►
Description
As the Whittier Street public housing development aged and Roxbury grew around it, something had to be done. It's been a long wait but finally, Phase 1 of the Whittier Choice Neighborhood redevelopment begins. To celebrate, Mayor Walsh watched the demolition of an old 68 unit building built in 1953. Featuring more and better affordable housing, Phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2019.
A
Good
afternoon
and
thank
you
all
for
coming
for
this
celebration-
that's
been
a
long
time
coming
for
the
residents
of
our
Whittier
Street
public
housing
development
and
for
the
residents
of
lower
Roxbury.
We
are
here
to
celebrate
the
groundbreaking
of
what
will
ultimately
be
a
brand-new
Whittier,
Street
neighborhood,
509
mixed
income
rental
units,
and
we
will
be
replacing
one
for
one,
each
and
every
deeply
affordable
public
housing
unit
units
as
we
undertake
this
effort.
So.
A
A
B
This
is
the
last
one
of
the
last
projects
that
President
Obama
funded
through
HUD,
and
you
know
I
actually
had
a
chance
to
personally
thank
him
and
I.
Remember
back
January
last
year
for
some
reason:
wittiest
redone
that
popped
in
my
head
and
I
said
to
Billy
I
called
them
all.
Billy
did
what's
going
on
with
the
check
as
a
little
nervous.
B
B
But
I
want
to
thank
David
who's.
A
regional
regional
director
of
Hyde
who's
been
an
incredible
partner
here
in
Massachusetts
and
in
Boston
in
particular,
with
with
me
Jay
ash.
The
secretary
representing
the
governor,
but
also
Jay,
understands
the
importance
of
today.
He
was
a
city
manager
in
Chelsea
for
many
years
and
he
works
for
the
state
represent
him
in
Chelsea.
So
he
knows
that
the
transformation
that
a
grant
like
this
or
a
program
like
this
can
do
so.
Thank
You
Jay,
Roger
Browns,
here
preservation
for
affordable
housing,
Madison
Park.
B
When
Krystal
Koenig
a
was
here
last,
she
was
here
with
a
different
title
and
different
job
and
today
she's
here
again,
which
is
again
in
the
same
area
of
housing.
She
doesn't
move
far
around
from
her
passion
and
what
she
does
so
Thank
You
crystal
the
tenant,
solidia
Street!
Congratulations!
It's
your!
It's
you,
the
other
ones.
B
The
other
people
that
did
this
you
were
persistent
when
you're
elected
officials,
you
were
pushing
the
Boston
Housing
Authority,
you
pushed
everyone.
You
know
this
is
an
incredible
day
for
you
and
congratulations
and
I
know.
There's
a
couple
residents
that
came
in
here
sewing.
One
gentleman
came
to
show
me
his
picture
when
his
little
boy
standing
in
front
of
wittiest
Street,
and
he
still
is
there-
and
you
know
those
are
good
memories,
because
you'll
be
able
to
talk
about
being
here
today
and
put
a
picture
in
that
book
about
the
transformation
of
woody
Street.
B
So
congratulations
and
again,
thank
you.
Everyone
City
Council,
Kim
Janie,
who
is
been
in
office
now
for
two
months,
but
knows
this
project
because
she
was
active
participant
the
community,
so
she's
not
new
to
this
and
I
want
to
congratulate
councilor
Janie
for
her
great
work
as
well,
and
what
she's
done.
B
This
is
Boston's
second
choice:
neighborhood
grant.
The
first
was
in
2011
the
Quincy
corridor,
that
day
the
day
that
we've
got
a
water.
We
talked
about
the
impact
this
grant
will
have
on
the
future
of
Roxbury
in
the
future
of
Boston.
We
also
talked
about
this
project,
how
it
will
help
us
achieve
our
vision
in
Roxbury.
It
will
help
us
invest
in
safer
streets.
It
will
help
us
preserve
affordability
of
homes.
It
will
help
us
also
expand
high-speed
Internet
access,
and
not
everyone
might
understand
why
that's
not
important.
B
That's
really
important
for
our
young
people
and
that's
really
important
for
everyone
who
lives
here,
because
it's
about
the
future
and
connecting
people
to
the
future
jobs.
This
new
projects
going
to
create
open
space,
I,
don't
know
if
anyone's
ever
come
to
the
family
fun
day
here
at
wittiest
rate.
It's
honestly
one
of
the
best
you
can
come
to
in
the
city.
B
They
have
a
petting
zoo
for
the
kids
and
they
have
incredible
food
here
and
they
partner
with
Northeast
and
they
partner
with
with
everyone,
and
the
thing
that,
when
you
would
hit
strike,
strikes
me
when
I
come
here.
Is
that
the
kids
are
playing
and
having
a
good
time
and
then
playing
on
a
black
blacktop
parking
lot,
and
this
is
gonna
create
opportunities
for
more
open
space,
so
young
people
can
have
enjoy
what
they
have
here
in
this
neighborhood.
B
This
building's
going
to
establish
and
this
projects
going
to
stop
with
small
connections
and
more
opportunity
and
we're
excited
about
that
as
well.
Making
sure,
as
we
think
about
Boston
making,
shows
a
lot
of
great
things
happening
in
our
city,
there's
a
new
dorm
across
the
way
you
can
see
it
going
up,
there's
a
beautiful
building
on
across
the
street
luxury
housing.
And
now
here
you
have
luxury
housing
with
a
street.
That's
growing
up!
So
it's
a
connection
of
all
those
different
areas
and
we're
happy
about
that.
B
We're
gonna
make
sure
that
this
great
housing
development
with
the
long
history
has
a
strong
future.
Billy
talked
about
it.
It's
gonna
bring
500
new
new
renovated,
not
renovated
brand
new
built
units.
It's
also
kind
of
over
14,000
square
feet
of
commercial
space,
which
is
which
is
important
to
connect
the
community.
This
project,
as
I
said,
was
a
group
effort
between
city
agencies,
community
groups,
nonprofits
and
driven
by
the
residents
here
that
live
here
and
again.
I
want
to
thank
you
for
that.
I
think
you
feel
leadership
I.
Thank
you
for
your
devotion,
I.
B
Thank
you
for
your
hard
work.
This
project
shows
us
a
model
for
strengthening
our
neighborhoods.
A
public
housing
developed,
serve
longtime
residents
and
within
generations
of
families.
Public
housing
should
be
affordable
and
high-quality,
and
it
should
be
an
option
for
everyone,
the
city
who
needs
it
and
that's
what
we've
done
to
abilities
leadership
at
the
Boston
Housing
Authority
and
his
incredible
team.
B
That's
Aires
is
looking
at
these
developments
one
at
a
time,
and
how
can
we
improve
the
quality
of
life
in
those
developments
and
how
can
we
make
sure
we
build
property
that
reflects
the
needs
of
our
community
and
that's
what
we're
doing
and
that's
what's
happening
here
today,
but
this
grant
goes
also
beyond
housing.
It
supports
personal
growth
of
residents
yeah.
B
It
helps
address
the
the
range
of
needs
regarding
financial
guidance,
health,
education
and
youth
development,
and
we
have
the
with
the
health
center
next
door
and
I
wanna
thank
ford
rica
for
being
with
us
as
well
who's
bringing
healthy
services
to
our
community.
This
neighborhood,
really,
it
has
is,
is,
is-
is
inspiring.
This
neighborhood
is
thriving
in
the
beauty
about
the
inspiration
and
the
thriving
of
this
neighborhood.
B
It's
inspiring
and
thriving
for
the
people
to
actually
live
here
and
come
from
here
and
that's
what's
important
and
that's
what
we're
gonna
continue
to
do
with
this
grant.
This
project
also
shows
one
other
thing
that
federal
support
is
crucial.
It's
crucial
to
inner
city,
urban
America
and
something
that
we
have
to
do
on
the
federal
level.
Seeing
we're
seeing
some
people
leaders
talking
about
cutting
back
on
housing
resources,
but
here
in
math
we
have
a
strong
delegation,
is
gonna
continue
to
push.
B
We
have
a
governor,
that's
committed
to
housing
in
his
state
of
the
state
of
the
state.
The
other
day
talked
about
housing
and
the
need
to
create
more
housing.
The
legislature
senator
Sonia
Cheney,
has
just
joined
us
they're
working
on
a
housing
bond
bill,
that's
going
to
create
more
opportunities
for
housing
in
in
in
around
Massachusetts,
which
Boston
is
a
big
part
of
that.
So,
regardless
of
what's
going
on
in
Washington,
that
doesn't
mean
we
stop.
That
means
we
keep
moving
forward.
B
We
keep
building
housing,
we
keep
pushing
for
housing,
we
keep
pushing
for
people's
rights.
That's
that's
what
we're
gonna
do.
There's
no
point
of
crying
and
saying
for
the
next
four
years.
We're
not
gonna.
Do
anything.
We're
not
gonna.
Do
that
we're
going
to
move
forward.
So
again,
that's
another
excitement
thing
about
what's
happening
all
right.
The
city
of
Boston
is
going
to
continue
to
invest
in
affordable
housing
all
across
that
city.
B
No
matter
what
happens,
we
have
the
Community
Preservation
Act,
which
we
Pat
you
passed
two
years
ago
and
this
year
we're
getting
the
money
in
that
we're
going
to
start
seeing
money
go
out
the
door
to
housing.
We've
changed
our
inclusionary
development
to
make
sure
we
got
more
money
into
inclusionary
development,
we're
looking
at
new
ways
of
renovating
developments,
housing
developments
in
the
city
of
Boston
by
doing
public/private
partnerships
and
figuring
ways
of
building
it
and
any
of
those
projects
that
we've
done
probably
private
partnership.
B
The
first
phase
of
those
projects
is
always
the
residents
that
gets
fixed
first
and
built
rebuilt
for
us,
so
we're
gonna
continue
to
make
sure
that
that
continues
to
happen
around
the
city
of
Boston,
so
I
just
want
to
end
by
by
thanking
people
we're
going
to
continue
to
link
our
surrounding
communities.
We're
gonna
continue
to
break
down
barriers
in
our
city
and
we're
gonna
make
sure
that
no
resident
no
resident
should
feel
isolated
left
out.
Well,
they
have
to
make
sure
that
that
doesn't
happen
and
I
just
want
to.
Thank
you
all.
B
A
A
He
represents
the
entire
New
England
region
in
he's
from
our
border
state
up
north
New
Hampshire,
and
when
he
said
he
wanted
to
come
over
to
say
hello
I
said
well,
why
don't
we
meet
out
at
the
Mary
Ellen
McCormack
housing
development,
the
first
public
housing
development
in
New
England
and
a
place
where
we're
trying
to
do
a
public-private
partnership,
and
we
did
a
tour
of
my
old
neighborhood
and
it's
a
pleasure
to
have
him
here
today.
Please,
a
warm
welcome
for
David
T
le
Padres
administrator.
C
C
Just
recently,
I've
had
the
opportunity
to
visit
another
neighborhood
here
in
Boston
and
was,
and
it
was
a
recipient
of
the
first
HUD
choice.
Neighborhood
implementation
grant
the
Dorchester,
Quincy
Heights
and,
let
me
just
say
it
was
very,
very
impressed
and
and
the
work
that
Boston
does
here
to
transform
neighborhoods
and
leverage
investment
by
maximizing
federal
dollars.
It
it's
it's
just
tremendous
and
and
congratulations.
Mr.
Merrick.
C
Everyone
here
today
understands
that
a
good
home
is
more
important
than
just
four
walls
and
a
roof.
It's
enriched
by
the
institutions
that
surround
it.
Our
neighborhoods
need
thriving
businesses
that
boost
the
local
economy,
quality
schools
that
allow
our
children
to
reach
their
fullest
potential
and
health
care
centers
that
contribute
to
the
happiness
and
well-being
of
the
residents
with
the
groundbreaking.
A
A
Miss
Meena
car
is
here
somewhere,
there's
Meena
Meena
car
Dave
attorney
is
here
as
well,
and
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
did
not
mention
a
member
of
the
BHA
monitoring
committee
and
the
president
of
the
alice
taylor,
public
housing,
community
and
a
very
old
and
dear
friend
of
mine.
Please
warm
welcome
for
Mathilda
Drake.
A
Next
speaker
is
a
mayor
set
us
here
on
his
own
behalf,
certainly
but
representing
the
governor
Governor
Baker
as
well,
someone
that
has
been
a
vital
partner
in
all
of
our
redevelopment
efforts
at
the
Boston
Housing
Authority
and
with
some
of
the
redevelopment
efforts
that
are
being
undertaken
in
the
city
through
Sheila's
leadership.
So
a
very
warm
welcome
for
our
partner
from
the
State
Secretary
Jas.
D
Well,
thank
you
Ron
bill.
Thank
you
and
congratulations.
The
work
that
you've
done.
The
passion
that
you've
had
for
this
project
is
remarkable.
Congratulations
really!
This
is
about
the
power
of
partnership.
Isn't
it
we
think
about
all
the
people,
all
the
organizations,
all
the
different
levels
of
government
that
have
had
to
work
together,
I'm
here
on
behalf
of
governor
Baker
and
lieutenant
governor
Pulido,
but
I'm
really
here
on
behalf
of
the
legislature,
to
at
the
Statehouse
we
have
administration
and
legislators
working
together.
D
We
have
Republicans
Democrats
working
together
and
we're
producing
good
public
policy,
and
the
good
public
policy
means
that
we
have
the
resources
to
work
with
our
partners
on
the
local
level
and
enhance
when
our
partners
on
the
federal
level
are
able
to
deliver
to
support
community
growth.
But
you
know
we
in
government
know
that
we
need
other
partners
in
the
community
based
organizations
that
have
worked
on
this
pole
or
in
Madison,
Park
and
Dudley,
say
Dudley,
Street,
Neighborhood
initiative
and
others.
It's
really
impressive.
D
How
everyone
is
has
come
together
and
then,
when
you
have
tenants,
you
have
residents
who
are
so
passionate
about
making
the
in
neighborhood
better
their
community
better
their
Commonwealth,
better
their
country
better.
It
really
rounds
it
out,
and
so
it's
just
so
terrific
to
be
part
of
all
of
this.
The
governor
and
lieutenant
governor
prioritized
this
project,
there's
more
than
50
million
dollars
in
state
dollars
that
have
come
here
mayor.
Have
you
cash
those
checks?
D
Yet
that's
all
cash,
but
we've
put
up
money
to
support
this,
to
support
infrastructure
around
the
Madison
Mel
Nia,
Cass
development.
We're
excited
about
this
project.
We're
excited
about
this
project
because
it
first
of
all
comes
from
the
neighborhood,
and
this
is
a
reflection
of
what
all
of
you
want
for
your
neighborhood
and
all
of
us
should
want
for
every
community
in
the
Commonwealth.
We're
excited
about
this
project
because
tenants
are
gonna,
get
great
new
housing
and
bill
I.
D
It
really
excited
to
see
that
combined.
We
were
doing
something
that
a
lot
of
other
communities
point
to
and
say
I
wish.
We
could
be
more
like
Boston
I
wish.
We
could
be
more
like
what
history
and
that's
a
great
great
place
to
be
so
on
behalf
of
the
governor
lieutenant
governor
on
behalf
of
our
our
partners
in
the
legislature.
D
A
A
A
E
So
this
is
this
is
a
great
day
for
me,
because
a
little
over
about
three
years
ago,
Governor,
Baker
and
secretary
ash
appointed
me
DHCD
undersecretary
and
the
second
day
on
the
job.
I
got
a
call
from
my
friends
at
Madison,
Park
and
poet,
and
BHA
about
you've,
got
to
get
the
governor
to
sign
this
letter
and
I'm.
Just
like
I
I
can't
even
figure
out
what
the
bathroom
is.
What
are
you
doing,
and
so
we
go
for
this
whole
thing
and
I
do
my
thing.
E
Are
you
guys
gonna
ever
give
me
any
time
to
do
anything,
and
so
I'm
really
excited
to
be
here
really
happy.
I
became
executive
director
of
mass
housing.
I
started
the
job
a
couple
of
days
ago,
and
thank
you
and
one
of
the
most
and
people
had
lots
of
like
there's
been
lots
of
love
and
congratulations.
But
one
of
the
things
I'm
most
proud
of
is
the
resident
groups
at
urban
edge.
Where
I
worked
for
many
years,
they
want
to
have
right
leg.
E
They
want
to
have
a
party
for
me
right,
like
I,
haven't
work
there
in
like
three
years
right.
They
want
to
have
a
party
for
me
because,
right
like
because
of
the
work
I
did
there
and-
and
those
are
my
mama's
like
they
kept
me.
Honest
always
made
me
understand
why
we
were
doing
what
we
were
doing
and
you
know,
and
how
to
make
sure
that
you
know
the
right
voices
were
at
the
table
and
make
sure
that
my
work
was
representative
of
them
and
not
it's
not
about
the
deal.
E
Although
the
deal
is
important,
it's
not
about
the
money,
although
I
love
money
is
its,
it
is
about
the
people
and,
like
everybody
here
understands
that
it's
wonderful
to
work
for
the
Baker
administration
that
made
it
fun.
Jay
and
I
always
got
jokes
around
things,
but
we
always
remember
that
it
was
about
the
folks.
The
mayor
was
always
like
that.
A
Thank
You
crystal
next
speaker
representing
Madison,
Park
and
Pawa,
the
on-the-ground
day-to-day
guy
that
has
been
making
this
happen
and
we'll
make
it
happen
till
we
get
the
ribbon-cutting
until
we
get
all
509
units
in
the
ground
and
occupied.
Please
a
man
that
I
first
met
at
the
redevelopment
of
the
mission
main
housing
development
about
30
years
ago
Roger.
F
On
behalf
of
preservation
of
affordable
housing
and
Madison
Park
Community
Development
Corporation
I'd
like
to
thank
the
mayor,
the
BHA,
the
community
of
Roxbury
and,
most
importantly,
the
residents
of
Whittier
Street
for
giving
us
the
opportunity
to
help
you
recreate
your
neighborhood.
This
event
signifies
one
milestone
in
a
continuing
conversation
that
started
five
years
ago
in
the
basement
across
the
street,
and
a
series
of
activities
focused
not
only
on
the
recreation
of
residential
buildings,
but
also
in
the
creation
of
partnerships
between
project
participants,
neighborhood
stakeholders,
financial
partners
and
community
residents.
F
All
of
these
partnerships
provide
the
support
for
the
bridges
that
will
connect
this
community
to
deadly
square
Boston
and
the
greater
regional
economy.
When
fully
built
out
the
new
Whittier
Street
will
contain
a
mix
of
public
housing,
affordable
housing
and
market
rate
units,
which
will
provide
a
variety
of
housing
opportunities
for
all
the
residents
of
Roxbury.
F
F
F
The
ups
and
downs
were
smiling
now
we
didn't
always
smile
and
I
should
have
actually
started
with
the
residents
and
the
taskforce
that
five
year
ago,
meeting
in
the
basement
across
the
street,
where
we
took
our
vows
to
protect
each
other
and
get
this
done,
we're
still
married.
We
still
have
more
work
to
do.
F
F
We
had
a
great
design
team.
As
you
has
been
mentioned,
we
had
some
master
planning.
We've
been
doing
this
for
five
years
with
the
folks
from
the
architectural
team.
They
are
here
Michael
and
the
Halverson
group.
That's
helping
us
on
public
realm
improvements,
we're
getting
underway,
we'll
walk
across
the
street
you'll
see
some
work,
that's
underway,
thanks
to
a
great
partnership
between
my
friend
Greg
Jani
and
the
folks
at
nei
construction.
Would
you
guys
raise
your
hands?
So
people
know
you.
F
Creating
a
little
economic
activity
in
the
neighborhood
and
finally,
our
financial
partners,
mass
housing,
Thank
You
crystal
the
National,
affordable
housing,
trust
citizens,
bank,
the
city
of
Boston
and
the
state
Thank
You,
Jay,
we'll
be
back,
and,
lastly,
I'm
just
a
little
one
person
that
leads
a
team.
That's
an
incredible
group
of
professionals,
Mina
Jacob,
who
leads
our
team.
A
A
Our
next
speaker
in
the
last
speaker
before
we
go
out
to
do
the
formal
groundbreaking,
but
before
I
do
that
I
should
wanted
to
make.
We
have
some
very
aggressive
minority
and
woman
Enterprise
undertakings
goals
for
this
project.
51%
minority
on
the
construction
in
this
in
this
project
and
51%
Boston
residents,
I
think
that
deserves
a
round
of
applause.
A
As
several
of
the
speakers
have
said,
this
would
not
have
been
possible
without
the
commitment
and
the
leadership
and
the
tenacity
and
the
advocacy
of
the
public
housing
community
here
at
Whittier
Street.
It
is
a
pleasure
for
me
to
introduce
the
most
important
person
in
the
room
here
today.
The
president
of
the
Whittier
Street
tenants
association,
please
a
warm
welcome
for
Stephanie
Thomas
Stephanie.
G
Lived
in
development
since
1911
development,
since
1954
I'm
67
years
old
I
thank
God,
I
made
it
this
far
I've
been
through
a
lot
of
trials
and
tribulations,
just
like
everybody
else
goes
through
them.
But
one
thing
about
this
pillow
right
here:
I'm,
not
ashamed
to
talk,
I'm,
no
different
than
nobody
else.
You
see
I'm
standing
up
here
in
front
of
you
all
for
a
reason.
If
it
wasn't
for
God,
I
wouldn't
be
standing
here
and
you
are
wouldn't
be
in
them
chairs
today.
G
You
all
need
to
think
around
and
hold
one
another's
hand
a
look
at
one
another
and
see
how
blessed
you
are
when
you
get
to
your
jobs
and
you
get
there
safely
to
put
some
dollars
in
your
pocket
and
you
come
home
the
ticket,
your
family,
it's
a
blessing,
it's
a
blessing
when
you
have
a
voice
to
speak,
your
arms,
your
legs,
your
eyes,
you
eat
everything
about
just
a
blessing.
I
know
this
is
not
Church.
G
G
G
G
And
the
point
of
the
matter
is:
is
that
without
God
he
this
wouldn't
be
possible?
A
lot
of
us
have
gone
on
the
glory
and
there's
only
a
few
of
us
left
in
this
development
across
the
street.
That'll
live
in
so
I.
Thank
him
for
him
to
give
me
the
knowledge
forgiving
me,
my
strenght
forgiving
me
a
way
to
express
my
feelings,
but,
like
I
tell
you
all
once
before,
it's
not
about
me
it's
about
my
community,
it's
about
where
we
live
at
and
it's
the
people.
Thank
you.
A
H
H
But
I
have
to
say
I'm
proud
today,
not
so
proud
to
see
whether
your
street
go
down
because
sometimes
I
have
my
little
depressed
moments.
Thinking
about
it
but
I
know
it
would
be
a
safer
and
better
place
to
live
so
I
think
I
can
deal
with
it,
but
I
also
want
to
say
and
I'm
gonna
make
it
short
very
sure
that
I'm
in
the
past
of
where
history,
the
present
and
the
future
wittiest
Street.
Thank
you.