Boston Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge, who oversaw the city’s contentious bus and bike lane expansion, is departing the Wu administration at the end of the year in the latest staffing shakeup leading up to the mayor’s second term.
Franklin-Hodge was appointed chief of streets by Mayor Michelle Wu in December 2021, and after serving in that role for the entirety of the mayor’s first term in office, will not be returning for the second term of the Wu administration.
Wu confirmed Franklin-Hodge’s departure Friday, saying in a statement that she was “grateful to Jascha for his years of service to the City of Boston in making our streets safer and more connected for our residents.”
“Under Franklin-Hodge’s leadership, our departments tackled longstanding challenges that helped improve and deliver basic city services and infrastructure more quickly than ever before,” Wu said. “Over the last four years, we built more miles of protected infrastructure than ever before, repaved 102 miles of roadway, accelerated processes to build and fix sidewalks, improved trash pickup and snow removal, and modernized parking meters and streets management.
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“Jascha’s leadership has set a foundation for continued improvement and service delivery, and we are so grateful for his lasting impact,” the mayor added.
The mayor’s office said Franklin-Hodge resigned and would be leaving at the end of the year. No announcement has been made about who will replace him.
Franklin-Hodge was paid $191,653 last year, per city payroll records.
“Serving the City of Boston as chief of streets has been the honor of a lifetime,” Franklin-Hodge said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Mayor Wu for giving me the opportunity. Government is a relay-race, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to deliver and the organization we’ve built.
“I joined this administration because I believe in Mayor Wu and I’ve been happy to have the opportunity to serve this incredible leader who has given us the space to not only improve the infrastructure of our streets, but to make them safer and help people get around more effectively.”
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The city’s widespread implementation of bus and bike lanes under Franklin-Hodge’s leadership has drawn backlash from residents, became a campaign issue in the mayoral race, and led to a 30-day review last spring that concluded the engagement from the Streets Cabinet was “heavy-handed.”
The review was led by Mike Brohel, superintendent of basic city services, rather than Franklin-Hodge.
“During the 30-day review meetings, we heard consistent feedback that project communications and community engagement were inadequate, that decisions seemed pre-determined, and that processes too often did not achieve consensus, contributing to a loss of community trust,” stated a city memo issued at the conclusion of the review last April.
“We heard feedback that the tone of some engagements was very heavy-handed and relevant information was not shared, questioning the veracity of the process.”
Mayor Wu previously announced that she will have a new chief of staff in her second term. Tiffany Chu is departing her role as Wu’s top deputy, and will be replaced by Clare Kelly, the city’s director of intergovernmental relations, who will begin her new position on Nov. 17.
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Wu was reelected to a second term in this week’s election.
Mayor Michelle Wu (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Dorchester on Saturday afternoon that left a person hospitalized, officials said.
Officers responding to a reported shooting in the area of 480 Quincy St. around 3 p.m. found a person suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to Boston police. The person was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries.
Ballistic evidence was recovered nearby in the area of Coleman Street.
No arrests have been made.
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No additional information was immediately available.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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St. Patrick’s Day explained — history, myths and why we celebrate it
Uncover the truth behind Ireland’s patron saint, the myths and modern traditions of St. Patrick’s Day. Video created using the Wochit AI tool.
Wochit
With St. Patrick’s Day only two weeks away, the city of Boston is preparing to host the biggest celebration of the holiday in all of Massachusetts – the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade.
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However, the Southie parade is not only one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the country, but also one of the oldest. In fact, Boston first hosted a parade for St. Patrick’s Day in 1737, 39 years before the country itself was even formed. While the celebration has not happened every year since then, according to the date of establishment, Boston’s parade is the second-oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world.
Here’s a brief history of South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.
History of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade
According to the parade website, the city of Boston first hosted a St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 1737. The celebration was “a gesture of solidarity among the city’s new Irish immigrants,” as “Boston’s Irish community joined together in festivities of their homeland to honor the memory of the Patron Saint of Ireland.”
In 1901, the parade moved to South Boston, a neighborhood with a large Irish population. Southie is also home to Dorchester Heights, where British troops evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. Given the significance of both occasions to the city, Boston’s annual parade came to celebrate both St. Patrick’s Day and Irish heritage, as well as Evacuation Day and military service.
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The parade happens each year on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick’s Day, taking a break in 1994 and again in 2020-21.
St. Patrick’s Day in MA: 5 St. Patrick’s Day parades in Massachusetts to check out this March
What is the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebration?
The oldest recorded celebration of St. Patrick’s Day took place in St. Augustine, Florida in 1600, with the city’s first parade following in 1601.
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According to University of South Florida history professor J. Michael Francis, “The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States did not occur in Boston or New York. Rather, those who first gathered to venerate St. Patrick and process through city streets included a blend of Spaniards, Africans, Native Americans, Portuguese, a French surgeon, a German fifer, and at least two Irishmen, who marched together in honor of the Irish saint.”
While St. Augustine still hosts a parade for the Irish holiday today, the oldest continuous St. Patrick’s Day Parade is in New York City, where there has been a parade every year since 1762.
Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras.
Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal for the traditional New Year’s concert at the golden hall of Vienna’s Musikverein, in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File) AP
By RONALD BLUM, Associated Press
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2 minutes to read
Andris Nelsons is being forced out as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2027 after 13 seasons.
The orchestra made an unusually blunt announcement Friday.
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“The decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra continues to perform at the highest levels, the BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision,” the BSO said in a statement from its trustees and CEO Chad Smith.
A five-time Grammy award winner, the 47-year-old Nelsons is currently leading the Vienna Philharmonic on a U.S. tour and was to conduct the orchestra in Naples, Florida, on Friday night.
“While this is not the decision I anticipated or wanted, I am unwaveringly committed to you and to our work together,” Nelson wrote in a letter to BSO musicians and staff that was released by his management agency. “I understand the decision was not related to artistic standards, performances, or achievements during my tenure, and, therefore, my focus is straightforward: to protect the music, support the orchestra’s stability, and continue to perform with the musicians of the BSO at the highest artistic level.”
Nelsons made his BSO debut in March 2011 at New York’s Carnegie Hall as a replacement for James Levine, who announced 10 days earlier he was stepping down as BSO music director at the end of the 2010-11 season because of poor health.
Nelson was announced as music director in May 2013 and given a five-year contract starting with the 2014-15 season. The orchestra announced contract extensions in 2015 and 2020, then in January 2024 said he was given an evergreen rolling contract. He was bestowed an added title of head of conducting at Tanglewood, the music and educational center that is the orchestra’s summer home.
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The last extension was announced a few months after Smith, who had been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, started as the BSO’s chief executive.
Nelsons was music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Britain from 2008-09 and has been chief conductor of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Germany since the 2017-18 season. He married soprano Kristine Opolais in 2011, and in 2018 they announced their divorce.
Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras. Gustavo Dudamel is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer after 17 seasons to become music director of the New York Philharmonic and Franz Welser-Möst will depart the Cleveland Orchestra at the end of 2026-27 after 25 seasons.
In addition, Klaus Mäkelä takes over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027-28, when he also starts as chief conductor the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.
