Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft backed a metropolis councilor’s plea to problem an emergency declaration on the Mass and Cass open-air drug market, whereas calling on Mayor Michelle Wu to elucidate her plan to handle the “escalating crisis” unfolding there.
Kraft on Thursday threw his assist behind Councilor and Wu administration critic Ed Flynn in his pitch for town to declare a public well being and security emergency on the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard and its surrounding neighborhoods, which the mayor opposes.
Wu’s principal mayoral opponent, Kraft, additionally stated his plan to sort out the open drug use, dealing, and associated violence at and across the intersection that’s change into referred to as Mass and Cass would yield higher outcomes than what he described as town’s “passive” method underneath the first-term Wu administration.
“Boston can no longer afford a passive response to the humanitarian crisis and public safety emergency unfolding on a daily basis around Melnea Cass and Massachusetts Avenue, which is affecting neighborhoods citywide,” Kraft stated in a press release. “Mayor Wu has offered no coherent leadership. My plan puts public order, recovery and real housing service solutions first.”
The Kraft marketing campaign assertion sought to put the blame for the “escalating crisis” that has unfold like wildfire from the world typically known as Methadone Mile to surrounding neighborhoods, significantly the South Finish, squarely on Wu’s shoulders.
The mayor’s plan, which started with clearing the longstanding tent encampment on Atkinson Road in late 2023, was short-sighted, in keeping with the Kraft marketing campaign, in that it failed to incorporate a long-term technique for the spillover that residents and a few elected officers say has worsened in close by neighborhoods since that point.
Kraft says his “recovery-first” plan would resolve the difficulty, and that it’s time for town to take a brand new method, provided that the present one has “collapsed.”
Some key highlights would contain launching a brand new police command for the Mass and Cass space, reestablishing a group syringe program that was ended by town, and constructing a “Recover Boston” habit restoration campus that has been pitched by group and Newmarket enterprise leaders, per his marketing campaign.
Kraft, son of the billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft and former head of his household’s philanthropic arm, additionally vowed to ensure that there can be sufficient shelter beds for the homeless, saying that he would exchange state-run beds misplaced on the Shattuck Hospital.
He stated he would eradicate drug consumption websites, however didn’t reject town’s controversial coverage of offering needles to addicts. Kraft stated he would keep Narcan and syringe entry.
“This is about leadership, not excuses,” Kraft stated. “Boston cannot wait another four years for the crisis at Mass and Cass to solve itself. My plan brings real enforcement, real recovery and real coordination — because that’s what this moment demands.”
The Wu marketing campaign hit again at Kraft on Thursday, saying residents deserve higher from their mayor than “criticism and recycled ideas.”
“Once again, Josh Kraft is willfully ignoring important work to enforce the law and address quality of life issues and root causes at Mass and Cass,” the Wu marketing campaign stated in a press release. “Below Mayor Wu’s management, Boston has constructed up pathways to restoration and everlasting housing that by no means existed earlier than and ended everlasting encampments citywide. A whole bunch of people that had been dwelling on the streets are in therapy and housing, and deadly overdoses have dropped.
“Boston police, health officials, and the city’s coordinated response team are working seven days a week to enforce the law, end outdoor substance use, address real quality of life issues for residents, and transition individuals into detox and residential recovery programs and away from Mass and Cass. Bostonians deserve clear, collaborative, and comprehensive leadership from their mayor, not criticism and recycled ideas,” the Wu marketing campaign added.
The mayor’s workplace had issued a press release Wednesday in response to Flynn’s decision calling for town to declare a public well being and security emergency at and round Mass and Cass. Wu opposes such a declaration, per her workplace.
“The city is using all levers of public health, public safety, and public works resources, in partnership with the community, providers, and the state, to end congregate substance use and the criminal activity that supports it,” Wu spokesperson Emma Pettit stated. “Declaring a neighborhood public well being emergency doesn’t unlock any extra authority or sources.
“What is needed is continued coordinated, compassionate response to eliminate public drug use and address barriers to treatment, shelter and housing. This work is urgent and we are focused on concrete solutions,” Pettit added.
Flynn disagreed. He talked about two widely-reported incidents of late, involving a 4-year-old boy who’s present process HIV-prevention therapy after stepping on a needle whereas enjoying exterior in South Boston in June and a homeless girl who squatted in a South Finish household’s dwelling for days whereas they had been away for the weekend.
“Any reasonable person who visits the area today will agree the city’s plan has failed,” Flynn stated. “What has taken place there over a decade is totally unacceptable: open-air drug market, dealing to dozens and dozens of individuals, public drug use, human trafficking, acts of great violence, public defecation, urination.
“If this is not a public safety and public health emergency and a humanitarian crisis, I don’t know what is,” Flynn, who represents South Boston and a part of the South Finish, added.
His decision was blocked, nevertheless, by Councilor Sharon Durkan, an ally and former worker of the mayor, thus stopping additional motion on the matter.
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