BOSTON (WHDH) - James Jackson has lived at Washington Manor in Boston’s South End for three years now. He says the Boston Housing Authority Building, for elderly and disabled, is seeing a lot of drug activity outside its doors.
“Sometimes they camp out in the back parking lot,” Jackson said. “We generally see a lot of orange caps from the needles that the users are using and they’re all sprawled here in front of the building.”
At a public hearing held by the Boston City Counncil Thursday, several business owners in the area also told elected officials how untenable the situation has become.
“Every single business is having issues in the South End and lower Roxbury. Every one of them,” one resident said.
Many in the area say after Mayor Michelle Wu put a tent ordinance into place, requiring encampments on the streets, the drug abuse and homelessness at Massachusetts Avenue and Melena Cass Boulevard has moved to other parts of the city.
“There have been many issues of people actually defecating in between cars, parked on these side streets, along with their drug use,” Jackson said. “So, its happening, its a thing now, and its disgusting.”
7NEWS obtained an internal memo to city councilors where Mayor Wu explains new actions Boston is taking to respond. They include:
– Tapping into the 100-new police officer that just graduated from the Boston Police Academy to patrol trouble spots.
– Adding portable cameras for real-time monitoring of impacted areas
– Using a flusher truck for street cleanings and updating lighting.
Boston Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft dismissed Wu’s action plan, calling it “performative politics.”
“I think the community is happy something is being done,” John Fitzgerald said, Boston City Councilor. “A lot of it is what they have been doing and are adjusting to it. There’s some fundamental core changes that have to occur to really make an impact.”
Councilor Fitzgerald, the chair of the Public Health, Homelessness and Recovery Committee, who also represents the area, is holding a public hearing on whether what is happening is a “public emergency.”
While discussing that, a woman who says she lives on the streets, battling addiction, stepped in.
“Treatment isn’t working,” she said.
“We want to make sure the quality of life for the residents here is improved and we want to make sure those battling substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness are taken care of and also shown empathy,” Fitzgerald said.
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