BOSTON --- Citing violent crime, drug activity, and a negative impact on local businesses, the board of directors of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston has asked Mayor Thomas Menino to evict the protest group "Occupy Boston" from one of the Greenway's parks.
The Kennedy Greenway is a series of parks and green spaces winding through the downtown area, which was officially dedicated to the matriarch of the Kennedy clan in 2004.
In a letter, Greenway chairperson Georgia Murray told Menino that the encampment at Dewey Square Park, across from busy South Station, is incompatible "with our obligation to ensure that everyone may enjoy the Greenway, and with the spirit and letter of the rules governing use of the space."
The letter further states that the occupiers, who are protesting corporate greed and economic inequality, have had a disruptive influence on farmers market events and that a food festival had to be canceled because of public safety concerns.
Additional concerns cited in the letter include "disturbing incidents of drug dealing" and "deteriorating sanitary conditions."
Former Boston mayor Ray Flynn, who is also a columnist for the Irish Echo, said that Menino's inaction was making the situation worse.
"The police on detail there have told me that there are a lot of problems, with drug use and harassment of people on their way to work," Flynn told the Echo.
"There's a mix of college students and people with mental illness and other problems. It started out well-intentioned, with a message about social justice and equality, but now people avoid the area. At least in New York, Mayor Bloomberg finally stepped in."
Last week, Occupy Boston obtained a restraining order against the city which prevents the city from removing tents and other belongings of the protesters without a court hearing.
"I'm not ready to break up the encampment right now," Menino told reporters last week after the restraining order was issued.
Flynn said that he finds it outrageous that a judge is now involved in the brouhaha.
"I've been involved in politics for 40 years and I've never seen a judge tell a city what it can't do with public land," he said. "This is all happening because of a lack of decisive leadership."
A Boston police officer on detail at the Greenway site last Saturday afternoon told the Echo that there have been at least a hundred incidents at the camp involving drugs and/or violence since the occupation began about two months ago.
"It's worse during the week, especially late night," the officer said. "On the weekends, new people come around to help clean it up a little."
About 100 protesters were arrested in early October when they marched from the encampment to a nearby bridge and threatened to tie up traffic. Another small group was arrested when it attempted to set up camp at another newly renovated area of the Greenway.
In her letter to Menino, Murray said that neighbors are concerned also about rodents.
"Although we do not currently have a rat infestation problem, it is only a matter of time, given the current conditions," she wrote.
In an earlier press release about the Kennedy Greenway, executive director Nancy Brennan spoke about what she said would be "Boston's legacy of beautiful open spaces within the active center of downtown Boston...with gardens and fountains to delight and invite us to slow down."
City officials and Occupy Boston organizers are scheduled to meet in court on December 1 for a hearing on the issues surrounding the escalating conflict.
