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Editorial: Boston City Council hits snooze button on Mass and Cass

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Editorial: Boston City Council hits snooze button on Mass and Cass


It’s a good thing the Boston City Council doesn’t work ER triage.

The Mass and Cass crisis is ongoing, and growing. Earlier this month Mayor Michelle Wu declared conditions around Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue had reached “a new level of public safety alarm.”

The Boston City Council heard the alarm, and hit the snooze button.

On the heels of Wu filing an ordinance giving police the authority to clear out homeless encampments at Mass and Cass, urging the council to “take swift and urgent action” to approve it this week, the council swiftly and urgently put it on the back burner in its Wednesday meeting.

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Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, who chairs the government operations committee, said he’s targeting the last week of September or first week of October for a hearing, which typically occurs before the Council votes on a policy matter.

“One of the things that could happen is at the hearing there could be issues about legality that are identified, or ways in which we can strengthen or loosen certain aspects of the ordinance,” Arroyo said. “A hearing is making the case for it or against.”

Doesn’t the nightmare that is Mass and Cass warrant expedition?

The council has presumably seen the coverage of the humanitarian crisis along the Methadone Mile, the garbage, the needles, the crime, the degradation of addiction playing out daily. Some of them have walked through the area.

“I don’t know about anyone in this room, but I’ve seen enough of the tents,” Councilor Michael Flaherty said at the meeting. “I think it’s time to take them down.”

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City Council President Ed Flynn has also seen Mass and Cass up close in a recent visit.

“It was worse than I expected,” Flynn said, pointing out the “squalor” and “rampant drug abuse in public” he saw.

That was early August, on Wednesday Flynn’s take was: “The time for question and debate is at a public hearing.”

In late September or October.

The measure would allow police to take down tents and tarps, provided that individuals are offered shelter and transportation to services, and eliminates the need for police to give a 48-hour heads up before removing tents. Police Commissioner Michael Cox has said that requirement is “not realistic,” given that the tents are being used to support the open-air drug market in the area.

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Late last week, Boston police arrested a woman on drug trafficking charges during an investigation on Atkinson and Bradston Streets. According to the BPD, officers saw a suspect exit a tent, and a search of the tent uncovered crystal meth, fentanyl and crack cocaine.

The tents are not just for sleeping.

“We are creating a new law with new criminal penalties, and so with something like that, I don’t think you rush into it,” Arroyo said.

And the dealers and addicts have at least another month to use the tents as transaction stations, while neighboring residents and businesses suffer from the problems incurred by proximity to the Mile.

A solution to the problem could be on the way – as long as no one’s in a hurry.

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Editorial cartoon by Chip Bok (Creators Syndicate)

 



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Boston, MA

Celtics parade floods the streets of Boston with fans celebrating Banner 18: ‘A life dream’

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Celtics parade floods the streets of Boston with fans celebrating Banner 18: ‘A life dream’


Celtics fans won’t end this celebration anytime soon – 16 years in the making.

As green and white confetti fell along the 2-mile route from TD Garden to Hynes Convention Center, more than a million fans from near and far packed the streets, showing pride for a team that means so much to them and the city as a whole.

“This is like a life dream,” said Nicholas Day, a Pennsylvania resident who has stood by the Celtics long after he left New England. He showed up to Causeway Street with his young song Landon, well before the Duck Boats started rolling.

Thousands of other Celtics fanatics piled outside the Garden early Friday morning, some hours before daybreak.

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Superfan Brian Babz showed up at 3 a.m., soaking in the atmosphere while reflecting on the Celtics’ dominance this season. Babz has become a fixture on Causeway Street by co-hosting watch parties at Big Night Live with his friend KJ Green, who got the nod to ride with fan favorite Kristaps Porzingis.

“My adrenaline has been going strong since Monday night,” Babz said, “and now after today, it’s going to last another week. The city is built on sports and championships. This is truly the start of the dynasty.”

“Let’s Go Celtics” chants wrung out on Causeway Street in the early hours, while Hurricanes at the Garden, the Harp, Banners, and other nearby bars, opened early for fans to get in their morning eats and drinks.

Merchandise tents sold “Kyrie (Irving) sucks” and “Luka (Doncic) sucks” shirts – a sign that the Finals win over Dallas is still freshly on the minds of all fans, just days after the Celtics clinched Banner 18 on the hallowed parquet.

And it didn’t take long for the classic Boston celebrations to be seen, with a fan climbing on top of a Canal Street traffic signal minutes before 9 a.m.

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City resident Dennis Daniel, also stationed outside of the Garden, said he’s been a Celtics fan “forever” before rattling off the legendary names of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parrish.

Banner 18 is  sweet, Daniel said, after the Celtics got within striking distance of accomplishing the ultimate goal the past two years, before falling short to the Golden State in the 2022 Finals and Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals

“We lost to people that we shouldn’t have,” Daniel said, “but it was growth, it was learning, to keep a legacy alive.”

Friday’s parade marked Boston’s first since after the pandemic, with the last coming in February 2019 when the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl. Boston Duck Tours has been part of all 13 rolling rallies in the past 24 years.

The Celtics – the entire organization; players, coaches, trainers, front office, dancers, Lucky the Leprechaun – passed the Garden, City Hall Plaza, and the Boston Common, before ending on Boylston Street by the Hynes Convention Center.

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Fans piled rows deep along the entire route. Those gathered along the barrier in front of the Hynes got drenched in a shower beer by Celtics legend Paul Pierce, in a boat with members of the 2008 championship team.

Rhode Island resident Jeff Norman found a spot in the shade on Tremont Street next to the Boston Common. With his 10-year-old son Lucas out of school for the summer, the father decided to take advantage and soak in the glory.

“It was truly a team based on teamwork, and everybody participated, everybody contributed,” Norman said. “It’s an awesome feeling to have (the title) back in Boston.”

His son, never seeing the Celtics raise the Larry O’Brien trophy before, added, “I needed them to win.”

The Normans traveled into the bustling city on the commuter rail – a common way in for thousands. The Mansfield Police Department posted on Facebook just after 9 a.m. that several morning trains were 100% full, urging fans to seek alternate transportation.

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Though temperatures broke after the heatwave, fans filled Dunkins along the route to the brim, seeking iced coffees and other drinks to stay cool in the day’s sun.

Brody Ernst and his friend Kaleb Cagnon, both 20 years old from South Portland, Maine, were just toddlers when the Celtics won in 2008, and Friday’s championship parade marked the first in their lives.

“They can’t say anything,” Ernst said of critics. “If you’re going to say this ring is a Mickey Mouse ring or whatever it is, you’re silly.”

Connor Eifert and his father Jim Eifert, walking through the Common after the parade, said they’re proud lifelong Celtics fans even though they live in Pennsylvania, not too far from Philadephia.

They called out Joel Embiid, a star on the 76ers who last week said he hates Boston and that the “whole East was kinda hurt this year, myself included,”

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“He hates us because we are winners,” Jim Eifert said.

Worcester resident Stephanie Rodriguez held her 1-year-old son Nick in front of Hynes, minutes before the Duck Boats made their way past. Her husband Justin highlighted how this year’s Celtics played as a team.

“It’s great for him to have role models to look up to, especially if he gets into sports,” Stephanie Rodriguez said of raising her son as a Celtics fan. “He’ll probably look back at this team and be proud.”

After the duck boats reached the route’s end, city employees used leafblowers to sweep up the confetti-ridden streets, with thousands of fans continuing the party and looking forward to the years ahead.

Payton Pritchard takes a photo during the parade that packed the city. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
Luke Kornet soaks up the adulation. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Luke Kornet soaks up the adulation. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
A young fan climbs a pole during the Boston Celtics Championship parade. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
A young fan climbs a pole during the Boston Celtics Championship parade. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)



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Boston, MA

Home Showcase: Back Bay penthouse delivers

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Home Showcase: Back Bay penthouse delivers


With all the glitzy real estate options popping up all over Boston, you still can’t beat a classic Commonwealth Avenue brownstone as the ultimate real estate showpiece.

Sitting between Fairfield and Exeter, across from the trees and twinkly lights of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, 222 Commonwealth Avenue is tippy-top to bottom reimagining of this prized location and the penthouse unit is its crowning jewel.

In addition to location bragging rights — and a massive, chic roof deck to look over it all — the three-level penthouse is serviced by a private elevator and a two-car garage. You’ll have square footage that rivals most single-family homes — 4,540 square feet to be exact — thoughtfully laid out with sleeping quarters on the first level, a second level for your dining, living, and entertaining, and a third level with a large den giving access to the roof deck.

Throughout, eye-popping details abound in this latest development from Senné: a sleek fireplace feature in the living room with custom paneling and bronze accents, Restoration Hardware finishes, plus Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances and Calcatta Oro marble in the kitchen. Two wet bars, one adjoining the living room and one on the third floor are poised for hosting in style.

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On the market for $13,995,000, the sale of the penthouse is represented by William Senné with Senné, 617-775-4655.

 

Home Showcase:

Address: 222 Commonwealth Avenue, #PH, Boston, MA 02116

Bedrooms: 3

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List Price: $13,995,000

Square feet: 4,540

Price per square foot: $3,082

Annual taxes: Not yet assessed.

Location: Ultimate Back Bay.

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Built in: 1930

The Appraisal:

Pros:

Roof deck

Two-car garage

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Cons:

HOA fees



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Boston, MA

Watch Live: Boston Celtics 2024 championship duck boat parade

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Watch Live: Boston Celtics 2024 championship duck boat parade



CBS News Boston

Live

BOSTON – The Celtics are NBA champions, and on Friday they’re being celebrated throughout the streets of Boston with a duck boat parade.

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A celebration that is not open to fans will take place inside TD Garden at 10 a.m. 

The parade is scheduled to begin around 11 a.m. Once the duck boats turn onto Causeway Street, the Celtics will continue past City Hall Plaza while also rolling by Boston Common on Tremont Street.

You can watch WBZ’s Celtics Parade of Champions, Sponsored by TD Bank, when it begins around 10 a.m., by clicking on the video player above.

Players, coaches and other guests on the duck boats will make their way to the conclusion of the parade route on Boylston Street near Hynes Convention Center.

A complete list of street closures for the parade are available by clicking here. Parking restrictions will also be in place throughout the day.

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will be among those cheering on the Celtics.

“It’s awesome for the city, awesome for the state, and as a couple former basketball players who grew up watching the Celtics in the 80s, we’re pumped,” Healey said. “It’ll be a great celebration, not just for the city and Massachusetts, but really for the whole region. Kudos to the Celtics team, because they are a team on and off the court. I can see just in the last 18 months since we’ve been on this job how committed they are to doing things in our community and being just great role models.



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