Wu and Essaibi-George go toe-to-toe
Boston mayoral candidates Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi- George sparred over Mass and Cass and the rebuilding of the Long Island Bridge during their final debate pitch to voters with the election a week away.
The city councilors clashing on the intersection also known as Methadone Mile came on the same day the city started clearing out the sprawling homeless encampment, which is the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis.
Essaibi-George ripped into Wu during the discussion over the crisis at Mass and Cass.
“Because she ( Wu) has been stuck in conversation, she doesn’t truly understand the crisis that is Mass and Cass,” Essaibi-George said during the WCVB debate. “I have spent days, nights and overnights at Mass and Cass, and our city’s residents who are unsheltered are in crisis.
“They need help today, not the start of a conversation,” Essaibi-George added.
“This work under my administration will start day one.”
Essaibi-George blasted Wu during a question over whether the city should focus on rebuilding the Long Island Bridge to reopen an addiction recovery campus there.
Boston has been advancing Long Island Bridge plans since 2018, but Quincy, where one side of the bridge would be located, opposes it. A court battle between the two cities is ongoing.
Essaibi-George said she “would not walk away from the battle with Quincy,” promising a bridge would get built during her administration’s first term.
“We can do a bridge hackathon and get this done,” Essaibi-George said, later adding, “We’ve got to move quickly on this, Michelle, we have to move quickly.”
Instead of the bridge, Wu said the city’s resources should be directed toward “urgent action,” including the city providing housing, health care and treatment.
“I do not support focusing our energy on building back a bridge,” Wu said. “This has been a conversation that the City of Boston has had for 6, 7 years now, and it is a major construction project in the order of $250 million-plus.”
That construction in the harbor would happen 5 to 10 years into the future, she predicted.
“I welcome and will lead the way to ensure that all of our regional partners can be working together because this is a crisis that truly affects all of us,” Wu said. “But I want to make sure we’re taking action in the 4-year mayoral term that I’m seeking, not for a bridge project that is out of that frame.
“Let’s use that funding, put it quickly to supportive housing and other structures, and activate Long Island through ferry service so that we can make sure we’re also building a recovery campus back on the island,” she added.