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Officials eyeing revival of recovery campus plan around Mass. and Cass

While the city successfully cleared many tents last year, hundreds are still gathering daily at Mass. and Cass.

Workers clear tents on Atkinson Street in October 2023. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe

By Ross Cristantiello

A group of elected officials are working with leaders at the city and state level to create a recovery campus that would help those gathering in the Mass. and Cass area of Boston who struggle with chronic homelessness, mental illness, and substance use disorder. 

“Our offices have heard almost daily from constituents about alarming fallout from the public health crisis at the area known as Mass. and Cass,” state Rep. John Moran, state Sen. Liz Miranda, and Boston City Councilor John FitzGerald wrote in a letter published in The Boston Globe last week. 

The areas surrounding the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard have been a hotbed for drug use and other illicit activities for years. Citing an uptick in public safety concerns at an open-air drug market on Atkinson Street, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spearheaded a plan last year to clear tents and relocate those who had been living inside them. While Wu and members of her administration touted the plan’s success in clearing the encampments, crowds have reportedly been gathering there again this summer. 

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“Even though law-enforcement agencies are applying their resources as much as possible, officers are not equipped to provide the care these individuals need. Local volunteers are running out of energy and resources to combat the myriad issues they face, and many have reported feeling unsafe near specific trouble spots,” Moran, Miranda, and FitzGerald wrote. 

They are calling for a “follow-up phase” to last year’s ordinance that centers an urgent need for public safety and continuity of care. Officials last year explored using Widett Circle, an industrial area owned by the MBTA, as a short-term solution while the city works to repair the dilapidated Long Island recovery campus.  

“We strongly believe that this concept would be worth exploring again immediately, whether at Widett Circle or elsewhere,” Moran, Miranda, and FitzGerald wrote. 

So far, Wu’s team has been receptive in meetings with the three officials, The Boston Herald reported. Sue Sullivan, executive director of the Newmarket Business Improvement District, is involved in looking for new locations for a recovery campus, with a preference that it not be in the immediate vicinity of Mass. and Cass. Hopes of using Widett Circle have reportedly been dashed. 

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City Councilor Ed Flynn called the situation a “humanitarian crisis” last week and published a hearing order that would see his colleagues evaluate the situation and hear directly from city officials and community leaders. 

Although the tents have been cleared, hundreds of people are gathering daily, Flynn wrote in the hearing order. Quality of life is being negatively impacted by the illegal activity as well as “piles of trash” that include needles and human feces. 

“Those suffering from substance use need detox, medical care and a pathway to recovery. Mandatory prison sentences for drug dealers & human traffickers!” Flynn wrote in a follow-up post on X last week.