Press Release for Columbus Day Protest

Posted by John B. Kelly

"Fenway Alliance Puts Aesthetics before Public Safety"

LOCAL RESIDENTS DEMAND ACCESSIBLE HUNTINGTON AVE, COLUMBUS DAY, 12-3 PM, SYMPHONY T STATION

Neighborhood Access Group (NAG) will lead Fenway and Symphony-area residents in a protest against the dangerous all-brick sidewalks along Huntington Avenue during the Fenway Alliance's "Opening Our Doors!" celebration this Columbus Day. From 12-3 p.m., people with disabilities and access supporters will gather at the corner of Huntington and Massachusetts avenues (in front of Utrecht Art Supplies) to educate visitors about the gentrification which now excludes people from their own neighborhood.

"I am tired of being pole vaulted to the pavement when my cane gets caught in the broken and uneven brick sidewalks of Boston," said NAG member Alyson Perry, who is blind.

The Fenway Alliance, the consortium of 22 local cultural and academic institutions, advocated for and partially funded the installation of the brick sidewalks in 2003 in what it called a fight against "blight." NAG has fought for the return of concrete sidewalks ever since, with protests, meetings with city officials, City Council hearings, and petitions and letters to Mayor Thomas M. Menino. But even the levy of a $500 per day fine by the State Architectural Access Board (AAB) for "willful noncompliance" has failed to move the city to make the sidewalk accessible.

NAG will push its message on Columbus Day with:

· A giant "thermometer" showing the $150,000 + the city of Boston has been fined so far.

· Personal "storyboards" describing the dangers of all-brick sidewalks.

· "Scavenger Hunt" for children, informational flyers and a map for adults.

· Wheelchair rides. Pain relievers will be available!

· Sidewalk markings to indicate access violations.

The bricks, labeled "treacherous" by Globe music critic Richard Dyer and "cruel" by City Councilor Michael Ross, are an admitted problem. Consulting engineer Dave Mariano testified before the AAB that the sidewalk was noncompliant "because the bricks are so irregular. They're 'City Hall Pavers.' It's a baked brick, it's not a wire-cut brick and the surfaces are irregular." Even Disabilities Commissioner Spinetto said "the difficulty is with a unit paver system."

"Let's have a democratic discussion about these sidewalks," said NAG chair John Kelly. "Let the public decide which is more important: the safety of pedestrians or the aesthetic preferences of some bad neighbor institutions and their City Hall friends."