Back in 2004, the city was facing a summer of violence (as it has, ever summer since, btw). Seeing as we were about to be invaded by the national press during the Democratic National Convention, the Mayor did whatever he could to quell the threats to the city’s peace.
At the time, a local activist, Donovan Walker, proposed a “No Violence Zone” in Lower Roxbury’s Ramsay Park, the location where kids’ basketball coach “Biggie” Gaines had been killed, just weeks before.
Now, three years later, Walker is facing resistance from the city over plans to continue his project.
The city Parks and Recreation Department is requiring several permits, which they won’t give him without a note of endorsement from the police. Police so far have refused, citing complaints in the neighborhood about noise and the number of youths gathered in the park.
Who is responsible for the complaints? Let’s let Walker explain.
… [M]ore affluent people have moved into a new development of pricey condos in the gentrifying neighborhood, and Walker suspects they are the source of the complaints.
“You’ve got the haves over there, and over here you’ve got the have-nots,” he said. “Now they have those people complaining. And they are constituents who vote, have money, and call friends in power.”
Park officials say that his program was approved but that it prohibited him from playing music or serving food. Walker’s organization has done both.
Walker says he knows who is against him – owners in a 9-unit building around the corner at 8 Newcomb Street and in a 5-unit building at 1914-1920 Washington Street.
click for larger photo
The complex where Walker says most of the complaints over the park are coming from, the Statuary Lofts and the Caproni Lofts, were renovated several years ago.
The units, which are across the street from the park, include stainless steel kitchen appliances, hardwood floors, and sweeping views of the city. Some units were marketed at $350,000 and came with a wine rack, not the kind of amenities typically marketed to lower-income residents historically living in that part of the city.
I am confused about what the reporter means when he writes that hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances are “not the kind of amenities typically marketed to lower-income residents historically living in that part of the city”?
Could he clarify for me, explain it in simple black-and-white so I could understand?
Oh, and another thing: While some units in those two buildings may have originally been marketed at $350,000, one unit is for sale right now for $649,000.
Trying to keep peace quietly – By Matt Viser, The Boston Globe
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