THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY SERVING BACK BAY - SOUTH END - FENWAY - KENMORE Victory Programs KELLEHER ROSE GARDEN IS IN BLOOM scraps plan to lease Roundhouse for shelter By Seth Daniel Atkinson Street Comfort Station. The announcement by Sarah Victory Programs announced Porter, executive director of Vic- to stakeholders on Wednesday tory Programs, came after a very that they would no longer be contentious stakeholder meeting pursuing a lease at the Round- online last Friday afternoon – house building on Mass/Cass one where elected officials and for a 14 to 35 bed transitional, residents decidedly opposed the low-threshold shelter at the for- mer hotel just a block from the (VICTORY PROGRAMS Pg. 10) Following successful first year, WATERGOAT trash net launched for a second season PHOTOS BY SETH DANIEL By Lauren Bennett the surrounding area as part of the event, according to Muddy A beautiful Queen Elizabeth rose bursts in The Muddy Water Initiative Water Initiative Volunteer Coor- bloom at the Kelleher Rose Garden in the Fenway last month, with the magnificent launched the WATERGOAT dinator Danielle Ibrahim. trash net for a second season on fountain in the background. Roses such as According to a press release this don’t continue to bloom throughout August 1, at an action-packed from the Muddy Water Initia- the summer without the help of volun- event offering live music, ice tive, the WATERGOAT received teers who do the painstaking pruning, or cream from the Boston Police ice a Boston Planning and Develop- deadheading, of the plants in the weekly cream truck, and even live goats. ment Agency Boston Red Sox ‘Tuesday with the Roses’ activity. Here, Many volunteers came out to Fenway Park Demonstration Fenway volunteer John Gill chats with help clean the river banks by the Project Community Benefitsother volunteers in the Kelleher recently as Ispwich Street Bridge, as well as grant for the second year in a they weed and deadhead the rose bushes. helped empty the WATERGOAT. row, and volunteers will clean See photos and story on Pages 4 and 5. More than 70 pounds of trash was removed from the river and (WATERGOAT Pg. 6) Mayoral candidates tackle issue of homelessness By Lauren Bennett House, hosted a virtual mayoral ros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa forum on July 28. Essaibi George, Kim Janey, and The Boston Coalition for Called “Pathways Out of Michelle Wu. Homeless Individuals, which Homelessness,” the forum was The forum focused on ques- consists of Boston Health Care moderated by Boston Globe tions relating to issues surround- for the Homeless, Pine Street columnist Marcela Garcia and Inn, Project Place, and St. Francis attended by candidates John Bar- (HOMELESSNESS, Pg. 9) Janey says there are ‘no current plans’ for requiring proof of vaccination in Boston By Lauren Bennett theaters, and restaurants, Act- In a video on WCVB’s website, ing Mayor Kim Janey was asked Janey responded by saying that Following an announcement Tuesday if she would follow suit showing proof of vaccination is from New York City Mayor Bill in Boston. What came next was “difficult to enforce,” and stated de Blasio that proof of vaccina- the latest controversy in the sum- on Twitter that “…there are no Bob Palmer and Lilianna Palmer work together to remove a pair of tion will be required for many pants from the Muddy River area, while Marco DeMelo and Juliette mer edition of this year’s mayoral indoor activities such as gyms, Palmer keep hunting for more trash. race. (VACCINES, Pg. 3) PAGE 2 THE BOSTON SUN AUGUST 5, 2021 editorial NOT ALL PARENTS KNOW GUEST OP-ED WHAT’S BEST FOR THEIR KIDS The executive order signed last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis Have You Heard? of Florida banning local school boards from requiring students to wear masks in schools in that state rates as one of the most repre- By Alison Barnet kept yelling, “These sidewalks find himself on a particularly bad hensible actions of any public official since the pandemic began. are 100 years old” as though that stretch of sidewalk with many When President Joe Biden’s Thanks to DeSantis’s lack of leadership and nutty pronounce- were something to be proud of, loose bricks and deep holes. “Is infrastructure bill finally gets and, when the president correct- the hospital drumming up busi- ments throughout the course of the pandemic, Florida now rates passed, do you know the first ed him: “They were put down ness?” he wondered. Noticing a as one of the biggest hotspots for the coronavirus in the world, thing on his agenda? He’ll be fly- 1979-1980,” the guy told him he bus stop at the corner, he won- accounting alone for almost 20% of the daily infections in the U.S. ing to the South End where he’ll didn’t know anything and kept dered how anyone could manage and recently breaking its own one-day record for infections. proceed at once to rip up our yelling, “These sidewalks are to run for the bus without harm. Predictably, the state’s healthcare system is being swamped by brick sidewalks and replace them 100 years old,” jabbing angrily Nearly finished with pulling COVID-19 patients, who are dying at a rate that is 10 times greater with smooth slabs of pavement at the ground. A group from the up bricks on all the South End than New York City’s. safe to walk on. Hordes of peo- nearby neighborhood associa- streets, Biden, standing on a DeSantis’s order fails to recognize two basic facts: ple, many on canes and walkers, tion applauded him, furious that piece of the old sidewalk, didn’t First, although the rate of serious illness among children who who wouldn’t dare walk on the their beloved bond with historic notice a hole where bricks used catch COVID remains low, more than 19,000 children have been sidewalks, will cheer him from Beacon Hill had been questioned. to be and tripped and fell. Each hospitalized with coronavirus in 24 states and New York City as of the street. No longer could they claim that of the congressional committee July 22, according to a database from the American Academy of Of course, the president the South End is just as old, and had already fallen, one break- Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. wasn’t alone in pulling up the they vowed to sell their condos ing her glasses, another who That is a large number and it surely will spike when children bricks. A large contingent of con- ASAP. didn’t notice big, long lumps in return to school indoors. gressmen and women did much Arriving the day after a rain the sidewalk. That was nothing Second, DeSantis’s order fails to acknowledge that while masks of the work, piling up bricks to storm, Biden was shocked to see compared to what happened to afford some protection to the mask-wearer, the primary benefit be taken away by truckloads of a lake covering the intersection another team member who went accrues to everyone else who is around the mask-wearer, whose masons. of many South End streets, an flying after he tripped over a aerosols are contained within the mask, rather than being spread We’ll hear the president com- infrastructure problem he some- dog’s leash and had to be taken around a room unimpeded where they linger to be inhaled by an- plaining, “Whoever put these how hadn’t foreseen. One was away by ambulance. other person. sidewalks down apparently directly across the street from Alison Barnet is a South End didn’t know a thing about trees.” Maskless students needlessly risk infecting their teachers, class- a hospital—shocking! Getting resident and former editor of the That’s right,” the people watch- mates, and staff members, as well as the family members and ev- his legs and feet wet, he crossed South End News. ing from the street will chime in. eryone else who comes into contact with anyone who is at those the street to the hospital only to But one guy, apparently drunk, schools. In short, the reopening of schools without adherence to the COVID-19 precautions that we’re all familiar with will become a superspreader event in every community in Florida, even among LETTER TO THE EDITOR the vaccinated, thanks to the highly-contagious Delta variant. However, it is the basic false premise of DeSantis’s executive TAKES ISSUE WITH a plan to create a renewable ener- harmful policies. order -- that parents know what is best for their children’s health BPL STAFF DECISIONS gy future, revitalize the economy, As a resident and practicing -- that is the most harmful aspect of his reasoning. create thousands of jobs and physician in Boston, I see the Dear Editor, Typical parents are not the best caregivers for their children’s save our planet through a Bos- health effects of climate change By what measures (consumer health for the simple reason that they are not medical experts, es- ton Green New Deal. She knows regularly. We need to move for- satisfaction, program develop- pecially when it comes to COVID-19. we need transformative environ- ward with the level of urgency ment, community involvement) While we will concede that most parents love their children, it mental policy not only now but that the climate crisis demands did the BPL decide to termi- also to build a sustainable future. – failure on the environment also is undeniable that parents who are not following the guide- nate Librarian Anne Smart and That’s why I’m proud to sup- has led to widespread negative lines set forth by the CDC and the American Society of Pediatri- (another South End branch librar- port Michelle for Mayor.