Video: Greenway Conservancy Board Chair Georgia Murray talks about “Occupy Boston” and their establishment of a Tent City on the Greenway parks.
At Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the Board discussed how Occupy Boston is getting along on the Greenway. After establishing Dewey Square their home base over the weekend, the encampment is now into its fourth day. Although permits were not obtained, Greenway officials seem to be rolling with the “occupation.”
Georgia Murray, Board Chair, commented that “It is a little messy down there but it is democracy at work.” The Greenway has asked the protesters to stay out of the flower beds where there are sprinklers and vegetable tepees. So far the protesters at the Dewey Square Tent City, known in Greenway parlance as Parcel 22, have been “model citizens” according to Greenway personnel.
Murray complimented Boston Police for supervising the situation and said the Conservancy has no idea how long Occupy Boston will stay on the Greenway.
I was very pleased to hear that the GC board is welcoming the Occupy Boston movement, and that they understand that democracy is more important than grass. That is not the attitude of the Central Park Conservancy in New York, where the opposite priorities hold sway.
Whatever it costs to repair the landscaping is a small price to pay to support this heroic effort to get economic justice for Americans. And it is certainly the best use of the millions of state and city tax dollars that have been poured into the Conservancy coffers.
Occupy Boston does not stand for "economic justice." Yes, taxpayers pay for the parks, so get off my grass. I paid for it, and I don't need a bunch of malcontents ruining it.
like you ever hang out at that end of the greenway.
this taxpayer also paid for the park and they can stay on our grass.
I was thrilled to see this young generation of Americans getting involved in the political process. They are already making a difference–even the President has taken notice. They are fun to talk to, and their economic analysis is relatively sophisticated. All over the world, people are realizing that banks play an outsized role in the democratic process–and the Greenway protesters are helping to make that point. I'm so glad the Conservancy welcomes them.
Dear Jared – I walk that part of The Greenway maybe a dozen times a month on average, all seasons, and run it, too. Sometimes, I inspect the plants or take a seat. Those parcels are my favorite ones, since they live up to The Greenway name. I don't "hang out" in parks as a rule. Occupy Boston is breaking the law, so it doesn't matter that you as one taxpayer give them permission to stay. I simply stated a preference. Luckily, the law is on my side–and acting fast.
Dear Nicole – Younger generations that occupy land and shout slogans are simply abusing the luxuries of a nation whose parents spoiled them. The only relatively sophisticated analysis I can make is that $150,000.00 worth of beautiful plants have been endangered, damaged or destroyed. We all know the top 1% is a bit out of hand. But the bottom 50% are not precisely innocent. We have 33% of our taxes going to social services (Social Security Adminsitration, 2010) and numerous programs report fraud rates of up to the same percentage. We have the best dressed poor in the world, and except for very few square miles of this country, their neighborhoods are ladden with wide-screens, SUVs, designer clothes, gold chains and recreational products–some legal, some not; the latter which cost a lot of money. The bottom half of the country pays zero in Federal taxes. The IRS takes in enough money and the government wastes most of it. Iraq was a joke. Afghanistan is a nightmare. Send my soldiers home.
And let's see some students clean toilets, work in kitchens and mop floors. There are plenty of jobs, and plenty of work to be done. If I had to, I'd clean a house. I did as a kid. I'd work at McDonald's. I did as a kid. I'd work in a factory. I did as a kid. I'd work in a freezer. I did as a kid. So when I see college students in hipster clothing screaming "the world is watching," I hope someday they will watch all the videos they took and feel some shame for joining in on something of which they have no part. Suffering.