10 O'Clock News | [Allston tenants protest discrimination by landlord]

Allston tenants protest in the rain

[Allston tenants protest discrimination by landlord]
Original Airdate: 5/19/1988

Length: 00:02:30
Item Type: newstape - edited story master

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Full Description

1:00:16
Visual: Footage of Thomas Gallagher (New England Equity Institute) addressing a group of protesters under the awning of an apartment building at 56 Parkvale Avenue in Allston. Gallagher says, "It's a sorry state of affairs." Shots of protesters standing under the awning to get out of the rain.

Hope Kelly reports that workmen are working on the interior of the apartment building; that tenants cannot enter the building.

V: Footage of Etta Anderson (tenant) addressing the gathered protesters. Anderson says that the building looks habitable; that the building is empty. Shot of a street sign for Parkvale Avenue in Allston. Shots of the exterior of the building on Parkvale Avenue.

Kelly reports that a fire damaged parts of the sixteen-unit building on January 15.

V: Footage of Brian McLoughlin (Boston City Council) addressing the gathered protesters. McLoughlin criticizes the property owners for not allowing the tenants to return to their homes. Shots of the protesters under the awning. Several protesters hold signs. One of the signs reads, "Evict racist landlords, not tenants of color." Shots of Mel King (community activist) and Domenic Bozzotto (President, Hotel Workers Union) standing among the protesters.

Kelly reports that the tenants say that the landlords are racist; that the tenants say that the landlords do not want the tenants to return to the building. Kelly reports that Pat Roberts (tenant) said that the landlords told her that they didn't want "colored people" in their building.

V: Footage of Roberts addressing the gathering. Roberts says that she is living with her sister and her three children in a one-room apartment.

Kelly reports that white tenants have testified that the landlords have helped them find temporary housing; that white tenants say that the landlords have assured them of an eventual return to their apartments.

V: Shots of the protesters under the awning. Shots of signs reading, "Burned out" and "Real people, not real estate."

Kelly reports that the tenants have brought suit against the landlords.

V: Footage of Marian Glaser (Greater Boston Legal Services) saying that the tenants were first in court in February. Glaser says that the landlords said in February that the tenants could return to the building. Glaser says that the landlords changed their story at a second hearing. Glaser says that the landlords told the tenants that they could return to the building only if they dropped their legal claims against the landlords. Shots of the protesters.

Kelly reports that the tenants have brought suit against the landlords for racial discrimination, retaliation, code violations from before the fire, and property loss since the fire.

V: Shot of a man addressing the protesters. Shots through a window of a construction worker inside of the building. A sign in the window of the building reads, "Private Property." Footage of David Scondras (Boston City Council) addressing the gathering. Scondras accuses the landlords of suspicious behavior. Scondras wonders if the landlords wanted the fire to happen. Footage of King addressing the protesters. King says that the issue is of larger importance to the city of Boston. On-screen text details specifics of the building's ownership.

Kelly reports that the property is owned by the Lightfoot Realty Trust and Bay State Property Management; that the owners are identified as Robert Kingman, Roman Zar, Charles M. Bernstein, and David Spada.

V: Footage of David Spada (owner) saying that he will not comment on the case. Shots of protesters standing beneath the awning; of Spada passing by the protesters as he enters the building.

Kelly reports that the case returns to housing court on Monday morning.

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