expenses increase. According to Yardi Matrix, the cost of operating multifamily properties grew 9 percent year over year in June 2023. In response, net operating income growth slowed to 3 percent in the third quarter of 2023, from the recent high of 25 percent posted in 2021.
While slowing returns could spark delinquencies, most property owners should be protected by the significant equity accrued before the pandemic. Moreover, most loans were underwritten with enough cushion to cover debt service. Plus, longer-term loans constitute the largest share of all multifamily debt and have fewer near-term maturities that will not require refinancing in the current high interest rate environment. To date, delinquencies have only inched up from their ultra-low levels.
New Multifamily Construction Has Slowed
After a major boom, multifamily construction has started to cool. As late as the spring, starts remained elevated even as interest rates rose, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000 units posted in May 2023 (Figure 6). But with markets slackening and high financing costs making it increasingly difficult to underwrite new deals, starts have fallen sharply in recent months. In October 2023, starts receded to 402,000 units, a 30 percent decrease year over year.
Nevertheless, units that were already under way continue to come online in large numbers. A total of 436,000 multifamily units were completed in the third quarter of 2023 on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, the highest reading since 1988 and up about a third from pre-pandemic levels. Likewise, the number of multifamily units currently under construction reached the highest level on record in July 2023, maintaining that fast pace at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.0 million units in October.
While the pipeline of units under construction should help provide new supply in the near term, declining starts could worsen the existing supply shortage. Additionally, local regulations and zoning laws constrain multifamily construction in many neighborhoods. Nationally, an estimated 75 percent of the land in major cities is zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Several states have preempted local zoning laws to allow a range of housing options. In 2023, Montana, Vermont, and Washington passed legislation that allows modest-sized multifamily buildings on lots previously zoned only for single-family homes, following the lead of California, Maine, and Oregon. Zoning reforms do not guarantee the construction of new multifamily housing, but they remove a significant barrier.
The Outlook
Over the coming year, the softening of the rental market will likely continue as the pipeline of units under construction boosts supply beyond already high levels and continues to slow rent growth. This will be good news for renters, providing relief for households with higher and middle incomes. But respite will likely be short-lived in the face of strong demand from the large Gen Z, millennial, and baby boom generations.
Affordability remains a critical concern. Lower-income renters face the worst affordability conditions on record. Rental subsidies have not kept pace with the growing need, leaving those without assistance to fend for themselves in one of the costliest housing markets in history. And homelessness is at an all-time high. Increasing the supply of market-rate units will help to address the affordability crisis but cannot wholly resolve it. Rather, significantly expanding assistance— especially the programs that help the lowest-income renters—will also be a crucial part of the solution.
In the short term, rising operating costs and high interest rates will present a formidable challenge for property owners. The slowing growth in operating incomes will make it more difficult for property owners to invest in repair and maintenance, accessibility features, and climate change mitigants and adaptations. Yet, the massive pre-pandemic accumulation of equity, coupled with the pandemic’s unprecedented rent increases, should prevent widespread distress among property owners.
During the pandemic, the increased resources for renters, housing providers, and state and local governments demonstrated that financial assistance and supports keep tenants stably housed and landlords solvent. But as these resources have expired or been spent down, the housing safety net is once again overwhelmed and underfunded, as has been the case for many decades. While states and localities have acted to fill some of the gaps, a larger commitment from the federal government is required to expand housing supports and preserve and improve the existing affordable stock. Only then will the nation finally make a meaningful dent in the housing affordability crisis making life so difficult for millions of people.
Complete Report: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/americas-rental-housing-2024
Mike Siegel
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB6452E52AAFC9EB68B0ECBC4FAF742%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
--
Mike Siegel
Anthony D'Isidoro
Opening Reception: Fragmented and Transparencies in Time
Unbound Visual Arts
Sunday, January 28, 2024, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
An exciting new exhibit featuring two artists:
“Fragmented” is a photography series by Claudia Starkey that was created using an intricate computer algorithm. It is a surrealist exploration of how the brain processes memories intentionally replicated using current technology. The innovative method of composing photos uses personal photos that the artist has taken mixed in with others inherited as family heirlooms. It blends in images of her ancestors and childhood, along with more contemporary scenes of people, places, and objects. The photos range anywhere from the early 70s to the current times, but a few go all the way back to the 1920s. Each photograph is a journey into a surrealist realm.
“Transparencies in Time” is a visual art installation by Jose Trejo-Maya that is both interactive, multidisciplinary, and kin-esthetic audio-visual sculpture. It’s a multi-phase comprehensive exposé on Mesoamerican lore and more specifically on a pre-Columbian notion of time. The poetry is alive, and the oral tradition still lives, though it’s thought that this ancient culture is dead.
175 Washington St, Brighton
Anthony D'Isidoro
The Squares + Streets website can be found at: https://www.bostonplans.org/planning/planning-initiatives/squares-streets
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Mayor Wu files ordinance to move BPDA under City Hall, create city planning department (Niki Griswold, Boston Globe: January 29, 2024)
Mayor Wu files ordinance to move BPDA under city jurisdiction (bostonglobe.com)
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance Monday to create a new city planning department and move the staff and functions of the Boston Planning and Development Agency under City Hall’s jurisdiction. The move is part of her larger effort that she says will redesign and promote efficiency, predictability, and transparency in the city’s development approval processes.
“We need the tools that we have and the structures that we have to be coordinated with all of our city functions and to be able to address the needs of today, not 60, 70 years ago,” said Wu in an interview with the Globe.
Wu’s proposal would bring the powerful development agency, which has functioned separately from the rest of city government for about seven decades, under City Hall, with its budget and oversight subject to City Council approval, and move its employees to the city’s payroll. A majority of the councilors will have to vote to pass the ordinance for it to become law.
It’s still unclear how the BPDA’s key functions and responsibilities will be different in the new arrangement; the department will have all the same powers and authority as the current BPDA.
According to the filed ordinance, the planning department will have distinct divisions for planning, design, development review, and real estate.
The ordinance also outlines a transition plan for BPDA staff, the vast majority of whom would become city employees on the first day of the new fiscal year on July 1. BPDA staff who have been with the agency for more than five years, or who are older than 50, will be allowed to stay on the BPDA payroll if they wish to keep their current retirement benefits rather than move over to the city’s pension system.
“It’s really important to make sure that we have staff continuity and people who’ve invested their lives in the work of the city are able to continue to have the benefits they worked for,” said BPDA director and the city’s chief of planning Arthur Jemison.
All new hires will be brought on as employees of the city of Boston.
Wu said the change is one of many steps her administration is taking to restructure and improve how the city approaches planning and development, a longtime priority of hers. In 2019, she released a white paper that advocated for abolishing the BPDA.
Last week, Wu testified in front of a legislative committee in support of a home rule petition to dissolve the two legal entities the BPDA operates under, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Economic Development and Industrial Corp. of Boston, and combine them under a new quasi-governmental entity also called the BPDA. The petition also would change the agency’s stated mission to pursuing development focused on “resilience, affordability, and equity.” The current mission focuses on growth to promote “urban renewal” and “eliminate blight.”
Gregory Maynard, the executive director of the nonprofit Boston Policy Institute, said for the most part the home-rule petition and city ordinance don’t go as far as the major changes Wu proposed in her 2019 white paper.
“Nothing they’re doing is going to change how planning and development works ... they’re just moving deckchairs,” Maynard said. “In 1960, Boston got rid of its planning department, they also got rid of planning board powers. This is the creation of a planning department without any planning board powers.”
In addition to pursuing legal changes to the agency’s corporate structure, Wu said Jemison has been leading internal reorganization and restructuring to streamline and clarify roles and operations.
Wu and Jemison are also working on reforming the city’s zoning code, and changing the Article 80 process, the agency’s current development-review process that requires public engagement and developer briefings.
Changes to both processes could bring major differences to development processes in Boston, Maynard said, but are under mayoral control and don’t require any legislative changes. Neither fall under the purview of the city ordinance.
Matthew Kiefer, an attorney who specializes in development and land use, said all the steps Wu has taken, including the home-rule petition, the city ordinance, and rezoning, do represent meaningful change.
“The mayor is following through on something she’s been talking about for a while, which is to move the planning function of city government into mainstream city government rather than having it in a special purpose authority, and that’s what this does,” said Kiefer. “I’m optimistic it’s going to be better for everyone.”
Wu told the Globe the legal changes outlined in the ordinance and home-rule petition are important to codify the changes to the agency’s structure and provide the foundation for the updated zoning, development review, and planning processes she hopes will increase predictability and transparency for both developers and community members.
“What I heard from so many residents across the city is that in order to have long-term stability for how Boston makes land use decisions, we should not just rely on force of individual leaders ... but instead, (streamline) our legal structures, organizational structures, and accountability mechanism to create that stability for the long term,” said Wu.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Anthony D'Isidoro
Unbound Visual Arts
Thursday, February 1, 2024, 6:30 pm-8:00 pm
Often used to describe radioactive or chemical decay, the term “half-life” takes on alternate meanings through other interpretations presented by three artists: Matthew Okazaki, Madeline Lee, and Maria Fong. “Half-life” interpretations include: decay, both material and non-material; what happens in half a life; a measurement of time linked to fundamental change; halving of identity; being counterpart to something that once existed.
Applied to scenes of everyday life, objects of resilience, rituals, and processes of making, the artists explore making meaning out of the passage of time, forging new understandings of ourselves and what makes us whole - or sometimes, just half.
Half-Life RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/half-life-opening-reception-registration-799150248907
Arthaus Gallery
43 N. Beacon St., Allston
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Unreal Reads: To Catch a Raven
Thursday, February 1, 2024, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Join the Brighton Branch Library’s fiction book club! Our next read is the historical romance To Catch A Raven by Beverly Jenkins.
Stop by the Brighton Branch front desk for a print copy.
About the book:
A former Confederate official is suspected of stealing the Declaration of Independence, and Raven, posing as his housekeeper, is tasked with getting it back. Her partner is the too handsome Braxton Steel. Masquerading as a valet/driver, Brax is also supposed to be her “husband.” He has his own reasons for doing this job, but when their pretend marriage ignites into fiery passion, they’ll have to put everything—including their hearts—on the line
Suitable for: All Adults
Type: Book Group
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
On December 13, 2023, our district city councilor voted against accepting the public safety grant with no comment given.
When the issue came up again before the Boston City Council on January 24, 2024 , our district city councilor was the first to rise and explain her "no" vote in the previous session as a result off a discrepancy between the Chairman's Report and the actual docket over the inclusion of the term "natural disasters". She announced that if a vote was to be taken, she was prepared to vote in favor of accepting the federal grant. However, it was decided to refer the matter to committee.
When the issue came up again before the Boston City Council on January 31, 2024 , our district city councilor announced if a vote took place, she was going to vote "present" given she now had concerns over the city's ability to provide oversight and track how the money was going to be spent.
Given the current threat levels and the urgency of the administration as expressed by the president and vice-chair of the council to use the funds to protect all who live, work and visit our city, a vote of "no" and "present" conveys what kind of a message?
A mayor who is committed to equity especially for those underserved communities and residents, when it comes to public safety and security, is entitled to a high degree of trust when advocating for such critical funding and be exempt from council members playing politics with people's lives.
The fact it has taken this long to get Boston City Council approval is embarrassing.
Checkout the video and Boston Globe article.
Tony
Video: Boston City Council Meeting on January 31, 2024 (youtube.com)
Slide the time bar to 2:33:57
Outcome: Approved
Boston City Council votes to accept $13.3 million federal antiterrorism grant that it previously rejected (Niki Griswold, Boston Globe: January 31, 2024)
Boston City Council accepts $13.3 million antiterrorism grant (bostonglobe.com)
The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to accept a $13.3 million federal antiterrorism grant that the previous council narrowly blocked last year over concerns about the police intelligence-gathering operation known as the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which would get at least some of the funds.
Following a tense discussion in which some councilors advocated for holding another committee hearing on the issue before taking a vote, 11 councilors voted in favor of accepting the grant, while two, Liz Breadon and Julia Mejia, abstained and voted present, respectively.
“As critical as I can be of surveillance and the powers that we give police bodies, I also know that safety and security is important for this body, it’s important for this community, and for this city,” council President Ruthzee Louijeune said before moving to put the grant up for a vote.
Louijeune voted against accepting the grant in December, saying, “we need more community conversation” on the issue, but told the members all her questions were answered after going through hundreds of pages of details on how the funds would be spent, and voted in support of the funds on Wednesday.
The grant, which the US Department of Homeland Security has provided annually for more than 20 years, funds antiterrorism efforts by the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, made up of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop. Boston is responsible for accepting and distributing the funds to the eight neighboring municipalities.
Historically, the council has approved the funds unanimously, but in December, six councilors voted against accepting the money. The opponents raised questions and concerns about how the center, or BRIC, which maintains the city’s gang database and has been the subject of harsh criticism by some councilors, would use its portion of the grant money.
In a vote that split along racial lines, the council ultimately approved some controversial BRIC grants last year after lengthy and heated debate over the gang database and its contribution to racial profiling. Supporters insisted the funds, which would increase the center’s resources and facilitate the hiring of eight more analysts, are essential to solve crimes and keep the city safe. Critics argued the center contributes to unjust surveillance and discrimination against Black and Latino residents.
In a letter sent to Louijeune two weeks into the year, US Representative Jake Auchincloss, whose district includes Brookline, blasted the council for not accepting the federal antiterrorism money. He urged the councilors to reconsider when it came before the body this year, calling the matter crucial “considering heightened threats of terrorism fueled by antisemitism and anti-Zionism.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu refiled the grant for the council’s consideration ahead of the body’s first full meeting of the year on Jan. 24, but when the funds came up for a vote, Mejia made a motion, seconded by Councilor Erin Murphy, to send the issue back to committee, delaying the vote. Murphy had voted in favor of accepting the funds in December, while Mejia had voted against it.
Mejia argued another hearing was necessary to give councilors an opportunity to get clarity on any remaining questions about how the funds would be used, and to give the council’s four new members a chance to get more information on it.
“What is at stake is the integrity of this body in terms of how we move, and there are rules and processes in place,” Mejia said Wednesday.
Councilor Ed Flynn, who was president of the body last term and harshly criticized the members for not passing the measure in December, was absent from the Jan. 24 meeting. Flynn was present Wednesday and strongly pushed for an immediate vote on the matter.
“It’s about public safety, it’s about security,” said Flynn Wednesday. “I wish we did have a hearing, but we can’t wait any longer, the time to vote on this is now.”
Shumeane Benford, Boston’s chief of emergency management, previously told the Globe he was confident the council would approve the funds, and there has not been any decrease in the region’s safety or security due to the delay. Last January, the council did not bring up the grant for a vote and approve it until the end of the month.
On Wednesday, Breadon expressed that she still has some outstanding questions about how the funds will be spent, and said it is the council’s job to provide appropriate oversight. “If we’re getting federal grants we need to ensure that we’re attending to the details,” Breadon said.
After a tense 30 minutes of back and forth, the council ultimately voted to accept the funds, which are distributed by the Office of Emergency Management.
“We’re grateful to the new City Council for quickly approving this important regional grant funding and look forward to continued collaboration with our public safety partners across all levels of government,” a city spokesperson said in a statement to the Globe after the vote.
Executive Director
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB64527EC1FD046B0D4555F940AF432%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Veronica B Smith Multi Services Senior Center:
We have three upcoming events that are not to be missed!
Please RSVP for all events (617) 635-6120
Tuesday, 2/13 at 1:00- "Romance in Paris" Valentine's Party with French Pastries, French Music, and Get Your Picture Taken at the Eiffel Tower!
Wednesday, 2/14 from 9:30-12:00: Physical Therapy in the Community Event- Come and Participate in Fall Prevention Screenings, and Enjoy A Free Lunch!
Thursday, 2/15 at 12:00: Chinese New Year Luncheon Sponsored by Presentation Rehabilitation & Nursing
Join Us!!
Anthony D'Isidoro
Boston restaurant owners fight for affordable liquor licenses (bostonglobe.com)
A shortage of licenses makes for a system stacked against small businesses and Black entrepreneurs. Can it be fixed?
Jarvis Adams, the Lobzter King, got his start grilling for his friends — lobsters rubbed with olive oil and his secret signature seasonings. They were a hit, and that gave him an idea: I could do this for real. So two years ago, he started doing pop-ups at Boston-area breweries and distilleries, then temporary kitchen takeovers at friendly restaurants, then catering for DraftKings. Now, he’s going all in on his first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
On a recent Saturday, Adams and his business partners, Levi Samedi and Rufus Faulk, are sitting inside a restaurant space they’ve leased, the former Ashmont Grill in Dorchester. Friends since their teenage years in Boston, they’re dads in their early 40s, all wearing weekend-casual hoodies — Adams’s sports his company logo. He grew up here, and went to the old Woodrow Wilson Middle School a few blocks away. “I’ve walked past here 100 times or more in my life, from being a teenager all the way up until now,” he says.
The Lobzter King and his friends are planning a menu for a restaurant they’re calling The Mix: “Other than just lobster,” Adams says, “it might be lobster and lamb chops. It might be lobster and steak. It might be catfish and grits. We are going to start doing brunches with chicken and waffles.” They’re planning to bring in new furniture, 120 seats inside and another 40 to 60 seats on two outdoor patios. They’re aiming for a spring opening, and everything is on track — with one big exception: a liquor license.
That’s central to The Mix’s business plan, Faulk says. They want to hire a mixologist “so we can offer new and innovative drinks and beverages, recognizing that we want to attract a professional crowd.” But getting a liquor license is incredibly difficult in Boston — unless you happen to have a half-million dollars to spend.
Thanks to a 91-year-old state law, Boston has been at or near its quota of full liquor licenses — currently around 820 — for many years. So for restaurants and bars looking to open in the city, existing licenses sell in a private market that set new price records in 2023, when sales ranged from about $400,000 to $600,000. (The city also has around 390 limited licenses, such as for beer and wine only, which go for $100,000 to $180,000 or so on the private market, for a total of roughly 1,200 licenses for restaurants and bars.)
Most liquor licenses are fully transferable anywhere in the city. After the Ashmont Grill closed last February, its license didn’t stay with the building, or even in the neighborhood. It was sold in July 2023 to the Cactus Club Café, a chain with more than 30 restaurants in Canada that is opening its first Boston location, on Boylston Street in the Back Bay. The sale price for the license: $555,000.
Adams, Samedi, and Faulk can’t afford that. Adams drove an oil company truck before he became the Lobzter King. Faulk, who is now a consultant, is a former senior policy adviser on public safety to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Samedi is a real estate developer and investor who has focused on houses until now. “We don’t have outside investors,” Faulk says. “This is these three guys from the neighborhood, trying to bring another neighborhood restaurant to the city.”
In the punishing economics of the full-service restaurant business — where food and labor costs are higher than ever, and profit margins average just 5 percent, according to the National Restaurant Association — high-margin liquor sales can be a lifeline. Still, the association finds, 6 in 10 restaurants fail in the first year, and 8 in 10 close by year five.
When a neighborhood restaurant shuts down in Boston these days, its liquor license usually gets sold across town — and they tend to migrate to where the money is. The highest bidders are often deep-pocketed corporations and chains aiming to open a restaurant, bar, or hotel in wealthier parts of the city: downtown, the Back Bay, the Seaport — high-traffic spots flooded with suburbanites and tourists looking for a night on the town. Neighborhood entrepreneurs can’t compete.
That’s why Adams, Samedi, and Faulk are counting on a bill that Boston City Council has proposed to the state Legislature, to create 250 nontransferable liquor licenses attached to neighborhoods. Those licenses would be available directly from the city, for an annual fee of $3,500 or less, similar to what restaurants typically pay in the suburbs.
Samedi has no illusions about just how crucial the program is to his new restaurant. “Without that,” he says flatly, “we’re going to fail.”
Supporters say the bill would be a big boost to the neighborhood restaurant industry. It would benefit several outer Boston neighborhoods, including East Boston, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, and Roslindale. But it may be most anticipated in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, the heart of Boston’s Black community.
Securing a liquor license is a challenge for every small entrepreneur, but advocates argue that Boston’s sky-high prices contribute to a particularly significant gap in liquor license ownership by Black restaurateurs. Black people make up more than 22 percent of the city’s population, but only a fraction of its liquor license holders: less than 2 percent, according to an estimate by the Boston Black Hospitality Coalition. Precise numbers are hard to come by, but the city asks an optional demographic question during license renewal. Of the 1,195 renewal applicants for 2024, only 44 identified as Black, or less than 4 percent of license holders — however, 750 people didn’t answer the survey question, so that percentage may be too low.
The neighborhood license bill is much anticipated among Black Bostonians who’ve dreamed of starting their own restaurants. They argue it would remove a barrier to opportunity and could spark creativity, offer chances to build generational wealth, and help neighborhoods flourish.
“[Legislators are] talking about focusing in those neighborhoods that have been divested since we’ve been kids,” Faulk says. “I lived in Roxbury my whole life, and we’ve never had a real restaurant industry.”
When The New York Times named a Boston eatery to its 2023 list of America’s best restaurants, it didn’t select its choice from the South End, the Back Bay, or the Seaport. It went to a little stucco building on Columbia Road in Dorchester, originally built in 1912 as a rest stop for streetcar riders.
In January 2023, Comfort Kitchen opened in Uphams Corner after a stint as a pop-up in Jamaica Plain. It has a full bar and its menu revolves around the idea of diaspora, sweeping from Nepal to Haiti, Ghana to Jamaica. “In Uphams Corner, there is a restaurant that expresses with depth and deliciousness what food can mean to us: It can nourish and delight. It can tell a story. It can create community,” Globe critic Devra First wrote of Comfort Kitchen when naming it her 2023 restaurant of the year.
“We are the first sit-down, full-service restaurant in this neighborhood in some time,” says Kyisha Davenport, the restaurant’s general manager and beverage director.
Comfort Kitchen, Davenport says, could never have afforded a half-million dollars for an unrestricted liquor license. Instead, it benefited from a 2014 state law that created 75 new liquor licenses in Boston, a kind of pilot program for the current proposal to create 250 new ones. Most of the licenses granted in 2014 are neighborhood-restricted and nontransferable, meaning when businesses close or don’t renew their licenses, the licenses go back to the city for reissue in the same neighborhood. Comfort Kitchen learned that one earmarked for Dorchester had cycled back and was available. It’s paying $2,900 a year for it.
Comfort Kitchen was lucky. As of mid-January, Boston had only two neighborhood licenses available for reissue. Both were in Roxbury and were for beer and wine only.
“I could not imagine us being able to open without it,” Davenport says. A full bar has been key to the restaurant’s first-year revenue, even with all the positive press. “It would have been an uphill battle to get through this year.”
Davenport, a longtime Boston bartender, says the cost of unrestricted licenses on Boston’s private market isn’t just an economic barrier. For Black hospitality industry workers, it’s become a barrier to something less quantifiable, but no less important: dreaming big.
“There’s a cultural sense that something like a liquor license isn’t for us, because so many resources have already been exported out of these neighborhoods that most businesses have learned to survive without it,” she says. “And we, better or worse, take on this mentality that that’s just not for us, that’s a South End thing, a Back Bay thing, a downtown thing, a North End thing.”
Keyana Fultz hopes there’s an affordable liquor license available when she’s ready to break out on her own. “I’ve always wanted a restaurant, since I was little,” she says. She started bartending in Miami 15 years ago, then moved to Boston and worked at a range of places. Right now, she’s busy helping to rebrand and renovate the former Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen in Roxbury, where she’s the manager under owner Nia Grace. Someday, Fultz wants to take the lessons she learned and be her own boss.
Her dream is to open a concept restaurant in Roxbury, with a “higher-end presentation” (she’s keeping some specific details private for now), along with “craft cocktails and different spirits from across the African diaspora.” She wants to give Roxbury residents a place “to go and dine, instead of just having counter-service food.”
She understands that without a liquor license her plan won’t work. “It’ll just be another counter [service], to-go type of situation,” she says. “Most people, when they dine out, they want a glass of wine, they want a cocktail.” She thinks her restaurant will cost around $1 million to launch. Add the going rate for Boston liquor licenses on the private market, and she’s looking at $1.5 million.
Nowhere else in Massachusetts has such an expensive market for restaurant liquor licenses. In the suburbs, they’re usually available directly from the city or town government, for prices ranging from about $2,000 to $7,000. In other words, it’s common to pay 1/100th or even less of what it costs in Boston.
While Fultz works in Roxbury, she lives in Malden, where 31 liquor licenses were available directly from the city for $3,500 each as of mid-January. I asked if she’d considered giving up on Roxbury and opening up in Malden or some other suburb. “I have thought about that,” she says, “but honestly, one of my largest goals is not to just have a restaurant, but also to be able to employ people in the neighborhood — young people who are starting up, or who may not have gone to college.” She wants her restaurant to thrive, but also to be an economic engine for the neighborhood.
That kind of instinct is in large part why Boston’s City Council unanimously voted in March 2023 to ask for more liquor licenses. The bill’s sponsors include the two-brother team of City Councilor Brian Worrell and state Representative Chris Worrell of Dorchester. The current going rate for full liquor licenses in Boston essentially “prices all of the people out within that ZIP code,” Chris Worrell says. “To be willing to put your money on that, you have to be a million-dollar corporation.”
The bill’s 250 nontransferable neighborhood licenses would be issued five per year for five years in each of 10 ZIP codes, mostly in the city’s south and southwest neighborhoods. If a license-holder goes out of business, the license would revert to the city for reissue, again in the same neighborhood.
“Some people look at 250 liquor licenses as [just] liquor licenses,” Chris Worrell says. “I look at 250 opportunities to build generational wealth.”
In October, about three dozen people, including Boston restaurant owners, managers, and workers, came to a five-hour public hearing on Beacon Hill to speak in support of the neighborhood license bill. Some described how license costs stymied their earlier plans, others how previous programs to create restricted licenses made all the difference in their successes.
Nancy Cushman, co-owner of O Ya, Hojoko, and four other restaurants, said the 2006 bill that first created nontransferable neighborhood licenses let her and her husband, chef Tim Cushman, get their start with O Ya in the neighborhood between Chinatown and South Station. Two years later, The New York Times named it the top new restaurant in the United States outside of New York. “O Ya and none of my other restaurants would exist today had I not been granted that one nontransferable license in the Leather District,” Cushman said.
Other restaurateurs agreed. “We wanted to open in Dudley, which is now Nubian Square; we couldn’t do it,” said Luther Pinckney, co-owner of The Pearl, a seafood restaurant. A nontransferable liquor license meant The Pearl could open in Dorchester, Pinckney said, even though he’d originally targeted Roxbury. “We had a space [in Roxbury], but the license was the obstacle we couldn’t get past.”
Devin Adams, who’s managing partner of two restaurants in Quincy, said license prices twice scuttled his attempts to start restaurants in Boston: in the South End in the early 2000s, and again in East Boston a decade later. Instead, he opened The Townshend in 2015 in Quincy Center, where the economics made far more sense. “I was able to get an SBA loan; it paid for our opening staffing, inventory, a complete buildout of a restaurant, and a full, transferable liquor license,” Adams says. “I was able to do all of that for less than the cost of a liquor license in Boston.”
Chris Coombs, chef and co-owner at Deuxave, Boston Chops, and dbar, explains that he didn’t want a neighborhood license for himself, but for others blazing a new trail. “This business is notoriously difficult, with razor-thin margins,” he says. “No one who has the guts to open up in Mattapan is going to get super-super-rich, but they’re going to help that community out. We can transform these neighborhoods that are so stuck.”
Why do restaurant liquor licenses sell for $500,000 or more in Boston and nowhere else in Massachusetts? The answer goes back to Prohibition’s repeal, in 1933. That’s when the state Legislature established the quota system, which sets the number of liquor licenses based on a city or town’s population. The quota system is “designed to ensure that cities and towns do not have too many liquor stores and bars,” explained a 2017 alcohol task force report to the Massachusetts treasurer, which essentially defended the status quo.
But Boston isn’t treated exactly like other Massachusetts cities, which, very roughly, have a quota of about one all-alcohol license for every 1,000 residents, which changes as population changes. Boston’s quota is a set number in the law, though the state Legislature has tinkered with it over the decades. Boston’s base quota, 665, lines up roughly with its population of 675,000. New licenses born of special legislation — including the restricted licenses created in 2006 and 2014 — bring the number of all-alcohol licenses to about 820.
The problem in Boston is that quotas based on resident numbers are an out-of-date approach to regulating a tourism destination with 8 million overnight visits a year. The city is “a destination from the suburbs,” says Steve Miller, a Boston liquor license lawyer and restaurant owner with 50 years’ experience. “Obviously, there’s the tourist business, which is rebounding. Things have changed from the 1930s to today. So the number should be reevaluated.”
When Miller got his start in the 1970s, state quotas had already created a lucrative private market in Boston. For a few years during 1970s and ‘80s recessions, he recalls, the city dropped under quota, eliminating the private license market. “But as the city developed, and got stronger, stronger, and stronger,” he says, “there was more development, more demand.”
Maura Healey has been the third-straight governor to support letting cities and towns set their own quota rules, although she left the proposal out when filing the Municipal Empowerment Act in January (her administration said it needed more time to get the “language right”). The idea of handing decision making from the state to communities could also help places like Brookline that occasionally max out their state quotas. Private markets for liquor licenses can spring up temporarily until the state Legislature takes action, but the prices don’t reach Boston’s heights.
Why not eliminate the quotas entirely? One argument is that current Boston restaurant owners have relied on licenses as a source of wealth for so long — even using them as collateral — that getting rid of the quota would hurt them. The fear is similar to what happened with taxi medallions during the rise of Uber and Lyft: their value, once worth six figures, disintegrated. “If you were going to do away with the quota system, you’d have to figure out a way to do it gradually,” Miller says.
House majority leader Michael Moran of Brighton says he’ll never support getting rid of the quota system. He doesn’t want Boston’s mayor-appointed Licensing Board to completely control the issuing of liquor licenses in his neighborhood, Allston-Brighton, where the civic association has historically opposed any new licenses out of worries over more late-night noise and fights. “For me to give up the voice my community has on this issue would be like political malpractice,” he says.
As for the neighborhood license bill, Moran thinks it “needs a little bit further tweaking” because “certain people want a license to be even more exact,” he says. “Maybe they want a license that [allows liquor] only when food is served, only during certain times, only with a certain number of seats.” Another addition could be a limit on how many neighborhood licenses one owner has, he says, to make it more likely that the new licenses benefit small entrepreneurs: “a chef somewhere in some kitchen with an exciting new idea.”
Back at The Mix, Faulk, Samedi, and Adams have high hopes. “We want to make sure that we are helping to create a legacy for our families,” Faulk says. He’s well aware of Greater Boston’s racial wealth gap, and the oft-quoted 2015 finding by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston that white families here had a median net worth of $247,500, while the median for Black families was $8.
“Our parents did the best they could,” Faulk says. “But we had to sort of start from zero, and say, ‘OK, I got to do this, this, and this to make this happen.’ We want to make sure our kids don’t have to start from home plate. They could start maybe from second [or] third base.”
The group is watching legislative developments carefully. The state Legislature’s joint licensing committee has recommended the City Council bill for passage. As of late January, it’s with the House Committee on Ways and Means. Cosponsor Chris Worrell feels confident that the House and Senate will approve the bill in the next few months.
Faulk hopes that’s true. “This is our opportunity to really put our flag in the ground to show that great things do come from the city,” he says. “I think for far too long, there’s been sort of a narrative around inner-city dwelling, or folks who come from the neighborhood, and we want to rewrite the narrative.”
Anthony D'Isidoro
What’s Changing, and Not, at the BPDA (Banker & Tradesman Editorial: February 4, 2024)
Five years after initially floating the idea as a city councilor, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is closing in on key legal changes to eliminate the Boston Planning & Development Agency. And it’s leaving some in the real estate community scratching their heads at best about what it all means.
So, what’s really going on? And what questions still remain unanswered?
The legal changes have two, semi-interdependent parts.
First, Wu is asking the state legislature to approve a home rule petition that would dissolve the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the city’s Economic Development Industrial Corp. – the two legal entities that together do business as the BPDA – and replace them with a new entity that keeps the BPDA’s name and its urban renewal powers, but focuses them on the natural disaster resiliency, affordability and racial equity challenges the city faces today instead of postwar concerns about “blight” and urban decay.
Second, the mayor is asking the council this month to create a new Boston Planning Department within the executive branch of city government, funded by money the new BPDA will continue to earn from city property it leases out to developers, and then transfer to city coffers.
Once that department is created on paper, BPDA Director Arthur Jemison said in an interview, an upcoming city budget will reflag BPDA’s current development review and planning staff as Planning Department employees, with Jemison – who also holds the “chief of planning” title – still at their head.
Today’s Article 80 development review process will remain in place, too, until an administration-commissioned task force of developers and neighborhood activists can agree on a replacement process later this year. And the BPDA board and city Zoning Board of Appeal will continue to function as they have in the past: the source of key development approvals.
In essence, the letterhead and team uniforms will change, but that’s about it, from a developer’s perspective.
The biggest unanswered question, then, is how much control city councilors will be able to exercise over individual developments, both in practice and in legal fact.
By moving the Planning Department into the mayor’s office, it in theory becomes subject to City Council control over its budget. Jemison said the administration’s intent is for those funds coming from BPDA properties to pass directly to the Planning Department, but the proof will be in a memorandum the Wu administration and the BPDA board have to jointly work out later this year.
Councilors historically have exercised a great deal of influence over development, supporting or opposing particular projects or acting as conveners to make sure they reflected neighborhood opinion. And Wu’s openly pitched her changes as an important democratic reform that will increase the public’s voice in development and planning matters.
Perhaps, if today’s BPDA can finish its race to rezone much of the city this year, that change in power relationships will be somewhat moot.
But regardless of the strong control successive Boston mayors have always exercised over the BPDA and the BRA, having a theoretically independent authority to take the flack for politically unpopular, but necessary decisions to keep Boston growing has also been useful. Will it be worth it for Wu to give that up?
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Movie Mondays: Marry Me (2022)
Monday, February 12, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Ever have one of those days when you wind up marrying the wrong person?
That happens to Jennifer Lopez in Marry Me. Playing a pop star with a romantic duet on the charts, she finds out on the way to the altar that her fiance has been unfaithful. So she instead marries a stranger from the audience, a high school math teacher.
Against the odds, their sham relationship develops into something real, but can their love survive the limelight?
One of the most fun rom-coms of 2022, Marry Me naturally spun off a hit single, J-Lo’s “On My Way (Marry Me),” which was named best song at the MTV Movie & Music Awards.
Rated PG-13. Runtime: 1h 52m. English subtitles.
Suitable for: All Adults
Type: Film
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Pajama Puppetshow with Rosalita's Puppets
Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 6:00 pm – 6:45 pm
Wear your warmest PJ's and bring your favorite stuffed animal to join us in an evening marionette show!
We will see what happens when Queen Emerald decides to hold an Olympics for the creatures of her kingdom. Includes a unicorn, an imp, a dragon, and themes of believing in yourself and good sportsmanship.
For families with children ages 3 and older.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 0-5), Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Performing Arts
Language: English
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Email Contact: C. Richardson crich...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Faneuil Branch Presents Boston Lyric Opera: Cinderella
Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Join Boston Lyric Opera for Opera Stories, an interactive performance of Cinderella for all ages, but best for kids aged 5-12.
Learn how we bring the story of an opera to life through music, acting, and movement. In this dynamic, 45-minute presentation, two professional singers, a pianist, and a teaching artist engage audiences in this interactive introduction to opera.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Performing Arts
Language: English
Presented by the Faneuil Branch Library, 419 Faneuil St, Brighton (Oak Square)
Anthony D'Isidoro
Honan-Allston Branch Presents Boston Lyric Opera: Cinderella
Thursday, February 22, 2024, 10:30 am – 11:30 am
Join Boston Lyric Opera for Opera Stories, an interactive performance of Cinderella for all ages, but best for kids aged 5-12.
Learn how we bring the story of an opera to life through music, acting, and movement. In this dynamic, 45-minute presentation, two professional singers, a pianist, and a teaching artist engage audiences in this interactive introduction to opera.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 6-12), Families
Karen Smith
On Feb 22, 2024, at 9:47 AM, Anthony D'Isidoro <Anthony...@msn.com> wrote:
<HonanA.jpg>
--
To post to this group, send email to AllstonBr...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/AllstonBrighton2006?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AllstonBrighton2006" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allstonbrighton...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/BL3PR12MB6452C39E5B0DE21CE24228C5AF562%40BL3PR12MB6452.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.
Lexie Gross
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/allstonbrighton2006/6960F793-7A5F-4D01-8064-C7622ECE8135%40gmail.com.
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Movie Night: Renfield (2023)
Thursday, March 14, 2024, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
In this horror comedy film, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) is the tortured aide to history's most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there's a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.
Rated: R for some gore, bloody violence, some drug use, and language throughout. Viewers under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.
Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes.
English subtitles.
Suitable for: All Adults
Type: Film
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: brig...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Faneuil Branch Presents O'Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance Performance
Friday, March 15, 2024, 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a performance by students from the O’Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance!
The O’Shea Chaplin Academy of Irish Dance has been teaching traditional and modern Irish dancing to boys and girls age 4 and up to adults for over 65 years. Now based in Boston, the school was started by Director Rita O’Shea in Galway, Ireland. The dancers have performed at the State House, Fenway Park, Boston’s First Night, Faneuil Hall, and at Boston City Hall, to name but a few. Several alumni have gone on to dance professionally in Lord of the Dance, Riverdance, Cherish the Ladies and other shows.
Suitable for: All Adults, Children (Ages 6-12), College Students, Families, Older Adults, Teens (Ages 13-18), Tweens (Ages 9-12), Visitors, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Performing Arts
Language: English
Presented by the Faneuil Branch Library, 419 Faneuil St, Brighton (Oak Square)
Email: fan...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Friends of the Honan-Allston Library Spring Book Sale
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
The Friends of the Honan-Allston Library are hosting a book sale at the Honan-Allston Branch Library on Saturday, April 27, from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Come and browse the many books, CDs, DVDs, and vintage records available for purchase, all for 50 cents each. Children's books are free!
All proceeds from the book sale benefit the Honan-Allston Branch Library.
*There will also be prizes donated by local businesses and universities.*
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Families, Older Adults, Visitors, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Book Sale, Featured Events
Language: English
Presented by the Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard St, Allston
Telephone: (617) 510-2038
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Saturday Story Time
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Children's Librarian Allison will lead kids of all ages and their caregivers through stories, songs, fingerplays, and more! This program is designed for children and caregivers to participate in together; adults should come ready to sing and dance along with the children.
Please be advised that in nice weather this program meets outdoors on the back terrace. In case of inclement weather, the program will be moved inside to the Children's
Room or Community Room. Staff at the circulation desk can direct you.
The Future Readers' Club is for children ages birth to kindergarten and their caregivers, a club to support reading aloud to the very youngest children! Learn more here: https://www.bpl.org/future-readers-club/.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 0-5), Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Story Time
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn (ah...@bpl.org)
Brighton Branch Presents Dia (Children's Day/Book Day) Story Time
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Join Ms. Allie for a story time celebrating Día -- the Day of the Child! We'll read stories celebrating children and books together. Attending children will receive
a copy of Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales to take home while supplies last.
El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), also known as "Día", is a celebration based on childhood and literacy that began in 1997. Borrowing from the traditional Mexican holiday "El día de los niños," the American version expanded to include literacy when acclaimed author Pat Mora took up the cause in 1997 with the support of REFORMA. Learn more about how you can celebrate from Pat Mora's website!
The Day of the Child, celebrated on April 30, is a nationally known program that promotes the value and healthy habit of reading among all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status and cultural background. It connects kids and their families and introduces them to the world of books, languages, and cultures. #Diadelosninos
Suitable for: Children (Ages 0-5), Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Story Time
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: Allison Hahn (ah...@bpl.org)
Anthony D'Isidoro
Summer Chefs: Rice Krispie Treats
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Kids ages 7 - 12 join us to learn how to make rice krispie treats.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 6-12)
Type: Workshops & Classes
Language: English
Anthony D'Isidoro
Brighton Branch Presents Saturday Story Time
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 10:00 am – 10:45 am
Join Ms. Allie for all the fun of our weekday story time, but on a Saturday! This program is designed to be fun for kids of all ages and their caregivers with songs, fingerplays, bounces, stories, and more. Please note that this program begins at 10:00am, not 10:30 like our weekday programs.
Suitable for: Children (Ages 0-5), Children (Ages 6-12), Families
Type: Story Time
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Brighton Branch Presents Board Game Cafe
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Come chill and play board games at the library! Bring a friend or meet a new one.
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Games / Gaming
Language: English
Presented by the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Brighton
Email Contact: kl...@bpl.org
Anthony D'Isidoro
Drop-In Knitting
Saturday, June 29, 2024, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Join our drop-in knitting group, which meets every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Just bring your needles and yarn!
Suitable for: All Adults, College Students, Older Adults, Young Adults (Ages 20-34)
Type: Arts & Crafts
Language: English
Presented by the Faneuil Branch Library, 419 Faneuil St, Brighton
Telephone: (617) 782-6705
Email: fan...@bpl.org