Roy Owens, who never met a long street fair he doesn't hate, sued Boston today in an effort to keep the city from shutting a two-mile stretch of Blue Hill Avenue as part of its Open Streets program to give pedestrians and bicyclists a wide expanse of road in which to enjoy themselves for one day.
In his request for an emergency injunction, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, Owens charges the Open Streets program would violate the First Amendment rights of some 25 churches along Blue Hill Avenue, force various non-profit groups to cancel programs for youth and people in emotional distress and would lead to traffic jams on I-93, caused by drivers forced to avoid Blue Hill Avenue.
All in all, this Saturday's festival "would create a city emergency, and it should not be taken lightly, because we are a poor community," Owens writes.
Owens's suit is a bit more restrained than his complaints over a similar Blue Hill Avenue festival in 2014, which he said was part of a Communist plot to destroy Boston's churches.
According to the latest version of his campaign Web site, Owens this year is running for Congress against US Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
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Comments
Can today's Charles St cyclists...
By Friartuck
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 5:04pm
Do an impromptu gathering on Blue Hill Ave on Saturday and really piss this whackamole off by continually shouting, "praise the Lord and pass the jelly?"
What?
By Aron
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 5:04pm
Also, what?
When we were kids...
By Friartuck
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 5:16pm
And had to say, "grace," at breakfast, it was always "praise the Lord and pass the jelly?
the "open streets" program.
By anon
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 5:21pm
the "open streets" program. It's better sounding than the street is closed and if you dont move your car you will be arrested.
Can you show us
By erik g
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 9:03pm
on the doll where the Open Streets program bad-touched you?
Who's getting arrested for not moving their car?
By fungwah
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 6:21am
Never heard of this but frankly I can think of some bike lane blockers I'd love to see this happen to.
No, but your car will be towed
By Ron Newman
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 12:42pm
That's not a criminal offense, just a parking violation.
Churches are closing because
By Kinopio
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 5:30pm
Churches are closing because religion is a scam and the Catholic Church is a pedophile ring.
Car nuts are so entitled that they throw a fit when part of one street is open to people for one quarter of one day. You get it the other 364 days you lazy brat.
Blanket Anti-Catholic Statements
By John Costello
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 6:58pm
Huzzah! Uhub allowed hate speech against Catholics!
Where's the censorship Adam?
Spokeboy - You rich little brat. Are you in the UDA, UFF, or Red Hand Brigade? Perhaps the Klan?
You sound like a low rent Ian Paisley.
yes-and
By Rob
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 7:46pm
yes-and
Yes, it is hate speech - AND - Owens does come off as a kook.
The "infringes First Amendment" argument only holds water if a church needed to do something that day (say, a funeral) and the City refused to make any attempt at accommodation like a detail and a few traffic cones so they could in and out of their property from the nearest side streets.
Kinopio is a bit of a crank today, but I think it takes more than that to get to even a "low rent" Ian Paisley level.
Today?
By SamWack
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 8:33pm
?
Just stop it.
By Bob Leponge
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 7:37am
Every time someone criticizes the Catholic Church, you accuse them of anti-Catholic hate speech.
"Catholics" are people of the Catholic faith.. "The Catholic Church" is an organization. The two are entirely separate. Pointing out the sins of the Catholic Church is not in any way, shape, or form hatred against Catholics. In fact, it's quite the opposite: The victims of many of those sins are Catholics. Calling out the sins of the Catholic Church is, in general, an act of sympathy toward those Catholics whom the Church has injured.
Well said
By Parkwayne
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 9:31am
John probably thinks the Spanish Inquisition was treated very unfairly by historians.
Good points
By eeka
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 11:38am
But save your breath -- he also thinks white Americans with Irish heritage are currently victims of systemic discrimination.
Eeka and Jesus
By John Costello
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 1:25pm
One got nailed to a cross.
The other puts herself up there all the time (and let's everyone know about it).
Oh look
By lbb
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 2:43pm
It's the pot telling the kettle how grimy it is.
Oh Look
By John Costello
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 4:33pm
It is the grease trap trying to seem relevant.
I want to know
By scollaysq
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 7:03pm
Why BS like that isn't just laughed out of court.
It will be
By Ron Newman
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 12:29pm
Maybe even already has, by the time I write this.
What churches are affected by a Saturday festival? I suppose a Seventh-Day Adventist church, if there even is one along this route.
LOL
By brianjdamico
Tue, 08/02/2022 - 8:47pm
I needed a little comedy tonight and Roy provided it with this pro se complaint. I didn't go to law school but clearly neither did Roy.
If Roy is so worried about traffic on the Expressway, he should call up my boss and tell him I need to work from home forever because traffic. And then call everyone else's boss.
Roy is not only upset that he wasn't told that the street would be closed, he's also upset that he wasn't told that "entertaining [would] take place"
He seems to be claiming he just found out about this event on July 28th. How did I, a non-resident of Boston, know about this upcoming closure in early June and he did not? It was reported here on UHub and elsewhere on or around June 2nd.
And for an added laugh, his website still asks for donations using "Venmor" which is what it said the last time Adam wrote a story about him.
What's the next office he will be running for?
“Making Common Sense Make Senseâ€
By Irma la Douce
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 4:11am
Has Rep. Pressley stated her position on Common Sense? I hope her campaign is paying attention. By taking a stand on Common Sense and the 10 Commandments (he is in favor) Owens has already raised over $2,000 of his stated goal of $1,00,000 on GoFundMe.
The campaign site is, as usual, blissfully free of copy edits.
It was a pretty good pamphlet!
By fungwah
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 6:25am
and while you might need some additional research to fully understand the concerns of the time that led to its writing, for the most part even high schoolers are able to "make sense" of it. Perhaps Owens should look into taking a course on the American Revolution and its causes?
I'd come up with some witty response
By Bob Leponge
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 7:41am
but doing the necessary research would be a paine.
And a best-seller!
By Irma la Douce
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 10:39am
Wikipedia citation: Kaye, Harvey J. (2005), Thomas Paine and the Promise of America, New York
Never a good sign when the first line of your
By MC Slim JB
Wed, 08/03/2022 - 8:31am
website has a howling error, as in, "ROY OWENS For UNITED STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE". Pretty sure there's more than one rep in that House, Roy.
Did the court toss this lawsuit?
By Ron Newman
Sat, 08/06/2022 - 1:57pm
I am at the event right now, so he obviously didn't win. Did the court dismiss it or just fail to act so that it is now moot?
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