Jackson Square
Yesterday afternoon, Francis Delaney noticed a raptor inside the Jackson Square Orange Line station. He reports he called animal control last night and will call the Animal Rescue League this morning.
Earlier:
Hawk takes up perch in Green Street Orange Line station.
Today is the anniversary of the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory fire in 1976, which completely destroyed what had once been the world's largest shoe factory, along Centre Street in Jackson Square. The Jamaica Plain Historical Society recounts the fire, started, as were so many other fires then in JP and the Fenway, by arsonists, who first disabled the complex's sprinklers, then set multiple fires in what had been converted from a factory into the home of multiple small businesses - and residents.
Mayor Wu announced today the money will go to "address plumbing, ventilation, windows, and kitchen and bathroom improvements" in 526 apartments at the Mildred Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain. Read more.
Jamaica Plain News reports on the newly expanded schedule at the Anna Cole Community Center testing site, where lines in recent days had stretched for blocks and hours.
In response to a photo of the longest line yet at the Anna Cole testing site in Jackson Square today (people started lining up more than an hour before it even opened), Mayor Wu tweeted tonight: Read more.
Ari Ofsevit reports the line to get tested for Covid-19 at the Anna Cole Community Center this afternoon stretched all the way past the Jackson Square T stop and onto Centre Street.
Amy reports blackshirts from the anti-Semitic National Social Club showed up this afternoon in front of the closed Blessed Sacrament Church on Centre Street this afternoon and were promptly confronted by people from the leftist/anti-fascist Lucy Parsons Center across the street. Read more.
The T officially began service today on dedicated bus lanes that run down the center of Columbus Avenue between Egleston and Jackson Squares. The goal is to speed service on the routes that use Columbus - the 22, 29 and 44. The T is now looking at extending the dedicated lanes to Ruggles.
WGBH reports that the Hyde Square Task Force has agreed to let Pennrose turn the crumbling Blessed Sacrament Church on Centre Street into 52 residential units and a 200-seat performance space. More than half the units would be marketed as affordable or "workforce," which is slightly above those levels.
The BPDA board today approved plans by developers to raze several buildings at the sprawling Mildred Hailey Apartments complex in Jamaica Plain and replace their current 253 Section 8 apartments with all new units - and add 420 additional income-restricted apartments and an all new street grid, green space and pathways intended to stitch the complex into the neighboring community, rather than walling it off. Read more.
The city today announced a pilot program in which workers at businesses in the Main street districts in Nubian Square, Hyde/Jackson Square in Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, East Boston and Fields Corner can sign up for CharlieCards preloaded with $60 of value and two-month Bluebikes passes. Read more.
Construction crews have been busy in recent months building new bus stops between Egleston and Jackson squares for dedicated bus lanes and stops that planners say will mean a faster ride to and from Jackson Square and Ruggles on the 22, 29 and 44 bus routes. Read more.
The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters were able to get a man out from under an Orange Line train at Jackson Square around 9:50 a.m.
He was taken to a local hospital for care. The incident remains under investigation, the department says.
Three non-profit groups have filed plans with the BPDA to replace roughly half the Mildred Hailey public-housing complex in Jamaica Plain with a new mixed-income community over eight to ten years. Read more.
Boston Police report arresting a man they say fired shots during an incident on Centre Street in front of the Mildred Hailey Apartments that left one man dead and another hospitalized on May 20. Read more.
The MBTA reports Orange Line delays of about 20 minutes due to a train with a no doubt embarrassing mechanical problem inbound at Jackson Square.