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CHINATOWN DEMANDS, "RESPECT THE MASTERPLAN!" (2 of 2)
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RELATED LINKS:
RESIDENTS
PROTEST AGAINST LIBERTY PLACE QUICKTIME MOVIE 10MB Quicktime 5 Required.
Download the free player at apple.com
Campaign to
Protect Boston Chinatown Website
ORGANIZING RESIDENTS FOR POLITICAL POWER
Every time the developers said that this project was beneficial for the
people of Chinatown, the audience booed and heckled the presenters. At
one point, the architect said that with such a high building there would
be more lighting for the community to enhance the safety of the community.
Someone challenged back, the lighting is only for the 400 middle-class
residents who'll be living in Liberty Place not for the people of Chinatown.
You might think this was a scene from South Boston but it isn't. This
is Chinatown. Imagine this scene: elderly immigrants carrying protest
signs and marching through the door to the shock of City officials. They
carried banners "Chinatown Resident Association" and signs that
said "Save Chinatown" and "Stop Gentrification." And
then imagine when the BRA spokesperson tried to take the microphone from
one of the elderly leaders of the Chinatown Residents Association to prevent
him from speaking. People were in an uproar; they got out of their seats
and demanded that he be allowed to finish speaking.
"Its a shame that the City and developers make the residents listen
to an hour of your presentation and then won't give more than 5 minutes
for a resident to speak," said one of the residents.
The challenge that the residents of Chinatown are facing is that mega-developments
like this is already fixed, like a rigged election. When the community
follows the City's rules and procedures the community ultimately loses
because the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the developer, and community
leaders have already shaken hands under the table. The BRA appointed an
Impact Advisory Group (IAG) to determine who gets money from the project
after it is built. We need to raise issues of conflict of interest because
some of the same people that are in the IAG, the people who determines
who will get the $$$, will also be voting whether to approve the project
in Chinatown.
Artist Lydia Eccles, whose studio abuts the project, said it best at the
hearing, "You (BRA) have already decided and you're coming to the
community only because the law requires that you do so! "Longtime activist
and organizer Mike Liu asked to let the community vote on whether the
project should be allowed to violate the Masterplan, a democratic process
that the developers and BRA refused to recognize.
The other challenge is that the community is up against a $9 billion dollar
company. Besides Charles E. Smith, the developers for Kensington, a proposed
28-story building across the street from Liberty is also watching. Kensington
will come after Liberty and build 300 units of luxury housing. Combined
with Millennium, Liberty and Kensington, they are triple-teaming against
the community and represent billions of dollars of interest.
NOW WE NEED YOUR HELP!
If you've read this far, we want to recruit your help. We are continuing
to gather opposition to the project. "Once Liberty is built, the
floodgates will open. From then on, every development that comes to Chinatown
will look at Liberty's 30-story as the standard. That will be the end
of Chinatown," said Leong.
Save Boston Chinatown, take action, seize the time.
