The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) bus facility grant program is not likely to see a more worthy applicant than the Arborway Yard. The proposed bus facility at Washington Street and the Arborway would be a state-of-the-art home for some of the busiest bus lines in a public transit-dependent major city. The plan also would...
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Group wants 2nd Suffolk changes
A proposal from the Massachusetts Black Empowerment for Redistricting would see JP’s 2nd Suffolk state senate district redrawn as part of state and federal redistricting taking place in the wake of the 2010 census. State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, vice chair of the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Redistricting, currently holds that seat. The proposed...
Preocupación
La palabra del momento es preocupación. La usamos indistintamente como la reacción más generalizada a la situación que nos ha puesto la economía; es decir, la economía que no manejamos. No estamos hablando de los grandes inversionistas o de los capitalistas que ya tienen la suya desde que salieron los calificativos que hacen pensar...
Revolutionary food package liner comes to Co-op
It sounds like the stuff of late-night infomercials: A “revolutionary” new organic product, made from ancient Indian herbs that inventor Kavita Shukla discovered on a visit to her grandmother, promises to significantly reduce food spoilage. But, according to Harvest Food Co-op spokesperson Chris Durkin, Fenugreen is for real. Harvest is now selling a Fenugreen...
Our perfect little corner of the world
By Dan Janis Special to the Gazette When the doors open at Green Street and I hop off the Orange Line, my blood pressure goes down a little and I breathe a little easier. Downtown is for stress and working. Jamaica Plain is for living. Everyone thinks their neighborhood is perfect, but as we...
Curtis Hall work misses a step
MONUMENT SQ.—It’s been one step forward, two steps back for rehab work at Curtis Hall, where city officials have twice demanded that a contractor redo allegedly faulty work on the new front stairs. The $5 million renovation of the city community center at 20 South St. is still on track for an October reopening,...
Asking too much of Whole Foods
While I have no particular interest in whether or not Whole Foods moves into Jamaica Plain, I find I am wondering what other new businesses in Jamaica Plain have been placed under such scrutiny. Why has it been asked to set up an affordable housing trust fund; undertake a traffic study; commit to a...
Get sandwich boards off sidewalks
In response to Sandra Storey’s “JP Observer” piece (“JP streets: The orderly and the ugly,” July 22) that pointed out that City-planted trees and their “pits” use up too much sidewalk width and obstruct pedestrian traffic, I would like to suggest a faster solution. The City should enforce its law prohibiting sidewalk sandwich-board advertising...
Bus yard grant includes building demo
STONYBROOK—The MBTA last month submitted a $155.5 million federal grant application to fund construction of the Arborway Yard bus facility. In a last-minute surprise, the application proposes demolishing the T’s 500 Arborway office building. Residents years ago proposed demolishing 500 Arborway, an office building that sits at the heart of the proposed bus facility...
Students build bikes in new program
BPS students are building bikes—one for themselves, one for donation—in a new partnership with Bikes Not Bombs, a Jamaica Plain nonprofit organization, and Roxbury’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School that launched last month. By Alicia Perez Special to the Gazette The program, called “Strive,” allows special needs students to use their hands and...