Boston Public Radio Live from the Boston Public Library, Tuesday, Oct 11

hi Jim hey there Marjorie at 12 30. am I is my mic going yep uh at 12 30 today the mayor joins us ask the mayor's 12 30 to 1 30 if you've got a question you could text it in at 877-301-897 you could actually do it now if you chose you can call at 12 30 to 1 30 or we have a mic right here somewhere right over there in the library good pointing when you're on the radio Jim and uh we will take uh some of those questions from the library well as well again it's an odd time today Michelle Wu joins us 12 uh 30. five years ago in October 2017 the New York Times And The New Yorker published allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein setting off a movement against workplace harassment coin me too back in 2006 by Toronto Burke this week Weinstein faces his second trial for criminal sexual assault he's already been sentenced to 23 years I think was in New York tied to his 2020 rape conviction at this trial in Los Angeles Weinstein faces a sentence of up to 135 years which I would argue is not enough or if he successfully appeals his New York conviction and it is on appeal it could be the one thing that keeps him in jail but today we want to take it beyond the high profile cases in your day-to-day life how have things changed have they at all five years in are you with the solid majority of Americans I think it's close to 70 percent according to the Pew Research Center who believe there's less tolerance for workplace harassment now or do you not feel that way give us a buzzer or text 877-301-8970 or you can tweet us at BOS public radio so what do I think well I was talking about why don't we start with you because you always ask me first what do you think uh I think we've made a lot of progress I mean there are blips along the way people like Bill Cosby who is a serial rapist and sexual abuser uh uh who uh got out uh on a technicality they're people like Weinstein let's hope his appeal is not successful in New York who is getting exactly what he deserves I think from the calls and discussions we've had it has trickled down into the workplace I don't know if it's because corporations are more responsible and care more about the people who work there or they care more about being sued uh in the submission whatever so I think it's good the one thing I have to say that that I still don't think has been reckoned with and we do remember when Matt Damon took a huge amount of crap when early on and it was not the right time and he was not the right messenger just months into me to this second iteration not the Toronto Burke iteration he said you know there are degrees I'm paraphrasing of sexual abuse and the era of me too not everybody should be punished the same well almost everybody has gotten the death penalty for lack of a better expression and there is a point which so I mean I'll take an example and again this is not to excuse anything we were talking about Senator former Senator Alfred Franklin yeah obviously what Al Franken did well it is not to be excused is not even in the same Stratosphere of what Weinstein did uh Weinstein obviously is going to spend hopefully going to spend the rest of his life in jail uh Franken has been shunned to a great degree uh Louis C.K well what he did is disgusting and he admitted it exactly one he didn't touch a woman I mean again it is really disgusting what he did he but he admitted it and uh in his own way attempted to apologize for it what does he get so that is an unresolved issue yeah it should be a life sentence yeah essentially that's what it is so now that I have answered your question how about answering mine what kind of progress it's fairly obvious I mean before Anita Hill in 1992 if your boss was chasing on the desk in the office it was just okay run faster than the boss I mean there was no one to complain to Human Resources was not if there even were human resources there were not in uh interested and that was you know women were just really starting to come into the workplace big time in the 70s and 80s right so it was kind of like one of the hazards of being a young woman at work posting it here like a better but certainly not anywhere near where it happened with Harvey Weinstein which I think the metoo movement just really changed everything Toronto Burke you know she started it back in 2006 but I think it was really the publicity from Weinstein that got it really going and I think it's really interesting though how it breaks down a Pew research did this great look at how it all broke down women no surprise are much more likely than men to say they support the movement young women are the strongest supporters of me too because they're the ones who are most likely to be abused in me too and it also breaks down like something so so many other things about politics Democrats are three times more likely than Republicans to support me too uh which is pretty significant around 70 percent of Democrats report support compared with about 20 some percent of Republicans what does that mean that 80 percent of Republicans are okay with sexual harassment and assault of women I mean I don't well apparently they are Jim they think they think that people make it up that we hear this all the time that women are making it up and they're trying to get attention they're trying to get money and there might be a few women who have really gotten rich on their allegations of sexual assault but I can't think of many can you no I cannot 877-301-8970 so again I don't if one someone wants to explain what the why only 20 percent of Republicans support the me too movement again maybe marjorie's right they think it's gone too far I have no idea what that even means frankly uh I'd be curious to hear what people's uh perspective is you know we had uh do you remember when we had uh well on television I guess I had Jody canner and Megan uh Tui in from the New York Times who did the Weinstein stuff I think they also did Christine blasey Ford if I remember it correctly and they wrote a Jody Cannon well they both wrote a piece recently talking about you know for those who are saying there hasn't been enough progress they said 22 states have passed some laws right in the right direction on this issue there there are non-dis there is a ban on non-disclosure agreements the ban didn't pass in Massachusetts and a number of state statute of limitations statutes of limitations on these issues have been expanded in the number of states so no one would be naive enough to say that we've gotten from here to the end line but I think as a overall while there were some outliers there's been progress well I also think all these cases that come forward it's easier to come forward now and I think you know you have these Soccer Coaches you had that that gross doctor of the of the gymnasts and the Olympics Southern Baptist convention Southern Baptist convention that's right dealing with this with this terrible scourge of all these pastors running around grabbing people and the the new head of the Southern Baptist he was on 60 Minutes yeah he was basically saying you know he was obviously very opposed to all this and trying to trying to clean house I mean he's a big conservative but he's definitely gonna going to clean house so he's not one of those Republicans that is complaining about people being out just to get make money and and I think that's the other thing that's changing because again when you have 20 women 40 women 70 women you have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of young people with the Catholic church or teenagers you know they can't all be lying and the one person who's telling the truth is the priest or the president or the the politician that's accused you know there's usually multiple people one last thing we'll get to Nicole I mean as I said the New York Times reports Jody canner and Megan too we were incredible we had a a pharaoh in studio with us when he wrote The New Yorker what was he like 11 years old well he also honesty was so powerful and so scary remember he went out and got himself a gun is because he was so worried about it that they were that wants to get these Israel retired Israeli Secret Service agents uh to intimidate him to intimidate these New York Times reporters well also wasn't there somebody who wouldn't publish what Pharaoh had written or his NBC is was it NBC I think you're right by the way before the New Yorker did 877-301-8970 so that's our sense of where we are are five years into the second iteration of me too how do you think we are doing let's go to Wilmington Trevor you're first on Boston Public Radio thank you for calling hi hi Jim uh and Marjorie hi hi uh yeah so I think there's been a lot of progress made in general but I had a co-worker assaulted at a nursing home and D'Youville and uh sexually assaulted in the elevator and when we reported it to them they were very kind of glib or at the very least dismissive about it and half the staff acted like it was our problem and they were so more concerned with us getting the job done on times than my than my co-worker that we sent home because she wasn't raped but she was assaulted and she she was groped and had her mask ripped off by some dude that was working there and that's messed up and I think so we need to address the issue of subcontracted people who aren't necessarily strict employees but you know uh called into work because they they have rights too well you know let me just be clear your point being that employers are less worried about their legal liability when someone is not a formal employee of theirs but rather a subcontractor is that what you're saying independent employee an independent I think in general I agree with you I think you're right I think you're right I know Trevor you also raised a great point because I I people that are low-wage workers and a lot of people in nursing homes are low-wage workers are the ones where they are still getting away with murder in a lot of these situations and that's one of the things Tarana Burke said they should they should focus on is uh low-wage workers who are much more vulnerable to abusive employees and she also talks about because they have much less power yes consent education in schools but I don't know if we can have that these days because everybody's so worried about what kind of things that children might be learning in schools you know we'll make sexual assaulters feel bad about themselves you know Poland Braintree has a wonderful point that I wish I had just thought of I will believe sexual harassment has changed when I see Donald Trump in an orange jumpsuit I mean he is obviously the the most celebrated serial sexual harasser and rapist and not only has he not been held though count the most recent poll I saw if the election were today he beat Joe Biden by two points and be re-elected president United States so I mean that is a really important point we both missed in terms of uh the progress of me too well you know it's not sexual assault but it is assault I mean look at the Republicans rushing down to support Herschel Walker who put gone to his ex-wife's head and is Accused by his own son of forcing them to move six times in six months because of violence so they're going to support him um so I I guess it's not surprising that only 20 something of Republicans um you know support the movement 877-301-8970 here's a text that says is from Vernon Connecticut my attitudes have changed 20 years ago I've watched a TV series where two co-workers flirted at work and found it cute I just rewatched the same series and found it inappropriate and creepy which raises an interesting question because if they're too equal if they're not is the power Dynamic is not mixed up I don't think we're anybody's saying you can't flirt at work although a lot of these men in this Pew study say it's harder for them to know how to interact with women in the workplace which I never understood I I really I mean if I think if you don't grab the rear ends or anything or make an appropriate sexual remarks or try to touch their bodies in any way you know you're not going to be in trouble I mean I'm not sure what men think interaction with women in the workplace is about is it about um telling that you're most confused about it those who were engaging in the practice I'm serious I mean it's ridiculous but I think you can still flirt in the workplace uh burn as long as it is not as long as you're not uh you know it's not the boss doing it to a secretary 877-301-897 I told the story a month or two ago in the show but it right in the middle of me too do you remember when Tom Brady was on Saturday Night Live and there was a great scene yes where a really nerdy guy goes up to a co-worker a woman and says with his head down without making eye contact is there any chance we could have coffee at some I know you don't want to do it but if you would I'd be honored really respectful polite and nervous he gets she starts screaming Tom Brady comes in I think in his underpants or whatever it is hey baby put his hand right on her breasts oh that sort of was so she's going oh Tom well there's a lot of it was a lot of Truth well the point of it was that the sexual harassment is in the eye of the beholder and of someone like Tom Brady and the other now the other compassion was the late JFK Jr who you know two very attractive men that maybe you're not going to consider that or whatever Junior do nothing but people were saying if Jason Junior came up and put his hand in your breast would you be screaming sexual harassment or would you put your hand somewhere on JFK Jr's body Jim that was Rachel and Plymouth you're next on Boston Public Radio thank you for calling hi hi guys hi guys I love you I've called I've called before I love you but I think you are way off the Mark today um I work on an inclusive design team so we're hard at work at trying to transform the way people work and the way companies are set up but companies are basically set up to protect people and powers and people not people who are not in power and usually it's women who are not the people in power and the you know patriarchy is hard at work um making sure that women aren't in power and companies and corporations number one job is to protect the people that perpetrate trait the crimes against women in the workplace because HR is there to protect the corporation not the employees who these crimes are perpetrated again So when you say that you know Al Franken or or um BK what's his face or yeah Louis C.K when these guys are doing these things and they get hot do you really think this is the one thing they've been caught doing that's a wonderful thing or the one thing they've done this is maybe the one thing they were caught doing but think of all the things they did that they didn't get caught doing think of the disgusting things that Al Franken has done that we don't know about right and just because Al had great politics we can't give them a pass so I'm a lifelong Democrat and I you know hate the orange guy as much as the next anybody but you don't see any progress I mean to me and I'm an older woman it is night and day I mean it is just night and day because when I was young there was nothing there was no one to complain to my daughters have a much different experience now I think you're right about low-wage workers I mean that's a real problem women that are housekeepers women that wait tables or women that have no protection but I don't know I it says there's no progress is a little too pessimistic I'm I'm not saying there's no progress Marjorie but I'm saying we have a long way to go and I think if you let these rich famous guys off the hook what is that saying about our culture let's not let these guys off the hook let's make them the example because they need to do better because they're the ones in the media they're the ones that get the attention so if we let them off the hook what is that going to say for the people who are powerless we have no voice we have no protections right Rachel you make a lot of great points thank you for the call well that's why Luke Weinstein is facing 123 years well you pointed out to me this morning though his New York State conviction which is his only conviction is on appeal I have to say but it's not Appeal on very shaky I don't know the fact that a juror had written a book that she felt about older men preying on younger women and did she not just he or she not just well the argument the argument for the appeal is that that juror should have been removed from the exact trial that's a good point but it doesn't mean he's going to throw out the entire case or even order a new a new trial but even if they do order a new trial I mean the evidence and the number of people accusing him is fairly overwhelming now you could say that about Bill Cosby I was just going to say about Bill Clinton that is is uh definitely a problem but I I do think that you know Harvey Weinstein scared a lot of people you know one of the things about the Bill Cosby thing there was only one it was only one criminal case that was brought against him and he was convicted and then ultimately he was a a higher Court overturned it how were you on this whole statute of limitations things you know as a result of a Catholic church thing and the work of Carmen durso and others uh the statute of limitations I believe on civil matters was removed or at least broadened dramatically why should there be a statute of limitation on crimes like this where it's very hard for the Survivor to come forward let the judge and a jury decide the reason for statutes of limitation is the evidence is too old Witnesses have died that sort of thing why not let a prosecutor if he or she decides to bring a case bring face and a jury and a judge decide if the evidence is too old too unreliable so that someone like Cosby who was there 50 people on the cover of New York Magazine I interviewed one of them 49 of them couldn't bring a criminal proceeding why shouldn't they be I think they should get rid of the statute of limitations but it would be really difficult because of all the reasons Sue said to get a conviction because you know if you're 20 years out you're 30 years out I mean that was one of the problems with the Catholic church is that some of these people that were abused were like six years old the firefighter in Newton that actually got Paul shanley's in jail was six and seven when it started when he was six and when he was 11 and he testified against Paul Shannon he was one of the Accused by like hundreds of people the only reason he could even have that trial is because of some legalese in the statute writing that because Shanley left the statute told because he was out of the Jersey he went to California and that was the only reason they could even get a case for him and the other big guy John gagan who was also accused of doing terrible things to hundreds of people they could only get him on a very simple battery case of grabbing a kid's body to get out of the pool with the Y and that was the only case they actually but remember we had this discussion at the time the judge and I can't remember her name it wasn't Sweeney was it I think it was Hamlin but whoever was the judge clearly and you're not supposed to do this so we probably shouldn't be celebrating it's clearly the clear that she sentenced them not for that which he was convicted but for the things for which he was about she gave him 10 years 10 years yeah he obviously was killed in prison we gotta take a break okay we're talking about whether you think and we're talking about this by the way because Harvey Weinstein is back on trial out in California facing his second trial for abuse and rape of of multiple women we're talking about whether you think things have improved since the metoo movement began or not the numbers 877-301-897 no you can call us or text us at that number foreign [Music] I work 16 to 17 hours every day labor trafficking someone is being forced to work in terrible conditions or unfair or no pay and they can't leave imprisoned by psychological constraints and despite a human trafficking law that's been on the books in Massachusetts since 2011. State prosecutors have yet to convict anyone for trafficking labor I'm Jennifer McKim our series forced labor in Massachusetts this afternoon on gbh's all things considered our programs are made possible thanks to you and the office of the Massachusetts state treasurer the unclaimed property division is holding unclaimed funds for the citizens and businesses of the Commonwealth you can see if you have unclaimed money at findmassmoney.com and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Benjamin Zander and piano soloist Jonathan biss performing Beethoven and Rachmaninoff at Symphony Hall October 19th at 8. tickets at Boston phil.org [Music] to Boston Public Radio Jim Brody and madrigan live at the Boston Public Library in about an hour the mayor will join us for an hour 12 30 to 1 30. we are streaming online at youtube.com and five years in this is five years after the New York Times And The New Yorker first published allegations of sexual assault rape harassment against Weinstein he's obviously facing a second trial this week that's why we're talking about we want to know what progress you think has been made in these interviewing five years you know the story we should have told about about Franken Franken was booked to be on the show two months ago three months ago and uh we uh I believe we were told by the person who was booking him for our show that he wouldn't discuss any of the charges against him that led him to resign from the Senate and we immediately said we don't want them uh so it doesn't sound to me like that's as as minor compare terribly speaking as the one offense we know about getting back to the woman a call we have no idea if there are others but we just so when we know about the fact that he's unwilling to talk about it I I is a bit troubling to me troubling enough that we decided not to have him because we would have liked to have talked to him 877-301-8970 is the number lid from Bedford writes Dobbs that's the abortion decision backlash against me too all comes down to one basic question or women equally human beings or are we the second sex put here as companions to men to Bear their children and gratify them way too many Americans Still Believe We Are The Second Sex You know well Lauren on the road also answered my question about why only 21 percent of Republicans support the metoo movements in light of the fact that the vast majority of them self-describe Republicans self-identified Republicans for Trump uh uh if they admit it exists or that me too is real they have to admit that their president is guilty of massive uh violation which is a good point I mean it's sort of an indictment of trump you know it isn't unbelievable the Trump I mean we talk about all the things he has gotten away with what is the number 24 I think it's 24. overwhelmingly critical uh credible accounts of sexual assault in some cases rape I guess in the Carol Case a rape and uh scot-free like virtually everything else is escapes god-free with in his life Alan and Carr welcome to the show thank you for calling hi hi good morning and to you um good a second time calling um love your show thank you um I I do agree that we've moved so far I came of age in the 70s as a professional woman and faced numerous attempts from Men in the workforce not only comments but physical which probably wouldn't happen today but I think what we're seeing is is yes high profile Aces like Harvey Weinstein or F you know Epstein or any of those are believable people believe it I mean in the Weinstein case in California even the governor newcomb's wife might testify his wife you know she's scheduled to testify as someone who was testified but but for an average woman I think even for a young professional woman today I I think it has I don't know if you would be be believed if it was you against a male colleague um I still think that overall people believe that the woman either asked for it or um is over is exaggerating or is being quote unquote hysterical um I I just don't think we've come anywhere near far enough you know uh Ellen the one we have no idea what level in the hierarchy uh the woman who accused the email doka the the coach the suspended coach of the Celtics but by definition since there are no women who have a position as high as is that woman was believed by the leadership of the team no she was believed but I think it's more high profile I'm thinking about oh I see respect I say I see yeah a local bank or something like that or you know I think that a high profile case I think she's believed because the Celtics are frightened I got it they're going no you make a wonderful place said who was in high school not that long ago that when she was in high school she was stalked by a co-worker at a retail job and HR just said oh well he's just like that I mean there is a lot of a certain amount of forgiveness of of bad behavior depending on where you work and and I think again is is important over and over again the less power you have in your job and if you are someone that's working you know hourly wage the less likely you're going to get any satisfaction well it's also the point that one of the earlier callers made is for a lot of there's a lot of Contracting out of lower wage jobs you know subcontracting is that less of a concern for an employer if you're not technically an employee I don't know enough but I I would buy let's go to Nashua New Hampshire where Patrick is on the phone Patrick welcome [Music] uh at my job and uh she and I were you know similar age similar power level and have had a four-year-old oops oops I'm kind of it moved a lot forward but there's a lot of people that have gone almost more into hiding with what they're doing um why would you go into hiding hey Patrick why would you go into hunting with someone who was at the same level you as you are you're not her super I'm not no no I'm not saying I'm not saying me oh I'm sorry I'm saying in general like other people who are engaging in some of these acts of um of assault in the workplace like kind of um have gotten to a point where they're really like sneaky and try to hide it um because they know there's such strong like repercussions uh for their actions well I also think Patrick never mind people that are doing bad things in the workplace I think people that are just in romances in the workplace are very careful about it now you know I mean the guy at CNN that got fired the the president of uh of CNN uh yeah who lost his job if they had gone to HR and said that they were in a romance uh even though she was beneath him in terms of power but not way beneath she was pretty high up there they might have been okay you know I think a lot of people that are in these romances at work now feel they better tell somebody but that's the question do you tell them on the first date the first kiss the fifth date you know what I mean when is it serious enough to go to HR gym well I I think if you're violating the company policy you either shouldn't do it or you're probably not going to go to HR are you well I think it's it's an odd moment in your relationship you're like okay when do we go to HR is this serious enough are we just having a cup of coffee or too much I'm missing the point I mean you can't what do you say to HR if there's a disparity what does Bill Clinton go to HR at the White House and say Hey Monica and I are having a little thing I I think I think you're missing the point here what the point is about from the relationship perspective you know you're declaring that something's really going on if you're going to HR and maybe you don't feel confident enough in the relationship to declare something that's going on to HR that's that's what I was saying I got it Sarah in the car thanks for calling hey Sarah what's up all right can you guys hear me we can so I know that some people might boo what I'm about to say but I work at Amazon in Bellingham and I used to not have faith in HR either but rhr is actually great and I'm going to compliment Amazon for the fact that if it's something that's sexual or racial or any other serious matter it's actually investigated by a third party lawyer wow and I just wanna I also wanted to say it's just another little side note that last September I was having some mental health issues and my local HR side HR actually made it so I got two weeks with complete paid leads like completely paid so I do think that there's some progress and even though Amazon gets a bad reputation about a lot of things I will tell you that I'm just so taken aback by my own site and how they handle these situations we're glad to hear it wow no booing here no I feel less guilty to share about my Amazon package it should be running later today thank you very much what do you mean singular package so I think it's just one package it could be another one tomorrow you know it's or tonight I should not be ordering from Amazon it's disgraceful why don't we have that discussion for the four thousand yeah I know I know well you know I'm working toward Perfection I needed a drill bit to unscrew screws in the bottom of a table right actually should I'm proud of myself this is the day of what day is today today Tuesday on Sunday I went to Amazon I'm about to hit submit it was going to be delivered on Monday you know what I did this was the rare moment the hardware I went to the local hardware I tell you and by the way I didn't finish the story they didn't have it so I ordered it from Amazon I'm embarrassed to say but I tried he tried I've tried okay that was me with the sponges see if you had finally give up I'm going to CVS CVS responses where are the sponges I finally said the hell with it I called Amazon I got my sponges in two days it was very exciting we're just grateful Americans yeah coming up the NFL has adjusted their concussion protocol in the wake of two brain injuries sustained in short succession by one Miami Dolphins player Trader Casey to NBC Sports joins us to discuss this and the quarterback situation with the New England Patriots you're listening to Boston Public Radio 89 7 gbh we are broadcasting live from the Boston Public Library and we are streaming on youtube.com gbh news [Music] foreign [Music] country bordering Russia Latvia is limiting Imports of Russian fuels that's made all fuels including firewood and wood pellets more expensive it's three times more than last year so people say they are adding layers of clothing lowering thermostats and still paying too much to stay warm if you need heat you have to buy it so there's no choice Latvia's Big Chill on the world this afternoon at 3 here on gbh news 89 7. support for our programs comes from you and the Boston speakers series returning to Symphony Hall for seven evenings featuring former Attorney General Loretta Lynch death row exoneree Anthony Ray Hinton and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman bostonspeakers.org and Johnson and Wales University committed to creating impact inside and outside of the classroom with internships Hands-On learning and faculty who are industry experts you can explore more at jwu.edu [Music] welcome back to Boston Public Radio Marge Regan Jim Bradley we're live at the Boston Public Library streaming online youtube.com gbh news the mayor will be here in about 45-50 minutes for an hour of ask of the mayor but first we're joined by trenny Casey anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston and a BPR contributor hello morning guys hi so Trinity kostneric as you said before we went on the air there's a bunch of puns Bailey's happy be zappy be happy be happy hours happy hour 23 year old already getting old you know the guy's been playing for a week but there's a certain amount of excitement um surrounding his uh first couple of games yeah which actually unfortunately I think says more about what people have been thinking about Mac Jones than what they think of Bailey zappy right I think people have been a little underwhelmed with Matt Jones's performance thus far this year um he's turned the ball over a lot more than he did last year he's like disjointed at times but also you know to kind of stick up for Mac Jones here the offensive play calling has been drastically different for for Jones and it has been for zappy it is yes for zappy they're like riding the ball a ton they're using a lot of play action they're running him under Center and not on a shotgun which is a different type of offensive scheme whereas when Matt Jones is out there it's like they're like no push the ball down the field you have to push the ball down the field and so he's doing all what they call these 50 50 balls like he's chucking It Up Down the sideline and guys have to go up and hope that they beat out the defensive back for it and then what ends up happening is he turns the ball over so my you know my curiosity now is why Max Jones comes back I don't think there's a quarterback controversy I think that's a little insane I think Matt Jones is still your quarterback at least the one you're going to run with right now um but when he does come back do they look at what's been working with Bailey zappy and also the rest of the offense and say huh maybe we need to play a little bit more like this and call plays like this what's the name of the quarterback speaking of quarterback contrary what's the name of the quarterback who took over when Drew Bledsoe got hurt what was his name was Tom Brady Tom Brady right I forgot about that you know let me tell you here we move off for that I'm not done with it because I wanted to know how long how that happened because I've forgotten how long Brady how many games Brady was a second year quarterback and I believe Drew Bledsoe played two or three games before he got hurt but by that point already from what I was in here so and I didn't cover the team at the time I think I did like just graduated from college but from what Tommy Curran tells me is from I think what happened was that Bill Belichick actually felt like Tom Brady outplayed Bledsoe in training camp but because they were paying him yes Bill Belichick felt obligated to start the year with Bledsoe and it was almost like you don't want to say he was happy when he got hurt because that's pretty harsh but I think that it gave him the opportunity to put Tom Brady in and then never look never look okay let's hear a little bit from uh what's Zappy's first name Bailey Bailey's happy story yeah well I want to talk about his name in a minute he started his first game against the Lions obviously everybody knows it was 29 nothing here is zappy after the game responding to a question about what the moment meant for him personally here he is you know it's kind of like I've always been told taking advantage of your opportunity and you know we had an opportunity today as a team to go out there and get a win and we played really well playing team football defense played well offense played well special teams played well and to be able to play like that as a team was was amazing to get the win by the way when he said said that he was sitting on Belichick's lap and Belichick's hand was up his back you know here's my thesis and I actually mean this if his name was Bailey Smith rather than maybe the greatest football name ever Billy zappy no he wouldn't be doing it no one would give a damn about this is that is that I mean I don't know that that's entirely true I think people are very you know they're enticed by when he was at Western Kentucky which by the way is not Virginia no West Kentucky is a little tiny Place yeah he played in a Conference USA school like it's not like an SEC Big Ten Captain like anything like that he played at a pretty small school and he did I mean he put up a lot of yards he threw for a lot of touchdowns and I think people look at that and they're enamored with like look how far you can throw the ball look at his Armstrong he's only six feet tall so it's not it's not the same as what when Tom Brady came in like he was 6'5 yes he was you know lower on the depth chart but he still went to Michigan again he also was drafted by the Montreal Expo Bose I think to be a pitcher or a catcher like he was a good like this was a kid who was a really good athlete and had all the physical skills and tools like the listen could Bailey zappy be uh Drew Brees from you know formerly of the New Orleans Saints who was a smaller installer quarterback like every once in a while that happens but more often than not like some people think even because you need to see over you need to see over everybody like there were even a couple of plays a couple of throws he made on um Sunday where I was like oh man if they were playing a better defense I feel like that didn't Arch very high like that would have gone right into a better Defender well one alignment is like six seven four hundred pounds you know by the way I want to see over there these refrigerators are coming at you from all sides I know you're going to be disappointed Marjorie did file a freedom of information request to get the contract between uh Brady and his lawyer and the divorce proceeding we haven't gotten the documents yet so unfortunately I'm hoping they're gonna take it back to make up sorry I was distracted by the hot nonsense can we talk about a concussion by the way for those who don't know uh Mac Jones is not out because of a concussion he's out because an ankle thing but we know the story with two uh I can't pronounce his last name thank you uh who obviously went through that horrible Sunday Thursday thing that's why he's out yeah and the guy who replaces him Teddy Bridgewater made it through one play Under the new concussion protocol yes no it got knocked out and did he really get knocked out or is the league for at least one Sunday gonna be overly something I mean I think it's probably more than one Sunday I think for at least the near future they're going to be more careful but they have changed the concussion protocol what is the news and I cannot believe that this wasn't part of the original concussion protocol so now they've added I don't remember that there's like a medical term for it motor instance yeah it's like Aphasia it's like something that starts with an A but basically what it is is if you come off the field they can't just do like the look at my final my finger test and you know repeat after me like you know your Baseline the cognitive test that you do if they see any impairment in your motor skills if you're a little wobbly if you don't look great which to me how in the world was that not originally part of the concussion protocol like if you're unsteady on your feet you should not be going back out into a football game to get smacked again to it just attacks you it attacks you I never even heard the word before no that's why I couldn't remember it but to me I mean listen it's I mean hopefully it's not too little too late um I think anything that that that that that bolsters this this procedure um and the rules around it is important I think anything that puts these guys on notice to say you can't just let someone walk out on the field the one thing I would the rule I would really like to see changed is that it does not come down to the team physician I would like to see an independent neurologist be the person who makes the final decision on whether or not a player can go back out because to me there there is a conflict of interest when you say if you're a neurologist and you go I don't know he doesn't seem like he's all there and then the team doctor goes oh no that's what he's always like you know he's always a little loopy and a little crazy you just don't know him that well because it's in his best interest it's in the team's best interest to succeed with that better player who pays the independent neurologist well also I think the NFL I'm not sure if that's the problem but they said that it was a back injury which seemed kind of crazy to say it was a back injury well I suppose you could get I mean there's a lot of nerves back there like think about it if you pinch a nerve in your shoulder you know you might have neck pain or head pain right like you might feel a little often I don't know I'm not a you know not not a doctor and nor did I say with a holiday in last night so I don't really I don't I don't know the mechanics of it but it does seem plausible to me that he could say oh I have a back injury it's like a pinched nerve I'm not feeling right that's why nothing you know that's why I feel a little off but players I think are always going to try to get back out on the field yeah well can we talk about that for a minute I didn't say the holiday advice thanks so I can talk about it I don't you know intellectually well forget this so the guy had a concussion in all likelihood Chris Nowinski who I'm sure you know from concussion Legacy Foundation he said to me on TV last week every the second I saw that play on Sunday forget the back injury everybody watching knew he had a concussion he obviously had one on Thursday so he's a young athlete probably had the best few games he's had in his whole career in the pros you don't want to leave really rise so wait a second you know a lot of these players through your years of reporting I know virtually none of them what are they go I mean if he gets a third concussion he comes back in a week or two weeks and gets a third concussion in the space of what six weeks seven weeks the odds of this guy at 40. I mean I I think that they I think that they play the odds though right like I think they look at these short-term game so two uh right now is in a position where you know if you follow it I think we talked about this on this show in the I think it was not a couple of off seasons ago the Miami Dolphins were suspend have been have faced some sanctions for tampering with Sean Payton but also Thomas they wanted Tom Brady as their quarterback it seemed like they didn't love two uh two is like when DeShaun Watson was sort of on the table they were interested in DeSean Watson of course ended up going to the Cleveland Browns and there were legal issues there so two was sort of always been on Shaky Ground as to whether or not he was good enough to lead the Miami Dolphins to anything significant so when you go out and you win I think they won their first three games or like were four I mean they beat Buffalo um within their first three games and you got I think in his second game I think against Buffalo um or maybe no it was against the Ravens two or three for six touchdowns in his second game like if you're playing like that and you're playing for your job and you're playing for that next big contract because the next contract is when he gets his money right you don't get in your first rookie deal you get in your second contract so if you're playing for that money I think a lot of these guys they weigh the risk and they look at it and say I'm never gonna make money like this doing anything else in my life it's a risk I'm willing to take I think they all take that risk at this point with what we know about football and how violent it is and what can happen down the line to you and how many guys we've seen I I think you go in just accepting the fact that you may be okay you may end up being like a you know a Terry Bradshaw who's still on television how many every years old he is 65 70 years old doing TV totally with it totally normal four-time Super Bowl or you are um Jim McMahon from the Chicago Bears who has to wear sunglasses all the time because you're so sensitive to light that you can't handle it and your dementia's kicked in or your Junior's sale how old is Jim McMahon Jim McMahon she's probably in his 50s because I think he played for he was on the 80s so he's got dementia already he's 84 Bears right there they won the Super Bowl Super Bowl I think it was the 84 Bears member of the Super Bowl Shuffle you know they did like the funny 86. thank you thank you John with the the fridge you mentioned the fridge refrigerator refrigerator yeah that's right yes and they they always just make it on Saturday Night Live you probably don't remember this but they always do the Bears and then he would shake his butt uh when you hear Chris nowinsky and the concussion Legacy Foundation I'm going to forget the year but there he has to say he showed me a photograph on TV the other night his beautiful little daughter yeah and Son uh his son looks like he's moving too I said and by the way Chris nowinsky I don't know if most people know he's an all Ivy player defensive player at Harvard then became a pro wrestler the two concussions he got as a wrestler what caused him to quit and then ultimately hook up with Dr Cantu and Anne McKee and all these incredible people at bu and the concussion Legacy Foundation I asked him if he'd let his son uh play uh tackle football and whatever the clf guidelines are or recommendations I think you have to be 14 or something or whatever year it is are you not surprised that they're maybe I'm missing it that there's not a greater movement among parents to say you can do any sport you want but except this one I think that we have a a cultural in this country a cultural obsession with football you're right to the point where you know kids want to play um there are obviously benefits to playing football the whole team aspect I mean I think you can get that same benefit from running cross-country personally I was on the dance team in high you know I didn't I didn't play football but I still had a team mentality I have a lot of friends that like it shaped who I was just being part of a team I think that I think that concept is overblown that you learn how to be a man if you play football and you learn how to be part of a team like you can do that in a lot of other sports but because we worship these guys and I I don't know if we're gonna get to it but I sent you a story about Herschel Walker and Brett Favre how we worship these guys both on and off the field to the point where everybody thinks like well if I'm good enough I can make I think that's the other problem like we are a culture that is obsessed with Fame and money and football offers probably for the the greatest majority of people the opportunity because there's a 53-man roster you know there's only 12 guys in basketball 25 in baseball I know but in their heads Jim in their heads they think if I can just get in and there's 53 and there's 32 teams and if I can play college at least I can get into college I I think people I have a friend who lets her her boys play football and they have played football for a long time and I think she is nuts I'm with you I think she's I think she's nuts to let them play at the young age did she let them play tackle football and but you know what what am I going to say they're not my kids I don't want to talk about Herschel Walker because I'm sick Williams well or okay Emily you pick it let's do an upbeat story go ahead Emily and we the runner and we've got uh Dan Williams let's try to squeeze them both in they're both upbeat stories Emily citizen set the uh uh U.S record in the marathon yes I'm sorry I thought sorry I thought you were gonna I thought you were gonna lead to sound or something yes so the Chicago marathon was on Sunday Emily system had only run one other marathon in her entire career um and she broke the record that was set at in January by Cara D'Amato um at the Houston Marathon that record had stood since 2006 when Dina and now it's been broken again within what is that 10 months later from January to now and Emily's assistant broke it by 45 seconds like and you have to understand in distance running 45 seconds is a lot massive if you PR something by four or five seconds it's a huge celebration you know what's even bigger than 45 seconds four minutes which is that's how so she sets the U.S record and she comes in second to a runner from Kenya who finished four minutes faster I know I mean it is just it's superhuman and in the Berlin Marathon um is it khachogi um Kip chogi who who has been like very very close to breaking that two hour barrier on the men's side he ran just over 201 that was like a week or two ago right in Berlin like the records that are being smashed and part of it is just technology right like now these now these Runners are running in these carbon fiber shoes which allegedly you're only supposed to run in once or twice and they they are support like Nike makes a shoe that people say will actually make you run like four percent faster but that is so lightweight well it's not that it's so lightweight it has a carbon fiber in it that's supposed to basically like protect your legs in a way that's like doesn't wear them down as much and gives you a little bit more bounces I don't care what the shoe is that's four and a half minutes a mile for 26 miles I know it's like it's mind-blowing how like when you see Pro runners run it is I can't even begin like they're slow run they're easy run is like a seven minute and 30 like minute mile is it almost all of them they're almost all the same build too they're almost all right really tiny the men are tiny the women they're all tiny yes they're all very yeah you wouldn't do well but they're all not that slim you know Alberta Salazar who also speaking of me too me too problem now Rojas who is um has run has been the best female in the Boston Marathon the last two years running she is she lifts weights a lot and she's formerly a triathlete she does not look like your typical Runner and you know what she doesn't get injured all the time she's not constantly missing things because when you're that small and that slight you do suffer you're definitely more susceptible opposite because if you're smaller then you wouldn't have too much weight to carry but it's but it's not like see this is the problem with our society we think about weight as bad but if your weight is muscle yeah and that's protecting your bones like there's a whole program that this is really going off on a running tangent because there's actually there's actually a program called lift run perform which is an amateur program but they really stress lifting alongside running and their Runners have seen incredible times come I have a friend who did it she could not break three hours in the marathon she did this she's quit running for five months lifted heavy heavy weight she's a tiny little thing that lifted heavy heavy weights she came in well under three hours what's the name of the woman who took the subway for 24 months so she wasn't thin I mean she won the marathon I remember that was way back when people ran cotton shorts you know like the dry fit or anything they didn't have a vapor fly four percent giving of any do you remember shock absorption after Rosie Ruiz two great moments from Rosie Rose I think Bill Rogers who we've had on which is just wonderful Bill Rogers I think won the men's race that year remember the photograph in the newspaper of him looking over at her like really and that was great and you remember what was on the T-shirt after it was clear she didn't run it what was the symbol on the T-shirt the rosie Ruiz t-shirt no and the subway subway token it was pretty cool yeah okay we're out of time thank you so much uh we didn't get to the guy but that's okay okay we've been speaking with NBC Sports Boston's Casey she's an anchor and reporter there on TV and she's also a Boston Public Radio contributor and we're very grateful to talk to her coming up executive director of the American civil liberties Union of Massachusetts we're going to update us on a bunch of course cases the ACLU is involved with Carol Rose is the executive director she's going to join us right after the news you're listening to Boston Public Radio 89 7 gbh we are broadcasting live from the Boston Public Library and we are streaming online at youtube.com gbh news [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] you're listening to Boston public radio with Jim broughty and Marjorie Egan just ahead more smart conversation about what's going on in our community that's right after an NPR news break here on gbh news 89 7. support for gbh comes from you and the Wheeler School from lower school Neuroscience to Upper School Arts the Wheeler School is committed to making learning and Adventure registration for their open house on October 22nd at wheelerschool.org and Mass General Cancer Center dedicated to providing Compassionate Care and Cancer Specialists who are experienced in the cancer you have when you hear the word cancer their team is ready learn more at massgeneral.org cancer I'm reporter Esteban bustillos and you and I are listening to 89 7 WGBH WGBH HD1 Boston online at gbhnews.org Boston's local NPR ahead on Boston Public Radio we're live at the Boston Public Library starting the hour with cow Rose from the Massachusetts civil liberties Union on the impact of Biden's marijuana possession pardons on the path of federal legalization then from 12 30 to 1 30 Boston mayor Michelle was here for ask the mayor she'll comment on a recent move to speed approvals of affordable housing and the fact that after a 30-day shutdown the Orange Line is now slower than it was before after the pandemic forced him to push back plans for 2020 restaurant opening bipla Ray and quasi qua began serving their meals at pop-up events they called it Comfort kitchen blend in the flavors of Asian and African cuisine into a sort of a global comfort food now they're just weeks away from that long away opening in dorchester's upham's corner they'll join us with that global comfort food all that to come on Boston Public Radio 89.7 gbh [Applause] [Music] live from NPR news in Washington I'm Lakshmi sang the White House says it is re-evaluating the U.S relationship with Saudi Arabia which along with Russia as part of OPEC plus Nations agree to cut oil production and Pierre's Windsor Johnston reports Congressional Democrats say the decision by OPEC and its oil producing allies is short-sighted some Democrats are calling for an immediate freezing of U.S cooperation with Saudi Arabia accusing the kingdom of helping to underwrite the Russian invasion of Ukraine National Security adviser John Kirby says President Biden is willing to work with Congress to determine what the relationship with Saudi Arabia should look like going forward I think the president's been very clear that this is a relationship that that we we need to continue to reevaluate and certainly in light of the OPEC decision I think that's where he is OPEC announced last week that it would cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day A Move That Could lead to a sharp increase in gas prices Windsor Johnston NPR News Washington Russian State media report the country's Financial monitoring agency is adding meta the parent company of Facebook WhatsApp and Instagram to its list of terrorists and extremists individuals and groups critical of their government often use the social media platforms to organize rallies or protests these days more Russians are challenging President Vladimir Putin's campaigned offset costly losses the Russia military sustained in the war against Ukraine in Moscow NPR's Charles means reports on efforts to Tamp down growing doubts about how Russia is faring for weeks we've seen growing criticism among hardliners here over the military strategy they argue Russia has essentially been losing in Ukraine because the Kremlin was fighting with one hand tied behind its back in other words Russia wasn't using the full force available to it and in that sense yesterday's attacks appeared not to be a one-off but signal this conflict is escalating Charles means reporting prosecutors in Baltimore have dropped charges against Adnan Syed the man who was released from prison last month after having served more than 20 years for the murder of his former girlfriend Heyman Lee and Pierre's anastasias yolkas reports Adnan Syed was convicted in 2000 when his convictions overturned last month prosecutors in the City State's Attorney's Office had 30 days to decide whether or not to dismiss his case entirely or to retry him the office of the state's attorney for Baltimore City stated in September that a year-long investigation had revealed new information about two potential other suspects in Lee's murder the names of those suspects were not made public in that notion as the investigation was still ongoing prosecutors also noted in September's filing that at least one of those suspects was not disclosed to sides attorney at the time of his trial Anastasia silkas NPR news New York from Washington this is NPR news good afternoon with the latest from The gbh Newsroom I'm Henry Santoro in Brookline this fine Tuesday Massachusetts Healthcare leaders are urging people to get both their covid-19 booster and their flu shot as fears of a winter surge arise this comes after newly released data shows the country is lagging on getting the variant specific covid booster a mere four percent of Americans have gotten that shot Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials say that they have an ample supply of vaccines for those Distributing it and are warning clinicians to be wary of expiration dates hundreds of residents are being uprooted from their Long-Term Care Homes across Massachusetts after five nursing homes announced that they're planning to close by the end of the year the nursing home site Rising costs empty beds and adequate funding and staff shortages factors that have destabilized the all pretty fragile system four other nursing facilities in Massachusetts shut down earlier this year and 21 have closed or announced plans to Too Close since the start of the covid-19 pandemic in federal fishing managers have identified spawning cod in a large area in the Atlantic that's marked for offshore wind development the New England fishery management Council has highlighted 3 000 square miles off the east coast as habitat area of particular concern the area spans all nine federally designated wind energy lease areas the Bedford light reports that the designation has not yet been finalized Federal ocean and energy management Representatives say there'd be no changes in the permitting process but the designation could lead to deeper analysis 61 degree is this is gbh news support for NPR comes from NPR stations other contributors include DuckDuckGo committed to making privacy online simple used by tens of millions they offer internet privacy with one download DuckDuckGo privacy simplified at duckduckgo.com [Music] I am Marjorie Eagan you're listening to Boston Public Radio 897 gbh we have broadcasting from the Boston Public Library as we do every Tuesday and every Friday and we are streaming online at youtube.com gbh news that is correct Marjorie and in 25 minutes the mayor will join us for an hour of ask the mayor 12 30 1 30 you can actually you can text her now if you'd like 877-301-8970 you can call her at 12 30 or if you come down to the library as some people have already done you can submit questions and we will get to as many of you as we can but first you want to say something no I wasn't going to say anything go ahead well I think you were no I wasn't yes you were okay so I'd like to say hello Carol how are you oh no that's not the way we do it uh joining us now is the executive director of the civil liberties Union of Massachusetts you can now say hello Carol go ahead hello Carol hello Carol how are you hi Marjorie hi Jim it's incredibly how smoothly we operate it's amazing that's amazing it's good to see you I love live radio I know isn't live radio wonderful it is it is life a lot of people had very ended radio you know but we don't we just go right out there let alone I think it's pretty obvious if you know what I mean as opposed to dead radio okay good that's right so uh So Cal Rose um President Biden uh on Thursday said he was pardoning thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and says that his administration is going to look at whether marijuana should still be in the same legal category which is incredible as drugs like heroin and LSD it's not that many people I think about 6 500 people plus the District of Columbia um but what do you make of this well it's about time I mean I think it's really good news um you know we've known for a really long time that marijuana possession shouldn't be a crime and here in Massachusetts we decriminalized it and ultimately legalized possession because we know that that is that it only leads to incarcerating people and that the racial disparities and the rates of arrest and incarceration are really high I mean we know that black people and white people use marijuana at about the same rate but that actually the rates of arrest for people of color are much higher than for white people so it becomes a pretext for the police to hassle people and to arrest people and so this is just a common sense reform uh that it's great to see the at the federal level that it's happening and we now need to do the same thing for the people who are wrongly convicted for marijuana possession here in Massachusetts and but as he said he urged Governors to act on this thing absolutely the uh one of the two candidates for uh Governor Maura Healy who by the way was against the legalization ballot question is now saying that her opposition was quote unnecessary she said she would do exactly what Biden did on the uh National National level but you know this is another one of these things like a lot of the issues we discussed with you and with the Supreme Court a mere 70 percent of the people in America think that marijuana should be legalized I mean recreational marijuana should be legalized yet there's virtually no chance in this current makeup of Congress and surely and the new Congress should the Republicans take at least the house right that that happens correct so essentially Biden has done as much as he can absolutely do right right and you know it's that's this is the real challenge that we have right now where we have people who are extremists who are in positions of decision making who are preventing the will of the people the majority of the people from having their desires met and whether we're talking about marijuana possession or whether we're talking about reproductive Justice in all of these areas we're really seeing the need for people for our democracy to get stronger for more people to vote for more people to vote uh their beliefs and their values and we have to turn this thing around and it really is going to come down to people getting out to the polls can I just say one thing about this I know I said this other day but for those who are listening to Carol say that and think you know Massachusetts is an outlier we are not an outlier at all even on the first of three ballot questions which was medical marijuana the fact that anybody in America can say that a doctor should not be able to prescribe what he or she thinks is best for his or her patients particularly is unbelievable virtually every politician opposed that virtually every elected official opposed decriminalization and virtually every elected official with very few exceptions I think Andrea Cabral might have been an exception as a former elected official oppose legalization so our political infrastructure didn't authorize any of these things the voters essentially stood up and demanded it and passed them on the ballot absolutely and that's why it's so important to give the courage to the politicians you know I think a combination of the Law and Order uh Mis messaging that happens that we hear so much about that where we conflate Public Safety and civil rights and freedom and civil liberties and things like that they're really often aligned and when we're talking about things like drug convictions it's surely aligned that we these are public health questions they're not carceral questions they're not law enforcement questions and the vast majority of people overwhelmingly really want to see us take more of a public health approach and less of a policing approach when we're addressing whether it's substance use disorders a general crisis that's a joke I mean we talk all the time about mental health problems and drug abuse problems but you can't get treatment so much the time even if you want to get treatment it's really really difficult to get treatment so we should be spending the money on treatment since we're talking about three ballot questions where voters approved changes in marijuana laws can we talk about one other ballot question people are going to vote on November 8th question four this uh thing that would repeal the law that the legislature and they had to override the governor's veto authorized undocumented people having driver's licenses and I'm embarrassed to say until I prepared for a debate that we did on television I think it was last week before when Governor Baker was with us who was a really smart guy by the way even if one disagrees with an issue his concern we asked him repeatedly what's your major concern my concern is that you know uh the registry is a pathway to getting registered to vote and you're going to end and I didn't know until last week that already in this state people with green cards can uh can get a license right uh people who are 16 and 17 can get a license and we asked the Republican nominee for attorney general the other day how many people with green cards and how many people 16 and 17 illegally registered to vote he didn't know of one right so what is the r i don't think what is the argument against this there really isn't an argument it's just a xenophobic argument so I mean a yes on four on the ballot initiative question four people should vote Yes because it's going to make our roads safer basically what it says is that it enables anyone who can get a driver's license you have to provide certain forms of ID to do that can then get insurance and we all know that we want everybody on the road to be insured because you know God forbid that we are in an accident whether it's our fault or somebody else's fault you want Insurance there to cover it and that's why law enforcement is so supportive of yes on four um you know we have the Mass police Chiefs Association in supporting of it the vast majority of police Chiefs are in favor of this and we have it in 17 other states we have this kind of a law already passed so this is just a common sense reform which is why the legislature passed it so overwhelmingly and it's just some extremists on the far right who paid to get some signatures gathered to put it on the ballot it's on the ballot late so you have to flip your ballot over to make sure you vote on the last question because it didn't show up in your ballot guide and just vote Yes on four for safer roads by the way the governor would be with us before the elections he'll be here in late October we don't have a date yet but we should revisit this whole issue uh because I'm not even sure I mean this respectfully that he knows uh or thought about for example people with green cards and how that wasn't a problem if that isn't a problem why do we assume that this is going to be and right there's just a lot of fear-mongering which is is always a danger and we have to avoid it we're talking to Carol Rose ACLU executive director that's right okay I don't have it in front of me just want to make sure that's right okay so you guys the ACLU uh American civility Liberties Union is involved uh with this whole effort to basically restrict voting rights case before The Supreme Court involving Alabama which would make it uh which would really make it difficult for African-Americans in Alabama to have their districts represented fairly under the Voting Rights Act so what's going on so this is an ACO UK it's called Merrill versus Milligan and it's a voting rights case under section two of the Voting Rights Act and basically what it says is it upholds we think the ACLU thinks that the lower courts got it right and we should uphold restrictions on trying to have political gerrymandering so in effect while 27 of the Alabama excuse me of the uh Alabama residents are actually uh black the way that they've set it up is a tiny major only a tiny percent I think 14 are actually going to be represented and this is precisely why the Voting Rights Act and this is precisely why article the amendment 14 to the Constitution was put in was to fix the fact that there were efforts to try to prevent black people from voting after slavery um and so the ACLU has gone forward and and submitted a brief we're representing uh the state in this case to make sure that the voting rights are protected and the other side the fact that the court is giving it a review is really scary because that suggests that they would like to overturn uh secretary yes and you know it was wonderful to see Justice Jackson in her first world argument basically saying a really originalist argument on this wouldn't say that we're race neutral that somehow the Constitution is colorblind in fact the 14th amendment was adopted in order to provide some sort of a rebalancing after slavery and to make sure that people could vote every person should be allowed to vote no one should be gerrymandered out of their right to vote and that's what's happening in these states across the South and it's really concerning that that the Supreme Court is taking the case up because that suggests that they might want to further gut the Voting Rights you know for people just I don't want to spend too much time on the facts of this even though it's a really important case for people to say well how are they doing this 27 of the population as African-American as you say they have seven congressional seats if you do the math uh uh that would mean that African Americans are pretty much entitled under the Constitution to have at least two seats represented by the candidate of their choice what they did brilliantly there was they spread out when they're constructing the maps right African-Americans into all of the districts so they they diminish their overall power right so the only District in which they have a significant enough number to elect someone should they choose the black candidate is one out of seven as opposed to two out of seven right which would reflect their percentage right and you know popular it was a three judge panel that said that this was unconstitutional there was a lengthy trial there were 200 pages of findings I mean this is not done lightly and so I think it's really important that we watch this case in other cases like it because we've seen now this extremist Court trying to take up in a number of cases ways to basically take us backward we've already seen it with reproductive Justice now we're going to see it with voting rights and that's really concerning so but from what I'm reading people are predicting a 6-3 vote on this well I think we're going to see a lot of 6-3 votes in the wrong direction for this coming term affirmative action another one yeah Harvard North Carolina exactly and so I think we're going to see that but I want to just for a moment of Hope a glimmer of hope I think that the dissents are going to be really important we've seen in the past where you've been able to use the Descent to plant the seeds for further understandings I mean even on Free Speech issues for example that happened in the court years ago and so I think the what the role of Sotomayor and Kagan and katanji brand Jackson are going to be tremendously important not just for what happens immediately but for laying the foundations the groundwork for future work to try to help save our constitution you know you we've talked to you a lot about the great campaigns what a difference the D.A makes all that sort what a difference the sheriff makes Etc we need a national what a difference the Supreme Court Justice we were talking just yesterday uh and I had forgotten about this until one of our colleagues here did a little research Mitch McConnell in 2012 21 said that if the Republicans regained a majority in the Senate which and it's a toss-up right now it's 50 50 now if you look at the toss-up races it could go Republican it could go Democratic it's unclear he has said in advance that he would not allow the Senate to consider any nominee for a vacancy that Joe Biden proposed the fact that people are not considering that when they're doing their vote suggests and I haven't heard anybody talk about it suggests to me that people have no clue what the deal is with the Supreme Court they also don't know as we discussed with judge gertner yesterday I would assume that you don't need to amend the Constitution to change the number of members of the court in fact it's been done what seven times nine times in our nation's history I I think we all need a lot of educating about what the Supreme Court the power they have the history of the Supreme Court because as we've said these this majority with the exception of Clarence Thomas us maybe a leader I'm not sure how old are really young they're really young they're 50 51 53 and if history is any guide 30 years well this court could be six to three wife who saw kind of the honorary member of the Supreme Court by the sound system that's a good line and in addition exactly and in addition to that I also think that we need to have a long-term strategy I mean I wrote when I was used to be a newspaper reporter and I wrote an article back in the 1980s about the rise of a new group called The Federalist society which became the basis for appointing all of these right-wing judges well we need to see a counterpart and a longer term Vision on people who care about Progressive politics who care about civil rights and why hasn't there been one because we've known about the federal Society for quite some time now right well I think you know one of the things Marjorie is I think it's harder when you have a bigger tent with a lot of competing issues and stuff to get that kind of alignment so I think sometimes you have a situation where there's a lot of alignment for the kind of extremist viewpoints so even though they're in a minority they're more unified in their messaging yeah and I think there are a lot of lessons I'm I think that the lessons are being taken up certainly by the ACLU although we're nonpartisan but also I think by other groups and other hopefully by other political parties well speaking of other we've had them on a bunch of times and if there's I I love people who have obsessions particularly if they're obsessions I care about Shelton White House the United States oh my God he is obsessed with dark money yeah in terms of packing the Supreme gets out his little white board right he does it every time he has that he's on the Judiciary Committee he's done it on our show if you Google White House and dark money and Supreme Court you will see tutorials about how these justices ended up there and what money put them there it's brilliant and that's really helpful I asked Nancy gertner the retired federal judge about this she teaches at Harvard now about this yesterday because it seems to me it's only a matter of time before somebody does a freedom from religion case and she mentioned there was a case in Florida it's a state case but how some Jewish groups are saying you know our religion said as we we can have reproductive health care we can have abortions so how can you foist your Christianity on us Jews no I think it's a really important Point Marjorie when we think about freedom of religion you think that there's the free exercise of religion I get to exercise my religion and then there's uh Establishment Clause to prevent the government from establishing one religion and they're actually intertwined because if the government were to establish one religion then that would inherently discriminate against the free exercise of all the other religions exactly so I think the case down in Florida challenging the Dobb's decision or of challenging Florida restrictions on reproductive Justice is one of the examples and we're going to see more and more of those coming up let me ask you a question I should know the answer to and I don't that they get to decide which cases they take right right well there has to be four people um on the Supreme Court so that's another problem with six three so they even take that case even if the Florida courts decide in favor oh I want to answer that they're not based on what Cairo said to me you have to be optimistic you read the dissents and in 50 years when these justices are gone will make a move in the right direction I mean this is a crisis of Epic Proportions no I think we're in I know you know this like today yes we're in an existential crisis on a whole lot of fronts Jim and I couldn't agree more and that's why you know the ACLU were operating in all 50 states and the strategies that we have here in Massachusetts are going to be different than the strategies that the ACLU of Texas or Louisiana or Florida has but we work in concert and that's what makes it so powerful that Dobbs has left us with this Patchwork of every state being in a different place and that's really challenging from a movement building perspective but the principles align us which is you know the government shouldn't be in your bedroom the government shouldn't be telling you who to love the government shouldn't be forcing you literally forcing you to have a pregnancy you have a right to not be pregnant it's a fundamental right right I think we need to rethink how we're framing it because look what happened in Kansas the people of Kansas the good people they rose up and they said no the government doesn't have a right to force pregnancy and I think we're having a ballot initiative in Vermont we're having a ballot initiative in Michigan and we're having a ballot initiative in Kentucky and we are really actively working on all of those places and I think it's gonna we have to go directly to the people as you're saying uh to get these things overturned because the vast majority of people don't believe that the government should force someone to have a pregnancy or should prevent you from marrying the person you love you know while you're here arcade Crawford has been on our show a lot one of your colleagues you and I didn't know about this little few days ago you and I listened a little bit actually let's hear a little bit of it there's a podcast that you two are doing about the intersection of technology and civil liberties here's some sounds called rise of the surveillance State that's a little ominous it's an episode of Freedom unfinished Freedom unfinished the name of the podcast name of the podcast is it ever here's just a little clip from one of the episodes in the Big Data economy our DNA itself becomes worth more than oil which was previously the world's oldest and most commodified resource our personal and intimate information is now a commodity to be bought and sold without our knowledge and consent what's upbeat is the whole thing that I'm beat or not it is it ends on hope it does all good because you know me I'm I'm a Perpetual optimism actually I'm a pessimist who pretends to be an optimist because I would rather be active and futile than to be passive exactly can you repeat that yeah please don't thank you Carol Rose it's great to see you oh that's great to see you what's the name of the podcast again please Freedom unfinished and you can Freedom unfinished Freedom unfinished and get it wherever you download your podcast fantastic thank you very much thank you very much proud executive director of the American civil liberties Union of Massachusetts okay coming up it's ask the mayor with Boston mayor Michelle Wu you can call us or text us we had the homie Mike here at the Boston Public Library the number to call or text 877-301-8970-877-301-8970 the mayor of Boston is going to be with us for the next hour taking our questions and yours you're listening to Boston Public Radio 897 gbh broadcasting live from the Boston Public Library oh and we are streaming live if you want to see the mayor on TV youtube.com gbh news I 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[Music] welcome back to Boston Public Radio Jim Brownie and Marge Regan we're live at the Boston Public Library streaming online at youtube.com gbh news we're now joined by the mayor of Boston Michelle Wu for another edition of ask the mayor she'll take your questions and ours until 1 30 it's an hour from now you can reach here at 877-301-8970 by call or text you can Tweeter at BOS public radio and if you're at the library our colleague Fernando's sitting right over there at the guest mic uh we'll talk to you or something and if your question is appropriate or whatever the adjective is we'll get to you too mayor Wu it's great to see I know I didn't Express that very well but you know what I mean nice to see you again well in just a few minutes we're going to get to uh the breakout piece on our mayor the New York Times calling her brilliant and very focused and the adult in the room with Serene confidence boy it was a great piece of being the state of my laundry pile but before we get to that um good news this is not a good news news stories and editor in the globe today people may remember there was this is Mission Hill uh K-8 school in Jamaica plan where there were years of uh of bullying and sexual assaults and and nothing was done about it the global part of the piece today about this uh Linden kth grade school in West Roxbury uh where one of the uh leaders of the school has has left and the new superintendent Mary Skipper didn't want to talk about why he left but what I don't understand mayor is they're not even going to say whether there's been an investigation of bullying complaints at the Linden school so I can understand why parents are really upset about this this does not seem to be a Personnel issue that seems to be an investigation issue so what's the deal up there any allegation suspicion even flag of bullying is investigated and that is standard school policy from School level on up I think what we you know what I want to emphasize is that we have had a lot of transition and turmoil within the Boston Public School District and I think sometimes when we focus on trying to stabilize that by putting in place important policies it's we have to have that consistency we have to have a clear sense of what the rules are who's going to do what what the protocols are but unless that actually gets down to the day-to-day experience of young people in our classrooms their families we really need to in some ways Zoom down more and really get into the wheeze on each and every situation that might be happening our students and families and our entire city Beyond everyone has gone through such stress over the last three years we see the rates of mental health needs deepening in the 911 calls coming into our call call Response Center and in every way that we're interacting with our community members and so we need not only targeted resources and supports and and systems but the one by one by one interaction is really important to get right as well so I just would be clear then so the superintendent was incorrect and declining to tell the whether there had been an investigation she should have told them about the investigation because that's what the globe was reporting that superintendent Skipper declined to say whether the district had investigated these allegations anytime bullying is raised it is looked into and there's a an appropriate course of action um when it comes to Personnel issues for individual staff members the details of what might be looked into or when or or what habit that is all subject to privacy laws for for the privacy of individual people we're talking to Mayor Willett you can call her or text her at 877-301-8970 so mayor will when Governor Baker announced that the orange line was going to be shut for a month one of the few politicians who I think it's fair to say had the courage to say it's not pleasant but it's something we got to do was you and if at that time you had known that after 30 days of a shutdown the orange line at least for now would be slower would you have endorsed this 30-day shutdown the truth you know we can armchair quarterback all all day um it is infuriating that as a major metro area as a city that is leading the country on so many of our Industries and sectors and growth and opportunity that we don't have a functional reliable mass transit system that that is a baseline part of the foundation that any City needs as we're thinking about our growth and so we're not left with great choices at this point I think it was still an important decision to say rather than drip drip drip and stretch this out over how who knows however many years let's just try to get as much done as we can in one sitting there are many factors that go into how fast our trains run and we just need to be we can't let up on the momentum and the priority to get this done urgently but if you're a laborer you're a a citizen of this community and you're not the mayor who knows what's going on and you you were inconvenienced for 30 days yeah for the greater good down the line and you open up the morning paper to see least temporarily the line is slow what was your immediate reaction when you first heard that I mean I was on the Orange Line trains and so I you know you know those who are not only reading the paper but sitting on those trains no and unfortunately it's been this kind of experience for several years now and not just since the 30-day shutdown but we we have to move faster we have to ensure that the next Administration what our next Governor's approach to this will be Central to the future of everything that we're trying to do in the city of Boston our economy our Statewide connectedness our opportunity the housing market it all comes down to whether people can get around did you get an adequate explanation where I assume you reached out to either the head of the T or whoever you reach out to the governor did you get an adequate explanation as to why after the 30 days I don't mean to belabor this this is the last one as to why it was slower after the fact yeah it was never going to be uh kind of an on off switch of we just need to fix a couple things and then all of a sudden you know voila the the Decades of neglect and And Delay are suddenly fixed the major challenge is around around Staffing levels and so there are still some areas that I from my understanding some additional slow zones that need to be changed and this and that but the major factor is how much Staffing levels have been decimated at the MBTA and we need an all hands on deck push this Saturday the city of Boston is partnering with them we're hosting a jobs fair right on City Hall Plaza so we these are great jobs they there's every every role that you can imagine from driving and steering trains and buses to being a signal dispatcher to engineers and and all of that they are in tremendous need thousand my the last estimate we got was 1500 open positions just at the MBT but shouldn't they have isn't there an obligation when you're a public official or you run an agency to be honest in terms of expert I would assume if you polled people on the orange line that you were riding uh and said when this is over are the trains going to be faster every one of them would have not said yeah that's why we're suffering this interim pain was the public dealt with in Europe we will end up with faster trains right that is that is the um these infrastructure repairs needed to be made at one point over another and being able to do a condensed period taking five years of work into one period still I believe will pay off in the long run but there are many other complicating factors and we can't let up they have one of the most incredible things I ever read was the T was hiring people part-time first for the first several weeks of their employment and and I thought who's going to take a job part-time and I hope they've they fix that I don't know if they have but I hope they have speaking of housing um everybody talks about the cost price you know rents through the roof can't afford houses but you're doing something with the speeding up of uh Fast Track proposals for affordable housing how's that going to work yes this is one of my pet peeves this is really the reason why I got into government was when my family was going through a tough time I tried to open a small business and thought that I could do it quickly get everyone back on their feet and then the process of all the permits all the licenses all the Departments was a nightmare and in Boston that is hundreds of years of history and common viculars permits layered on things that that we're still using today and that stretches across everything so our focus is to really accelerate affordable housing production and to do so we've said we are going to give clear priority and get under the hood of every way our agencies are touching the approvals process right now it's an average of 11 months an average of 11 months to permit an affordable housing development that's almost a year and that's before construction just to get to this point where people are allowed to move forward and so our executive order cuts that in half it is it sets the goal that is even a little bit uncomfortable for it's quite ambitious and the the pushes we're going to make the changes to streamline processes to increase coordination and to make more things predictable and what's called as of right so it doesn't have to go through the approvals process in some cases by doing this for affordable housing not only will we be putting our resources in an area that's badly needed but this will unlock waste speed up processes overall for all of our projects too let's take some callers Cheryl in South Boston you're on with the mayor of Boston that's Michelle Wu hey there hi mayor how are you good thanks for calling um my question is related around covet and BPS the number of covet cases in the first month of school have increased to over 700 percent compared last year and there's no Universal masking or weekly PCR testing this year when and how will you bring crucial protections such as universal masking and weekly PCR testing at school or District level how will you ensure Equity Across The District board yeah thank you so much Shel this is a great point that as we are feeling the temperatures come down over the last few years that has also meant that our covid numbers have gone up and we're seeing a little bit of a not quite sure if it's settling at a trend yet but we're watching the Wastewater numbers very closely as well and as as always there's a little little bit of a tick up in the fall we are in a place now where as we have gotten further and further into understanding the virus as we've gotten further and further into having a shared approach and and policy making that we can track it better vaccination is now available for all uh young people as well and so we're really focused In This Moment On ensuring that we're providing a targeted response so that when there are there have already been instances here where a cluster has started to show signs of appearing in a school and that school had masking in place just to respond and make sure that that could be kept under control and so that is a policy for now that we're monitoring things very closely and have an approach that is based on individual schools and the situation in real time Cheryl thank you very much for the call we appreciate it Jane is it the Boston Public Library microphone thanks for coming in and you're on with the mayor hey Jane hello um first off I want to say thank you to May well I think you're doing a great job um as a Boston resident I see how unless the population struggling every day but I've also seen it in my travels all over the country and also in the state of Massachusetts so my question to you is are you in talks with other Mayors to share concerns and possible solutions to help our fellow citizens yeah thank you so much in fact I have been lucky to be part of a couple different convenings since taking office to learn from other Mayors and talk about our shared issues and the overlap of the opiate crisis our unhoused residents mental health is a challenge that every single mayor has brought up we are at the at the local level often the the place that all of the challenges flow down to when our housing market doesn't reflect the uh right level and availability of affordable housing when federal laws and the opiate crisis haven't had the resources nationally or the the treatment for mental health to have true parity with physical health that all ends up being something that we are stepping in and looking to troubleshoot and provide real-time response to in an emergency situation and so this is a national issue for sure I know that in Boston when we are the hub for health care when we're the hub for Innovation we can we can do it differently and we've been really trying different approaches and our housing surge over this last winter really made a big difference in understanding how quickly we can move people into treatment pipelines when that availability is there we need more support and resources from the state to be able to do this at a regional scale here thanks for the question if you want to talk to the mayor directly you can call her at 877-301-8970 here's a great question says a texter for the mayor about the status of the new Charlestown Bridge construction has been on pause for months the old slash temporary Bridge is a nightmare especially for cyclists I've heard there's a major structural flaw with the new bridge that they can't figure out this bridge between the North End and Charlestown right yeah that is a great question it's it's one that is incredibly frustrating we learned I believe it was early late spring or early in the summer that there had been an issue with the manufacturing plant in outside the state but in in the New England region that they were struggling to resolve and so because of supply chain issues because of these uh structural pieces that needed to be fit together we've been stuck a little bit and trying to find every way to either recoup losses or accelerate the process but it is the type of issue where it's not unlike our affordable housing approvals process where if you just kind of get agencies in a room you can figure it out this is this is much more connected to the actual pieces of the bridge how do you deal when you ask a staff person to brief you on something like this and you're as aggravated as you appear to be about the status of things how do you deal with that I mean we've had yellers in the uh no I'm serious in the mayor's office you know some throw things what'd your friend write about America through the prosciutto across the fifth floor exactly so I'm serious how do you deal with with bad news so if it's an issue that is within our purview as a city or I'm not a yeller I'm not a thrower at home or in any space my response is usually I'm gonna go see it myself just so I can truly make sure that I understand the challenge inside and out one example from last week or maybe the week before we had one particular school bus route that was causing a lot of frustration and this was for a group of students with individualized education plans students are students with disabilities who require a bus monitor to be present and I had kept asking because the issue had been flagged and I'd seen it raised on social media and you heard the plan was in place and this issue needed to be tweaked and then it would be good and then there was still a problem then it was that issue and then finally I said tell me what time the bus is going to get to this bus stop I'm going to ride with the young people all the way to school and see it myself and it went smoothly and great this was a great story that the gold covered this and one of the city councils was on there I think with you as well where the kid the kid with special needs wasn't the bus didn't show up and mom was for work and all that kind of stuff but what I wanted when I read that story is it sounds like there's not enough bus drivers either because if somebody calls in sick they seem to be unable to to cover it so are people not lining up for bus driving jobs is that part of the problem we are doing a lot better on this front and there's a lot of structural issues here that are amazing BPS Transportation team has just made so many strides with they are working so hard every single day and the what I thought what I experienced from being on that bus and to see when things do go smoothly how many things have to go exactly right we drove past the street where there was a trash truck going down and if we had turned that way versus that way we would have been stuck and then late we were making wide turns on residential streets and the parked cars weren't in the way this morning but sometimes they are we had a bus monitor who was amazing and got all of the young people seated right away and it's a very complex dance to make sure everyone's buckled in and in the right seat now on buses for our students for some of our buses especially those with monitors and for students with disabilities that they're they're strapped right in and very secure um and so this issue of bus drivers is similarly a national issue but in this last contract we raised wages significantly we established a new pipeline to be able to train those without a pre-existing CDL license to drive large vehicles to join to be hired right away versus before you had to have a license even be in the pool of those considered and so we've opened up a lot of they are there now every route is covered which is even different than where we were a year ago but still every absence when there are 700 routes tends to Ripple through and our bus monitors are a key component to it um councilor Mejia and I also visited the bus hotline a couple days later so that we could see the calls coming in and how family members who can now track the system on your GPS phone still might see they're they're watching their child on their way to school on the GPS and now all of a sudden the bus is in Cambridge when it went over the bridge and it took a wrong turn and they're calling in and we're trying to check so there's so much happening and we're making good progress troubleshooting every issue but it really comes down to one by one by one how do we make sure bus drivers not only are hired but no and are comfortable and familiar with the routes or know exactly where this student is picked up from even though this is the building this is actually the door on the other side that is all expertise and talent that they build up very very quickly but they still have to take time to build it up the number to text or call the mayor's 877-301-8970 which is what you did guy you're in the South End you're on with mayor Wu welcome thank you thank you yes um I live on the corner of Tremont Street and Pembroke Street and now they're putting in the bike the bike Lanes on Tremont Street my question for the mayor is what's going to happen with the parking on Tremont Street and what's going to happen with the trucks when they have to make deliveries like the Starbucks and stuff because there's only going to be one lane on each side for the for the cars you know yeah uh this is thank you so much for for raising the issue as a city um I think let's start big picture which is that we are growing and our streets many of which were modeled after cow paths in some cases cannot take more capacity of cars and so to be able to attack our traffic problem to be able to get people where they need to go we have to figure out ways to move more people on the same space right in the South End is a perfect example we're not going to just carve out another road uh knock down some some Brownstones and and be able to build New Roads at this point in our history it's about how do we do more with the existing space and that means we do need to be updating our roads to be able to allow all different forms of commuting safely pedestrians cyclists more mass transit and vehicular traffic the enforcement and the actual usage of the new designs play a big big role that's what we saw during the 30-day Orange Line shutdown just having a bus lane painted there without someone making sure that no cars were parked in there illegally it's functionally useless if if something is there but then you can't use it but but someone's blocking it and so we need to our whole curb Management program really focuses on that very issue where can delivery trucks go how do we arrange when and where so that all of these pieces fit together and we can move more people you own a related note Sophia texts and asks you given that bicycle ridership is both limited to the able-bodied Bound by weather constraints as well as completely unpoliced and unregulated by Insurance why is this being expanded instead of adding and expanding buses throughout the community which will serve the entire population year round parentheses elderly disabled and people who just don't want to ride a bike this is really a both ant instead of an either or and I will note that in fact during the Orange Line shutdown when we were expanding both we saw record usage of cycling infrastructure not including opening up for residents who told me that as a person with disabilities with an electric bike with a different kind of bike they were able to get around much more quickly and much more safely in some cases when the right infrastructure was there and so it's not necessarily an either or of who can use which modes of Transit we need to open up all modes to everyone but that makes again is about ensuring that the pieces fit together and we're not unintentionally creating challenges because we're not designing our roads in the right way to read Shirley leung's story in the globe that was a long bike ride yeah eight miles she saw her life pass before it twice on the way we noticed she didn't bike home I should yeah she didn't Barry's at the Boston Public Library Mike go ahead and ask your question to the mayor Barry thanks for being here thank you you mayor it's a pleasure and a privilege to see you I'm a former base stator from California I've been following you closely and I came here today by Blue bikes and the orange line I didn't see you unfortunately but I I'm especially keen on free Transit which can make a tremendous difference for social well-being social justice and climate and I'd like to know how people who want to help can help get free transit in Boston and all over the country great thank you thank you we totally agree here and again there are so many examples of how even small tweaks in removing Financial barriers can be life-changing for communities so in Boston we have three bus routes that serves three of our most heavily used bus routes that serve residents of color and low-income residents are free and we have they the usage has been tops among all of the routes we also were able to as an accommodation during the Orange Line shutdown make blue bikes free for 30 days and they set they broke seven different records for usage over just a few weeks when that Financial barrier was taken down how what we need to do moving forward really there are a couple things that are quite concrete one is those who are most often using these systems should have a direct say in the decisions and policies that get made including in Fair structure and there is a proposal that is this close up at the State House to ensuring that the city of Boston would have a direct voice in in the mbta's policies which we currently do not and so we really are hoping that in this last chunk of the year that the House and Senate and the governor can still come together there's just a few final technical sign-offs that need to be made for that piece to go through so that Boston and a municipality can have a direct voice there we need commuter rail Fair Equity as a starting point commuter rail was free during the Orange Line shutdown as well and I had never seen so many people getting on certain stops and opening up different routes that then eased pressure on the bus system and the Orange Line in car traffic because that was available but currently is too expensive for many residents and we have a pathway mapped out where bus service should be the first that the state could help support making it free it is a relatively small percentage of the revenues that come in it speeds up bus service when you don't collect fares as well because people don't have to queue up to get their uncrinkle their bills and feed them in we also have gotten very close in the past to a low income Fair a discounted fare for low-income residents and the and some of our gubernatorial candidates have committed to that and to the free bus as a map for where we can go next we need to see that happen quickly by the way that's in the economic development Bill giving Boston the cedar is that in some other level that was actually an amendment to the budget to the budget itself you know uh mayor you may have said this in my apologies to just reading the most recent text has there been any discussion in addition to to Transit as a whole being free we know you ran on that to a great degree you mentioned the blue bikes is there any talk about subsidizing that and making that free as it was during this uh the first hour or whatever the hell it was during the uh during the Orange Line shutdown yeah I think um everything is on the table we were able to secure some resources because of the extraordinary circumstances and it's all about working this is at the scale of resources that we need partnership from the state and federal government there's a lot of Champions out there and it's just about the mechanics of how we kind of bake this into a predictable source of funding that can come year after year Jim in West Roxbury you're on Boston Public Radio hi there hi thank you mayor Wu I wanted to thank you for your service I don't know whether you get to sleep every day but I hope you do and um but my question has to deal with my immediate neighborhood where they're adding additional accessible sidewalk ramps and it just seems to be at every single intersection and I'm wondering if and I am an architect so I'm familiar with Ada et cetera if the um if it has to be at every intersection and I know uh there are some driveways that are relatively adjacent to that so I didn't know whether that could be a substitute but it just seems to be I'm not trying to be unkind it seems to be a little bit excessive and I can't help but think well maybe some of that money could have gone to my Branch Library which is one of the least renovated I think of the chain but um and also the green buckets the garbage pails are they is that taking off and I'm seeing a lot of that happening in the neighborhood thank you very much thanks Jim thank you so much for the question Jim um so here again is I I want to acknowledge and um completely affirm that every single year a budget is about a series of trade-offs between what we are funding first when when you know if Etc um but we I want to encourage all of us to get into the mindset that we shouldn't have to be pitting different communities and different need basic fundamental needs against each other and that we just have to find the way to fund and and resource more both and instead of either or so here's a case in in fact the city of Boston is actually subject to a legal uh consent decree around sidewalk ramps as a historic City our infrastructure was not meant much of our streets were designed and the sidewalks were designed at a time before the Americans with Disabilities Act and so we have had to go back and retrofit a lot of it because the more that we can draw on the talent of every single member of our community the more we all benefit the more we fill our jobs and and see this this community grow and so for me the question of excess is actually not a question at all of accessibility but how we do it and while making it so that people don't feel like your your library is underfunded and all that that is a separate question I I see the president of our library system has also rest assured every single one of our libraries is in good hands and there's a there's a plan with an incredible group steering the way of how each of our libraries across across our neighborhoods all of our branches really can have the services and Facilities they deserve the little green buckets the cute kind of tiny green buckets are actually curbside composting and this has been a pilot that we have launched 10 000 residents signed up to help us test out how we do food composting that's collected at the curb along with your regular trash pickup it's been going really well so far I've been able to take part in it as in addition and I will just say you know I I'm going to find a way to make this happen because it makes such a difference it changes your trash doesn't smell anymore when all the food is taken out it's compact you're reducing the amount of waste that we then have to pay for for people to haul away so there's lots of benefits and we want to see that expand by the way since he's our host we should recognize the person that mayor Wu just mentioned David Leonard thank you for hosting us as always the head of the Boston Public incredible leader and David and Dave I've we've had some amazing progress and accomplishments of the library race system to celebrate recently that kind of highlight just how much this is a system that is both focused on how we preserve some of the foremost National Treasures that we have in in as part of our history that have come through the system over time in spaces like the central library and Copley but just as importantly to make sure that we are in all of the neighborhoods and how important libraries are outside of books and and resources just as spaces and homes uh we have a question about electric uh chargers for electric cars Terry wants to know she says there were four charged on Cambridge Street but they have been removed what's the plan for more electric charging stations in Boston okay I'm going to look up the ones on Cambridge Street because I'm not exactly sure um what why or what happened we've started with where we have the fullest control which is Municipal parking lots and new buildings that are being built must include infrastructure like the green infrastructure and we're adding a lot of chargers in different places it is uh and we're also using what we can to build up the workforce and capacity so as the city transitions to more and more electric school buses more and more electric vehicles as part of our Municipal Fleet those jobs and that training has helped launch a vocational technical track at Madison Park to service electric vehicles oh great we need to see this baked into all of our institutions right if the MBTA and all of our buses move in that direction and they're starting to take some steps if we can Electrify our trains if we can make it so that people don't have to choose right you know I've said this before but when you drive a car that runs on gas you don't ever have to think about how you'll get it to keep going when you run out of gas you know you can kind of look around and within a few minutes Drive you'll be able to fuel up that has to be the same sense of just ease and convenience that we get to when it comes to the pervasiveness of charging do you have a car I do what do you have we have um we have two cars one is a 2014 Honda Accord um and then the other was an electric uh bolt which oh the yeah how do you like it it's been great yeah at least just ran up so I think we're gonna wait and see what new rebates come from the new federal yeah um uh law that just passed that allows consumers to have more rebates but that has been wonderful to feel like the kids don't have to breathe in exhaust all the time and then in terms of our official car the the new mayor's car is an electric Ford Mustang Machi I want you to know that three people so far have texted in a question saying what is the mayor's favorite color and I want you to know unless there are 17 more to get us to 20 we will not ask the question we've got to take a break okay we're going to take a break but but thank you very much uh we're speaking with Boston mayor Michelle Wu and we're going to continue to speak with her until about 1 30. you're listening to Boston public radio 897 gbh broadcasting live from the Boston Public Library and streaming online at youtube.com gbh news [Music] [Music] do your part to support the reporting you depend on by becoming a gbh sustainer sustainers make easy monthly contributions that keep quality journalism and fact-based news on the air you choose a monthly amount to give and it's automatically deducted from your bank account or credit card it takes just a few minutes to set up and it's easy on your wallet too learn more and enroll as a sustainer today at gbh.org sustainer our programs are made possible thanks to you and tools of the Mind the research and play-based curriculum combines professional development and a comprehensive Pre-K and K curriculum designed to build self-regulation skills learn more at toolsofthemind.org and mass Autobahn where you can get outdoors and explore hundreds of trails at over 60 wildlife sanctuaries across the state from the cape to the Berkshires you can start your adventure at massautobond.org trusted local news this is 89 7 WGBH WGBH HD1 Boston online at gbhnews.org Boston's local NPR [Music] public radio I'm rodrigue and Jim brownie we're live at the Boston Public Library streaming online at youtube.com gbh news we are halfway through the monthly ask the mayor that we have the boston mayor Michelle Wu she's with us for another 25 or 30 minutes taking your questions and calls at 877-301-8970s you know you can text her there or you can call her there Marjorie you know I was I was teasing you a little bit before about this piece in the New York Times it compared you to the Swagger of Eric Adams the foreign police officer who is now uh the mayor of New York kind of a good time Party Guy they talked in this piece about how he's in The Nightlife mayor has demonstrated the limits of masculine Bluster and they are comparing him to you the headline says does the Democrat Democratic party want Swagger or does it want Michelle woo it was a pretty a flattering article and I just wonder what kind of reaction to it not every Boston mayor gets to be in the New York uh times they were also saying this piece that really not only the first woman but you are a very unboxed and in many ways because you're not swaggering around here [Laughter] yeah I mean what was your reaction my first reaction was honestly you know our press Team Works more than 24 hours a day we're trying to pitch stories we're trying to this and that and then something that happens like there's like drops out of the air when no one even reached out to us or or asked any questions and I think it's you know I'm glad that there's more and more focus on cities as a place where things are happening and it really matters um but you know I know mayor Adams as well I've had conversations with many many mayors across the country and I think we're all you know you see a media piece and then it's it's on to the next day well one of the things that they did mention and and this is a real difference is that and the globe was written about this too that uh the historically embossed in the developer calls they're into the mayor's office in two seconds talking to the mayor that has been untrue in your Administration that you are not falling all over the real estate interests as as has happened so long in Boston which has resulted in a lot of very expensive luxury building and not so much affordable housing so get back to your affordable housing plans very different than what we've seen before I think there are a couple pieces there which is that um one I don't like to waste time I don't like to waste other people's time I think when you're a mom and you're used to things just happening that out of nowhere and chaos erupting from the kids you have to at least have a good set of proactive plans so that when those get messed up you're still kind of on track and so I where we came into I came into this role in an unprecedented situation right so much transition and instability lacking needing to find cabinet Chiefs across some of our major departments with searches ongoing and overlapping at the same time for many of our roles every single contract with our city workers expired when I started you know several dozen contracts that needed to be negotiated from scratch which is again unprecedented and so there's been a lot of um to be able to have the impact in the community no single person should be taking things on WE my goal should be to spend my time empowering more and more and more people within our team to be able to partner with communities and have that impact grow over time not just whatever I as an individual can handle as it comes in and so it's been really important to me to try to do everything we can to empower our cabinet Chiefs who Empower our department heads to empower all of our staff and work alongside our community leaders to get things done and to focus on what the real issues are I do take issue though we are going to focus on nightlife in Boston I I like to go dancing just as much as the next person and we you know we've under uh Chief edovo's leadership their grand plans for how to make sure that Boston is welcoming fun and vibrant that's a key piece of how our economy will grow does it get close too early oh yeah but again it comes back to public transportation if workers can't get home at night if people can't rely on being able to take the the train or bus home affordably it kind of puts it in Anna from South he wants to know she says hey Mary Michelle you are my queen what are we thinking about the happy hour bill you girls struggling to pay rent out here and these drink prices are not helping you there's still many legacies of our uh history here of the state coming in and trying to Tamp down what they perceive to be excessive you know debauchery at the city level which was really a a different lens on uh racism and discrimination and when there were you know Irish Americans new new immigrants running the city and so one of those pieces is that we still have a ban on happy hour um this I think should be a decision left up to individual cities it's not as cut and dry as just yes or no to happy hour there are implications around timing and location and how that might impact existing businesses but cities should be able to sort out all those pieces and it's it's different in one city versus another by the way the Senate Economic Development bill which includes a provision does include local option does it not that's right it does by the way a couple of people have uh texted about the exact same thing the Ryan wading pool in Maryland the first one is from Nicole so we'll read hers first she lives in Dorchester State is set to bulldoze it on October 16th there was no Community process Nicole writes parents are livid as this is an equity issue there are so few bodies of water places for kids to cool off in Mattapan is the mayor doing anything reaching out to the governor I guess at all on this yeah this is a DCR state facility and my understanding is that this might be part of a larger shift that they are making we are happy to reach out and make sure I fully understand the situation but I'll just say we've been having at the city level deep conversations about our pools as well as the Summers get hotter and hotter and hotter it is critical infrastructure for cooling but many of our pools are now sometimes some of them 20 plus years beyond their projected lifespan and so again it gets to same issue with the MBTA with many of our facilities when we didn't maintain them over time we're left with hard decisions later and so we're scrambling a little bit to make sure that we have a true facilities plan and be setting aside funding for all of our assets community centers libraries pools so that we can get on a good schools so that we can get on a good trip you're going to look into this before October 16th you are uh Haley you're in Quincy you're on with the mayor of Boston that'd be Michelle Wu hey Haley hey thank you for very much for taking my call sure I congratulate uh mayor uh your mayor he is she's doing a wonderful job and innovative ideas and so I'm bringing you greetings also from Quincy from other historic City and the City of presidents and we have a move to here regarding the Long Island Bridge and as a taxpayer we kind of concerned how much are we going to how long is the city going to keep on having the lawsuits against the city of Boston I remember working very closely with mayor manino on Long Island shelter and the yesterday established the farm there and and the residents had an opportunity to do to uh work a farm and bring their produce to the farmer's market and also all the feeding stations and soup kitchens and it was such a wonderful program can that ever come back again as such Haley thanks in fact I was just out on the island last Monday with members of the Boston city council to make sure that all of our colleagues at the city level could really see the condition in the state of the buildings this is a really important swath of land that the city of Boston owns and that has hosted critical services in the past related to emergency shelter and Recovery the price tag of a bridge and this is even after we resolve some of the legal issues that Haley had mentioned is likely going to be in multiple hundred millions of dollars much less the not to mention the the state of the buildings needing significant repair so we are working to come up with the the right plan for what will happen on the island first because that will drive then how we think about transportation to the island and we're working closely with Partners the island is also a Sacred Space for indigenous communities and we've been in close communication to ensure that any decisions a Sydney makes will really reflect all of the needs across various communities involved Haley thanks there's a story in the globe uh just a couple of days ago a series of mixed signals after Rollins Progressive this question new DA's commitment that's Kevin Hayden obviously uh you supported the other guy in the race and they cite a couple of examples the globe does this the firing of the guy was head of the juvenile I think it's called alternative resolution or some such thing uh something he said on gbh I think with us Hayden disputed I'm reading from the globe the results of a new research paper by three economists who studied more than a decade of Suffolk County cases and concluded that Prosecuting defendants for non-violent misdemeanor offenses causes significant harm without any evidence of Public Safety benefits obviously that's the Rollins thing are you among the progressives who have concerns about the direction that the new D.A is taking I think we saw such strides under D.A Rollins and we saw documented evidence that an approach of really targeting resources where it makes a difference and ensuring that we are providing diversion Alternatives as well makes a difference for Public Safety that our our numbers have been headed in the right direction we've seen that in in Boston as well in terms of all of our Public Safety efforts as as unacceptable as even one incident in community generally overall our numbers are headed in the right direction we need to keep up that momentum and accelerate it um the D.A has won his uh well he he's not quite there yet in terms of November but without uh um without a republican Challenger he's the presumptive um winner of this election and it is my job to partner and ensure that the city of Boston uh can work in coordination with all of our Public Safety officials from the county level and and state level Federal level on on on up so um we are going to ensure that we can do everything we can um there's a lot of work to do and we we see and feel that in our community that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement if I may I mean he has specifically said to us and everywhere else he doesn't specifically endorse for example the 15 lower level crimes that Rachel Rollins ran on where there'd be the presumption is that they would not be prosecuted he said he wants to review it on a case-by-case basis does that shift concern her elections have concept I think they're the D.A has the right to implement policies that he ran on and I think it still remains to be seen um how much of this is transitions from a new Administration coming in and how much of this is tied to fundamental policy shift and priority shift to there so he seems to be saying that some of this is just personnel and transition related and not major policy related and he has said that he's going to continue to hold up Progressive action in in the county so we'll be working closely and hand in hand to see what happens after the actual election and and he has some time to get settled that's the voice of Michelle Wu she's with us for another 15 minutes at 877-301-8970 uh we have a text about the Forbes building in Jamaica Plain the texture says it's in danger of losing its affordability the owners refusing to renew the Section 8 contract to the property uh the Texas as you mentioned the building in your mayoral acceptance speech that you would keep the Forbes affordable many elderly and disabled residents and she's of course or he's of course worried about a massive increase in rent if the Section 8 contract goes away so um is there an update on the Forbes building yeah I know um Chief Sheila Dillon our incredible chief of housing has been working really closely with all parties here and the city council has now very recently passed a home rule petition that we are going to send up to the state to try to preserve or give the city the ability to extend affordability requirements this is an example of what happens of the several ways that displacement happens in our city it's market rate pressures but it's also existing affordable housing that has 40-year timelines or 40 plus 20-year timelines and then at that moment where the original folks said well we'll have a chance to renegotiate it later we lose a lot of how affordable housing that way and so it helps inform how we think about our strategy overall too and how much how urgently we need to be doing more to preserve existing affordable housing and create more Kristen Dorchester you're on with mayor Wu hi Chris how are you I'd like to congratulate the mayor in the city also and specifically I'd like to ask about the Redevelopment of the Huntington theater and the uh development of proposal development of the uh teen center in Grove Hall how does it contrast the the two of them and can you speak more about it which Center in Grove Hall did you say Union Center I think oh the teen center okay got it um very very exciting projects both of them um yesterday on indigenous peoples day we cut the ribbon on the brand new renovated Huntington theater the first in America to be a truly non-profit theater funded from community and and kept with a Civic focus and now owning its property so staying there in perpetuity thanks to the efforts of many who came before me in city government and an incredible fundraising effort in in community and so that project is now phase one done and moving on to some additional phases that would create additional community space right there on the site it is gorgeous inside and I'm so excited for what that means in terms of the stability it brings to our Arts Community for a long-standing treasure to stay there our new Teen Center I think we're going to talk about this maybe later this week as well so I want to break too much news here but it has been a commitment of our Administration and folks in the community to find a space for a freestanding new community center in Dorchester and so we've been having conversations making projections doing site assessments to be able to identify the right location for that um some of of what we need to recover from the pandemic is jobs and is economic security and just as important as that is the space for our young people and seniors to be able to be together again and to access all of the opportunities the city has through spaces like our libraries and youth centers and community centers 877-301-897 let's go to Brighton Deborah you're on with the mayor uh good afternoon mayor thank you Jim and Marjorie for taking my uh of course um a little nervous because I'm don't be um thank you um mayor Wu I I first off want to express how much um how proud I am to have you as our mayor and um the reason I'm calling today mayor Wu is I sent you a little bit maybe a little over a week now a personal letter uh regarding the um the situation at 75 Tremont Street in the old square area of Brighton and I was wondering if you had a chance or had received my letter and if you had any information regarding the um the status of the um what's happening with the development because um in the letter i we're mostly concerned about the what we feel is the over development of projects going on in and around Brighton within literally a mile or two to two miles proximity of one another we're really glad you're called Deborah let's hear what the mayor has to say thank you yeah thank you and um this is I've actually received several letters on this and um at a recent block party in Brighton also received a whole packet of information on it as well so I know this is something that is on the minds of folks in the community and it feeds back to our larger issue of when we think about development just one by one without the impacts of how it all connects together with not only the new buildings that are being proposed but transportation infrastructure affordability how whether this is furthering or hurting the effort there are goal to retain and really root artists in the community climate goals it all has to mesh and so we um I don't have news on on 75 Tremont today in terms of this particular project but overall I've been sitting frequently with Chief Arthur Jemison our new chief of planning and who runs the bpda Boston Planning and Development agency and his team to set some parameters around how we will move forward with different planning projects and initiatives there are several underway in the Austin Brighton area and so we're hoping to tie in some of the proposed projects into the the kind of parallel track for getting our larger plans set good luck Deborah thank you for making the call we appreciate it 877-301-8978 let's go to Carl in Roslindale thank you for calling Carl hey girl hi thanks for having me um with with today being National Coming Out day I'd be curious to hear how mayor Wu and member's office is addressing issues around making sure that people can access gender affirming care in the city we've seen a lot of issues lately thank you so much Carl yeah and people may know that the um that the attorney general has been asked to investigate by the AMA American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association uh these threats against Children's Hospital here in Boston and hospitals that provide gender affirming care and the accountability from the U.S attorney and the FBI on some of those who have it brought bomb threats and other hateful um were language and and rhetoric specifically to try to intimidate our care providers and families seeking life-saving care is um that that accountability is really important in in the political climate that we are in um Boston is a hub of health care and life sciences gender affirming care is Medical Care it is necessary life-saving care and we will do everything that we can to stand with the efforts at the state and federal level to protect and ensure that we are building a city for everyone locally at the you know at the city level part of that is is not just being reactive but really setting the groundwork so that we can support organizing and efforts coming from community members to ensure that we are welcoming City for all lgbtq plus residents and especially our trans residents and trans residents of color our new office of lgbtq plus advancement left led by the amazing Quincy Roberts has partnered with trans emergency fund and is working on initiatives around housing and medical care and Outreach and education so that we can we can work on that hand in hand is there a thank you for the call is there Carl is there something at the top of your intractable list that is on your agenda but you've had the greatest frustration about either because it's a home rule petition thing and you're worried about the legislature or you just can't figure out how to get from here to there is there such a thing or a set of such things I think the area where I you know there are many big thorny challenges but the vast majority of them I feel like we have the right leadership in place a good plan we know what we need to do and have a clear sense of how we'll get there even if it'll still take some work to find to find out where the resources will come from and how we plug that all in the place that I really just it feels sometimes like we are treading water and needing to change the entire situation and can't do so without significant coordination from other sources is around mass and casts and our opiate crisis and it's just you know I've been there from 5 a.m to 7 A.M with our public works department observing how our Outreach teams and city workers and and Street cleanings are all working together we've been there in blizzards we've been out to Long Island and we are testing out and implementing new changes every single day and when there's a challenge about a particular Park then we rally and and we can kind of work with Community to make sure that park has supports but it's it's a little bit the more beds we create the more residents we serve the more need really grows from all across the region and outside the state as well are you getting decent cooperation from other Mayors city managers those kind of people so that it's not obviously it's not just the Boston issue even though it's centered in Boston are they collaborating or is it you pretty much on your own we'll take response I think we need to get our house in order a little bit to be very clear about you know before I wouldn't ask other cities to do something that we're not fully willing to do in Boston is always going to be the center city the service core and and hub and so I'm working so that we really max out and know for sure what we're doing here we've created new day centers outside the area partnering with organizations we've created free transportation that can help connect people to these Services during the day we're thinking about other locations and and partnering on how we can support more low threshold housing I fully expect and am praying that the next Governor's Administration will take a strong stance on this as well it cannot happen without strong State leadership we're talking to Mayor Wu for another three or four minutes miles from moisture I spray um wants to know about the pay raise passed last week by the city council for City councilors and you why was it why was it needed at this time do you think so um the system that we have is um I don't it's it's not the best system and this comes up every every time that we have this conversation right now the vast majority of city workers are uh their salaries come from contract negotiations and so all but about 1200 of our 19 000 city workers are part of a union and that negotiates salaries uh salary increases it has been generally in the scale of about two percent cost of living increase per year those who are not included in that include department heads elected officials and those who are appointed rather than part of the civil service system and so by law those salaries are set according to city ordinance and there's also a requirement that every two years that is reevaluated there's a compensation advisory committee that does a national kind of analysis of where our department heads are relative to salaries of the same locate same positions in other cities and then presents recommendations that had not been done during the pandemic and had not been done for a little while so that category of City staff has not had a raise since 2018 and for elected officials due to conflict of interest laws you can't give yourself an immediate salary increase it takes place after the next election so 2024 for the city council so we're talking about a six-year period we had proposed as part of the larger package an 11 increase for elected officials again about two percent per year six years plus the council has tweaked it as they have the right to do because it's an ordinance and passed it with a 20 increase which is which is too high there are I think my primary concern is that even our city workers our First Responders our front line workers who showed up every day at tremendous risk to themselves and their families during the pandemic some of these workers are now with an expired contract of two years three years or more they have not gotten any adjustments even by contract and so the timing of it um is is concerning to me and the scale of it and so we're still evaluating and given the long weekend and this came in late last week we're still evaluating what the financial impacts are of this proposed this amended proposal and have a period of time to respond to the council I think that's about 15 days meaning you may send it back to them that's right and then they have the power to override your that's right yep I would vote I should know two-thirds so nine out of 13 counselors could override a veto you know remember you've got two little kids I assume they're going trick-or-treating for Halloween now if you go with them do you go with them I do because I'd be afraid if I were you that every house I went to I'd be buttonholed about the potholes or the garbage or people yeah that's why I got it who are you going as so I I think we've traded off sometimes I'll go sometimes my husband will go and you know someone has to be home to give up that's right that's the other thing um the kids are it's quite gruesome they they tell they work with my sister every year she's amazing and Designs the most intricate costume oh wow for them um so for some reason I was not part of this conversation but several months ago they settled on headless monsters as this game that's really good that's good I'll show you a picture afterwards but it's kind of a setup where there's a frame and their head is the shirt collar is way up here and then there's a hole in the Middle where their head sticks out that's pretty good okay so do people ever though do they do that I mean you'd ride the Orange Line a lot to people are they generally you've said this no I can't even get anyone to talk to me okay okay so no complaints about potholes I love it when residents find the time you know that's why I do this job and so um I hope people aren't shy and Everyone is always so nice and understands when you're with your family as well I've never had a uh well I Won't Say Never I have not very frequently had an experience where um I'm you know if I sometimes will say I'm trying to keep my eyes on on the kids too and people understand they have a buttonhole you soon because how many days you have left in this term 11 77 exactly and notice without even checking this woman and things come down outside your house I know the ordinance was changed so people could not voice their protests until after nine o'clock in the morning so that is uh is anybody still there or they're coming at nine are they just not coming anymore no since the ordinance passed um there there had been one kind of a couple incidents but it's been much quieter since the ordinances I think the swagless mayor now has to go actually Margaret I know a lot of questions uh you coming in we have been speaking with Boston mayor Michelle Wu and we very much appreciate her time and coming in here to answer your questions and your texts you're listening to Boston Public Radio Broadcasting live from the Boston Public Library and we are streaming online at youtube.com gbh news [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] it's National Coming Out day and we're talking with author Jesse Hempel about her new Memoir the family outing Jesse explains how throwing open closet doors can liberate all of us from cycles of Shame and heartbreak got some coming out stories of your own call us at 8778 my take that's next time on the takeaway from WNYC and PRX this afternoon at 2 here on gbh news 89 7. support for our programs comes from you and Stoneleigh Burnham School in Greenfield Massachusetts now offering a one-year voice and empowerment certificate program for 10th grade girls more information at sbschool.org voice-10 and the trustees and a court of a Sculpture Park and Museum presenting new formations and exhibition showcasing how our bodies move through the world now on view more at thetrustees.org decordova and the British International School of Boston committed to helping students achieve academically personally and socially through Global Learning opportunities in-person open house October 18th registration at bisboston.org and Mass General Cancer Center dedicated to providing the latest therapies and Cancer Specialists who are experienced in your cancer when you hear the word cancer their team is ready learn more at massgeneral.org cancer welcome back to Boston Public Radio Jim Brody and Margarita live from the Boston Public Library streaming online youtube.com gbh news in 2019 news started to percolate about a new restaurant opening in upham's corner in Dorchester it was going to serve what the owners called quote global comfort food menu inspired by The Roots all around the world including Ghana and Nepal you of course know what happened next that would be covet happened next now after a year pivoting the pop-up appearances Comfort kitchen is just weeks away from its official opening operating as a cafe by Day restaurant by night and the aforementioned upham's corner to say anticipation is high would be an understatement we're joined Now by bipla Ray and quasi qua of dorchester's comfort kitchen and yes most importantly they have brought us food which so far is fabulous gentlemen it's great to see you both thanks so much for being here I was just saying I've never had duck before I mean you've never had I'm not adventurous when it comes to meat-eating but this is really good and the rice within everything else I feel like I know I've had global comfort food so I feel very wonderful so um explain what you guys have done out there in upham's corner I said before we went on the air I had no idea that there was not a sit-down restaurant in upham's corner which is pretty incredible but let's start with you crazy what's what's going on out there what um you know one of the things that we were conceptually when we were thinking about Comfort kitchen we were looking to make upham's Corner a destination you know people will travel to South End North End for food but you know in Dorchester and Roxbury it's people seem to be a little bit more hesitant and with the pop-ups our focal point was always we want to make upham's Corner a destination spot and we've just been Trucking away I mean like you said Jim you know covet happened and threw a wrench in the in the whole situation but we were able to Pivot a little bit and keep it going so how'd you do to connect what's the deal yeah so just a correct bipler right right right I'm so sorry it's okay um so crazy and myself we could you move your mic up like about an inch right Perfect all right cool um myself we met at high rise in Cambridge oh back in 2009 while we were working together and since then we've crossed our path we've worked together in different capacities um I opened deadly Cafe in 2015 uh which I ended in 2019 but quasi and Shelly they were doing pop-up then as uh and that was happening in Dudley Cafe and since 2015 we've been working together for this concept you know bimbo I was going to make fun of you and say well you got your training at Taco Bell and KFC yes but then you mentioned that we met before at Darwin's yes that's a fabulous sandwich shop throughout Cambridge they're my across the street neighbors fabulous uh uh uh stuff I should say and you know getting back to you crazy I read an interview Marjorie and I did this morning you did with uh uh karabaskin who's on the show from time to time this is 2019. I want to read to you what you said which sounds exactly like what you two guys are about to accomplish in a few weeks what kind of restaurant is Boston missing right now Cara asks you and here's your answer it's missing a restaurant that's small enough to build a community around a restaurant that's not just a doing food and service a restaurant that's involved very heavily in the community yes restaurants employ people in the commuter but I think Boston is missing a restaurant taking it step further to do things outside of food and service to support that community that is what you guys are now creating yes yes absolutely and um speaking on that interview it's you know I I saw something online that said you know service is a black and white photo hospitality is a colorful painting and that's what I was referring to in that where we're trying to create something that is you know the food experience is so much more than just food you know and I was trying to explain that to Marjorie yesterday could you explain that to her please Jim Jim really enjoys different foods and I'm kind of a boring eater so that's what you were trying to explain to me I mean I ate a lot of peanut butter and you know it's not that exciting this is really good though this is really good speaking of boring eater I want one of you to be honest and say when you just heard Marjorie again say uh that she has never had duck before excuse me I'm talking to these gentlemen what do you think when Marjorie said I've never had duck in my life this is leading a boring life I am absolutely a boring life an honest man but meanwhile you guys I'm not he talks about the historic building that was kind of a rest area for people that were taking the trolley or the bus and then another one says what you're in now is a former public restroom yep so which is it is this absolutely like there was one of these public restrooms you know over Boston Common that was turned into a sandwich shop is this a former public restroom what's you should be nervous about that no it's actually a combination of both uh this building is owned by historic Boston which is a non-profit that renovates historic building in the city and rents out to a business and non-profits and they do an incredible job this building is one story stucco Miss and style building that used to be public restroom for streetcar passengers yep and the last time it was used was in 1977 so it's been vacant since then kind of an eyesore really in the neighborhood right and there's a huge demand from the neighbors and the community for you know Cafe a sit-down restaurant and in 2019 historic Boston approached us for a concept and that's where we stepped in you know by the way this talk is fabulous who did this what's done to this thing so that's our jerk marinated duck leg spectacular tell us a little bit about it so that our whole concept in terms of menu writing goes you know it's essentially traveling with the food so we pick a region and so that specific dish was for our Caribbean menu and we wanted to celebrate the ingredients of the Caribbean so that's um jerk marinated duck with rice and peas and pickles which is a Haitian pickled cabbage and uh carrots law that's spicy goes with the rice and peas a little bit more creamy and then the duck is marinated overnight and jerk marinade that's what we make so does that mean you're gonna have a rotating kind of menu yeah well you're both shaking your heads so what does that mean like weekly or um what does that mean so every couple of months I want to say three to four months we're gonna kind of take a trip to a different region in the world and our goal is to find the intersections of food in terms of ingredients and in terms of technique how they cross over through the lens of the African diaspora and the spice trade we're crazy about spices that jerk seven spices in that jerk marinade really well we should say quiz you're from Ghana and and and um I know dipla thank you is from Nepal so these are foods that I know I don't know when people eat in Ghana or people eating deposit bringing some of your childhood experiences back to Boston right yes yeah so what we're trying to do here is we're trying to celebrate especially the spice trade that started in India South Asia and if you look at the history of spices and human trade it went all the way to Horn of Africa to Caribbeans and to Americas and if you really look at the food and go a little deeper they're all interconnected one vegetable that we try to highlight in which will be in our opening menu is okra you find okra in South Asia you find okra and Caribbean islands and the way it's prepared is different it's hard I always when I make it it's slimy I mean how do you make a non-slimy okra experience well you have to find out I guess you have to come check it out yes so are you guys nervous I mean we took the thing we were talking about yesterday we were talking to Corby Comer who's a food writer obviously well a whole bunch of places and teaches nutrition and that sort of thing on one hand a decent number of new restaurants are opening on the other hand literally in the same conversation we're talking about how people are going out less and less because obviously money is tight and I don't have to explain to people what that's about so people are starting with you what's your anxiety level about this several years I'll give you an example last week I forgot the passcode for my cell phone well that's an honest answer yeah um but really I mean it is it's anxiety provoking yes it is um especially for people like us that has names like crazy and bipla and we come from very different backgrounds we are both immigrants so the uplifting is a little heavier on our end um you know questions that are asked to us when we open restaurants are not never asked to a white establishment restaurant in south end um you know and I could go on and on on that but so that's a heavy lifting on us it is a very interesting time you're right there are lots of restaurants that are closing but there are very interesting restaurants that are opening at the same time and I think we are at a very critical point in our history where the restaurant scene is changing well the thing that that we've talked about before is there's a real unfairness about liquor licenses in Boston people like lots of people like to go out and have a beer or a cocktail or a glass of wine with their dinner and we were talking about how they're which I didn't even realize there's not another sit-down you know lunch dinner place in office Corner liquor licenses are a real problem so what they're astronomically expensive so what are you going to do about that so we are lucky we we've got our neighborhood restricted full liquor license what does that mean neighborhood restricted so the license doesn't move from the location so if we move out of opens Corner say to Cambridge we want to we won't be able to carry it with us um there is definitely a history in uh legal Licensing in Boston just like any other inequalities in the city yeah they're all in the South End Newbury Street Back Bay they're a few indoor temperature yeah there was a report done by Nick corn from offside it's a advocacy group for restaurant and bar and the study says that for every one liquor license in Missouri white neighborhood um let me get this right so there is eight more licenses in white neighborhood versus one in uh Missouri uh black neighbors we don't go to Missouri it's not very different here is it a majority I mean yeah Missouri yeah but but but they're also I I don't think aren't they like how 400 Grand Am I off aren't they astronomically expensive so how are you supposed to be starting out to get 400 Grand to get a liquor license you know how'd you get the neighborhood one oh where did you know we had to go through the licensing board but you're right I mean you know only chefs like Gordon Ramsay can't afford it and not us yeah okay can we talk food here uh and so we're throwing a crazy craw and uh biplo rye and their opening Comfort kitchen do we have a firm date yet crazier than though couple of weeks okay so that means end of October correct okay you're nodding in agreement this happens to be radio equation let me explain that concept here okay so I don't think he wants to answer the question let's say the end of October so you ridiculed me a minute ago both of you guys when I said you're going to change menu every week so it's going to be a several months now what are we going to see what's the menu gonna be like when you open at the end of October or whatever it is so the the open End menu itself is what I like to call our greatest hits because we were doing a pop-up residency and a bunch of pop-ups before so we pulled from those menus like crowd favorites and things what are they so this that dish that you have right there that's going to be that's gonna be a crowd favorite this joint let me tell you this is delicious you know and um there's a zatar brown butter trout that's going to be on there that's the okra that he was speaking of we have a brown butter okra with um lemon lime yogurt and um plantain crumb that we make we're gonna make plantain chips in-house and then kind of crumb it over the okra there's a fair amount of other stuff which you'll have to come and check it out for yourself because you can't remember obviously I mean I know this guy already I've only met him for 10 minutes so bipolar do you want anything to that opening menu you're laughing because you agree with me I know so what do you want to add to that opening menu I actually want to talk a little bit more about the cafe menu oh do it do it so the cafe by Day restaurant by Night exactly so we have coffee tea pastries sandwiches and rice bowls uh you know so the the concept is it's open to anyone and everyone that can walk right in buy a coffee pastry walk out dinner is going to be a little more special it's going to be more uh um with intent for people to come and enjoy the how many seats here uh 25 seats indoors we have patio on both the sides close to 30 seats outside now how come neither of you are saying Marjorie and Jim I hope you're going to be there opening week are you not supposed to say it was already an assumption yeah we are by the way I'm telling you right now the fact that restaurant guys and the fact that you 've got her to eat duck we went out to dinner the other night with a friend and did you eat the duck no we did not eat the duck no I did not need the doctor but she's eating it now a big smile on her face no I thought I'd be adventurous and try something different but you know the restaurant businesses Jim was saying it's precarious right now I mean a lot of people the money the costs the hours you have to work when you're running a restaurant so I mean you could have been a computer programmer maybe or a coder or something you know it is precarious I mean you worry are you and you're on the edge all the time I mean how do you feel about that I mean I see you get a wedding ring on there how did your wife feel about it so both our wives are actually Partners yes okay and um you know my wife would be the first to tell you it's ridiculous but yeah you know it's a passion of ours and the the truth is it's a labor of absolute love you know I and I can't speak for pipla but me personally when I realized I like being in the kitchen more than I like being in class was it was it for me did you see the bear you guys have you seen the Bear yes okay so we had one of the stars on uh I don't know three four weeks ago and it's pretty for those who haven't seen it this is not a pleasant kitchen to be there's a lot of wonderful people who I think love each other but it's pretty intense and often angry so and most people in the business say that sadly adequately reflects uh uh the reality not just of that workplace but a lot of workplaces now so starting with you uh crazy how do you avoid that kind of thing and that's got to be pretty intentional to use biblow's word too does it not yeah um so sadly enough that show was extremely accurate let's start there unfortunately it's not and it comes down to leadership that's where it really comes from um in the past the the kitchen the restaurant environment has always been very tumultuous and you know I feel like that stereotype has always been perpetuated by food shows and you know like the crazy screaming chef and just throwing things but really it and you know in the beginning parts of my career that's what I thought like if you're going to be a chef you have to be crazy you know and cruel really but realistically it's not it's not a thing I think it comes down to leadership and what what that means in terms of team and you know if the the environment is created by whoever's driving the bus and you choose to decide what that culture is did I read one of you in your prior restaurant life before every meal would eat with your whole staff which one of you an interview said that both of you yeah I mean we do that we do that now yeah so you know answering your question earlier um what we are trying so both crazy and myself we've been in the in this industry for like 15 18 years we've seen all the sides the dark side you know the good side we've come across like all wonderful people it's a really great industry uh and that's what we do what we love to do was fun right it's fun and you know and this is what we love to do our passion is this um and if we want cooking or serving we'll be doing something related to food right or culture but uh what we're trying to create and come for kids and our team is very small and very intimate so a lot of our core team we've been working together for the past I mean Quincy and Shelley has been together for 10 years 10 years together congratulations our most recent team has been together for three plus years yeah so you know I don't think crazy will wake up one day and start throwing pants at them and by the way we should have said Comfort kitchenbos.com is where people can check out and then we'll find out the actual date yes of this secret opening later sign up for newsletter oh we can do that on the things you know what must be before you guys go you talked about doing the pop-up thing before just for people who may not know exactly what a pop-up is what is a pop-up so a pop-up is essentially kitchen crew goes into another restaurant and take it over and it might be a day or it might be a couple of days for us we were fortunate enough to do Little Dipper in JP for eight months and that's what like it was more of a residency than I just did the one-off papa okay and you know there might be an established restaurant but you take off you take it over with your menu for whatever the time frame may be okay so we're gonna be there I'm telling you right now we're going to be there opening week I'm gonna hold you today well no you don't have to congratulations it sounds great we're really excited about the concept the whole deal and wish you a lot of luck we hope people patronize let me tell you something you know sometimes people come here from restaurants or they're coming from bakeries and they're going to talk about their Bakery the restaurant you know what they do they don't bring us food and that is really upsetting but I know you guys are bringing food so so I've been very thrilled and waiting all day to eat this and it's delicious and congratulations and thank you very much thank you here thank you both gentlemen it's really good to see you give me a couple minutes for shout outs oh sure go ahead all right so okay my wife niako good one and my baby Justice who is turning five months in a week oh congratulations I'm sure your baby's really happy about the shout out what else you got Rita was his uh who is uh who is his wife and Rita is the one who does all our brand and marketing we have a huge presence online even though we didn't have our own location for the last couple years great and my wife uh works for you know strategy business development in the back so she's the one who actually brings the team together we have Kai Davenport who's our bar manager who's been with us for the last three years uh silly Nation who is going to be with us and has been with who is his side for the last eight ten years how she's done it I don't know you want to mention your neighbors too the pop-ups because these you know we in the spirit of collaboration we've been able to work with a lot of friends and folks that have supported us in this journey and I'll let you can take yeah so uh we were at in Walton with uh sweet basil oh yeah oh they're great yeah we're there for a couple couple months Dave has been really awesome friend of ours tanam in bull market uh Ellie and her team uh Irene Lee from Mimi oh we love Iran she's wonderful huge support for us yeah um Jim and Marjorie here supporters yeah Adam and Priscilla from Exodus Bagel uh cassandria from uh fresford generation it's only a three-hour shows in the world it's like the Academy Awards you know guys we were thrilled to have you yeah no one else has a great name Comfort kitchen that's a great name thank you thank you um thank you so much for coming in congratulations we will see you at your place rye and quasi quasiqua I'm sorry crazy I'm sorry I'm sorry of comfort kitchen opening soon in upham's corner in Dorchester thank you very much in my apologies no not very good with names anyway we are done for today are we not no we're actually not oh we are yeah we are yeah we're done but you can keep up with us 24 7 by way of our podcast tomorrow we're going to be joined by our Medical ethicist Art Kaplan our national security expert Juliet kayam the naacp's Michael Curry and MIT economist John Gruber who of course is one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act we want to thank our crew Zoe Matthews Aiden Conley Mackenzie Farkas additional support provided by Gia orcino Brendan DeDe and Fernando Cervantes our engineer is John the claw Parker our executive producer is Jimmy bologna I want to give special thanks to our on-site team Evelyn Britto Steve barashi and Angelica Marrero what's on TV Jim well by the way we should also make an announcement at the end of the show biplo will be out on Boylston Street announcing more people he wants to thank we ran out of time so unfortunately well I have a really interesting story you're going to be interested oh good David Weil was the first nominee of of Joe Biden to be rejected by the United States Senate you know who led the rejection effort oh your favorite Senator Joe manchin he served as the he served as the administrator of the labor Department's wage and hour division under Barack Obama Joe Biden wanted him in his administration Joe manchinson send them another one of your favorites said no he's going to tell the story and the significance of that and also we talked earlier in the show I think with Carol Rose we did about uh the decision by the president on marijuana and to Pardon all those who had been arrested convicted of federal marijuana possession charges Shailene title who is responsible for the drafting of the portion of the marijuana law that was approved by the voters that dealt with Equity is going to join me about what that means as well as somebody who has actually suffered as a result of such a conviction for an offense that virtually the whole American public thinks should disappear including the president that's all night at seven o'clock sounds excellent Jim I think so I'm Marjorie Egan I'm Jim Brownlee thanks for tuning in today thanks to people that came down to the Boston Public Library I appreciate it thanks to Mayor Wu for coming in we appreciate that as well hope you can tune in tomorrow and meanwhile have a great day [Music] foreign [Music] how is the U.S men's team looking after missing the last tournament we have this unprecedented wave of 89 7.

Channel: GBH News

Views: 30,780

Keywords: Boston, Massachusetts, WGBH, GBH

Id: -AIJNDmUDuc

Length: 173min 19sec (10399 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 11 2022