June 3, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Chinatown Blogger was forwarded this email by Sam Davol of littleimpact.org asking the City to bring back the Dewey Square Farmer’s Market. Reprinted here with Sam’s permission.
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“Subject: Help Restore Farmers’ Market on the Greenway

Dear Mayor Menino:

We live with our two children in downtown Boston a few blocks from South Station and the Rose Kennedy Greenway. On May 21, 2008, our family walked over to the opening day of the Dewey Square Farmers’ Market on the Greenway.

But there was no market.

We had read about the event on the City of Boston calendar, so we called the phone number on the listing. A city employee answered and couldn’t say why the square was empty. We contacted Howard Leibowitz, Executive Director of the Boston Public Market Association. He explained that the Association has cancelled the seasonal market at Dewey Square because they were unable to resolve logistical issues (loading/unloading on Atlantic Ave) that had raised their costs.

This news is a blow to residents who live east and south of the Common—in Chinatown, the Leather District, and Ft. Point Channel. It is also a step backwards for Boston as a whole, at a time when the city is trying to develop vibrant urban neighborhoods surrounding the Greenway.

Unlike the loss of James Hook & Co, a remarkable family business that burned down a few blocks away, the closing of this market is no accident. The feeling among our neighbors is that the empty square represents a lack of vision and absence of will on the part of our civic leaders, in particular those charged with putting something worthwhile atop the Big Dig.

Everyone is losing in this situation: local residents, commuters who stream across the square each day, tourists, conventioneers, and, of course, the vendors who could have sold to them. An urban event like a farmers’ market can connect people, build community, and spark other activities and commerce. But nothing is going to grow here unless someone plants a seed.

Sam Davol
Boston MA 02111
sam@littleimpact.org

cc.
Nancy Brennan, Executive Director, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
Howard Leibowitz, Executive Director, The Boston Public Market Association
Denny Ching, Neighborhood Coordinator Chinatown/Downtown”

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June 3, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Just want to mention here 2 other blogs related to Boston Chinatown. The owners of the 2 blogs had contacted this site. If there are any other blogs on Boston Chinatown, post them in the comments or email me.

1. http://bostonhudsonstreet.blogspot.com/
The blog is managed by Samantha Shih and is a project of Asian CDC. The purpose of the site is to give updates on the progress of the Parcel 24 development and to reunite former Hudson Street residents who were displaced by the I-93 construction in the 1950s.

2. http://www.littleimpact.org
This web site is intented to be a tool for “making improvements to our urban neighborhood; and teaching our children how to do that work themselves.” The site is run by a resident living in Chinatown with 2 children.

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