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HP Library Flooding a concern

While there was no reported damage to books, the leaks in the libraryare growing and residents say this isn't the first instance.

PHOTO BY RICARDO GUILLAUME

RicarRicarRicarRicarRicardo Guillaumedo Guillaumedo Guillaumedo Guillaumedo GuillaumeStaff Reporter

LibrarLibrarLibrarLibrarLibrary Floodingy Floodingy Floodingy Floodingy FloodingContinued on page 13

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 17 APRIL 25, 2019

BBBBBostonostonostonostonoston BBBBBulletinulletinulletinulletinulletincitywide news citywide news citywide news citywide news citywide news • street by street street by street street by street street by street street by street

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Rain doesn't stRain doesn't stRain doesn't stRain doesn't stRain doesn't stop annualop annualop annualop annualop annualBrightBrightBrightBrightBrighton Easton Easton Easton Easton Easter Egg Hunter Egg Hunter Egg Hunter Egg Hunter Egg Hunt

According to Brighton Main Streets,you can't cancel Easter, and so the36th annual Brighton CommunityEaster Egg Hunt went off without ahitch at the Sisters of St. JosephChurch on Saturday. Every year,hundreds of children ages 2-10gather in Brighton to scoop up Eas-ter eggs. This tradition was startedover 50 years ago by the McCarthyfamily, and today Steve McCarthyand his daughter Molly work withBrighton Main Streets to continuethis family friendly event.

COURTESY PHOTO

ACA planning candidatesforum, talks BostonCalling and dog park

Allston and Brighton are lacking a dog park and resident Chris Arenathinks he might have a possible location.

PHOTO BY JEFF SULLIVAN

JefJefJefJefJeff Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf SullivanananananStaff Reporter

The Allston Civic Associa-tion (ACA) met on Wednes-day, April 17 to discuss severalupcoming issues in the neigh-borhood.

The first was the reactionto District 9 City CouncilorMark Ciommo’s announce-ment to not run again for hisseat. ACA Chair AnthonyD’Isidoro said they are cur-rently planning for candidateforums.

“I think we have a prettygood showing of perspectivecandidates here,” he said dur-ing the meeting, pointing toseveral members like CraigCashman and Brandon Bowserwho have thrown their hats inthe ring. “There’s going to bea number of attempts in thecommunity to get the candi-dates together, and whetherthat takes the shape of a dis-cussion event or a meet andgreet we’ll said.

AllstAllstAllstAllstAllston Civic Assnon Civic Assnon Civic Assnon Civic Assnon Civic AssnContinued on page 13

Shattuck Hospital planningprocess postponed

The Shattuck Hospital site and its relation to Franklin Park. JewishWar Veterans Drive is Boston Parks Department jurisdiction.

COURTESY PHOTO: EOHHS

RicharRicharRicharRicharRichard Heathd Heathd Heathd Heathd HeathStaff Reporter

The Executive Office ofHealth and Human Services–after over a year of communitymeetings about the ShattuckHospital-is apparently chang-

ing horses in the middle of thestream.

It abruptly postponed thelong-scheduled April 30Shattuck Campus Planning andCommunity meeting and re-

Shattuck HospitalShattuck HospitalShattuck HospitalShattuck HospitalShattuck HospitalContinued on page 11

Residents braved a down-pour Monday night to attendan Earth Day celebration atthe Hyde Park Branch of theBoston Public Library (BPL),but there was inclementweather inside as well. Tho-mas M. Menino Hall on theground level was the originalsetting for the event but thatroom succumbed to 25 inchesof water that leaked onto thefloor.

In the closet of MeninoHall a half-full trash bucketcontained a steady drip fromthe exposed ceiling pipe. Ad-jacent to the hall, a couplehundred books were in dan-ger of getting wet in a stor-age closet. Because of theleak, the Earth Day event wasmoved to Bill Weld Hall onthe second floor.

David Joseph Vieira hasbeen president of the board ofthe Friends of the Hyde Parklibrary for four years and wasformerly president of theCity-Wide Friends of the

Hyde Park library for 14years. He said that this hasbeen an ongoing issue.

“I can’t count how manytimes (I’ve sent a com-plaint) ,” Vieira said.“(Menino Hall) was designedto be the public meetingspace for the library, not up-stairs in Weld Hall . Andwhile we have the flexibilityto use Weld Hall, (MeninoHall) is where tonight’s pro-

gram should be and we can-not bring the public into aroom that’s in this condi-tion.”

To resolve the issue,Vieira said he has been inconstant contact with BPLofficials including PresidentDavid Leonard, Director ofCapital Projects, EamonShelton and Director of

Page 2Page 2Page 2 The Bulletin April 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 201111199999

Hyde Park resident announces hercandidacy to become the next Boston

City Councilor for District 530 years old Cecily Gra-

ham, a resident of Hyde Parkannounced her candidacy tobecome the next Boston CityCouncilor for District 5,which includes the neighbor-hoods Hyde Park, Mattapanand Roslindale.

Cecily is a first generationAmerican, born of Haitian andJamaican parents and Cecilyis currently working as aschool teacher and has beenactively involved in many po-litical campaigns. Cecily Gra-ham, earned a degree fromCollege of Humanities andFine Arts with a major in Af-rican Diaspora Studies and aminor in Women’s Studies at

the University of Amherst.She is also one year awayfrom completing her Master’sdegree with a focus in PublicAdministration.

Her previous experiencesinclude: community organiz-ing with the MassachusettsAffordable Housing Allianceto rally support to the Com-munity Preservation Act in2016, organizing with WGBHto save PBS, and internedwith former City CouncilorAt-Large Ayanna Pressley,Cecily is ready to bring a freshvoice for District 5 to theCouncil.

“As a community advo-cate, I’ve seen so much injus-

tice and I want to fight for us[residents of District 5] andkeep our district as beautifulas it’s always been while ex-ploring new opportunities thatwill improve the lives of manyand help families thrive,”Cecily stated. “I’m taking astand because it’s necessarythat we fight against what di-vides the communities ra-cially, socially and economi-cally.”

Cecily Graham is a leaderwho is connected to the com-munity, concerned about theunaddressed communityneeds, and is committed to im-provement and empowerment.She will hold her campaignkick-off on Saturday, April20th from 10-1 at ZaZ Restau-rant in Hyde Park. For furtherinformation or to volunteerwith the campaign, pleasecontact Cecily Graham at(857)-312-3263 or via emaila [email protected].

To advertise, call the Bulletinat (617) 361-8400

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Unsigned letters will not bepublished.

Police apprehend HydePark woman in connection

to cemetery vandalism

Last week, on April 18 at around 4:45 p.m., the Boston Po-lice Department (BPD) reported that officers assigned to theDistrict E-18 arrested a Hyde Park woman in connection to aseries of vandalisms at the Mount Hope Cemetery.

According to the BPD, Deborah Gideon, 53, of Hyde Parkhas been arrested and charged with attempting to commit a crimeto wit: vandalism of a gravestone and malicious destruction ofproperty over $1,200. Gideon was later charged with six othercounts of vandalism, including damage to the Boston PoliceRelief Association Memorial located at the Mount Hope Cem-etery. The BPD has not stated whether they are charging Gideonwith other instances of vandalism in the neighborhood.

According to police, District E-18 officers observed Gideonin the area of 19 Millstone St., and apparently saw her toss whatappeared to be red powder in the air and into the street. Theyfollowed her to the area of the Mount Hope Cemetery wherethey observed her exit her motor vehicle, approach some head-stones and make a tossing motion with her hand.

After Gideon entered her motor vehicle and continued trav-eling, officers state they initiated a traffic stop. Officers statethey observed a spray bottle in the front passenger side of hervehicle, a gallon of “reddish liquid,” containers of various col-ored salts, powdered juice mixes and olive oil.

BPD has not connected Gideon with a spate of other vandal-ized churches and statues in Hyde Park and Dorchester respec-tively. According to police, on Monday, March 11, officers as-signed to District E-18 responded to a radio call for vandalismin the area of 25 Maple St. around the Most Precious BloodChurch. Officers stated on arrival they spoke to a witness whostate he observed an unknown red substance on a statue onthe church’s property. The witness also stated that he ob-served the same red substance on a bench in front of 90West Milton St. in Hyde Park at Saint Anne’s Church.

On Wednesday, March 13, District E-18 officers reportedresponding to a radio call at St. Anne’s for vandalism. Onarrival, officers stated they spoke to the same witness, whostated he found the same red substance on a statue in front ofthe church, similar to the incident at Most Precious Blood.The witness relayed a story he said was from another parish-ioner in a previously unreported incident in which a blackfemale entered the Most Precious Blood Church during clos-ing and reportedly attempted to spray an unknown substanceon the statues inside the church. When confronted, the wit-ness states, the unknown female said she was “just praying,”before exiting the church and leaving the scene in a whitesedan.

On Wednesday, April 10, officers assigned to BPD Dis-trict C-11 in Dorchester responded to a radio call for vandal-ism at 2223 Dorchester Ave. at the site of St. Gregory’sChurch. The caller stated that an unknown individual haddefaced a statue on the church’s property, covering the statuein an unknown red substance. The caller stated this was thefourth incident in which the statue had been vandalized inthe past month with the same substance.

Deborah Gideon


Page 3 Page 3 Page 3The BulletinApril 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 20April 25, 201111199999

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Letters to the Editor

The demise of two classrooms

My Kindof Town/Joe Galeota

Usually in education whenone hears the word “demise,”it usually precedes discussionof an entire school, possiblybecause of changes. But todaythe word is used in talkingabout two public school class-rooms, perhaps 100 miles apart.

The first is taking place in acomfortable suburb of a bigcity. There a fifth-grade classis constantly on pins andneedles because one of its stu-dents is, for want of a betterword, uncontrollable, and notbecause of teacher inability toaddress the problem. Frequentclass interruptions plus physi-cal outbreaks, such as knock-ing over dozens of art projects,make it difficult for learning tooccur. When the tantrum is fullblown, the teacher and the restof the students have to evacu-ate the classroom to enable theschool psychologist and admin-istrators to converse with himone-on-one. This is theschool’s policy: protect therights of the misbehaving pu-pil while his peers wait out inthe corridor for resolution.

Then there is a Boston Pub-lic Schools fourth grade wherea couple of obstreperous stu-dents stand up on desks, dropF-bombs, and other such activi-ties, thereby rendering learningv-e-r-y difficult. This is just afollow-up to their third-gradebehavior. This is no reflectionon the teacher; it’s just the waythings are in some classrooms,as suspensions from school arenow viewed, sadly, with a jaun-diced eye.

It is interesting to note thatMassachusetts state education

officials are casting a nasty eyeon Roxbury Preparatory Schoolbecause of its suspensionrate—21.1% versus the stateaverage of 2.9%. Frequently,suspension is the only way togo, although some think thatkeeping troublemakers out ofschool for a day or two is jeop-ardizing their frequently pre-carious academic success. Ad-mittedly, at least one of the sus-pensions enacted by RoxburyPrep seemed flimsy, but whendastardly deeds are doneagainst classmates or teachers,serious consequences are due.

The bases of suspensionshould be spelled out in a hand-book, with little, if no room, forsubjectivity. Strong careshould be taken to avoid hav-ing students placed near andultimately cross such a thresh-old, but if so, then as the adagesays, “If the shoe fits, . . .” Hopefully, the number of sus-pended left-handed students orthose wearing glasses does notexceed the proportion of thosewithin a school.

Detractors of that charterschool will be quick to mentionthat 38% of the suspensionswere levied against pupils withdisabilities. Hmmm. Does thismean students in wheelchairs,on crutches, with impairedhearing? Probably not. Itwould not be surprising if dis-abilities in this case means be-haviorally impaired, extremelyhot-tempered.

State education officials al-ways have a tender space intheir heart for students with dis-abilities, and right that theyshould, in many but far from all

circumstances. Because theyare always ready to levy sanc-tions on a school with suspen-sions of students needing be-havior modification (a type ofdisability), one Boston Publicschool in which I was privi-leged to teach had a way of cir-cumventing the suspensions ofvolatile students with a specialed plan: “Don’t come back toschool until your mother comesup.” This way the voluminousamount of paperwork incurredby suspending such students—no matter how flagrant theirhostile act was— was avoided. And, more importantly, theclassmates were able to learnfor a day or two without fearand without traumatic interrup-tion.

If the purpose of schoolingis to prepare one for life, then astudent who threatens a teacheror a classmate has to learn thatlater on life, the threatening ofa police officer or a judge hasdire consequences.

Letter ToThe Editor

Please write to:THE BULLETIN

661 Washington St,Suite 202

Norwood, MA 02062 Tel: (617) 361-8400Fax: (617) 361-1933

e-mail us [email protected]

Tell ‘emwhat you

think with aPlease include your name,

address & telephone number.Unsigned letters will not be

published.

EXAM SCHOOLSMORE DIVERSETHAN REPORTED

To the Editor:An April 11 Boston Bulle-

tin story on education inequityin Boston schools asserts thatBoston’s three exam schoolsare not racially or culturally di-verse. This widely reportedmisperception is not supportedby the facts.

Of the 1787 students at Bos-ton Latin Academy, no racialgroup makes up 30% of theschool population. African-American and Asian studentseach represent 21% of the stu-dent body. Hispanics represent25%. Whites represent 29%,and many of them are immi-

grants or children of immi-grants from non-English speak-ing countries in Eastern Europeand the Middle East, living inimmigrant gateway neighbor-hoods such as East Boston,Dorchester and Allston. Thepercentage of students at LatinAcademy for whom English isnot their first language is 42%.

As a member of the ParentsCommittee of the Friends ofBoston Latin Academy, I re-cently hand addressed invita-tions to our spring fundraiser toall of the 300 or so first-yearfamilies at Latin Academy.Only a handful of invitationswent to addresses in WestRoxbury or South Boston. Thevast majority went to addresses

in Dorchester and Roxbury.Latin Academy may be themost broadly and evenly di-verse school in the district. Bos-ton should celebrate the diverseenrollment we have achieved atLatin Academy that has been soelusive at non-exam schools.

Furthermore, of the 1535students at another examschool, the John D. O’BryantSchool for Math & Science, thelargest percentage of studentsare African-Americans, whocomprise 34% of the school’senrollment, a share higher thanthe percentage of African-Americans in the district over-all, 31%. Hispanics at theO’Bryant School make up an-other third of the student body,32%. Whites account for lessthan 11% of the student bodyeven though whites representapproximately half of Boston’spopulation. These statistics arepublished on the MassachusettsDepartment of Education’swebsite.

Diversity is well established

LeLeLeLeLettttttttttererererersssssContinued on page 14

Widow Asks AboutSurvivor Benefits

This article is intended for information purposes only and does notrepresent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and inter-pretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by theNational Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foun-dation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Secu-rity Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question,visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory)or email us at [email protected].

Russell GloorAMAC Certified Social

Security Advisor

Dear Rusty: My husbandpassed away 7 years ago at theage of 64, at which time hewas receiving SS Disability. Iwas 58 at the time he passedand could not apply for hisSocial Security. I was stillworking but let SS know hewas deceased, so his checkwas no longer deposited. I amnow 65 and my age to reachfull benefits without penaltyis 66. I plan to work threemore years before applyingfor Social Security. My ques-tion is: Can I apply for mydeceased husband's SS ben-efits now and not my ownwithout any penalties? And ifso, what is the process? Thankyou for your time and the in-formation and resources youprovide.

Signed: Widowed Wife

Dear Widowed: Yes, as awidow you have the choice ofclaiming either yoursurvivor’s benefit or your ownbenefit but claiming eitherbefore your full retirementage will reduce it. If you claimyour survivor’s benefit beforeyou reach age 66 it will besomewhat reduced from100% of what your husbandwas receiving when hepassed. Since you’re now 65,the reduction won’t be too se-vere (about 0.4% for eachmonth before your full retire-ment age of 66). Your ownbenefit would be reduced byabout 0.69% for each monthbefore your full retirementage.

I suggest you evaluatewhich of your future benefitswill be greater – the survivorbenefit at maximum or yourown benefit at maximum.Your survivor benefit reachesmaximum at your full retire-ment age of 66, but your ownSS benefit can continue togrow until age 70 when itwould be 32% more than itwould be at age 66. You maywant to set a goal to claim insuch a way that you can getthe highest benefit for the restof your life. If you know whatyour own benefit will be atyour full retirement age, add

32% to that, and compare thatnumber to the benefit yourhusband was receiving at hisdeath. If your own at age 70is more than he was receiving,then it would be wise to takethe survivor benefit first andlet your own grow by 8% peryear until 70 and then switchfrom the survivor benefit toyour own. If your survivorbenefit at your FRA will begreater than your own at age70, then it would be wise tolet the survivor benefit growto maximum at your full re-tirement age and claim it then.

In any case, to answer yourquestion – yes, you can applyfor your reduced benefits as awidow now or wait untilyou’re 66 to get the full ben-efit, and the way to do that isto contact Social Security di-rectly and request your ben-efit as your husband’s widow.Survivor’s benefit cannot beapplied for online, so youshould call Social Security(find your local office atwww.ssa.gov/locator) and re-quest an appointment to ap-ply for survivor benefits.When you make your ap-pointment, Social Securitywill advise you if they’ll re-quire any additional docu-mentation. And if you wishto let your own benefit growto age 70, then be sure tospecify you are applyingonly for your survivor ben-efit, not your Social Securityretirement benefit.both sur-vivor benefits and your ownSocial Security retirementbenefit.

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MaMaMaMaMayyyyyor Wor Wor Wor Wor Walsh Announcesalsh Announcesalsh Announcesalsh Announcesalsh Announces2020202020111119 BCYF Summer9 BCYF Summer9 BCYF Summer9 BCYF Summer9 BCYF SummerGrants NoGrants NoGrants NoGrants NoGrants Now Aw Aw Aw Aw Avvvvvailableailableailableailableailable

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston Centers for Youth &Families (BCYF) have announced the release of the 2019BCYF Summer Grants RFP, inviting nonprofit youth-serv-ing groups to apply for a grant of up to $5,000 to supportfun, safe, enriching youth programming this summer. Thesegrants will increase both the number and variety of programsserving youth and will ensure that youth across the City haveaccess to activities and opportunities this summer.

The grants will support summer programs in Boston neigh-borhoods. Ages to must range from 6-18 and may includeyoung adults up to age 21. Programs must operate betweenJuly 8 and August 31. Last year, of the 58 programs that wereawarded funding, 60% were art-based, educational or com-munity and civic engagement opportunities and the remain-ing 40% had a sports, recreation, fitness or health-relatedfocus. Over 80% of grantees provided specialized programsthat incorporated educational components to youth aboutsubstance abuse, provided a therapeutic approach to accom-modate youth impacted by trauma and provided an opportu-nity for meaningful youth summer employment.

“This grant is so meaningful to Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2Learn.” said Dr. Susan Klimczak, Education Organizer atLearn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn. “The funds help us to provideSTEAM activities that require special and more expensivecomponents. This year, we encountered a price increase insome of the supplies we need to offer our STEAM activi-ties. The increase would have put popular activities likeour Solar Bobble Activity out of the reach of L2TT2L, whichprovides all our STEAM camps free of charge to the chil-dren and community organizations we serve. Thanks to thesupport from BCYF through the BCYF Summer Grant, wewere able to offer this popular activity without interrup-tion.”

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Formore informat ion including the RFP, please vis i tBoston.Gov/BCYF-Summer-Grant.

54th Regiment legacy continues

Members of the 54th Regiment came to the Mattapan Library, along with members of the Buffalo Solidersreenactors, to teach residents the history of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces.



The 54th Regiment ofMassachusetts VolunteerCompany A came to theMattapan Library on Satur-day, April 13, to teach about20 residents how the 54thwas able to drive a path for-ward for African Americansin the U.S. Armed Forces.

“I’ve seen this army be-come what it should havebeen many many years ago,”

said Buffalo Soldiers Heri-tage founder NapoleonDePina. “Europeans said aman of color could not leador be a soldier. The 54th andall the people in the Civil Warproved them wrong. I’velived to see a four-star gen-eral, I’ve lived to see theChairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff lead the biggest Armyin the world, a man of color.At the same time, when thatgeneral was a made a colo-nel, the newspapers asked

him if he wanted to be knownas the ‘Colored Colonel.’ Hesaid, ‘well don’t stop callingme colored because I am.’That man was Colin Powell.”

DePina’s organizationjoined the 54th for the two-hour talk, one of a half dozenthe regiment is holding thisspring in conjunction withthe Hyde Park Main Streets(HPMS) through a grantHPMS Executive Director

54th R54th R54th R54th R54th RegimentegimentegimentegimentegimentContinued on page 10


Mosquito Spraying to begin this monthAerial spraying will take

place in select neighborhoodsin Hyde Park and WestRoxbury

April 19, 2019 - The Bos-ton Public Health Commis-sion (BPHC) would like to ad-vise residents and communitymembers in Hyde Park andWest Roxbury of upcomingsprayings to help control mos-quito populations in selectedneighborhood areas.BPHC partners withthe Suffolk County MosquitoControl Project (SCMCP) toprotect Boston residents frommosquito-borne disease trans-mission. SCMCP will beconducting a helicopter appli-cation of the biological larvi-cide, Bti, to control mosquitolarvae over large wetlands.

* Wetlands currently beingevaluated include the FowlMeadow area of Hyde Park,the Hancock Woods area nearVFW Parkway and CoreyStreet and wetlands near Mil-lennium Park in WestRoxbury.

* * The application willbe conducted betweenApril 22 and April 26.

* * The larvicide will beapplied in a granular formu-lation by a helicopter flyinglow directly over the wet-lands. Residents do not needto take any special precau-

tions for this application. Mosquito species have

different breeding habits, butmost want to lay their eggsnear water – usually in vegeta-tion or in still water. To helpprevent mosquitoes frombreeding, BPHC advises resi-dents to limit places around thehome where standing watercan collect. People should turnover unused flower pots, buck-ets, wheelbarrows and garbagecans; remove leaves and otherdebris that can clog gutters andtrap water; dispose of or coverold tires; and cover swimmingpools when not in use.

About Bti: The material tobe applied, Bti (Bacillus

thuringiensis var. israelensis),is a natural bacterium found insoil. The EPA classifies Bti asa relatively non-toxic pesti-cide. Bti is considered a tar-get selective and environmen-tally compatible pesticide thataffects mosquito larvae and afew closely related aquatic in-sects in the fly family. Onceapplied Bti stays suspended inwater for 24 to 48 hours andthen biodegrades as it settlesto the bottom.

The product name of theBti is VectoBac GR (EPA Reg.#73049-486). For further in-formation contact the SuffolkCounty Mosquito ControlProject at 781-899-5730.

West Roxbury and Hyde Park will be sprayed to reduce populations ofmosquitos throughout the week.

COURTESY PHOTO

City of BostCity of BostCity of BostCity of BostCity of Boston’s Outdoor Pon’s Outdoor Pon’s Outdoor Pon’s Outdoor Pon’s Outdoor Poolsoolsoolsoolsoolsand Fand Fand Fand Fand Family Family Family Family Family Friendly Beachriendly Beachriendly Beachriendly Beachriendly BeachOpen SaturOpen SaturOpen SaturOpen SaturOpen Saturdadadadadayyyyy, June 22, June 22, June 22, June 22, June 22

Summer is coming and Boston Centers for Youth & Families(BCYF) is pleased to announce that the City of Boston’s twooutdoor pools, the BCYF Clougherty Pool in Charlestown andthe BCYF Mirabella Pool in the North End are opening for theseason on Saturday, June 22. These pools, along with 16 poolsopen year round, are operated by BCYF, the City of Boston’slargest youth and human service agency.

BCYF Clougherty Pool rates for the entire season: Adults (20- 54): $15; Youth and teens ages 12 - 19 Free; Adults (55 andolder) and Active Military (with ID): Free. Children under age 8must be accompanied by an adult in the water at all times. Mem-berships are available now at the BCYF Charlestown Commu-nity Center, 255 Medford Street, Charlestown or at the pool be-ginning June 22.

BCYF Mirabella rates for the entire season: Adults (20-61):$20; Teens (13-19): $10; Youth and Seniors (ages 6-12, adults62+): $5; Youth under 6 and Active Military (with ID): Free. Therates are double for non-Boston residents. There are no day orguest passes. Memberships will be available beginning on May13 at the BCYF Nazzaro Community Center, 30 North BennetStreet in the North End or at the pool beginning June 22. Moneyorders are the only accepted method of payment.

Also opening June 22 is the City’s “Family Friendly Beach”at the BCYF Curley Community Center in South Boston. Thebeach will also be open seven days a week and offers familiesaccess to an enclosed stretch of beach on Boston Harbor, restroomswith changing tables, picnic tables with umbrellas, outdoor show-ers, beach game equipment, and wifi. Membership for the beachfor the entire season is $5 and are available June 1 at the “K”Street entrance of the center.

The outdoor pools and beach will remain open seven days aweek until Labor Day. All locations will have experienced, certi-fied lifeguards on duty. BCYF Curley facilities are accessible forpeople with disabilities and both outdoor pools are equipped withlifts from the deck into the water.

For programming information, the membership application,and hours of operation, visit Boston.Gov/BCYF.


Around the NeighborhoodCITY

REGISTRATION NOWOPEN FOR BOSTONNEIGHBORHOODBASKETBALL LEAGUE

The Boston Parks and Rec-reation Department has an-nounced that registration is nowopen for the 50th annual sea-son of Boston’s favorite sum-mer basketball league, the Bos-ton Neighborhood BasketballLeague (BNBL), kicking off onMonday, July 8. BNBL is theoldest municipal basketballleague in the country servingyoung men and women in threedivisions each for boys andgirls: 13 and under; 15 and un-der; and 18 and under. Encom-passing recreation, sports, andcommunity engagement,BNBL’s real value is in help-ing make Boston happier andsafer in the summer months byproviding a physical outlet foryoungsters throughout the city.

Over 1,500 players on 150teams will participate in thisyear ’s league at 20 sitesthroughout the city. BNBL isplayed at Boston Centers forYouth & Families (BCYF)community centers and se-lected city parks. The 2019BNBL season ends with thechampionship games played inmid-August.

To register online for BNBLgo to https://

apm.activecommunities.com/c o b p a r k s a n d r e c d e p a r t /Activity_Search. BNBL alsooffers a free Pee Wee Develop-mental Program for boys andgirls ages 6 to 11 offered at vari-ous locations across the city inDorchester, Mattapan,Roslindale, South Boston, WestRoxbury, and Roxbury. Thisprogram teaches young playersthe basics of basketball in a funand non-competitive setting. Registration for Pee WeeBNBL is done on-site at the PeeWee locations.

For more information,please email Charlie Connersat [email protected] orcall (617) 961-3093.

FREE SPRING ARTWORKSHOP SERIES

The Power of our Stories –What Does Clay Have to Say?With teaching artist WendyEllertson on May 1 with op-tional field trip from 5 – 7 pmwith light, healthy dinner at5pm. Dinner and workshopprovided FREE OF CHARGEby Jamaica Plain-based Fami-lies Creating Together at Uni-tarian Universalist Urban Min-istry, 10 Putnam St., Roxbury.

Join us for this FREE dis-ability-inclusive series of artworkshops for children ages 5-13 accompanied by an adultfamily member/guardian.

Create clay artwork to befired in a kiln, then glaze it withbright colors and watch crea-tures and objects emerge fromthe clay…inspiring children todevelop stories about them!Build backdrops out of mixedmaterials to help display andperform those stories. Pre-sented in English, Spanish andAmerican Sign Language uponrequest. Wheelchair accessible.

FCT is a program of Com-

munity Service Care/Tree ofLife Coalition in Jamaica PlainThis is not a drop-in program.Please enroll if you can com-mit to at least three workshops.To register and for more infor-mation call 617-522-4832 or617-372-3022 (cell, text,Espanol) or [email protected].

SPACE IS LIMITED so reg-ister today! Additional informa-tion atwww.familiescreatingtogether.org.

ALLSTON / BRIGHTON

THE POLAR VORTEXENSEMBLE

Polar Vortex is a 7 piece in-strumental ensemble playingmusic ranging from classicswing to soul and R&B. Joinus for an afternoon of lively anddelightful sound. May 4 Satur-day afternoon 2 pm. BrightonLibrary/ 40 Academy HillRoad/(617) 782-6032

This program is brought toyou by Music Maker Studiosdirected by Bob Brenner. Allare welcome.

BEGINNINGINTERNET CLASS

Mystified by the net? Don’tknow how to surf? Help isavailable on a one on one basisto get you started. Call foran appointment and ask forAlan. Brighton Branch Library/40 Academy Hill Road/ (617)782-6032

ESL CONVERSATIONGROUPS

Two ESL conversationgroups meet at the BrightonLibrary: One onMonday evening at 6:15pm; The other on Tuesday af-ternoon at 1 pm. Comeand practice your language

skills in an informal andfriendly setting with other newEnglish speakers. BrightonBranch Library/40 AcademyHill Road/(617) 782-6032.

JAMAIC PLAIN

GODDARD HOUSEHAPPINESS IS A CHOICEYOU MAKE: LESSONSFROM A YEAR AMONGTHE OLD

Thursday, April 25th | 6:00- 7:45 pm - Brookline SeniorCenter, 93 Winchester Street,Brookline, MA

What’s the secret to living afuller, more content life? ForJohn Leland, best-selling au-thor and award-winning re-porter at the New York Times,the answer came from an un-expected place: from the livesof six people age 85 and up. Heexpected them to educate himin the hardships of old age. In-stead, they taught him lessonsof resilience, gratitude, purposeand perspective that apply to usall. The good news is that wecan all learn from the wisdomand experience of olderadults. View full event flyer >>

Refreshments will be servedfrom 6-6:30 pm, followed by atalk with discussion & booksales from 6:30-7:45 pm. Pleasecall 617-730-2770 to register.

OPENING MINDSTHROUGH ART ARTISTS’RECEPTION & ART SALE

Saturday, April 27th | 3:00 -4:30 pm - Goddard House As-sisted Living, 165 Chestnut St,Brookline

Opening Minds through Art(OMA) is an intergenerationalart program that is founded onthe principle that people whoare living with dementia arehighly capable of creative ex-pression. This exhibit will be ondisplay in Gallery M atGoddard House from April 8thto May 6th. For more informa-tion, contact Patti Barrows at617-731-8500 [email protected] are welcome!!

HYDE PARK

THE GREAT GRILLEDCHEESE FESTIVAL

The Great Grilled CheeseFestival takes place at The Tho-mas M. Menino YMCA gym-nasium in Hyde Park on Sun-day May 19 from 11:30am-2pm. Enjoy “all you can eat”classic grilled cheese sand-wiches, chips and dessert.There will be fun kid activitieswith Davey the Clown, raffles,live music by Luis Avila andNatalia Popovska, leader ofsong at St. Anne’s Church,Hyde Park. Located at 1137River Street, Hyde Park, MA02136.

This foodie-familyfundraiser benefits the ChefsTable Foundation, a 501(C) 3non-profit organization thatprovides scholarships to veter-ans and youths in need whohave a passion for the culinaryarts.

Tickets: $8 per child (12years and younger). Babies un-der one-years old – complimen-tary admission. $10 per adult

Thank you to our sponsors:YMCA, Commonwealth Bank,Tierney Realty Group andCarroll-Thomas Funeral.T i c k e t s : h t t p : / /www.chefstablefoundation.org

BOSTON WARD 18 TOELECT DELEGATES TODEMOCRATIC STATECONVENTION

Registered Democrats inBoston’s Ward 18 will hold acaucus on Saturday, May 11,2019 at 10:00am at the HydePark Municipal Building, 1179River Street, Hyde Park, MA toelect delegates and alternates tothe 2019 Massachusetts Demo-cratic State Convention.

This year’s state conventionwill be held September 14,2019 at the MassMutual Cen-ter in Springfield, where thou-sands of Democrats from acrossthe state will come together todiscuss party business and cel-ebrate our successes as we pre-pare for upcoming elections.

The caucus is open to allregistered and pre-registeredDemocrats in Boston’s Ward18. Pre-registered Democratswho will be 16 by May 11, 2019will be allowed to participateand run as a delegate or alter-nate. Boston’s Ward 18 canelect 53 delegates and 8 alter-nates to the Convention.

Youth, minorities, peoplewith disabilities, and LGBTQindividuals who are not electedas a delegate or alternate mayapply to be an add-on delegateat the caucus or atwww.massdems.org.

Those interested in gettinginvolved with Boston’s Ward18 Democratic Town Commit-tee should contact RobConsalvo, Ward CommitteeC h a i r ,[email protected].

ARTISTS-AT-LARGEPRESENTS: AN OPEN MICFEATURING VERONIQUEEPITER

In celebration of NationalPoetry Month we invite you toan evening of poetry Join us tolisten to poet and mezzo-saprano read her original worksand sing a few of her favoritesongs Originally from France,she has called Boston her homefor decades. She has performed

DeadlineDeadlineDeadlineDeadlineDeadlineThe deadline for

all press releases forThe Bulletin is Friday.

Send to:661 Washington St, Suite 202

Norwood, MA 02062.FFFFFax us at (6ax us at (6ax us at (6ax us at (6ax us at (6111117) 367) 367) 367) 367) 361-11-11-11-11-1933933933933933

or e-mail us ator e-mail us ator e-mail us ator e-mail us ator e-mail us atnenenenenews@bullews@bullews@bullews@bullews@bulletinnetinnetinnetinnetinnewspaperwspaperwspaperwspaperwspapers.coms.coms.coms.coms.com

CalendarCalendarCalendarCalendarCalendarContinued on page 12

Boston’s own Junior Damato, “The Auto Doctor” has agreed to field auto repairquestions from Bulletin and Record readers. Please forward your questions to

[email protected] and we will do our best to get your questions answered.

Junior Damato began servicing vehicles in 1969. He owns a 10-bay auto repairservice center in Hyde Park and an 8-bay center in Middleboro. Junior is anASE-certified Master Technician, ASE-certified L-1 and ASE-certified Natural Gas.

Ask The DoctorTo the Doctor: I have a 2013 Toyota RAV4 with 4WD, but I have never actually put it into the 4WDmode. Would it be safe to use it now, after six years of non-use? Or should I have it checked out byToyota first?

From the Doctor: I would switch it into the 4WD mode without a trip to the dealer. If the 4WDsystem works, I would suggest having the drive line fluids changed using the factory Toyota fluid.

To the Doctor: I have a 2014 Nissan Altima. I’m just one of the thousands of Nissan owners with afaulty CVT manufactured by Jatco of which Nissan is the parent company. Nissan extended the war-ranty from 60,000 to 120,000 miles, but I’ve read that some owners are on their third transmission. MyAltima’s transmission vibrates at 2,000 RPMS. The dealer says that’s normal. Why wasn’t a recall everissued for such a vital part of the vehicle’s drive train?

From the Doctor: The early CVT transmissions had major failure rates – Nissan was not alone withthis problem. Generally, manufacturers want to extend the warranty versus a recall because of theexpense involved. Today’s CVTs have been redesigned and are much better. With the older CVTtransmissions, going from a dead stop to full acceleration, the engine would stay at the full RPM untilthe driver lifted up on the gas pedal. Under full acceleration, today’s CVT transmissions shift similar to aregular automatic transmission. In fact, the new CVT transmissions can actually be manually shifted.Just a note: I suggest a transmission fluid change every two years with these troublesome CVTs and theuse of Nissan fluid only.

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Council talks improvements to homeless veterans programsJefJefJefJefJeff Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf Sullivf SullivanananananStaff Reporter

The Boston City CouncilCommittee on City, Neighbor-hood Services, Veterans andMilitary Affairs last week held ahearing on the status of veteransexperiencing homelessness andwhat the city is doing to combatthe issue.

In January 2016, BostonMayor Marty Walsh announcedthat the city had effectively endedchronic veteran homelessnessthrough the implementation of anaction plan started in June theprevious year called Boston’sWay Home. A chronically home-less person is defined by the Fed-eral Government as someonewith a disabling condition whohas been homeless for at least 12consecutive months or has hadat least four periods ofhomelessness totaling at least 12months in the previous threeyears.

As national reports seehomelessness rates increasing,Boston has been seeing steadydecreases. According to the mostrecent Homeless Census datafrom 2018 (January’s 2019 cen-sus data has not yet been re-leased), 1,779 individuals wereusing Boston’s Emergency Shel-ter system, compared to 1,762 in2017. Since the start of the pro-gram in 2016, Boston has housed667 chronically homeless indi-viduals and reduced the rate of

chronic homelessness in the cityby 20 percent from 2016 to 2018,and by 46 percent from 2008 to2018. Nine hundred and fifteenhomeless veterans have also beenfound homes since that time.

According to Deputy Direc-tor of Supportive Housing LailaBernstein, despite great strides inprogramming, veterans are stillfinding some roadblocks to hous-ing in the city, even when apply-ing for housing through the Sec-tion 8 Veterans Housing VoucherProgram or the VA SupportiveHousing (VASH) program.

“We are experiencing an ex-tremely tight housing market andthat means that even once veter-ans who are homeless might re-ceive a housing voucher that theycould use to rent in the privatemarket, that housing search timecan take a while and that meansthey remain homeless longer be-cause the housing search is sodifficult.”

New England Center andHome for Veterans representativeMeredith Christensen echoedthis sentiment, saying that vouch-ers can take about 90 days to getleased with a home, and that’safter they go through the samevetting process anyone else hasto go through for voucher-basedhousing.

“They’re kind of being com-pared to the market-rate popula-tion around,” she said.

Bernstein also said the ben-efits of a Veteran Housing

Voucher can only be attained ifthe veteran is eligible for Veter-ans Administration Hospital ben-efits, meaning they needed tohave an honorable discharge.

“More than half of the veter-ans experiencing homelessnessin the City of Boston don’t havethat VA eligibility status, whetherit be because of the type of dis-charge they had, the amount oftime in service, the branch thatthey served in, if they served justin reserve,” she said. “We’ve hadto be creative about bringing for-ward other resources that mirrorwhat VASH has to offer forpeople who are not going to beVASH eligible.”

She said the programs rely onVASH or VA service eligibility,and her office has been trying tomirror those benefits specificallyfor veterans who are not eligiblefor those benefits. She said theyreceive 25 housing rental vouch-ers from the state towards thisendeavor, and pair them up withsupport services for the veteransthey service.

“We also look to the Hous-ing Authority sometimes forunits, we use other federal vouch-ers that come through the Depart-ment of Neighborhood Services(DND) to house homeless veter-ans who can’t get access to aVASH voucher, and we apply formainstream affordable housingfor homeless veterans,” she said.“We try every avenue to get ev-eryone on the list housing. We

won’t be able to get this done ifwe just rely on one resource.”

Christensen and Former VicePresident of External Affairs atMass Housing Tom Lyons saidanother problem Boston is fac-ing now deals with aging veter-ans, most of whom served in theVietnam War. Christensen saidthat many are being priced outof their current housing units dueto the skyrocketing rents andhousing prices the city is experi-encing.

“It is our aging population aswell, I’ve seen a lot of my veter-ans who simply got priced out,”he said. “A few of our seniors,that’s one of the reasons they endup coming to the shelter, unfor-tunately.”

Lyons said the lack of mentalhealth services at the VA for vet-erans who came back from Viet-nam made itself apparent whenmany of those veterans could notdeal with post traumatic stress.They came home and turned toself medication.

“The VA wasn’t prepared forthe kinds of issues that the Viet-nam Veterans were dealing withwhen they came home, he said.The notion of being in Vietnamon a Tuesday and being backhome on a Thursday didn’t existin Korea or World War II... Wedidn’t have a chance to downloadwhat we went through to whom-ever. It was all internalized, andyou got home, you put your seatbag away and you tried to move

on with your life, and if youdidn’t have a family or commu-nity who could help you do that,you turned to drugs and alcohol.”

Lyons said they now haveprograms and services for youngmen and women who are com-ing home and the situation hasimproved somewhat.

Deputy Commissioner of theOffice of Veteran Services Rob-ert Santiago said that stablehousing for veterans can be afirst step to staving off manyproblems associated with veter-ans’ transition to civilian life. Hesaid stable housing is a founda-tion many veterans use to builda life after opioid addiction, un-employment, mental illness orinjuries.

Bernstein also pointed outthat despite reducing the num-ber of homeless veterans over-all by 39 percent since the startof the Boston’s Way Home pro-gram, homelessness among thegeneral population has notshifted nearly as much, and mir-roring the veteran programcould be a way to stemhomelessness in the generalpopulation.

“It has not gone down byanywhere near that amount, andso what that tells us is whatwe’re doing around veterans andthe influx of resources thatwe’ve had specifically to ad-dress veteran homelessness isworking,” she said.


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Members of the 54th went through their armerment, most of whichincludes working firearms.


54th Regiment continued from page 6

To advertise, call the Bulletinat (617) 361-8400

Thien Simpson was able topull together. The talk fea-tures breakdowns of eachsoldier’s uniform and arma-ment, which included therifles, muskets, swords andinsignia used on the battle-field.

DePina talked more aboutmodern history of AfricanAmericans in the U.S. ArmedForces, and how the 54thmade i t al l possible. Heserved during the KoreanWar, and saw the Army inte-grate its forces over that time.

“I was there when it wassegregated, and it was hell,”he said. “I was there when itwas integrated; beautiful!But there was a problem. Thearmy was 80 percent Euro-pean, and 20 percent African.How many guys do you thinkare in a company? If therewere four or five, that wasgreat. Usually it was aroundtwo or three. I was in one ofthe two or three companies.When the guys came in, theytold me point blank range: ‘Idon’t like you.’ One year laterthey were loving me to death.I treated them fair and square,and that was the name of thegame.”

Corporal of the 54th ,Steven Paschal explained thatas a member of the organiza-t ion, a re-enactor wouldchoose a particular historicalperson to base their charac-ter. He based his character onCpl. James Gooding, whodied in Andersonville Prisonduring the war.

“So today I stand here rep-resenting Cpl. James HenryGooding,” he said. “He wasa member of the 54th of Mas-sachusetts and he petitionedPresident Lincoln about theunfair pay black soldierswere getting. Black soldierswere getting $10 and whitesoldiers were getting $13, but

they all agreed they wouldnot accept any pay until theyall got the same pay. One ofthe things members of the54th liked to do was to livein the spirituality of the mo-ment, and I found being areenactor, that there’s manyways to express the charac-teristics. There was a song themen working on the railroadswould sing in about 1860,right before the Civil War,and every time I hear it itbrings back the feeling ofthose men at that time.”

Paschal then went into askillfully-sung rendition ofThis Old Hammer, a songabout John Henry and how hechallenged a steam hammeron a railroad dig in West Vir-ginia. Paschal sang the re-frain, ‘this old hammer killedJohn Henry, but it won’t killme. Lord, no, it won’t killme.”

Civil ian member BobVance said he’s grown up inHyde Park and the fact thatthe 54th started out in CampMeigs but was never in anyof his history books troubledhim, which is why he got in-volved.

“I mean they were train-ing right there and I neverknew about it,” he said.

Vance also told the resi-

dents of the civilian side ofprocuring essentials for thearmy and his character’s in-volvement in the regiment.

“This is a big part of his-tory,” he said. “I’m dressedas a settler, this is periodpiece clothing and basicallyI was the ‘white guy’ whowould be their supply chain.They weren’t necessarilywelcome to the local mer-chants so I was the guy whowould go into town and pro-cure necessary items, andsince they weren’t acceptingany pay, I wasn’t really go-ing to cheat them. I did mybest to get a good deal forthem. I’m a God-fearing mantoo.”

Resident D’AnthonyClark II said he and his fam-ily were just coming in to re-turn some books and sawsomething interesting hap-pening in the auditorium.

“I guess the manager ofthe library jumped in front ofus and said ‘Hey, where areyou going? Get in there! It’ssomething really cool,’” hesaid. “You know, it’s a freeSaturday event. We figuredwhy not check it out and itwas really cool. I was reallysurprised to learn some unex-pected history.”

Clark said like many, hehad very little prior knowl-edge of the regiment, mostlywhat he learned from schooland what he’s seen at theDowntown memorial.

“It was really great tolearn more about somethingI knew very little bit about,”he said. “A lot of history getsforgotten, and I think with theway technology is, there’s alot that falls through thecracks and, to have people bepresent and actually reenact-ing right in front of you, tan-gible history almost, I thinkthat’s amazing.”

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Conserve ourresources.

Recycle thisnewspaper.


scheduled it to June 25.On April 9, EOHHS issued

its Shattuck Campus PlanningUpdate–obtained by requestfrom The Bulletin-that post-poned the meeting and statedthe reason:

“To better understand theinterest of potential partnersand the ability to deliver on thevision for the campus-to inte-grate permanent supportivehousing into the broader cam-pus plan from a service deliv-ery and financing perspective,the Commonwealth is releasingRequest For Information (RFI)from potential partners; this isan added component to the cur-rent planning process.”

EOHHS emphasized thatthe RFI is for information gath-ering only and is not a requestfor proposals.

According to EOHH, theneed for a RFI came about be-cause it needed to better under-stand the feasibility of imple-menting the vision. The RFIwould help EOHHS write theRequest for Proposal for a pri-vate partner(s) to develop thesite.

The nine-page RFI was re-leased on April 18, a copy ofwhich was received by TheBulletin.

At the January, 2019 com-munity meeting, EOHHSshowed a schematic plan of 11to18, three and five-story build-ings around village greens thatsome called a small town.These would include 75-100units of supportive housing andnew buildings for five publichealth providers.

In a statement to The Bulle-tin on April 17, EOHHS said,“The RFI seeks to enlist thegreater health care industry inthe Massachusetts health careindustry to help the Common-wealth establish a full vision forthe future campus. The deedrestriction on the property re-quires that the land be used forpublic health purposes, there-fore the RFI will be targeted toentities that can meet and de-liver the public health use.

"EOHHS established fiveplanning principles that a po-tential partner would be re-quired to follow; the Common-wealth through the RFI is look-ing to find candidates capableof achieving these goals:

• Integrate the Shattuckcampus with Franklin Park.

• Increase green space• Integrate health care

within and across the healthcare system and increases hous-ing supply to a minimum of 75to 00 units of permanent sup-portive housing. Improve ac-cess to neighborhoods withpublic transportation.

• Sustainable development.”The purpose of the RFI is

for EOHHS to “determine theinterest, potential partners and

Shattuck Hospital continued from page 1types of services that wouldsupport the Commonwealth’svision for the campus. EOHHSis seeking a self-sustaining part-ner.”

That partner would, amongother things, - Be required toalign with the objectives of thecampus plan. -Commit to col-laborate to serve the publichealth needs of the communityand Commonwealth. The sitemust continue to be used forpublic health purposes. -Allowfor the existing privately runservices and programs to re-main on the campus after thehospital relocates; the existingbuilding will likely be demol-ished. -Explore develop newideas. -Have the desire and re-sources for a long-term partner-ship. The deadline for responseis May 17, 2019.

The RFI asks four questionsand respondents can answer“any or all as you feel appro-priate. Responding to this RFIis completely voluntary.”

1. The type of services thatcould be added to the campus.

2. Describe issues thatwould deter or encourage anorganization from partneringwith the Commonwealth.

3. Identify the steps the or-ganization would need to part-ner with the Commonwealth

4. Describe what resources,including funding and financialmodels, are necessary to fi-nance the design, permitting,leasing and construction ofproject and ongoing manage-ment of the site.

EOHHS will need approvalfrom “the Asset ManagementBoard to enter into a long termlease of the campus and con-duct a competitive developerselection process.” That ap-proval is scheduled for the fallof 2019.

The information gainedfrom the RFI will presumablybe part of the agenda for thethird and final meeting on June25, before the program and de-sign recommendations are fi-nalized in the late summer orearly fall of 2019.

According to the RFI, thecampus plan will be released inSeptember, 2019 and the RFPfor partners will be issued inJanuary, 2020; the Shattuckhospital services are nowscheduled to remove to theSouth End in “early 2022.”

Integration with FranklinPark has been a growing con-cern among Jamaica Plain resi-dents. The RFI does not requirea partner to collaborate or evencommunicate with the BostonParks Department that has com-plete jurisdiction over the en-trance drive to the hospital andthe historic boundary landscapesurrounding the campus.

Carolyn Royce, chair of theJamaica Plain NeighborhoodCouncil Housing Committee,

has taken the lead on this ques-tion. She is also a member ofthe Community AdvisoryBoard assembled by EOHHSlast year.

At the April 16 HousingCommittee, one idea discussedwas a 400 to 500-foot wideeasement. This easementwould go along through theedge of the hospital propertythat abuts Franklin Park and theCircuit Drive along the tenniscourts. The ribbon of landwould be a walkway connec-tion from the Franklin Park en-trance around the huge ledgecalled Rock Milton and downto Scarborough Pond.

In this way no legislationwould be required to give land,but a legal agreement betweenthe City and the Common-wealth transferring a specificsection of land for a designatedpurposewould be, and would bepart of the RFP for dispositionof the campus to the partner-ship.

There was no consensus onthis idea, but people felt thatEOHHS should be given moresolutions other than just “inte-grate with Franklin Park.”

In the past year of publicmeetings on the future of theShattuck Hospital, city agen-cies, mainly the Parks Dept,DND and the BPDA, have beenspectators. This will change.

As EOHHS told The Bulle-tin on April 17, “the partnershipthat develops the site will besubject to the BPDA’s Article80 review process and that theCommonwealth-which ownsthe land–will not be part of thatBPDA process.”

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locally and internationally. Sheis, also, an accomplished artistand very proud Mom of twins.After her performance we wel-come others to share their worksor read a favorite poem or two.ADMISSION INFO: http://artistsatlargeinc.org/ Additionaltime info: all ages familyfriendly Dates and Time: April25th, 6:00 pm at Boston PublicLibrary, Hyde Park LOCA-TION: Boston Public Library,35 Harvard Avenue, Hyde Park,MA 02136

ETHOS CONVERSATIONSON AGING SERIES:Senior Services Expo - Bostonoffers many benefits and ser-vices for our senior residents.Find out what they are! JoinEthos and the City of BostonAge Strong Commission for aSenior Services Expo. The eventwill be held on Wednesday, May1, 2019 at the Blue Hills Col-laborative, 20 Como Road, inHyde Park. Stop in any time be-tween 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.and meet with city, state and pri-vate agencies as well as, humanservices organizations, to learnabout their respective programsand services. Information forseniors from all neighborhoodswill be available. Refreshmentswill be served. Call 617-477-6616 with questions. The eventis offered at no charge and pre-registration is not required.

BCYF PROGRAMSSUMMER CAMP 2019

The BCYF Hyde Park Com-munity Center is currently ac-cepting applications for oursummer camp. Our summercamp is for 7 – 12 year olds andruns from July 8th through Au-gust 16th. Hours are 8:30-am-

4:30pm with extended hoursavailable. Stop by the commu-nity center to pick up your ap-plication!

The programs are being of-fered at the BCYF Hyde ParkCommunity Center, 1179 RiverStreet, Hyde Park, MA 02136.Call for more information 617-635-5178.

WEST ROXBURY /ROSLINDALE

BELLEVUE HILLIMPROVEMENTASSOCIATION MEETING

Bellevue Hill, GBANA andWest Roxbury Civic and Im-provement Associations will co-host a community meeting onApril 25 at St. John ChrisostomParish hall, 4750 WashingtonSt., 7 PM. Join BPD Area E-5,elected officials and specialguests in a discussion about 361Belgrade, MWRA and new de-velopment projects. All neigh-bors and neighborhoods are in-vited! See you on the 25th.

WARD 20DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS

Boston’s Ward 20 Demo-cratic Caucus will be Saturday,May 11th, at the Irish SocialClub. 119 Park Street, WestRoxbury. Doors for the caucusopen at 8:30 AM, the caucusstarts at 9:30 AM

The purpose for the caucusis to elect delegates to the Demo-cratic State Convention on Sep-tember 14th in Springfield

The caucus is open to all reg-istered Democratic residing inWard 20

ROSLINDALEGARDEN TOUR 2019

A tour of six private

Roslindale Gardens presentedby Roslindale Green & Clean.Saturday June 22, 2019 at11AM-4PM. Tickets $15 beforeJune 16, $20 week of the event.

To purchase tickets or moreinformation, visitwww.roslindalegreenandclean.org

Tickets may also be pur-chased in person at theRoslindale Farmers’ Market onJune 8,15,22, and at JoanneRossman-Purveyor of the un-necessary & the irresistible, 6Birch St, Rosindale

Tour begins at Adams Park,Farmers’ Market (WashingtonStreet at Cummins Highway,Roslindale Village). The GardenTour benefits the continued im-provements to the public greenspace in Roslindale.

Current Sponsors:GoldenOak Sponsor: Linda Burnett,Realtor/Insight Realty Group,Copper Beech Sponsor: ChristieDustman & Company, Inc. ForInformation about becoming aRoslindale Garden Tour Spon-sor and the benefits, please con-tact: Joan Linden,[email protected]

ROXBURY LATIN GIANTYARD SALE

Saturday, April 27, 9 a.m. - 1p.m., Roxbury Latin Gymna-sium

Treasures abound at R.L.’sAnnual Giant Yard Sale! Pur-chase games and toys, furniture,jewelry, appliances, linens,books, home and holiday decor,sporting goods, computers andelectronics, clothing and bou-tique items—and the best bakedgoods around! Entry is free andopen to the public; RoxburyLatin boys will help you bringyour purchases to your car.

ROSLINDALE HIGHSCHOOL REUNION

A reunion for all who at-tended Roslindale High Schooland the Class of 1969 takesplace on Saturday, June 22 at theWest Roxbury Elks Club, 1Morrell Street from 7 to 11:30p.m. Send a check for $40. ToRoslindale High School Re-union c/o Maria Bennett P.O.Box 365858 Hyde Park, MA02136. Include an e-mail ad-dress and year of graduation.Updates can be found atroslindalehighschool.com.

MARK YOURCALENDARS

Anna’s Pals 2nd AnnualCharity Golf Tournament isright around the corner. MondayJune 24th at George Wright GolfCourse. 8am Shotgun Start.Raffles ~ Closest to the Pin ~Fun. Register now atwww.annaspals.org/events

SPRING BENEFIT DINNERFOR ROSLINDALE DAYPARADE

The Roslindale Day ParadeCommittee will host our AnnualSpring Benefit Dinner on Fridayevening, May 3rd, 2019 from7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at. St.Nectarios Hall in RoslindaleVillage. This traditional annualevent will feature a dinner cour-tesy of Delfino Restaurant, mu-sic with DJ Glenn Williams,performances, raffles, awardpresentations, and a silent auc-tion, and a half hour show byComedySportz Boston. Ticketsto this event are $30 each andmay be purchased on-line atwww.roslindaleparade.com, orthrough our mailing address atRoslindale Day Parade Commit-tee, Inc., P.O. Box 324,Roslindale, MA 02131-0003.

The proceeds from our An-nual Spring Benefit Dinner willgo toward the bands, floats, andexpenses for our 44th AnnualRoslindale Day Parade on Sun-day, October 6th, 2019. Formore information about the din-ner or the parade, call 617-327-4886 or e-mail [email protected].

TASTE OFWEST ROXBURY

Our 8th Annual Taste ofWest Roxbury will be on Thurs-day, May 16th 2019 from 6-9pmat the Irish Social Club.

Buy Tickets - $30 each(Opens new window). Actually,why not buy a whole table! -$240 for Table of 8 (Also opensa new window). Sign Up forFree Childcare at the ParkwayYMCA (Available 6-9pm onMay 16th; must show ticket orpayment receipt).

Become a Sponsor (Down-load Sponsorship Form for ad-ditional information)

Meet your neighbors and lo-cal business owners for a nightof delicious food from over 20local restaurants as well as cock-tails, raffles, music, and danc-ing. It’s the event of the year!

Calendar continued from page 8Other great reasons to attend:* Help WRMS build our

community. Proceeds benefitour work in supporting smallbusinesses and improving theeconomic vitality and physicalappearance of the district.

* Free designated driver.Thanks to event sponsor, Lyft,you can get a free ride to or fromthe event. Have a great time andget home safely. Details in ournext newsletter.

* Free Childcare! Make it adate night—drop the little onesoff at the YMCA for their ownpizza party during the event.Sign up here or at the YMCA(ticket receipt required).

Please reach out to us [email protected] if you areinterested in learning moreabout sponsorship opportunitiesor participating as a restaurant.

LOVE YOUR BLOCK -SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER

This year’s Love Your Blockspring cleanup in West Roxburywill be held on Friday, May 3rd,for corporate groups and Satur-day, May 11th, for residents.

YMCA HEALTHYKIDS DAY

Healthy Kids Day is an an-nual event that inspires parentsand kids to stay moving andlearning all summer long. OnApril 27 the Parkway YMCAwill celebrate Healthy Kids Daywith fun and free activities thatpromote the health and well-be-ing of children. 10:30am-1:30pm. Saturday, April 27th.

PARKWAY IN MOTIONSCHOLARSHIPS - MAY 15DEADLINE TO APPLY

Providing academic scholar-ships to students in the Parkwayarea has been a long-term goalof Parkway In Motion since theirinception in 1998. Thanks to thegenerosity of the community,they have distributed $70,000 inscholarships since 2014.

On March 30th, Parkway InMotion will award the 5th An-nual Michael Kennedy Memo-rial Scholarship valued at$5,000 for students in grade 6-8and Parkway pride scholarshipsfor K-5 grade students, valuedat $1,0000 each. If you are in-terested in sponsoring a Park-way Pride scholarship for 2019-2029 academic year, pleasee m a i [email protected].

In 2019, Parkway In Motionis introducing their SummerEnrichment Scholarship Pro-gram. This program provides fi-nancial resources to studentsentering grades 3-8 in the Park-way community so that they canparticipate in the summer en-richment learning experience oftheir choice. Students may ap-ply for funding for camps in theareas of music, art, mathemat-ics, dance, language, robotics,sports, science, and more. Learnmore atwww.parkwayinmotion.org/scholarships.


Other candidates who have officially thrown their hat intothe ring include Jonathon Allen, Liz Breadon, Lee Nave andAmanda Smart. D’Isidoro said they also want to try to have acandidate’s night for the At-Large candidates, which include atthe time of publication challengers Domingos DaRosa, MichelDenis, Raymond Duran, Priscilla Flint-Banks, William King,David Halbert, Herb Lorenzo, Julia Mejia, Roy Owens, JeffreyRoss, Alejandra St. Guillen, Taushawn Tinsley and Steven Wise.At-Large incumbents are Michelle Wu, Althea Garrison, AnnissaEssaibi-George and Michael Flaherty.

ACA Member Chris Arena said his proposal to create a dedi-cated dog park in the Allston Brighton neighborhoods is com-ing along nicely. He said he is in discussions with the Massa-chusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) foruse of a parcel to the east of the Herter Park Amphitheater andwest of an existing parking lot there.

“I’m a dog dad, and I love my dog and I’m advocating forpeople who have dogs and who don’t have dogs,” he said. “Wewant to find a place for them to go, and not poop in people’syards.”

Arena said 180 people have signed his petition, which canbe found at Twitter.com/arenainallston, and he’s going to havemeetings with DCR, Ciommo, State Rep. Mike Moran and StateRep. Kevin Honan. He said he’s also met with the BrightonAllston Improvement Association, the Charles River Conser-vancy, the Brighton Board of Trade, the Allston Board of Trade,both Main Streets organizations, and more.

Arena said the challenges facing them are those of fundingand figuring out the exact dimensions of the park. He said cur-rently parts of the area they’re looking at are seasonally permit-ted for sports uses, and they have to figure where those permitsallow those sports uses so they can work around them. He alsosaid he wants to apply for the Harvard Public Realm Trust Fundgrant, and he could use a little help.

“I have no experience writing grants and so I need someonewho can help,” he said, adding the grant application period endson May 10.

Crash Line Productions representative Kristen Franks alsogave an update on the Boston Calling Music Festival, set forMay 24 to May 26. She said over the last few months they havebeen working extensively to improve public safety with theBoston Police Department (BPD), the Massachusetts State Po-lice, the MBTA Police and the Transit Police.

“Each year we improve and learn from our mistakes,” shesaid. “Last year, we had almost 40,000 people, but this yearwe’re only expecting in the mid 20,000 range. We will still havethe same police presence, but there will most likely be fewerpeople in the neighborhood.”

Franks said they have worked with the MBTA to increasefrequency on the Bus Route 66 and will have shuttles waitingon Western Avenue to pick up and drop off concert goers. Shesaid Lyft will be the official ride share partner, and will have adedicated pick up and drop off location at the Harvard BusinessSchool.

In terms of noise disruption, Franks said their sound engi-neer has worked to include more speakers at the location of theconcert so that they have more control over sound spillover.

“I can’t promise full silence, but at the same time we takeevery concern seriously and in real time,” she said.

Franks discussed an issue from last year’s concert that whenthe Killers were playing, several residents complained that thebass was spilling over into the neighborhood and asked that itbe turned down. As soon as they saw the request, they did andFranks said neighbors were appreciated.

Allston Civic Assncontinued from page 1

ACA President Anthony D'Isidoro

Library Flooding continued from page 1

According to officials, the flooding appears to be coming from this pipe.PHOTO BY RICARDO GUILLAUME

Neighborhood Services,Pricilla Foley. Vieira sentthose three what he describedas “a really nasty note” wherehe wrote about having tomove the Earth Day event atthe last minute.

“We have had to relocatetonight’s speaking programto Weld Hall due to the factthat Menino Hall in the lowerlevel of the library has turnedinto a wading pool. We can’twait any longer,” Vieira saidin the email to BPL officials.“There must be an immediateremediation response to theseconditions. This is beyondthe point of just si t t ingaround talking about it. If I

don’t get an acceptable re-sponse I’ll be talking about itat the BPL budget hearing.Count on it.”

“The Boston Public Li-brary has been workingclosely with outside contrac-tors and the City of BostonPublic Facilities Departmenton the analysis andremediation plan for waterinfiltration in the lower levelof the Hyde Park Branch,” aBPL official said in astatement. “The BPL submit-ted a draft scope of work andpreliminary estimate for con-sideration in the COB FY20capital budget. This projecthas been included in Mayor

Walsh’s recommended bud-get and we expect that thefunds to perform this workwill be available in July.”

For now the plan is toclose Menino Hall to all pro-gramming until further no-tice. Vieira remained frus-trated but hopeful that some-thing will be done soon.

“You can’t keep talkingabout a problem that’s caus-ing this kind of damage. Youhave to fix the damage andfind a way to pay for it after-wards,” Vieira said. “Becauseif you don’t take care of it, it’sonly going to get worse andit’s only going to get moreexpensive.”


at two of Boston’s three examschools. Boston Latin School,the one exception, became lessdiverse 20 years ago when theschool district removed racialquotas before the courts couldoverturn the district’s racialquotas as unconstitutional.

The most equitable way toachieve broader diversity atBoston Latin School is not tobring back quotas or move thegoal posts for one tribe of stu-dents over another. Instead,Boston should look at ways tomake admission fair and opento all, regardless of racial back-ground or where students live.This could include replacingthe current entrance exam withone that is fair to everyonewho takes it, as school equityadvocates have suggested.

Changing an admissionsexam, however, will have littleimpact without marketingBoston’s exam school oppor-tunities more vigorously tofamilies who do not apply, in-cluding African-Americanfamilies who send their chil-dren out of Boston to suburbanschools via Metco. Some 300African-American studentsleave Boston for Metco everyschool year. Boston LatinSchool admits 400 studentsannually. If just a fraction ofthese students were to chooseBoston Latin over suburbanschools, enrollment at BostonLatin would shift in a mean-ingful way.

Carter WilkieRoslindale

AWASH IN FEAR OFINEVITABLE ANDNECESSARY CHANGE

To the Editor:Reading the Bulletin last

week left me puzzling overwhy some people are so fear-ful of and resistant to the un-avoidable and necessarychanges occurring around us.It started with reading aboutthe NIMBY resistance toneeded housing in JamaicaPlain, proceeded to theEditor’s confused swipes at thechanges in people’s transpor-tation choices, and ended withreading Frank O’Brien’sscreed against the essentialchanges the community over-whelmingly wants to the ex-ceedingly dangerous condi-tions on Centre Street.

I’ll start with the latter; I’mthe bicycle advocate “whodoesn’t live in the neighbor-hood” Frank took issue with. Iwas not aware that there was arestriction on advocating forsafety based on residence;while I live in Roslindale I rou-tinely shop in and pass throughWest Roxbury. I am like themany dozens who spoke at themeeting wanting drasticchanges to the road. I was par-ticularly struck by the com-ment from a mother withyoung children that she willnot cross the street to patron-ize other businesses because ofthe danger. Centre Street mer-chants, who often complainabout not enough foot traffic,should be alarmed by that. We

have pushed the City to placeaggressive traffic calmingmeasures in Rozzie Square andit has greatly benefited thebusiness community.

The Editor’s comment that“bike lanes are bad enough”reflects a profound ignoranceof all the problems that havebeen created by a car centricculture. People who would liketo walk or bicycle don’t be-cause of dangerous street de-signs like the high speed fourlane highway that is CentreStreet. We have traffic conges-tion because of bad road de-sign (e.g., street lights createbunching) and the fear that re-sults. A visit to the Nether-lands, Denmark, Portland Or-egon, Montreal or even Cam-bridge will show how theseproblems can be reduced andeliminated. Frank’s complaintabout Dr. Furth’s evidencebased point that other ad-vanced countries prioritize pe-destrian safety using scientificmethods reflects his parochialand uninformed thinking.

Indeed, a major source ofthe resistance to all the newand proposed housing devel-opments is fears about trafficcongestion. The solution is toencourage people to use othermeans of getting around in-cluding supporting improvedpublic transportation througha small increase in taxes thatwe can easily afford. We needthis just as we need more hous-ing for all the young and lowerincome people who need af-fordable places to live. It is asimple function of supply anddemand - more housing willslow down the increases inprice. In Roslindale we haveworked closely with many ofthe developers to make certaintheir designs fit and do not pro-mote more unnecessary driv-ing along with encouraging thedevelopers to make contribu-tions to improving the commu-nity. It works.

Finally, if the Bulletin andMr. O’Brien think that theirperspectives have a chance ofprevailing they should thinkagain. Climate change is goingto transform our lives as a re-sult of the excess CO2 we aredaily dumping into the atmo-sphere. Denser housing andpromoting alternatives to driv-ing (transportation accountsfor 40% of CO2 emissions na-tionwide) are some of the wayswe can protect the future forour children.

Alan WrightRoslindale

SCHOOL CAN BEA REAL ASSET

To the Editor:Welcoming Roxbury Prep

to our neighborhood will addvalue to our community andbenefit the city as a whole.

A well-designed schoolwith publicly accessible spacecan become a civic asset forthe entire neighborhood. It canfoster public life in acorridor that is currently car-oriented. This school will of-fer much more value than

the current use of the site.Additionally, transit-ori-

ented development is critical ifwe, as a city, are serious aboutaddressing climate change.Creating a moreresilient neighborhood meansbuilding for a futurethat makes walking, biking andpublic transit the convenientchoice. This school is a greatexample of building to this fu-ture as it’s served by the com-muter rail and multiple buslines. Boston’s high schoolstudents aren’t provided yel-low buses, so accessto public transportation iscritical as well asenvironmentally sustainable.

Finally, I believe in the im-portance of socioeconomicmixing and equity. Diversityand inclusion benefit the entirecity. We need more mixed in-come, racially diverse schoolsand neighborhoods throughoutBoston. This school will at-tract a diverse student bodyand staff to the West Roxbury/Roslindale neighborhood.This is something weshould celebrate.

I have two elementary-school-aged children who,without this school, will nothave any opportunity to attenda public high school in ourneighborhood.

It is disappointing to seeother neighbors put trafficwoes over just about every-thing else. Cars don’t buildcommunity, people do. Wemust build toward the futurewe want forour neighborhoods and I be-lieve Roxbury Prep is a greatexample of that.

Bridget MarquisBoston

LET’S MAINTAIN THISPOSITIVE TRAJECTORY

To the Editor:Thanks so much to the Bul-

letin for your detailed cover-age re: “Dismantling Educa-tion Inequity in Boston,” theApril 9 forum of the BostonCoalition for Education Eq-uity, considering especiallythat your print deadline wasthe next morning! Also wantto thank the Corey St. TempleHillel B’nai Torah for offeringtheir community room to wel-come the large crowd of 80+people.

It struck me that a commonthread thru each of the three ad-dressed topics began to emerge.A vicious cycle becomes clearas the District implements poli-cies that decrease confidence intheir schools, thus fostering anincreased market for charterschools ... which then causefewer dollars to be allocated toDistrict schools. No wonderfamilies begin to look else-where.

Boston is an improving dis-trict - and statistically one of thebest - urban districts in the coun-try. Let’s support policies andadministrators who will con-tinue that positive trajectory.

Andrea DoremusWest Roxbury

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