THE PLIGHT of the city’s homeless population has taken on a new urgency in Boston this Thanksgiving, after the sudden closure of the city’s main emergency shelter on Long Island. Inspections last month revealed that the only bridge reaching the island was unsafe, forcing the city to shut the facility and several other related social-service organizations. That decision, while necessary, has taken a severe toll. Without the beds, other shelters in the city hastily took in hundreds of “Long Island refugees.” Some former residents are now sleeping in hallways and lobbies — or on the streets.

But the crisis has also created an opportunity the city should seize: it’s time to permanently relocate the city’s homeless beds to more convenient locations in the city, closer to welfare agencies, churches, and public transportation, in order to give the residents better access to services, build stronger pathways to permanent housing, and eliminate the possibility of a single freak accident again cutting off the range of services that were housed on the island. The city is in the process of doing that anyway, as it plans a temporary shelter in the South End, and should start studying permanent mainland locations, too.


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On a Wednesday in October, the tumbledown Long Island bridge was closed. And the lives of the homeless and addicts who sought refuge and recovery there were thrust into disarray.

This was their first Thanksgiving off the island.

Here are four portraits, of those seeking help, and those who give it.


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BOSTON -- On October 8, Mayor Martin J. Walsh – under the advisement of various City departments, agencies and leaders, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) – made the decision to close the Long Island Bridge and evacuate the programs located on Long Island.   

 “This was a difficult, but necessary, decision that was made in the interest of public safety. This bridge has been a source of grave concern for many years, and I was not willing to risk the possibility of disaster for one more night, with the data presented to us about the serious condition of the bridge,” said Mayor Walsh. “In the weeks following the bridge closure, a light post fell down and crashed onto the bridge, directly where vehicles traveled to and from the Island. My team made a series of tough judgment calls in the interest of public safety, and we are confident that we made the right decision.”   

There was not one incident, injury, or any bridge collapse that led to this decision. The decision to close the Bridge was made in an abundance of caution, following long-running concerns about the structural integrity of the Bridge.  Following the decision to close the Bridge, the City activated its Continuity of Operations Plan to ensure that all needs of the clients who utilize the programs at Long Island are met while the Bridge is closed. Since the bridge closure, the City and partners have maintained an equal, or greater, number of beds for our homeless and recovery guests.  

The following is a comprehensive update on the status of the Long Island Bridge, programs, and operations. 

Radio Boston 9 minute interview with Jessie Gaeta, medical director of Boston Health Care for the Homeless.
Listen at wbur.org.

Lawrence Harmon, Globe Columnist
THE BRIDGE to the homeless shelter and drug rehabilitation programs on Long Island — the largest island in Boston Harbor — is structurally unsound and out of commission. Also unsound are the longstanding policies that have led to the shuttling of homeless men and women across the decaying steel structure while barring the general public from enjoying the 214-acre island.

Long Island is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area that includes popular spots such as Georges Island and Spectacle Island. But the general public can’t get there from here. Guards blocked access to the roughly 3,000-foot bridge to Long Island even when it was safe to pass. There is no ferry service to the island, no tours, no public toilets, no camping, no picnic areas, and no refreshments. For many decades, the island has served as an almshouse, chronic disease hospital, and more recently as a domicile for the homeless and addicts in need of detoxification and treatment. Since 2007, several hundred kids from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods have been attending summer camp sessions on the northern end of the island.


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by Jaclyn Cashman


All the fury over the closing of the Long Island homeless shelter spilled out at a South End forum last night with one woman declaring: “We are not dogs!”

Hundreds packed the Blackstone Community Center to get answers from city officials about the future of Long Island after the bridge was abruptly shut down last month after being deemed unsafe to travel on.
This move has displaced about 700 homeless people living on the island.


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by David Abel

On a city lot beside the Southeast Expressway, somewhere between massive piles of rock salt and rows of garbage trucks, city officials have found a site to house hundreds of homeless people who have lived in limbo since engineers last month condemned the bridge to their shelter on Long Island.

The unsightly spot on the edge of the South End where the city used to run a methadone clinic is the leading candidate among a range of facilities that city officials have vetted in recent weeks to provide the homeless with a “temporary long-term solution.”

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By Deborah Becker and Lynn Jolicoeur
... Jim Greene, director of Boston’s Emergency Shelter Commission, says condemning the only bridge to the island has created several problems.

“This has made the precarious nature and the plight of the lives of homeless people very palpable and vivid, in a community that doesn’t always see that in part because of the services that we provide,” Greene said.


Listen to the 4 minute interview with Jim Green at WBUR.org. 

by David Abel

In the hours before dawn, when five layers of clothing, two blankets, and the crucifix around her neck no longer blunt the cold, Lisa Jenkins rises from the faux leather couch she has hidden in the woods and paces in the dark.

Sleeping alone outside stirs other concerns, aside from frostbite. She has set booby traps to protect against potential stalkers and feeds the possums, raccoons, and other wildlife to keep them friendly.

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