Author: Zach Mobrice

  • ACLU Challenges Cambridge Tax on Events and Demonstrations in Public Parks

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the City of Cambridge on Tuesday, July 3, challenging an ambiguous policy of billing event organizers for police and medical services. The lawsuit — filed on behalf of Massachusetts Peace Action and the Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund — says the city’s actions are…

  • Boston City Council Approves Regulations on Short-Term Rentals

    Boston City Council on Wednesday, June 15, voted overwhelmingly to adopt new regulations on short-term rental units, with the hopes that tightening market restrictions will help ease the burdens of housing displacement and rising rent costs felt by residents throughout the city. The regulations come at the end of a long and heated debate between…

  • Boston City Council Approves Regulations on Short-Term Rentals

    Boston City Council on Wednesday, June 15, voted overwhelmingly to adopt new regulations on short-term rental units, with the hopes that tightening market restrictions will help ease the burdens of housing displacement and rising rent costs felt by residents throughout the city. The regulations come at the end of a long and heated debate between…

  • Boston Jobs Coalition Decries Economic Disparity in Boston, Announces Wealth And Income Campaign For Residents

    The Boston Jobs Coalition held a press briefing on Wednesday, May 30,  to begin their Campaign for Wealth and Income Now, which seeks to help residents stay afloat in a city with an ever-rising cost of living. The campaign — lead by a score of advocacy groups such as City Life/Vida Urbana, the Black Economic…

  • Boston Jobs Coalition Decries Economic Disparity in Boston

    Boston Jobs Coalition Decries Economic Disparity in Boston

    The Boston Jobs Coalition held a press briefing on Wednesday, May 30,  to begin their Campaign for Wealth and Income Now, which seeks to help residents stay afloat in a city with an ever-rising cost of living. The campaign — lead by a score of advocacy groups such as City Life/Vida Urbana, the Black Economic…

  • Mayor Walsh Pitches Ban On Investor-Owned Short Term Rentals

    Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a proposal Wednesday, May 9, that would effectively ban investors from buying housing in the city for the purpose of renting them out by the night through sites such as AirBnB. This push for regulations has found support in city officials and citizens alike, who have argued that investors looking…

  • Inmate Spends Ten Days in solitary Confinement to Protest Lack of Clean Water

    Wayland Coleman, an inmate at MCI-Norfolk — a prison that has been under scrutiny for inaction regarding its dirty and potentially harmful water — spent ten days in solitary confinement late March for attempting to distribute bottled water he had purchased to fellow prisoners. Coleman, who has been working alongside prisoner advocates to help quell…

  • Domonique Williams Appointed Boston’s Deputy Director of the Office of Housing Stability’s

    Domonique Williams Appointed Boston’s Deputy Director of the Office of Housing Stability’s

    On Wednesday, April 4, Domonique Williams became Boston’s Office of Housing Stability’s new deputy director. Williams is a Roxbury resident and former housing attorney, and Mayor Marty Walsh — who announced Williams’ appointment through a press release — hopes that under her leadership, the city can expand its efforts to tackle a burgeoning housing crisis.…

  • Housing Justice Activists Rally to Support Jim Brooks Act and Keep Tenants From Eviction

    Over 150 people took to the streets of Roxbury on Saturday, March 17 to stand in solidarity with tenants facing eviction in the area, and to urge a state house vote on the Jim Brooks Act which would potentially curb housing displacement in Boston. Despite the rally’s large attendance and political support, the Massachusetts General…

  • State House Hearing on Jim Brooks Act Draws Massive Crowd

    The Massachusetts General Court held a hearing on Tuesday, January 30, where its Joint Committee on the Judiciary heard two hours of testimony regarding Boston’s Jim Brooks Stabilization Act. Present were about 100 housing activists, including members of advocacy group City Life/Vida Urbana, voicing overwhelming support for the bill. The Jim Brooks Stabilization Act  would…