On a rare morning last week when I had nothing to do I hastily caught a press conference by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Let’s cut to the chase. “If committing to signing the (host city) agreement is what’s required to move forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic games,” Walsh…
GAMES OVER: Boston Olympics opponents reflect on the fight
On the same day the USOC announced that they decided to pull the bid for the Boston 2024 Olympics Games, No Boston 2024, a grassroots organization sent the public a newsletter, entitled “We won! But the fight continues.” “We were fighting the Olympics because we wanted a Boston that works for all residents, a city…
BID ADIEU: Boston 2024 loses, vulnerable communities win
Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games is dead, which is a huge relief for the homeless, low-income communities and people of color. Opponents of the bid argued that these populations were most in danger of displacement and harassment should the Summer Olympics have come to town. While the Atlanta 1996 Olympics are often…
OLYMPIC DISPLACEMENT: Boston 2024 opponents discuss the games' history of displacement
If history does in fact repeat itself, Boston’s herculean efforts to host the Olympics in 2024 will result in pushing out the city’s “undesirables,” including a “not in our backyard” attitude toward the growing homeless population. Opponents of Boston’s Olympics bid hosted a panel to discuss the games’ history of displacement and whether Boston could…
MISS CONGENIALITY: Katya's alter ego talks stardom, Olympics
When Boston won the bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Brian McCook’s now famous drag alter ego Katya planned an old-school Russian boycott. “I’m so torn about it,” says McCook, who was in the top five out of 14 performers featured on the current season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. “While I would love to physically…
MURPHYS’ LAW: Dropkick Murphys’ Matt Kelly talks 2024 Olympics, hometown pride
It’s hard to think of Boston without thinking about the Dropkick Murphys. They’re synonymous with the city today, and rightly so. They’ve worked hard over the last 19 years to get to where they are in the music scene. They’re connected to the biggest punk bands to come out of the city, such as the…
EXCLUSIVE: Boston’s Long Island slotted for Olympic shooting range
The Boston 2024 Olympic committee hopes to use Long Island for an Olympic shooting event, should Boston win its bid to host the Summer Games. The event would feature a 57-acre venue that could seat 7,000 spectators. The proposed idea and many other Olympic plans were revealed when Boston 2024 made its bid documents publicly…
Going for the Gold: The 1996 Summer Olympics pushed out Atlanta’s poorest residents. What will happen if Boston wins its bid?
On December 16, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh went to California to speak to the US Olympic Committee in support Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, despite mixed feelings back East. Boston is competing with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC to host the Games, and the topic’s been a source of debate among…