June 22, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Confirmed Shooting at Tremont and Stuart Streets
June 20 - This morning around 5:06am, officers from District A-1 responded to a radio call for a person shot at Tremont and Stuart Streets. On arrival, officers located a male victim in his early twenties suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to Mass General Hospital and is in critical condition.

Boston Police ask anyone with information about the incident this incident is urged to contact District A-1 Detectives at (617) 343-4248. Callers who wish to remain anonymous should call or text the Crime Stoppers Tip Line. Fight crime 100% anonymously. For yourself. For you neighborhood. Text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463) or call 1-800-494-TIPS.”

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June 15, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Yesterday I was at a public hearing for the City’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) for Parcel 24. The meeting was to request DND to release money from linkage funds to help build more affordable housing on the site.

For those unfamiliar, Parcel 24 is 1.5-acre of land that is east of Chinatown and borders Hudson Street and I-93 highway. There is a proposal by the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) to develop mixed-income housing on the site.

Jeremy Liu, director of ACDC, gave an overview of the site and its historical significance to Chinatown. When the highway was built in 1962, the people in the area were displaced and the fabric of the community was torn. One of those people displaced was Caroline Chang, who once lived on 48 Hudson Street.

Caroline spoke to the DND board members about how she was born in the ‘40s in 48 Hudson Street. Back in those days she recounted, “Doctors came to your house to deliver babies.” Before the construction of the Central Artery, Hudson Street was a vibrant and diverse community of immigrant Chinese, Syrians, and Italians. “It was a shocked to our family when one day we were told we had to move, “ said Chang. By building Parcel 24, Chinatown will get an opportunity to recover a piece of that history and also allow residents who were displaced to come back to the same street where they once lived.

In addition to the pictures of the project, Jeremy showed the breakdown of housing for the site. Here is a quick summary of the data. (The slides were more extensive than what I am posting here.)

Affordable Rental - 70 units
Affordable Condo – 66 to*99 units
Market-rate Condo – 156 to *189 units

It was explained to DND why there was a 66 to 99 and 156 to 189. Based on current funding, ACDC will be able to develop at MINIMUM 66 affordable condos. Combined with the 70 affordable rental units, this will represent 47% total affordability for the project. However, if DND is able to grant an additional $632,000 from linkage money through the construction of the W Boston Hotel (on Stuart Street near Chinatown), Parcel 24 project will be able to create an additional 33 affordable condos. Jeremy pointed out that homeownership is important in Chinatown because less than 10% of Chinatown is owner-occupied.

The DND chairperson (I missed his name) said he liked the Parcel 24 concept. However, he had reservations and wanted more data. He said that based on the amount requested, the DND felt that ACDC should be building even more affordable units than the additional 33. The meeting ended with a staff from City Councilor Sam Yoon’s office who spoke to give support to the project.

Since there has been no public meeting to update the Chinatown community on Parcel 24 recently, Jeremy asked me mention on this blog that ACDC will be hosting public meetings.

CORRECTION 7/18/07: Jeremy Liu of Asian CDC wrote that the project will actually need an additional $14 million (not $632,000) to build the additional affordable units. The $635K is only a fraction of the cost needed. Katharine O’Roof of Asian CDC clarified at another community meeting that there are two sums of money from the W Boston Hotel: linkage and inclusionary zoning. The $632K is from linkage funds, which has been approved since the original post on 6/15. Asian CDC is meeting with the Board of the Boston Redevelopment Authority on 7/19 to request an additional $1.8 million of inclusionary zoning funds for Parcel 24. If anyone has any additional info or feedback I appreciate it if you put it in the comments section.

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June 13, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Taunting iPod Thief Doesn’t Get Far
At approximately 2:35 PM on Monday, June 11, 2007, District A-1 (Downtown) officers responded to a radio call for a robbery in progress at 164 Tremont St. Upon arrival, officers were met by the victim, who stated that a black male with a red t-shirt and jeans removed her iPod from her back pocket as she exited the bus. According to the victim, the suspect then waved the iPod in her direction before fleeing on foot. The victim stated that she and a witness followed the suspect. Officers then searched the area with the victim. Officers, with help from the victim, spotted the suspect walking on Chauncy Street. Officers arrested and charged a 16 year-old male with Unarmed Robbery.

Armed Robbery of Business
June 11, 2007 - Yesterday at approximately 5:30pm, officers from District A-1 (Downtown) responded to a radio call for armed robbery located at 20 Park Plaza. On arrival, offices spoke with clerk who stated that a white male wearing a blue sweatshirt, white shirt, red baseball cap with white letter B and blue jeans entered the store and demanded money. The clerk stated that the suspect pulled up his shirt and displayed a firearm. The suspect fled with undetermined amount of cash toward Charles Street.

Four Arrested For Assault and Battery with Belts
June 10, 2007 - This morning at 2:56am, officers from District A-1 entered the parking lot at 260 Tremont Street to investigate a report of an ongoing fight. As officers entered the second floor of the garage they heard two groups of males yelling at each other and observed one of the parties running to two parked cars. Officers observed that several members of this party appeared to be putting their belts back into their pants. One ground jumped into one of the vehicles and fled the area. Police stopped the second vehicle before they could flee the area.

Officers spoke with the victims who stated that the suspects attacked them while they were in their vehicle. The victim stated that one of the suspects kicked the front passenger side window causing it to shatter. The victims further stated that they were repeatedly punched and struck multiple times with belts. Officers were informed that they were driving in the parking lot at a slow speed, which caused the victims in their motor vehicle to beep the horn at them. At that time the suspects exited their vehicle and got into a physical altercation with the victims.

Four Worcester residents Anh Luong, 20, Dung Pham, 20, My Diep, 21, and Phung Ta, 21 were all arrested and charged with Assault and Battery by means of a Dangerous Weapon and Destruction or Injury of Personal Property. Officers recovered one silver colored belt buckle on the ground where the altercation had taken place. Three of the victims sustained minor injuries and declined medical attention.

(Information gathered from http://www.bpdnews.com/)

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June 12, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Community Charrette For the Chinatown Gateway District

A community public process that engages every interested community member to an intensive discussion for creating a community vision for the Chinatown Gateway District, a twenty-acre area linking Chinatown, Leather District and South Station!

Dates:
Tue, July 10, 5:30pm – 8:30pm Charrette Kick-Off
Sat, July 14, 9:30am – 5:00pm, Economic Development and Land Use
Sat, July 21, 1:00pm – 5:00pm, Transportation

Place: The Metropolitan Community Room, 38 Oak St. Boston, MA 02111

You can sign-up for the charrette by downloading this form at our homepage and emailing it back to info@chinatowngateway.org

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