By Ming Zhou, bostonese.com
Sept. 23, 2016, Boston, — As part of National Renter’s Day of Action in 50 cities around the country, hundreds of protesters marched from the Greater Boston Real Estate Board in downtown Boston to the Reggie Wong Park on Kneeland Street in Chinatown.
Members of Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) gather in downtown Boston at start of the march.
Protesters highlighted the displacement crisis, and called for tenant protections, liveable wages/rents, and community control of public land. They called for Public Land for the Public Good!
According to Lydia Lowe of CPA, MassDOT plans to sell Parcels 25 and 26 (including the park) to the highest bidder, for a minimum of $160 million. While they will list community benefits in the Invitiation to Bid, protesters said that there must be a hard guarantee that the developer will deliver, since this is taxpayer-owned land.
Chinatown’s demands:
-20% or 200 affordable housing units for low-income households, with additional units for the middle income
-expansion of the Reggie Wong Park
-community participation in ownership/management of the park
-design buildings and park to mitigate air pollution
-community priorities embedded in land disposition or contractual agreements with developer
As part of Renters Day of Action, some members of the Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network were artistically reclaiming public parcels for the public good, from Thursday, 9/22 Renters Day of Action, through Saturday, 9/24 National Public Lands Day.