The deteriorating situation at Mass and Cass in Boston stands as a testament to the failed policies that the current and previous mayors have tried to get the area under control.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s admission that Mass and Cass has become a major safety threat is also an acknowledgement that what she’s been trying is not working.
“We have to get going on a different approach,” Wu said on the “Java with Jimmy” podcast.
“In the last month or so, especially in the last couple of weeks, it has gotten to a new level of public safety alarm. All of the non-city teams have said in the last few weeks the situation has gotten so dangerous that we are pulling our people out — we cannot be in there.”
Wu said that “drug trafficking, human trafficking and violence taking place,” — as well as the storage of weapons — present too many risks for outreach workers to be there.
It’s not clear what Wu is planning but something drastic appears to be imminent – perhaps a major police enforcement action that some local politicians like City Council President Ed Flynn have been urging the administration to implement.
That carries some risks – like confrontations or injuries – but doing nothing is even riskier.
Wu’s comments came the same day the Herald reported that concerns about runoff water from the Mass and Cass or “Methadone Mile” area polluting Boston Harbor have prompted the city to apply for a grant from the CDC to monitor for communicable diseases.
It’s not Wu’s problem alone. The public safety threats that have been a scourge on the city have been festering dating back to when Marty Walsh and Kim Janey were mayor.
Wu has tried clearing the tent encampments to get rid of the problem. That didn’t work – addicts and the homeless and drug dealers kept coming back.
She has tried pleading with the state for more resources, arguing that people living there come from all over New England. That didn’t work.
And Wu’s latest progressive idea – connecting people at Mass and Cass with loved ones and family haven’t solved the problem.
The “friends and family” plan was rolled out in April and allows families to connect with the city to locate missing loved ones living in the drug-infested neighborhood.
Then in May, Wu tried to ban the homeless from pitching tents along the intersection, but that order was never enforced and the homeless just kept putting tents up.
None of those actions got to the root of the problem – ridding Mass and Cass of dangerous criminals and drug dealers.
By playing the optics game, and offering help but not forcing people out, the city has allowed the situation to spiral out of control.
Now what is Wu’s next step?
Will she take decisive action to finally eliminate the problem?
