Category: WBUR

Lawyers in Boston protest Trump administration on National Law Day

Protesters listen to a speech at the National Law Day of Action protest at the Parkman Bandstand. (Chloe Jad/WBUR)

More than 200 lawyers and advocates protested attacks on law firms and the norms of due process by the Trump administration on Boston Common Thursday.

“The rule of law is not abstract,” said Matthew McTygue, president of the Boston Bar Association. “It’s the backbone of civil society.”

In 40 cities across the country, legal professionals and advocates rallied against the administration’s unprecedented orders against law firms and its deportation actions against lawful U.S. residents, including students, at times without due process.

Since 1958, May 1 has been recognized as National Law Day. This year, in response to the Trump administration’s targeting of law firms, the Lawyers for Good Government organization sponsored a nonpartisan “National Law Day of Action.”

Scott Harshbarger, a former Massachusetts attorney general and chairman of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, called the administration’s actions against law firms “extortion.” Harshbarger told WBUR last week his biggest concern is that “these major, major law firms bent the knee, obeyed in advance, sacrificed their tradition and honor” in order to avoid conflict with Trump.

In Boston, 10 bar associations from around the state sponsored the rally held at the Parkman Bandstand.

Tara Dunn Jackson, president of the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys association, said in a speech that individual lawyers still have responsibility to uphold the law, even if their firms have cut deals with Trump.

“You’re not off the hook because some of your law firms are putting their heads in the sand,” Jackson said to the crowd, “because you took the oath to protect democracy.”

All speakers echoed the same general message: due process must be upheld. The crowd of legal professionals was responsive — quick to whistle, hiss, boo or crack a joke at each statement.

Former Supreme Judicial Court Clerk for Suffolk County Maura Doyle speaks to a crowd at the National Law Day of Action protest. (Chloe Jad/WBUR)

Cynthia Granata waved a cardboard sign painted with the Doge meme dog and the words “BAD DOGE GET PUT DOWN,” referring to Trump’s cost-cutting unit led by billionaire Elon Musk. Granata is a lawyer, and so is her daughter.

“We’re watching an evisceration of the Constitution,” Granata said. “There seems to be an arrogation of power in one branch of a three-branch government.”

Maura Doyle, the recently retired Supreme Judicial Court clerk for Suffolk County, was met with whistles and applause as she took the megaphone to close out the rally.

She asked the Massachusetts lawyers in the crowd to raise their right hand, and repeat after her to renew their oaths to the state and national constitutions.

Cynthia Granata raises her right hand while symbolically renewing the lawyer’s oath of office at a protest on Boston Common. (Chloe Jad/WBUR)

A sea of voices responded, including Joan Ruttenberg, who jokingly referred to herself as a “recovering lawyer.” A graduate of Harvard Law, she is now a government and public interest career advisor at the school. She said renewing the oath was moving.

“It felt very, very meaningful,” Ruttenberg said. “I could really listen to the words this time. They really mean a lot in this environment and in this moment. And I felt very proud to swear the oath again.”

A crowd of lawyers symbolically renew their lawyer’s oath of office at a protest on Boston Common. (Chloe Jad/WBUR)

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

May 2, 2025
Pass the Easter dinner rolls, please: A nutritionist’s take on what to eat — and avoid — ahead of the Boston Marathon
One runner digs into a bowl of beef and sweet potatoes when training to run 26.2 miles. Another pops a pair of Pop-Tarts before long runs.

Training for a marathon is as much about eating as it is about exercising. Nailing nutrition, or “fueling,” comes down to science — and timing. Boston Marathon spectators even might notice athletes fueling during the race next Monday.

But are carbohydrate-dense foods the answer to a good race? What other foods are marathoners eating before the big day? What should they be eating? And what should they be eating if they celebrate Easter, which falls the Sunday before the marathon this year?

Nutritionist and serial marathoner Carol Sullivan confirmed: Carbs are king.

“Your body will take either white table sugar or berries or a sweet potato or jelly beans — that’ll all get turned into blood glucose,” Sullivan explained, “and that will get stored in your liver and in your muscles as glycogen.”

The body taps these glycogen stores for energy to burn when exercising. Keeping these stores full is ideal pre-marathon. Most people underestimate the amount of carbohydrates their body needs, Sullivan said.

Typically, she said, carbohydrates might take up 40% of calories in a regular diet, but when it comes time for a “26.2 effort,” that carb percentage should rise to 60% of caloric intake. Another way to measure the ideal carb-load is based on individual weight: eat eight to 10 grams of carbs per kilogram. To put that in perspective, for a 130-pound (59 kilogram) person, that would be about 10 cups of pasta for the day.

Sullivan suggests runners stick to only familiar foods the day before the marathon. “They should also be eating foods that are very high carbohydrate, low fat and low fiber,” she said. “None of the traditional Easter foods make this cut, except for the dinner rolls.”

As a clinical dietician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a former college athlete, Sullivan is running her ninth Boston Marathon this year. She shared some tips for specific foods to eat and avoid, whether it’s on your Easter dinner table or pulled from your pantry.

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- Beets. They are rich in nitric oxide, which helps improve blood flow, aiding in delivering nutrients and oxygen to working muscles.
- Fatty fish. Salmon, tuna and sardines are all great sources of Omega-3 fatty acids, known to promote heart and brain health, and act as anti-inflammatories for muscle pain.
- Caffeine. This is one of the few proven performance-enhancing stimulants. “We love caffeine,” Sullivan said. Stick to the suggested 3-6 mg of caffeine per kilogram of your weight since it can cause unwanted gastrointestinal issues. And definitely don’t experiment with caffeine for the first time on race day!
- Hydration is also a key part of fueling, and sodium is an electrolyte that acts like a water magnet for our cells. For sodium-rich hydration, Sullivan confirmed pickle juice does work.
When it comes to traditional Easter meals…
- Put down the mashed potatoes. Fats and fibers take more energy and time to digest than carbohydrates, so runners should look for low-fat, low-fiber and high-carb foods. Mashed potatoes are usually loaded with butter and sour cream, so opt for a baked potato or sweet potato.
- Ham is high in fat, but roast chicken is a lower-fat substitute.
- Eat vegetables and other high fiber foods at your own risk. While vegetables are great for you every other day of the year, any high fiber foods put you at risk of needing a bathroom stop mid-race. If you do opt for some veggies like carrots, be sure to cook them with oil instead of butter.
- Skip the wine and opt for tart cherry juice instead. Sullivan recommends it for muscle recovery because the juice is rich in antioxidants and an anti-inflammatory called anthocyanin. Before a high-performance race, it’s best to stay away from alcohol, so she suggests enjoying it in a wine glass.
While there are basic guidelines to follow, ultimately what people eat before their big race is truly personal. So, we asked a few local marathoners what they’ve been fueling up with during training, too.

Bridget Leahy, 33, Salem

Bridget Leahy prioritizes protein in her lunch and swears by an internet-viral protein bowl: ground beef, sweet potatoes, avocado and cottage cheese with hot honey. The day before long runs she has two big protein bowls. She hydrates with LMNT electrolyte drink mix — “one of my big things that I have every day, that I truly think that I will do for the rest of my life,” Leahy said.

She realized fueling and hydration begins at the beginning of the week, not the night before her long Saturday runs. She downs carb-rich Gu or Edge gel packets every 4 to 5 miles. Salt tablets help her from cramping. Her carb load happens on Thursdays — and she swears the chicken saltimbocca from a restaurant on her route is her good luck.

Leahy, who has a 16-month-old son, is running for Tufts Medical Center in support of its pioneering postpartum research. She works as an emergency room technician in Salem Hospital and is a member of the National Guard. This is her first marathon.

Jason Venkat Bhardwaj, 42, West Newton

Jason Venkat Bhardwaj keeps it simple.

“I just kind of eat normally,” Bhardwaj, who’s run a dozen marathons including six Bostons, said. “I’m a big believer in, like, don’t change the formula a lot.”

But he said he takes race day and in-race nutrition “pretty seriously.” Among his rules: Don’t eat anything greasy, don’t drink beer in the week before the race and get enough sleep. Taking a page out of the book “Hansons Marathon Method,” Bhardwaj doesn’t see much benefit in carbo loading.

“I think part of the training is like your body gets used to storing a certain amount of glycogen from your normal diet,” he said.

So instead, he leans into hydration. Sometimes, he drinks beet juice. He prefers half a cup of coffee on race day.

On Monday, Bhardwaj will be in the first runners’ corral, with a 10 a.m. start time. Around 5 a.m., he said he’ll have a regular breakfast, like half an English muffin with peanut butter and some dry cereal. Before the race, a banana and Triscuits. And once he gets going, he’ll alternate between the caffeinated and decaffeinated Maurten gels every 5 miles.

Trevor Hodde, 35, Uxbridge

Trevor Hodde is staying true to his regular balanced diet. He learned his lesson.

On Hodde’s 21-mile training run, he baked a batch of Kodiak protein muffins, knowing this run was the closest to the real marathon he was going to get; he wanted to carb up. But he said he felt heavy on his run.

He said he likes Propel water for its electrolytes, sodium and potassium, and sometimes drinks LMNT electrolyte mixes while running.

Hodde has been running since high school, and has run a few half marathons and triathlons, but this is his first marathon. He is running for the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team.

Seetal Ahluwalia, 23, Brighton

Seetal Ahluwalia has a more colorful approach to carbs.

Before a long run, she eats two Pop-Tarts — particularly the s’mores flavor — and while running she reaches for the occasional handful of Scandinavian Swimmers gummy candy from Trader Joe’s. The sour ones keep her mouth from getting dry, she said.

Those quick sugars have worked well for her so far. On her runs, she alternates between caffeinated and decaffeinated Gu energy gels. On warmer days, she also takes SaltStick electrolyte chews to stay hydrated. She added that she also believes a chicken cutlet sub of any kind is “rewarding and satiating” after a long run.

Ahluwalia picked running back up during the pandemic as a casual form of self-care. Running the Boston Marathon was on her Boston bucket list before finishing her master’s degree in the city. She’s repping Team Red Cross.

As for the Pop-Tarts?

“I stole it from people on TikTok, and it worked out,” she said.

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
April 16, 2025
Anxiety grows in Mass. over Social Security staff cuts, errors, long wait times

President Trump’s promises that Social Security benefits will not be cut are providing little reassurance to Massachusetts residents, advocates and employees who are witnessing changes to the program firsthand.

The Trump administration has slashed the nearly 90-year-old agency’s workforce as part of an effort to downsize the federal government. Though no cuts have been made to individual benefits, service delays and staffing reductions are creating anxiety for people across the state.

“They may not be cutting the dollar amount that an individual has earned and is slated to receive, but it’s still a cut if that individual can’t access those funds,” said Betsy Connell, executive director of the Massachusetts Councils on Aging. “If you cut staff, and you cut access to the administration of those services, you’re going to impede people from accessing those benefits.”

Nearly 1.5 million people in the state — about one in five residents — receive Social Security. The federal program provides retirement benefits and disability income to qualified people and often serves as their primary — or only — source of income, advocates say. Massachusetts is home to the highest percentage of older adults in the country living alone and in poverty, according to the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston.

In recent weeks, phones have been ringing at local councils on aging, elected officials’ offices and Social Security field offices. Often it’s people expressing concern and confusion, advocates say, but there have also been complaints about delayed benefits, long wait times and unexplained errors.

Changes at the agency

The Social Security Administration has cut some 7,000 jobs, including about 3,000 employees who accepted a buyout offer or early retirement. More staff reductions are expected at the agency in the coming weeks.

Rich Couture, a spokesman for the union representing Social Security workers, said the exodus has damaged the agency, which was already at a 50-year staffing low. He said it has caused rising wait times on the national information hotline and longer approval periods for benefits.

In Massachusetts, many field offices in and around Boston were not meeting the agency’s goal of processing 83% of claims within two weeks of filing before the cuts.

Camillie Piñeiro, who works in the Springfield office, said the site is already understaffed by 13 employees, and five more plan to take the early retirement offer.

“People with the most experience have been incentivized to walk away,” Piñeiro said. “The more understaffed we are, the bigger the burden on those that stay.”

The smaller workforce could pose an even bigger problem starting April 14, when many people seeking benefits will need in-person appointments to verify their identities. The new policy was scaled back after advocates and lawmakers raised concerns about barriers to service. Still, Piñeiro said half the calls she answers on the general inquiry line are from people worried their benefits will be stopped if they can’t make it into the office.

Some Social Security beneficiaries don’t live near a field office or lack access to public transportation. In Massachusetts, the Greenfield field office closed over a decade ago, leaving a gap in Franklin County, a largely rural area where 18,925 residents receive Social Security, according to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., joined at right by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, criticizes efforts by President Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress to compromise the Social Security program, in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Concerns about in-person service have been exacerbated by the Trump administration’s plans to close federal buildings. No Massachusetts sites are on the list of Social Security offices closing this year. But the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Federal Building in Boston, which houses a Social Security office, was on a list of buildings to sell that the Trump administration posted and later took down in March. Union spokesman Couture worries the federal government will again target the O’Neill building for closure.

“All these federal buildings — well, that’s one avenue for closure,” Couture said. “So the entire system is under attack.”

Another change causing concern is a new overpayment policy, Piñeiro said. In the past, the agency deducted 10% of a recipient’s monthly benefit if they had received more than they were entitled to. This can result from a mistake on Social Security’s part or a failure to make updates that might impact a person’s benefits.

Now, the agency is withholding all funds until any overpayment is addressed.

“That brings people into the office in a state of desperation,” Piñeiro said. “Retirees cannot afford to lose for one month their benefit.”

Billionaire Elon Musk, who is helming DOGE, the White House’s cost-cutting unit, has repeatedly cited Social Security fraud as a significant problem. But Couture said the fraud rate is far less than 1% of payments a year.

“One of the ways to mitigate this is to provide the agency with resources,” Couture said. “Overpayments could be avoided with adequate staffing.”

Delays and confusion

Some Massachusetts residents have reported long wait times, payment delays and confusing messages in their online account portals.

Carolyn Villers, executive director of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, said her organization joined a lawsuit filed last Wednesday alleging DOGE and the Social Security Administration’s actions violate laws protecting the benefit. Villers said her group has received concerning reports in recent weeks that include payment delays.

Two individuals who were set to receive benefits on March 26 didn’t receive their checks until April 1, leaving one woman unable to pay her rent on time, Villers said, calling it “alarming.”

“I have worked with Mass Senior Action 20 years this fall, and I have never heard of people getting delayed or late payments, certainly without explanation,” she said.

She said she has also heard reports of phone wait times exceeding three hours and limited availability for in-person appointments. One woman was told she would have to wait 40 days — more than a month — for an appointment at any of the six offices in her region, Villers said.

“Until recently, I had not heard of people who called and were told ‘no available appointments,’ ” Villers said. “We have seen and heard from our members and the larger community that there has been a noticeable shift in a lack of access.”

Error reports also appear to be on the rise, Villers said. Concerns have circulated on social media from people who found notices in their online accounts that said they are no longer receiving benefits.

Tom and Christine, a Westborough couple who asked WBUR to withhold their last name because they fear retribution for speaking out, received one such notice. They logged in March 31 to check the account of their son Ned, who has autism. He gets Social Security disability benefits that help pay for the group home where he receives 24/7 care.

The notice on his account caused them to panic, said Chistine. She said she worried that she might have to reapply for her son’s benefits. It turned out to be an error, and the payment arrived on time the following day.

The family also had to wait three weeks to schedule an appointment for Ned’s Medicare benefits. Christine said these experiences have shaken her confidence in the system.

“These are not people we need to stress more, and these are not families we need to stress more,” she said.

Taking action

Massachusetts’ two U.S. senators, both Democrats, say they’re fighting to preserve Social Security benefits.

Last week, Sen. Warren and three other Democratic senators launched a “Social Security War Room” to educate the public about cuts and encourage grassroots activism.

“It is about having a place to bring the stories, so we can have all of the American people privy to what we hear when we’re back home,” Warren told reporters.

Sen. Ed Markey said his office has contacted Social Security officials about complaints from his constituents.

“My office is contacted daily by senior citizens who are terrified that they will lose the earned benefits they rely on to eat and to keep a roof over their head,” he told reporters last month.

Musk and his DOGE team have yet to comment on the lawsuit the Massachusetts Senior Action Council and four other groups filed with seven beneficiaries.

“We keep hearing the administration and Trump say, ‘We’re not gonna cut Social Security.’ Well, they are,” Villers said. “These delays and disruptions that are creating barriers to people accessing their earned benefits are absolutely a cut.”

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

April 10, 2025
Actor and Dorchester native Ayo Edebiri pays a visit to Boston Latin School

Ayo Edebiri, the Emmy-winning actress, writer and Dorchester native, returned to her alma mater on Thursday — this time, without a rolling backpack in hand.

“So, a lot’s changed,” Edebiri told an auditorium full of students at Boston Latin School, where she began seventh grade and graduated in 2013. “It gets better!”

Edebiri spoke in conversation with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to students lucky enough to have the first lunch slot at the Latin School. In a jam-packed auditorium, Wu asked Edebiri about her experience at the country’s oldest public school.

Seated beside Wu on stage, with a small table holding a floral arrangement separating them, Edebiri shared the pride she’s felt recently in her Boston roots.

The award-winning actress, who took home an Emmy last year for her supporting role in FX’s “The Bear,” said attending Latin School helped pave the way for her future in more ways than one.

“It’s such a specific experience going to this school,” she said, before adding as an aside — “the seniors are sort of nodding their heads.” “There’s like a rigor that I have … and a level of care that I think I have that would not be possible without having gone to this school.”

“There’s like a rigor that I have … and a level of care that I think I have that would not be possible without having gone to this school.”Ayo Edebiri

Boston Latin School, one of three public exam schools in the district, is well known since its founding for a standard of excellence, including graduating five signers of the Declaration of Independence. On the crown molding of the auditorium, names of notable alums — from philosophers to politicians — are printed in large lettering. One space, however, is left empty, to be filled with the names of future graduates.

Students are told throughout their time at the school their names might be shown one day.

At 29, Edebiri has already filled that metaphorical space. On Thursday, Wu named April 10 “Ayo Edebiri Day” in Boston.

“No presh to you guys, I just vividly remember sitting in these seats, and you see all these names and all these pictures of beautiful, dead and white people, and it felt so far away,” Edebiri told the audience. “It felt kind of impossible.”

Now, Edebiri said she looks back at her time at the Latin School, where she did improv, played in winter concerts and participated in fashion shows, as an integral part of her success today. Her closest friends are from Latin School, she said, and attending a school that pulls kids from across Boston, from all different backgrounds, made her “ready to meet the world in a way.”

Boston Latin, which today enrolls roughly 2,400 students in grades 7 to 12, is one of the most academically high-performing and sought-after secondary schools in the city. Admission was once contingent on top grades and test scores citywide, before the policy was modified in 2021 to increase socio-economic diversity among the student body.

Students laughed and groaned alongside Edebiri as she made references to infamous Latin School traditions like “declamations,” or public speaking performances each student is expected to do throughout their schooling.

“That changed my life, for real,” she said, recalling a declamation where she read part of a speech from Julius Caesar. “I was so nervous, I was shaking,” Edebiri recalled. “I remember I just had to look into Ms. McDonald’s eyes … I made it to the end, and she was like, ‘That was pretty good.’ And I was like, ‘Ah! Maybe something’s here.’ ”

After learning a certain “slickness” to survive her days at the Latin School, Edebiri said she’s now proud to be a product of public schools, just as she is to be from Boston — especially these days.

“I have felt very proud to be from Boston when I see you speak, to be completely honest,” she told Wu, who has publicly defended Boston against the Trump administration’s crackdown on funding and residents.

“I really think you’re doing such powerful and important work,” she told the mayor. “Never in my life could I imagine a mayor who’s a woman of color.”

Wu, who is running for reelection, vigorously defended Boston last month before a congressional committee alongside mayors from several other cities. She also recently appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” for a conversation hosted by comedian Ronnie Chieng.

In a statement after the chat, Wu passed on the compliments. “It was a true delight to speak with award-winning actor, comedian, writer, producer and Dorchester girl Ayo Edebiri about how BPS and our city helped shape her path,” Wu said. “We’re so proud of our BPS alums making a difference in the world, and it was an honor to welcome Ayo back home to Boston to inspire the next generation.”

Boston Latin School students had a chance to ask Ayo Edebiri questions after the stageside chat. (Anna Rubenstein/WBUR)

After the stageside conversation, Edebiri took photos with students and hugged former teachers — including history teacher Cate Arnold. Arnold taught Edebiri as a student in her 8th grade U.S. history class, and will be retiring in June after 25 years with the school.

“Her meteoric rise was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s my girl, that’s my Ayo!’” Arnold said after the event. “She sort of took all of us with her.”

Arnold still has videos of Edebiri performing in a “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” spinoff skit she and her classmates put on during an after-school club.

Arnold said she showed the reel to her students Thursday morning before the actor took the stage.

“Just saying, look, anything is possible for you, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

Edebiri told the audience that though she now has received accolades and recognition, what matters is how you treat people.

“You’re gonna better the world, big or small, just by being yourself, trying to share the things that you’ve learned, the good that’s been put into you,” she said. “Just try to do that for other people, even if it’s something as small as like, lending somebody a pencil even though they’re annoying you.”

Arnold, the teacher, said this harks back to what she told her students earlier that day.

“The most important thing is that you be a decent human being,” she said. “I was like, ‘yes Ayo! I was telling them that this morning!’”

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

April 10, 2025
Mayor Wu proposes $4.8 billion budget, girding for federal cuts

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced her $4.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2026 Wednesday morning, one she said aims to provide stability while preparing for uncertainty in the future of federal funding.

Boston relies on $300 million in federal funding each fiscal year. Wu said the city has never made a mid-year budget cut to staffing positions, except when it’s had to adjust for cuts at the state level.

“So far, that has been relatively legally protected, but we know that right now the law is not seen as a boundary either,” Wu said of federal funding at the annual budget breakfast. “And so we need to be preparing for the worst in every case.”

Wu said given the new federal climate, city layoffs could have to be considered in the future.

The proposed budget marks a 4.4% increase from last year, adjusting for a one-time Housing Accelerator Program appropriation. It would eliminate nearly 500 city government positions that have been vacant for over a year; it does not call for any new positions and reduces spending on non-personnel items, such as equipment and supplies.

The City Council must still approve the budget, which would take effect July 1.

Wu also unveiled a five-year $4.5 billion capital plan to invest in essential services across the city, from roads and sidewalks to school renovations, parks and library buildings. The plan decreases slightly from the last one in size and number of projects; it includes 72 Boston Public Schools projects and aims to improve responsiveness to safety requests on the 311 line.

Property taxes remain the primary revenue source for all city services. The mayor said her administration continues to “push for relief for residents who’ve had to bear the increased tax burden,” as the commercial tax burden has decreased.

In comments after the speech, Wu emphasized the risks to local funding under the Trump administration: “We know this will still be a period of uncertainty that will last probably the next 4 years at least,” she said, noting she’s hearing from residents across the city who “really are struggling right now.”

Josh Kraft, who’s running against Wu in the mayor’s race, has criticized her handling of the budget. He told WBUR in an interview this week, “Nothing is more core than fiscal responsibility, and a budget that’s grown 20% in three years is something that I don’t think shows a lot of fiscal discipline.”

City officials say this year’s budget was a more collaborative process between the mayor’s office and the City Council than in the past. City Councilor Brian Worrell said budget conversations began in November and have gone through working sessions and public hearings, which will continue until the council votes on the plan.

The council’s recommendations include prioritizing housing and food insecurity, protecting diversity and inclusion amidst the Trump administration’s crackdown, and funding quality-of-life issues, including clean streets and better pest control.

“The mayor’s proposed budget therefore reflects much of the Council’s advocacy, and much of what we’ve heard from community,” council President Ruthzee Louijeune said.

One beneficiary is a community center in Allston-Brighton. The center is slated to get revitalization funding, Louijeune said, after longtime calls from the community.

The city’s chief financial officer, Ashley Groffenberger, also highlighted programs such as downtown office conversions to create more dorms and workforce housing, and a partnership with Eversource and National Grid to help residents manage utility bills.

“This year, we’re focusing on achieving that balance point: preparing for the worst case scenarios, given federal uncertainty and the larger economy,” Wu said, “while not jumping ahead to slash city services that we know are more critical than ever for our residents and businesses.”

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism. With additional reporting from WBUR’s Mira Donaldson.

April 9, 2025
New plan for a resurrected Great Scott comes with housing

Allston’s atrophied “Rock City” might get its beating heart back — and Bostonians seem to be all in.

Legendary live music club Great Scott, shuttered by the pandemic since May 2020, is being reimagined down the street from its original location. This time, live music comes with new housing.

The city invited the public to submit written comments about the plan, and nearly all of the 372 comments that were filed voiced support for it. Many reminisced about the shows they saw over the years at Great Scott, where artists such as local bands Pile and Speedy Ortiz, Phoebe Bridgers, MGMT and Grimes have all played.

“Our business model, where we are the landlord and the tenant, is a great model to bring this back and make sure that it lasts for the long term,” said Jordan Warshaw, one of the project’s three developers.

The plan calls for Great Scott to be resurrected in the former Stingray Body Art at 1 Harvard Ave., next to the club’s old sister venue O’Brien’s Pub. The developers bought those buildings as well as a recording studio and two-story home on the same block. They plan to demolish all of them and erect a nine-story building that would put 139 apartments above the two clubs.

Warshaw said the team expects to break ground six to eight months after approval, which they hope they will get this spring. Construction of the two music venues is expected to take at least a year and the apartments about 18 months.

Many Boston-area music venues have died in recent years, like Rockwood Music Hall’s abrupt closure in Fenway last year and Atwood’s Tavern in East Cambridge in 2023. Great Scott’s original spot at 1222 Commonwealth Ave. is now a Taco Bell Cantina.

With a 300-person capacity, the new Great Scott would hit the Goldilocks niche of music venues — not too big, not too small — that local musicians and music fans say Boston severely lacks. Plus, a green room would be available for artists to relax in before and after shows, complete with showers and laundry machines, something the old venue never had. O’Brien’s Pub would be rebuilt with a stage and a capacity of 75 people.

Above the new Great Scott, separated by an acoustical barrier, 115 studio apartments and 24 one-bedroom units would rise nine floors high at the entrance of Allston, where Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street meet. About 24 units would be designed as affordable. The building would have no parking except three ride-sharing spots and 209 spaces for storing bikes.

Carl Lavin, who booked shows for Great Scott from 2003 until its closing, crowdfunded $300,000 to save the venue. To make the revival a reality, Lavin partnered with Paul Armstrong — producer of the Boston Music Awards, publisher of online music magazine Vanyaland and CEO of the media company Redefined — and Warshaw, president of the Noannet Group, who provides real estate expertise.

The Great Scott redevelopment proposal is in the review stage, during which the developers get feedback from the public and the city agencies that measure and regulate the project’s impact. It needs the approval of Boston’s transportation, planning, and fire departments as well as its Interagency Green Building Commission.

A document with public comments from the project’s 39-day comment period was published on the city’s website in mid-March. Responses were sorted into three categories: “support,” “oppose” and “neutral.” An overwhelming majority voiced support. Of 372 entries, 362 were in support, six in opposition and four neutral.

“We’ve got a lot of support,” Warshaw said, “and we’re hoping that we will make it to the board approval stage very soon, and then get into the agreement stage very soon after that.”

One email of support came from Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economics professor, who said he is a passionate live music fan.

“As an economist, I think that having a reopened Great Scott will be a major economic contributor to the area,” Gruber wrote. “As a music lover, I know it will make many Boston area residents lives much richer.”

Gruber wrote that Great Scott was a “vital part” of his history in Boston, and that he contributed to Lavin’s fund to help save the venue.

Another supporter, Kristofer Thompson, wrote, “I’m just a library assistant at Tufts University, but I personally invested $3,000 in their plan because I couldn’t imagine the Boston scene without Great Scott in it.”

Opposition to the project cited concerns about traffic congestion, the lack of parking, and gentrification and “yuppification” — the process of making neighborhoods more attractive to young urban professionals. Some complained expecting a high cost of concert tickets, or said they worried that the new Great Scott would lack the original’s grittiness.

Great Scott’s developers presented the project at a virtual public meeting hosted by the Boston Planning Department in late February, where many local musicians said the city’s music scene is in dire condition and needs a place like Great Scott.

Dan Moffat, a sound engineer and lead vocalist and guitarist for The Collect Pond band, attended the meeting and said the project must happen. What is left of the music venues still standing in the area is at best “flimsy,” he said, and the similarly sized Deep Cuts, a brewery and live music venue in Medford, is too far away.

“I gotta cross two rivers to get there,” he said. “We need stuff where people are.”

Moffat said Great Scott has “so much goodwill and street cred” to cash in after 44 years, which will pay off with great lineups “night after night.”

“People are going to be climbing over themselves to want to play a venue like that, so the booker is going to have their pick,” he said.

Babak Veyssi, owner of the Peridot apartment building next door, came forward in the meeting to oppose the project. Veyssi said although he is pro-development, he will do everything he can to stop the project because the nine-story building would cast a shadow that would “chill” his 32-unit building.

Cullen Deimer, a housing advocate with the recently formed Allston Brighton Housing Action who attended the virtual meeting, called it “the perfect project” that addresses both the city’s housing crisis and Allston’s live-music attrition.

Concerns over the project’s lack of parking don’t bother Deimer, who lives in Brighton with his wife and without a car.

“A lot of people just like having their affordable, livable unit, close to all the things they need to go to,” he said, “and they don’t need too many more bells and whistles on top of that.”

This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

March 28, 2025
Protesters demand Tufts student’s release following arrest by immigration officials

More than a thousand people gathered at Powder House Square near the Tufts University campus Wednesday evening to protest the arrest and possible deportation of graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk.

Ozturk was arrested Tuesday and is now being held in a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility in Louisiana. A federal judge had ordered federal officials not to move Ozturk from Massachusetts without notification, but it’s unclear whether she was moved before the order was issued.

Ozturk is a Turkish national and had a valid F-1 visa to study in the U.S., according to her attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai.

A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said a federal investigation found Ozturk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization,” but did not provide any evidence to support that claim.

Protesters in Powder House Square hold signs in support Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested by immigration officials despite having a valid student visa. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Ozturk’s name appeared on the byline of an opinion piece critical of the school’s response to students demanding an end to the university’s relationship with companies tied to Israel. It’s not clear whether that op-ed played a role in the decision to arrest her.

“They’re literally black bagging people on our streets in our city, and it’s unacceptable,” said Boston University history student Alastair Holman, who attended the rally at Tufts.

“We’re creating a society of fear, this is completely — it’s illegal,” he said. “These people can’t come into our communities and just arbitrarily arrest people who were here legally, on visas. Like, it’s insanity. I don’t even know how to put it into words.”

Amitra Dani, a public school teacher in Boston, said the Trump administration was making good on its threats to make an example of pro-Palestinian protesters.

“[Trump] said it during his campaign, and he’s made it a key part of his platform to attack immigrants and attack immigrant students,” she said. “As a teacher, I’ve seen the way those attacks and those threats really create a climate of fear, even with my students.”

Fatema Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Justice League, said people should not be surprised by Ozturk’s arrest.

“I think it’s really important for people who are surprised by this to know that people are being disappeared every day, like on their way to work, dropping off their kids, trying to go to work and so on,” she said. “It’s been going on for quite some time, too. It’s obviously escalated in this moment, but it has been going on for quite some time.”

She said that immigration law as written allows for too many “loopholes” that allow officials to deport people based on accusations.

“We’ve seen with Mahmoud Khalil’s case, in immigration law, Marco Rubio gets to say that this person is somehow a threat to our foreign policy, our national security, and revoke somebody’s status,” she said. “These things have been built in so that government can use it against people in the way that we’re seeing really escalated right now.”

March 26, 2025