Speaker 1: Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: All right, I am delighted to welcome back to Nightside
Speaker 2: Boston City Council Ed Flynn, former President of the Boston
Speaker 2: City Council. He is very concerned about the I guess
Speaker 2: the renaissance, if you will. I hate to use that word,
Speaker 2: but I don't know what else to describe it. I
Speaker 2: don't want to say resurrection, but the return of Mass.
Speaker 3: And Cass ed. What is going on? Is that technically
Speaker 3: in your district or is it just outside of your district?
Speaker 4: Good evening, Dan to Anti directly, the Mass and Cass
Speaker 4: section is not technically in my district, but since the
Speaker 4: tents came down on Atkinson Street, the crowd has moved
Speaker 4: from that immediate area into the South End, into South Boston,
Speaker 4: into Dorchester and the surrounding area of Roxbury Nubian Square.
Speaker 4: So it is having a major impact on residents in
Speaker 4: my district, which is district too.
Speaker 2: So the specific area that we knew is Mass and
Speaker 2: Cass still remains on devoid of this drug activity. It's
Speaker 2: just relocated to nearby communities. Is that what's going on?
Speaker 4: Yeah? The big the biggest crowd, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
Speaker 4: You will see around ten o'clock in the morning, especially
Speaker 4: on Melnia Cass, maybe you'll see one hundred and fifty
Speaker 4: people openly using drugs, selling drugs and other criminal activity
Speaker 4: takes we're talking about.
Speaker 2: We're not talking about some people smoking, We're talking about
Speaker 2: hard drugs.
Speaker 4: That's correct. We're seeing people using using drugs. Needles are
Speaker 4: everywhere in and around the four neighborhoods I mentioned, and
Speaker 4: the area that I live near in Andrew Square is
Speaker 4: also heavily impacted by the Mass and Mass and Casts area. Actually,
Speaker 4: the closest MBT A stop to Mass and Casts really
Speaker 4: is Andrew Square on the Red line.
Speaker 2: So it seems to me that if they were able
Speaker 2: to clear out Mass and Cass, has I want to
Speaker 2: use the word metastasized, has this cancer that was in
Speaker 2: one portion, you know, on one area, it's now spreading.
Speaker 4: It is spreading, den the tense it down. But the
Speaker 4: problem exists, and in fact, I think the prop problem
Speaker 4: even got worse. We're allowing drug activity, drug dealing, drug trafficking,
Speaker 4: human trafficking to continue right in those immediate areas. I
Speaker 4: think that there needs to be a police presence, enforcement,
Speaker 4: zero tolerance, especially for people engaged in drug trafficking and
Speaker 4: human trafficking.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm looking at I'm looking at the pictures in
Speaker 2: at least in the Herald today. I don't know if
Speaker 2: the Globe is picked up on the story, but the
Speaker 2: Herald has a bias by Gala calling and you get
Speaker 2: people there who are literally it looks to me like
Speaker 2: either cooking something or shooting up. I kind of imagine
Speaker 2: living in a neighborhood where this sort of activity is allowed.
Speaker 2: Why why is the police department? And you're a pretty
Speaker 2: big supporter of police. I think you're not a critic
Speaker 2: of the police department, but why are the police allowing
Speaker 2: this to go on at ten o'clock in the morning
Speaker 2: on a Saturday morning.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Dan, it's a good question, and you are exactly right.
Speaker 4: I am a big supporter of the police and our
Speaker 4: first responders. I think we have to have a zero
Speaker 4: tolerance policy for drug dealing activity in that area, in
Speaker 4: really throughout the city as well. We can no longer
Speaker 4: ignore what is taking place in our neighborhoods, and that
Speaker 4: is open drug dealing. In drug use as well, that's
Speaker 4: a little bit more controversial, but people that are using
Speaker 4: drugs openly in the city. They need a detox bed,
Speaker 4: they need medical care, they need a path to drug treatment.
Speaker 4: What they don't need is to be on the streets
Speaker 4: using drugs.
Speaker 2: In my opinion, Well, you know we've seen if you
Speaker 2: want to call this sort of a lais a fair attitude,
Speaker 2: which if the police department is not establishing a presence
Speaker 2: in that community to to make sure that that community
Speaker 2: does not become the new drug open open bazaar that
Speaker 2: Mass and Cass was for so many years. That's what
Speaker 2: happened in Portland, Oregon, That's what happened in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: And we know the stories of those cities. Are you
Speaker 2: getting any support from and I don't want to put
Speaker 2: you in the spot here about any support from the
Speaker 2: mayor's office. I mean, I'm assuming that the mayor who's
Speaker 2: coming up for reelection a year from now has to
Speaker 2: be aware of this. This is She's got a lot
Speaker 2: of hot issues on her plate, but this is one
Speaker 2: that that I think she should be addressing. What's what's
Speaker 2: what's going on with with the mayor's office and what's
Speaker 2: going on with your colleagues and the council.
Speaker 3: And I don't want to turn you into a para.
Speaker 3: I hear it all, but.
Speaker 4: Right right now? Well, well, the Mayor's office is aware
Speaker 4: of the situation. They are aware that this situation his
Speaker 4: decline significantly. I think they are trying to come up
Speaker 4: with a new plan for mass and cast. They realize
Speaker 4: that the current plan that they have is not working.
Speaker 4: It cannot continue. The human misery that we witness every
Speaker 4: day in and around that area cannot continue. And residents
Speaker 4: deserve better. Residents expect better. And another month, kids are
Speaker 4: going to be going to school in and around that area,
Speaker 4: and why should they have to be subjected to that
Speaker 4: environment when they're going to grade school or middle school,
Speaker 4: middle school or high school. It's not fair to them either.
Speaker 2: Dim The Herald article reports. It says the city appears
Speaker 2: to be receptive at the moment to another proposal from
Speaker 2: three other elected official state Representative John Morian, State Senator
Speaker 2: Liz Miranda, and city councilor John Fitzgerald, who seeking to
Speaker 2: implement an interim recovery campus and at the attics frequency
Speaker 2: frequent frequenting mass and casts. They did have a recovery
Speaker 2: campus out there, wasn't it the Round Hotel? If I
Speaker 2: recall what they called it, a low bar recovering.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the Roundhouse Hotel. That was a facility that the
Speaker 4: city partnered I believe with the Pinestred in for housing.
Speaker 4: But the recovery campus would be similar to what we
Speaker 4: previously had at Long Long Island Hospital, and I was
Speaker 4: out there frequently as a probation officer. I was a
Speaker 4: probation officer for nine years and I supervised homeless people
Speaker 4: on probation. So I know that I know that area
Speaker 4: have very well, but I do have questions and concerns
Speaker 4: about a recovery campus. It doesn't appear to me that
Speaker 4: the city's in support of it or the States in
Speaker 4: support of it. But we don't have a location identified
Speaker 4: yet dan So if the.
Speaker 2: Bridge, everybody remembers there was a bridge out to that
Speaker 2: Long Island campus and that bridge doesn't exist anymore. And
Speaker 2: there's an ongoing fight between Boston and Quincy as to
Speaker 2: how to get you know, patients or support personnel out there.
Speaker 4: That's correct. It's still in the court system. I think
Speaker 4: Boston is winning some cases in court, but we're still
Speaker 4: probably four or five years away from opening Long Island
Speaker 4: and that's being that's being more positive. I think it's
Speaker 4: going to take a long time before we open Long Island,
Speaker 4: and I have a feeling that the infrastructure over at
Speaker 4: that location now is declining significantly, and we're going to
Speaker 4: need to spend millions and millions of dollars just to
Speaker 4: rebuild the entire campus over in Long Island.
Speaker 3: My guest is Boston City council Ed Flynn.
Speaker 2: We're talking about mass and cass which is now migrated, metastasized,
Speaker 2: whatever word you want, away from where it was, but
Speaker 2: into surrounding communities. I guess some could argue it's worse
Speaker 2: now in terms of surrounding communities than it was when
Speaker 2: it was confined to an area which was not especially
Speaker 2: known for single family homes or communities. So I'd love
Speaker 2: to hear from some of you who live in that
Speaker 2: neck of the woods, or any of you who are
Speaker 2: traveling in and out of Boston and have seen the
Speaker 2: resurgence of open drug use.
Speaker 3: I mean, we're not talking about a couple of.
Speaker 2: Kids smoking a joint, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 5: We're talking about heroin, fentanyl, injection drugs, needles on the
Speaker 5: ground which which kids going back to school can step on.
Speaker 2: And it just seems that that no matter what has
Speaker 2: been done. The problem hasn't been solved, and arguably it's
Speaker 2: gotten Morris. One member of the City Council who has
Speaker 2: been first and foremost, in my mind.
Speaker 3: A leader on this issue, is with us. Ed Flynn.
Speaker 3: Feel free to call.
Speaker 2: Make suggestions, ask questions six, one, seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty six one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty
Speaker 2: will also get on, get you on as well. We'll
Speaker 2: be back on Night's side with more conversation with City
Speaker 2: Councilor Ed Flynn and hopefully questions and comments and suggestions
Speaker 2: from my audience.
Speaker 3: How do we solve this? How do we make sure
Speaker 3: that mass and.
Speaker 2: Casts doesn't become a bigger problem and that Boston starts
Speaker 2: down a path that places like Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle,
Speaker 2: Washington have come to know rude to regret it. Back
Speaker 2: on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Joining me is Boston City Council Ed Flynn, and we're talking.
Speaker 2: And again, if you don't live in Boston, maybe it
Speaker 2: doesn't affect you, but anything that impacts the hub of
Speaker 2: New England affects all of us. And we thought at
Speaker 2: least the problem of mass and casts had disappeared from
Speaker 2: the headlines, and now it's back. If you read the
Speaker 2: article by Gayla Cawley and the Boston Herald today. I
Speaker 2: don't know that the Globe has been on this story, Ed,
Speaker 2: but they certainly should be. There's this is nothing but
Speaker 2: the worst humanity that you could possibly imagine. You have
Speaker 2: to feel sorry for these people, and if getting him
Speaker 2: into a treatment center can help them, it's got to
Speaker 2: be done. But it just seems that this it seems
Speaker 2: that this problem just won't just won't go away. Let
Speaker 2: me let me get some calls in for you, Ed,
Speaker 2: and see if there are people who have suggestions or
Speaker 2: recommendations here.
Speaker 3: So let me go to Brian. I was calling in
Speaker 3: from Hyde Park. Brian, I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 3: You were next on nights Side with city councilor flame.
Speaker 3: Go ahead, Brian.
Speaker 6: Hei Dani Hawaiia. It's been a while, Ed, Kools to you.
Speaker 6: I appreciate everything they're doing. I was your neighbor. I
Speaker 6: grew up on these State Street right behind your house.
Speaker 4: Hey, it's good to hear with me, Brian.
Speaker 6: So anyway, I'm a retired press responder for the city.
Speaker 6: I spoke to Dain before in Long Island Hospital, and
Speaker 6: just from my interaction with on a daily basis. When
Speaker 6: the homeless program came out, I got on in eighty
Speaker 6: eight and I just kind of watched it happen. But
Speaker 6: Long Island worked. It worked. You can't walk in and
Speaker 6: walk out of the island. Off the island. The programs
Speaker 6: actually worked for eyewitness and you didn't have a massive cast.
Speaker 6: As soon as that bridge went down, it became Boston's problem.
Speaker 6: But people need to recognize that it's a regional problem.
Speaker 6: People come here because of the benefits and what the
Speaker 6: treatments are. They're nowhere else, and people have to start
Speaker 6: recognizing that at the state in several levels, that this
Speaker 6: is all in a Boston problem. But unfortunately, I mean
Speaker 6: the property values of all dropped in the South End
Speaker 6: Andrew Square is I don't recognize it anymore. I drove
Speaker 6: through there the other day and it's all he wasn't
Speaker 6: the best spot, but you could wait for the bus
Speaker 6: and not worry about it, you know, being confronted. It's
Speaker 6: a shame, and I think this administration has dropped the ball.
Speaker 6: I don't think she really has a clue what's going on.
Speaker 6: I don't mean that in a bad way, but it's
Speaker 6: it's it's just it's just ignore it and we'll go away.
Speaker 6: And that's not happening. I mean, there's been several status
Speaker 6: in England Square in the past month. I think there's
Speaker 6: been three stabbings. It's absurd and it's not fair at
Speaker 6: the community, the people that live there, uh, the everyday
Speaker 6: citizens and there's still multiple elderly and it's just it's
Speaker 6: it's just spreading. It's it's it's gonna be inn upon corner.
Speaker 6: It's going to be an idiot but square and it's
Speaker 6: just moving. And there's more that there's more.
Speaker 2: Right, What would you want to see the city or
Speaker 2: the mayor's office specifically you do, Uh.
Speaker 6: I'd like to see them appropriate money the way it
Speaker 6: should be appropriated. You can't keep throwing money at this problem.
Speaker 6: But you can't throw eight million dollars on bus routes
Speaker 6: for free for three years when three or four bus
Speaker 6: routes in the city, that's a that's a waste of money. Uh.
Speaker 6: I think we all I think personally, I think we
Speaker 6: have enough boats in this in this harbor, in this
Speaker 6: community in the East Coast that we can get like
Speaker 6: they've done before. It is ferry people out there. But
Speaker 6: that that build, that complex, that campus is a beautiful complex.
Speaker 6: It's it's a beautiful place, it really is. It's a
Speaker 6: it's a jewel like all the Harbor islands are. But
Speaker 6: that's falling apart, and they have to send people over
Speaker 6: there just to make sure the generators are going to
Speaker 6: the heat still onto the pipes. Don't for you, It's
Speaker 6: just it's just a waste of money what we're doing now.
Speaker 6: I mean, pay for the pay for the boats.
Speaker 2: So so you're saying, you're saying people wouldn't volunteer the boats,
Speaker 2: but they would they already pay for it.
Speaker 6: You paid for it before. Yeah, I mean when they
Speaker 6: have when they opened the camp in the summertime. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I know, you know that's as tropic venture with Jack
Speaker 6: corn all that. But that we have, we have the boats,
Speaker 6: we have the ferries, and.
Speaker 3: I guess you also, and I want to get in
Speaker 3: on this too.
Speaker 2: If you did that and someone was to volunteer their boat,
Speaker 2: I assume you'd have to have a police officer in
Speaker 2: every boat to make sure that the attics didn't try
Speaker 2: to commandeer the boat or am I talking?
Speaker 6: Crazyl is one thing? But you know what the tea
Speaker 6: busses did every afternoon over at Nason Cass They had
Speaker 6: fifteen or twenty buses go in there and they'd all
Speaker 6: go out to the island and they would I check
Speaker 6: into their residents that they get it better the night,
Speaker 6: they get a shower, they get a mail, and it
Speaker 6: was treatments, and you can stay there for days on
Speaker 6: the day program, you know, thirty days. At the time
Speaker 6: I witnessed this, it Long Island worked.
Speaker 3: Okay, let me.
Speaker 2: Get I want to get Ed's reaction to your suggestions,
Speaker 2: because I love the suggestions and I love the specificity
Speaker 2: of the suggestions.
Speaker 3: Ed. What's your reaction with Brian's.
Speaker 4: Saying, I agree with Brian. I spent a lot of
Speaker 4: time on Long Island as a probation officer, and Brian's
Speaker 4: exactly right. Long Island did work. They had a detox
Speaker 4: program over there, they had residential housing over there, they
Speaker 4: had a Pine Street in presence over there. They had
Speaker 4: a women's facility over there, they had job training, they
Speaker 4: had a lot of a lot of good stuff over there.
Speaker 4: And when the bridge came down, all of all of
Speaker 4: the people, all of the residents moved to the Mass
Speaker 4: and Cast area. And then I think Brian is right.
Speaker 4: People come to Boston literally throughout throughout the country, especially
Speaker 4: New England when they have a substance use issue because
Speaker 4: they know Boston in Massachusetts are compassionate and that you
Speaker 4: will get services, you will get housing, you will get
Speaker 4: medical care and food in shelter. But Dan, I just
Speaker 4: think the city in state just can't afford that any longer.
Speaker 4: It's very expensive, and Boston is a generous city, but
Speaker 4: at some point we have to say we can't accept
Speaker 4: everybody coming to Boston. We're beyond that point. We can't
Speaker 4: do it any longer. We have a crisis in my opinion,
Speaker 4: at Mass and Casts, and Brian is right. Andrew Square,
Speaker 4: where I live, not too far from that area, is declining.
Speaker 4: Nubian Square especially is seeing a lot of the homeless
Speaker 4: living in and around Nubian Square area throughout the South End.
Speaker 4: The area in Dorchester across from Victoria Diner as well.
Speaker 4: That's also significantly impacted at Whatever Square as well. Up
Speaker 4: in Dorchester. The kids can't use the parks, they're afraid
Speaker 4: of needles. You can't play baseball, you can't play football.
Speaker 2: There's a park over there called Clifford Park, right, I
Speaker 2: think that's been really impacted.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's right across from Victoria Dina and the
Speaker 4: city is going to invest money into the park, but
Speaker 4: right now the kids can't play sports there because it's
Speaker 4: it's a lot of homeless openly using using drugs in
Speaker 4: the park.
Speaker 6: Bok We Park also which is used by on a
Speaker 6: weekly basis.
Speaker 2: All right, well, look Brian, you you you have some
Speaker 2: experience with it. You made some specific recommendations. Want to
Speaker 2: hear what other people have to say on it. And
Speaker 2: thanks so much for listening to night Side. And we
Speaker 2: should become a more frequent call because you actually gave
Speaker 2: some ideas.
Speaker 6: It's been a few it's been a few few months,
Speaker 6: but I'll be back.
Speaker 4: Thanks Brian, and thanks Brian, thank you for calling.
Speaker 3: Thanks for your service.
Speaker 2: Take a quick break et get more phone calls here, folks.
Speaker 2: If you'd like to join the conversation, if you have
Speaker 2: an idea, six one seve ten thirty, there's one line
Speaker 2: there and I got a couple of lines at six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty. I'd love to
Speaker 2: hear from you as to what the city can do.
Speaker 2: This problem has not gone away. Maybe it was out
Speaker 2: of sight for a while, but it has not gone away,
Speaker 2: and it has to be addressed, and it has to
Speaker 2: be addressed effectively, and by ignoring it that is not
Speaker 2: a solution. We'll be back with Boston City councilor Ed
Speaker 2: Flynn and more phone calls right after the news at
Speaker 2: the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 2: All right, my guest is Ed Flynn, Boston City Council.
Speaker 2: We're talking about the re emergence in a slightly different
Speaker 2: location of the group of people who had befuddled the
Speaker 2: city for years with open air drug bizarre market bizarre
Speaker 2: I guess would be one or a buzzar at Mass
Speaker 2: and Cass and now it's moved. I love to hear
Speaker 2: from you, particularly if you're living in Boston. We sparked.
Speaker 2: We spoke with Brian from Hyde Park. If you're impacted
Speaker 2: by this, your voice needs to be heard. And if
Speaker 2: you're happy with what's been going on down there, don't
Speaker 2: bother to call in, however, or if you are happy,
Speaker 2: you call in. If you're unhappy, love to hear from you.
Speaker 2: Let me go first outside of Boston to Mike and Beverly.
Speaker 2: Mike next on nice side with Boston's City council ed Flynn,
Speaker 2: right head, Mike, Hey, can you hear me?
Speaker 3: We can hear you. Just fine, go right ahead.
Speaker 7: Hey, So, as a person in long term recovery, I'll
Speaker 7: be seventeen year clean and SEPTEMBA congratulation situation I knew
Speaker 7: was does not go away like that. Then you know
Speaker 7: it needs treatment, further treatment. It does not work right
Speaker 7: just running a machine and like file on people over
Speaker 7: Those are my people's bathers, sisters, cousins down there, and
Speaker 7: I know it. You know, you guys don't understand how
Speaker 7: hot it is to stay clean. It's very difficult not
Speaker 7: to use a day at a time, and you know
Speaker 7: it's Shaff's comans don't only want to pay for a
Speaker 7: seven day spend dry and there's no treatment, they say
Speaker 7: for a smoke and crack and cocaine, And unfortunately that's
Speaker 7: what a lot of us going down down there, and
Speaker 7: the heroin and that sort of stuff. I understand that,
Speaker 7: but you know the way they're going about it is
Speaker 7: like they're spending all that money being illegals, not helping
Speaker 7: the people had there today. That's about that kissed me
Speaker 7: off that they knew what was gonna come back around
Speaker 7: and it doesn't just go away like that.
Speaker 3: Okay, let's let's get let's get a quick comment that Dan. Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, first of all, congratulations. In seventeen years, I've had
Speaker 2: friends of mine who have been in your situation, people
Speaker 2: who I know and respect and.
Speaker 3: Who I love.
Speaker 2: Uh And I can't tell you how happy I am
Speaker 2: that people like you can beat this, get this monkey
Speaker 2: off your back. We're spending a billion dollars a year
Speaker 2: on folks who are coming into Massachusetts because of our
Speaker 2: right the shelter law, and billion this year, billion next year.
Speaker 2: I think that Mike is correct that there's going to
Speaker 2: have to be some funding here to help some of
Speaker 2: these people get clean and stay clean. What what's your
Speaker 2: reaction to what Mike had to say?
Speaker 4: Well, I wanted to say first congratulations to Mike on
Speaker 4: his sobriety, but I also wanted I also wanted to
Speaker 4: highlight that, you know, Dan, I was a probation officer
Speaker 4: for nine years and my number one job really was
Speaker 4: trying to get people on probation into drug treatment that
Speaker 4: we're using. And many times I'd bring them to the
Speaker 4: judge or to the clerk magistrate, and I'd be lucky
Speaker 4: enough if I could get them into a drug treatment program.
Speaker 4: To be honest with you, most of the time the
Speaker 4: detalks that'd be clean and sober for a period of time,
Speaker 4: and most of the time unfortunately relapsed. But I never
Speaker 4: gave up on them. But after a period of time,
Speaker 4: eventually a few of them got clean and sober. It's
Speaker 4: perseverance and it's supporting people that have substance use issues.
Speaker 4: But leaving someone on Melania cass for seven hours on
Speaker 4: a Saturday or a Sunday throughout the week also using drugs,
Speaker 4: is not the answer. They need to be in detox,
Speaker 4: they need to be in a recovery program, a path
Speaker 4: to recovery, and people that are preying on them drug dealers,
Speaker 4: they need to be arrested and prosecuted and do mandatory
Speaker 4: prison time. In my opinion, the inhumanity that is taking
Speaker 4: place down there. I usually go buy there every other day.
Speaker 4: It can't continue. And if people drive by there and
Speaker 4: see what I see almost every other day, they would
Speaker 4: have to agree with me. It just the status quo
Speaker 4: is no longer an answer, and we need to acknowledge
Speaker 4: that our plan has failed and we need to try again.
Speaker 7: Oh, it definitely is definitely is the only one to
Speaker 7: get the phone goal. I do a hot line and
Speaker 7: I'm the when to get the phone call time, and
Speaker 7: you get a small window of opportunity to get so
Speaker 7: many detoks, very small, and it's how they get a bed.
Speaker 7: You know, they close Boston Cab right there, right there,
Speaker 7: in a heartbeat of it, they closed a couple of
Speaker 7: years ago. Like why you know why they close that place?
Speaker 7: Why can't we fund that place and get that back
Speaker 7: open again.
Speaker 4: Well, I think I think the detox are critical for
Speaker 4: people that are using drugs. I think they need to
Speaker 4: be in detox. I don't think you can stop using
Speaker 4: drugs on your own, in my, in my, but having
Speaker 4: people out there is not the answer. I receive calls
Speaker 4: from mothers mostly and fathers asking me getting how can
Speaker 4: they get their child literally off of mass and casts
Speaker 4: into a detox program. And some of the answer really
Speaker 4: is that they need to be sectioned by the court. Yeah,
Speaker 4: section thirty five, And that means that they're not willing
Speaker 4: to go on their own. They're not capable, in my opinion,
Speaker 4: of making sound judgment to go into a detox program.
Speaker 4: It takes a loved one, it takes a family, It
Speaker 4: takes a caring judge to get someone into detox, to
Speaker 4: make a hard decision and send not sentenced, but send
Speaker 4: that person to dtalks, even if they don't want to go.
Speaker 4: That's how That's what a parent would want to see.
Speaker 4: They'd rather see their kid in detox in a facility
Speaker 4: that I'm massive casts.
Speaker 7: Oh and then so living also further also and six
Speaker 7: nine a yeah, away from that situation. Build the foundations.
Speaker 7: How do you build a house? He built it from
Speaker 7: the ground up concrete. A strong foundation makes a strong house.
Speaker 7: That's how you build it up.
Speaker 2: All right, sir, appreciate it very much. My congratulations on
Speaker 2: your recovery. Got to keep rolling here. Yeah, sure, good night.
Speaker 2: I am going to go to Bruce and Howell. Bruce,
Speaker 2: you were next on Nightside with Boston City Council with
Speaker 2: Ed Flynn.
Speaker 8: Go ahead, Bruce, Dan, thanks for taking my call and
Speaker 8: welcome City councilor Flynn. How are you tonight.
Speaker 4: It's good to be with you, Bruce, Thank you for
Speaker 4: calling in Yes, I.
Speaker 8: Had several comments. I'd like to make them in questions
Speaker 8: and then at the end I'll hang on to hear
Speaker 8: what you have to say. Unfortunately, the first responder phone
Speaker 8: call I think he was two callers earlier, took the
Speaker 8: wind out of my sale. The whole thing really comes
Speaker 8: down to money and how much you want to you know,
Speaker 8: I mean, right now, everything is thrown at the wall.
Speaker 8: See if it's sticks. And in my opinion, as a suggestion,
Speaker 8: I'm an outsider by the way, I live in Hull.
Speaker 8: I've been on the South Shore since nineteen sixty nine,
Speaker 8: so i was a youngster just out of the military,
Speaker 8: and I'm not a city dweller. Quinsy to me is huge,
Speaker 8: and so I don't understand all the makings. But I
Speaker 8: look at and I say to myself, Gee, if we're
Speaker 8: having a border problem, let's make this a United States problem.
Speaker 8: Bring in the federal government for the money that we need.
Speaker 8: Just like the southern Mexican border states, perhaps get funds
Speaker 8: from the government to help control well, they have an
Speaker 8: old border patrol. Another idea is a homeless tax. We
Speaker 8: have a tax for a meal, use clothing. Well, no,
Speaker 8: you don't pay tax on clothing to you in Connecticut.
Speaker 4: That is.
Speaker 8: So there's a couple of ideas. And I ask any
Speaker 8: homeless person. I've never been homeless. I've had a brother
Speaker 8: that I think was for a period of time. But
Speaker 8: ask any one of them, and I mean no disrespect
Speaker 8: to anybody, what they think of the Rose Kennedy Memorial
Speaker 8: Park and the money it costs to build something like that.
Speaker 8: And I understand cities have to have that kind of
Speaker 8: public infrastructure until you come up with the funds to defeat.
Speaker 8: Much like your other two callers, the man in recovery, Wow,
Speaker 8: incredible seventeen years, never had the issues. I'm all done talking, Dan,
Speaker 8: thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 2: Well, appreciate it. Hold on for a second and any
Speaker 2: reaction to what Bruce from Hull had.
Speaker 4: To say and suggests, Yeah, Bruce, that was a good call, Dan.
Speaker 4: Bruce made some good points there. One the way I
Speaker 4: wanted to respond to it is the homeless the people
Speaker 4: I should say on Mass and Casts. Then they're not homeless.
Speaker 4: They have apartments, they're living in various locations across Boston
Speaker 4: in Greater Boston, and they actually come to Mass and
Speaker 4: Casts to use drugs. They have places they have places
Speaker 4: to live. I think about eighty percent of the people
Speaker 4: on Melnia Cass, you that you will say driving by,
Speaker 4: most of them have a place to live. I confirm
Speaker 4: this with city city officials. It's a place, it's a
Speaker 4: comfortable place to use, sell, and do drugs on Melania
Speaker 4: Cass and the impacted neighborhoods. And that's not fair to
Speaker 4: the residents in the impacted neighborhoods have little kids that
Speaker 4: are going to sport, going to camp, they're going to school.
Speaker 4: Why should they have to go buy that area. It's unsafe,
Speaker 4: it's filled with needles. I've seen a lot of rats
Speaker 4: around that area recently as well. It's a public health
Speaker 4: crisis and it's a public safety crisis. It can't continue,
Speaker 4: and we can't pretend that it's not a problem. There
Speaker 4: has to be a law enforcement strategy, and I think
Speaker 4: Bruce is right. I think it's the city, state and
Speaker 4: federal government that needs to get involved cracking down on
Speaker 4: drug trafficking, human trafficking. But I also have said many
Speaker 4: times that it's also about getting people access to a
Speaker 4: drug treatment program. But residents don't deserve to live in
Speaker 4: a neighborhood where their sidewalks are filled with people using drugs,
Speaker 4: and needles are everywhere.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Bruce mentioned the idea of federal involvement.
Speaker 2: I assume, Bruce, that every city in America, every major city,
Speaker 2: is dealing with something like masson casts. Maybe not as
Speaker 2: intense as masson casts. But I don't see how Boston
Speaker 2: is going to get any specific treatment, no matter who's
Speaker 2: in Congress, that's going to be any more than New
Speaker 2: York or Chicago, or Los Angeles or Portland, Seattle will get.
Speaker 3: That's I think Boston has got to do it on
Speaker 3: his own sadly.
Speaker 8: Actually, Counselor Flynn took me by surprise, and I listen
Speaker 8: to your station almost exclusively day and night in my
Speaker 8: radio in my vehicle. You're welcome, and I think the
Speaker 8: city councilor hit it on the head. You know, involvement
Speaker 8: at the federal level is needed, and maybe more so
Speaker 8: in Boston because we have an open state border. However,
Speaker 8: you took me by surprise, and it's either shame on
Speaker 8: me or the shame on the news broadcasting industry. I
Speaker 8: always thought these were homeless people, and they were homeless
Speaker 8: because they were on drugs. I never really realized, nor
Speaker 8: did it cross my mind. But remember I'm not a
Speaker 8: city boy that these are. They're congregating there to use drugs.
Speaker 8: It's like a drug den house. He didn't never realize that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 8: You.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the the people on.
Speaker 8: When they discussed excuse me, counselor when they and I
Speaker 8: won't say anything further, when they discuss those issues on
Speaker 8: the news, they should preface. I've never heard it or
Speaker 8: anyone say that these are not homeless people. These are
Speaker 8: drug users who are trying to deal with folks. I
Speaker 8: don't think the public is really aware of that.
Speaker 4: No, the public is not focused on that, and it's
Speaker 4: it's a it's an issue that you know, the public
Speaker 4: really needs to get involved. And I receive calls almost
Speaker 4: every day from residents of the South End, Roxbury, Dorchester,
Speaker 4: and South Boston about how bad the situation is. Let
Speaker 4: me let me just give you one example, Bruce and Dan,
Speaker 4: we know cities like San Francisco or Seattle, some of
Speaker 4: the West Coast cities, but do you know that San
Speaker 4: Francisco now is almost telling anyone that's that receives any
Speaker 4: type of assistance from from the government, such as housing
Speaker 4: that you almost have to be drug free and you'll
Speaker 4: be drug tested before you get any services. That's how
Speaker 4: set up the residents of the most liberal cities are
Speaker 4: on the West Coast. They just can't sustain that any longer. Yeah,
Speaker 4: at some point that's something we should consider. If you
Speaker 4: are receiving a lot of assistance from the federal government,
Speaker 4: from the state government, from the city government, should you
Speaker 4: be drug free? And that's that's that's a question that
Speaker 4: we should we should debate because the status quo can't
Speaker 4: continue any longer, no.
Speaker 3: Doubt about that.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you call, Bruce, great suggestions, good conversation.
Speaker 3: Thanks again, you're welcome.
Speaker 2: We take quick break back with a couple more calls
Speaker 2: from my guest, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn talking about
Speaker 2: the problems at Mass and Casts which has now migrated
Speaker 2: into some other surrounding communities. And the problem has only
Speaker 2: in effect metastasized out of Mass and Cass. It wasn't cured, uh,
Speaker 2: it is only spread. We'll be back on Nightside right
Speaker 2: after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Li from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Sight Studios on WBZ News.
Speaker 2: Radio, joining us at Flint Boston City Councilor. Edward tied
Speaker 2: on time, so I'm going to try to get three
Speaker 2: callers in here within about five minutes.
Speaker 3: That started off with and Medford. Dot, you were next
Speaker 3: on night side.
Speaker 9: You right ahead, Hi, Hi Dan, and Hi ed Edd.
Speaker 9: You are a wonderful person. You're a kind person. And
Speaker 9: I mean, I've been through this with my oldest son
Speaker 9: and I I just admire the man who's been cleaned
Speaker 9: for seventeen years. It's just wonderful. But my son was
Speaker 9: actually out in Long Island years ago, and then he
Speaker 9: was at the VA.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 9: I mean, it's just endless. But like you say, they
Speaker 9: do have homes, they have mothers who will always take
Speaker 9: them in, but then they go off again. You know,
Speaker 9: it's a dreadful situation. But we have to concentrate on
Speaker 9: getting drugs out of Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Good luck with that.
Speaker 2: I know it's going to take a lot of concentration.
Speaker 9: In a word, DoD Ed you are a wonderful man,
Speaker 9: and I just wish you could be the mayor of
Speaker 9: Boston or the governor of the state because you would
Speaker 9: do a wonderful job.
Speaker 4: Thank you Dot for the kind words, and.
Speaker 9: I would back you one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: I dot, I appreciate the call. You know, his dad
Speaker 2: of course was mayor, so got some pretty good bloodlines.
Speaker 8: Here, I know. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 9: Doesn't take care ed and keep up the good work.
Speaker 4: Thank you daughter. It's good to hear from you tonight.
Speaker 3: Good night.
Speaker 2: Let me go Christine and dad and Christine next on
Speaker 2: nights side, little tight on time.
Speaker 3: Thanks for calling Inger right.
Speaker 10: Here, Christine, Hi, Dan, I was thinking to myself, what
Speaker 10: about like the Sinai Hospital in Stolton. Couldn't they clean
Speaker 10: that up in the mayor that's close now, like to
Speaker 10: like open it and like put them up. And they've
Speaker 10: got to put him somewhere like the prisons of MCI
Speaker 10: Theater in Walpole or the other one they were not conquered.
Speaker 2: I mean, oh, that's going to be money money, money
Speaker 2: ed Flynn. What do you think of Christine's ideas well?
Speaker 4: Well, thank you Christine for calling. I do think the
Speaker 4: number one priority is getting people into detox programs. I
Speaker 4: think that's a critical critical part of it. And then
Speaker 4: and then on a path to recovery in a residential
Speaker 4: structured program. We need more housing, especially transitional housing for
Speaker 4: people that are in recovery and that's something I support,
Speaker 4: that's something I worked on my entire life. But I
Speaker 4: do think besides the medical and getting people in detals,
Speaker 4: I think we do have to be have a zero
Speaker 4: tolerance policy for people that are trafficking drugs, human trafficking
Speaker 4: as well, and we're seeing that throughout the streets of
Speaker 4: Boston today.
Speaker 2: Exactly great, great suggestions, Christine. Who knows maybe that will
Speaker 2: spark a thought in the in the office of the
Speaker 2: mayor or someone. And it's all money, but boy, I
Speaker 2: tell you, it's if there's if there's a role for government,
Speaker 2: it's right. This is this is they're failing right now.
Speaker 2: You got to turn it around.
Speaker 10: Thanks Christine, thank you, thank you so much, saying hello
Speaker 10: to your parents.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Christine. Good to hear from you.
Speaker 3: Thanks. Let me let's wrap it up this hour with
Speaker 3: Ed Flynn, Harry and Wilbur and Harry. We got a
Speaker 3: little more than a minute for you. Go right ahead.
Speaker 3: What's your comment to question?
Speaker 11: All right, I'll be quick. Although I live in movement,
Speaker 11: I'm in Boston seven days a week, Dan and and
Speaker 11: couns Bill Flynn, and we really see the quality of
Speaker 11: life in Boston just deteriorating. And I think it all
Speaker 11: comes down to the Mayor's office. Mass and casts, mopeds
Speaker 11: and scooters driving all the way downtown. Nothing seems to
Speaker 11: happen Boston Common. I'm a tour guide. I see criminal
Speaker 11: activity going on all the time. And what she does
Speaker 11: is she wants to raise business taxes, which will drive
Speaker 11: business away. And you need a strong business community to
Speaker 11: pay for all these programs.
Speaker 3: And and build more bike lanes.
Speaker 11: Here's about his bike lanes. My daughter is out in Seattle.
Speaker 11: I went out there. I was disgusting. It's horrible. I'm
Speaker 11: very fearful this is what's going to happen here. I
Speaker 11: would love Council of Flat to run for me. He's
Speaker 11: got to. It's so important. And because he's right on
Speaker 11: all these issues and she's so wrong on all these
Speaker 11: And that's all I have to say.
Speaker 2: But all right, Harry, we're not going to get Flinn
Speaker 2: on that tonight.
Speaker 3: But he's got some Thanks Harry.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, thank you, Harry. It's good to hear from you.
Speaker 3: Ed Flynn.
Speaker 2: How can folks get in touch with you if they
Speaker 2: want to make some suggestions? Uh, what's your email at
Speaker 2: city Home?
Speaker 4: Yeah? That's great, Dan, If anyone wants to reach me.
Speaker 4: My email addresses ED dot Flynn at Boston dot CoV,
Speaker 4: ED dot Flynn at Boston dot gov. Also on social media,
Speaker 4: Ed for Boston. You can drop me a note I'll
Speaker 4: get back to If you email me, I'll get back
Speaker 4: to you right away and I'll respond. But I don't
Speaker 4: say I have all the answers. Residents sometimes have excellent answers,
Speaker 4: and I'd love to hear from you and see how
Speaker 4: we can improve things. But the answers are not with government.
Speaker 4: The answers with the residents of the city, no.
Speaker 2: Doubt, no doubt, and maybe maybe we'll get some answers
Speaker 2: in the not do this in future.
Speaker 3: Ed Flynn, thanks so much. It was a great hour
Speaker 3: of radio.
Speaker 2: We'll probably use this on our program Best of Nightside
Speaker 2: on Sunday Night. That's what I will be advocating for,
Speaker 2: so you might hear this program repeated on Sunday night.
Speaker 2: There were some really interesting calls in great conversation.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Again for me say how do you folks as well?
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you, Dan thought welcome.
Speaker 2: When we come back right after the eleven I would
Speaker 2: like to talk about President Biden's suggestion of I don't know.
Speaker 2: Eviscerating the US Supreme Court, a radical revamping of the
Speaker 2: US Supreme Court.
Speaker 3: It's not going to happen.
Speaker 2: It's just political drum Peat will be back on nightside
Speaker 2: after the eleventh