Mayor Wu Proposes Tent Ban At Mass and Cass In Policy Shift

Photo: James Rojas for WBZ NewsRadio

BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Mayor Michelle Wu says she'll be filing an ordinance that would ban tents and tarps in the "Mass and Cass" area, the epicenter of the city's homelessness and drug addiction crises.

The plan, which needs city council approval, would give Boston Police new power to "address significant public safety challenges" by dismantling encampments near the intersection of Melnea Cass and Massachusetts Avenue in the South End.

In an aim to prevent new encampments from building up elsewhere, as they have after past clean-ups and crack-downs, police presence would also be increased outside the Mass and Cass area.

The mayor made the announcement in a press conference Friday morning. She says this would only impact "individuals who have already been offered adequate housing and shelter, who have been offered transportation to that shelter, and who have been given the opportunity to store their personal belongings."

Mayor Wu says the city's new approach to the crisis has been made possible by an expanding infrastructure of "hundreds of low-threshold housing units" in the state.

The city is announcing a plan to open an indoor "safe sleeping space" on Massachusetts Avenue for those who may lose their tents, sparking pushback from neighborhood groups in the South End who say it could lead to further health and safety risks. Officials say the most likely location for the shelter, near Boston Medical Center, has room for about 30 people.

"This is not going to be a permanent shelter. This is not going to be a day shelter," Mayor Wu said Friday. "It is going to be an area where individuals who need a place to go will have the opportunity to have a clean and protected area to sleep at night."

The city has also announced a plan to shut down Atkinson Street, which has been used as an open-air drug market.

The mayor says the city's ultimate goal is to open it back up as a "standard vehicular street" "sooner [rather] than later—and certainly before it gets very cold."

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