Boston Bulletin€¦ · Netter said she ended up sleeping on her couch for two months before she told the contractors to get out and ended up doing it herself. Resident Charles Moore

Slyne/Truman political rallybrings out the candidates

JefJefJefJefJeff Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf SullivanananananStaff Reporter

TTTTTruman Ralleruman Ralleruman Ralleruman Ralleruman RalleyyyyyContinued on page 13

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 44 OCTOBER 31, 2019

BBBBBostonostonostonostonoston BBBBBulletinulletinulletinulletinulletincitywide news citywide news citywide news citywide news citywide news • street by street street by street street by street street by street street by street

FREEFREEFREEFREEFREE

New housing developmentsproposed for Stonybrook

Neighborhood

The development team of Ricardo Hernadez, Jeff Glew and Matt Zahlerat the most recent Stonybrook Neighborhood Association.

PHOTO BY RICHARD HEATH

RicharRicharRicharRicharRichard Heathd Heathd Heathd Heathd HeathStaff Reporter

It’s been busy in theStonybrook neighborhood.

Jeff Glew and his partnersMatt Zahler and RicardoHernandez plan a four-story, 46unit rental residence on the oldNortheast Petroleum site at 35Brookley Rd. They met with theStonybrook Neighborhood Asso-ciation (SNA) and the Washing-ton Street Business Association inthe spring and filed a BPDA SmallProject Review on Sept. 13.

And Stephen Sousa wants tobuild a very low-scale eight-con-dominium residence with groundfloor commercial on the site of theDoyle’s parking lot at 3502 Wash-ington St.

The lot was originally a two-story, wood frame house thatburned after the blizzard of 1978.

Sousa presented his plans tothe SNA on Oct. 21 and the BPDAheld an Article 80 meeting on Oct.30.

Sousa has the property underagreement with Eddie Burke, whoowns all the Doyle’s real estateplus three other adjacent proper-ties. Sousa said he plans to closein about two months.

Sousa and his partner BrianLester played to the SNA on Oct.21.

John Pulgini is the attorney forSousa and Lester.

“We met with the BPDA earlywith 21 units,” Pulgini said. “Wegot it down to 11 then nine unitswith one commercial space.”

“Twenty-one units didn’t fitwell. We’ve worked other projectswith your group,” he added.

The developers also met withStStStStStonnonnonnonnonnybrybrybrybrybrookookookookook

Continued on page 11

Parking tops concernsat 249 Corey Road

Ariane KAriane KAriane KAriane KAriane KomomomomomyyyyyatiatiatiatiatiStaff Reporter

The Boston Planning and De-velopment Agency (BPDA) helda public meeting on Oct. 28 at theBrighton Marine Health Center todiscuss the proposed four story,35 rental units at 249 Corey Road.About 20 community membersand neighbors attended the meet-ing - the low turnout was possi-bly due to the Allston/Brightoncity-council candidate forum oc-curring at the same time. LanceCampbell, the Senior ProjectManager of the BPDA, DeveloperNick Zozula, and Design Associ-ate Blair Hines led the presenta-tion on the proposed project. Aletter of intent has been filed forthe project, and the project is cur-rently “under review”.

The four-story building will

have 35 residential units above abelow-grade parking garage (theparking will be completely underthe building) for 34 vehicles in-cluding ample bicycle storage,new landscaping, courtyard, pa-tio, balcony and roof-decked openspace.

The site is “uniquely-situated”with a combined land area in boththe City of Boston and the Townof Brookline, including “a parcelof approximately 16,685 squarefeet in the Boston’s Brightonneighborhood and an adjacent lotof approximately 1,265 squarefeet in Brookline.” The review ap-plication states that the “largerBoston parcel includes the long-existing Corey Hill NursingHome and its vacant two-story

CoreCoreCoreCoreCorey Ry Ry Ry Ry RoadoadoadoadoadContinued on page 5

From left to right District 6 Ctiy Councilor Matt O'Malley, District 5 Candidate Maria Esdale Farrell,At-Large Candidate Alejandra St. Guillen, Incumbent Annissa Essaibi-George, Incumbent Michelle Wu,Candidate David Halbert, Lord Mayor of West Roxbury Richie Gormley, Candidate Julia Mejia, Incum-bent Althea Garrison and Candidate Erin Murphy. PHOTO BY JEFF SULLIVAN

The Steve Slyne TrumanRally came back in full force lastweek as about 150 residentspiled in to the Irish Social Club.

The rally, instead of being itstraditional outdoor supportgroup for a particular candidateor candidates, was a forum forthe relevant City Council racescoming up on Nov. 5, set up byDistrict 6 City Councilor MattO’Malley. Every At-Large Can-didate was there as well as Dis-trict 5 Candidates Ricardo Ar-

royo and Maria Esdale Farrell.Farrell and Arroyo started

the night off discussing educa-tion.

“It’s the number one rea-son why families choose not tolive in our district by choice,”

Farrell said. “And the BostonPublic Schools is a real difficultprocess for parents to under-stand and have security in, andI’m going to work on that andhave great success.”

Farrell said education is hernumber one priority in runningfor District 5.

“Nobody understands howhard it is and what the chal-lenges are facing parents in thisdistrict like I do,” she said. “Iwork three jobs to be able toafford to be here and I going tofight hard to make sure peoplehave the resources they need

to be successful and to dreamas I dreamed. I’m going to workhard for my family and every-one in District 5.”

Arroyo said his first encoun-ter with the issues facing edu-cation was when he volunteered

as a youth coach.“Growing up in a house-

hold where my mother was aBPS school teacher and myfather was consistently dedi-cated to finding ways to serve,it just made sense,” he said.“As a high school student, Ibecause a youth coach and indoing that work I became in-credibly concerned with theways in which our youth inBoston were or weren’t re-ceiving services and that therealities for some were not therealities for others. It led meto try to figure out ways I

could use my skills to be ofservice.”

Arroyo said that waswhen he decided to becomea public defender, helping

District 6 City Councilor and original Truman Rally supporter Matt O'Malley read out a proclamationfrom the Boston City Council to rally founder Steve Slyne's family.

PHOTO BY JEFF SULLIVAN

Page 2Page 2Page 2Page 2Page 2 The Bulletin OctOctOctOctOctober 3ober 3ober 3ober 3ober 311111, 20, 20, 20, 20, 201111199999

History of Boston-- it’s not over yet

Susan KrSusan KrSusan KrSusan KrSusan KryyyyyczkczkczkczkczkaaaaaStaff Reporter

About 30 residents came out to the Hyde Park Library last Satruday to hear what City Architect Joe Bagleytalk about the city's past.

PHOTO BY SUSAN KRYCZKA

HistHistHistHistHistorororororyyyyyContinued on page 7

Council looks atissues in SeniorRepair programs


The Boston City Council met last week and discussed foursenior housing programs and problems related to some resi-dents taking advantage of those programs .

The four programs include Senior Saves – which helps resi-dents take out old heating systems and replace them;HomeWorks – which offers zero-interest home repair loans,the Senior Minor Repair program – which fixes small thingslike toilets and sinks, and the Senior Moderate Repair Pro-gram – which uses loans and grants fixes baths, roofs, sidingand larger items.

The hearing was called originally in February to addressconcerns regarding “shoddy work” being done on the homesinvolved in the program, a lack of transparency regarding thefull cost and the fine print in the program and a lack of ac-countability with respect to contractors.

Boston’s Chief of Housing and the Director of Neighbor-hood Development Sheila Dillon said the city has been ableto offer these programs to about 1,200 to 1,300 residents intotal.

“Seriously, we don’t want anyone harmed by the work thatwe’re doing,” she said. “It’s really really hard to hear thesestories because the vast majority of these programs go reallyreally well. People are satisfied, we work through thorny is-sues, but there is probably one or two percent of those casesthat become problematic.”

Many residents testified during the hearing that their ex-periences were overall very positive, but several did saytheyexperienced problems.

Hyde Park resident Marsha Netter said, “I wish my experi-ence had been like the previous women who talked about howwonderful the program is, but personally I wish I had neverheard of it,” she said. “It was the most harrowing three monthsof stress.”

Netter said despite having her own list of items she wantedfixed on her property, the city’s representative who went outto assess the work needed on her house disagreed.

“First thing was my foundation, the water comes into thebasement when it rains,” she said. “Water comes in the base-ment when we have a lot of snow and then a thaw and he’swalking through the house identifying this thing and the otherthing and I kept asking him ‘what about the foundation?’ Andhe didn’t look at me but he said, ‘city doesn’t do that.’ I foundout after the city does do that. Now, I’m still left with an$8,000 job that needs to be done because it’s only gettingworse.”

Netter went on. “The first thing is it was complete chaos,”she said. “There were too many cooks in the kitchen, nobodyseemed to be in control and on the third day of the job Iwalked out through the back door and down the stairs andthere’s a big glob of spit on my back step. I knew then I was introuble.”

Netter said she documented what she said were her prob-lems with the work, and added when she brought these to theattention of the city’s representative she claimed she wasn’theard.

“I can’t begin to tell you the conversations and the argu-ments and the talking over me, even from the person from thecity who was supposed to be representing me,” she said. “Iam bordering on glaucoma, 71 years old and even with mybad eyes I can see the painting that wasn’t getting done andyet they’re telling me they’re asking me what is the prob-lem?”

Netter said she ended up sleeping on her couch for twomonths before she told the contractors to get out and ended updoing it herself.

Resident Charles Moore spoke for his mother KatherineMoore, who said at the hearing that his mother was too stressedeven thinking about the experience, and she didn’t want tostart crying in front of the City Council.

“I am, however, in support of the program. I think thepurpose of the program is great and, when done right, helps alot of people. Unfortunately for myself and my mother it didn’thappen like that,” he said.

RRRRRepair Prepair Prepair Prepair Prepair ProgramogramogramogramogramContinued on page 6

If there is one thing that JoeBagley, city archaeologist,wants you to know aboutBoston’s past is that we don’tyet have the whole story. “Thehistory isn’t done. There’s moreto find.” And he means that lit-erally and figuratively.

Bagley spoke about his 2016book, The History of Boston in50 Artifacts, to 30 engaged at-tendees at the Hyde Park Pub-lic Library on Monday, Oct.28.Bagley showed photos of someof the many artifacts archeolo-gists have found in various sitesaround the city, one shown tobe thousands of years old.

Bagley spends his time do-ing what archaeologists do—planning, digging, and analyzingthe remnants of centuries ofprevious city residents to recon-struct our understanding of howthey lived. Those findings are

helping to revise pieces of thehistory of Boston.

Bagley is a city of Bostonemployee whose job it is to ex-amine sites and research thembefore ground is broken for newconstruction. Bagley studies thesites so that everyone knows asmuch as possible about itsphysical aspects before con-struction begins. “I have toprove to the state archeologistthat I know the history of thatsite. The goal is for there to beas little surprise as possible.”

While Bagley cannot look ata property or site without a li-cense, his goal is to also get thecommunity involved. Most digsattract a lot of attention andpublic-school students come outto the sites to watch the digs.His favorite artifact is one thatwas dug up from the BostonCommon which is “the oldestartifact known from downtownBoston and 5,000-7,000 yearsold. It is a spear point. I actu-

ally brought it tonight…we findthese all-around New England.”He added, “It is older thanStonehenge or the pyramids inEgypt.”

The work is slow and pains-taking. The team is still process-ing items from the summer of2019. Digging has revealedsome unusual artifacts likeAmerica’s oldest bowling ball,found to be from the 1670’swhere the Greenway is today.

Bagley says that locating aprivy (outhouse) is consideredhitting the jackpot. Privies arecoveted finds as they are deep,protected, and untouched for theobvious reasons. Privies col-lected not only trash and humanwaste but just about anythingpeople tossed out, includingclothing and pets. “You couldthrow it out in your own trashreceptacle…into these out-houses.” The privies were

Page 3 Page 3 Page 3 Page 3 Page 3The BulletinOctOctOctOctOctober 3ober 3ober 3ober 3ober 311111, 20, 20, 20, 20, 201111199999


Letters to the Editor

A hero amongst us, sort of

My Kindof Town/Joe Galeota

There are so many heroesamongst us, such as first re-sponders, whose valor is right-fully highly compensated, aswell as locals serving in the in-fantry in the Middle East,whose valor, both common anduncommon, is much less com-pensated. I’m also thinking ofheroes who receive zilch forcompensation: those familieswho day in and day out care forthe aged, sick children, and in-capacitated adults; single par-ents who in spite of fatigue readdaily to their children; mothersof large families doing constantloads of wash and ironing; ag-ing grandparents raising viva-cious grandchildren; school-kids defending others againstbullies. And then there areemployees who defy their col-leagues by not putting in forfalsified overtime or for notstealing from their companies. All of these are my heroes.

But there are also other spe-cific heroes like somewhat for-gotten but once well-knownPaul McLaughlin, a prosecutorgoing after the bad guys, onlyto be gunned down in 1993 at alocal commuter rail station atthe end of a workday, dying 42years young.

Accounts of courageouscommuters jumping onto sub-

way tracks rescuing others be-fore an onrushing train arrivesseem to occur in New York andother cities. So it was with agreat deal of pride that I readabout a baker with local tiesshowing inspiring bravery.

According to newspaper re-ports, JP LaPierre was in theWindy City to run the ChicagoMarathon. The 54-year-oldwas taking a subway train to therace when he noticed a lot ofriders rushing out of the trainat a stop. Informed that therewas a thief robbing riders at gunpoint, he rushed up to him and,after a physical confrontation,stripped him of the revolver andwaited for the Chicago Policeto arrive. How many peoplewere not robbed, how many in-juries did not occur, and, pos-sibly, how many lives weresaved because of his actions?

Where does such commit-ment come from? Did he learnit, say, at a school such as HolyName or Sunday school atMorning Star Baptist, and/orfrom his family?

Even though he now lives inWeymouth, he did/does work inWest Roxbury, thus qualifyingas “amongst us (Bostonians).” And just for the record, “JP”refers to his first name, JeanPaul, not the 02130 zip code.

But this was not his first actof bravery: several years ago,risking injury from a potentiallyexplosive vehicle after a crashon 128, he extracted a trappedbaby boy.

It should also be noted thathe allayed the fears of a lot ofNewton homeowners when onhis own he pursued and caughtan escaped python in that tonycommunity.

This is the type of guy thatevery Boston neighborhoodwishes it would have; the opti-mist in me says that we alreadyhave them.

City of BostonAnnounces Preparations

for Nov. 5th Election

The City of Boston Election Department today announced itspreparations ahead of the upcoming Municipal Election on Tues-day, November 5, 2019. The election includes Councilor seatsfor each district, as well as citywide At-Large seats and a non-binding public opinion advisory question. Polling locations aroundthe City will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m

In addition to Council seats, the citywide ballot will includethe nonbinding public opinion advisory question: “Do you sup-port the renaming/changing of the name of Dudley Square toNubian Square?” To get on the ballot, nonbinding public opinionadvisory questions are initiated by a citizen petition and approvedby the City Council and the Mayor.

The deadline to submit an application for an absentee ballotis November 4, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. and can be done by mail or inperson at the Election Department in City Hall. In person absen-tee voting is available in the Election Department during regularbusiness hours as well as on Saturday, October 26 and Saturday,November 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If voting absentee bymail, the completed ballot must be received by 8:00 p.m. on Elec-tion Day to be counted.

Polling locations for Election Day can be found using theSecretary of the Commonwealth’s website. Due to ongoing con-struction on several municipal buildings, there are four pollinglocation changes this year:

NEW LOCATIONSWard 16, Precinct 8 -Previous Location:Adams Street Branch Library 690 Adams

Street DorchesterNew Location:All Saints Parish 209 Ashmont Street

DorchesterWard 19, Precincts 10 and 13Previous Location :Roslindale Branch Library 4238 Wash-

ington Street RoslindaleNew Location: Roslindale Community Center 6 Cummins

Highway RoslindaleWard 1, Precinct 14Previous Location: Curtis Guild Elementary School 5 Ashley

Street East BostonNew Location: Orient Heights Community Building 38 Vallar

Road East BostonWard 9, Precinct 4Previous Location: Madison Park Complex Haynes Commu-

nity Room 735 Shawmut Avenue RoxburyNew Location: Dewitt Center 122 Dewitt Drive Roxbury On Election Day, the languages available at the polls and/or

using a translator phone bank are: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnam-ese, Russian, Cape Verdean and Haitian Creole.

Additionally, the Election Department is seeking poll work-ers for the coming elections.

The Bulletin Newspapers, Inc. and the Norwood Record assume no financialresponsibility for errors in advertisements printed herein, but will reprint, with-out charge, that part of the advertisement in which the error occurs. No part ofthis newspaper may be reproduced without the express written consent of TheBulletin Newspapers, Incorporated.

The Bulletin Newspapers, Inc.

Web Siteswww.bulletinnewspapers.com • www.norwoodrecord.com

Published weekly

• West Roxbury • Roslindale • Hyde Park• South Boston • Jamaica Plain • Allston • Brighton

• North End • NorwoodBoston Office

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ROAD DIET NOTA GOOD IDEA

To the Editor:After reading the news

story on the proposed RoadDiet for Centre Street throughthe West Roxbury BusinessDistrict, I can understand whythere is so much debate overthis popular idea that has itspros and cons.

Once again we are seeingthe Anti-Combustable EngineCrowd trying to take our mo-tor vehicles away from us tosave the planet. I have seen thisrodeo before. Over in Boston’sNorth End, City Hall turnedCommercial Street, fromCauseway to Atlantic Avenue,into one lane each way with adouble-lane bike highway. Allthis concept did was createmore gridlock all day long.They did it in Dorchester onColumbia Road between Ed-ward Everett Square toDorchester Avenue. You shouldsee the gridlock now, especiallywhile the two schools on thisroad are getting out of school.I hear South Boston might betrying this dumb idea too.

Back around 1900 whencars started sharing the roadswith horses, lots of anti-carpeople kept yelling, “Get ahorse.” The same crowd stilllives today and yell, “Get abike.’ Nothing really everchanges, huh?

Getting back to Centre

Street in West Roxbury, whatkind of effect will road diethave on the local businesseconomy? There are alwaysunintended consequenceswhen you shrink the road tomake room for more bikes.Shoppers will end up goingelsewhere and this only hurtsthose business owners whohelp make West Roxbury pros-per.

I urge folks supporting roaddiets to take a trip over to Co-lumbia Road or CommercialStreet and see West Roxbury’sfuture after it creates a diet forCentre Street.

Sal GiarrataniRoslindale

A FEWOBSERVATIONS

To the Editor:The Westie and Rozzi bik-

ers held a meeting that drew20 people and got 3 columns,filling page 2. What’s wrongwith this picture? Oh my,they’re whining about payingfor bike lanes through licensesand taxes and suggesting thatAARP is a viable resource forinformation. Get serious,AARP was in favor of the af-fordable care act which is oneof the reasons for the DedhamTeachers’ strike.

Dedham teachers don’t likepaying a higher deductible.Well get over it; my deductibleincreased by 200%, but I did

keep my doctor at a muchhigher expense to me. Unfor-tunately, I couldn’t pass it onto the taxpayers. The kick in thebutt here is I’ll bet 90% of themvoted for Obama and the Af-fordable Care Act. I can’t waituntil the commies and social-ists take over and the unionshave to go on Medicare. I’msure the congressional sleepercell will get the job done.

However, I do wholeheart-edly agree that cell phone sig-nals should be completelyblocked in school buildings.

Another 88 units and 106cars are coming to WestRoxbury. Now really, who ac-tually believes there will onlybe 106 cars in 88 units? I guessthe good news is they’ll be ableto park in the VA hospital park-ing lot. I’m sure it’ll be OKwith the old guys who shouldbe riding bikes anyway.

California is on fire againand the lights are out which isto be expected when areas areoverbuilt and resources arestretched thin, but it can’t behelped as they have a full 1/3of all illegal aliens which isabout 7.5 million people.

Sorry Dale St., none of theproblems described in the ar-ticle are crimes that will beprosecuted by DA Rollins sowhy would the police respond?Can we please have flashing

LeLeLeLeLettttttttttererererersssssContinued on page 14


building, which is accessed by anexisting curb-cut to a large asphaltparking area at both lots. The re-mainder of the site’s land area inBrookline is proposed to be sub-divided into two separate lots andredeveloped with two new singlefamily homes, and designed tofurther buffer the proposed projectfrom Brookline’s residentialneighborhood up and along Jor-dan Road.”

Campbell explained that theBrookline site will have separatemeetings with the town ofBrookline and their residents. TheOct. 28 meeting only discussed thedevelopment for the proposed unitssituated in Brighton.

The project developers havebeen involved with communityoutreach for about six monthsnow. There was an initial abuttermeeting last April, and an initialBrighton Allston ImprovementAssociation Community meetinglast May. Zozula stated that he hashad “communicative meetingswith the neighborhood” and hasmade “responsive improvementswith the project”. After these ini-tial meetings, the building heighthas been reduced from five sto-ries to four, the unit density hasbeen reduced from 45 to 35 units,and the landscaping has been en-hanced. One of the project goalsis to “improve pedestrian experi-ence with robust landscaping andsidewalks”.

Hines explained that hewanted to “capture the spirit of the

Corey Road continued from page 1surrounding homes” by designingthe building with similar materials.The building will be designed withbrick, bronze colored aluminummetal shingles, bronze colored cor-rugated metal panels, clapboard,and have a metal roof edge. Theyalso plan on adding lots of lushlandscaping and trees that will pro-vide shade along the street. Oneneighbor mentioned that they be-lieve that the building “looks likean office building” and “does notblend in with the neighborhood”.

The PowerPoint included anaerial map of the surroundingarea. The #65 MBTA bus is lo-cated within only 0.2 miles fromthe proposed project site, and theMBTA Green Line that runs alongWashington Street has a stationthat is approximately 0.5 milesaway. This provides tenants witheasy access to downtown Boston.

At the end of the presentation,the floor was open to questions,answers, comments and concernsby meeting attendees.

One concern a neighbor hadwas snow and ice removal in thewinter, due to the fact that the siteis on a steep slope. Another majorconcern among meeting attendeeswas traffic safety and lack ofsignage on the surrounding streets.The project developers stated thatthey plan on fixing the sidewalkssurrounding the project site, andwill work with the TransportationDepartment to add signage and fixthe crosswalks between Jordan Rd.and Corey Rd.

Residents were concerned about increased density and the effect a lack of parking could have on the sur-rounding neighborhood.

PHOTO BY ARIANE KOMYATI

Despite the amount of park-ing spaces, many neighbors werestill concerned about future ten-ants parking on the street due tothe density and the fact that thereis already limited parking inBrighton. One neighbor said theywould like to see “more apart-ments and less parking”, whileanother neighbor said they wouldlike to “see more parking and lessapartments”.

Another neighbor stated thatthey were “pleased that the projecthas been downscaled so far”, butwould still like to see the devel-opers make traffic and safety im-provements in the surroundingarea.

“Are you going to charge ten-ants for parking spots?” asked onemeeting attendee. Zozula explainedthat the parking spot fee would beincluded in the rent.

One attendee asked how manyaffordable units the project willhave. “There will be five afford-able rental units,” stated Zozula.The city of Boston requires that13% of units are designated asaffordable.

“Will you be renting to collegestudents?” questioned one neigh-bor. Zozula explained that they donot plan on renting to undergradu-ate students.

One meeting attendee hadquestions about the construction,since many project sites in Brightonare on top of stone. The developersexplained that the site is built onearth, and they plan on a 15 monthconstruction period (although theyare not certain yet since they are stillvery early on in the planning pro-cess).

“When does the comment pe-riod end?” asked one meeting at-

tendee. Campbell explained that thecomment period is currently openand will end on November 8, 2019.Comments can be sent to theBPDA at http://www.bostonplans.org/projects/de-velopment-projects/249-corey-road or by emailing LanceCampbell [email protected].

Campbell stated that the nextsteps in the process include review-ing the comments and concerns,discussing them with colleagues,and doing an internal project re-view. “There is no project timelineat this point, since the project hasn’tbeen approved [yet],” he explained.

To sign up for neighborhoodemail updates, visit http://www.bostonplans.org/about-us/get-involved.


Repair Program continued from page 2Moore said he also had

problems with the contractors,starting about two to three yearsago with the Senior HeatingProgram and the Senior HomeRepair. He said the selectedcontractor showed up beforeany notification from the citycame and started working. Hesaid three days later, city rep-resentatives came and askedthem to sign the paperwork.

“By this time they hadripped out the plumbing andthe heating system, so mymother had pretty much nochoice but to sign or shewouldn’t have had heat,” hesaid.

Moore said he lives abovehis mother on the second floorand has had heating issues, buthe stressed to the city and thecontractors that her apartmentwas the focus, as he was finewith space heaters. He saidthey ran into a problem and,despite Moore’s agreement topay for any overages on workfor his mother’s apartment,they moved on to his withoutfixing hers.

“A pipe burst in her apart-ment, causing the ceiling to falland other things that happened,which she had to pay out ofpocket which I believe was$2,000,” he said.

He said this combined witha whole host of other work onher apartment came in around$27,000 which, through the Se-nior Repair program, gaveMoore and his mother an in-terest-deferred loan for. Mooresaid he consulted with severalother plumbers whom he saidestimated the job at $15,000 to$18,000. He added that holeswere left after the work andnow they have mice problems

in the area.Boston Home Center

Deputy Director Maureen Flynndiscussed the accountabilitymechanisms the city has forthese programs. She said oncea contractor submits a paymentrequest, the city sends out a rep-resentative to make sure thework submitted matched whatwas done and the city’s stan-dards were met. She said be-cause of issues in the past, thatrepresentative is now requiredto be a senior construction man-ager.

“And the construction man-ager will go out anytime a se-nior or a non-seniorhomeowners wants them tocome out and look at some-thing,” she said. “Our construc-tion managers are generally outin the field every single dayfrom 10 a.m. until 2 p.m andthey’re generally doing officeand paperwork after that, butthere’s generally not a momentwhen they’re not at someone’shouse during the core hours.”

City Council President andDistrict 4 City Councilor AndreaCampbell said she felt randominspections might prove to bemore beneficial rather than onescheduled right before payment.

“Maybe that requires us tobudget for more constructionmanagers, more human capitalfor those random inspectionsand that’s a conversation wecan continue,” she said. Flynnsaid she was amenable to the

idea.“I’m sure the staff would

love to hear that you’ll give usmore money for more construc-tion managers because we needthem,” she said.

Flynn mentioned other safe-guards they use to ensure con-tractors are performing to thestandards the city expects. Forexample, she said if there’s apattern of shoddy work comingforward or if a contractor is tak-ing on too much work than whatthe city feels can be done tothose standards in a reasonableamount of time, the city can thenput those contractors on hold.They would not be able to bidfor new projects until that holdis lifted.

“The 40 approved con-tractors we have do verygood work, but sometimesthey will have a bad job. Theywill often say it's because ofthe subs (subcontractors) theyhave hired,” she said. “Some-times the subs that they’vehired aren’t performing toeven their standards and inthat case we tell them thatthey have to pull their subsand put in new subs for thejobs or they can’t continue.”

Dillon said they also moni-tor complaints and workflowsof each of their 40 approvedcontractors. For more infor-mation on these programs, goto boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-development

City Council President and District 4City Councilor Andrea Campbell

JP has its annual DogJP has its annual DogJP has its annual DogJP has its annual DogJP has its annual DogHalloween ParadeHalloween ParadeHalloween ParadeHalloween ParadeHalloween Parade

Hundreds came out for the annual Jamaica Plain Dog Costume Pa-rade and Fashion Show last weekend.

COURTESY PHOTO


History continued from page 2

Joe BagleyCity Archaeologist

Boston Public Library eliminatesfees for youth library cards

Mayor Martin J. Walsh re-cently announced that the Bos-ton Public Library (BPL) iseliminating overdue fines foryouth under the age of 18 whohave a Boston Public Librarycard. The announcement fol-lows a unanimous vote from theBPL Board of Trustees to elimi-nate overdue fines which inturn will also remove barriersand expand access to the impor-tant services and resources of-fered at the library for all youthin the City of Boston.

“The accrual of fines puts abarrier between youth and theLibrary that can prevent futureuse of its materials, program-ming, and resources,” saidMayor Walsh. “In Boston, webelieve that free and open ac-cess to the Library is crucial forchildren’s literacy and educa-tion. Going ‘fine free’ is a stepto level the playing field andbecome closer to ensuring thateveryone has access to the im-portant resources the Libraryprovides.”

Under this new policychange, which becomes effec-tive November 1, 2019, BPLwill remove all pending over-due fines and replacement costsfor youth library card holders.Youth card holders will not facemonetary penalties for return-ing books late, although theywill still be required to return

any overdue books in order tocheck out additional materials.While youth card holders willno longer incur fines for latereturns, they will still be re-sponsible for replacement costsif a book is lost or not returned.

With this move, the BostonPublic Library now joins thefive percent of public librariesthat do not charge late fines foryouth materials, according to arecent Library Journal survey.The same survey reported that,on average, only about 14 per-cent of borrowed materials arereturned late. Previously, at theBoston Public Library, themaximum overdue fine a youthcard holder could accrue was$2.50 per book.

“We’re proud to be joiningthe ranks of libraries across thecountry who are moving to-wards being fine-free,” saidBPL President David Leonard.“Too often, fines penalize thoseleast able to afford them andhave the unintended effect ofturning young people, in par-ticular, away from their librar-ies. That’s just not what ‘FreeTo All’ should mean in the 21stcentury. Eliminating youthfines reflects core values of theBPL - to be accessible, to bewelcoming, and to ensure weare promoting youth reading,not preventing it.”

In FY19, the Library col-

lected a total of $24,069 inoverdue fines from BPLcardholders under the age of 18,representing less than ten per-cent of the total youth overduefine balance for that fiscal year,which was approximately$249,179. That data indicatesthat about 90 percent of BPLcardholders below the age of 18are facing fines - and thereforebarriers - to continued use of theLibrary.

“Libraries are our societies’most trusted public institutions- we are in the business of open-ing doors, not creating barriersfor children and families,” saidSusan Benton, President &CEO of the Urban LibrariesCouncil, which monitors andreports on libraries going ‘finefree’ through an interactive mapon its website. “By joining li-braries across North America ineliminating overdue fines forchildren and teen readers, Bos-ton Public Library is taking aleading stance in ensuring allcity youth have equitable op-portunities to pursue theirdreams.”

More than 150,000 youthhold BPL library cards, whilethousands more benefit fromthe BPL’s free programs,Homework Help sessions, an-nual summer reading challenge,

LibrarLibrarLibrarLibrarLibrary Cary Cary Cary Cary CardsdsdsdsdsContinued on page 10

edged in clay, so water collectsand preserves the refuse.

Artifacts are starting to befound that reveal a painful partof Boston history. UnderFaneuil Hall about 30,000-40,000 artifacts have been col-lected. Mostly date from before1742. “The point is to approachthe hard history of Boston,” saidBagley. “That’s the history thathasn’t been reported before,especially the slave trade. Ev-erybody was involved in theslave trade in Boston. It’s amuch worse problem than any-one thought. Boston was a ma-jor player in the slave trade.”An exhibit is being planned forFebruary 2021 during BlackHistory Month to trace the his-tory of slavery in Boston basedon these findings. “The exhibitis not going to be a feel goodone,” said Bagley. There will bea pop-up exhibit this January2020 below Faneuil hall that willenable the public to see arche-ologist at work on the site.

Another location that has re-sulted in more finds is the Afri-can Meeting House on BeaconHill, the oldest black church stillstanding in the United States.The building had apartments inthe basement below the sanc-tuary where parties were held,and many artifacts were foundthere in another privy. For atime, the building was also aJewish synagogue. A prayerbook was found in a wall.

Digging is not just relegatedto downtown Boston. At BrookFarm in West Roxbury, the teamfound the Civil War encampmentof Robert Gould Shaw, whocommanded the first all-blackregiment, the 54th Massachu-setts. A button linked to him wasfound as it came from a NewYork militia coat which Shawhad requested his father send tohim.

Bagley says the next investi-gations will be about the 19thcentury and Immigrants, “Theirhistory is underserved.”

An audience member askedBagley what the Big Dig un-earthed. Bagley has 1,000 boxesfrom that construction site. “Westill have all those collections dugup…we have new questions thathave come up.” These includemore questions about Boston’spart in the slave trade.

For more information on JoeBagley’s work go to https://www.boston.gov/departments/archaeology


Around the NeighborhoodsCITY

FRANKLIN PARK ZOOHONOR VETERAN’S

DAY from November 9-10with free admission for vet-erans at Franklin Park Zoo

ENJOY THE DAY AF-TER THANKSGIVING withyour family, for half pricedadmission on November 29 atFranklin Park Zoo

RUN THE 2020 BOSTONMARATHON FOR THEESPLANADE!

The Esplanade is the pre-miere running trail in GreaterBoston. Each winter andspring, the excitement buildsfor the Boston Marathon run-ners who turn to theEsplanade’s riverfront path-ways and footbridges as thesett ing for their trainingruns.

This year, 15 runners willhave the opportunity to sup-port this beloved trainingroute by joining TEAM ES-PLANADE.

If you or someone youknow is passionate about theEsplanade, we hope you’llconsider running the 124thBoston Marathon on April 20,2020 as part of the Espla-nade Association’s OfficialCharity Team for the BostonMarathon!

[email protected],6 1 7 - 2 2 7 - 0 3 6 5 ,esplanadeassociation.org

ALLSTON / BRIGHTON

ALLSTON BRIGHTON –BOSTON COLLEGECOMMUNITY FUNDFALL 2019

The $3,000 Project GrantApplication is now availableon our website. The deadline

is Thursday, November 7,2019 no later than 5:00 p.m.

BRIGHTON MAINSTREETS SUPERHEROGALA

Brighton Main Streets willbe honoring theneighborhood’s undercoverheroes by shining a spotlighton the work that they do tolift up our community on Fri-day, November 1st from 6:00pm to 9:00 pm at the AC Ho-tel, 395 Chestnut Hill Ave,Brighton

Each and every one ofthe SuperHeroes have beennominated by you, the com-munity. Join us as we revealtheir secret identity and cel-ebrate the great work they doin our community.

Raise a glass to their su-perhero powers and enjoy afun evening of testing outyour own hidden strengths.

CERAMICS COMMU-NITY SCHOLARSHIP

The Harvard Ed Portaland the Ceramics Program,Office for the Arts atHarvard are proud to offerone joint scholarship for a 8–10 week course at the Ce-ramics Studio for Spring2020. Any Allston-Brightonresident age 18+ is eligible toapply, and no prior ceramicsexperience is needed. Thescholarship covers the costof registration and materialsfor one course. The recipi-ent is responsible for pay-ment of a $40 registrationfee.

Scholarship Details - Ap-p l i c a t i o nDeadline: November 8 by5:00pm

Eligible: Allston-Brightonres idents and Ed Porta l

Members—ages 18 andolder.

Cost : The scholarshipcovers the cost of registra-tion and materials for onecourse. The scholarship re-cipient is responsible forpayment of a $40 registra-tion fee.

To find an application,vis i t here: h t tps : / /edportal.harvard.edu/ceram-ics-community-scholarship

APPLICATIONSAVAILABLE FOR 12THROUND OF HARVARDALLSTON PARTNER-SHIP FUND GRANTAWARDS

Applicat ions are re-quested for the 12th round ofgrant awards for theHarvard Allston PartnershipFund (HAPF). A total of$100,000 is available in one-year grants to community-based organizations that pro-vide programs and services toresidents of Allston-Brighton.The Harvard Allston Partner-ship Fund was created byHarvard and the City of Bos-ton, in collaboration with theAllston-Brighton community,to support neighborhood im-provement projects, culturalenrichment, and educationalprogramming in North Allston-Brighton.

Application deadline: No-vember 8 by 5:00pm to the EdPortal. https://edportal.harvard.edu/pro-gram-areas

BEGINNINGINTERNET CLASS

Mystified by the net?Don’t know how to surf? Helpis available on a one on onebasis to get you started. Callfor an appointment and ask for

Alan. Brighton Branch Library/40 Academy Hill Road, (617)782-6032.

ESLC O N V E R S A T I O NGROUPS

Two ESL conversationgroups meet at the BrightonLibrary; One onMonday evening at 6:15pm; The other on Tuesday af-ternoon at 1 pm. Comeand practice your languageskills in an informal and friendlysetting with other new Englishspeakers. Brighton Branch Li-brary/40 Academy Hill Road/(617) 782-6032.

JAMAICA PLAIN

24th TASTE OFJAMACIA PLAIN

Date: Thursday, November14, 2019

Time: 6-9pmPlace: Our Lady of the

Annunciation Church7 VFWParkway, W. Roxbury, MA

Description: Over 20 foodand beverage stations. live mu-sic, entertainment, kids activi-ties, silent auction, fun for thewhole family! Cash bar w/$5drinks for 21+

Price: Admission: $45adults; $35 seniors (62+) & stu-dents (w/ID) $15 children 6-16; Free ages 5 & under

To purchase tickets:eventbrite.com (search esac)

ESAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organizationdedicated to promoting com-munity stability. Proceeds fromthe evening to benefit ESAC’sprograms. ESACwww.esacboston.org 617-524.2555

ANNA’S PALS NIGHT OFREMEMBRANCE ANDLIGHT

Friday November 29th atJamaica Pond will begin withThe Double Burn, a 5k aroundthe pond. Burn your Thanksgiv-ing calories, then burn a candlein remembrance of a lost lovedone. The race begins at 2:30with the Lighting at 4:30. Sep-tember is Leukemia and Pedi-atric Cancer awareness month.In honor of that, all who regis-ter here before September30 will recieve a FREE t-shirton race day!

The events are rain orshine. We hope to see youthere!

NEW PLANSANNOUNCED FOR THE150TH CELEBRATIONOF ST. THOMASAQUINAS PARISH INJAMAICA PLAIN

A special Mass ofThanksgiving with CardinalO’Malley takes place on Sun-day, November 24 at 11 a.m.

It’s best to arrive early forseating purposes.

The dinner/dance atMoseley’s on the Charles,planned for Saturday, Octo-ber 19 has been moved to Sat-urday, November 30, startingat 6 p.m. Tickets at $30. willbe sold after all the weekendMasses at the church. Pay-ment can also be made bysending a check for $30 pay-able to St. Thomas AquinasRectory, 97 South Street, Ja-maica Plain, MA 02130. Acheck-in table will be ar-ranged at Moseley’s. Allformer priests, pastors andreligious have been invited. All former parishioners whoattended the grammar andhigh school are encouraged toattend too.

HYDE PARK

FIXIT CLINICSaturday, November 16

from 9AM-12PM at the Sat-urday, November 16 from9AM-12PM. An all-agesfamily-friendly event: accom-panied children are heartilyinvited!

Register at http://bit.ly/fixitcheckin then: ? Bringyour broken item with allparts necessary to recreatethe symptoms (carry-in only:no oversize items)

? Bring any parts andtools you already own thatmight be helpful (e.g. handtools, sewing supplies)

? Come ready to describewhat’s wrong and whatyou’ve tried

? Come ready to learn andto share your knowledge withothers

Fixit Clinics are FREE do-it-together hands-on fix-n-learn community-based ex-ploration and discovery work-shops staffed by volunteerFixit Coaches who generouslyshare their time, tools and ex-pertise to consult with you onthe disassembly, troubleshoot-ing, and repair of items. Bringyour broken, non-functioningthings - electronic gadgets,appliances, computers, toys,sewing machines, bicycles,fabric items, etc.- for assess-ment, disassembly, and pos-sible repair. Fixit Coaches(and helpful neighbors) will beavailable for consultation onbroken items: we’ll provideworkspace, specialty tools,and guidance to help you dis-assemble and troubleshootyour item. Whether you fix itor not, you’ll learn moreabout how it was manufac-tured and how it worked,ready to share your new-found confidence and insight

CalendarCalendarCalendarCalendarCalendarContinued on page 12


Boston awarded $4.3 million to aid lead paint abatement

To advertise, call the Bulletinat (617) 361-8400

Mayor Martin J. Walsh an-nounced recently that the Cityof Boston has received $4.3million in funding from theU.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development(HUD) to further reduce therisk of childhood lead poison-ing in Boston. The announce-ment comes during NationalLead Poisoning PreventionWeek, which seeks to raiseawareness of lead poisoningprevention and reduce child-hood exposure to lead.

“This funding award is agreat affirmation of our leadabatement work, and will sup-port our efforts in providingsafe and accessible homes to allBostonians,” said MayorWalsh. “Despite being a citywith older housing stock, wecontinue to make great progressin the reduction of lead in Bos-ton homes. This new fundingwill help us to make morehomes safe and healthy for ourfamilies.”

The $4.3 million awarded toBoston’s “Lead Safe” programwill address lead hazards inmore than 300 housing units,providing safer homes for fami-lies with low incomes. Grantfunds will be used to work withhomeowners and landlordswith income-eligible tenants tomake homes lead safe by pro-

viding fully forgivable loans tocomplete the work. Some of thefunding will also be used foridentifying and remediatingmultiple housing-related healthand safety hazards that are notlead-based paint hazards as partof a comprehensive approach.

These grants are providedthrough HUD’s Office of LeadHazard Control and HealthyHomes to identify and clean updangerous lead in privately-owned low-income housing.The funding is part of a $319million competitive HUD fund-ing round which was awardedto 77 city, county and state gov-ernments. The new funds willprotect families by targetinglow-income homes with signifi-cant lead and/or other homehealth and safety hazards.

Young children are particu-larly vulnerable to the toxic ef-fects of lead and can suffer pro-found and permanent adversehealth effects, particularly af-fecting the development of thebrain and nervous system, ac-cording to the World HealthOrganization. Most childrenwith elevated blood lead levelsare exposed through the paintin their homes, especially iftheir homes were built beforethe use of lead paint was pro-hibited in 1978. Four in fivehomes in Boston were built be-

fore 1980, meaning that manychildren may live in homes withlead paint, according to theAmerican Community Survey(ACS). In 2017, less than 2 per-cent of children under the ageof four had elevated blood leadlevels.

According to the Massachu-setts Department of PublicHealth, the percentage ofscreened children with elevatedblood lead levels in Boston hasdeclined 98 percent since 1992.However, even low levels oflead in blood have been shownto affect IQ, attention, and aca-demic achievement in children.It is imperative that parents ofsmall children have annualcheckups scheduled where the

children’s blood is tested.In order to further support

Boston’s efforts in preventingexposure to lead, Mayor Walshhas been advocating for “AnAct relative to lead abatement”sponsored by RepresentativeAngelo Scaccia proposing toincrease the tax credit from$1,500 to $3,000 for the con-tainment or abatement of leadpaint to further protect childrenfrom lead paint contamination.This bill would helphomeowners in Boston mitigate

the expenses associated withthe removal of lead from theirhomes and further encouragethe important work that needsto be done to protect the young-est residents of the City.

Residents who are worriedabout lead paint in their homeshould visit the Boston HomeCenter website at boston.gov/departments/neighborhood-de-velopment /boston-home-c e n t e r # r e s o u r c e s - f o r -homeowners and or call (617)635-HOME.

Novena to St. ClaireAsk St. Claire for three favors,1 business, 2 impossible. Saynine Hail Marys for ninedays, with lighted candle.Pray whether you believe ornot. Publish on the ninthday. Powerful novena. Say“May the Sacred Heart ofJesus be praised, adored,glorified, now and forever,throughout the whole world.Amen.” Your request will begranted, no matter howimpossible it may seem.

—S.G.H.

Novena to St. JudeOh Holy St. Jude Apostle and Mar-tyr, great in virtue and rich inmiracles, near Kinsman of JesusChrist faithful intercessor of all whoinvoke your special patronage in timeof need, to you I have recourse fromthe depths of my heart and humblybeg to whom God has given suchgreat power to come to my assistance.Help me in my present and urgent pe-tition. In return I promise to makeyour name known and cause you tobe invoked. Say three Our Fathers,three Hail Marys and three Glorias.Publication must be promised. St.Jude pray for us and all who invokeyour aid. Amen. This must be said fornine consecutive days. This Novena hasnever been known to fail.

—S.G.H.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin(Never known to fail!)

Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt.Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor ofHeaven, Blessed Mother of the Sonof God, Immaculate Virgin, assist mein this necessity. Oh Star of the Sea,help me and show me herein you aremy mother. Oh Holy Mary, Motherof God, Queen of Heaven and Earth,I humbly beseech thee from thebottom of my heart to succor me inmy necessity (make request). Thereare none that can withstand yourpower. Oh Mary, conceived withoutsin, pray for us who have recourse tothee (three times). Holy Mary, I placethis cause in your hands (threetimes). Say this prayer for threeconsecutive days and then you mustpublish and it will be granted to you.

—S.G.H.


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Library Cards continued from page 7and other outreach programs. InJanuary, the Youth Servicesdepartment welcomed a newYouth Outreach Librarian, re-sponsible for extending BPLservices and programs into thecommunity, especially tounderserved andunderrepresented populations.The Youth Outreach Librarianworks collaboratively withpartners including South CoveCommunity Health Center, theFloating Hospital for Children,

and Boston Children’s Hospi-tal.

The Library has also ex-panded its outreach partner-ships with organizations serv-ing teens. BPL now providesservices to not only the Depart-ment of Youth Services and theMcKinley School, but also toYouth On Fire, a drop-in cen-ter for homeless and street-in-volved youth ages 14-24;Bridge Over Troubled Waters,which provides shelter and ser-

vices for teens who are experi-encing homelessness; and Suc-ceed Boston, providers of coun-seling and intervention for Bos-ton Public Schools students.

Since 2016, programming atthe Children’s Library has morethan tripled, while every month,more than 2,800 teens accessand use Teen Central. To learnmore about the BPL’s offeringsfor kids and teens, please visitbpl.org/kids and bpl.org/teens.

Antiques Roadshow vetvisits German Centre

Brattle Book Shop owner Ken Gloss spoke with residents at the German Centre in West Roxbury regardinghow to tell if a book might be valuable.

PHOTO BY JEFF SULLIVAN


RRRRRoadshooadshooadshooadshooadshowwwwwContinued on page 12

The Deutsches Altenheim-German Centre for ExtendedCare hosted AntiquesRoadshow regular appraiserKenneth Gloss last week for alecture on the rare books hefinds and collects at his bookshop, Brattle Bookshop, inDowntown Boston.

Gloss said his love of col-lecting books came from his fa-ther, who bought the shop in1949. Even after getting a mas-ters degree in chemistry, Glosssaid he found himself comingback to the book shop againand again, helping to build thecollection to what it is today.

“When you get somethingreally really special you still geta chill,” he said. “We got a let-ter from Thomas Jefferson, andit was right after 9/11, concern-ing what to do about traitors andterrorists,” he said. “He liter-ally said they should get the fullprotection of the law and noth-ing else. You’re holding a let-ter that Thomas Jefferson heldand it’s just incredible.”

Gloss said he loves thosemoments.

“I got called in to appraisea four-page account of PaulRevere’s ride by Paul Revere,”he said. “So, you’re sitting thereholding his account of his ridein handwritten pages.”

Gloss said he gets a lot offirst editions from residents.However, he said the key thingis usually rarity, not first edi-tions, as there are hundreds offirst editions that were eithernot very good or not very popu-lar, and the demand for themis low. He added that demandchanges direction about everygeneration.

“I mean why should youlike what your parents orgrandparents liked? Whyshould your kids like what youlike? So it’s just always chang-ing,” he said. “A lot of booksthat are very old that you canhold from the 1600s, 1700s and1800s, people really like that.But now, rather than theHemmingway’s and theFaulkner’s and so on, it’s morelike the beats of Kerouac andGinsberg. It’s more about whateach generation grew up with.”

Gloss said while mid cen-tury first editions are popularnow, even a first edition mod-

ern book can be worth some-thing because of the small printrun.

“The first Harry Potterbooks sells for over $100,000for many first editions. The lastHarry Potter book, there areprobably 10 million first edi-tions, and they’re never goingto be rare or valuable,” he said.

Gloss said the idea is to notonly get his shop’s name outthere for residents with old andrare books, but to share the loveof collecting rare books withresidents.

“I usually do two or threeof these lectures a month,” hesaid. “It’s a way of me gettingout, in a public relations way,to meet people. Someonemight see this article or mylecture and may not remem-ber it until, maybe four or fiveyears later, they’ll have anestate to deal with, or they’removing and then they callme.”

Gloss said he’s alwayshappy to get out of thebookshop during estate salesor when residents move.

Gloss went over several at-


Stonnybrook continued from page 1District 6 City Councilor MattO’Malley.

SNA co-chair Rob Coerverwas surprised.

“This is a change from whatwe’ve been used to,” he said. “Canyou tell us your thought process?”

“We’re architect-developers,”Sousa said. “We didn’t feel com-fortable with four stories and 21units. It didn’t work well with us,it was out of context.

“This is the best use. Everycalculation over the past eightmonths pointed to this. People say‘dense, dense’, but this is mostcomfortable for us.”

Sousa explained that the build-ing has two fronts: Meehan Streetand Washington Street.

“It is a puzzle we are trying towork around,” he said. “So wehave two fronts-wide sidewalkson Washington Street and a land-scaping area in back with six park-ing spaces so that Meehan Streetdoesn’t look at the back of thebuilding. We have maximumopen space for Meehan Street.”

Wide sidewalks and openspace are always music to SNAalthough at eight units there is noaffordability obligation.

The brick-façade building isdominated by two, wide, twostory bay windows that face theEnglish High track field. There arefour units on each floor.

The Meehan Street side is alsodominated by two, two-story widewindowed bays in metallic finishmaterial.

The ground floor is a gener-ous 2,760 square feet for the com-mercial space.

In a rare move, Sousa andLester removed the originalground floor living unit in favorof more commercial square foot-age that they plan as a restaurant.

In fact Sousa and Lester are inthe food service business; Sousasaid he has 20 years experiencein restaurant design and Lester hasa wide background in the restau-rant business.

“ JaHo Coffee and Tea is look-ing for a space in the neighbor-hood, Sousa said. They haveshops in Chinatown and the SouthEnd.

“Since 1999, I’ve designed 25restaurants,” Sousa said. “Theresidential units are driving thisproject. That’s why we want mini-mal odors. Minimal cooking.That’s why we thought JaHo’swas good.”

“We’re still talking with them.We can’t promise you this, butwe’ll do due diligence,” he said.

Sousa said he’s considering abank, but realizes there are a lot ofbanks in Jamaica Plain.

Many in SNA have longwanted a grocer but Sousa admit-ted he hadn’t given this muchthought.

Fred Vetterlein, who ownsproperty on Plainfield St., wasvery happy.

“This is a handsome build-ing,” he said. “2000 square feetof green space is amazing.”

He added that SSG develop-ers has invited Third Cliff Bakeryto open at 3529 Washington St onthe ground floor of The Vita, nownearing completion.

“So this might be a good

blend,” he said.SNA co-chair Jon McCurdy

passed around a sign-up sheet forthe customary subcommittee toreview 3205 Washington St.

Coerver was also happy.“Maybe we can award them a

quick approval,” he said.A quick approval will not be

awarded to Glew and Zahler.They formed Brooksted LLC

in 2018 to develop what is nowcalled 10 Stonley Road, a 16,290square foot former fuel depot.

About 25 Stonybrook neigh-bors showed up for the October24 BPDA Article 80 meeting andput up a wall of resistance.

Jennifer Uhrhane ofRossmore Rd. has heard the pre-sentation three times since May13 and is not satisfied.

“This is a huge wall on StonleyRoad,” she said of the four-storybuilding. “The footprint takes upthe entire lot. It will block sunlight.The SNA wants a smaller foot-print.”

And so it went with only oneneighbor speaking in favor, EvaKaniasty of Plainfield Street.

“It’s a win-win,” she said. “Wehave more trees, wider sidewalksand more affordable housing.”

There are ten affordable unitsplus three artist live-work spacesthat the developers hope canqualify as part of affordable num-ber. The affordable percentage ishigh at 23 percent and there areno public subsidies.

There are five units at 70 per-cent Area Median Income (AMI),three at 50 percent and two at 30percent plus Brooksted will also

contribute $149,000 to theInclusionary Development Policy(IDP) Fund, which funds afford-able units in the city.

Tim Reardon from EglestonSquare was active in the Plan JP/Rox process.

“This is an admirableproject,” he said. “It’s hard toachieve this level of affordabilitywith private financing. This isexactly what Plan JPRox calledfor. If you shrink the size of thebuilding, you make it smaller andthe affordability goes down.”

But Brookley Road residentWylie Proctor was outspoken.

“This is moving much tooquickly,” she said standing up.“We’re being held hostage. Thisis not a NIMBY problem. If yousay you’re against lot size you’reagainst poor people. Not true. Thisbuilding is so big. If you can’tbuild it on this site go somewhereelse.”

Brooksted consultant JayWalsh, who also worked on thenearly completed, 28–unit 76Stonley Rd., which SNA resistedfor nearly two years, repeatedwhat he has said before.

“This neighborhood is beingrebuilt,” he said. “It’s being re-born. It’s transitional property.”

The development cost now is$14.2 million.

“We can’t disclose the landcosts,” Zahler told The Bulletin,“until after we close around the2nd quarter of 2020.”

Walsh put those numbers incontext.

“This is a difficult thing to do,”he said, “to achieve JP Rox guide-lines, it’s expensive to build. Wehave to have something buildable,that’s financially feasible so the

banks will loan.”“That’s your problem,” said

one attendee.SNA maintains that there have

been “no significant changes” inthe design and that more time isneeded for what it calls “substan-tial improvements.”

Embarc architect BillMensinger explained that therehave been six different designssince May resulting in consider-able design changes.

The final Oct 24 design is evendifferent from the Sept23 BPDAfiling design.

There are wider sidewalks, a sixfoot set-back on the fourth floor, moreand wider windows with additionalterracing and two story bay windowsacross the Brookley Road front. Asignature feature is the stair-tower onStonley. Both main the entrance andgarage door are moved to StedmanSt. The artist live-work units will havetheir own entrance on BrookleyRoad.

A three-bedroom unit has alsobeen added at the request of theSNA.

“We’re approaching this as add-ing housing,” Zahler said,“ to helpsolve the problem of the housing cri-sis.”

“Affordable is great,” said oneresident before walking out. “Butthere’s too much density. We can’tsustain so much asphalt.”

“The site is completely pavednow,” Zahler said.

Jon McCurdy of Rossmore Rdasked that the comment period beextended and that he wanted anotherBPDA Article 80 meeting.

BPDA project manager AislingKerr agreed to the first and demurredon the second.


with your friends, neighbors,and the community at large.

More info on Fixit Clinicsat www.fixitclinic.org, https:// w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m /FixitClinic/ Sponsored by:Keep Hyde Park Beautiful |www.keephpbeautiful.org

LEGENDARY SAINTANNE’S BAZAARCELEBRATES SIXTIETHANNIVERSARY!

The annual Saint Anne’sBazaar will be held on Satur-day, November 9th from 10a.m. to 6 p.m. at the BlueHills Catholic Collaborative (formerly Saint Anne’s School)20 Como Road, Readville,MA. Great raffle prizes,beautiful handmade items,and delicious baked goodsawait. Treasures are to befound under the watchful eyeof the white elephant. Therewill be activities for childrenas well as books, toys, DVDsand CDs. A jolly characterin a red suit will be makingan appearance. All are invitedto join the BHCC communityfor lunch and the Pasta Din-ner served at 5 o’clock. Seeold friends and make newones at the Saint Anne’s Ba-zaar!

HYDE PARK YOUTHBASKETBALLASSOCIATIONEXTENDEDREGISTRATION

The Hyde Park Youth Bas-ketball Association will holdplayer evaluations and ex-tended registration on Satur-day, November 2nd and Sat-urday November 9th at theHyde Park Municipal Build-ing. All players may registerbetween the hours of 9:00 –3:00. The schedule for playerevaluations on both thesedates is as follows:

9:00 AM – 9 year olds10:00 AM – 10 year olds 11:00AM – 11 year olds 12:00noon – 12 year olds 1:00 PM– 13 year olds 2:00 PM – 14year olds

Instructional division play-ers ages 6-8 may also regis-ter on these dates.

WEST ROXBURY /ROSLINDALE

HOLY GHOST FATHERSBENEFIT DANCE

The 35th Annual BenefitDance to aid the Holy GhostFathers’ Missions will be heldat the Irish Social Club, 119Park St., West Roxbury, start-ing at 8 p.m. on Friday, No-vember 1. There will be mu-sic by the Andy Healy Band,the Greene-O’Leary School ofIrish Dance, refreshments, andraffles. Tickets are $10 andmay be purchased at the Dooron the night of the dance. Forinformation, call CathyCoppinger at (617-323-2800)or Fr. Peter Nolan at St.Theresa’s Rectory (617-325-1300).

WRFORP HARVESTBRUNCH NOV. 3RD

The West Roxbury Friend’sof Rosie’s Place invite you toits 27th Annual Harvest Brunchand Raffle on Sunday, Novem-ber 3rd from 10:00-12:00 noon.This worthwhile fundraisersupports homeless and poorwomen, Rosie’s Place FoodPantry, Roslindale Food Pan-try and sends homeless andpoor children to summer camp.It will be held at the Irish So-cial Club, 119 Park Street,West Roxbury. Gift certificatesfrom some of your favorite lo-cal restaurants and shops willbe raffled-off. Join the fun andconnect with your friends andneighbors over brunch whilehelping out a beneficial cause.Admission is $20.00. You maypay at the door, by check toWRFORP, PO Box 320076,West Roxbury, MA 02132 orby credit card on our websitewestroxburyfriendsofrosiesplace.org.If you need additional informa-tion, please call 617-469-4199and be sure to check out ourFacebook page and like us atf a c e b o o k . c o m /

WRFriendsRosies@WRFriendsRosies.

PENNY SALESaturday, November 9,

2019 from 6:30PM t0 10PM,Sponsored by the AntiochianWomen of St. George Church,55 Emmonsdale Road, WestRoxbury. An evening ofRaffles and Prizes for all ages!Imagine.... for as little as $5 youmay be going home with veryvaluable prizes - toys, linens,small appliances, bath acces-sories, food baskets, specialdrawings. Refreshments andfree admission.

AN EVENING OFSCOTTISH MUSICAND DANCE

On Saturday 11/2/19 at theIrish Social Club, there will bean evening of Scottish Musicand Dance co-sponsored bythe Boston Branch of theRoyal Scottish Country DanceSociety, Highland Dance Bos-ton, and the Scots’ CharitableSociety.

The program features mu-sic by A Parcel of Rogues—Susie Petrov on keyboards,Dan Houghton on pipes,a n d C a l u m P a s q u a o nfiddle. Calum was the firstAmerican fiddler to win thecoveted Glenfiddich Champi-onship in 2007. You can hearhim play at the 2019 eventat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA_vfkRNjUQ.

Performances of Scottishhighland and country dancingwill be interspersed with ceilidhdances for all, with callersskilled at enabling inexperi-enced dancers to participate inthe fun. A cash bar is avail-able along with complimentarysalty snacks, tea, and coffee.A light Scottish buffet is alsoan option for those who ordertickets in advance. Tickets andmore information at https://m.bpt.me/event/4281482

This is a wonderful, fam-ily friendly event, that cel-ebrates the music, dance, andvibrant cultural heritage ofScotland. All proceeds go to the

Calendar continued from page 8Scots’ Charitable SocietyScholarship Fund; the SCShelps over 30 American-Scotsfulfill their academic potentialeach year.

NEW BROOK FARMWALKING AND TALK-ING WITH THOREAU

Saturday, November 2,2019 (rain date November 3),2:00 – 4:00 pm Brook FarmHistoric Site, 670 Baker Street,West Roxbury New BrookFarm is launching ourfifth Focus on BrookFarm photography and artists’outing with a special guidedwalk with Thoreau re-enactorMr. Richard Smith.

Henry David Thoreaunever lived at the Brook Farmcommunity and only visited itonce, in 1843. But he knew, andwas friends with, many of thecommunity’s members and fre-quent visitors, including Marga-ret Fuller and NathanielHawthorne.

Step back in time as HenryThoreau once again visits BrookFarm! Portrayed by historianRichard Smith, Mr. Thoreau will

lead a walk around the BrookFarm site, discussing his life inthe 1850s and his friendship withthe Brook Farmers.

Please wear sturdy shoes,long pants, and long socks (totuck your pant legs in) as we mayventure off the paths.

The walk will begin promptlyat 2:00 pm.

More information - http://newbrookfarm.org/walking-and-talking-with-thoreau/

PROGRAM FORBECOMING CATHOLIC

St. John Chrysostom, 4750Washington St. WestRoxbury, a welcoming, inclu-sive community of Catholicsfollowing Christ , invitesadults who are consideringbecoming Catholic to registerfor our preparation programwhich begins in the Fall. Con-tact Mary Campion, pastoralassocia te a [email protected] call 617-323-4410.

Roadshowcontinued from page 10

To advertise, call the Bulletinat (617) 361-8400

tributes to look for in a valuable book. Firstly, he said the firstprinted book was the Guetnberg Bible, printed in the 1400s,and is extremely valuable and worth millions. He said anybook written in the 1400s is usually valuable, but after thattimeframe it depends on the book itself. He said signaturescan increase value depending on the author. He said one ofhis friends is an author and had a limited run of his book. Hesigns any copy he can find in a book store, but since the bookitself isn’t very valuable, the signature didn’t add much.

“There are some authors where it is very hard to get theirsignatures,” he said. “J.D. Salinger, who wrote Catcher inthe Rye, he was reclusive, he lived up in the mountains, andhe didn’t sign books except for very close personal friends.His signature adds thousands of dollars to the value becauseyou just can’t get them.”

For more information about the Brattle Shop and Gloss’upcoming events, go to http://www.brattlebookshop.com/about


Truman Rally continued from page 1people to become better thanthey were was his main moti-vation.

“I found great joy in that,”he said. “I also really struggledin the ways in which I couldn’thelp others. I understood froman early age and many in thisroom understand now the powerof municipal politics to reallymake a difference in people’slives.”

In the At-Large race, in-cumbents Michelle Wu, AnnissaEssaibi-George, Althea Garri-son and Michael Flaherty arefacing off against challengersDavid Halbert, Julia Mejia, ErinMurphy and Alejandra St.Guillen.

St. Guillen began her turntalking by discussing how grow-ing up in Mission Hill with herparents – a mixed-race couple– helped to shape her politicalviews during a difficult time inBoston’s history. She started hercareer as a teacher in the SouthBronx and then moved back toBoston to teach a the McKinleySchool in the South End.

“I then led a statewide civicengagement organization wherewe worked with Latino com-munities, communities of colorand low-income communitiesacross the state fighting on thefront lines for English LanguageLearner reform and redistrict-ing,” she said. “We wanted tomake sure that districts through-out the city and the state repre-

sented the people who livedthere. I was very blessed for thelast four years to serve as Di-rector for Immigrant Advance-ment under Mayor Walsh.”

Garrison said her major is-sues as the only conservative onthe Boston City Council wereto submit home-rule petitions toallow the state to host a ballotto bring back rent control andto work on eviction control inthe City of Boston.

“There are several propos-als that I have filed in the citycouncil, and I believe it will takeat least two years to get a lot ofmy legislation passed,” she said.“I’ve only been in office 10months, but I’ve filed a lot oflegislation and I’m ready to rollup my sleeves and fight to makeit become law. Many of you inWest Roxbury know me fromcoming to meetings pertainingto the charter school (RoxburyPrep). I am with you then and Iwill be there with you when I’mreelected.”

Murphy discussed hergrandparents’ campaigns forthe neighborhood, so much soher grandfather RichardMurphy was able to advocatefor a school in her home neigh-borhood of Dorchester and gothis name on the school, thesame school Erin Murphy at-tended and then came back asa kindergarten teacher. Murphysaid as a teacher, she under-stands that the Boston Public

School system is usually aresident’s first interaction withcity government.

“As a kindergarten teacher,I found a lot of times a parent’sfirst interaction with the citywas with the school system,”she said. “So I always madesure that I would not just teachmy students, but advocate andbecome a voice for them andtheir families.”

Flaherty said he is also con-cerned with education, but ad-mitted that Murphy taught allof his children at the MurphySchool, which solicited laugh-ter from the audience.Flaherty said he would con-tinue to fight for the issues hehas fought continuously for, buthe said he wants to promoteturnout as much as possible inthis election, which is an offyear.

“For those in this line ofwork and in this campaign,there’s nothing more defeat-ing than when the turnout isaround 10 percent,” he said.“The presidential elections, thelines are out the door, aroundthe corner and down the streetand they run out of ballots, butwhen something happens onyour street or in your neigh-borhood, you’re not calling thepresident. You’re bumping intoyour city councilor at the cof-fee shop or the ball field orwhatever, but when it comesto municipal elections, particu-

larly in an off year, it’s crick-ets at the polls.”

Mejia discussed her immi-gration from the DominicanRepublic during the busing era,and she said growing up shelearned English from SesameStreet and was the only En-glish speaker in her house fora time. It was then she saidshe learned to be an advocateand the person to bring withyou if you needed a voice in acity office or at the BPS.Mejia said she first foundunity in her relationship with aSouth Boston woman whoshared only one experiencewith her – both their motherswere single moms working fortheir children.

“It is that story that carriesin my heart when I see theCity of Boston and I see theresponsibility I have as some-one who grew up in povertyand understands the impor-tance of social economic in-justice in class,” she said.

Halbert said he workedwith former District CityCouncilor John Tobin, but hesaid that his first encounterwith municipal work came inCincinnati when he was asmall child, when a box offood came to his house.

“It was not just a box offood, it was really an expres-sion of a covenant betweencity government and its peopleabout uplifting them and pro-viding them with what theyneeded when they needed it,and figure out what that next

step was going to be,” he said.“For my mom? It was a ca-reer in public service, andthat’s what brought us to Mas-sachusetts and, for 26 years,I saw my mom do good workfor people in need.”

Essaibi-George, a formerteacher herself, said educationis still her main concern. Shesaid her work as chair of theEducation Committee and theCommittee on Homelessness,Mental Health and Recoveryhas intersected several times,and she wants to work to bringhome the 5,000 students cur-rently at the BPS system ex-periencing homelessness.

“That’s almost 10 percentof our student population, andthat’s a significant amount ofkids who need our attentionand support,” she said.

Wu said she wanted to fo-cus investments on families,but that means investing in theelements that have made Bos-ton a great city to begin with.

“I know we can do it, be-cause Boston has done it be-fore,” she said. “Boston hasalways led the way in thecourse of our history as acountry investing in familiesand our common good. We arethe city that had the first pub-lic park in a city, the first pub-lic library in the country, thefirst public school in the coun-try, the first underground sub-way tunnel for public transpor-tation in the country. Unfortu-nately, it hasn’t changed thatmuch since then.”


lights at all crosswalks to pro-tect pedestrians?

Only 11.17% of votersvoted and they supported thestatus quo. Hmmm, maybe thisis voter suppression at its best,or perhaps Bostonians just feelthat city hall doesn’t give a .....and voting just isn’t worth theeffort. Speaking of voting,Marty Keogh, hope you don’tmind me writing you in for alluncontested seats and an at-large seat too.

Kirby BoyceWest Roxbury

Letters continued from page 4WARD 20REPUBLICANSCONDEMNCHANGES

To the editor: The Ward 20 West

Roxbury Republican Commit-tee meeting in the evening ofMonday, October 28 votedunanimously to condemn theproposed changes to CentreStreet. With no abstentions,and no opposition the “Yeas”carried the resolution to op-pose the Centre Street “road

diet”.Regarding the upcoming

nonpartisan election for Bos-ton City Council a resolutionwas offered to endorse incum-bent City Councilor Garri-son. By voice vote the Ward20 committee resolved to en-dorse At-Large City Coun-cilor Althea Garrison for hercourageous stance against theWest Roxbury Centre Street“road diet”.

Lou MurrayVoting member Ward 20

Legals


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Documents

Boston Bulletin€¦ · Netter said she ended up sleeping on her couch for two months before she told the contractors to get out and ended up doing it herself. Resident Charles Moore