The BRA and Faneuil Hall

I read your stories about the Boston Redevelopment Authority carefully. (See “Money Machine” and “City Workers Tap BRA Housing Program,” CW, Winter 2010.) I think they were quite well done (as was the entire edition).

I believe there is one error of which you should be aware. Specifically, Ed Logue had nothing to do with Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. He left office in late 1966 or early 1967. The City Council approved the bond issue and the lease in either 1973 or 1974, long after he was gone. It was one of the proudest votes I ever cast.

Lawrence S. DiCara
Former Boston city councilor
Attorney, Nixon Peabody LLP

CommonWealth editor Bruce Mohl responds:

I apologize for any confusion. I based my reporting on Ed Logue’s obituary and an accompanying remembrance of the former BRA executive director in The Boston Globe. Both stories credited Logue with conceiving the Quincy Market–Faneuil Hall redevelopment. After receiving Mr. DiCara’s letter, I contacted the BRA, and officials there said the agency under Logue commissioned a study to examine the reuse of the Faneuil Hall site in 1965. Faneuil Hall Marketplace itself did not open until 1976.

The following letters were posted online at CommonWealthmagazine.org.

No bells or whistles

Regarding Jack Sullivan’s story “City Workers Tap BRA Housing Program”: To lump the Reserve Channel building in with the others is misleading. This is not a high-end building with some affordable units. It is 26 units, all affordable and without all of the bells and whistles of the other places. I know because I am one of those who were fortunate enough to have been selected in that lottery.

Dwayne Dahlbeck

Tax deters smoking

Regarding Michael Jonas’s Inquiry on smokeless tobacco, one sure way to increase quit attempts by smokers is to increase cigarette sales taxes. Since the last Massachusetts cigarette tax went into effect, and given the current economic condition, more and more callers who want to quit smoking tell our tobacco treatment specialists that they just can’t afford to keep the habit and that the increased cost was an effective motivator to get them to quit. It goes without saying that an increase in other tobacco product sales taxes would have the same effect on both teens and adults, as Ms. Breslau has indicated.

One of our particular concerns at the Massachusetts Smoker’s Helpline is that these other tobacco products are so new on the market that we do not yet know what harmful effects they will ultimately have on users. Many are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The Center for Disease Control reports that “if current youth trends continue, 6.4 million of today’s young people will die from tobacco-related diseases.” Nearly all first-time tobacco use occurs before high school graduation. This suggests that if kept tobacco-free, most youth will never start using tobacco.

Ann Marie Rakovic
Director, Massachusetts Smokers’ Helpline

Up with Youth Villages

Regarding Alison Lobron’s Inquiry on Youth Villages, thank you for calling attention to this important issue. As counselors and social workers who live and work in the area, the Youth Villages staff — nearly 70 percent of whom come from Massachusetts or the New England region — is deeply committed to helping the most vulnerable children and families in Massachusetts. We hope others will join our cause.

Michael Wright