►
From YouTube: Jermaine "Manny" Goffigan Field Dedication
Description
In 1994, nine-year-old Manny Goffigan was fatally shot in Roxbury's Academy Homes housing development coming home from a Halloween party on his birthday. On Saturday, Mayor Walsh and Parks and Recreation commissioner Christopher Cook dedicated the Marcella Playground baseball field in his memory.
A
A
That
was
actually
a
really
good
picture.
That
was
worth
it,
give
them
a
round
of
applause,
please
and
give
yourselves
a
round
of
applause.
How
about
being
a
beautiful
marsala
park
today
right
before
right
before
Halloween?
And
it's
this
warm
and
this
gorgeous
I
couldn't
imagine
a
more
beautiful
place
again.
A
My
name
is
Chris
cook
I'm,
the
parks
Commissioner
for
the
city
of
Boston,
there's
a
lot
of
thank-yous
for
today
and
we'll
get
into
those
shortly,
but
right
now,
I
have
the
distinct
honor
of
introducing
a
great
friend
to
the
Boston
parks
department,
as
well
as
this
neighborhood,
and
also
the
person
who
invested
well
over
two
million
dollars
to
transform
this
park.
Ladies
and
gentlemen,
please
a
nice
warm
welcome
for
the
mayor,
Boston.
B
Look
at
this
Park,
this
Park
is
incredible.
It's
just
beautiful
Park!
It's
it's
great
to
be
here
again,
I'm,
going
to
talk
more
about
the
park
in
a
minute.
I
want
to
thank
Debbie
for
allowing
us
to
name
this
beautiful
field
today,
and
thank
you
when
you're
family
I'm,
adding
for
your
sisters,
one
of
your
aunt's,
your
uncle's
here,
cousins
and
nieces
and.
B
B
Love
all
for
you
to
thank
you
all
Freda,
one
of
the
first
people
that
that
taught
me
about
renaming
this
park
was
a
young
woman
when
she
was
a
candidate
for
state
representative
and
then
she
got
elected
a
representative
and
she's
done
an
incredible
job
in
this
community
and
she's
done
an
incredible
job.
It
I'll
tell
you
a
quick
story.
The
other
night
Thursday
night,
I'm,
home
and
I,
got
a
text
from
representin
Tyler
and
she
said.
Can
we
get
a
minute
to
talk
to
me?
B
This
is
8:30
at
night
and
we're
on
the
phone
for
about
45
minutes
talking
about
housing
in
the
community.
She
cares
about
the
neighborhood.
She
cares
about
the
community
and
she
also
cares
about
understanding
the
pains
of
the
past
and
also
about
moving
fo,
and
that's
they
represented
trying
to
talent.
B
B
B
I
know
that
not
a
day
goes
by
where
his
mom
and
his
family
and
friends
and
community
don't
grieve
for
him
with
following
around
the
corner,
or
especially
vigilant
this
year
about
making
sure
that
our
children's
and
children
on
the
streets
are
safe
in
enforcing
safe
behavior
throughout
our
neighborhoods,
and
you
know,
I
just
had
a
conversation
a
second
ago
with,
with
the
Debbie
and
we
talked
about,
we
talked
about
violence
in
our
city.
We
talked
about
creating
safe
spaces,
for
I.
B
Am
people-
and
you
know
homicides
in
this
year-
a
41
which
is
low
compared
to
what
they
were
23
years
ago,
and
we
were
36
two
years
ago,
which
was
a
16
year,
all-time
low
in
and
our
shootings
compared
to
20
years
ago
it
down,
but
that
doesn't
mean
that
we
stopped
doing
the
work,
because
there's
too
many
Debbie's
out
there
that
unfortunately
have
to
get
a
knock
at
the
door
by
somebody.
Usually
a
police
officer
fill
out
the
note.
B
B
The
base
is
an
organization
that
is
set
up
to
give
young
people
an
opportunity
to
play
baseball
and
not
get
involved
in
violence
to
stay
away
from
the
violence,
and
that's
what's
beautiful
about
this
part
when
you
think
about
it,
jemaine's
love
for
baseball
is,
is
its
paying
it
forward.
His
love
of
baseball
he's
gonna,
be
here
on
the
field
with
these
kids,
as
they
play
baseball.
B
It's
amazing:
we
open
the
park
last
year
over
two
million
dollar
renovation,
investments,
an
expanding
field
or
they
were
going
to
make
some
more
investments
in
this
field.
I
think
we're
doing
a
lot
of
doing
the
whole
infield
with
nothing
by
sitting
on
the
grass.
What
we're
doing
all
the
clay
over.
We
put
some
money
in
the
budget
for
that
and
we're
working
on
making
sure
we
have
the
best
fields
in
the
country
we
have
new
play
fit
in
the
new
play
structures.
Here
we
have
lit
pathways
inclusive
equipment
for
our
young
people.
B
What
I
want
to
say
is
today's
special
for
me
or
for
a
whole
bunch
of
reasons,
because
that
park
over
there
and
this
park
that
we're
in
today
was
one
of
the
first
ones
as
mayor
of
Boston.
That
I
was
able
to
make
an
investment
in
as
mayor.
It
was,
if
I
think
was
one
of
the
first
parks
I
made
the
groundbreaking
on
I
might
have
been.
B
One
of
my
first
parks
actually
made
a
ribbon-cutting
from
beginning
to
end
on
this
is
this:
is
a
special
community
and
a
part
can
make
a
real
difference
in
young
people's
lives.
It
supports
young
people
to
make
sure
in
families
that
they're
happier
and
healthier
and
that
their
neighborhoods
are
safe.
So
we
honor,
we
honor
to
name
this
field
and
after
Germain
he'll
always
be
a
part
of
this
community.
B
His
memory
will
continue
to
live
on
this
beautiful
park
and
this
memory
will
be
thought
of
as
a
positive,
a
very
happy
moment
as
far
as
having
somebody
named
after
you-
and
this
is
just
exactly
what
what's
important
about
our
city.
What
happens
in
these
parks
between
these
fences
is
about
keeping
our
kids
safe
and
creating
opportunities
that
they
go
on
and
do
great
things
maybe
become
mayor
of
Boston
someday,
maybe
be
a
state
representative.
Maybe
do
both
maybe
be
the
Parks
Commissioner.
Maybe
somebody
is
going
to
plan.
A
There's
there's
nothing
stronger
than
a
mom
right
and
there's
no
reason
for
a
mom
strength
to
ever
be
tested,
but
then
there's
mothers
who
do
have
their
strength
tested
and
they
are
a
source
of
inspiration
for
all
of
us
in
the
city
of
Boston.
Ladies
and
gentlemen,
please
a
warm
welcome
for
Miss
Debbie
house.
C
We
give
all
the
glory
to
God
I
want
to
thank
pocket
recreations,
the
mere
number
one,
the
mere
I'm
going
to
thank
everybody
that
came
out
here
to
support
me
because
I
probably
don't
know
half
of
your
names,
but
thank
you
all
for
coming
out
here
to
support
me.
This
is
a
wonderful
thing
for
me.
I
have
my
day
earlier
my
broken
day
earlier,
but
my
son
Jermaine
came
to
and
said
man.
This
is.