With her field office a block away, state Sen. Liz Miranda convened a group of neighbors, elected officials, and city and state workers in Grove Hall last Wednesday to identify and work toward solving a range of quality of life issues, including disruptive loitering and unkempt vacant lots.
As part of the discussion, the group of about 30 people, including City Councillors Brian Worrell and Miniard Culpepper, a frustrated building manager, a public works expert, and a State Police representative, took a walk around the neighborhood, starting at the corner of Intervale Street and Blue Hill Avenue.
“We need to bring everyone together to work on this together because it’s going to take everyone,” said Miranda “We have three buckets of real challenges on Blue Hill Avenue, and I want to do this because people cannot see a future or vision for Blue Hill Avenue, she added, before laying out the “buckets.”
Senator Miranda spoke during the walk-through last week. Seth Daniel photo
“If people living here cannot go to sleep because of people partying here, we need to propose and find some solutions. We have vacant city lots already designated [for development] by the city that aren’t kept up. We also have the city-owned parking lot at Grove Hall and a pocket park that people are choosing not to utilize…because people are using it who are unwell and engaging in drug use.”
Zaynab Blinker, who manages 367-373 Blue Hill Ave. at the corner of Intervale Street for MIG/Boston Trust Realty Group, was front and center speaking up about her long-standing concerns.
“This is party central right here,” she said, pointing to the sidewalk and curb in front of the businesses on the first floor of the building.
“It’s really out of control and occasionally they crack open the fire hydrant on hot days and you wouldn’t believe it because there’s a man with a pink pool that sets up right next to the hydrant,” she said. “These are grown men, not kids. They are ignoring the police. Some of my tenants have left because they can’t tolerate the loud music and parties at night.”
Leaders of the Al-Quran Mosque on Intervale Street voiced similar concerns.
One long-time neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said she watches adults in the middle of the night smoking hookah pipes on the street with loud music and drinking.
“They take the whole sidewalk and party on the sidewalk and smoke the hookah,” said the neighbor. “They do all kinds of stuff in the city lot on Intervale. And they do that until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. in the morning.”
Mike Kozu, of Project RIGHT, said some barber shops have become a problem, too. He said that one had been shut down last year after a gambling set-up was uncovered in the basement by city inspectors.
“There are others that have music blasting out until 4 a.m.,” Kozu said. “The barber shops are something we would like to work with you on.”
Looking at some spent fireworks sitting in a lot on the corner of Brunswick Street that likely had been there since July 4, Miranda noted that the vacant lots need to be cleaned more often.
Public Works officials said the lots are the responsibility of the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) and they hire a private company to clean them. They said MOH might need to increase the frequency.
The large city parking lot in Grove Hall that is one of Miranda’s ‘buckets’ has been a big source of problems, including vagrancy, litter and drug needles, and noisy late night gatherings.
Neighbors and city officials said “revelers” had learned how to hack into the electric car-charging station to power their speakers and music systems, so the stations had to be disabled.
Miranda, the city councillors, and public works officials said they plan to shut down the parking lot for a day in the near future to do “a deep cleaning.”
State Sen. Liz Miranda convened a group of residents, elected officials, and public servants for a walk-through to catalog quality of life improvements that need to be addressed in Grove Hall. Seth Daniel photo
Keith Williams, the city’s deputy chief of operations, said they are working with Flames Restaurant, other businesses, and city departments to try to activate the Grove Hall Plaza
“This site has nothing positive going on right now, so we need to activate it with food and maybe some type of vendor or Farmer’s Market,” he said. “With an activated space in cooperation with the businesses and [Project RIGHT], we could get something good done.”
Some neighbors said if there is increased activity and improvements, they would like to see the folks who use the plaza as a place to sit and relax accommodated and not chased off. They said it is a nice meeting and gathering place and should be promoted.
Neighbor Jisca Philippe added that a safe, public bathroom accommodation is a big need, noting that businesses cannot always accommodate public restrooms, and that pushes people to find outdoor places.
Worrell noted that he is working on city legislation to try to promote a safe and secure a public bathroom siting accommodation and is targeting the Grove Hall area for that.
As the meeting wrapped up, Miranda said there were many more action items to be considered, and that they would reconvene in the near future to continue working on issues and celebrating successes.
