Letter to Mayor Regarding Morton Street Condition

Friends of Cutillo Park, Inc.

26 Stillman Street, Unit 6-2 Boston, Massachusetts 02113

April 25, 2024

BY E-MAIL

Mayor Michelle Wu

1 City Hall Plaza, Suite 500

Boston City Hall Boston, Massachusetts 02201

Re: Morton Street, North End

Dear Mayor Wu,

We are writing with respect to the condition of Morton Street, a public way in the North End of Boston, particularly in light of the City’s pending completion of renovations to Cutillo Park. The City, through its Department of Parks and Recreation, has invested millions of dollars and considerable time and effort in the planning and implementation of a full renovation of Vincent Cutillo Park, a public park between and abutting Stillman Street and Morton Street in the North End. The City’s $2,000,000 plus renovation project is expected to be complete in the near future. We are grateful for the City’s investment of time and money, and are very much looking forward to using Cutillo Park, hopefully this summer!

The pending re-opening of Cutillo Park, which includes among other features, a children’s play area, makes the deplorable condition of Morton Street even more concerning than ever. As Friends of Cutillo Park and other North End groups and residents have reported to the City in the past, Morton Street is, and has for years been, continually covered with trash, trash barrels, grease bins, compost bins and other garbage that the City of Boston is actively permitting local businesses to store along Morton Street, a public way, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Morton Street runs the entire length of Cutillo Park, from Salem Street to Endicott Street. The trash soaked condition of Morton Street is continual and fosters a large rat population. The numerous rat dens are immediately apparent to anyone walking along Morton Street. Both the trash and the rats spread throughout Cutillo Park, creating a health and safety hazard the City of Boston must now pay attention to in order to protect its investment in Cutillo Park and, more importantly, the users of the Park. Because the renovated park includes a children’s playground and because residents will bring their pets to the park, the City will need to take great care in the methods it uses to control the rat population. A key to this MUST be eliminating the trash dump on Morton Street.

Morton Street is a public way, and must therefore be maintained, cleaned and cared for by the City of Boston. Attached as Exhibit B are recent photos of Morton Street for reference. We have documented the condition of Morton Street since 2018, and would have many more photos to share. Many neighbors to the Park have, over the years, undertaken their own efforts to clean up Cutillo Park and Morton Street. The condition of Morton Street, however, is far too hazardous at present for neighboring residents to address.

In 2018, the City of Boston granted certain businesses the right to store receptacles along Morton Street, apparently for NO consideration. (See Exhibit A attached hereto for the agreement signed by the City in 2018.) This right was made expressly subject to an obligation to comply with City rules and

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regulations and maintain the area in a safe and sanitary condition. The subject businesses have not complied with this obligation, and the City of Boston has not taken any steps to enforce the obligations of the benefitted businesses under the 2018 agreement

We do not believe the 2018 agreement was valid when issued; it does not reference the City of Boston ordinance(s) or regulations pursuant to which it has been entered into. If valid in 2018, we believe the agreement has been invalidated by the subject businesses’ failure to comply with their obligations thereunder as well as by the City’s failure to enforce the businesses’ obligations or comply with its own duty of inspection end enforcement.

We request that the Mayor’s office act to terminate the 2018 agreement and that the businesses storing trash, grease, and other refuse along Morton Street be required to make other arrangements and comply with City of Boston regulations, like all other businesses are required to do. There is no reason that a few business owners should be given the right to dump trash on a public way at the expense of North End residents and visitors as well as a newly renovated City park.

Thank you for looking into this matter. Please feel free to contact Kirsten Hoffman at 617-7713755 or friendsofcutillopark@gmail.com regarding this matter. We would very much like your help and support to protect public safety, public health, and parkland, and would be happy to meet with you at your offices or at the subject property.

Sincerely,

Friends of Cutillo Park, Inc.