Ricardo Arroyo addresses the Boston City Council. Photo by Jordan Frias Concerned about racism and inequity in Boston, freshman city councilor Ricardo Arroyo is calling for an independent office to assess how city officials can play a role in reducing racism and its impacts on communities of color.Arroyo, the chairman of the council’s Committee on…
Berning up Boston: Sanders Supporters Rally for Progress
Bernie Sanders supporters rally for the presidential candidate in Boston on Saturday, Feb. 22. Photo by Chaim Wigder Boston was feeling the Bern last weekend as hundreds gathered on Saturday, Feb. 22 in front of the State House in Boston in support of Bernie Sanders’ campaign for president. The rally, organized by Boston Socialist Alternative…
Spare Change Vendor Remembered
The following is a lightly edited letter from Sumner McClain about Isaac Crawford, a Spare Change News vendor who recently passed away. I met Isaac Crawford several years ago in Porter Square where he was selling Spare Change News, always with a smile. He introduced himself as “Ike,” and I shared my name, Sumner, with…
The Split Man: A review of Marc Goldfinger’s ‘Heroin’s Harbor
Heroin’s harbor is the addict, as Marc D. Goldfinger’s collection of poems and stories, Heroin’s Harbour makes harrowingly clear. Heroin is the body of the addict that craves the drug, and it’s the mind of the addict that cooperates with the insistent body, paradoxically rationalizing any action that might provide safe harbor for a poison. Human beings are frail…
Hearing on rent control draws supportive tenants and activists
The Joint Committee on Housing held a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 14, on a bill before the Massachusetts Legislature that would lift the ban on rent control in Massachusetts, allowing cities and towns to decide if it’s best for their respective communities. The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Michael Connolly (D-Middlesex) and Nika Elugardo…
Believe it when you see it: City promises money it doesn’t have
I will probably be in the minority on this but I’m not at all impressed with the Mayor of Boston’s State of the City speech Tuesday night. Especially the new rental subsidy program. First of all, this is clearly politically motivated, and if you don’t think so, well – to each their own. But look,…
Boston pledges $500 million over five years for housing
Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration has announced a five year $500 million investment in affordable housing, but a vital revenue stream needed to fund the investment isn’t a sure thing. The administration has proposed a transfer tax of up to two percent, which according to Chief Financial Officer Emme Handy would generate “something like in excess…
Celebrate the release of SCN writer’s book at the Lizard Lounge
Come out to the Lizard Lounge and celebrate the release of “Heroin’s Harbour,” the forthcoming book by Spare Change News Columnist, Vendor, and Poetry Editor Marc Goldfinger on Sunday, Dec. 8. The night will kick off with a poetry slam at 8p.m., and Marc will take the stage to do a reading at about 9:30p.m.…
From the Street to the Finish Line
Photo by Margarita Dreyer. When a woman walked into homeless shelters in Philadelphia in 2007 and asked residents if they wanted to go for a run, she didn’t know that by 2019 her individual gesture would be a movement. Back on my Feet has grown from one woman to an organization with 13 chapters nationwide.…
Winter Arrives Early
As I sit here writing, I realize that the temperature today, this Tuesday in November is supposed to slam down into the teens with a chill factor below 10 degrees. I remember what it was like to be homeless in weather like this and my heart goes out to my brothers and sisters on the…