Crowds of people ice skated securely on Jamaica Pond daily in winters from the mid-1800s to less than 100 years ago. Thick blocks of ice were commercially harvested from it to sell locally and for export including by ship. The iced over pond supported trucks and teams of horses easily. Earlier this month, after...
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Opinion
Op-eds:
Massachusetts House passes housing bond bill By Local State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez Affordable housing continues to be at the center of our conversations here in Boston and Brookline. We know and feel the impact of the housing crunch first hand. In many ways, we are victims of our own success – our thriving small...
Letters:
Tenant organization is thankful In partnership and unity, communities find the strength to uplift. Our community, the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain personifies this. On Monday, January 8th, a large-scale arrest involving our community took place in the culmination of a two-year investigation. It is an important step to enhancing public safety...
Here’s Looking at You, JP: Did you have to eat what your parents served?
By Gustaf Berger / Special to the Gazette My sweetheart’s mother prepared and served food her father enjoyed, and she had to eat everything even if she didn’t like it. There were starving children in China, after all. I called that child abuse. I was free to pick and choose, and assumed that was...
Op-eds
A remembrance for Christine By Gerry Wright Christine Cooper was the heart, mind, and soul of the restoration at Jamaica Pond park during the last 25 years of the 20th century. When we began our work, the park was filled with trash and people were afraid to walk around the path to enjoy the...
Letters:
On Joe Timilty’s passing As someone who loved politics and worked with many of Boston’s elected officials, I always thought highly of Joe Timilty and was saddened to hear of his passing. I remember when he ran and was elected to the Boston City Council in 1967 and considered him a new and fresh face in...
JP Observer: Speech is money: It’s OK to voice opinions to other legislators in D.C.
A record-breaking number of people contacted Washington with their opinions during the first two months this year, according to an article in the March 6 New Yorker. “Members of Congress claim that, Senate-wide, the call volume for the week of Jan. 30, 2017, more than doubled the previous record; on average, during that week,...
Letters:
The bag debate We the taxpayers of Boston actually pay our City Councilors $99,500 per year to sit around debating the merits of paper vs plastic. Yep, you read that right. And soon we will be charged for putting our purchased items in any kind of bag merchants use. If you are car-less like me...
Here’s Looking at You, JP: Clockwise or counterclockwise, which way do you walk around Jamaica Pond?
The first two times I sat on a bench at Jamaica Pond and counted how many people were going left or right, one direction edged out the other by a statistically insignificant margin. I figured there was probably little difference. But I continued my count and, after 10 more two-hour sittings, the findings were...
Op-eds:
How we’re supporting small businesses during the holidays By Mayor Martin Walsh I grew up in a neighborhood of hardworking families, where everything seemed within reach. It was thanks in large part to our incredible small and local businesses. For years, these local landmarks have carried on the traditions of my neighborhood, and generated...