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City councilor starts listing all the cool stuff to do downtown and on the Common
By adamg on Sun, 08/18/2024 - 5:09pm
For the past couple of days, at-large Councilor Henry Santana has been listing interesting and fun stuff to do in Downtown Crossing and across Tremont on Boston Common.
His posts come after Councilor Ed Flynn, whose district includes downtown, called the area a modern-day Gotham City and urged the immediate end of all public events on the Common
Santana acknowledged some recent problems downtown - Flynn made his call following a stabbing Wednesday morning on Winter Place - but said abandoning downtown to the Joker is the wrong way to do things, and besides, downtown actually remains safe. Also, the answer includes more people downtown, not less:
I believe public events on Boston Common and in Downtown Crossing are a part of the solution, not the problem. These events bring positive energy and much-needed activity to Downtown and our city, supporting local businesses and bolstering our tourism industry.
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune has also been promoting downtown events:
Events downtown? Love to see it!
This isn't downtown Boston, some councilors say:
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
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Comments
These councilors are so immature
Henry, do something to address the issues of homelessness, drug addiction and youth violence that are the reason some feel unsafe at times on the Common.
Seriously these bozos are competing for clout and clicks. Work the fucking problem.
The elephant in the room...
The COVID pandemic caused a huge shift from the office to work from home, so office space and foot traffic in that area reduced as businesses in that area closed. Without that occupancy, tax revenue decreases. As such, DTX has now been replaced with the groups you described, and while not at Mass & Cass levels, it's enough to discourage people from being there..
I fully agree the politicians should get out of PR mode, stop spinning fan fiction, and get moving on solving those three problems.
partly right
as someone who has worked in the area for over 15 years, DTX is definitely less safe during business hours monday-friday, partly due to decreased foot traffic. it is certainly not the combat zone in its peak, but its definitely not a comfortable place to walk around leisurely.
that said, DTX has been sketchy on nights and weekends as long as i can remember. to overcome that, we need more residential space in the area. i know a number of buildings are in the process of converting from office/retail to residential, but that will take a few years to come to fruition.
Last paragraph
Its not just politicians. It’s their lap dogs like Adam here being their proverbial load speaker.
The last time the greenway was this bad, we had a bunch of losers living there as part of Occupy.
People strung out all day, everyday. Needle caps everywhere, abandoned wheelchairs, S Station is a nightmare and clearly someone has told the MBTA cops to overlook it.
I’ve seen more people taking out in stretchers than I have cuffs. Regardless of the fact people are openly using and living by the front door.
I think the long-coming
I think the long-coming implosion of the T has also contributed. Even without the office traffic, I know plenty of people who would head downtown as part of larger evening plans involving a show, a dinner, etc - arrive early and shop a little, stay late and walk a little - but now with the T making that a trip taking somewhere between 2 and infinite hours, are less likely to do so - instead they will drive in and park for the duration of a show, or go out to eat/shop somewhere closer to home. It's just not particularly convenient to go down there from a lot of places anymore.
It kind of makes sense that
It kind of makes sense that Flynn would be OK with abandoning downtown to the Joker: it's just professional courtesy to another clown.
Is Ed being over the top
Yes. Are the other councilors ignorant to actual conditions downtown, absolutely.
One death is one too many. I
One death is one too many. I have an acquaintance who lost a child over a decade ago for being in Downtown Crossing. Could Councilman Flynn’s request liberate any federal dollars? I agree when we change our ways, evil doers win.
Are you high?
Can a city councilman’s complaint about crime release federal dollars? No.
If any of the crime is
If any of the crime is associated with terror groups, or an artful argument can be made.
I don’t understand your post.
Are you saying the Common should be closed to organized events because someone died in DTX 10 years ago? Or that if we do that, the evil doers will win?
What’s this about federal dollars?
Flynn is acting more like some scaredypants suburbanite who has never set foot on the Common than like a city councilor who is supposed to be representing the best interests of the district.
Last year I see two DTX murders*
What’s wrong with using the bully pulpit to bring attention to the problems in the Dwntwn Crssng area? I get that there’s politics, philosophies, ambitions and culture involved. If shaking things up leads to harm reduction, that’s good. If doing nothing is least harmful, then that’s good. I mean, there are the risks in personal harm and harm to commerce. Plus there are the unknown future risks.
*
https://www.universalhub.com/crime/home.html
So be straight forward and just bring …
… attention to the problems in DTX.
Closing the Common to public events is ass backwards and will only make the Common more dangerous because of fewer people in it.
It will also reduce the number of people who dine in Chinatown or shop in DTX because people often combine these activities with attending events on the Common.
Flynn is doing a huge disservice to his constituents in Chinatown and to the city as a whole.
What’ll the fool think of next?
To answer the original
To answer the original question, given the little I know, I think cancelling the weekend’s events would have unwarranted. Do we know anything about the victim?
I think the Councilman’s attempt to bring attention to the pathologies in and around the Commons was drowned out by the counter rah! rah! reactions to it. Hopefully, the reactions gave the area a boost. Is Flynn trying to say we’re about to have a San Francisco on the Common on our hands? Is that where we’re headed? I don’t know. Probably not?
07:46, 08192024, Also, is Flynn alluding to the pro-HMS, pro-IJ rallies that may coincide with the DNC Natn’l Convention, or the school year?
Universal Hub>Crime>Downtown
https://www.universalhub.com/crime/20220702/man-stabbed-repeatedly-bosto...
what are those?
I don't see why Harvard Medical School needs a public rally, and I have no idea what IJ is.
Har, har…
Har, har… (Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.)
I don’t understand your point
I don’t understand your point.
One death is too many so we should…
Ban all private gun ownership? (Leading cause of death for children in the US?
Zero tolerance for speeding (year revocation of license) and a lifetime revocation for drunk driving? (Vehicles are the second leading cause of deaths for children in the US)
Ban park events because you have an acquaintance whose child was killed near one?
Add- enforce the Ma Hands
Leery about touching the Amendments to the Constitution, but states can require locks, storage, training, background checks, close loopholes and straw buyers.
Maybe stiffer penalties for speeding. Maybe vehicles should cone with a fatality factory sticker next to the City/Hwy MPG. E.g., high grilled vehicles should warn of the probability of pedestrian fatalities vs a lower fronted car.
Maybe not a lifetime for drunk driving, but certainly something smarter and stiffer.
Definitely not a ban. A recommendation for short pause, in response to constituent concerns? Maybe.
Add to the list: enforce the Ma Hands-Free Law? (I voted for it, because it’s a reasonable requirement for operating a motor vehicle, but then there’s civil liberties and personal responsibilities should come from fostering a moral society not by legislation.)
Also, are we not concerned
Also, are we not concerned about the people caught up in violence and only in the bottom line of businesses?
So ...
Would you advocate for banning trucks from the roads because there have been people killed by them?
How about closing roads where there have been fatal collisions?
One death is one too many.
It’s cold comfort, but there
It’s cold comfort, but there’s a difference between a life taken by evil acts vs. lives lost in an accident in the course of the normal functioning of society and civilization.
Motor vehicle crashes are not accidental …
… or acts of nature.
I can’t believe someone has to tell you that!
Down there in the early morning in the weekdays and...
It's very quiet. Just folks getting to work or to services appointments. Not even any drunk college students.
My friend Amy Kucharik performs in Downtown Crossing tomorrow
meaning
Monday, August 19, from 3-5 pm, at the Franklin Street steps between Old Navy and TJ Maxx.Update: Sorry, Amy emailed to tell me that her show is cancelled because of a forecast of rain. Check her website for future shows.This is one of many events sponsored by the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.
I’ve enjoyed the music …
… of many talented musical artists at this prime listening spot.
Flynn needs to get out more.
Great
This needs to be an ongoing, every day type of event.
Go to Nashville, NOLA, Austin, Montreal, . . . .
There is an almost constant stream of entertainment across much of the downtown.
Suggestion:
Open up 1 (ONE) Liquor license to cover multiple dining/entertainment venues
Open up some closed storefronts at low rent for LOCAL food and musical talent
Bring in some food trucks
Have reasonable security
Enjoy
If we don't attract people to DTX it will be gone for good. It will never be what it was but it is worth saving.
Open up some closed
Yes, this! There was a pop-up indoor winter market a few years back in an empty storefront. I'd love to see a more permanent version, subsidized by the Boston arts council. The old AT&T building would be great for other businesses - maybe a bookstore/cafe?
A vibrant, bustling DTX (thanks to events on the Common and similar sponsored/subsidized events and businesses) means more people/tourists, means less crime b/c there are more eyes watching.
The food court at the Corner Mall
should be open later.
That is all.