Hey, there! Log in / Register
Councilors: There might be better ways to help the homeless than spending $100 million on a new bridge to Long Island
By adamg on Thu, 03/26/2015 - 7:57am
City Councilors Tito Jackson (Roxbury) and Steve Murphy (at large) both want to look at alternatives to rebuilding what is now the rapidly disappearing bridge to the shelters and workshops on Long Island.
Jackson, who said the new bridge could wind up costing $100 million, said it might make more sense to spend all that money on housing for the homeless, because "this is an issue that's really based on housing." And he said the city should do something to help the private non-profit groups that had programs on Long Island and which he said are now on the brink of bankruptcy because of the problems caused by the old bridge's shutdown last fall.
Murphy, who noted that the tens of millions spent on replacing the bridge means that much less money for other programs in the city, did not call for an end of programs on Long Island, because he said he had a cheaper fix: The city should spend $4 million for a ferry to get program participants and workers to the island.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Build a Casino on the Island
Build a Casino on the Island with Ferry service to and from Charlestown or East Boston and North End or South Boston. This would have paid for the bridge and then some.
Forget about spending
Forget about spending $100million on a bridge, city of Boston can use that money to build housing on the Island for the homeless, get a non profit to ferry people to the Island .
Or the Council could figure out
a way to construct a new bridge for considerably less than $100 million. Acknowledging that constructing a new bridge where a bridge used to exist, thus negating the need for those "necessary" environmental studies, plublc hearings, local focus groups, etc. etc., would go a long way in reducing the overall price tag, not to mention the time frame for completion, for the project.
And where does Mr. Jackson...
suppose to locate all this permanent homeless housing when it took almost an act of Congress to find a temporary spot due to the closing of the shelter? Good luck with that.
And what happens when the ferry can't run due to the weather (which, we have seen from this past winter) is nothing to snuff at?
Heck, I understand $100 million is a lot of bucks to rebuild a bridge, and even though I cringe to think we outsource our homeless to an island, the Long Island shelter is in place. I don't think Mr. Jackson and Mr. Murphy have thought the issues out too well.
A 5 year old can figure this
A 5 year old can figure this one out ! A bridge is crucial and will be needed , especially when there are people on the island and buildings, in case of a fire or someone with a health emergenc,.how the hell will emergency personel get there, with a canoe!!
Lots of islands
In the US there are thousands of island with inhabitants and no bridge connection. The larger of these islands have medical/safety personnel who can help in an emergency while help is brought in by ship/air. When a big storm is coming sometimes they evacuate the island so they don't take the risk of having people stranded in an emergency.
Why is this not possible with Long Island? Why can't you have a basic fire/paramedic/police presence -- the island already had this previously when connected via bridge. Honest question here.
I think the proximity of the
I think the proximity of the island to land, making it possible to build a bridge to allow for emergency response makes for a strong reason to build that bridge.
To your question, when the island was operating as normal, Boston Fire had a single Engine company (THE Fire Brigade/Engine 54) staffed on the island, but even a fire alarm in a building prompted a Ladder company from Boston to get in a van, drive to the island and get in an older Ladder truck housed on the island (BFD responds to all fire alarm calls with 1 engine & 1 ladder).
BPD had a detail officer on the island for the public health programs, but even with the bridge, backup still took several minutes to reach the island, and every so often, an officer would end up needing that backup fast, much faster than any boat would arrive. So without a bridge, you'd need several cops on the island for safety reasons when just one was sufficient if there was a bridge for cars to quickly access the island.
Wow
That is absurd. How long does that whole process take? I assume the van is needed because a ladder truck was too heavy to go across the old bridge? If you can't afford to station a ladder company on the island, wouldn't it at least be faster to get a ladder company from Quincy to come over?
There were staff there
The fire protection staff on the island was designated the "Long Island Fire Brigade" and had radio contact with Boston Fire Alarm. The official designation was Engine 54 and Ladder 31 until they were renamed the 'brigade' which was a change in classification. These are older but functional apparatus that are on the island just in case. Quincy would have been the first in were additional apparatus required to go in to fight an actual fire due to geographical proximity, followed by units from Dorchester. The island is assigned to boston Fire District 8. Due to the weight restrictions on the bridge however, smaller vehicles would be necessary to haul in manpower and additional hose. It was not a perfect solution but one that functioned under the circumstances.
More info here: http://www.bostonfirehistory.org/activefirehouseengine54.html
According to firenews.org... "Boston, Mass Fire Department- The Fire Brigade (E54) on Long Island has been shut down as of January 1st due to the damaged bridge. The crews have been reassigned throughout the city. It is not known at this time if the station will reopen when repairs are complete, although the department will have at least a detail crew on the island when summer camps and activities are taking place. "
However, any usage on the island seems to be in question at this point in time.
Any new bridge will have to meet modern weight carrying standards.
Totally Unrealistic
You just cannot compare these relatively underpopulated islands that manage to get by without a bridge connection with a place where Boston warehouses a very large population of its poorest, most vulnerable citizens, including many mentally ill or drug/alcohol addicted, a situation which generates a huge number of emergency calls. Putting all these people back on the island without a new bridge is not a viable option. There are really only two choices: build a new bridge or somehow find new locations for all these programs that together represent a good chunk of Boston's homeless/addict/etc. social efforts. But not only would the cost of finding these new locations be exorbitant, but you also have to consider the NIMBY effect. Everybody wants to help these people, as long as they stay out of sight in the outer South End and South Bay, or, of course, out on Long Island. Take the hit and build the bridge. The Island is too valuable of a resource for the city to let it die.
That's an excellent question.
This may be a good opportunity for Tito and the gang to actually earn the pay raises they've been slobbering over.
Makes sense to me
Plus the residents of Quincy's Squantum neighborhood have been burdened with all the traffic that flows through their peninsula to access moon and long island. More than 50 buses a day not to mention fire and police and EMS vehicles. The moon and long island workers are notorious for tailgating drivers on the Squantum causway.
OMG
there's TRAFFIC in our neighborhood. That's totally unacceptable.
To the NIMBYs in Quincy who created this situation by not allowing the CIty of Boston to repair the bridge in the first place - get a life.
Casino?
Just like the Nimby's in Boston who are fighting tooth and nail against a casino in Revere, right?
It's about time surrounding communities go against big, bad Boston when it's in their best interest
Fine then
But require the surrounding communities to provide actual proof to back up their claims, instead of the current system of "prove us wrong" and "we don't want this, so we are automatically right" system we have in place.
So its being a NIMBY now to
So its being a NIMBY now to fight to get something closer to your backyard? Plus, the casino deal was shady as hell and should have never went through in the first place.
That's a new one. Have any
That's a new one. Have any evidence that Boston was ready to spend money to fix the bridge, but vocal Quincy residents wouldn't let them?
My son went to school in Squantum when he was younger
We did not live in that neighborhood (he went for a special ed program), and the other parents sure made it known to us that we were outsiders. Squantum is full of snotty people, and nimby-ism clearly exists there.
That said, Squantum is a through and through residential neighborhood with narrow residential streets that house a lot of children. The area is simply not built for high traffic, and that is a completely valid thing to be concerned about in such a neighborhood.
Heck, the regular T bus that serves the areas only goes up one street and then back down another cause it can't really fit anywhere else, and runs very infrequently and not at all after 7 pm.
Plus there is an early intervention center that hosts frequent child care groups right at the former entrance to the bridge, another thing that makes high traffic in that area a problem. Back in the day when we went there, we would sometimes have trouble getting out of the parking lot.
I am all for the bridge being replaced (and even more for the housing solution). But I also think it is more than fair to address what is a very valid neighborhood concern.
How many emergency vehicles
How many emergency vehicles daily? How much longer do you think it will take them to reach someone in need if they need to get on a boat to get out to the island?
Hey, maybe Quincy could they
Hey, maybe Quincy could they actually deal with their drug and homeless problems themselves instead of dumping them on Boston, then we wouldn't need the island anymore.
So I was right !!!!
When they closed the bridge I said say good bye to long island shelter that the politicians would say it cost to much to fix and here is just more proof like everything in boston it will be turned into over priced housing in a secure gated community and again then homeless will be screwed !!!
I also wonder ho many of the homeless and drug addicted have died over the winter since the closing of long island I notice a lack of reports in the news media and you cant tell me with all the snow and cold this winter there was not multiple people who have frozen to death !!!
Do some research and report back
Shouldn't be hard to find out how many homeless people died in Boston this winter. Let us know what you find.
Check out punctuation while you're on Google. It's pretty helpful.
Wow.
Way to show some sympathy, dude. Here you go, enlighten yourself:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0126/Blizzard-2015-How-Boston-...
Sympathy?
Data is more important in policy making than sympathy - I want to see the city help the most people possible with $100m vs. having a feel good story or whatever.
Grammar Nazi
So apparently you have nothing better to do with your life the comment on someones punctuation ??? Why dont your take your grammar nazi superiority and shove it where the sun dont shine !!!!!
Answer the question?
I'd seriously like to know if more people died this year due to the closure. I don't know if there were more deaths specifically due to the lack of access to Long Island and I think that's a core issue when we discuss whether or not to spend $100m on a bridge.
I agree, Thomas
This article is from last December:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/15/city-announces-plans-for-she...
You're a terrible person,
You're a terrible person, Thomas.
Banishing the homeless to an island is an entirely immoral way to handle the problem. The Long Island facility was one of Boston's most shameful policies. The Long Island bridge failure has finally forced us to confront it.
Instead of another bridge, let's spend that $100 million dollars building something decent, on the mainland, near other helpful resources, to treat homeless people like human beings.
Not a de facto prison on an island.
Let's not go over the top.
Let's not go over the top.
Long Island was damned good at keeping addicted and troubled homeless people separated from the temptations and troubles that brought them down to begin with. If we could afford a bridge we should build it.
Obvious solution
Have the homeless swim there each day. Healthy exercise, get out of the water, towel off. Clean and energized, ready to face the day.
A chopper
Just one nugget to consider: In addition to boats, in an emergency a helicopter could bring needed people on or off the island. Given the 100 million dollar price tag, ferries and choppers don't sound so far-fetched.
Other ideas.
No bridge, just a take off and landing ramp like Evel Knenieval's Snake River jump
Horizontal gondola like the one in NYC.
GoogleRaft
$100,000,000
Just take Squantum by eminent domain. Build it there.
Alternative to house the
Alternative to house the homeless , City of Boston can use the $100 M to purchase a used cruise ship and leave it docked at Longwharf .
Why not develop it?
Just out of curiosity, why has use of the island been so limited all this time? When they originally built the bridge which is there now, was the plan to use it only for miscellaneous government services?
An idea!
San Francisco has an island that's been developed into public housing, ferry access only: http://sftreasureisland.org/residential-leasing-citys-newest-neighborhood
New York's islands including Randall's and Roosevelt, also contain public housing and homeless shelters. Randall's Island has car access but Roosevelt Island is tram-access only.
Why does Long Island have to have only homeless shelters? Why not permanent housing programs, too? Why is a bridge necessary? Granted, Long Island might be smaller, or further out in the bay than the other islands, but other cities have their islands sorted out fairly well.
Roosevelt Island has the Tram
Roosevelt Island has the Tram, Subway (F line) and full blown bridge into Queens. There is also no homeless shelter, and most of the old Mitchell-Lama buildings (3 rentals, 1 coop) are privatized or in the process of privatizing. Furthermore, the Mitchell-Lama buildings were never public housing, they were tax abated with certain rent restrictions to keep them affordable for middle income. Lastly, RI, while technically part of Manhattan (zip code wise), is actually its own weird thing that is directly controlled by the State which leased the island from the city for 99 years to develop it. Really a cool experiment in urban planning.
I'd describe Roosevelt Island
I'd describe Roosevelt Island as a dismal dystopian version of Disney's Main Street USA.
Lol, yes, the original
Lol, yes, the original buildings are definitely have a brutalist/soviet era feel. The new stuff/buildings are very nice though, and the old Main St has been redone (pretty nicely) now that Hudson/Related are running the retail on the Island instead of the (highly) incompetent RIOC.
And here's a picture:
And here's a picture:
http://goo.gl/maps/bjEDY
Those identical red and white signs that say Catholic Church, Nail Salon, Flower Shop, The Thrift Store, and Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department are so awful and bureaucratic that it makes them interesting.
Pretty much. However, Google
Pretty much. However, Google maps is pretty out of date - Hudson/Related have actually done a decent job rehab/redoing the entire main drag and have attracted new (not shitty) business. The newer parts of the island, though, are pretty nice :)
What does "spend $4 million
What does "spend $4 million for a ferry" mean? Would that just cover buying the boat, or also its operating costs in perpetuity?
What links are in place for this institution & Shattuck Hospital
What links are there between this institution and the Shattuck Hospital ?... How are they partnered working together to serve clients?...
some of the webpages checked so far
https://www.google.com/search?q=shattuck+hospital
AGAIN THE MOST VUNERABLE
AGAIN THE MOST VUNERABLE PEOPLE GET KICKED TO THE CURB SOOOO SAD