Thursday, 4:30 PM
Activists says he’s being run out of Ramsey Park
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
The city was all for Donovan Walker’s "No Violence Zone" in Roxbury’s Ramsay Park back when he proposed it in 2004, after a brazen daylight shooting of a 23-year-old basketball coach in the park.
At the time, police and the mayor were reeling from escalating summer violence and criticism that the city was not doing enough to stop it. And Democrats were starting to arrive for their national convention. Walker’s program, with activities for young people in the neighborhood, got ringing endorsements and help from the city, which gave him a pass on permits and other red tape that year.
"If there’s a way to expand the program," the mayor’s spokesman said about a year ago, "the mayor would be very interested in seeing that happen."
But now Walker says the city has changed its tune.
The city Parks and Recreation Department is requiring several permits, which they will not give him without a note of endorsement from the police. Police so far have refused, citing complaints in the neighborhood about noise and the number of youths gathered in the park.
Walker says the program has widespread support from longtime residents in the neighborhood. But more affluent people have moved into a new development of pricey condos in the gentrifying neighborhood, and Walker suspects they are the source of the complaints.
"You’ve got the haves over there, and over here you’ve got the have-nots," he said. "Now they have those people complaining. And they are constituents who vote, have money, and call friends in power."
Police and parks officials say they are more than happy to let Walker’s program go forward, but that he must find a way to address complaints about noise that can go late into the summer nights.
"He just needs to establish a safe and efficient plan for his program," said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. "We’ll welcome that discussion if he wants that discussion. And he has to file the appropriate paperwork for the appropriate permits."
