The following statement is attributed to Josh Kraft, candidate for Mayor of Boston:

“On Thursday night, I attended a community meeting hosted by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, and was joined by more than 60 residents from the communities surrounding Franklin Park. The presentations and information shared were compelling, and I am grateful to the community members for their perspectives. Unfortunately, no one from the Mayor’s office attended this meeting.

Over the course of the evening, many community members expressed significant concerns about the $100 million in taxpayer money pledged to the project that will primarily benefit a private interest, the potential loss of over 140 trees and two acres of green space, the impact of increased congestion and pollution in their neighborhood, and the fear that the Mayor and the private investors behind this effort are going to move forward with demolition before the courts can rule on significant legal challenges that have been raised.

I am calling on Mayor Wu to listen to the concerns of the community and pledge today to stop any planned demolition work at White Stadium until the legal process is resolved. There are legitimate legal matters before the courts that deserve to be heard and adjudicated before any trees are removed and any demolition of the current structure occurs.  

The communities around Franklin Park and the people of Boston are not on board with Mayor Wu’s plan to pour more than $100 million in public money into a project that primarily benefits a private commercial interest. To race ahead in this moment when there are so many legitimate community concerns would be a total failure of leadership.

Over the weekend, Mayor Wu sent out a campaign fundraising appeal to her donors saying this: “We don’t believe politics should be controlled by billionaires throwing around vast personal wealth — we believe it should be controlled by the people.”

Given Mayor Wu’s actions on White Stadium, where she is standing with ultra-wealthy private interests at the expense of the community, her actions don’t match her rhetoric.”

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Media Contact:
Eileen O’Connor
eileen@joshforboston.com
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