GROUPS CALL FOR CHANGE
A group of Mass and Cass-area neighborhood groups is planning to bring the city a list of proposals designed at reining in the issues flaring up in the area, including pushes to permanently close the engagement center, further decentralize services and set an end date for the use of the Roundhouse Hotel services.
The South End-Newmarket-Roxbury Working Group on Addiction, Recovery, and Homelessness, which restarted last year as a community effort after the city-run Mass and Cass Task Force ground to a halt and collapsed, intends to hash over 10 recommendations to them deliver to the powers that be at the city and state.
The recommendation draft, which is planned to be discussed at the next meeting, on June 14, is “a product of inclusive, extensive, and timely discussions within and among the abutting neighborhoods of Roxbury, Newmarket, South End, South Boston, and Dorchester as well as our partners and institutional providers,” according to the group.
“Nothing in this document is a surprise,” said Steve Fox of the South End forum umbrella neighborhood group, one of the hosts of these periodic meetings. “We’ve been talking about these issues for eight to 10 years.”
Fox told the Herald that the city needs to move from being “reactive to responsive” to the problems of open-air drug dealing and use abound in the sometimes-dangerous Newmarket area where sometimes hundreds congregate every day.
He’s “not optimistic” that they’ll take much heed of any submitted requests, though he said he’s appreciated Housing Chief Sheila Dillon and Mass and Cass czar Monica Bharel periodically showing up to give the groups updates, even if they disagree.
“We need to be able to change the conversation from updates from the city of all the wonderful things being done to what are the objectives to create a healthy Mass and Cass neighborhood environment,” he said.
One of the most eyecatching requests is a call to permanently close the Boston Public Health Commission-run Engagement Center, replacing it with smaller outposts around the city.
The new building on Atkinson Street in the heart of what’s known as Methadone Mile is supposed to be a portal to get homeless and drug addicts connected with services, but there’s periodic violence and dealing there, to the point when it temporarily closed.
That request from the neighborhood groups is one of several that has to do with getting services out of the area and spreading them around the city with an eye on stopping the clustering effect many of them being in one place has. Among the others are calls to decentralize needle exchanges and methadone services.
And there’s the call to put a hard cap on Boston Medical Center’s use of the former Roundhouse Hotel in the middle of the area to provide services including beds.
The locals say the place is becoming a hotspot for lawlessness, though BMC officials said this week that they’ll take steps to make sure that’s not the case.
There currently is no hard end date from the programs there, where were unpopular among residents the various times they were proposed.
The group also says the city needs to “use a ‘Refugee Crisis’ model to create initiatives, provide resources, and design policies that will treat the Mass and Cass geography for what it is: a complex refugee environment for those seeking to buy, sell, use and traffic in drugs and human beings.”
It also calls for cops on bikes in the area, and more focus on ending the obvious drug dealing in the area.
Police earlier this week said reports of crime and arrests both are up this year.
The area splashed into the headlines last year as a tent city popped up, which the Wu administration eventually cleared out in January.
That was counted as a win at the time and has remained successful in keeping people from putting up new structures, but locals say the overall situation is again worsening as the weather improves.
Patrice Bergeron A
If he does decide to retire, he will go out with his game intact. He should win his fifth Selke.
David Pastrnak A
The sharpshooter may have started slowly, but he shook that off and fought through emotional anguish to post another 40-goal season.
Brad Marchand B+
Marchand carried the team offensively in the first half of the season when the B’s were teetering toward oblivion. His grade dropped because of a sixgame suspension that, though overly harsh, was entirely avoidable. He also helped the B’s get to a Game 7 against Carolina.
Erik Haula B
Much like Taylor Hall, Haula did do much until the Great Line Change united him with Hall and Pastrnak. He was essentially given a tryout for the 2C job and never let go of it. His playoff was not great, but he did have the winning goal in Game 6.
Jake DeBrusk B
All the trade hullabaloo aside, DeBrusk reclaimed his career. After he got the assignment to play with Bergeron and Marchand, essentially by default, DeBrusk excelled in not just goal-scoring but in his 200-foot game. He also became a decent penaltykiller.
Curtis Lazar B
Lazar provided the lone scoring spark on the fourth line that had a good grind game but not much else. He may have priced himself out of Boston with the season he had.
TaylorHall B
When given the chance to drive a line in the first half, he was not able to do so. But while Hall may be an imperfect player, he can produce when given the right linemates. He took on the net-front role on the power-play and slowly found his niche there. Hall is still trying to figure how to be an impactful postseason player.
Charlie Coyle B
Coyle had a bounce-back season after playing on a bum knee last year. He was not a fit with Hall, but the issue was Hall’s as much as his. He had some different linemates, but his unit with Craig Smith and Trent Frederic was a key contributor in the second half resurgence, though it fizzled in the playoffs.
Anton Blidh B
Blidh wanted more playing time and he had a beef. He wasn’t perfect. He was penalty-prone. But he could have added some speed and physicality on the fourth line down the stretch.
Trent Frederic C
We saw glimpses of the power forward the coaching staff wants him to be, but not enough of it. He developed an alarming knack for bad penalties that made him a scratch at various occasions. There is something there, but he needs to find it.
Craig Smith C
After starting the season with a lower body injury, he rarely seemed like himself. He did show a spark when initially united with Coyle and Frederic, but he was a no-show in the playoffs.
Tomas Nosek D+
Goalscoring was not why Nosek was was signed but no goals after January 2 was unacceptable. Nosek brought some decent defensive and penalty kill work, but more production was needed.
Nick Foligno D
You can admire his character and his willingness to embrace the fourth line role, but he wound up there for a reason. The $3.8 million the B’s paid him only got them two goals in 64 games.
INCOMPLETE: Oskar Steen, Marc McLaughlin, Jack Studnicka, Jesper Froden, Chris Wagner, Steven Fogarty
Studnicka, once a prime prospect, took a step backward in 15 NHL games, but that’s not enough to judge him.