Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com

The setting sun shone down as an outbound Orange Line train approached Roxbury Crossing.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Spring is in the muggy, fetid air on the MBTA

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox· Fri, May 03 2013 12:32:56

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.

Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com

Hundreds of marchers crossed the Andrew McArdle Bridge over the Mystic River.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Hundreds of laborers, union representatives, immigrants, and activists gathered at city halls in Boston, Revere, Everett, and Chelsea on Wednesday and marched together to East Boston’s Central Square in a spirited observance of International Workers Day, also known as May Day.

“Immigration is a human right,” they chanted. “Mr. President, get it right.”

Immigration issues edged out messages about workers’ rights in these communities with large immigrant populations, as this year’s May Day parade occurred against the backdrop of sweeping immigration reform legislation under consideration in Washington but also in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

The suspected bombers are ethnic Chechens who emigrated from Russia to Cambridge about a decade ago. Even as marchers filled the streets, two Kazakh students appeared in court on charges they disposed of evidence left behind by the younger Tsarnaev brother.

“Everywhere we go, people want to know, who we are, so we tell them, we are the immigrants, the mighty mighty immigrants,” the marchers chanted.

As the crowds passed through the streets of Chelsea and East Boston, chanting such pro-labor and pro-immigrant slogans, and carrying signs, banners, and flags, people along the parade route stopped to clap and cheer them on.

George Mousad, a mattress store owner originally from Egypt, turned a few heads when he stopped on Meridian Street in East Boston, clad in an ivory suit, a light tan straw hat, dark sunglasses, and a lavender tie and dress shirt.

Mousad said he was proud to be a US citizen and said, in an apparent allusion to the Marathon bombers, that in this country only those responsible for an action should suffer its consequences.

“It is the best country of any country on the planet,” he said of the United States. “God bless America forever and ever, amen.”

The crowd only grew as the marchers reached Central Square, where they observed a moment of silence in honor of those killed and hurt in the Marathon bombings, the first responders who helped to save lives, and those who die attempting to cross the border into the US.

During the rally, civic and religious leaders addressed the celebrants in Spanish and English, alongside ordinary workers and immigrants who shared their stories of struggle.

Steven A. Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL–CIO and a former state legislator, greeted the crowd in Spanish and then said in English that he and other labor leaders would stand together to fight for immigration policy reform.

“Too often, too many workers are stuck in the shadows of the workplace without any justice because of a broken immigration system in America,” Tolman said. “We are honored to stand with all of you to fight for a pathway to citizenship.”

Longtime activist Mel King told the crowd he hoped to see a day when instead immigrants, newcomers to the US would be known simply as neighbors.

“I want to throw the I-word out. Don’t say it again. Call yourself neighbors,” he said. “You’re my neighbor. You’re Obama’s neighbor. You’re everybody’s neighbor.”

For a gallery of photos from the march and the rally, click here.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow East Boston on Twitter: @YourEastBoston.

Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com

Downtown Boston.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

A City of Boston initiative has been named one of the top government innovations in the country by an institute at Harvard University.

The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics is among 25 semifinalists for the Innovations in American Government Award, presented by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

“These top 25 innovations in government offer real, tangible ways to protect our most disadvantaged citizens, educate the next-generation workforce, and utilize data analytics to enhance government performance,” Stephen Goldsmith, director of the center’s Innovations in Government program, said in a statement Wednesday.

“Despite diminishing resources, these government programs have developed model innovations that other struggling agencies should be inspired to replicate and adapt to their own communities,” Goldsmith said.

The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics works to deliver an array of transformative city services to residents, ranging from enhancing public spaces, to increasing civic participation, to improving educational outcomes, according to Harvard.

The 25 initiatives were selected by a panel of researchers, practitioners, and policy specialists, Harvard said. The Innovations in American Government Award winner and four finalists will be announced in the fall.

In the list released Wednesday, the programs are presented in alphabetical order and are not ranked.

The Ford Foundation created the award in 1985 to draw attention to effective government programs, Harvard said. The awards program has since recognized more than 400 government initiatives at the local, state and federal level, as well as tribal governments, and provided more than $22 million in grants to support efforts to help disseminate those programs.

A full list of the Top 25 programs is available here.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.

(Matt Rocheleau for Boston.com)

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The temporary extra patrols of well-armed police officers and soldiers in MBTA stations are gone. But the quest to bolster the long-term safety of the public transit system is far from over.

The T still has $80 million in unspent federal homeland security grants, which have been doled to public transportation systems across the country since 2002.

The $60 million in federal grants spent by the T over the past decade has helped make the agency a national leader in the industry of public transit safety.

“The efforts toward security and policing that the MBTA has had in place for a number of years have really been looked at as a benchmark for the industry,” said Greg Hull, director of operations, safety and security for the American Public Transportation Association.

And, when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon two weeks ago, officials at the MBTA said that, while shocked and devastated like the rest of the city, they were prepared, largely due to the new equipment and training acquired in recent years.

“It was controlled chaos,” said Randy Clarke, senior director of security and emergency management for the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

He described the atmosphere of the T’s central hub for dispatch and communications, or Operations Control Center, as officials scrambled to secure stations and stop some service after the explosions at Copley Square, and then again several day later when the system was shut down during a lengthy manhunt.

“I hate to say we’re used to crises and trained for them, but we are,” Clarke said.

On Monday, two weeks after the Marathon bombings, MBTA officials gave a tour of the control center, which includes some of the transit industry’s most sophisticated technology for daily operations and security.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Five precincts of Ward 1 vote at East Boston High School, but by 2 p.m. Tuesday only 283 voters had cast their ballots in the special election to fill the US Senate seat formerly held by Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

“It’s a low turnout on primary day,” one poll worker said. “We’ll have more for the general.”

Outside, two supporters of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley’s mayoral campaign had just arrived, but they said they had collected 20 signatures in about 15 minutes, despite the low turnout.

“People have been very friendly, more than willing to sign the nomination papers,” said Chuck Famolare, 55, an East Boston native who now lives in neighboring Winthrop. “My feeling is that Dan Conley has good name recognition here in East Boston.”

Voters interviewed outside the polls said they had made their decisions based largely on a single issue of personal importance.

Born in El Salvador but an East Boston resident for nearly 15 years, Sandra Nijjar said she cast her vote for US Representative Edward J. Markey, a Democrat, based mostly on his support for federal immigration reform.

“Right now, that’s the main issue, just because we’re so close to having it pass,” said Nijjar, 40, who is active in local pro- immigrant community organizations such as ¿Oiste?, Centro Presente, and Neighbors United for a Better East Boston.

Nijjar said she has become a citizen, and her children were born in the US, but she knows others whose lives are limited by their immigration status.

“We have friends and relatives who work very hard, they contribute to this economy, but they have to live in the shadows,” she said.

For one longtime East Boston resident, 78-year-old Elena LaMonica, the choice came down to the Democrats’ differing stances on abortion.

“I’m a Catholic. I don’t believe you have the right to kill your child,” said LaMonica, who voted for US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, who has long opposed abortion rights. “You play, you pay.”

Another longtime resident, 66-year-old Cassy Martorana, said she grew up in the same house she lives in today. Martorana was also focused on the abortion issue, but she voted for Markey.

“I had a couple of girlfriends years ago — when abortion was illegal — [the procedure] butchered them. They could never have kids,” Martorana said.

Though she strongly supports Markey, her eyes are already on the upcoming mayoral race, where this longtime supporter of Mayor Thomas M. Menino hopes to help elect City Councilor Rob Consalvo as Boston’s second Italian-American mayor.

“When the mayor won,” she said of Menino, “my dad was so thrilled it was the first Italian mayor ever.”

Besides a pride in the heritage they share, Martorana said she was motivated by a piece of advice from Menino.

“The mayor said this: ‘Pick somebody that you think loves this city as much as I do.’ And Rob Consalvo does,” Martorana said.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow East Boston on Twitter: @YourEastBoston.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Free Wi-Fi Internet access will soon be broadcast from 16 existing pay phones in Boston.

And officials from companies leading the effort hope to, pending city approval, rapidly expand the service so that a total of about 100 existing pay phones across Boston will offer free wireless Internet hotspots by the end of this summer. By the end of next summer, they hope they will have reached a total of about 400 payphones citywide.

The effort, called “FreeBostonWiFi,” is being carried out on a trial basis, company officials said.

So far, the city’s Department of Innovation and Technology has approved Wi-Fi installations at 16 pay phones, located around City Hall, Faneuil Hall, Downtown Crossing and Long Wharf, according to Tyler Kratz, president of DAS Communications, which is one of four private companies partnering on the effort.

RCN Business Services, LCC International Inc., Pacific Telemanagement Services and DAS Communications announced their plan at a conference in Boston last week.

Four temporary demo sites were set up at pay phones near the Hyatt Regency hotel where the conference was held, the companies said.

One site at Cambridge and Court streets near City Hall Plaza was heavily used even though nothing was done at the site to advertise that the Wi-Fi signal was there.

“People had no idea it was there unless they saw it on their phone,” or other mobile device, said Kratz. “People were using it quite a bit. It blew my mind.”

Over about a 24-hour span last week, about 18,000 mobile devices “noticed” the Wi-Fi. About 2,000 devices connected and more than 200 people spent and average of 17 minutes using the Internet connection, he said.

“There’s a demand for this,” said Kratz.

He said the Wi-Fi service at that payphone by City Hall was supposed to be permanent. But, last week it was struck by some bad luck. A vehicle rammed into and damaged the booth. But, Kratz said the companies plan to have it replaced and restore Wi-Fi service within a couple of weeks.

The other 15 pay phones in line to get Internet hotspots are also located in downtown Boston and in areas that draw a high number of pedestrians, including commuters, business professionals and tourists.

Kratz said another focus will be to add the service to pay phones in low-income areas of Boston where some people cannot afford their own Internet access.

“Boston is a great city. With all of the college students and the young people it’s perfect demographically,” he said. “And we really want to make sure this is not just clustered in one spot.”

The Wi-Fi hotspots will offer around-the-clock Internet access for an unlimited amount of time at no cost to users or taxpayers.

The signal is usually accessible within 100 to 200 feet of the kiosk, though range can vary depending on whether there are objects or structures around the kiosk that could interfere with the signal.

To connect to the Wi-Fi hotspots, users need to select FreeBostonWiFiSSID on their mobile device and then accept the connection’s terms and conditions. No password is needed and no personal information gathered.

The companies that own the kiosks and run the service pay for installing and maintaining the new infrastructure at the payphone stations.

Some of the kiosks themselves have advertisements on them to generate revenue for the companies, but Kratz said the Internet service will not display ads on users devices.

"The partnership is giving new life to telephone booths that have almost become extinct due to the evolution of the cell phone," said a statement from Jeff Carlson, vice president and general manager of RCN Boston. “Small cell and Wi-Fi technology deployed through this partnership is another step toward delivering high quality wireless by lighting up hotspots in Boston using RCN's unparalleled fiber network."

The payphone kiosks will broadcast Wi-Fi in part by using small cell technology, which allows mobile devices, such as cell phones, to work.

"It's interesting and a little ironic that capacity demands from the cellular market has allowed for the repurposing of existing phone infrastructure, like payphone kiosks,” said a statement from E.J. von Schaumburg , vice president of Advanced Mobility Solutions at LCC International. “Utilizing small cell technology, we can take advantage of the excellent kiosk locations throughout an urban area and deliver high quality cellular capacity at the street level."

Last summer, a pilot program launched in New York City in which free public Wi-Fi Internet hotspots were emitted from routers installed at about 10 payphones.

Kratz said his company has been involved with the efforts in New York City and that his company now runs Wi-Fi from about 20 payphones there and plans to soon add the service to about 40 more payphones.

City officials in New York have said they plan to have Internet service added to all 12,000 payphones there.

Several weeks later after the program debuted in New York, two at-large City Councilors in Boston – Felix G. Arroyo and Ayanna Pressley – proposed doing something similar here.

Kratz said he has since met with Arroyo to discuss replicating the service in Boston and that he and other city officials have been instrumental in helping it launch.

Use of payphones has become rare because of cell phones. Some payphones no longer function to make calls. Others have been removed entirely.

Wi-Fi hotspots will help restore some use to the old payphone kiosks, officials have said.

The first-ever payphone was installed at a bank in Hartford in the late 1800s.

Since 1997, the number of payphones nationwide has dropped from an estimated peak of about 2.2 million to about 400,000, according to a petition that the American Public Communications Council, which advocates for payphone use, sent to the Federal Communications Commission last spring.

Kratz said the roughly 400 payphones in Boston his company hopes to bring Wi-Fi to are all owned by Pacific Telemanagement Services. He said there are few others in the city.

Kratz said his company is also in talks with city officials about the possibility of having free wireless Internet access broadcast from key municipal buildings, like police and fire stations, as well as from old-fashioned fire alarm boxes around Boston. But, Kratz said, no agreement has been reached and other companies are pitching similar ideas to the city.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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AP Photo/Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

In this 2010 photo provided by the MBTA, Richard Donohue Jr., left, and Sean Collier pose together at their graduation from the Municipal Police Officers' Academy.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

A Twitter tribute to MBTA Officer Richard Donohue

Storified by Jeremy C. Fox· Fri, Apr 26 2013 13:26:34

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.

By Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. today announced details of an agreement with Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn that is expected to generate millions of dollars in new tax revenues.

The agreement calls for a one-time $30 million payment to a Community Enhancement Fund -- which would be paid during construction of the 19-story, gleaming bronze resort casino proposed for a former factory site on the Mystic River. The one-time $30 million payment will likely be spent on capital improvements, such as police and fire stations, the mayor said.

Other payments include: $25.2 million annually to the city -- $20 million in real estate taxes, $5 million for a community impact fee that would go to police and fire services, and $250,000 to support community groups.These payments will increase by 2.5 percent each year, according to a summary of the agreement released by the City of Everett.

DeMaria said the $25.2 million annual revenues will increase the city's tax collections "by pretty close to 1/3."

"We're excited to bring this to the residents,'' DeMaria said in brief remarks this afternoon. "We think we've struck a good deal for the community."

Wynn has also agreed to pay for $50,000 worth of vouchers to Everett restaurants and other local businesses that would be distributed free to patrons of the casino, the outline states.

An estimated $2.5 million in meals and hotel/motel rooms taxes would be generated, the agreement states. Wynn's plans call for a 550-room hotel, plus upscale restaurants.

An unspecified amount of payments would also be made to the city for utility upgrades, zoning and land use permitting, and an election for a voter referendum on the project, the outline states.

Wynn has also agreed to invest at least $1 billion, and spend an unspecified amount on traffic improvements to the development that would be accessed by routes 16 or 99, two of the most congested roadways in Greater Boston.

Wynn also has committed to a single opening, and one that is not phased in. Everett residents will be given preference for an estimated 8,000 construction and permanent jobs at the facility.

The developer will also make a ''good faith" effort to hire Everett contractors, the outline states.

Public access to the waterfront, and supports for local arts programs is also promised.

In exchange, the City of Everett has agreed to support the project through state and local permitting, petition the state's gambling commission for funding, and develop a harbor plan, work to amend zoning and other land-use regulations.

DeMaria released economic details of the plan during a 5 p.m. news conference at Everett City Hall. A community meeting was planned afterward at the Connelly Center, where the public will learn more details, a city official said earlier today.

Everett voters would get a chance to weigh in with a ballot referendum on June 22.

"The mayor had one chance to strike a good deal, and I believe he did that," said Ward Six Common Councilor Michael McLaughlin, who would not provide specific amounts.

In past Globe interviews, DeMaria has said the proposed $1.2 billion resort casino proposed for an old, industrial site on the Mystic River, could generate up to $35 million annually in fees, taxes and other revenues.

Wynn last month released renderings of the19-tower resort casino designed in the style of his signature Las Vegas properties, such as Wynn Encore. The development would also have upscale shops, restaurants and public access to the waterfront.

A community host agreement, a key element of the state's gambling law, is required to offset any negative impact a massive casino development may have on a community, such as traffic, crime, and addictive gamblers.

Wynn could be the first of three developers vying for the sole resort casino license available for Greater Boston to negotiate a host agreement, said Elaine Driscoll, spokeswoman for the state's gambling commission.

"We are not aware of any additional completed host community agreements," Driscoll wrote in an e-mail to the Globe.

Before a license is awarded, the law requires a community to hold a referendum, to allow residents to vote if they want a casino located in their community. The Everett Common Council and Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to authorize the city to hold the referendum on June 22, according to the city solicitor’s office.

The state's gambling law requires background checks on developers to be completed before the election can be held, Driscoll said.

However, a referendum may be held before the background checks are completed, under a so-called “emergency regulation” recently approved by the gambling commission, Driscoll said.

"They will need to have a formal vote among the mayor/city council to approve holding a referendum," Driscoll wrote in the e-mail. "They will also have to create an education campaign to alert voters to the fact that the commission has not yet determined the applicants suitability."

"We're very optimistic about this development for Everett," DeMaria said today.

EVERETT, Mass. (AP) — Officials in Everett are ready to take the next step in their bid to bring a casino to the city.

Mayor Carlo DeMaria plans on Thursday to announce details of a host community agreement reached after negotiations with representatives of Las Vegas casino operator Steve Wynn.

The agreement will require approval by city voters in a referendum.

Wynn has proposed a $1.2 billion resort casino at a former industrial site on the Mystic River. A rendering of the plan released last month showed a 19-story hotel and casino with restaurants and retail shops along a riverwalk.

The proposal would be in competition with the Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston and a group hoping to build in Milford for the sole eastern Massachusetts resort casino license.

Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com

A horse race at Suffolk Downs.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

Suffolk Downs will sell specially designed “Boston Strong” merchandise throughout the Triple Crown thoroughbred racing season and donate all proceeds the The One Fund Boston, the racetrack announced Wednesday.

The racetrack will sell the products beginning Saturday, May 4 — Kentucky Derby Day — and continuing through the track’s opening day of June 1 until the Belmont Stakes on June 10, according to a statement from Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer for Suffolk Downs.

“I count myself incredibly fortunate, as I finished the marathon a few minutes before the explosions and was clearing the chute where the runners get their medals and blankets and turning onto Berkeley Street when the blasts occurred,” Tuttle said in the statement.

Tuttle praised the “true selflessness and heroism” of first responders at the scene and the efforts of medical professionals who cared for the injured, as well as law enforcement officers who worked to protect the public in the days following the bombings.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino established The One Fund in the immediate aftermath of the bombings at the Boston Marathon than injured more than 280 and killed three. They intended the charity to be the single recipient and distribution point for the massive outpouring of financial support that emerged in the wake of the bombings.

Patrick and Menino announced Tuesday that the fund had in one week collected more than $20 million, to be distributed under the leadership of attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg, who also oversaw compensation funds for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; the Virginia Tech shootings; and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The Boston Marathon is an occasion to come together to celebrate the human spirit, determination and fellowship,” Tuttle said. “As runners will tell you, the support that we get along the course provides incredible motivation to keep going. That spirit of perseverance and mutual support will help us all as we work to process this tragedy, to move forward and to honor those lost and injured.”

To donate to The One Fund, visit onefundboston.org or send a check to One Fund Boston Inc., 800 Bolyston St. #990009, Boston, MA 02199.

People who may be eligible for assistance due to an injury incurred or a loved one lost in the explosions can register online at onefundboston.org or call 855-617-3863.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow East Boston on Twitter: @YourEastBoston.