WBUR reports on Josh Kraft's first day as an announced candidate for mayor, in which he said one answer to the city's housing crisis would be giving landlords tax breaks if they agreed not to raise rents. He also called for a pause on construction of new bike and bus lanes, but said he would support the city's "Trust Act" sanctuary-city status for immigrants.
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re: lanes...
By EagleHiller
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 6:12am
Do you think that Josh Kraft has ever taken a bus or ridden a bicycle in the City of Boston?
Do you think Wu ever has
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:44am
Do you think Wu ever has without cameras involved?
Yes, she absolutely has, hundreds of times
By HenryAlan 2.0
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:32pm
It's kind of hard for her to do anything without a camera as Mayor, but when she was in the city council, she mostly commuted by bus to Forest Hills and Orange Line from there. Sometimes she biked. I have personally seen her on the Orange Line dozens of times, and also come across her biking on the Southwest Corridor. She walks the walk, but go ahead and keep complaining about whatever imagined grievance you think you have.
You missed one
By robo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:02pm
Her police driver also runs reds lights and gets into accidents while improperly using emergency lights in a non emergency while she’s in the vehicle. Then continues to do it weeks after the accident.
A mayor of the Boston people!
And?
By BostonDog
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:51pm
Cops do this when they aren't driving Wu too. So it's a police thing, not a Mayor thing.
So
By robo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 3:44pm
You’re suggesting that Mayor Wu would also turn a blind eye if she witnessed any of the other questionable police behaviors because they always do it. Wow, that’s real leadership!
Listen
By Sator
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 5:21pm
You really gotta stop holding the strawman you erect in front of your perceived opponent responsible for your big feelings like that.
I love how sore you act, it telegraphs what a massive loser you are. Or maybe you're a sore winner?
Mayor Wu?! Is that you?
By robo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 8:39pm
Lol, loser anon.
my brother in christ
By berkleealum
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 8:11am
you make it clearer every time you post that you do not live here and you probably never have. i see the mayor like 7-8 times a year at various events i play at. she's almost always there with no entourage. she even plays the piano sometimes. you literally do not know what you are talking about.
Your blind love for Mayor Wu is showing
By robo
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 11:55am
Wtf does seeing her out have anything to do with running red lights? Typical liberal response to a statement they don’t like - just change the subject and lob insults.
I’d encourage you to actually think about things. I know it’s scary, but I believe in you. Just because you like Mayor Wu doesn’t mean you can’t be critical of some things she does too.
FYI - I lived in Boston my entire life. Went to college there and adulted there until I realized there are way nicer places to live. I still have property in Boston, which is why I still care about that dump.
you know what?
By berkleealum
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 12:11pm
I read the comment that said something to the effect of the mayor not doing anything without cameras present and assumed it was yours. my mistake.
Who do the police work for?
By anon
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 3:03pm
Who do the police work for?
Saw her on the 36 in 2019
By MyManMyMelo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:02pm
She had one of her boys. Front of the bus.
Is quasi better than failed?
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 6:24am
Is quasi better than failed?
This guy is a right wing joke
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:21am
This guy is a right wing joke. The Boston Globe is going to love him, theyve been so sullen since Baker left they need another right wing hack thatll help focus government more on the rich.
Re: Charlie Baker
By Gary C
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 9:46am
Not sure yet about Kraft, but I wouldn't ever call Baker "right wing". Plus, I think the Globe - perhaps grudgingly - actually liked Charlie.
“i wouldn't ever call Baker right wing”
By MyManMyMelo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:26am
Don't worry.
I would.
The Globe loved Baker, they
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:33am
The Globe loved Baker, they endorsed him twice. You would have to be pretty conservative to not consider Baker right wing. Rolled back environmental enforcement, destroyed public transit, former director of the conservative Pioneer Institute.
Krafty
By Anne Marie
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:36am
Did he ever vote in Boston? Can he find his way on the T to Mattapan Square?
Kraft may have lived in
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:41am
Kraft may have lived in Newton, But Mayor Michelle Mi Wu is from Chicago.
I find her mayorship suspect, because while George received more contributions from the citizens of Boston Wu received more out of state money.
Since most voters have average to low information on candidates, races and issues and by and large election victories are a function of money then given the current state of campaign finances her victory is the manifestation of someones’s agenda. I realize that cuts both ways in some cases, but here we are.
Is Wu Boston’s mayor, or the establishments?
The difference between Chicago and Chestnut Hill
By adamg
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 9:44am
Wu didn't wake up one morning in Chicago and decide she wanted to be mayor of Boston and then moved here because of that pesky residency requirement.
She moved here to go to school, moved back to Chicago, then moved back here for law school, this time setting down roots here (her sister went to Boston Latin School). She interned for Tom Menino and was elected a Boston city councilor (at large, so she had to win votes across the city) and then re-elected three more times before running for mayor.
In contrast, Kraft grew up and lived in Newton - up until late 2023, when he woke up one morning and decided, hey, he wants to be mayor of Boston. So he picked up a no doubt charming little pied-a-terre in the North End and set about getting ready to run for mayor of a city where he has never lived and where he has never voted in a single municipal election (on account of, you know, not living here).
Now, granted, he's familiar with Boston through all his charity work, so good for him. But if we're comparing carpetbagger status, there's really no comparison.
My motivation as my adverse
By Frelmont
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:45pm
Fair point. Neither are substantially “carpetbaggers.”
My motivation to comment was from my adverse reaction to her news clip. It was not a good look for Mayor Wu to stoop to pettily saying her opponent’s candidacy is illegitimate because he’s from a neighboring zip code.
what?
By berkleealum
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 8:12am
how did you get "neither are carpetbaggers" from what Adam said?
He didn't even live in Newton
By Kaz
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 2:12pm
He lived in Brookline. But since he wasn't the homeowner (and thus didn't have to deal with assessing, water/sewer, deeds, etc.) I'm sure he never realized he was on the Brookline side of the town line in "his" house on Beresford.
I don't know yet if this guy ever lived in a house he actually purchased or not.
Oh man
By robo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 8:23am
Kraft might actually have a chance here!
Sarcastic?
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 9:23am
Or serious?
NIMBY champion
By Angry Dan
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 8:54am
NIMBYs love to carry on about "people who weren't even born here" but this is the kind of millionaire carpetbagger they can get behind.
His daddy owns the football team and he dropped 2 mil on a condo, so obviously he should become mayor and elon our cycling and public transit infrastructure. Anything that millionaires and billionaires don't need should be eliminated. I bet they'll love that landlord tax break idea.
He's certainly not a NIMBY
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 9:04am
He's certainly not a NIMBY with regards to housing (to be honest, more important than bike lanes)
Love the use of "elon" as a verb.
By Reggae Ambassador
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:26am
Particularly a pejorative one.
Nicely done.
NIMBY is not a slur.
By Frelmont
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:43pm
NIMBY is not a slur.
I prefer the Mac and cheese
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 8:59am
Josh, if you really cared about housing why don’t you start financing large urban housing developments?
Hopefully folks can see for themselves where electing an out of touch rich guy gets you.
Beneath contempt
By SC from JP
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:08am
Cannot adequately describe my loathing for this guy whose entire resume is "my daddy is really rich" and who DOESN'T LIVE IN BOSTON parachuting in and thinking he should run the city.
i'm not Wu superfan, but the contrast with a child of immigrants who lives in Rozzie and sends her kids to BPS could not be stronger. Hopefully she humiliates him in November. Ugh.
Bike lanes are popular
By bostoneer
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:09am
“According to a survey by MassINC Polling Group in 2021, 50 percent of Boston residents probably or definitely would bike more if separated bike lanes were in their neighborhood. And 77 percent of Boston respondents supported building separated bike lanes even if some space for driving or parking was removed.” https://files.constantcontact.com/e6e14db6301/a2fd95a5-a8bc-4ea5-bea2-23...
Yeah…naw
By MyManMyMelo
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:05pm
I don't believe those numbers at all. I just don't.
Statistics
By Bostoneer
Fri, 02/07/2025 - 12:46pm
They are based on a statistical rigorous study. If they don't match your anecdotal experience maybe consider that the people you associate with are not an unbiased or representative sample of the city population?
What kind of rent control is that??!
By Lee
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:09pm
It’s just another way to subsidize greedy rent gauging landlords. Here, we’ll kowtow to you and pay you protection money in the form of tax breaks if you promise not to raise rents this year. This jackass insults our intelligence.
Yep, this 100%
By HenryAlan 2.0
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:38pm
He wants to reward landlords for increasing their rent too quickly. Yes, some good comes from the approach in that some people might get more stable rents, but he would do this without costing the land lords one cent, by instead charging other Boston tax payers for the subsidy. This is not a serious solution.
Glass houses
By 02120
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 10:23am
"Frankly I'm a little surprised that someone who hasn't even voted for mayor or city council in the city thinks that he's ready to lead the city," Wu said.
Honestly? Mayor Wu endorsed (read: hand-picked) a candidate for City Councilor at Large who never voted for anyone and was not even registered!
My first thought
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 11:06am
Also, hysterical, Wu trying to call him a carpetbagger.
How many years had she lived
By MattL
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:17pm
How many years had she lived in Boston before she ran for mayor, and was it more than the handful of month's Josh has?
For those of us not up to
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:54pm
For those of us not up to date on every endorsement of every politician of every other politician in Boston politics can you provide some names with the innuendo?
I actually am supportive of Kraft but also really do not like wink wink nod nod comments like this without any sort of back up.
Not innuendo
By 02120
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 3:32pm
Henry Santana was not registered to vote and had never voted prior to running for City Councilor at Large in 2023. I am guessing you did not vote in the 2023 City Elections.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/24/wu-backed-candidate-for-boston-c...
I will admit , I missed this
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 5:34pm
I will admit , I missed this drama but in reading the story I do not see what the problem is. He had difficulty getting his paperwork in order and kept trying until it was resolved. In the mean time he worked in outreach and participated in the process in ways available to him. How does this make him a bad guy and how does this make Wu a bad person?
"Santana, 27, emigrated from the Dominican Republic as a child, and became a U.S. citizen at the age of 17, but lacked the documentation to prove his citizenship until this past year, he told the Herald on Monday."
The entire article seems to have a different tone from the headline. You also seemed more focused on the headline then the actual story.
I mentioned before that I actually prefer Kraft over Wu but I do believe your comment was wink wink , nod nod and was a hit below the belt considering the story and substance of the story.
I'm not sure that's better?
By ScottB
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 12:40am
You get a Certificate of Naturalization when you become a citizen If you lose it you fill out a form to have the government replace it. If you don't have enough sense to protect or replace the document which proves you have a right to stay in this country, it doesn't seem to me that you're quite ready to make public policy. Then again, this is the Boston City Council where the examples are being set by Kendra Lara and TFA so he's probably a great fit!
I expect closer scrutiny as the campaign progresses...
By CopleyScott17
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 11:00am
..but I find it very curious how any reference to his marriage seems to have been scrubbed from his biography. No mention on his campaign website, which at least acknowledges his two adult daughters.
No mention on Wikipedia. And no mention in the ludicrously laudatory puff piece Boston Magazine published last July (posted link below -- I hope). Seems odd for a nepo baby to downplay family.
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2024/07/30/josh-kraft-boston/
which wife?
By EagleHiller
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:42pm
Carolyn, from Newton, who is an Anti-DEI petitioner, anti-electrification activist, and doesn't want Newton to comply with the MBTA Communities law?
Has he had more than one?
By CopleyScott17
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 1:16pm
This one sounds like the one I've heard rumors about. Oddly enough, the article about electrification you linked to mentions her former father-in-law, but doesn't say which of the Kraft kids she was married to.
Boy, if I didn't know better, I'd suspect there's a concerted PR effort to avoid mentioning Josh!
The Boston Magazine article mentions
By EagleHiller
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 4:16pm
his curent partner is Michelle Perez Vichot, who like Kraft, worked at the Boys and Girls Clubs. She now works at the ritzy 'Quinn Club, a private members-only social club on Beacon Hill.
The article: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2024/07/30/josh-kraft-boston/
Check this opulence: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/dining/a37776673/the-quin-hous...
I would normally avoid
By Matt Frank
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:35pm
I would normally avoid stepping into Boston Mayoral politics but you seem to be intent on making things very personal about people who are not in the race and you are employing very shoddy research to boot. I realize that as a resident of Chelsea maybe my opinion does not matter because I do no live over the magical line into East Boston (I presume you are East Boston based off of the Eagle Hill moniker that you created 3 weeks ago, if it means anything my grandfather was born in Eagle Hill over a hundred years ago before he met my Chelsea grandmother who was from a family of factory workers on the creek.) I was a little surprised by the job you mentioned for Michelle so did some research and yes she does work for Quinn House... for the impact fund, the charity side that gives millions of dollars to local charities. I get how the research can be a little difficult, it was typing three words into Google after all.
I have personally dealt with the Mayor and with Kraft and find them both to be committed good people but they are also politicians and getting whacked for silly things comes with the territory. It seems to me that maybe we should leave family off limits unless there is a pressing reason to do so and quite frankly I do not see what Michelle Perez Vichot did for you to decide to take a swing , a poorly researched one at that, at her. I have known her for a very long time through her work in Chelsea and she deserves better than to have a nameless faceless troll taking swings at her.
I would suggest that there are many many many people who personally like her (and Josh too) that would normally stand aside but might jump into races to assist if character starts getting slimed.
As I said I like both candidates. Have engaged with both candidates. I am not interested in getting involved in a race that does not involve my city (directly, but as we all know it involves all of us in Greater Boston to some extent) but some of these comments are from people who clearly have never seen the work Josh Kraft has done in communities that other people would not invest in when they needed it most. So I felt the need to say something.
sliming
By EagleHiller
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 10:00am
Matt, I had no intention of sliming anyone. I'm sorry you read my comments that way.
Good catch.
By CopleyScott17
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 7:46pm
I didn't think to search for partner, just wife and wedding...
Well most of our
By anon
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:15pm
Well most of our superintendents come from other city’s or states. This recent one is from Somerville the last California. Is it any real requirements for these high positions nowadays except for being a resident???
Put money on it
By Residente
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 12:40pm
Wu wins. Kraft doesn't have a chance. I'm willing to put money on it and give you favorable odds.
Has he lived in any of these places ever?
By Kaz
Wed, 02/05/2025 - 2:06pm
So, supposedly from around October 2020 to around July 2024 (but even around as recently as December) he lived at 8 Beresford Road in Chestnut Hill (in the Brookline part, Newton actually bordered on his backyard but he was in Brookline). Except the purchaser was "Balter Bradley" as the Trustee of the realty trust that bought the place. Interestingly, both Balter and Josh were investors in at least one Israeli startup (Cellolo) so at least they knew each other and he wasn't just squatting in someone else's house.
But the new place in the city is 2 Battery Wharf #2308 and that was bought by Two BW Boston LLC (registered to 1 Patriot Place) in October 2023 from a couple that left the city to help kids in Cary, NC...but were regular donors to the Boys & Girls Club (where Josh has been CEO). But he doesn't seem to claim to live there until April 2024 at the earliest.
It'd be interesting to know if anything other than his mail ever goes in the door there. It's not like Balter sold 8 Beresford when Josh "moved out" so there's no reason to think he might not still be there. Nobody else seems to be associated with that address since he "moved" to Battery Wharf. I wonder if there's even patio furniture on the balcony at #2308.
Raising Rents will never stop
By Some Ville
Thu, 02/06/2025 - 7:57am
but not just because landlords are "greedy".
It's how banks determine the value of a building. The sum total of all the listed rents over some period of time. Not raising rents hurts their debt to equity ratio and ability to take loans against the building, not to mention if they get too far underwater the bank can call in the loan entirely.
Tax breaks to landlords also will not trickle down to their tenants, they will just pocket the difference because...they can't raise rents to increase their bottom line.
Until they are enough units on the market that supply is approaching demand, we will not have competition for tenants, so price competition won't happen.
Commercial landlords will literally let units sit empty for years rather than lower rents, because of the valuation impact it will have overall. They'll keep writing off the losses to mitigate the damages, or try to get zipcar/cell phone tower/etc income to compensate (like that abandoned building in eastie on the way to the airport).
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