Mass Pike over Charles River: Possible Street Car Spur

1. Comment.
2. Possible Streetcar (“Green Line”) Spur.
3. Other construction in the area.
a. Direct applicability.
b. Related projects.

1. Comment.

I reported yesterday that the MassDOT meeting on Thursday, September 20, 2014, announced a rebuilding which leaves room for a streetcar spur between the highway and adjacent Boston University buildings.

I got the following studious comment:

**************

Hi.   These two new projects could include a connection from the turnpike area to the Green Line.
Recently MassDOT announced:

 Project 606541 - the rebuilding of Comm. Ave. over the turnpike by the BU Bridge.   "STREET OVER I-90 & MBTA
This project involves the replacement of the bridge superstructure along I-90 at Commonwealth Ave "


There is a also preliminary project that rebuilds the supports of the road -
Project 606538 - which "includes substructure improvements to the Commonwealth Avenue bridge over the Massachusetts Turnpike and MBTA."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project 606541

(Click here for a glossary of terms)

Project Description:
BOSTON- BROOKLINE- SUPERSTRUCTURE REPLACEMENT, B-16-055, COMMONWEALTH AVENUE OVER I-90 & MBTA & DECK REPAIR, B-27-018, CARLTON STREET OVER I-90 & MBTA
This project involves the replacement of the bridge superstructure along I-90 at Commonwealth Ave and the repair of the deck at Carlton Street over I-90 and MBTA.
Location:

    City of Boston
    Town of Brookline

Design Responsibility: Consultant
Construction Begins: Summer 2014
Project Manager: Steven E McLaughlin [Email MassHighway]
Estimated Total Contract Cost: $69,850,126.50
Estimated Total Federal Participating Construction Cost: N/A
MassHighway District: District 6
Current Status: This project has been advertised for construction bids. (as of 05/10/2014)


************

I will give a bit more detail as to the possible line, and then go into related projects.

2. Possible Streetcar (“Green Line”) Spur.

I published a very detailed photo analysis of the area the route could be created at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-green-line-streetcar-light-rail.html.

This is an on the ground analysis.

I have presented two relevant maps.

The first focuses on this area, the “viaduct” area which is being rebuilt, and whose location is crucial to any Green Line Spur.

The green line spur would come off the raised Commonwealth Avenue bridge over I90 and the commuter rail, lower to a comparable height to the highway and BU’s buildings, and proceed between the two until you get into the primary I90 / rail yard area, the future Harvard Medical School plus.

The first map shows how the spur would connect to Kenmore Square / Kendall Station.

The second map focuses on the Harvard Medical School area, including the viaduct.  A stop would be viable for Boston University’s new high rise dormitories and for Agannis Arena.

A Green Line spur could be run through the Harvard Complex, with a stop for that complex.

Going beyond the complex, it would have great neighborhood value by being run under North Harvard Street with stops at Cambridge Street and Franklin Street.  It could proceed further with a stop for Harvard Business School / Harvard Stadium.

It would then go under the Charles River and connect to busways which are part of the Harvard Station by a tunnel which continues to exist after the 1978 reconstruction of Harvard Station.  Access would be readily available to the bus tunnel complex in a stub end arrangement.

The need for a stub end arrangement adds a requirement for a layover facility under fields owned by Harvard University on either side of North Harvard Street, before crossing the Charles River.

MassDOT has a useful fact sheet on line at https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/8/docs/HighlightedProjects/AllstonInterchange/Allston_I-90_FactSheet.pdf.

3. Other construction in the area.

a. Direct applicability.

Here is one of the photos on the link I provided above, http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-green-line-streetcar-light-rail.html.  Greater detail can be obtained at that link.

The photo is taken standing on the Commonwealth Avenue bridge over I90 / Mass. Pike in the middle of the existing streetcar / Green Line tracks.

A separation in the bridge structure starts at the left about a quarter of the way up on the photo.  The separation proceeds diagonally to the right.  If you look very carefully, a companion separation starts at the end of the concrete divider on the left.  It also runs to the right.

The area between these two separations is the bridge over the commuter rail / main line to Worcester / Framingham.

The point where the camera is standing is close to where a switch would have to be installed for the Green Line spur.

The camera is standing on the bridge above I90 / Mass. Pike.  The spur would go off the Commonwealth Avenue bridge above the commuter rail.

The buildings to the right are the Boston University buildings which follow the Mass. Pike. viaduct.  The viaduct rises so that the commuter rail goes under the viaduct until the right of way widens again.

The Green Line spur would be built between these buildings and the Mass. Pike viaduct.

b. Related projects.

The construction which the writer mentions at the beginning of this report seems to come to the point where the camera is, and up to the first divider.

Mention is made of Carlton Street.  The photo is taken not far to the west of where the highway on the BU Bridge crosses Commonwealth Avenue.  Carlton Street is the next street to the east of the BU Bridge / Commonwealth Avenue intersection.  Boston being Boston, its name changes between Commonwealth Avenue and the Charles River.

The BU Bridge / Commonwealth Avenue road complex is a very large, very complicated traffic circle / rotary which extends to various other local roads.  And the changes coming are very complex as well.

Interestingly, running a Green Line spur off at this point would be much less complicated with regard to the highway traffic than are the multiple changes which are in process.  The one real complication would be a need to allow for the spur in traffic light operation.

Any actual construction on a Green Line spur would not come until after the rebuilding of the Mass. Pike viaduct, although there clearly could be savings by combining the projects.

Harvard will not be building in the Mass. Pike / rail yard area for at least ten years, according to their various projections.  Nevertheless, service of a Green Line spur could be a value to the neighborhood and to Harvard’s construction at North Harvard and Western, plus to the Harvard Business School / Harvard Stadium area.

Going forward with the BU Bridge / Commonwealth area Avenue projects will, at minimum provide the same sort of stability to these bridges as would be provided to the Mass. Pike, and would definitely simplify construction of a Green Line spur.

I am not specifically familiar with plans for the area of Commonwealth Avenue above the commuter rail.  It is highly likely that the plans the writer presents go into that area.  It is a relatively small area and certainly, I should hope, is part of the BU Bridge / Commonwealth Avenue related projects.  The wording of the announcement reflects naming confusion which is normal when referring to transportation entities in the Boston area.  The commuter rail is part of the MBTA and, thus, is likely to be part of this project.

The discussions of the plans for the area gave no indication or reason to think that significant changes are intended.

Mass. Pike (I90) above the Charles River, MA, USA - MassDOT Rejects ANOTHER Cambridge Outrage

1. Introduction.

2. Street Car Spur continues to be possible.

3. Assistance for Highway over Grand Junction Rejected.

4. Cambridge Common Destruction.

5. Summary.

1. Introduction.

Last night, September 18, 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation conducted another public presentation in the Allston neighborhood of Boston.  They were updating folks on the progress of planning for the rebuilding of the Massachusetts Turnpike (I90) which looms over the Charles River on the south, Boston side.

The state will be rebuilding the elevated portion of the highway which passes through a rather narrow band west of the BU Bridge.

From my point of view, there were two key aspects.

2. Street Car Spur continues to be possible.

First, although the existing highway structure is being torn down and rebuilt, the new structure will be no closer to Boston University’s buildings which neighbor the highway to the south.  

What this does is continue to leave room for a streetcar spur to be constructed between the two groups of structures.  That possible spur could provide public transportation from Commonwealth Avenue west of the BU Bridge to Harvard’s new complex and then to Harvard Square.

The Commonwealth Avenue end could connect to the existing streetcar line by way of low technology switches.  The existing line connects Kenmore Station and Downtown Boston to Boston College.  The Harvard Square end could connect to existing Harvard Station bus tunnels by an existing tunnel which runs from the bus tunnels perhaps half the distance to the Charles River.

3. Assistance for Highway over Grand Junction Rejected.

The big victory would appear to be a rejection by MassDOT of Cambridge’s attempts to get MassDOT to assist Cambridge in  its plans  to build a bike highway (and later a Mass. Pike off ramp) over the Grand Junction railroad bridge under the BU Bridge.  

This would be yet another attack on the wildlife living on the north banks of the Charles River, most visibly but not solely, the Charles River White Geese.

4. Cambridge Common Destruction.

One of the four new Cambridge City Councilors attended.  He went out of his way to obtain the flier I was passing out, which was targeted at the Cambridge City Council and its accomplices.

The flier is dominated by the outrageous State House authorization of $20 million to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the destruction of hundreds of trees between the BU and Longfellow Bridges on Memorial Drive, close to the Charles River.

Also prominent in the flier is the imminent destruction of many excellent trees on the Cambridge Common by the Cambridge City Council.  For space considerations, the flier solely discusses the plans to destroy the excellent grove of trees which form the entrance to the Cambridge Common from Harvard Square.  The horror of these plans is such that this relatively small part of the flier is overwhelmed by this outrage.  

Omitted, quite distressingly, are the plans to destroy other excellent trees at the far end of the Cambridge Common from Harvard Square.  This destruction, on its own, would be shocking.  The trouble is that this destruction is way outweighed by the absolute horror of the Cambridge City Council’s destruction near Harvard Square.

If the councilor wants to give responsible behavior on the Cambridge Common a chance, that councilor would, apparently, have to take action in the City Council meeting this coming Monday, September 22, by suspension of the rules.  Once those trees are destroyed, they will be destroyed.

5. Summary.

I anticipate I will follow with detailed reports on the importance of the MassDOT actions.  There are a number of past reports on this blog already posted on these matters.

Cambridge, MA, USA City Council and Conservation Commission discuss Alewife.

Cambridge, MA, USA City Council and Conservation Commission discuss Alewife.

0. Cambridge’s “achievement” at Alewife.
1. Introduction.
2. Cambridge City Council.
a. Council action.
b. Reality.
c. Chronicle fails to publish Cambridge’s bragging of destruction.
3. Cambridge Conservation Commission.
a. Report to the Cambridge Conservation Commission.
b. Fake group policies.
c. Responsible behavior.
d. My comments to the Conservation Commission.


0. Cambridge’s “achievement” at Alewife.

Details below.

1. Introduction.

Last Monday evening, September 14, 2014, both the Cambridge City Council and the Cambridge Conservation Commission discussed Alewife.

2. Cambridge City Council.

a. Council action.

The City Council and City Manager were reported by the Cambridge Chronicle as discussing private property on the Route 2 side of Alewife.  The City Council made pious noises.

The Cambridge Chronicle report is on Page A7 of their edition of September 11, 2014.

b. Reality.

This property is the subject of a nearly 20 year con game by one of the usual fake groups.

I have reported the destruction of 3.4 acres of Cambridge owned Alewife by the Cambridge City Council located behind 165 CambridgePark Drive.  I have published the City of Cambridge’s puff photo bragging about the destruction.  Here it is again.

c. Chronicle fails to publish Cambridge’s bragging of destruction.

This photo was attached to a press release printed loyally on a blog written by a long time Cambridge Machine activist.

It is highly unlikely that Cambridge failed to send the same blurb and photo to the Cambridge Chronicle.

To the best of my knowledge, it has never been published by the Cambridge Chronicle, but the Cambridge Chronicle has repeatedly published nonsense out of the Cambridge City Council and out of the fake group.

The prior editor did publish a letter from the leader of the fake group.  She bragged about Cambridge destruction of 3.4 acres of irreplaceable woodlands identical to the woodland she claims to be defending from private developers.  She has spent nearly 20 years telling concerned folks to ignore public development.

She has spent nearly 20 years yelling at private developers obeying municipally created zoning, but has a great deal of difficulty mentioning that the Cambridge City Council which has made so much lovely words about Alewife controls the zoning under which the Cambridge properties in private ownership have been severely overdeveloped.

Repeated letters by me reflecting reality since they changed editors, have failed to be published.  They keep on printing nonsense, but have no use for even photos of reality.

Here is the Cambridge’s puff piece photo of their destruction of 3.4 acres + of the Alewife Reservation behind 165 CambridgePark Drive.  The trees in the background occupied the entire area of the photo until the Cambridge City Council destroyed them.

3. Cambridge Conservation Commission.

a. Report to the Cambridge Conservation Commission.

Monday evening, the Cambridge Conservation Commission had three items on its agenda concerning Alewife.  I think it was very much telling that I was the only person in the audience not related to a developer.

The first two hearings concerned the large project between Alewife Station and Route 2, Cambridge Discovery Park.  The third was on the former nightclub site.

The board, after the first hearing asked the Executive Director about litigation concerning the fake Alewife group.  As near as I could gather, another windmill got tilted with the usual results.  The exec commented that the fake Alewife group was seeking organization assistance from her and she provided some.

b. Fake group policies.

These various company unions have a very clear pattern.  They very strongly support almost any and all attempts to work toward their stated objectives.

The only courses of action the core people seem antagonistic toward are the ones most likely to work.

The fake groups, in particular, get downright hostile toward the idea of talking with the Cambridge City Council.  Inasmuch as the real purpose of company unions is to keep trouble makers from achieving their desired goals, it is not at all surprising that folks are chased away from the Cambridge City Council.  True, the Cambridge City Council is terrible, but they are the only real game in town, inasmuch as they do have to stand for election.

The supposed groups do seem to be involved in a lot of petty litigation.  That really stems from the zoning written by city staff.  It has a lot of fake protections.  When fake protections turn out to be fake, folks are talked into suing.

The last thing, the key people want, however, is any attempt to change zoning to make it responsible and meaningful.

At Alewife, the real property in action, without changing zoning, now is the publicly owned property, so folks are told to ignore the publicly owned property.  Heck, you talk to a city councilor and you might get something done.

On the other hand, you talk to a city councilor and do not get things done, and you realize that the Cambridge City Council is the problem.  You do that, and you might even find responsible people elected to the Cambridge City Council.

The leader of this group has stooped very low.  She has spent nearly twenty years telling people to yell at private developers and ignore the City Council, with its zoning powers and its development powers.  The latter is particularly important because Cambridge owns much of Alewife.  The area it does not own, the Cambridge City Council has given outrageously dense zoning to.

The leader of the fake group has even stooped to praising the City Council’s destruction of 3.4 acres on municipally owned forest while yelling non stop at private developers obeying the City Council’s zoning.

The alleged neighborhood association fits the pattern as well.  Never talk to the city council if at all possible.  Yell at developers obeying the zoning, insofar as they can maneuver folks in that direction.

It is very clear to me that the fake groups are funneling Alewife in the path of total destruction: Tilt at windmills on the private development, and let Cambridge and the Department of Conservation and Recreation destroy, destroy, destroy, while keep the latter, highly possible wins, away from well meaning people.

c. Responsible behavior.

The Cambridge City Council’s destruction of 3.4 acres of the Alewife Reservation behind 165 CambridgePark Drive was advertised as provided protection against the worst possible storm in any two year period, a two year storm.

There have been two fifty years storms in the 25 years.  They were very devastating.

Flood protection is seriously deficient, and the fake groups are telling folks to yell at the private developers, and how dare you yell at the City Council.

The trouble is that the Alewife area needs protection against 100 year storms.  Destroying 3.4 acres for protection against 2 years is the usual cynical Cambridge lie.

That protection has to come somewhere, either under privately owned property by city easement or by destroying the publicly owned Alewife reservation.

The leader of the fake protective group has publicly praised the first step toward destruction of the entire reservation.

Both groups are anathema toward talking responsible behavior with the City Council.  You do that, something might get done.

And the real goal of the folks pulling the strings very clearly is total destruction of Alewife.

And, once again, here is the fake group (and the Cambridge Chronicle)’s achievement to date, photo courtesy of the City of Cambridge:

d. My comments to the Conservation Commission.

I spoke to the Conservation Commission and the developers.  The Cambridge Discovery Park (the one between Alewife Station and Route 2) developer helped things out by mentioning the “MDC lot” in his presentation.  I led by introducing myself including my very major development / environmental experience.

That experience includes my writing the zoning that is returning the "MDC lot" to the environment, the lot the developer mentioned.  I communicated my contempt for the fake protectors, and I followed with my wishes that Cambridge provide the needed flood protection as part of future projects in addition to the flood protection required by the individual projects.

The reality is that, as is usual with the various Company Union groups, the victims, the well meaning folks, have only been talking with the bad guys and folks controlled by the bad guys.  The victims are committed to chasing their tails because there are so many people telling them to chase their tails.

And the people supporting tail chasing always sound so good.

Congratulations and Thank You to the Voters of Massachusetts

Congratulations and Thank You to the Voters of Massachusetts

I have awakened this morning, September 10, 2014, to good news on WBZ radio.

The voters of Massachusetts have rejected attempts to expand the vileness which is the government of the City of Cambridge into the rest of the state.

They have rejected Leland Cheung for Lieutenant Governor and Michael Sullivan for Middlesex County District Attorney.

This victory should IN NO WAY be interpreted to say that a miracle has occurred under which the government of the City of Cambridge will suddenly revert to the status which their lies claim exists in the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge has a really rotten city council and an outrageous machine which routinely protects the City Council from its own vileness through flat out lies of sainthood.

Remember the very strong messages sent from Jury, Judge and Appeals Court panel in response to the Malvina Monteiro outrage.

A unanimous City Council simply ignored the very strong condemnations of City Manager Robert Healy.  There was not the slightest indication of firing him.  They continued their own lies of sainthood.

They have created their own world which they describe, nonstop, in terms strikingly deviant from reality.  It works because the massive, destructive Cambridge Machine makes it work.

The reality of the secret world of Cambridge, MA, USA, is a very vile world lying of its own holiness.

Supplement, 10 AM

The Boston Globe's  boston.com has reported details of the statewide vote for Lieutenant Governor as follows:

Stephen Kerrigan: 51% 219,582
Leland Cheung 29% 127,461
Michael Lake 20% 85,297

I have hunted around, but I do not see totals reported on the District Attorney race as of 10 am on September 10.

Cambridge, MA, USA Common: The other trees under attack.

Cambridge, MA, USA Common: The other trees under attack.

Among so many other outrages, I have been reporting on the Cambridge, MA, USA, City Council’s outrageous impending tree destruction on the Cambridge Common.

The most recent report was at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/worst-cambridge-common-destruction.html.

My YouTube presentation on this outrage is posted at http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.

In my most recent report, it sunk in that I have been talking solely about the Cambridge City Council’s attack on the Harvard Square entrance.  This outrage is decidedly unforgivable, but trees are being destroyed on the far end of the Cambridge Common as well.

I went to the Cambridge Common Sunday morning, September 7, and did photos of the far end from Harvard Square.

Trees with slats of wood are safe.  Trees without slats of wood could be doomed.

Never make the mistake of assuming the Cambridge City Council could “never stoop so low.”  They and their accomplices have repeatedly proved that wrong.

The big tree on the left , above, is part of an excellent grove surrounding a children's play area.  None are protected.  They would never stoop so low.

$20 million was approved by the governor and legislature to destroy hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive between the BU and Longfellow Bridges.  Most being destroyed are larger than this excellent tree.  The Cambridge City Council was “neutral” even after receiving the destruction plans.

DA Candidate Michael Sullivan on Victims’ Rights: The Charles River White Geese

DA Candidate Michael Sullivan on Victims’ Rights: The Charles River White Geese

1. Introduction.
2. Magazine Beach — The very tiny amount needed to be decent human beings.
3. The deal called for Cambridge to assume management of the Magazine Beach playing fields.  To my knowledge, that has never happened.
4. And DA Candidate Michael Sullivan claims to be concerned about victims’ rights..


1. Introduction.

The horror of the treatment of the Charles River White Geese is that much more reprehensible because it is so easily undone.  The infliction of this outrage is made that much more worse by that fact.

As such, it is very much a part of the package with the heartless abuse inflicted on Malvina Monteiro by City Manager Robert Healy, and the universal condemnation of Jury, Judge and Appeals Court panel, combined with a city council which saw no problem.

The vileness of the situation in Cambridge and the Charles River simply would not exist in a culture of decency and humanity.

The vileness of the repeated environmental destruction including the mass destruction and animal killings at Alewife would not exist in a culture of decency and humanity.

The flat out lying and denial, the hiding behind fake groups, is all part of a truly reprehensible package which extends across so much destructive behavior.

It is a culture of rottenness.

2. Magazine Beach — The very tiny amount needed to be decent human beings.

The vileness of the starvation wall targeted at the Charles River White Geese is emphasized by the fact that it is done by actions so unusual on the Charles River basin.  And really, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) record has been made part of the Cambridge record by Cambridge's clear behavior as funder and accomplice.

That starvation wall is bordering vegetation.  These sick people chop down bordering vegetation twice a year because they have contempt for bordering vegetation.  Except at Magazine Beach.

These sick people did a nonstop propaganda of wanting nothing on the banks of the Charles River except water related uses.  So they converted water related playing fields to playing fields which could be anywhere and showed contempt for the Charles River and the Charles River White Geese by walling off their food from the Charles River.

In addition to being chopped down twice a year, access areas through which the White Geese would able to pass would be crucial.

There is at least one other crucial thing which would be highly abnormal if the culture were not one of destroying our world and lying about which side they are on.

They destroyed healthy responsible grass which survived for the better part of a Century without poisons.

They replaced responsible grass with sickly stuff which needs poisons to survive.  They poison the environment to keep alive this sickly introduced stuff.  They poison kids rolling in it.  They poison animals feeding on it.

Instead of spending money on poisons, they should be spending money on seeds for the grass they destroyed, seeding responsible grass seed instead of the poisons, and getting rid of the sickly introduced vegetation.

Before:

After:

3. The deal called for Cambridge to assume management of the Magazine Beach playing fields.  To my knowledge, that has never happened.

As with so many other things, Cambridge denies responsibility for its own vileness by running away from evil it supports.

4. And DA Candidate Michael Sullivan claims to be concerned about victims’ rights..

And because this vile behavior has “worked”, i.e., the electorate has been fooled, his successors are working to make things worse.

Worst Cambridge Common destruction almost certain to be deferred until after Cheung’s primary election.

I went by the Cambridge Common an hour or so ago.

The fencing I reported in my last report on the Cambridge Common outrage is strictly on the far side of the core destruction area from Harvard Square.  It appears to enclose the northeast (far) corner of the Cambridge Common.

There are trees slated for destruction in or near this area.  Given the true horror of the plans at the Harvard Square entrance, I have not evaluated them.  This is the real horror of dealing with this vile government.  Destruction which normally could shock is simply ignored in light of the truly vile destruction a few hundred feet away.

The impression is that the extremely irresponsible destruction will almost certainly occur after the primary election for Lt. Governor in which Councilor Cheung is running, next Tuesday.

This is very much a normal pattern in the fraudulent environmental situation which is the norm in Cambridge government.  The really bad stuff gets done after it could hurt the bad guys in elections.

Here are my photos of two sides of the trees closest to Harvard Square on the Cambridge Common, first before construction initiation, then as of about a week ago.  First the shot is from the Harvard Square side, then from the opposite side.

Look carefully at the latter photo.  I believe only one of the trees in that photo is protected from destruction.

Then again, the primary election is next Tuesday.

My YouTube presentation on this outrage is posted at http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.

DA Candidate Michael Sullivan: Rape, Murder and not wanting to know where it happened

DA Candidate Michael Sullivan: Rape, Murder and not wanting to know where it happened


DA Candidate Michael Sullivan’s ads about his concern for victims have gotten stronger.

At a meeting of the Cambridge City Council, including then Councilor Michael Sullivan, in the fall of 2001, the Cambridge City Council spent an hour discussing a rape and murder.

Councilor Davis very quickly mentioned the location of the rape and murder.  She looked around guiltily, swallowed her words, and joined the denial of mention of the location of the rape and murder.  She joined the silence communicated by the rest of the Cambridge City Council.

It would appear that a person who had spent much of the spring beating to death nesting mother geese on their nests at the Destroyed Nesting Area had graduated to rape and murder in the same location.

He had been emulating the heartless animal abuse directed at the Charles River White Geese by the Cambridge City Council through their vote to attack their home and food at Magazine Beach.

He graduated to a mass goose attack/killing including the killing of the leader of the gaggle, Bumpy, in early July.

Friends of the White Geese conducted a memorial on the beautiful nearby grounds of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

That memorial dominated the front page of the Cambridge Chronicle.

The city council had their mid summer meeting.

Folks begged the Cambridge City Council to stand up against the ongoing outrage.

Folks reminded the Cambridge City Council that animal abusers frequently graduate to humans.

Michael Sullivan’s Cambridge City Council was “neutral” as Lt. Governor candidate Cheung’s then city council was “neutral” on the condemnation of the Cambridge City Manager’s heartless human abuse of Malvina Monteiro.  Cheung’s Cambridge City Council was “neutral” in spite of the condemnation of that Cambridge City Manager by Jury, Judge, and Appeals Court panel.

Michael Sullivan’s Cambridge City Council was “neutral” as Lt. Governor candidate Cheung’s city council has been “neutral” on the legislature’s vote of $20 million for destruction of hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive in Chapter 286 of the Acts of 2014.

In Michael Sullivan’s “neutrality”, the person convicted of the rape and murder had been living in a homeless encampment on the Boston side of the Grand Junction bridge.  The bridge was where the murder had occurred.  The victim was raped against the supports of the Grand Junction bridge in the Destroyed Nesting Area.  Both rape and murder were close to the defiled nests where the mother geese had been beaten to death.

The rapist / murderer had behaved in a manner raising suspicions on the goose killings.  It is not an unreasonable assumption that he graduated from heartless animal abuse to heartless human abuse.

The silence in all three City Council bodies says exactly the same thing: the support of very bad people for very bad behavior that should evoke outrage from responsible people in their place.

So Councilor Sullivan joined Councilor Cheung in silence when outrage was called for.

So Councilor Sullivan and the rest of his City Council (with the very quick deviation of Davis) did not want to know where that woman was raped and murdered.  They spent an hour discussing the rape and murder without mentioning the location of the rape and murder.

This is reality.  It is rare that politicians have an opportunity to show where they are really coming from.

Councilor Sullivan and Councilor Cheung have so shown, along with the other city councilors around them in each instance.

And former Councilor Sullivan is spending a lot of money claiming concern for victims in his race for District Attorney.

Former Councilor Sullivan has done nothing to stop his heartless abuse of the Charles River White Geese while Councilor Cheung is working to make it worse.

Reality and Scurrilous Attacks on the Charles River White Geese, communication to Michael Sullivan, 2001.

Reality and Scurrilous Attacks on the Charles River White Geese, communication to Michael Sullivan, 2001.

In my report of earlier today, I commented on scurrilous comments made about the Charles River White Geese.

Here is a communication to Michael Sullivan of November 19, 2001 concerning this vile behavior.  It is an electronic copy of my file copy.

The group with the scurrilous comment mentioned in the letter changed its name after Friends of the White Geese discredited them.  The former name was “Friends of Magazine Beach”.  The more recent name is a blatantly false name, the “Charles River ‘Conservancy’.”

“MDC” is the then acronym for Metropolitan District Commission.

The legislature showed its contempt for the MDC by subsequently merging it into the Department of Conservation and Recreation.  Regrettably, the “planning” people of the MDC certainly have since looked like they dominate the DCR.

The ONLY public complaint on the record was requested by the MDC from this fake group.

And based on this, they have been deliberately starved.

**************
**************

Dear Councillor Sullivan:

This is a follow-up to our discussions early in the City Council meeting of this evening.

I made an inaccurate statement which should be clarified.  The following expands the statement.  Should you wish to have the name inserted either Marilyn or I will be pleased to provide it, the name can also be provided off the website.

If you want the name, I think it will be very clear that my FIRST report on last night’s City Council which will follow shortly hereafter is moderate.

This is a copy of an email provided to a person who has been active in the cause of the Charles River White Geese.

**********

There are a few things you should be aware of that we have not pushed as hard as we should on the killings.

First of all, the MDC, early on after they started the environmental destruction, spoke of a lot of complaints on the geese.

Marilyn, in a Freedom of Information request, demanded all the complaints that were the basis of that comment

They delivered one, from the fake environmental organization which was the City of Cambridge and Councilor Davis’ point entity in the attacks on the Charles River, the so-called “Friends of Magazine Beach.”  They also delivered a letter from the MDC asking for that letter.  The letter was submitted about 11 or 12 months after this organization first presented the City of Cambridge’s plans to develop the Charles, plans which, essentially, have become the MDC’s plans.

There has been two members of this group particularly virulent in their hatred of the geese.  One is a nut who lives on Putnam Avenue and who has put irresponsible letters in the Cambridge Chronicle.  The other is XXXXXXXX who is a joiner and who kayaks on the Charles River.

The letter from this group, among other things, proposed that all but eight of the gaggle be killed and that there be an annual killing to keep them down to eight.  Barrios picked up on this concept in his August 2, 2000, Cambridge Chronicle letter.  He just called it “humane” treatment.

The first disappearance was at the end of March.  She was the left hand nester of two geese nesting under the trees by the tracks.  Both had strongly yelled at me when I went around feeding them.  When this one was disappeared, the other was scared shitless.

I reported the disappearance by cell phone to Marilyn standing on the railroad tracks.  As I did, I was interrupted by five geese on the steep embankment which supports the tracks, directly opposite the empty nest.  They were yelling at the river.  I have never seen such a grouping of geese in that location at any other time and I have never seen a grouping of geese standing yelling at the river at any other time.

I think they were telling me that she was killed / abducted by a person on the river, perhaps a person who was there when they were yelling.

The first found dead goose was impailed, as I believe you are aware.  Could this have been done with an implement normally carried on a boat, on a kayak?

At the beginning of this week, Marilyn reported to me a photo by XXXXXXX at www.state.ma.us/dfwele/River/rivwatertown.htm with a caption, calling them  “Problem geese.”  I filed an objection with the webmaster on the comment not long thereafter.  The latest killing occurred not long after my complaint to the webmaster, after a hiatus of several months in killings.

I do not believe in coincidences of this sort.

Michael Sullivan, DA Candidate - Don’t blame the victim? His attacks on the Charles River White Geese.

Elaborating on the mocked and vilified comment in the report, please see the follow on at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/.

The bureaucrats lied of complaints against the Charles River White Geese.  On a freedom of information demand, there was exactly one complaint, issued by the Charles River "Conservancy" under its original name in direct response to a request for a comment by the bureaucrats.

The Charles River “Conservancy” has graduated from heartless animal abuse to being the principal instigator of the $20 million for destruction of hundreds of trees and associate environment, with key lies, of course.

Thanks.

***********

Michael Sullivan, DA Candidate - Don’t blame the victim?  His attacks on the Charles River White Geese.

Michael Sullivan is a former member of the Cambridge City Council, currently running for district attorney for the county in which Cambridge sits.

He has put on a radio ad, prominently featuring the language “Don’t blame the victim.”

That brings to memory the vile pitch of the Cambridge Machine when Sullivan and the Cambridge City Council commenced their heartless abuse of the Charles River Geese at Magazine Beach playing fields on the Charles River.

The victim, the Charles River White Geese, beloved by normal people, normal commuters, and decent humans who love the Charles River was mocked and vilified by people friendly to the Cambridge City Council.

So, naturally, when it serves his purpose, Sullivan cries out: “Do not blame the victim.”

A neighbor of his tried to get some decency out of him.  Not a sign of decency, and a clear acknowledgement of who was on the attack against beautiful, valuable now 33 year residents of the Charles River.

The Cambridge City Council allocated a budget of about $1.5 million for the outrageous project on Magazine Beach.  The Department of Conservation and Recreation also put in money.

The Charles River White Geese were a beloved part of nature at Magazine Beach, grazing on its excellent, natural, non poison fed grass, and sleeping there on in the adjacent Charles River, except in bad weather on during mating season, when they went to the now Destroyed Nesting Area.

They are still a beloved part of the Charles River to folks walking across the BU Bridge looking down at the hovel to which Sullivan and his accomplices heartlessly confined them without food.

Sullivan’s response to his neighbor communicated total lack of empathy for his beautiful, beloved victims.  The comments of the Cambridge Machine were decidedly rotten.  Then again, this was part of the vile goals of the Department of Conservation and Recreation: to kill off or drive away all animals residing on the Charles River.

This contemptuous treatment of these excellent animals displays a mentality which strikes me as unfit for a law enforcement officer / district attorney.

Oh, and he also destroyed the excellent, non poison fed grass at the Magazine Beach playing fields.  He destroyed all of this grass which survived the better part of a Century and replaced it with sickly stuff which requires poisons to keep alive.

Oh, the big pitch on the destruction was that they wanted to improve the playing fields.  They decreased the size of the playing fields to put in expensive drains to drain off the poisons.

The DCR promised a lawn to the river.  So naturally, the lie of a lawn to the river because a wall of introduced vegetation which blocked access to Magazine Beach from the river and starved the Charles River White Geese.

That wall of introduced vegetation has been allowed to grow and grow and grow.  All other bordering vegetation on the Charles River has routinely been destroyed twice a year.

If you are dealing with honorable, decent people, the outrage at Magazine Beach is easy to correct.

All you have to do is chop down that bizarre wall twice a year like all other bordering vegetation on the Charles River basin.  And leave plenty of large openings for easy access so that the wall becomes what was promised in the usual lie: A lawn to the river.

All you have to do is stop spending money on poisons and spend it on seeds for the excellent grass which was so sickly destroyed.

Instead, we have one of the people who funded this outrage running for District Attorney in the county where Cambridge sits, crying about his concern for victims.

Strange, I beautiful victims confined to their Destroyed Nesting Area without food and see one of the people starving them making noises like a member of the Cambridge City Council.  He is concerned about victims.

Listen to his lovely words.  Do not look at the beautiful victims whom he has so heartlessly attacked, and the attacks have not abated.  Rather his followers on the DCR and the Cambridge City Council are making things much worse through their vile plans.  One of the guys in the middle of the vile plans is running for Lieutenant Governor.

For another recent analysis, please see:  http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/mass.html

Why pick on Leland Cheung and Michael Sullivan?

Why pick on Leland Cheung and Michael Sullivan?

Because they are running for higher office.

People have a right to know their record on the reprehensible Cambridge City Council

The need for communicating their record is multiplied by the routine lying about themselves by the Cambridge City Council through the Cambridge City Council’s yelling at the other guy and keeping their own vile record as secret as possible.

For a recent analysis, please see http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/mass.html

Lt. Governor Candidate one step further on massive logging on Cambridge Common

Lt. Governor Candidate one step further on massive logging on Cambridge Common

I visited the Cambridge Common yesterday and got photographs.

All the returning city councilors including Leland Cheung voted for massive destruction here.  I have provided the current city council with photographs of the outrage.  They are “neutral” on this destruction and the entire city council is “neutral” on the destruction of hundreds of trees on the Charles River, while planning their own destruction on the banks of the Charles as part of the Grand Junction highway proposal.

The big difference I saw was the construction of what looks like quite a permanent woven fence on the end of the destruction area away furthest away from Harvard Square.

I have reported on this outrage as it progresses.  I started with the orange markings on the condemned trees.  That followed with slats protecting the trees safe from this outrageously destructive city government.

Individual members of the Cambridge City Council have been receiving almost all email version of these reports for quite awhile now.  They are encouraged to show me any errors I am making.

My interpretation is that, except for the first photo, every tree in these photographs which does not have slats on it is condemned.

The first photo is the undamaged view of the Cambridge Common from the Harvard Square entrance.  The immediately following photo is the same trees viewed from the inside of the common yesterday.

Look very carefully.  It would appear that this very irresponsible city council including the candidate for Lieutenant Governor is destroying more trees in this end of the Cambridge Common than they are refraining from destroying.

Please see YouTube for my video report on this outrage including photos provided to the Cambridge City Council, at http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.

The plans, also provided to the Cambridge City Council, for destruction of hundreds of trees on the Charles River, funded by $20 million from the State House are provided in a link quoted the information page to the YouTube posting at http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo. 

See YouTube, as well, for my report on the position of the Cambridge City Council, including Leland Cheung, on heartless human abuse by the former City Manager.  Judge, jury, and appeals court panel found reprehensible his destruction of the life of Malvina Monteiro because she filed a civil rights / women’s rights complaint.  The members of the Cambridge City Council, including Leland Cheung, did not publicly, as far as I know, express the slightest concern for the heartless treatment of Malvina Monteiro, thus squarely placing themselves on the side of heartless human abuse, in addition to heartless animal abuse.  The posting is at http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo.   The posting, in the information page, includes cites to the decisions of the trial judge and the appeals court panel, although the appeals court panel was so disgusted with the City of Cambridge that it refused to honor them by calling the panel's opinion an opinion.

The photos of this ongoing outrage:

Mass. Elections: Vote against heartless animal abuse, heartless human abuse and environmental destruction.

Mass. Elections: Vote against heartless animal abuse, heartless human abuse and environmental destruction.

1. Introduction.
2. Michael Sullivan.
3. Leland Cheung.
4. Summary.

1. Introduction.

There is one extremely bad candidate running for Lieutenant Governor on the Massachusetts ballot, Leland Cheung.  On the Middlesex County ballot, he is joined by District Attorney candidate Michael Sullivan.

2. Michael Sullivan.

Sullivan started the ongoing environmental outrages in and around Cambridge by voting to fund the outrageous destruction on the Magazine Beach playing fields.  It was a blank check with a lot of lies, but he voted for it.

He very clearly knew about the intent to severely harm the Charles River White Geese.  They have been starved and driven from their home of most of the last 33 years.  Poisons have been dumped on the playing fields.  Playing fields have been destroyed to drain off the poisons which should not be there in the first place.

This comports with the goal of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to kill off or drive away all resident animals, a goal they lied about with constant claims of “No intent” to harm the Charles River White Geese.

Sullivan is running for district attorney.  Given his heartless record on the Charles River White Geese, is their any chance that irresponsible city officials will be prosecuted for heartless animal abuse?

3. Leland Cheung.

Cheung is working to make things worse and his destructiveness keys into further outrages by the Department of Conservation and Recreation which he does not want to know about.  He calls for irresponsible development on DCR property attacking the Charles River White Geese, but when it comes to $20 million for destruction of hundreds of trees by the DCR, he claims it is none of his business.

None of his business?  He voted for underpasses claimed to be part of the tree destruction.  He is fighting for a bike highway in the ghetto to which the Charles River White Geese have been confined.  He is fighting for a fence creating yet another wall in the wildlife area.  His “neutrality” includes “neutrality” on the destruction of a magnificent tree looming over his highway proposal.

He has funded the destruction of excellent trees forming the entrance of the Cambridge Common from Harvard Square.  He has happily joined in the hypocrisy at Alewife of yelling at private developers obeying municipally created zoning while City of Cambridge’s development is destroying the part of Alewife Cambridge owns.

Cambridge, of course, conducts its own foreign policy, but Cheung runs away from irresponsible behavior in Cambridge a city in which it is very much is with his duty to care.

That, of course, includes his “neutrality” on a Cambridge City Manager who received a penal damages award of more than three times actual damages by the jury, “reprehensible” by the judge and “ample evidence . . . of outrageous misbehavior” by the appeals court panel.  Monteiro v. Cambridge.

The poor dear, he could see nothing wrong with the Cambridge City Manager destroying a department head’s life in retaliation for her filing a civil rights / women’s rights complaint.

Judge, jury, and appeals court panel gave him the power to fire the Cambridge City Manager, possibly without pension, for this outrage, and he saw nothing wrong.

4. Summary.

Please do not miss our posts on YouTube:

a. http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo.  My analysis of Cheung’s record on civil rights in context with photos of environmental destruction.  The photos at the Magazine Beach playing fields include Sullivan’s outrage.  Links are provided in the YouTube information page to the court decisions and to the plans for destruction on Memorial Drive, which were provided to Cheung.

b. http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.  My analysis of Cheung’s impending destruction on the Cambridge Common.  Partial update: at minimum, his construction zone is in process.

The vileness of the Cambridge government must be isolated as much as possible in Cambridge.  Their filth should not be extended to further areas

Comments concerning Lt. Governor Candidate Leland Cheung reports

Comments concerning Lt. Governor Candidate Leland Cheung reports

Addendum: In addition to the response to neutral comment, please note the following City of Cambridge photo bragging of the destruction of the Cambridge City Council of 3.4 acres of the Alewife Reservation behind 165 CambridgePark Drive at Alewife in Cambridge.

The trees in the background occupied the ENTIRE area of this photograph before the Cambridge City Council’s mass logging and pogrom of the animal residents.

0. Introduction.
1. Good guy comment.
a. Comment.
b. Response:
2. Neutral comment.
a. Comment.
b. Response:
(1) Introduction.
(2) Malvina Monteiro.
(3) Environment.
(4) Heartless animal abuse.
3. YouTube postings.
a. Civil rights / ethics in government / environmental destruction.
b. Destruction on the Cambridge Common.


0. Introduction.

Two good responses to the latest Cheung report.  Yahoo “improvements” are such that I cannot be positive that these are all that were sent.  The Yahoo “improvements” create an opaque situation with regard to responses.  I have to open files which look like there is no need to open in order to find responses, and, even then, I am not positive that I have seen all the responses.

I would love to get any comments I missed.  I would love to get my actual response to comment 2.  And I would love to get additional comments.

The most effective way to communicate to me would be free standing emails to boblat@yahoo.com, not as replies.

1. Good guy comment.

a. Comment.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have maps of Cambridge trees through the decades showing the tree loss?

On a positive note; there is now a directory of street trees;

if it's updated through the years we may see what is happening...

It's amazing to see the quickly erected apartments at Fresh Pond and Porter Square, to appreciate what the increased density means in terms of noise and litter and absence of trees...

B. Response:

I have not seen the directory.

One thing which is clear is that it would bless the current outrageous destruction on all counts.

Destroying Alewife would be legal.  Destroying the Charles River would be legal.  Destroying the Cambridge Common would be legal.

And all would be hidden from sight by a document which gives the impression of being responsible but which rewards destructiveness of a reprehensible government by its apparent sanctity and very real hiding of reality.

[ed: One of the key techniques of lying used by the Cambridge government is secret definitions of key terms.  All of the ongoing destruction is outside the secret definition of “street trees.”]

2. Neutral comment.

a. Comment.

Bob
Can you tell us if his opponent for Lt Governor, [omitted by editor] is any better?

b. Response:

[Ed: I thought I saved my response, but I do not see it.  Let us give it another try.]

(1) Introduction.

The absolute horror of the situation in Cambridge, MA, is not just the outrageous misbehavior or the direct results of the outrageous misbehavior.  It is, much worse, the loud insistence that the corrupt world in Cambridge, MA is some sort of ideal for the rest of the world to emulate.

The fact of the Cheung candidacy exactly fits the concept that the Cambridge government is something to take pride in.

(2) Malvina Monteiro.

Healy destroyed the life of Malvina Monteiro in retaliation for her filing a civil rights complaint.

Exactly ZERO then sitting members of the Cambridge City Council publicly (to my knowledge) expressed even the slightest distress about the matters mentioned in repeated and very loud court findings.  Those findings consistently expressed flat out disgust and contempt for Robert Healy.

Two well deserving then sitting city councilors probably have been fired by the electorate over this outrage.  Seven were not, and four replacements are in place.

This is not a matter to take lightly.  This is a matter of corrupt politics at its worst.

A woman’s life was destroyed because she filed a civil rights / women’s rights complaint and, out of nine city councilors, there were exactly ZERO expressions (to my knowledge) of distress at this outrage in any form.  This is in the face of very strong comments from the courts.

The Courts:  “Reprehensible.”  “Ample evidence . . . of outrageous misbehavior.”

Nine City Councilors: Absolutely ZERO.

(3) Environment.

Massive environmental destruction by people lying that they are environmental saints?  The destruction is horrible.  The lies make it that much worse.

(4) Heartless animal abuse.

Heartless animal abuse, heartless animal abuse, heartless animal abuse.

3. YouTube postings.

On general principal:

a. Civil rights / ethics in government / environmental destruction.

http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo

b. Destruction on the Cambridge Common.

http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.

MA Lt. Gov. candidate Cheung ready to go logging on the Cambridge Common

MA Lt. Gov. candidate Cheung ready to go logging on the Cambridge Common.

I have not been past the Cambridge Common in several days and I am very much dreading what I will see.

When I went past it last, those excellent trees were in the middle of a construction zone.

Leland Cheung has very clear aspects on the Charles River which make him look like one of the most environmentally destructive members of the extremely bad Cambridge City Council.  The trouble is that, once you get as bad as the four with more experience than he, it is very difficult to single him out.  I have no reason to think that any of the four recent additions are better than he is.  One or more is rather clearly as bad or worse.

I had a discussion on the impending outrage on the Cambridge Common before a meeting, with a former member who has environmental symbols on her house signs.  Translating into reality, he explanation was that the staff members who had been fighting for this destruction for years told her it was ok.

Cheung walked by and refused to comment.

The entrance nearest Harvard Square is being decimated, all excellent trees.  The explanation on the Environment Notification Form was that the trees are being destroyed because they block view of a monument.

I recall Cambridge staff fighting to denude a nearby side street of all trees because the trees blocked sunlight.

Here is a photo of the excellent entrance being destroyed by Cheung and his associates.

I include the four new ones, at minimum, because I formally raised objections to this destruction, and heard a silence of co-conspirators.

The complete letter to a bad City Council, including many links to analyses of environmental destruction may be viewed at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/cambridge-ma-usa-city-clerk-good-posting.html.

My YouTube presentation of that report is at http://youtu.be/FgQ9ojVuMxM.  That pairs with my report on Cheung’s attitude toward court decisions with regard to Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy’s heartless human abuse, at http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo.  The latter includes Alewife and the Charles River.

More environmental destruction from Councilor / Lt. Gov. Candidate Cheung

More environmental destruction from Councilor / Lt. Gov. Candidate Cheung

Here are two photographs of one excellent tree Cambridge City Councilor / Lt. Gov. Candidate Leland Cheung seems to contend he is “neutral” on the destruction of.

I previously gave the Cambridge City Council the plans for the hundreds of trees slated to be destroyed under chapter 286 of the Massachusetts Acts of 2014, and reported the transmission on this blog.

The City Council did not deign to take action.  Apparently they claim they are Neutral, Department of Conservation and Recreation territory.

Cheung, however, has taken a public position on the area from which I took the photographs, the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese, where they are confined without food.  He wants to put a bicycle highway in it and to put a fence between the Destroyed Nesting Area and the free animal area on the other side of the Grand Junction railroad.  The highway would go very close to where I was standing when I took the photo.

This is also DCR territory.

So, when Cheung can increase heartless animal abuse aimed at the Charles River White Geese in DCR territory, he is in support.

When it comes to standing up against the destruction of hundreds of excellent trees including this one in DCR territory, he is neutral, not his turf..

Interestingly, the Cambridge City Council conducts its own foreign relations program, but it claims to be, as convenient, neutral on DCR destruction in the City of Cambridge clearly run past the City Manager’s people.

This tree is 100 feet or so from Cheung’s destructive highway.  This excellent tree is one of hundreds of excellent trees in area controlled by the irresponsible Department of Conservation and Recreation..

When it comes to destroying trees with DCR money, he claims neutrality, not his territory.  When it comes to heartless animal abuse in DCR territory, he publicly supports it.

The poor dear.  He sounds like a member of the Cambridge City Council.

The Charles River is DCR territory, and DCR territory centers on the Charles River.  Cheung is aggressively destructive in the DCR area closer to the Charles River.  He is “neutral”, not his territory, with regard to the excellent tree.  But the excellent tree he is happy to see destroyed is further from DCR core territory than the area where he wants to ramp up heartless animal abuse.

Further video / photos on various outrages, civil rights and environmental, of which Cheung is a part of are in my YouTube report, posted at http://youtu.be/_5AvCUULcXo.

Cheung is running for Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  He seems to claim he is some sort of progressive / liberal in the middle of his various outrages as a member of the Cambridge City Council.  I presume he is making the same claim as a candidate for Lt. Governor.