September 18, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Quick post here: Attended the Chinatown Neighborhood Council meeting tonight. The CNC meets on the third Monday of each month at 90 Tyler St. On the agenda were Tufts Dental School to give an update on their expansion of the One Kneeland Street building.

Second item was from Hudson Group/Ori Ron. Ori Ron is the developer for 120 Kingston Street. Ori said that, “Based on comments from the City and community we made some changes.” Some of those changes were: dropping the building from 29 stories to 27 stories, or 345 feet to 310 feet including 20 feet of mechanicals. They also redesigned the side of the building that will face the Chinatown Park, tearing down an existing 15 feet wall. With this new design, there will be glass and lights to illuminate the area. Here is a picture of a model showing how the Chinatown Park will connect with 120 Kingston development.

To complete the Mayor’s requirement for 15% housing units to be affordable (for developments that require special permitting - 120 Kingston is 310 feet for an area zoned for 100 feet), 120 Kingston will give money from the project to a Chinatown non-profit, Chinese Economic Development Council, to build affordable units on nearby Oxford Street. Oxford Street project will have 48 affordable units, with 1/4th being Section 8  housing, 1/4th targeting households making 30% of the median income (median income = $59-60k/yr) and 1/2th targeting households making 60% of the median income. Dennis Lui, project manager for CEDC said, “For example, a 1 bedroom unit in the 30% median income will be $427 a month.”

120 Kingston still file a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DPIR) later this year. The DPRI will show impact of shadows, sunlight and other concerns that were raised in the meeting. Several of the council members expressed support for the project. Gilbert Ho, a council member and also a Crime Watch member, said that with the addition of this building it will increase visibility at night and make the area safer.

After the 120 Kingston Street group, I made a presentation on the work of the Chinatown Gateway. I’ll put that report later on here in the blog.

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September 13, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

More bad news for Trigen, the energy plant located on nearby Kneeland Street next to Chinatown and the Leather District.  Yesterday the news reported a blast that sent asbestos over city streets. We have written about this in the past.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1031176

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September 12, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Students from the Josiah Quincy School performed for the opening of the Chinatown Park. Guest speakers included:

- Bernard Cohen, Secretary of Transportation and Chair of the Mass Turnpike Authority

- Tim Murray, Lieutenant Governor and speaking for Governor Deval Patrick

- Sal DiMasi, MA Speaker of the House and Chinatown’s State Representative

- An assistant of Mayor Tom Menino (who is on a trip to Latin America)

- An assistant to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (who is in D.C.)

- Peter Meade, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy

- Stephanie Fan and Dave Seeley, Chinatown Park Citizens Advisory Committee

- Michael Wong, President of Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association

Ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then a walk with everyone through the park. Stephanie Fan, Co-Chair of the Chinatown Park Citizens Advisory Committee talked about the history of the area. The site of the park used to be a parking lot and on Sundays, residents would come and utilize the parking lot. She also pointed out the many different symbols of the park from the Essex St. boat sail, which represents the movement of people into the community and “moving into the future”. Mass Speaker of the House and Chinatown State Rep. Sal DiMasi talked about how the community worked to preserve this space many years ago when a highway extension called the DD Ramp was proposed.

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September 9, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

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September 5, 2007 by Chinatown Blogger.

Received an email invitation for the Opening of the Chinatown Park.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 1:00pm - Rain or Shine
Chinatown Park (Near the Chinatown Gate between Beach St. and Surface Artery)

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