THE HARVARD CRIMSON
11
APRIL 14, 2023
CITY POLITICS
Residents Rally for City Green New Deal REDUCE EMISSIONS. Cambridge residents rally, supporting emission reduction policies for large commericial buildings. BY ERIKA K. CHUNG AND EMILY L. DING CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
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ore than 70 Cambridge residents and activists gathered in front of Cambridge City Hall Wednesday afternoon in support of Cambridge Green New Deal policies that would mandate emissions reductions from large commercial buildings. The protesters — including student activists, environmentalists, local organizers, business owners, and Cambridge residents — rallied 30 minutes prior to a meeting of the Cambridge City Council’s Ordinance Committee, which was set to discuss proposed amendments to the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance. The proposed BEUDO amendments would require large commercial buildings to gradually reduce emissions until 2035, when buildings subject to the amendments would be required to reach net zero emissions. Owners of buildings that miss their emissions targets would be required to pay a compliance fee. The protest was co-sponsored by nine local and university organizations, including the Harvard Climate Coalition and Harvard Undergraduate Clean Energy Group. Natalia S. George, a member of Sunrise Cambridge and a soph-
omore at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, spoke at the rally and called for the city to take decisive action on climate change. “I fight for a livable future not only so people in years to come will have a healthy planet to live on, but also so people living right now have a bright future to look forward to. I believe that empathy is a core value of climate justice,” George said. George said in an interview after the rally that she was glad many young activists turned out to support the amendments. “I think it’s really good that more young people are getting out there to spread their opinions about it because a lot of people we see in government are on the older side,” George said. “Rallies like this are really good at getting the opinions of people who might otherwise be silenced in government.” Climate activist Elana Sulakshana urged those who attended the protest to join the committee meeting and give public comment “in support of strong and equitable amendments” to BEUDO. “You can talk about why a Green New Deal matters to you — why you’re afraid of climate change, why you’re calling for action, how your community’s impacted,” she said in her speech. “We eed policy that mandates them to cut emissions by 2035 — not 2050 or beyond,” Sulakshana added. “And we can’t exempt some of the big buildings in this city because they’re ‘historical sites’ or ‘they’re not big enough,’ we need to be tackling all of the large commercial buildings across Cambridge. ”
Protesters gathered outside of Cambridge City Hall Wednesday to support Green New Deal policies. EMILY L. DING—CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Emily Mockler, a member of Sunrise Cambridge who helped organize Wednesday’s rally, said in an interview after the event that she wanted residents’ voices heard over “all the large corporations that are probably going to be speaking,” adding that she hopes the amendments will “inspire other towns across the country.” “It’s been rare that a municipality has actually written concrete laws that will force buildings to go to net zero.” Mockler
said. “I was super excited to see Quinton Zondervan and other council members writing something so important that would have such a huge impact,” she added. Somerville resident Amber Houghstow, who was present at the rally, said she planned to attend the city council meeting to provide public comment about how the “carbon credit market is not working,” referencing the practice of purchasing carbon
offsets instead of reducing emissions. “People have been buying carbon credits, but they’re not actually getting carbon back into the soil,” Houghstow said. “That has really profound implications for some of the changes that have been made in the last round of edits to this, which basically implies it’ll make this draft as it is now pretty ineffective,” she said of the amendments. Steven E. Miller, a member of climate justice group 350 Mas-
sachusetts, said he supports the policies because of the impact climate change will have on his grandchildren. “I came here because I now have grandchildren and I realized very intimately that the world will not be there for them, right?” said Miller. “So I feel it’s my responsibility to help do what I can to keep that from happening.” erika.chung@thecrimson.com emily.ding@thecrimson.com
Protesters Decry Cambridge Police Killing of American Repertory Sayed Faisal in Weeklong Picket at City Hall Theater Arrives BY RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN AND YUSUF S. MIAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
oston-area students and activB ists picketed Cambridge City Hall from Monday to Friday in protest of the fatal shooting of 20-yearold Sayed Faisal by a Cambridge Police Department officer, marking the latest demonstration in a monthslong campaign. Faisal, a Bangladeshi American student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was killed by police on Jan. 4. The shooting occurred after the Cambridge Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting that a man had jumped through a window and was harming himself, according to a CPD press release. After a foot chase through Cambridgeport, Faisal allegedly moved toward police wielding a knife, and when a sponge round failed to stop him, an officer fatally shot him. Faisal’s killing by police sparked months of protest against alleged brutality in Cambridge’s police and has renewed
calls for alternative to policing, transparency, and police reform. The weeklong picket included an iftar — a traditional meal when Muslims break their fast after sunset during Ramadan — on Monday, a mural session on Wednesday, an open mic event on Thursday, and several rallies. Party for Socialism and Liberation organizer and MIT alumnus Husayn R. Karimi said in a Monday interview that it was important to hold an iftar because of Faisal’s family’s Muslim identity. “Faisal’s family and many community members — many people in the Bangladeshi community — are Muslim, practice Islam, and observe Ramadan,” Karimi said. “Many of the organizers are Muslim too.” Picket organizers held an iftar on Monday to honor the Muslim identity of Faisal’s family. Karimi, who emceed the Monday protest, said the decision to picket City Hall drew inspiration from historic social movements. “Pickets have a very important legacy in the labor movement and the civil rights movement as
a demonstration of being fed up,” Karimi said. “We wanted to picket to draw more attention to the issue and do it for a prolonged period of time to show our strength that we’re out here for the long haul.” On Monday, protesters marched in an oval along the sidewalk facing City Hall, waving signs and shouting chants of “If we don’t get no justice, then they don’t get no peace!” and “Can’t stop, won’t stop! Jail those killer cops!” One demonstrator pounded on a drum to the rhythm of the chants as another played a cymbal and danced. Protesters reiterated demands for City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 and other officials to name, fire, and prosecute the officers involved in Faisal’s killing, as well as to release the full unredacted police report. Huang has maintained that the names of the officers and the police report will be released following the completion of the Middlesex District Attorney’s investigation. The “Justice for Faisal” move-
ment comprises students from more than seven Boston-area universities and members of Safe Schools Somerville, the Bangladeshi Association of New England, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, in addition to other residents and activists. At the Monday rally, Party for Socialism and Liberation organizer and MIT senior Susanna Chen criticized Huang for his handling of a recent meeting between activists and city officials. “During the meeting, it became immediately clear that the City Manager Huang did not see us as constituents he needed to answer to,” Chen told protesters. “We didn’t anticipate the extent to which the City Manager chose to disrespect us and this movement.” In an emailed statement to The Crimson, Huang wrote that he does not support firing and prosecuting any officers before the conclusion of the district attorney’s investigation. ryan.doannguyen@thecrimson.com yusuf.mian@thecrimson.com
Activists picketed outside Cambridge City Hall from Monday to Friday protesting Sayed Faisal’s death. RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
BY KATE DEVAL GONZALEZ CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Allston-Brighton residents said they are looking forward to the arrival of the award-winning American Repertory Theater at 175 North Harvard St., part of a new Harvard development that will also offer housing for affiliates. The plans for the development were originally approved in 2013, with the intent to redevelop the site with a new basketball venue and a mixed-use institutional development focusing on student housing. Since then, Lavietes Basketball Pavilion has undergone renovations to improve the existing location, which gave way to the amended plans, filed Nov. 30 of last year, proposing to relocate the A.R.T. to Allston instead. Harvard’s new proposal still requires BPDA approval before construction can get underway. The updated proposal also mentions a residential building of approximately 276,000 square feet, containing a total of 264 units and 480 beds. The proposed development will also boast a gym, a resident lounge, study rooms, and a residential courtyard. Barbara M. Parmenter, an Allston-Brighton resident and a current Harvard-Allston Task Force member, said she was excited for the development and the new housing it will bring. “I feel like we need a lot more housing in our neighborhood and in our city and our state in general,” Parmenter said. The project also proposes a relocation of a nearby Bluebikes station and a renovation of the bus stop located in front of the proposed development site near Barry’s Corner. Another focal point of the project is the relocation of the A.R.T., which was first founded in 1980 and has been residing at the Loeb Drama Center — a building constructed in 1960 – on Brattle Street ever since. The new location for the A.R.T. will consist of a building of approximately 68,000 square feet and will contain two performance theaters with a combined total of 1,000 seats. The new lo-
cation will also offer an outdoor performance yard, rehearsal spaces, and studio areas. According to an announcement by the A.R.T. in 2019, “internationally renowned” architects from Haworth Tompkins are set to design their future Allston home, which will be the first building designed by this firm in the United States. The proposed plan follows a $100 million gift to Harvard from hedge fund manager David E. Goel ’93 and Stacy L. Goel in 2019, for the purpose of a new “arts and research performance space in Allston”. Parmenter said she believes this project will help contribute to the arts culture in the area. “I think one of the things the task force made clear was this can be such a great contribution to really making Barry’s Corner a kind of go-to location for arts and culture,” she said, referring to the Harvard-Allston Task Force. Tim McHale, Brighton resident and HATF member, said the arts are a “great engine to transform any neighborhood.” McHale added he hopes the A.R.T. will be an “architectural masterpiece.” “I think the building needs to show itself off,” McHale said. Mary-Helen Black, an Allston resident, said the A.R.T. will serve as an “anchor” for the neighborhood. “I think it’s going to be positive. I think it’s going to help the local restaurants, the coffee shops that are around there,” Black said. “It’s going to create more of a destination, which is great.” Harvard spokesperson Amy Kamosa said the relocation of the A.R.T. at 175 North Harvard Street will further enliven the Allston-Brighton neighborhood. “175 North Harvard St. will be an innovative new home for the A.R.T, and its globally renowned theater, which will build on the established and flourishing arts culture in Allston,” Kamosa said. “It will also create needed housing for Harvard students and affiliates, as well as a lively streetscape and publicly accessible open space, which will help add vibrancy to an already thriving neighborhood,” she added. kate.devalgonzalez@thecrimson.com
