2007 in Quotes
First in a two-part series.
“People were like, ‘Do you even know where you are? You’re in JP.’”
—resident Sandra Rodrigues on fellow patrons’ reaction to a Tedeschi’s clerk who allegedly denied her and her girlfriend, Stephanie Perez, service for displaying affection in a homophobic incident. The company reportedly took action on the complaint.
“He was a special man. He did a lot for a lot of people.”
—state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez on the death of former state Rep. Kevin Fitzgerald, who oversaw nearly 30 years of transformation in JP.
“There are times in the affairs of a great metropolis/when only poetry can give voice to the profound/sentiments of solemnity or celebration of the general populace…”
—Boston City Council resolution, written in the form of a poem by JP resident and JP Carpenter Poets member Joseph Bergin, calling for the creation of a Boston poet laureate position. The position was created.
“Diversity has many definitions. It doesn’t necessarily mean the color of your skin or where you came from. There is social and economic diversity, sexual orientation. There are dog lovers and park lovers. I would like to see the council remain diverse and continue to represent everybody’s JP.”
—outgoing Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council chair Nelson Arroyo on the council’s future.
“It’s a park. It’s not a helicopter landing pad.”
—Franklin Park Coalition Executive Director Christine Poff, on Boston Police plans—and a trial run—of using Franklin Park as a take-off and landing spot for police helicopters. The plan was later squelched, but complaints about helicopter fly-overs continue.
“It is a patrol.”
—State Police Airwing unit Lt. Sharon Costine, on joint State Police/Boston Police helicopter flights, after Boston Police said they do not constitute a patrol. The exact nature of police helicopter use remains unclear.
“I apologize. The way a less-than-creative solution was communicated was done very poorly.”
—MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas on a controversial last-minute expansion of Arborway Yard bus facility plans. The expansion was scaled down, and community talks continue.
“This is an opportunity to improve Forest Hills. [These are] the building blocks, if you will. It’s a way to improve the streets.”
—Boston Redevelopment Authority project manager and JP resident John Dalzell, kicking off the Forest Hills Improvement Initiative that is planning the redevelopment of three MBTA parcels and the general area around the Forest Hills T Station.
“No one should be displaced from the area as a result of rising property values. Publicly owned land needs to be affordable housing.”
—Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council member Francesca Fordiani on the Forest Hills Improvement Initiative
“It’s not our intention, throughout our planning process, to encourage people to sell off their lots and tear down their homes.”
—Boston Redevelopment Authority spokesperson Jessica Shumaker on the sale of two apparently livable homes on Hyde Park Avenue as teardowns inspired by the nearby Forest Hills redevelopment planning
“When people think roller derby is still fake, I hate that. I train four times a week busting my ass.”
—Jenna “Jennasaurus Rex” Catanzano, JP resident and veteran of the Boston Roller Derby league
“Stop pilfering my plants.”
—Sign posted by resident Mark Angney, one of several local victims of plant and flower thieves. The sign itself was later stolen, and a broken toilet dumped in his yard.
“The St. Andrew’s site is a constant reminder to the world that the clergy sexual abuse crisis began with Father John J. Geoghan victims and triggered the clergy sexual abuse crisis around the world. I think the victims should speak up and give their opinion about whether such a site should be maintained or a memorial to victims [be built].”
—Mitchell Garabedian, the renowned lawyer who brokered the sex abuse settlement with the Boston Catholic Archdiocese, on the idea of victims memorial at the former St. Andrew the Apostle Church, where Geoghan perpetrated many crimes and was the target of complaints that later helped blow open the church cover-up
“We want to say that you never get rid of records that are in permanent stone.”
—resident Maryetta Dussourd, mother and aunt of Geoghan victims, on the reason for her call to landmark the St. Andrew’s site as some type of victims’ memorial
“To make a mark on a specific church…isn’t fair to the memories we had there, and there were some great ones.”
—former St. Andrew’s parishioner Donna O’Connor on the memorial idea
“Buried here are the treasures of our parish to be opened in 50 years and celebrated by generations of the future.”
—Inscription on the spot of a time capsule buried in 2001 by former St. Andrew’s parishioners in front of the church. Bethel AME Church, the site’s new owner, has no immediate plans to move it.
“If I’d found this box when I was 16, I guarantee I’d have led my friends on an exploration of the church.”
—Chris Helms, JP resident and editor of the Watertown TAB & Press, writing on his blog about his discovery of all of the keys to the former St. Andrew’s Church complex in a box hidden under a bush near the church. He turned in the keys.
Compiled by John Ruch