Description: Meg Vaillancourt interviews Elma Lewis (Roxbury community leader) about the Roxbury neighborhood. Lewis says that Roxbury is portrayed as "unworthy" by the news media. Lewis criticizes media coverage, housing policy, and police performance in Roxbury. Lewis talks about the need for a community to set its own standards, saying that she complains about certain types of behavior on her block. Lewis says that she will not be driven from her home by the problems in the neighborhood. She talks about her obligation to work for improvements in the community. Vaillancourt's report is accompanied by footage of residents and police in the Roxbury area and a shot of a photograph of Darlene Tiffany Moore (Roxbury resident). This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following items: Teachers and parents are frustrated over new starting times for the Boston Public Schools for the coming school year Boston parents frustrated with Wilson and School Committee Charles Laquidara organizes a boycott against Shell Oil Company
1:00:21: Visual: Footage of Elma Lewis (Roxbury community leader) being interviewed by Meg Vaillancourt. Lewis says that the media portray Roxbury as "unworthy." Shot of a Boston Herald newspaper article with a photo of eleven -year-old Darlene Tiffany Moore (Roxbury resident). Vaillancourt reports that Lewis lives on the same block as Moore; that Moore was killed by a stray bullet in Roxbury last weekend. Vaillancourt reports that Lewis says that Roxbury is a better community than is portrayed in the media. V: Shots of stately houses on Homestead Street in Roxbury; of a camera man filming a man in a business suit on a street. Vaillancourt reports that drug dealers are not common in Roxbury. V: Shot of an African American woman pulling weeds from a crack in a sidewalk. A boy on a bicycle is with her. Shots of two white police officers patrolling a residential street in Roxbury. Shot of multi-family houses on a residential street in Roxbury. Vaillancourt reports that Lewis says that federal housing requirements create crowded and hostile conditions in Roxbury residences. V: Shots of houses in a new development in Roxbury. Footage of Lewis saying that section eight of the federal housing policy was designed to disseminate people over a large area; that the result of section eight has been new housing projects. Vaillancourt notes that Lewis has criticized the performance of the Boston Police Department in Roxbury. V: Shots of a police cruiser traveling down a Roxbury street; of a small group of African American kids on a street corner. Footage of Lewis saying that every child in Roxbury knows where the drugs are; that the police need to be reminded constantly of where the drugs are. Vaillancourt reports that Lewis is tough on her own community. V: Footage of Lewis saying that residents need to refuse to allow certain kinds of activity on their block. Lewis says that she will harass city authorities and those responsible for the activity until the behavior stops. Shots of African American women and children crossing a Roxbury street; of a police cruiser traveling down a residential street. Shots of people doing yard work outside of a new development of houses in Roxbury. Footage of Lewis saying that a community needs to set its own standards; that residents need to stop bad behavior before it gets out of control. Vaillancourt says that Lewis is optimistic about the people who live in Roxbury. V: Shot of African American children playing in front of a building in Roxbury. Footage of Lewis saying that she will not be driven from her home; that she will not get up and move every twenty years while others relax comfortably in the suburbs. Lewis says that she has an obligation to stay in the community and work for improvements.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 08/23/1988
Description: Marcus Jones reports on the construction of modular townhouse condominiums in Roxbury. He notes that the condominiums are affordable housing developed by a private developer. Jones tours the condominiums with tenant Kay Williams. Interview with Williams and future tenant Wanda Wallace about the condominiums. Interview with Alan Harap of the Bergmeyer Development Company about the modular condominiums. Harap says that the condominiums are an economical approach to affordable housing in Roxbury. Interview with Shay Allan of the Boston Public Facilities Department about the affordability of the condominiums. Jones reviews the price of the condominiums and notes that mortgages are available through the state's home ownership program. Jones notes that private developers can profit from building modular units for affordable housing.
1:00:05: Visual: Shot of a modular housing unit being lowered onto a site by crane. Marcus Jones reports that modular homes are built in factories, loaded onto trucks and placed on plots of land. V: Shots of a driver operating a truck; of a modular housing unit on the back of a truck; of a worker supervising the descent of a modular housing unit onto a site. Footage of Wanda Wallace (future homeowner) holding her infant as she is interviewed by Marcus Jones. Wallace says that she never expected the condominiums to be ready so soon; that she thought the condominiums would be very expensive. Jones reports that Wallace's family and four other families will be moving into the modular condominium townhouses. V: Shot of the site of the condominium townhouses. The townhouses are being constructed. Shot of workers using a drill to put the buildings together. Shot of Kay Williams (future homeowner) and Marcus Jones touring the interior of one of the buildings. Footage of Williams saying that she is happy to be able to afford to stay in the neighborhood; that the neighborhood will be a desirable neighborhood in a few years. Shots of the interior of one of the condominiums; of the bathroom in one of the condominiums. Jones reports that the condominiums are affordable housing developed by a private developer; that the private developer approached the city with the idea for the project. V: Footage of Alan Harap (Bergmeyer Development Company) standing in front of the site. Harap says that the Roxbury condominiums are a pilot project for the company; that there are many vacant lots in Roxbury where affordable housing could be built. Shot of a man directing the driver of a truck. The truck has a modular housing unit loaded onto the back. Jones reports that the 2-bedroom townhouses range from $86,000 to $100,000; that low-interest mortgages are being provided through the state's home ownership program. V: Shot of the interior of one of the townhouses; of the street below from the window of one of the townhouses. Footage of Shay Allen (Boston Public Facilities Department) saying that the homeowners will only need to put down a 5% downpayment on the townhouses. Shot of a crane being used to place one the modular units on a site. Construction workers oversee the placement of the unit. Footage of Harap being interviewed by Jones. Harap says that constructing buildings on site is more economical for large developments; that modular housing is an economical way to put affordable housing on small, scattered sites. Jones stands in front of the townhouse site. Construction continues on behind him. Jones reports that the developers say that modular units can be used to provide affordable housing anywhere; that the demand is great for affordable housing; that the developers will profit from meeting the demand.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 07/28/1988