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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F_opWg9_qI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F_opWg9_qI</a> <div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"></div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_c" class="ecxContent ecxBorder"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001" class="ecxTabSelected"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001_video" class="ecxVideoControl"><div class="ecxClearBoth"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_c" class="ecxContent ecxBorder"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001" class="ecxTabSelected"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001_video" class="ecxVideoControl"><div class="ecxClearBoth">[The following letter is running in the current issue of the Cambridge
Chronicle:</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_c" class="ecxContent ecxBorder"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001" class="ecxTabSelected"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001_video" class="ecxVideoControl"><div class="ecxClearBoth"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_c" class="ecxContent ecxBorder"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001" class="ecxTabSelected"><div id="ecxmpf0_hmlvControl_001_video" class="ecxVideoControl"><div class="ecxClearBoth"><span><strong><a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1990297301/Letter-to-the-editor-Vist-the-roof-garden-before-it-s-gone#axzz20jfl7yJ5" target="_blank">http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1990297301/Letter-to-the-editor-Vist-the-roof-garden-before-it-s-gone#axzz20jfl7yJ5</a> ] </strong></span></div><div class="ecxClearBoth"><span><strong></strong></span> </div><div class="ecxClearBoth"><span><strong></strong></span> </div><div class="ecxClearBoth"><span><strong> "Up on the Roof"</strong></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span><strong></strong> </span></div><div dir="ltr">To the Editor:</div><div dir="ltr"> On Wednesday, July 18, the newly appointed Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA)</div><div dir="ltr">Board will likely make a final decision -- one way or the other -- on whether to approve,</div><div dir="ltr">modify, or reject an aggressive push by Boston Properties to "occupy" about half of a</div><div dir="ltr">45,000 square foot, publicly-deeded, "public open space" in Kendall Square known simply</div><div dir="ltr">as "The Roof Garden."</div><div dir="ltr"> Boston Properties, the main commercial
"developer" for Kendall Square, want to</div><div dir="ltr">build a two-story, double-wide, glass and steel office expansion for the Google Corporation</div><div dir="ltr">across half of this unique, much used and loved, urban refuge.</div><div dir="ltr"> To do this, they will first need approval from the CRA (a public agency established in the era</div><div dir="ltr">of "urban renewal," to assemble land for "economic development...") </div><div dir="ltr"> For anyone who has not yet had a chance to visit this lovely urban jewel, I strongly</div><div dir="ltr">encourage you to visit this special place <em>immediately</em> -- before it's too late for you, or anyone</div><div dir="ltr">else, to do anything about it.</div><div dir="ltr"> This bird and butterfly-filled sanctuary sits on top of the parking garage in Kendall<br>Square, between the Marriott Hotel and Legal Sea Foods.</div><div dir="ltr"> No commercial signage or corporate office entrances
intrude.<br> Just look for the elevators to the garage and push "R" for "Roof Garden."<br> You're in for a treat.<br> Up above the noise and grit of the ugly urban core of Kendall Square, surrounded by high-rise</div><div dir="ltr">buildings on three sides, you'll find this delightful "urban paradise."</div><div dir="ltr"> (Never heard of it?? It isn't easy to find and Boston Properties aren't exactly interested</div><div dir="ltr">in making it any easier!)</div><div dir="ltr"> There is still hope that the new Board of the CRA will "see the light" and insist on an</div><div dir="ltr">alternative to the proposed Boston Properties/Google "colonization" of this cherished space.</div><div dir="ltr"> People in East Cambridge and throughout the city have been screaming for public open</div><div dir="ltr">space forever.</div><div dir="ltr"> And here it is! We already have it!</div><div dir="ltr"> Let the CRA Board know there is an alternative to this
private "taking" of much needed public</div><div dir="ltr">green space for unnecessary, excess private profit.</div><div dir="ltr"> Come to the Public Meeting of the CRA Board on Wednesday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m., in the</div><div dir="ltr">"Discovery Room" on the third floor of the Marriott Hotel. </div><div dir="ltr"> Public comment will be an integral and important component of this vitally important meeting.</div><div dir="ltr"> Let's hope they listen.</div><div dir="ltr"> </div><div dir="ltr"> Yours in struggle,</div><div dir="ltr"> James M. Williamson</div><div dir="ltr"> Jackson Place, Cambridge </div><div> </div> </div></div> </div></div></div>
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