The Boston School Committee has voted to appoint Boston Public Schools (BPS) Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Jamaica Plain resident John McDonough as interim superintendent. McDonough, who has served as CFO since 1996, will lead the District after Superintendent Carol Johnson retires this summer. “I’m extremely humbled at the mayor’s confidence,” McDonough told the...
Blog Archives
City Life marks 40 years of helping residents
City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU), a JP-based nonprofit, is celebrating 40 years of empowering struggling tenants and homeowners with a May 18 dinner fundraiser in Dorchester. Founded in 1973 as the Jamaica Plain Tenants Action Group by activists “who wanted to commit themselves to making life better for working-class folks,” according to CLVU Organizing Coordinator...
Mayor promised better trash cans 3 years ago
Three years after Mayor Thomas Menino promised 25 “BigBelly” trash cans for the Centre/South streets corridor, Jamaica Plain is still waiting for the upgrades. Menino promised the 25 solar-powered trash compactor cans in January 2009 as part of the City’s massive effort to redesign the entire two-mile stretch of Centre and South streets. The...
JP hosts first mayoral forum
FOREST HILLS—Nine mayoral candidates attended a forum organized by the West Roxbury Courthouse Neighborhood Association this week. It was the first open candidate forum held for mayoral candidates in this year’s race. City Councilors Felix Arroyo, John Connolly and Rob Consalvo; Boston School Committee member John Barros; former Boston Police officer and co-owner of...
Car lot project revived after 2-year delay
STONYBROOK—Two years after it was first proposed, a stalled mixed-use development on Washington Street has been revived with only minor changes, following the discovery of hazardous chemicals on the site in 2011. The project proposed for the former Flanagan & Seaton Motor Car Company location at 3521-3529 Washington St. calls for a four-story self-storage...
Eating around the world in Rozzie
Roslindale offers a true tour of the world’s cuisines in less than a quarter-mile around Rozzie Village. “The diversity of food retail in Rozzie—restaurants, grocers, butchers, and specialty shops—reflects, and celebrates, the unique character of our community. Our neighborhood is really enriched by all these choices and we can’t wait to see what new...
Maternity photographers capture images of expecting parents
Documenting happy parents-to-be and big, round bellies, maternity photography has found a home in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. It can encompass a broad range of images, from intimate nudes that show off a pregnant woman’s big belly, to a family picnic, to an at-home portrait session in soon-to-be Baby’s nursery. Most focus on a...
Hyde Sq. parklet design chosen
Following two meetings with community partners that were open to the public, the design for the upcoming Hyde Square parklet has been chosen. Landscape architect Kyle Zick, the designer of JP’s parklet, was directed by community partners to combine two design sketches that included non-movable stools and a counter with raised planters with built-in...
Trash cans lacking in Centre/South
Despite its reputation of being one of Boston’s greenest neighborhoods, central Jamaica Plain is lagging in a crucial aspect: public trash collection and recycling. The Gazette surveyed trash cans in the Centre/South corridor last month. Of the 51 public trash cans in the two-mile stretch, only six were solar-powered, compacting, lidded “BigBelly” cans. They...
MassDOT responds to Casey bias claims
The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) maintains that it was “absolutely” not biased in favor of replacing the deteriorating Casey Overpass with an at-grade street network, despite suggestions in recently released internal documents. The documents from the early planning stages of the Casey Arborway project, before any public meetings, suggest that MassDOT focused on...