Boston city councilor pushes for emergency hearing on discarded Mass and Cass spillover needle spikes

Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy plans to push for an urgency hearing in light of a latest blog post published by a local researcher who analyzed statistics and discovered reports of discarded needles have spiked and spread throughout the city Murphy plans to introduce a late-file urgency order for a hearing regarding the increase and spread of needle-related populace wellbeing and safety hazards in Boston at the Wednesday City Council meeting I have repeatedly called for the City of Boston to declare a inhabitants vitality and safety urgency to address the growing problem at Mass and Cass Murphy reported in a announcement The latest material confirms what residents across our neighborhoods already see this is no longer contained to one area Murphy s exigency order is responsive to a Substack post published last week by local writer and researcher James Piccirilli who determined that as of September needle reports in Boston are up from last year and more than since Piccirilli exposed that while Mass and Cass remains the center of the dilemma needles are being discarded throughout the city He wrote that needle reports have more than doubled in surrounding areas with parts of the South End right away surrounding the troubled intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard seeing spikes of to over the last two years From the South End to deep into Roxbury and Dorchester the shadow of Mass and Cass is looming over the city Piccirilli wrote Despite years of concerted effort the complication is growing and spreading further than before Mayor Michelle Wu implemented a plan to clean up the Mass and Cass intersection in November beginning with the clearing of a long-standing homeless encampment But city representatives have acknowledged of late that the open drug use dealing and related crime has since spilled over into surrounding neighborhoods particularly the South End which has been deemed a hot-spot area by the city and targeted for greater police enforcement South End residents spoke at a district meeting last week of the strength and safety risks that now come with taking their young children to parks and walking their dogs due to discarded needles City Councilor Ed Flynn who represents part of the South End and saw his urgency declaration push for Mass and Cass blocked by a colleague aligned with the mayor explained the evidence is reflective of what he sees as the larger issue that the city is ignoring the challenge Related Articles Furious South End residents see moving as only way out from Mass and Cass spillover South End surge Arrests spiked by this summer amid Mass and Cass spillover Boston Police Editorial Boston is a very safe city for shoplifters Boston businesses are being battered by shoplifting to feed Mass and Cass drug region Boston confronts opioid epidemic by crowdsourcing a beliefs change We have to acknowledge the important escalation of open drug use drug dealing violence criminal activity and discarded needles that we re seeing not just in the South End and Roxbury but also throughout the city as well Flynn recounted the Herald It s a important general safety issue and it s being ignored He noted the city necessities to take a zero-tolerance approach I don t feel we have that commitment right now Flynn explained We need to hold everybody accountable that s engaged in criminal activity and make arrests Arrests were up in the South End this summer from May to Aug compared to that time period last year per Boston Police evidence Boston Population Medical Commissioner Bisola Ojikutu stated last month that the city hands out more than needles per month to drug users as part of its harm reduction approach