Chinatown Residents Fight Kensington Place, Fight for Parcel 24 (2 of 2)

The BRA has voiced support for Kensington from the beginning. Residents are skeptical of the City's recent promise (in a legal settlement around the adjoining Liberty Place development) that residents would be "significant contributors to development decision-making." Michelle Yee, a resident of the Mass Pike Towers, wrote, "In Chinatown, master plans and zoning laws do not seem to apply. Regulations are loosely read to favor the developer. There is clear abuse of goverment power here." Residents promise to continue to make noise and demand justice until they are heard.

Fighting for Parcel 24
At the other side of Chinatown, the completion of the 'Big Dig' project to depress Boston's Central Artery will crate a 70,000 square foot plot of land. Currently, it is a highway off-ramp that will be moved, leaving astrip of land.

Before the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension, which serves suburban commuters, was built in 1962, the Hudson and Albany Street area, which the off-ramp partially occupies, was a vibrant residential section fo Chinatown. Highway construction caused many homes and businesses to be destroyed and displaced hundreds of families.

Parcel 24 is currently owned by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), which has plans to lease the land to a developer that they would select. A coalition of community groups, Hudson Street for Chinatown (HSC) seeks to get Parcel 24 back to the community for a one dollar, have it redeveloped according to the Chinatown Masterplan, and have the development restore a community-friendly, residential character to the Hudson Street community and Chinatown neighborhood. The coalition believes that, given the history of injustice committed against residents, Parcel 24 ought to be returned to Chinatown community, and the community should have control over the development and usage of the land.

The coalition will sponser a Community Speak-Out on Hudson Street on September 27th, mobilize for public hearings and work for legislation that enacts the goals of the HSC into state law. Those interested should contact the Chinese Progressive Association.