For the record, my name is Sharon Durkin, District Eight City Councillor, and I'm the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Planning Development and Transportation.

Today is April 6th.

The exact time is ten oh two AM.

This hearing is being recorded.

It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on Exfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, BIOS Channel 964.

Written comments may be sent to the committee, email at ccc.plan d E V at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing.

The individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify.

If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber.

If you are looking to testify virtually, please see our central staff liaison, Shane Pack at Shane dot PAC at Boston.gov for the link, and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on Docket O one seven eight.

Order for a hearing to discuss dedicating the new open space at Phillips Square to Tooney Lee Plaza.

This matter was sponsored by Counselor Edward M.

Flynn and was referred to the committee on January twenty-eighth, twenty twenty-six.

Today I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, lead sponsor, Counselor Flynn, and Councillor Murphy.

Okay, perfect.

Okay, for Mandarin or Cantonese.

I'd like to start with an opening statement from the lead sponsor, Councillor Flynn, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, before I begin, could I just take one moment just to make sure everybody is settled with interpretation and everyone has the right technology, the right headphones.

I just want to make sure everyone is included as part of this hearing.

Let me just ask the interpretation team.

The language and communication access.

Okay, you just gave me the thumbs up.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for holding this important hearing for our neighbors in Chinatown and the South End.

Over the last eight years, I have made language and communication access a critical part of any discussion in the neighborhood, and it's important that we have any meeting, any public meeting in either or Cantonese and Mandarin.

And that's that's important.

I want to say thank you to the interpreters and the language access team that is here.

A project has been initiated by the Boston Transportation Department to redesign the area of Harrison Avenue known as Phillips Square, into a more welcoming in cooling open space in a neighborhood impacted by the heat island effect.

The project will include a plaza that intersects with Oxford Place, the childhood home of Toonie Lee.

We're also honored to have Tooney's daughter with us here this morning.

And I know she'll be on a panel and will offer testimony.

We also know that Chinatown's urban tree canopy, only seven percent the least open space per capita among neighborhoods in the city.

Both as the chief of planning and design for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and at MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, their Department of Urban Studies.

Tuny Lee worked tirelessly to save working class neighborhoods and communities of color from destruction and demolition as memorialized in the book People Before Highways.

Toonie Lee mentored multiple generations of urban planners and community activists, not just here in Boston, but across the world, really.

Tooney Lee was an avid historian of Boston Chinatown, who led projects to explore the community history and historic streetscapes.

And more importantly, or as importantly, it's an opportunity to listen, listen carefully to the residents of Chinatown and the South End about what's important to them.

Honored to represent the residents of Chinatown, the South End.

I represent the largest Asian community in the city of Boston in language and communication access is a critical part of that representation.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn.

Counselor Murphy.

Thank you.

Thank you to the residents who showed up.

We're happy to be have you here with us and hear directly from you.

But I want to thank Councillor Flynn for bringing this forward and always being such a strong advocate for the Chinatown community.

And I know I've been with you many times, Councilor Flynn, at events throughout Chinatown, where we're advocating for more open space, the health concerns, the heat island that we know Chinatown deals with all the time, the high rates of asthma, all of the concerns that we have to continue to advocate for in this area.

And happy to support this proposal.

I know this is a quarter-acre place that used to be a parking lot, which now is a public pedestrian area with artwork and a space for the neighbors to go and just looking forward to finding ways that we can make this possibility.

So we're just happy to be here and supporting Council Flynn and the community.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Murphy.

Um and now we have Amy Courting here, who's the director of engineering, uh, probably wearing multiple hats right now, I imagine the transportation department.

So Amy, thank you for being here.

I know how busy you are.

Um do you want to give an opening statement?

Uh uh, yeah.

So uh the city has had a tactical plaza out at this location um for many years.

We're moving into uh the design of the full plaza um and and what that will look like.