• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CHINATOWN CONUNDRUM BECOMES QUINCY QUAGMIRE

Written by ZACK HUFFMAN Posted May 11, 2015 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

103 tenant speaks

Images by Zack Huffman

 

The battle for Chinatown has expanded beyond city limits.

 

Last week the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) carried their fight over affordable housing in Boston all the way to the front steps of the Quincy developer who is attempting to proceed with plans that will leave some of his tenants on Hudson Street homeless.

 

Residents of 101 and 103 Hudson set up camp in front of the law offices of Matera, Vopat, Matera & Johnson, which is also the home of First Suffolk LLC, a real estate investment company that recently purchased the homes that are now in contention.

 

Those affected, many of whom do not speak English and rely on affordable housing to stay in Chinatown so that they have access to work, are caught in a storm of redevelopment, some of which is taking place directly across the street from them.

 

With the influx of luxury and market-rate housing in the Chinatown area, more and more developers are slobbering over occupied buildings that can be converted into high-rises for hefty profits.

 

Soon after First Suffolk acquired 103 Hudson, residents were bombarded with efforts to get them out of the building, according to Mark Liu, the programs and operating director at the CPA.

 

“They intimidated tenants and tried to change the locks,” said Liu. “They sledgehammered doors open.”

 

tents closeup

 

In many cases, First Suffolk claimed that it wanted to make overdue repairs to the building. The company pulled permits for 103 Hudson Street to replace the fire alarms, rewire the building, and update gas lines, according to the Department of Inspectional Services, but the permits are only good until late July, and it remains unclear whether or not the work has actually started, according to Liu.

 

Such actions make the new owners seem like shitty slumlord caricatures. But when reached for comment, the firm declined to comment. First Suffolk bought 101 Hudson Street for $658,000, according to the register of deeds, which is a discount from the city’s assessed value of the property at $807,000.

 

In the meantime, the tenants were finally kicked out and relocated to a hotel in Quincy. Their access to public transportation is limited, as are their prospects moving forward. First Suffolk bought the building on April 24 and wasted little time before commencing with apparent shenanigans. It seems the new landlord has already stopped paying for water. A shut off notice left on the first floor of the building gives May 11 as a payment deadline before the property goes dry.

 

“If they have enough money to buy the building, why don’t they pay the water bill?” asked Yu Yannong, of the CPA. Added Liu: “The landlord is again using different tactics to get residents out of buildings … He said he wants to buy up the whole block and build a high rise.”

ZACK HUFFMAN

Zack is a veteran reporter. He writes for DigBoston and VICE, and formerly reported for the Boston Courant and Bulletin Newspapers.

Related posts
  • ZACK HUFFMAN
    https://digboston.com/author/zack-huffman/
    December 14, 2021
    THE SCRAMBLE CONTINUES, FROM MASS AND CASS TO CAPITOL HILL
  • ZACK HUFFMAN
    https://digboston.com/author/zack-huffman/
    November 30, 2021
    CAN A LANDLORD-LOVING GOV STAND IN THE WAY OF RENT CONTROL?
  • ZACK HUFFMAN
    https://digboston.com/author/zack-huffman/
    November 15, 2021
    CONGRESSWOMAN PRESSLEY OPPOSES COMPROMISE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
  • ZACK HUFFMAN
    https://digboston.com/author/zack-huffman/
    November 15, 2021
    BAKER TARGETS ALLEGEDLY STONED DRIVERS ONCE AGAIN

Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Chinatown, Chinese Progressive Association, CPA, displacement, First Suffolk, gentrification, homelessness, Hudson Street, jobs, landlords, Quincy

WHAT’S NEW

Abortion rights protestors in Copley Square, Boston, the evening of the SCOTUS decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. Photo by Charlotte Howard. Photo by Charlotte Howard

Protestors Gather in Copley Square to Fight for Abortion Rights

A View of the Harvard Square Pit in June 2022. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2022 Jason Pramas

Why This Pit Kid Is Not Going to ‘Pit-A-Palooza’

Reader Responses: "Unruly, Argumentative Governor's Council ..."

Reader Responses: “Unruly, Argumentative Governor’s Council …”

Inbox: Legislation To Protect Vote for Eligible Incarcerated Voters on Baker’s Desk

Inbox: Legislation To Protect Vote for Eligible Incarcerated Voters on Baker’s Desk

Mental-Health Program Provides Alternative to Emergency-Room Boarding

Mental-Health Program Provides Alternative to Emergency-Room Boarding

Unruly, Argumentative Governor’s Council Inflames Parole Board Hearings

Unruly, Argumentative Governor’s Council Inflames Parole Board Hearings

Primary Sidebar

Advertisement

FEATURED EVENT

Advertisement

Most Popular

  • Dig This: The Return Of the Boston Seafood Festival
  • No Smoking, No Thank You. Advocates Decry Cannabis Social Consumption Rules in Mass
  • Meet the Phantom Behind Greater Boston’s Awesome Food Feed Everybody Gotta Eat
  • Dig This: The Hot Dog Safari Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival
  • Why This Pit Kid Is Not Going to ‘Pit-A-Palooza’

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]