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From YouTube: O'Connor Way Redevelopment Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Description
Join in as Mayor Janey and distinguished colleagues celebrate the development of a new affordable housing complex, O'Connor Senior Apartments, for South Boston's elderly community.
A
Welcome
everyone:
my
name
is
donna
brown,
I'm
the
executive
director
of
south
boston,
neighborhood
development
corporation,
and
we
developed
this
site
in
partnership
with
caritas
communities,
which
is
another
non-profit
that
develops
single
room
occupancy
housing.
So
we're
really
excited
to
be
here
today.
A
We've
completed
this
project
in
december
and
we
have
not
been
able
to
celebrate
until
now,
which
is
so
exciting,
we're
glad
we
can
be
outdoors.
I
want
to
introduce
kate
bennett
from
the
boston
housing
authority,
but
first
I
just
want
to
make
sure
to
thank
the
late
bill
mcgonagall,
because
this
project
would
not.
A
This
project
absolutely
would
not
have
happened
without
his
support.
This
site
was
just
an
underused
parking
area
and
we
approached
him
to
see
if
we
could
redevelop
it
for
affordable
senior
housing
and
he
was
very
supportive
of
that
and,
as
was
kate
and
she-
and
I
worked
together
for
a
long
time
on
this
and
and
it's
it's
so
exciting
to
be
here
today.
So
I
wanna,
you
know
when
we
had
our
groundbreaking
in
2018.
A
It
was
in
december
and
it
was
absolutely
freezing,
and
I
was
complaining
to
billy
that
I
did
not
want
to
stand
outside
in
the
freezing
cold
in
the
frozen
mud
and
do
a
groundbreaking
and
he
was
like
no,
no,
no,
we
have
to
do
it
I'll
bring
hot
chocolate,
and
so
we
did-
and
I
think
he
sent
this
weather
today
because
he
did
not
want
to
hear
me
complain
about
the
cold.
So
again,
I
want
to
welcome
kate,
please
come
up
and
I'll.
Let
you
introduce
mayor
janie.
B
Thanks
so
much
donna
and
when
I
say
thank
you
donna,
I
mean
thank
you
for
being
the
affordable
housing
warrior
that
you
are
despite
an
incredibly
pleasant
personality.
You
have
forged
pass
in
this
in
this
neighborhood,
where
no
one
has
gone
before
and
I'm
sure
I
speak
for
others
in
expressing
gratitude
for
that.
Your
impact
here
at
this
site
and
throughout
south
boston
is,
is
remarkable
and
it's
been
great
working
with
you
on
this.
B
Before
I
introduce
the
mayor,
I
just
want
to
thank
all
of
the
partners,
not
just
south
boston,
cdc
but
cary
toss
and
cronin
and
all
of
the
service
partners,
and
also
thank
bha
staff
too
numerous
to
mention
here.
But
I
see
you
all.
You
have
been
amazing
on
this
project
and
and
really
working
through
to
solve
some
problems
along
the
way
and
get
it
done,
and
I
truly
appreciate
it.
You
know
as
challenging
as
it
can
be
to
just
preserve
our
portfolio
of
public
housing.
B
What
we're
trying
to
do
in
the
last
several
years
is
actually
add
to
the
supply
of
of
affordable
housing
in
the
city
and
that's
for
me.
What
makes
this
project
so
special.
It's
amazing
to
create
net
new
46
units
for
low-income
seniors.
It's
an
amazing
accomplishment
and
I'm
really
proud
that
of
everyone.
That's
been,
that's
been
part
of
it.
B
Our
next
speaker
is
a
staunch
supporter
of
low-income
seniors
throughout
the
city
and
of
public
housing
residents
throughout
the
city,
and
she
has
been
instrumental
in
moving
the
city
towards
building
out
in
an
equitable
and
just
manner,
and
I
want
to
thank
her
for
her
support
of
bha
and
for
being
here
today.
Please
a
warm
welcome
for
mayor
kim
janey.
C
Good
afternoon,
thank
you
all.
Thank
you.
So
much
kate.
I
appreciate
you
certainly
chief
dillon
and
certainly
want
to
lift
up
billy
and
thank
him
for
his
work
and
helping
us
get
to
this
place
today.
This
is
a
great
day
whenever
I
can
cut
a
ribbon
on
new
housing
on
housing.
That's
affordable,
housing,
that
is
for
seniors.
It
is
a
wonderful
day
in
the
city
of
boston.
C
We
all
know
that
this
housing
crisis
was
with
us
long
before
covet
19
and
that
the
pandemic
has
made
things
worse
and
so
to
be
here
to
offer
new
units
to
add
to
our
supply
is
incredible,
and
I
want
to
thank
everyone
who
helped
to
make
this
this
possible.
I
certainly
want
to
start
by
acknowledging
our
elected
officials.
We
have
rep
bill
who
is
here.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
leadership.
Please
give
him
a
round
of
applause.
C
C
He
is,
if
nothing
else,
a
fierce
advocate
for
his
district,
and
I'm
really
grateful
for
your
leadership
and
thank
you
for
all
that
you
have
done.
Please
give
it
up
for
council
baker.
C
You
know
I
want
to
thank
donna,
brown
and
the
people
at
south
boston,
cdc,
rocklin
trust,
carrie,
tuss,
john
cronin
and
his
team,
and
all
of
the
folks
who
have
helped
us
get
here
to
this
day.
I
I
cannot
emphasize
enough
how
incredibly
important
it
is
to
make
sure
that
we
are
building
housing
that
meets
the
needs
for
boston
residents
in
our
city.
C
The
last
thing
that
I
want
to
say-
and
there
are
a
lot
of
folks
to
thank-
and
I
certainly
apologize
for
any-
who
I
miss-
and
I
hope
donna
that
you
will
get
them
added
here-
is
the
residence
of
this
community,
the
residents
of
this
community
oftentimes
when
a
new
development
is
coming
and
there's
a
vacant
lot
and
an
opportunity
to
build.
There's
a
lot
of
resistance.
C
Oftentimes
people
can
put
up
resistance
and
say:
no,
we
don't
want
it,
but
we've
seen
here
a
a
process
and
a
project
where
folks
are
involved
and
a
team
that
listens
and
everyone
can
have
a
seat
at
the
table.
That
is
how
we
want
to
continue
to
do
work
in
the
city
of
boston,
where
we
are
bringing
folks
in
where
we're
hearing
any
questions
or
concerns
that
people
have
that
those
things
are
being
addressed
and
that
we're
providing
the
housing
that
our
residents
need
like
right
here
on
this
site,
affordable
senior
housing.
C
We
need
to
continue
to
do
more
of
that,
as
well
as
housing
for
working
families,
and
so
many
others
throughout
the
city
of
boston,
and
I'm
just
grateful
that
there
is
a
team
in
place
that
has
done
good
work
on
this
site
and
look
forward
to
making
sure
that
we
are
doing
more
to
expand
opportunities
for
residents
all
across
our
city
and
using
this
as
a
great
model
for
how
we
do
that
work.
So
thank
you
for
all
who
have
contributed
to
making
this
day
possible.
I
am
truly
truly
grateful.
D
Thanks,
thank
you,
donna.
Thank
you,
everyone
for
being
here,
kate,
we
didn't
thank
you.
You
were
talking
about.
Billy
billy
did
bring
the
extreme
weather
on
both
on
both
days,
but
you're
right
next
from
the
whole
time,
so
thank
you.
Sheila
dillon
always
has
a
hand
in
this
sort
of
stuff
when
it
happens,
and
and
and
the
community
and
everybody
just
coalesced
around
this
this
project.
What
a
wonderful
project
it
is
for
us
to
be
able
to
deliver
something
like
this
and
and
it
never
happens
alone.
D
I'd
also
like
to
thank
john
cronin
for
for
his
vision
to
be
able
to
an
ability
to
help
out
miss
donna
brown,
of
course,
and
everybody
else
that
that
helped
to
make
this
day
a
reality
thrilled
to
be
here
thrilled
to
sit
with
the
with
the
new
residents,
and
I-
and
I
hope
you
all-
I
hope
you
all
the
best
and
living
in
this
nice
new
new
home
here
so
have
a
good
day.
Everybody
and
thank
you.
E
Good
afternoon
everybody,
it
is
my
honor
and
privilege
to
be
with
you
here
today-
donna.
I
remember
that
that
year,
a
few
years
ago,
where
we
were
just
across
the
street-
and
it's
truly
magnificent-
to
see
what's
been
accomplished
here
in
the
in
the
years
since
and
that
wouldn't
be
possible
without
a
tremendous
amount
of
teamwork
collaboration.
E
I
want
to
thank
the
city
of
boston
for
their
their
leadership
and
efforts
on
this
particularly
bha
for
for
their
collaboration.
It
wouldn't
be
possible,
without
without
your
partnership,
also
chief
dylan,
and
also
to
our
friends
in
the
private
sector.
I
want
to
thank
the
cronin
group
for
for
their
work
in
helping
deliver
linkage,
funds
from
projects
in
other
parts
of
the
city.
Here
it's
a
beautiful
day
for
for
south
boston,
for
the
city
of
boston,
to
be
opening
46
units
of
affordable
senior
housing,
there's
a
lot
of
work.
E
That
remains
to
be
done,
but
you
know
today,
today's
a
great
day
we'll
we'll
we'll
celebrate
this
and
then
move
on
to
the
next
one,
and-
and
before
closing,
I
do
want
to
thank
my
partners
in
government
who
who
aren't
here
but
who
were
also
integral
in
delivering
a
project
like
this
city,
councilor
ed
flynn,
city
councilor,
michael
flaherty.
I
know
we
have
representation
from
senator
collins
office
here,
so
I
want
to
make
sure
we
thank
the
senator
for
his
work
and
also
I
spoke
with
congressman
lynch
earlier.
E
E
And
obviously
you
know
want
to
thank
mayor
janie
for
being
here
for
for
her
tremendous
advocacy
around
this
around
this
topic.
Thank
you
for
being
here
and
celebrating
this
day
with
us.
Thank
you.
A
Tishman
spire
is
the
other
funder
of
idp
money
for
this
project
and
I
think
it's
important
to
acknowledge
that,
while
it
is
it's
critical
to
have
affordable
housing
on
the
south,
boston
waterfront,
there's
no
doubt
about
that.
But
the
number
of
units
we
were
able
to
achieve
here
and
the
partnerships
we
forged
to
do
it
and
the
sources
we
were
able
to
bring
to
the
table
means
that
we
don't
have
20
condominiums
on
the
waterfront.
A
So
it's
another
example
of
the
partnerships
that
we've
been
able
to
do,
and
I
have
to
tell
you
mayor
janie.
You
know
you
have
fabulous
staff,
I'm
sure
you
already
know
that
at
city
hall,
but
sheila
dillon
and
inspectional
services,
sean
lyden.
We
were
finishing
construction
and
leasing
up
in
the
middle
of
this
global
pandemic,
and
you
know-
and
it
was
it,
built
right
construction
who
who
built
this
building.
A
You
know
we
were
at
some
critical
points
where
we
really
needed
to
keep
construction
moving,
to
be
able
to
finish,
and
the
city
stepped
up
as
long
as
we
could
move
forward
safely
and
whenever
I
asked
isd,
could
we
have
special
permission?
Sean
lydon
and
his
team
gave
it
and
whenever
I
needed
any
kind
of
contact,
whether
it's
fire
department,
whatever
kate
bennett
and
sheila
dylan,
stepped
up
to
help
us.
So
you
have
amazing
people
working
in
city
government
and
I
don't
think
they
get
thanked
enough.
A
F
John
cronin,
he
was
a
handsome
guy
like
a
year
ago.
I
saw
him
that
development
business
is
stopped.
It
crushes
you
so
I'm
michael
kennedy,
I'm
the
ceo
for
chronic
development
and
john
in
his
kindness.
I
mean
I
sit
in
rooms
with
him,
sometimes
not
just
because
he's
here
and
I'm
like,
I
have
to
up
my
game
as
a
human
being,
because
he's
he's
so
nice.
He
said
why
don't
you
do
it
donna
and
I
have
worked
together
for
a
long
time,
so
I
think
that
that
was
the
segway.
F
So
thank
you,
john.
So
thank
you,
madam
mayor
elected
officials,
distinguished
guests
and,
most
importantly,
the
new
residents
of
five
o'connor
ways.
F
F
And
thank
you
to
bill
mcgonagall
to
for
helping
to
make
this
happen
and
to
kate
bennett
for
carrying
on
what
bill
started
and,
just
repeat
repeat
some
of
the
things
that
you've
heard
before,
especially
to
the
city's
apparatus,
because
that's
kind
of
where
I
come
from
other
partners
and
boosters.
F
Thank
you
to
kate
and
the
bha
ppda
and
chief
golden
dnd
and
chief
dylan,
the
mayor's
office
isd,
shaun
lydon,
mass
development
td
bank
farnsworth
fund,
rocklin
trust,
tishman,
caritas,
mark
wayne
keller.
I
was
in
the
room
with
him
a
lot
in
the
beginning
and
john
cronin,
and
all
of
my
cronin
colleagues,
and
just
one
point
that
I
want
to
make
now
and
sheila
said.
F
Usually
these
things
that
I
found
out
the
affordable
component
doesn't
get
built
until
the
major
development
or
the
the
contributing
development
gets
a
sea
of
all
right
for
us,
that's
probably
going
to
be
another
eight
months
away,
and
then
we
would
start
this
not
you
know,
contribute
to
it.
We
would
start
this.
So
the
fact
that
this
got
built
eight
months
before
us,
because
john
decided
to
front
load
the
funding.
I
was
talking
to
council
baker
beforehand
about
this
model
and
it's
a
good
model,
but
that
was
probably
the
biggest
ingredient
to
that.
F
That
doesn't
mean
hey
nonprofit.
We
have
this
project
jump
in.
It
means
understanding
those
non-profits
when
nothing
external
is
happening.
What
their
needs
are,
who
do
they
serve?
What
are
the
gaps?
What
are
they
short
of
around
the
holidays?
Maybe
server
on
their
board
when
that's
the
baseline,
without
any
expectation
of
any
more
happening,
partnership
opportunities
occasionally
arise,
and
within
that
context
the
results
are
usually
very
good
when
they
do
as
they
are
here
with
donna.
F
We
have
been
in
touch
for
a
very
long
time
on
a
variety
of
things,
communicated
with
work
with
nothing
to
do
with
this
project,
because
this
project
didn't
exist
and
then,
but
we
had
expressed
his
desire
hey
if
you
ever
want
to
do
something
with
you
know,
we
want
to
work
with
you,
because
we
love
what
you
do
and
love
what
you
represent
in
the
community
and
and
then
this
came
up
and
we
became
partners,
and
this
is
what
happened
and
the
whole
cronin
team
is
grateful
for
this
partnership,
because
we
know
that,
because
we
know
this
model
works,
it
is
ingrained
in
everything
we
do
at
cronin
from
o'connor
way
to
the
nubian
shuttle
of
twenty
for
dry,
dark
to
boston,
ship
repair,
partnership
with
madison
park
high
school
to
get
those
students
there
into
high
paying
blue
collar
careers.
F
F
So
john
cronin
gave
a
check
and
it
was
a
good
check
and
it
helped
right
and
the
money
is
important
because
you
know
it's
sad
to
say
that
donna
has
to
have
bake
sales
to
build,
affordable
housing
and
scrape
the
barrel
and
sheila
dylan
has
to
you
know,
shake
the
state
down
to
get
money,
but
I'd
probably
say
that
every
meeting
that
happened
on
this
development
every
meeting,
whether
it
was
border,
appeals
or
where
it
was
it-
was
the
community
meetings
all
the
community
protocol.
F
There
was
someone
from
cronin
in
that
meeting,
every
single
one.
There
was
someone
in
the
prep
sessions.
There
were
a
couple
of
times
when
we
helped
to
problem
solve.
We
love
our
sisters
and
brothers
in
the
carpenters
union,
but
we
had
a
couple
of
meetings
where
cronin
and
the
south
boston
ndc
team
met
in
a
room
and
kind
of
banged
heads
a
little
bit
shook
hands
and
moved
on.
So
the
the
I,
the
thought
of
a
working
partnership
to
make
this
come
through
is
something
that
we
are
really
proud
of.
F
We
could
not
with
donner
in
the
lead-
and
it's
been
said
before
mayor
janie
said
like
like
we
could
not
have
a
better
and,
I
think,
kate
said
it:
affordable
housing
warrior
new
trim
to
lead
the
charge
because
with
her
on
the
in
the
front,
nothing
but
good
happened.
So,
thank
you
all
appreciate
you
having
us
here
today.
A
I
want
I
want
to
acknowledge
and
thank
our
other
non-profit
partner,
caratas
communities
and
invite
karen
castle
mitarando
the
ceo
to
come
up
and
say
a
few
words,
and
then
I
also
want
to
thank
dominican
man
and
mark
winkler
and
mark
will
say
a
few
words
after,
but
we've
had.
This
is
our
third
partnership
with
caritas
communities
and
it
started
with
our
veterans,
housing,
development,
patriot
homes
and
it's
wrapping
up
with
this
one,
and
it
has
been
truly
helpful.
A
G
So
this
is
really
a
such
an
important
moment
for
so
many
lives
that
are
going
to
be
changed
because
of
this,
and
we
know
at
caritas
when
you
provide
deeply
affordable
housing,
you
provide
dignity
right
and
you
provide
what
every
human
being
deserves.
So
I'm
grateful
to
be
here
there's
a
lot
of
gratitude
expressed
already.
I
echo
all
of
it.
There
are
a
few
people
that
I'd
like
to
do
an
additional
shout
out
for
I'd
like
to
recognize
mauro
de
corollas
from
td
bank
who's.
G
Here
today,
td
bank
gave
us
a
major
gift
towards
towards
building
this
home.
We've
received
three
gifts
from
td
banks,
since
2012
two
have
been
in
support
of
the
south
boston,
neighborhood
development
corps,
caritas
projects,
and
this
year
we
received
their
largest
gift
in
new
england,
250
000
to
help
our
residents
pay
their
rent
and
stay
housed,
so
we're
deeply
grateful
to
them
as
well.
The
charles
h,
farnsworth
trust,
match
by
bank
of
america,
supported
us
with
a
very
large
grant,
because
what
they
believe
in
is
deeply
affordable.
G
Housing
for
senior
citizens
so
cheers
to
them.
I
I
also
would
like
to
thank
my
predecessor
mark
will
win
keller,
who
is
our
executive
director
at
caritas
for
22
years
mark
hired
me
eight
years
ago.
I
I'm
I'm
honored
to
be
here
in
this
position
and
trying
to
follow
in
his
footsteps
during
mark's
leadership
he
developed
or
and
or
acquired
22
houses.
So
caritas
was
founded
in
1985..
We
now
have
33
houses
and
22
of
them
are
because
of
mark.
G
So
thank
you
for
your
truly
a
career
of
providing
this
housing
yeah
our
our
founder,
founded
us,
because
he
believed
that
homelessness
could
be
prevented
by
providing
deeply
affordable
housing.
Housing
people
could
afford
and
layering
on
the
supportive
services
to
help
people
retain
that
heart
that
hard-won
housing
right
and
that
that's
part
a
and
that's
part
b,
and
you
have
to
put
them
both
together
right.
That's
the
only
way
this
works,
so
I
just
want
to
mention.
Keratos
residents
are
always
on
my
mind.
G
I
just
have
so
much
admiration
and
have
developed
these
wonderful
relationships.
There's
two
people
on
my
mind
today:
one
is
a
man
named
mike
mike
spent
a
great
deal
of
his
life
living
behind
a
dumpster.
He
was
then
in
an
illegal
rooming
house
where
I
they
would
beat
him
before
the
inspectors
came,
so
he
would
not
tell
what
was
happening
there
mike
now
lives
at
keratos
in
quincy
in
our
one
of
our
original
houses.
G
It's
a
beautiful
house
with
just
support
and
care
and
love,
and
it
just
makes
me
happy
every
day
to
think
about
mike
with
us
and
dolores
is
a
retired,
home
health,
aide
worker,
she's,
actually
retired,
because
her
last
client
died
of
covid
and
so
delores
has
had
a
very
hard
time
keeping
up
with
her
rent.
But
td
bank
was
there
for
us.
She
has
no
arrearages
and
we
have
no
intention
of
having
her
leave
us
right.
That's
that's
part
of
the
mission
of
caritas,
so
it's
just
a
very
special
day.
G
A
H
Hello,
everybody.
My
entire
speech
has
been
given,
so
it's
I
just
have
a
few
remarks.
Everybody
has
talked
about
the
original
groundbreaking.
Everybody
remembers
the
fact
it
was
cold.
What
I
remember
was
not
only
was
it
cold,
but
you
couldn't
put
the
shovel
in
the
ground
because
it
was
so
damn
cold
now,
and
I
remember
looking
at
the
site
and
saying
how
are
we
going
to
put
a
building
on
here
looks
as
good
as
it
does
fits
on
the
site.
Get
parking,
get
a
driveway.
We're
never
going
to
get
this
done.
H
Although
having
done
a
lot
of
these,
you
know
it's
going
to
get
done
so
today
it's
hot
got
a
10th.
Thank
goodness-
and
I
want
to.
I
want
to
thank
some
people
who
actually
aren't
here.
Everybody
here
has
been
thanked
many
times
and
I'm
not
dissing
that,
but
when
I
thought
about
this
in
a
way
over
here,
if
you
include
the
people
that
built
this
building,
this
project
took
about
150
people,
not
just
the
people
in
the
room
who
were
terribly
important,
but
they
were
everybody's
got
a
staff.
H
Somebody
has
to
read
these
documents
that
lucky
person.
Somebody
has
to
work
with
myself
with
donna
with
karen
to
get
these
things
approved,
moved
ahead,
and
many
of
you
wouldn't
do
this
for
a
living.
It's
a
heck
of
a
process,
and
I
would
say
I
want
to
do
one
more
shout
out
to
dominican
man
who
worked
with
us
initially
on
the
project.
Who's
moved
on
to
other
items,
but
she
was
a
huge
help
here
and
I
think
in
the
final
analysis,
what
I'd
say
is
this.
H
A
Thank
you
everybody.
I
I'm
not
sure
if
we
acknowledged
a
few
folks
rockland
trust
which
provided
our
construction
and
permanent
financing,
boston,
capital,
boston,
financial,
our
equity
partners,
mass
development,
we
provided
bond
financing,
the
department
of
housing
and
community
development
at
the
commonwealth,
that
approved
our
low-income
housing,
tax
credits
and
then
again,
td
and
farnsworth.
We
we
truly
appreciate
all
the
support
and
cronen
and
tishman.
Obviously,
so.