Kraft unveils plan for Mass. and Cass, says Wu made problems worse

Local News

Josh Kraft accused Mayor Michelle Wu of inadequately addressing the “human tragedy” of Mass. and Cass and spreading disorder to other parts of Boston.

Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft released a plan Monday to “finally solve the problems” plaguing the area of Boston known as Mass. and Cass. In releasing the plan, Kraft is hoping to seize on existing discontent with how Mayor Michelle Wu has handled some of the city’s public safety issues. 

The intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue has become emblematic of the region’s struggles with housing affordability, mental health, and substance use. 

In early 2022, shortly after taking office, Wu oversaw the dismantling of a large homeless encampment there and organized a related “housing surge” for the people living there. The next year, Wu again took action to clear a large tent encampment that had sprung up on nearby Atkinson Street. 

Public safety concerns had spiked around the encampment, prompting investigations of serious crimes like human trafficking. Some outreach workers were even directed to avoid the area due to threats to their safety, officials said at the time. The Atkinson Street encampment was successfully cleared, with the Wu administration adding shelter beds and working individually with the people who had been living outside to connect them with services. 

But people around the city began to see the spillover effects of that operation over the past year. Residents and officials have been particularly concerned with a rise in congregate drug use, crime, and waste in Downtown Boston. Some have even said there was a possibility of a “mini Mass. and Cass” forming on Boston Common. 

The Wu administration has acknowledged these spillover effects and is taking steps to address them. Wu likes to tout Boston as the “safest major city in America,” citing a historically low homicide rate that came in recent years. But the chaos associated with Mass. and Cass leaves a lane for Wu’s opponents to criticize her on public safety policy. 

“Mayor Wu has failed to solve – and often exacerbated – the problems at Mass. & Cass while also spreading the crisis from its original epicenter outward across much of the city. This directly contradicts the ‘Boston is the Safest City in America’ line that she loves to repeat,” Kraft said in a statement Monday. “People that I talk to do not feel safe in our city right now.”

Overdose deaths are declining, something the Wu administration says is evidence of its current plans working successfully. In a release, Kraft acknowledged that the city saw a “significant drop in overdose deaths,” but linked this to national trends and said that more needs to be done. 

Wu’s office did not return a request for comment Monday. 

Kraft’s Mass. and Cass plan

The plan put forth by Kraft is meant to address both the “human tragedy” of Mass. and Cass and the “public safety threat,” he said Monday morning at a press conference. It has three main components: more proactive police enforcement, a “recovery-first focus, with intervention when necessary,” and support for new educational and vocational opportunities. 

The Kraft campaign accuses city officials of downplaying the severity of public safety threats and “a deliberate de-emphasis on enforcement of state laws and city ordinances.” Kraft would direct police to increase enforcement of laws against public drug use, trespassing, and encampment on both private and public property. The goal, he said, is to make clear that “indefinite street living” and public drug use are no longer tolerated. Kraft called for the city to emphasize enforcement of “drug-use driven property crimes” like shoplifting, package theft, and car break-ins. 

He wants a new “police command framework” that focuses specifically on Mass. and Cass. This would include the reestablishment of a police substation in Downtown Crossing. A “specialized booking system” would handle the arrests of people who are “under the influence of drugs or emotionally disturbed.” Kraft supports the revival of a needle pickup program that ended recently. 

Kraft says that the Wu administration focuses too much on “harm reduction,” leaving people “stuck in the grip of addiction.” To that end, he does not support the use of supervised drug consumption sites. Kraft said that more access to medicines like Suboxone is necessary.

He would oversee the creation of a “Recover Boston” campus that offers “seamless” addiction recovery programs, housing support, and more. This was dismissed by the Wu administration when it was floated by community and business groups, according to Kraft. He advocated for more collaboration between the city and state governments, saying that Wu’s “go it alone” strategy is a mistake. The “Recover Boston” program would be jointly funded and set up somewhere in greater Boston, but not necessarily within the city limits, Kraft said. 

Kraft also said that the city needs to work more with the state government to add back lost shelter beds, citing the recent closure of a program at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain. 

Finally, he said that the city should replicate a recovery model deployed in North Carolina that focuses on long-term residential treatment, educational opportunities and vocational training through social enterprising programs. 

“Mass. and Cass is a human tragedy, and it’s a public safety threat that the mayor does not want to talk about because she does not know how to fix it,” Kraft said.