By Sarah Attie.
A knock on a church door, an unexpected alliance, a battle to preserve a neighborhood: This is the true story of “The Lot Next Door,” a play in development by the Dorchester Weather theater ensemble.
In 2017, Ruby Reyes walked across the street and knocked on the door of a church she had never attended. When the pastor, a stranger to her at the time, opened the door, Reyes finally felt heard.
“Nobody was gonna help us unless it was directly impacting them,” she said.
Reyes, a Dorchester resident and landlord, was caught at a crossroads when she heard that the lot next to hers at Woodrow Avenue and Norfolk Street was being developed. She brought up the subject at a TNT Neighbors United meeting, but got no support.
“The other members of the neighborhood association were like, ‘Well, I wouldn’t want that going up next to me, but it’s not my house, so I’m not worried about it,’” Reyes said.
So she went to see her neighbor, Bisi Asere, the pastor of the Apostolic LAWNA Church.
Together, Reyes and Asere did some research about the development. It was to comprise eight housing units, two commercial spaces, and a parking lot on a piece of property that was zoned for a three-family residence. They later learned that members of the neighborhood association planned to buy the commercial spaces, and Reyes believes that is why she received no support at the meeting.
“I think it’s disheartening and disappointing to realize, like, I don’t know why people were lying to us, or like, trying to, you know, be disingenuous in these messed-up ways,” Reyes said.
Reyes and Asere had questions and concerns about traffic congestion, safety, flooding, and affordable housing. They said the property owner and developer promised to conduct studies on those points but never did.
“My main concern is the safety of people there,” Asere said. The area is known for traffic accidents and congestion, and he feared more housing would worsen the problem.
Jaronzie Harris, Reyes’s roommate and the city’s artist-in-residence at the time, decided to tell the story of how Reyes and Asere successfully fought the plan to develop the lot by creating a play to be performed in that very space.
In 2023 they staged the play, with Reyes and Asere portraying themselves. “Neighbors turned actors,” Harris said.
Harris went on to found the Dorchester Weather theater group, where she is playwright, director, and performer.
After the 2003 performance, the theatre group received more than $250,000 in funding from multiple sources, including the New England Foundation for the Arts. Now Harris and Dorchester Weather have worked up a second play, with a reading on Sat., Aug. 2 and then an open casting call.
It’s a new version of “The Lot Next Door” that covers recent events in the neighborhood, including another lot that now has neighbors concerned. They plan to stage it in summer 2026 at a location to be determined.
Eversource bought a vacant lot at New England and Woodrow avenues this year for a new electric substation. The company says the substation is needed because the electric grid in Dorchester is at 100 percent capacity. The company says it considered more than 10 locations and chose the lot at New England and Woodrow after several studies.
“It’s not uncommon for substations to be in residential areas,” said Eversource spokesman William Hinkle. They follow federal and state health guidelines, he said, and the company has conducted meetings with residents to discuss the issue.
Neighbors who oppose the substation— and their voices— will be incorporated into Dorchester Weather’s new production, Harris said.
“This is a part of our story,” Harris said. “This is a part of the narrative that we are addressing in the play.”
This story results from a partnership between The Dorchester Reporter and Boston University’s Department of Journalism.
