Boston Mayor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance Monday that gives officials the authority to remove tents and tarps from the crime-ridden encampment that has become a permanent fixture in a troubled area of the city known as “Mass and Cass.”The ordinance prohibits tents and tarps at the encampment around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. “The ordinance will establish a prohibition against unsanctioned use of tents, tarps and similar temporary structures on public property and in the public way which have been shielding much of the dangerous activity in the area and undermining the ability of providers to safely and effectively deliver services,” Wu wrote in the ordinance filing. The ordinance is one component of a three-part approach that will also include “expanding overnight low-threshold housing and shelter capacity, and a coordinated response operation to return Atkinson Street to standard roadway usage and deliver outreach services citywide to prevent new encampments in other neighborhoods.”The ordinance, which still needs City Council approval, only applies to individuals who have been offered adequate housing, shelter and transportation and who have been given the opportunity to store their personal belongings. Some of those living in the area — and the services that drew them there — will be offered temporary housing at 727 Massachusetts Ave., where 30 transitional beds will be available. That is in the same area where officials concentrated services in 2016, as a 5 Investigates report showed at the time.Video below: 5 Investigates shows efforts to solve Mass and Cass situation date back yearsThe engagement center on Atkinson Street and the clinical services provided at the center will be relocated to the new space on Washington Street.Mobile police units will be in locations across the city so those dispersing from Mass & Cass do not erect tents in other communities.”Since January 2022, more than 500 people from the Mass and Cass area have been served at the city’s low-threshold supportive housing sites, and 149 people have achieved the stability, health, and recovery to move on to permanent housing,” Wu wrote.During an interview for Sunday’s episode of WCVB’s “On The Record,” the mayor said she is confident that the encampments won’t return this time. She said conditions on the street are different now than during her initial cleanup attempt when some people had been living in the encampments for years.”In a situation this complex, with so many different layers, and so much that’s outside of the control of any one small city, there will be some steps forward, steps back and steps forward again,” she answered. “I am confident that we are overall moving forward in a really significant way.”Video below: More from Wu’s exclusive interview on OTRIn recent months, Wu said, police officers and others have been attacked at the current area of the encampment. City data shows Boston EMS responses to the area have doubled from a year ago.Teams are continuing the ongoing effort to connect people in the area with treatment services when appropriate.The ordinance is set to be presented at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.Video below: Details of city’s plan to address Mass & Cass crisis
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance Monday that gives officials the authority to remove tents and tarps from the crime-ridden encampment that has become a permanent fixture in a troubled area of the city known as “Mass and Cass.”
The ordinance prohibits tents and tarps at the encampment around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
“The ordinance will establish a prohibition against unsanctioned use of tents, tarps and similar temporary structures on public property and in the public way which have been shielding much of the dangerous activity in the area and undermining the ability of providers to safely and effectively deliver services,” Wu wrote in the ordinance filing.
The ordinance is one component of a three-part approach that will also include “expanding overnight low-threshold housing and shelter capacity, and a coordinated response operation to return Atkinson Street to standard roadway usage and deliver outreach services citywide to prevent new encampments in other neighborhoods.”
The ordinance, which still needs City Council approval, only applies to individuals who have been offered adequate housing, shelter and transportation and who have been given the opportunity to store their personal belongings.
Some of those living in the area — and the services that drew them there — will be offered temporary housing at 727 Massachusetts Ave., where 30 transitional beds will be available.
That is in the same area where officials concentrated services in 2016, as a 5 Investigates report showed at the time.
Video below: 5 Investigates shows efforts to solve Mass and Cass situation date back years
The engagement center on Atkinson Street and the clinical services provided at the center will be relocated to the new space on Washington Street.
Mobile police units will be in locations across the city so those dispersing from Mass & Cass do not erect tents in other communities.
“Since January 2022, more than 500 people from the Mass and Cass area have been served at the city’s low-threshold supportive housing sites, and 149 people have achieved the stability, health, and recovery to move on to permanent housing,” Wu wrote.
During an interview for Sunday’s episode of WCVB’s “On The Record,” the mayor said she is confident that the encampments won’t return this time. She said conditions on the street are different now than during her initial cleanup attempt when some people had been living in the encampments for years.
“In a situation this complex, with so many different layers, and so much that’s outside of the control of any one small city, there will be some steps forward, steps back and steps forward again,” she answered. “I am confident that we are overall moving forward in a really significant way.”
Video below: More from Wu’s exclusive interview on OTR
In recent months, Wu said, police officers and others have been attacked at the current area of the encampment. City data shows Boston EMS responses to the area have doubled from a year ago.
Teams are continuing the ongoing effort to connect people in the area with treatment services when appropriate.
The ordinance is set to be presented at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
Video below: Details of city’s plan to address Mass & Cass crisis
