Candidates weigh-in on re-use of Carney Hospital site

Mayor Michelle Wu and her main challenger Josh Kraft shared the stage for the first time in the 2024 mayoral campaign cycle last night at a forum organized by 11 Boston Democratic ward committees and moderated by GBH reporter Saraya Wintersmith.

The evening event at Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre also included two potential challengers who are still collecting signatures to get a spot on the September preliminary election ballot: Domingos DaRosa, who has run for city council unsuccessfully in past municipal elections; and Alex Alex, a 24-year-old Mexican-born immigrant, who now lives in Dorchester.

Wintersmith posed questions organized around three key themes structured by the ward committee members: the mayor as platform creator, city manager, and as a “visionary leader.”

While the wide range of questions applied to the entire city, several were unique to Dorchester and Mattapan.

At one point in the night, Wintersmith asked the candidates pointedly about the future of the former Carney Hospital facility at 2100 Dorchester Ave., which has been closed since last August.

Each candidate agreed that health equity is essential to the city and that some form of healthcare services should be restored to the Lower Mills site.

Kraft called the closing of Carney “a horrible loss for the folks in Dorchester and Mattapan,” adding: “We need to do something about it. Whether it’s through pilot programs and working with the great hospitals in the city or finding some way to at least keep some kind of emergency services, psychiatric services, alive and well there.”

Wu pointed toward the work of the Boston Public Health Commission, which recently led a working group that issued a report on Carney’s closure and possible next steps.

“We absolutely need health care back on that site,” said Wu. “It will look different than how it was before, but we’re pushing the property owner, which is still connected to that horrible, greedy, Steward company that sucked all the profits out at the expense of patients.”

Wu stressed: “We will not allow for luxury condos to replace healthcare there, no matter what their plans are.”

Healthcare needs beyond the Carney site —especially at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard— were on the minds of potential candidates DaRosa and Alex.

“The last ten years have destroyed more than just Mass and Cass, it has destroyed Boston,” said DaRosa. “We have lost our humane way of dealing with people.”

DaRosa advocates for the re-opening of city-owned recovery facilities on Long Island and the establishment of more shelters throughout the state.

“We can’t allow the state to keep bringing everyone to Boston cause it's only fueling the flame,” he said.

Alex gave Wu’s handling of Mass and Cass a “C-minus grade” so far.

“Homelessness and addictions are not issues themselves, they’re symptoms of social rot,” said Alex. who referenced his own experience with homelessness as a teen. He repeatedly referenced that he spent the first half of his life as an “illegal” resident of Boston.

Kraft, who's also been questioned regarding his status as a Bostonian, especially after admitting to not knowing which ward he lived in, went with a lower grade, saying the city of Boston deserved an F. Kraft has said he plans to bring a “recovery first” response to the crisis.

Wu offered herself an “incomplete” grade on the specific Mass and Cass topic, calling it a work in progress.

Though the candidates agreed on several topics, tensions rose between Wu and Kraft several times throughout the forum. The first sign of conflict came just three questions in when Wintersmith asked the politicians how they would prepare for reductions in federal funding.

Kraft, who was asked to answer first, has previously condemned Wu’s proposed budget plan but kept his answer rather civil. He suggested the city find new sources of revenue by incentivizing businesses to move to the city, building more housing, and converting old commercial space into residential units.

When it was Wu’s turn to speak, she defended her record saying, “It's not just billionaires at the federal level who have said we need to cut everything in the name of efficiency. There are people on this stage right now who have said, let's take a 2 percent cut across the board to city services.”

She added: “That translates into firing police officers, teachers, etc., and mass layoffs. We need to protect city services because they're more needed now than ever and work with the state to find new sources of revenue.”

Kraft rebutted: “When I talk about savings in the budget, there was a $4.6 billion budget. The city administration said there wasn’t a penny to cut from it. I just find that hard to believe, but I also think it’s disrespectful to so many citizens in Boston that are making hard fiscal decisions that impact their families every day.”

Wu got the final word in saying it's easy to say these things from “the sidelines when you’re new to the city” and “new to any city policy making.”

Later in the forum, the pair went at it again when asked if reducing a dependence on cars would be a priority for their administration. Kraft originally said no and instead said he planned to fix the roads and sidewalks first and then work with the MBTA.

Wu pushed back on Kraft, saying, “Last week Josh was asked by a reporter what his plans for traffic and transportation was, and what he said was just pausing bike lanes… that’s not a plan, that’s not even a concept of a plan.”
This prompted Wintersmith to ask whether or not the candidates supported the expansion of a network of permanent protected bike and bus lanes.

Everyone answered yes, except Kraft who said he stood in the middle, unable to answer with a concrete "yes" or "no."

Moments later, Wu turned Kraft’s indecisiveness into a joke, referring to him as “Mr. Halfsie.”

Kraft laughed and shook Wu’s hand in response.

Watch the whole forum here.