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Mayor Wu wants more office workers coming back to Boston
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It's a beautiful day to go forest bathing (more on that below). But while nature may be medicine for you, heading back to the office is what the doctor ordered for downtown — at least according to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work (in the office) we go: In a sit-down with WBUR's Tiziana Dearing yesterday, Wu said she's happy to see Fidelity and other big employers calling employees back into the office more often. "It was great news in terms of the boost ... for small businesses," she said. Some office workers aren't so pleased. They say a full-time return to downtown will damage their work-life balance. Wu, though, said she's working to help ease those concerns, from improving public transit to expanding childcare options. "The barriers and the challenges can feel very real," she said. "But rather than saying, 'We're all going to retreat and abandon; it's too hard, there are too many pieces,' ... we need to solve those pieces as well." Wu said she benefits from a city-operated daycare, where she just started sending her 16-month-old daughter, Mira. (Something relatable to most parents: Wu had to wait for a spot to open up in the City Hall childcare center.)
- TTYL: Tiziana also asked Wu about the city's refusal to hand over any text messages between Wu and developers, after the mayor offered up her texts to the Boston Globe as evidence that she has a good relationship with the industry. Wu said she doesn't conduct any business over text, and any texts she does send are more congratulatory or informal. "There's no text message that is negotiating a deal or asking for any kind of work-related matter whatsoever," she said. "I'm very careful about that."
- Budget fight: Wu addressed a controversial $724,000 cut she made to the veteran's services budget. Councilors unanimously opposed the 14% reduction, which Wu said won't affect direct services or staff, but rather reduce grants to nonprofits. She said if the council wants to restore funding, they need to figure out where that money should come from.
- Listen: Hear Wu's full conversation on Morning Edition at this link (audio will be added later this morning) or watch her talk about back-to-work in this Instagram reel.
Getting there from here: Boston Legacy soccer fans who (eventually) head to White Stadium at Franklin Park for a match will have lots of ways to get there, Wu's office says — just not by car. A new transportation plan released by the city says fans will have to make a transportation choice when they purchase tickets, with options including public transit, shuttles, biking, walking or ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft.
- Zoom in: Free shuttle service will run from the Forest Hills, Ruggles and JFK/UMass stations, plus shuttles from satellite parking lots outside Boston. Parking will be prohibited in Franklin Park and neighborhood streets, with a "residential parking protection program" in place. The team will fully fund the transportation plan, according to the city, paying for everything from parking enforcement to the shuttles. The mayor's office is asking for input on the plan at a meeting on June 11 at the Devine Golf Course clubhouse.
- Building update: The $325 million stadium, which will also host Boston Public Schools events, is still under construction. After more than a year of demo, crews began "vertical construction" in April. But the city said last month the stadium won't be ready until "end of summer 2027."
- Legal battle: The state Supreme Judicial Court is currently weighing a lawsuit, about whether White Stadium should still be considered parkland, that could stop the project. The court heard arguments last month in the suit brought by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of neighbors known as the Franklin Park Defenders.
Storrowed: Starting tonight, MassDOT is shutting down a long stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road nearly every night through August to allow for tunnel repairs. Nearly four miles of the eastbound lanes of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road, stretching from Mugar Way, near the Hatch Shell, to North Harvard Street, will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to the Mass. Department of Transportation. Westbound lanes will remain open. MassDOT added that work hours could change to accommodate big events like the World Cup and concerts at Fenway and the TD Garden.
- Wait a minute... Yes, that work was supposed to begin last night, but a shooting on Memorial Drive in Cambridge near the River Street bridge led MassDOT to postpone. Investigators say a man fired 50 to 60 rounds from an assault-style rifle, wounding two people. A state trooper and another person shot the gunman, Tyler Brown, of Boston, who was hospitalized.
P.S. — You may have heard about Massachusetts' plans to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions — with a goal of 50% reduction by 2030 (only four years away!) and net zero by 2050. But how are we actually going to do that? WBUR senior climate and environment reporter Miriam Wasser is leading a discussion tonight at 7 p.m. at First Parish Cambridge. Catch it in person or on zoom.
