A top Wu administration official admitted that the city’s plan to tackle the open-air drug market at Mass and Cass has failed after being bombarded by complaints from residents who say the spillover into their neighborhoods is “out of control.”
The admission from Boston Public Health Commissioner Bisola Ojikutu at a South End community meeting swiftly led to elected officials from the area calling for the Wu administration to “reevaluate” a city plan that began with the removal of tent encampments in late 2023 and “has not worked.”
“It feels as though very little that any of us are doing to combat this drug use epidemic is actually working,” Ojikutu said. “People out in the street, injecting each other in the neck — I mean, nobody wants this. And I think that we have failed in terms of the drug use epidemic.
“So, if that’s what you want me to say, then I’m admitting that we have failed.”
Ojikutu’s admission came after a lengthy presentation she gave to a South End, Roxbury and Newmarket working group on Tuesday that highlighted the city’s efforts to curb homelessness and tackle congregate drug use, the latter of which became the focus of Mayor Michelle Wu’s revamped strategy for Mass and Cass last February.
After the mayor’s Feb. 26 press conference, the disorder that had spilled over into the downtown — a focus area for the city cleanup at the time — moved to Mass and Cass, “making a bad situation worse,” and then spread to the Southwest Corridor and Peters Park, according to the working group’s presentation.
“Disorder will continue to increase and spread until it’s stopped,” the presentation, given by Andrew Brand, head of the Worcester Square Neighborhood Association, states.
Human waste
In her own presentation, Ojikutu touched on efforts by the Boston Public Health Commission that she said have contributed to a 38% reduction in overdose deaths and put addicts on the path to recovery.
She spoke to the Commission’s strategy to message locations of bathrooms to homeless people, in response to a surge in 311 calls requesting cleanups for human waste on public and private property.
In fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30, the city so far has responded to 410 human waste cleanups, mostly in the South End and Newmarket, Ojikutu said.
Ojikutu highlighted the city’s efforts to shelter homeless people as a “core response” to Mass and Cass, saying that 650 people are sheltered each night at city shelters and 94 people were permanently housed last year. Another 453 people were “guests” at low-threshold shelters in 2024, she said.
Her presentation drew frustration from residents, who said that while their daily lives now involve “confrontations with aggressive addicts,” sidestepping human defecation and discarded needles on streets and sidewalks, and witnessing frequent drug interactions, and in some instances, related violence — their calls for help have led to minimal police enforcement.
“The conditions in the South End, Roxbury, Mass and Cass, and beyond are inhumane and out of control,” Jonathan Alves, president of the Blackstone Franklin Square Neighborhood Association, said. “Inhumane for the people who are addicted and rotting on our streets, inhumane for the residents, for the families, inhuman for the businesses, inhumane for everyone.”
Alves said he’s called 911 more times in the past 10 years than he has during his entire lifetime, and has felt his frustration build by taking part in similar community meetings during that time that have largely focused on stats, in terms of what’s being done to address problems at and around Mass and Cass.
“We don’t want to hear more stats, we don’t want to hear more about housing,” Alves said. “We want to see a change, a material change. We want to see zero needles on the street. We want to see zero open-air drug use. That is what we want to see. Perception matters more. What we see matters more. What we experience matters more.”
It was Alves’ challenge that led to Ojikutu’s admission, when he asked whether she would be willing to state “that what you’ve been working on for the past four years, based on the experiences and the testimony that you’re hearing today is not working.”
After her admission, Alves thanked Ojikutu for “acknowledging that what’s been done hasn’t worked, and there has been a failure on some levels.”
‘As bad as it’s ever been’
Ojikutu later tried to walk back her remarks, saying that the city’s efforts to tackle addiction have saved lives.
“I just want to put that out there before I’m quoted as saying that everything has failed,” Ojikutu said. “I’m honestly a little frustrated. This has been a very difficult period of time where we’ve been doing things and they haven’t necessarily led to the results we’re looking for.”
She made a similar attempt later to downplay the matter, saying that the situation at Mass and Cass “has not been a fundamental failure in the last few years,” but rather has been going on for many years before the current mayoral administration — and in doing so, drew backlash from residents on the call.
Brand said that while he agrees that the open-air drug market stems from the 2015 closure of the Long Island Bridge and addiction recovery campus, and the problem doesn’t fall squarely on the shoulders of the mayor, it’s her job, as the city’s current leader, to fix it.
“(The plan) has failed, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Brand said. “I don’t think anyone in particular is blaming you for creating (the problem), but you are the leader and it is your responsibility to help fix it, and keeping with the same techniques that you have been using isn’t going to fix it.”
Steve Fox, a South End resident, added that the problem is “as bad as it’s ever been.”
Brand, Fox and other residents on the call made a renewed pitch for “Recover Boston,” an addiction recovery campus that proponents say would serve as a stopgap solution until the city can rebuild the Long Island Bridge out to a permanent 35-acre recovery campus.
Ojikutu said that she is a proponent of the community-led Recover Boston concept, as pitched by the Newmarket Business Improvement District — mayoral candidate Josh Kraft has pitched his own Recover Boston proposal — but there was some discussion on the call that indicated its lack of progress was due to a funding issue for the city.
City Councilor John FitzGerald and state Rep. John Moran, who represent neighborhoods taxed by Mass and Cass and had been working with community members and business leaders to revive the Recover Boston proposal, both issued statements after the meeting calling for the city to “reevaluate” its approach.
“What’s happening at Mass and Cass isn’t just a crisis — it’s a failure. And it’s spreading,” FitzGerald said. “Our current strategy is not meeting the moment. The tent encampments may be gone from Atkinson Street, but the crisis has only dispersed, not disappeared. We need bold, urgent change, and we need it now.”
FitzGerald suggested that the Wu administration advocate for more state funding for a coordinated treatment program.
Moran pitched a greater partnership between the city and state, despite the “bad blood” he said remains with the governor’s office due to state officials being kicked off Mass and Cass calls when Wu took office.
“We will not solve this crisis through incremental change,” Moran said. “Although I am extremely grateful to everyone involved in solving this problem, previous methods have not worked — either for residents or individuals with substance use disorder. We need a complete paradigm shift. That will require leveraging many tools and an all-hands-on-deck call across the city and state.”
Mayor reacts
The mayor’s office didn’t indicate whether the city would move to a new plan, but said additional steps are being taken to try to curb the problem. The city said it plans to increase police enforcement and resources, while continuing to focus on partnering with the state and service providers to transition people into recovery and away from the area.
“Open substance use in any part of Boston is illegal and unacceptable,” Wu spokesperson Emma Pettit said in a statement. “Every day, our police and public health officials are working to end congregate substance use in Boston, but we have more work to do.
“Dealing with the impacts of a nationwide opioid epidemic at the local level is complex and tough, but we won’t quit in Boston,” Pettit said. “Over the last three years, we’ve made some serious progress as a city, but we know from residents that it has gotten worse in certain areas, and that’s not acceptable and must be fixed.
“It’s important progress that we now have a clear pipeline of services from shelter to recovery and permanent supportive housing, and Boston no longer has permanent encampments after passing citywide legislation and setting up coordinated services. We will continue to work with the state, the courts, and other public safety and health agencies to close loopholes and identify the pathway to a public health recovery campus.”