Environment

Bikes Not Bombs Receives $130,000+ City Grant for Green and Mobility Jobs

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Bikes Not Bombs recently received a city grant to green jobs and mobility training.  The grant is for $138,232. “With the city of Boston’s funding, Bikes Not Bombs will give Boston youth the opportunity for apprenticeship, skill building, and career development. BNB uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change – and this funding will open the door for Black and marginalized Boston residents to achieve economic mobility, build relationships, and work towards a healthier Boston,” said Elijah Evans, Executive Director of Bikes Not Bombs via press release. Mayor Michelle Wu announced the recipients of Boston’s Catalyst Grants for Green Job and Mobility Training on Jan.

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Government

City Councilor Kendra Lara on Being Socialist: ‘My Politics Are My Philosophy In Action’

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District 6 Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara was scheduled to give her maiden speech about socialism to the council during its Wednesday meeting. But due to time constraints, she was unable to do so. Lara answered questions from Jamaica Plain News about socialism, how it can help her constituents, and more. Lara was elected as Kendra Hicks, but has since changed her last name to Lara. Q: You have stated you are a socialist.

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Development

Mayor Wu Commits $50M to Mildred Hailey Apartments, Signs Executive Order on Fair Housing

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Mayor Michelle Wu announced a city commitment of $50 million in funding for capital improvements at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain on Jan. 20. THREAD: Today we joined advocates to sign an executive order reaffirming Boston’s commitment to fair housing & racial equity—and announce the City’s $50 million investment for capital improvements at the Mildred Hailey @BHA_Boston apartments. pic.twitter.com/4laB0LOdNw
— Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭 (@MayorWu) January 20, 2022

“We plan to make affordable housing a top priority when it comes to putting federal recovery money to use," said Wu at a press conference at the Hailey Apartments. "That means preserving and improving affordable housing that already exists, as well as adding more affordable housing options for residents across the city.

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Arts

City Accepting Applications for Boston Artists-in-Residence

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The city is now accepting applications for the fifth cohort of the Boston Artists-in-Residence. Through Boston AIR, six artists will spend 15 months working with a parallel group of city of Boston partners to co-design projects that imagine and test new approaches to challenges the city faces, according to a press release. “Elevating and investing in Boston’s artists by bringing them into City Hall and embedding them in our departments’ work is crucial to addressing the challenges we’re facing as a city in new, creative ways,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “In this moment, arts and culture will help us recover, heal, connect, and thrive.”

Boston AIR participants are asked to co-design projects that consider the needs of Boston’s diverse communities, reflecting on city policies, and focus on a lens of resilience and racial equity. The projects are also geared to help residents understand how local government impacts them.

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Coronavirus

COVID Testing Site Hours Expanded at JP’s Anna Cole Community Center

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The operation hours for the Anna Cole Community Center COVID testing site have been expanded starting January 9. Starting Sunday, January 9, operating hours will be:

Monday-Thursday: 12 to 7 pm
Friday: 12 to 5 pm
Sunday: 9 am to 4 pm

Expansion of operating hours will hopefully decrease the very, very long line that people had to stand in outside in freezing temperatures for the last two weeks or so, if they wanted to get tested. Mayor Michelle Wu had said the long wait was "completely unacceptable" and had vowed to improve the process. For comparison, previous operation hours were for three hours on Sunday, five hours on Monday and Thursday, and four hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The testing center will continue to not operate on Saturday.

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Coronavirus

Mayor Visits Muniz Academy, Headmaster Asks For More Rapid Tests, Protocols Clarity, Multilingual Comms and More

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Boston Mayor Michelle remained outside during her early morning visit on Tuesday to the Margarita Muniz Academy. Wu visited to understand the school experience regarding COVID during the recent surge. Wu said "it's been a very difficult time" for school communities, students, staff, school leaders, and administrators during the recent surge of the omicron variant. Wu said the variant has "effected everything that needs to logistically happen." Wu was joined by At-Large Boston City Councilors Erin Murphy and Ruthzee Louijeune, BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, and Muniz Headmaster Dania Vazquez

Cassellius said there are three key things they're looking at to make sure of safe operations: a) staffing b) health and safety in the schools c) operational effectiveness of schools.

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Coronavirus

‘Completely Unacceptable’ Says Mayor Wu About Hours-Long Lines at JP COVID Testing Center

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the hours-long wait for people to get tested at the Anna Cole Community Center was "completely unacceptable" on Sunday night. Wu was responding to a tweet by Heshan Berents-Weeramumi, who was standing in line at 11:50 am when he was at the edge of the Stop & Shop Supermarket up Centre Street, past the Mildred Hailey Apartments, and past the Jackson Square MBTA stop. https://twitter.com/wutrain/status/1477823459765936128

Berents-Weeramumi was tweeting his frustration at Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, detailing his wait as he slowly progressed in line, and later tweeted at 3:13 pm that he had finally made it out of the testing site. https://twitter.com/wheresmyporsche/status/1477734714731646978

Wu said that she would huddle with her team right after the Boston City Council inauguration on Monday morning to expand testing and improve the experience at each site. The long line on Sunday was not an outlier at the Cole Center.

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Government

Matt O’Malley Energized About Next Opportunity, Reflects on City Council

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After 11 years, Boston City Council President Pro Tempore and District 6 City Councilor Matt O'Malley is moving on from City Hall and is very excited about what the future brings. O'Malley spoke to Jamaica Plain News about his proudest accomplishments, unsung constituent services, and what's next for him. This is an edited version of the conversation. https://twitter.com/MattOMalley/status/1463893405604401160
Q: Tell us about your new job and what does it entail? O'Malley: I was named the Chief Sustainability Officer of Vicinity.

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Transportation

DCR Working on Additional Design Alternative for Arborway Improvement Project; Will Tell Public About It In January

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The acting commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation recently announced that due to public feedback they've been working on a fourth design alternative for the Arborway Parkways Improvement Project. In a letter addressed to stakeholders, Acting Commissioner Stephanie Cooper said the new alternative design won't be provided until an as of yet unannounced mid-January meeting. Currently there are two traffic rotaries: Kelley Circle by Jamaica Pond and Murray Circle on Centre Street by the Arnold Arboretum. One proposal would keep both circles, one would remove Kelley Circle, and one would remove both circles. DCR announced three alternative design plans to update the Arborway in November 2020.

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Government

Meeting to Discuss State Plan for Shattuck Campus Temporary ‘Cottages’ for Mass and Cass Individuals on Dec. 20

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The state's plan to install 18 small "cottages" on the Shattuck campus to house homeless individuals living in the Mass and Cass area will be discussed at a virtual public meeting held by the Franklin Park Coalition on Dec. 20. Each cottage will have two beds, which would allow for couples to stay together, and plumbing and heating. The site will have 24/7 security in a security cabin. Occupancy of the cottages is scheduled to begin Dec.

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