October 15 action rescheduled for October 22, MFA, Huntington Ave.

Posted by John B. Kelly

Public Safety, Not Stupid Form of Gentrification

CONTINUING PROTEST ON HUNTINGTON AVE. AGAINST DANGEROUS BRICK SIDEWALKS, OCTOBER 22, 12-2 P.M.

People with disabilities and supporters of their civil right to access are stepping up their pressure on the city of Boston to admit its mistake and remove the dangerous bricks recently installed along Huntington Avenue. This protest, like the one on Columbus Day, is being organized by Neighborhood Access Group (NAG), a local grassroots group fighting for street-level access in the city.

The event will run from 12-2 p.m., in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, corner of Forsyth Way/Huntington Avenue. This notorious stone sidewalk was left in place during the Huntington Avenue reconstruction, which was ironically begun to make the Green Line accessible to people with disabilities.

Local residents with disabilities will be displaying their horror stories of interacting with brick sidewalks on personal "storyboards," which will be hung on the iron fence at the corner.

Symphony Towers resident and wheelchair user Pam Beeler refers to her fall on a brick sidewalk when she writes, "IF IT WEREN'T FOR BRICK, I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS WHEELCHAIR." Towers resident Billie Tyler asks the public to "Help us get rid of this brick, please!" The Huntington Avenue brick sidewalks make her and other disabled women incontinent. West Fens resident Galeen Jones writes , "Huntington Avenue is like a four letter word to me."

"This city and its developer and institution friends like the Fenway Alliance hope that we will remain quiet and be invisible while they remake the city according to their stupid gentrification project," said Neighborhood Access Group (NAG) founder John Kelly. "how can one group of people's aesthetic tastes be more important than another group's physical safety?"

Activists are questioning Mayor Thomas Menino's oft stated commitment to public safety. Symphony Towers resident Richard Nurt said, "Menino is always talking about his commitment to public safety. Let's see him prove it."

Despite protests, City Council hearings, complaints with the Architectural Access Board, and working with city officials, the city has refused to replace the bricks. Brick sidewalks have continued to go down in the city, from Washington Street to Cambridge Street downtown