Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston announced Sunday that new regulations will take effect Nov. 1 that gives police authority to dismantle a homeless tent encampment.
The city intersection that contains a homeless tent city within Boston that has garnered the nickname of ‘Methadone Mile’ is set to be dismantled following the enforcement of the mayor’s anti-camping ordinance, the Boston Herald reported. (RELATED: Video Shows Climate Activists Blocking Rush Hour Traffic In Boston)
The city’s permissive attitude toward open-air drug use and violence occurring in the Mass and Cass zone will drastically change on Nov. 1, when authorities begin enforcing a new anti-encampment ordinance, Police Commissioner Michael Cox said. https://t.co/bHKwl1nJlX
— Boston Herald (@bostonherald) October 26, 2023
The area got its nickname from the fact that a lot of methadone clinics operate there and for the drug addiction problem of its homeless residents, the Northeast Addictions Treatment Center noted.
The ordinance, however, conditions police’s authority to clear the encampment based on whether they offer the homeless residents a ride to a homeless shelter and help storing the belongings of the same, Boston 25 reported.
The city council approved Wednesday the amended ordinance by a vote of 9-3, the Boston Herald reported. This new rule has been disseminated to the various residents of the intersection in various languages, the outlet noted.
“And if it is up, it will be asked to be taken down,” Wu told WCVB about the homeless encampment.
“There is no magic wand in a very complex, long-standing challenge that cities around the country are facing with the opiate crisis, homelessness, mental health, but we know that in Boston we have a very good sense of, not only who it is that needs services, but also how to most effectively connect people with those services,” Wu told the outlet on the need to continue to provide services to the unfortunate.