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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:November 16, 2011

NO to the Copley Place Expansion!Copley Neighbors to occupy the Mayors Office & occupy the Boston

Redevelopment Authority Meeting on Thursday 17 November 2011

South End, Boston, Massachusetts --- Thursday, November 17, 2011

Copley Neighbors and Friends will occupy the Mayors Office at 3:00pm and occupythe Boston Redevelopment Meeting at City Hall on 5:30pm Thursday, November 17 tobring our message:

No! This is not the way we want public land to be developed! We believe it isimmoral and illegal!

We asked the question, In whose interest is the Copley Place Expansion? and ouranswer is resoundingly Copley Place Expansion is not in the interest of the people! Itbenefits the 1% and not the rest of us! We make our claims and demands in honor of a50+ year historical tradition where people in this neighborhood have worked for housingnot just for poor people, not just for rich people, but housing for everyone!

Simon Property intends to build a soaring 625-foot 47-story elite residential tower withan enclosed wintergarden that replaces and encroaches upon the expanse of publicopen space land now at the corner of Dartmouth and Stuart Street in the BackBay/South End. It also privatizes the gateway to the Southwest Corridor Park.

We believe it is unconscionable and illegal for the Governor, the Mayor and the BostonRedevelopment Authority to try to rush a BRA decision on the Copley Place expansionat the November 17 BRA meeting. We intend to stop this BRA decision and preventthis Copley Place Expansion from moving forward. When politicians, developersand corporate-driven press try to fast-track a project like the Copley Place expansion,we believe they must be hiding something from the people.

The Copley Place Expansion project:

is a segregated housing development on public land;

is illegal because it usurps and privatizes public open space that was createdwith Federal HUD UDAG subsidies;

disregards and violates the spirit and letter of the City of Bostons UDAGapplication and court orders associated with the Copley Place development andparts of the surrounding neighborhood. Those agreements require at least 25%affordable housing units on site and provides for community retail space with

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50% reserved for community development corporations and minority businessenterprises at below-market rents;

violates the spirit and letter of local zoning laws. We disagree with the use ofspot zoning at this location to override existing laws that would allow this tower

to soar more than 4 times above the legal zoning limit of 155 feet; the citys visionof air rights development from 2000 did not support a new tower at this location.

has yet to adequately address a long list of serious problems associated with thetragic loss of public space and serious loss of quality of life, and have shown anunwillingness to address and improve issues of public safety;

The Tent City development site next door exemplifies the long history and peoplesvision in this neighborhood of housing and businesses not just for poor people, not justfor rich people, but for everyone. The original housing built by the Copley Developer onHarcourt Street follows the goals set for the Copley site of 25% affordable units on site.

In both cases, these developments are on public land.

This open letter from Mel King speaks for us:

An Open Letter to Mayor Thomas Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, andGovernor Deval Patrick:

This is a request that you not be guilty of promoting a segregated housing program hereat Copley Place. The Copley Expansion Project that is under consideration under yourleadership should not be allowed to go forward.

There are many reasons that have been raised by way of serious objections from thelocal community to the plans for The Copley Expansion. For me, the most crucial one,the one I believe causes the most harm, is the acceptance of a proposal that will; A)

Allow segregated housing on public land and B) Create conditions that will furtherexacerbate the housing problems and the ability to exist in this neighborhood by folks ofcolor and persons of lower income. The economic and social diversity of ourcommunity is threatened.

I have spent a large part of my life dealing with segregation. What is the most egregiousand one of the most serious aspects of this proposal, is how many people turn a blindeye to the kind of impact that projects based on segregation like this will have onindividuals. I have heard the voices of the youth who clearly see that they are being

pushed out of the South End. They understand far too clearly that the policies andpractice are geared to the study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council that saysthat in the next 20 years over thirty percent of the people who are livingin Boston whose incomes are low will be living at least 25 miles from the center of thecity. So when you understand that and you attend meetings where there is anindifference to these issues, it reminds me of the signs that I saw when I went South tocollege. So it is not a question for me of whether there will be 25 percent of the housing

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as affordable or not. I start with the fact that this is a project or process that one cannottrust.

One of the things that we hear about The Copley Expansion Project is that they willcreate some jobs and therefore the scars that it places on people of color do not matter.

This is part of the reason why it took so long to end the segregated systems both hereand in the South. Yes, there were some people who stood because they understandinjustice. The fact of the matter is that if the people themselves who were affected hadnot stood up and marched and did not face the cattle prods and the fire hoses andsometimes death; things to whatever extent would have not changed. I feel, and see, asimilar thing that is necessary here. It is interesting that in the shadow of the ExpansionProject there are folks who are involved in Occupations as a way to confront andexpose the same kind of behavior that put profits before peoples humanity and dignity.

You, as elected officials, and as members of the Boston Redevelopment Authority havea moral of responsibility and we do not want you to get sucked in with a policy that is

geared to dehumanize. You have a chance to establish a policy of inclusion where allthe tribes are welcome and all the gifts are shared. Its time for you to step up andprovide leadership based on justice. The issue of jobs and money is what allowedslavery to exist. Do not become advocates for a system that uses the public land to putgreed before a persons dignity, a communitys dignity and spiritual and mentalhealth. Make it known that projects like this are not welcome.

(end of Mel Kings letter)

Copley Neighbors is a group of neighbors who live near the proposed Copley PlaceExpansion and their supporters.

Contact Information:Copley Neighbors email: copleyneighors@gmail.com

Twitter: @copleyneighborsMel King email: mhking@mit.edu phone: 617.578.0597Ken Kruckemeyer email: kek@mit.eduSusan Klimczak email: klimczaksusan@gmail.com phone: 617.817.2877

Twitter: @zackboston

ENDS###