The Alewife

NCCTF's NNO Aug. 1

by Valerie W. Chung

The coordinator of the North Cambridge Crime Task Force, spoke at the June 30 contributors meeting at The Alewife about the NCCTF and the Aug. 1 National Night Out.

The National Night Out, held in the Rindge Field behind the Peabody School, promotes safety and crime awareness in North Cambridge, said John Serwecinski, who operates out of the trailer office next to Russell Field.

The NNO will feature law enforcement and fire safety demonstrations, information tables and a community cookout and BBQ, a raffle, and pony rides and other amusements for kids, he said.

More than 500 kids from day camps will attend, and he hopes that more adults in the community will be encouraged to attend in support of neighborhood safety awareness, he said.

The event is the year’s highlight for the group, which is grassroots organization, consisting of  15 local citizen volunteers who meet regularly to identify and resolve local problem issues and organize events in service of safety in the area, he said.

Another service the NCCTF brings to the community is as an information clearinghouse keeping people in touch with community higher-ups, who can address problems directly, he said. “We bring resources to the city and tighten awareness amongst citizens and local agencies.”

The NCCTF also provides a general communications and ‘neighborhood watch’ center for the Cambridge community.

Standing with his arms behind his back, John Serwecinski, the coordinator of the North Cambridge Crime Task Force with Alewife contributors.  Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

“It’s important for neighbors to get to know each other and discuss issues,” Serwecinski said.  “We want people to feel comfortable enough that they can report any suspicious behavior, or raise concerns if something looks out of place.”

Recently the NCCTF sponsored a trip for local students from the Gately Youth Center to the Bay State Correctional Facility in Norfolk, he said. There where several inmates spoke about their life stories, focusing in particular on crime and the consequences that their choices have brought them. 

The outing was part of the ‘Prison Voices’ program designed for the classroom, not as part of a ‘scare ‘em straight’ tactic, he said. “We are not the police.”

Serwecinski said that crime rates over the winter have been exceptionally low, which has been a big plus for the community.

Although crime in Cambridge is seasonal and tends to increase over the summer, he hopes that NCCTF and their presence in the community will continue to provide preventative assistance, he said.

He said that he is very encouraged by communication with residents who have felt comfortable enough to simply drop by his trailer and have a chat with him about their concerns.

Army seeks local Arabic speakers

by Valerie W. Chung

Next time you see an Army recruitment flyer in Arabic posted in Porter Square, you will know it is part of a new push for new soldiers with special skills or talents.

“We get a whole range of people in here,” said Sgt. Mohamed Y Khalifa, an Arabic-language recruiter based at the office on 495 Summer St. in Boston.

Khalifa works very closely with Sgt. 1st Class Marcel Poulin, who is based at recruiting office at 25 Buswell St., also in Boston, and the two men have a special focus on Cambridge, Poulin said.

Sgt. 1st Class Marcel Poulin

There are a good number of Middle Eastern people in Cambridge because of the high amount of colleges, including Harvard and MIT, he said. “We are allowed to recruit directly from schools, and even schools like Harvard have invited us to their job fairs.”

The Army also does a lot of advertising through local newspapers and flyers, and recently held two COI’s, Center of Influence Among the Community, informational dinners for recruits in the Cambridge-area.

“Some who were born here and some who have only lived in the States for a few months,” he said.

MBTA to re-name stop: Porter/Lesley

The college that owns the Porter Square retail and office complex will soon to take over the grove next to the Porter Square T-stop and modify the station’s name.

If the MBTA and Lesley University can close on the deal the new name of the station will be: Porter/Lesley University, said William Doncaster, a spokesman for the school.

“We are in ongoing discussions with the T that we’re confident will work out soon,” he said.

“Think of all the other T stops that have school names, this is a good thing for us,” he said.

For several years now, the school has been working out a double deal that also involves obtaining air rights to build over the exposed commuter rail tracks near Head House to the bridge at Beacon Street.  Claiming the naming rights on the T stop is a secondary part of these negotiations, and a development of the 85-year lease that the school has with the city, he said.

MBTA has agreed to give up the naming rights in exchange for the upkeep of maintenance work at the street-level plaza, which has long been a problem spot for the community in terms of its becoming a lounging area for vagrants and drug addicts, he said.

Doncaster said, “MBTA is in charge of policing the area, and that probably won’t change,” 
The maintenance responsibilities would mostly be in the form of janitorial expenses and snow removal, he said.

Doncaster said Lesley is eager to sort out the details of the deal so that members of the community know where to turn to with concerns.  “We expect there will be a lot of neighborhood discussion about the specifics of this day-to-day maintenance.”

"The T's agreement with Lesley University is the result of a long process. It started out as a disaster, but as it moved along, the community was involved and I think the final result is positive,” said State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, D, North Cambridge, who district includes the station.

State Rep. Anne Paulsen, whose district includes the Alewife T-stop and goes all the way to Rindge Avenue, also said she was concerned about in the beginning of the process.

Now, she said, she is pleased it worked out the way it did. “To me it is the same as Kendall/M.I.T.”

City Councilor Craig A. Kelley said he has attended community meetings where Doncaster and Lesley representatives have made presentations.

Lesley has worked hard to reach out to area residents and address neighborhoods concerns, he said.

Although Lesley is preferable to other owners or developers, the real test if they continue to work with neighbors and how they handle their next step, the takeover of the North Prospect United Church of Christ at 1803 Massachusetts Ave., after the congregation sells building to college and moves to Saugus, he said.

Kelley said he is worried about the fate of the church’s tenant, Agassiz Pre-School, which he said Lesley has told him will not be evicted right away.

Dermic art with needles, ink

by Valerie W. Chung

There are two tattoo parlors on northern end of Massachusetts Avenue, which have inked their patrons’skin since 2002 when the art became legal in Commonwealth.

One, Redemption Tattoo at 2285 Massachusetts Ave., is being evicted in April.

Tattoo artist Sandra Burbul draws the initial outlines of a tattoo that will anywhere from 20 to 25 hours to complete, she said. Burbul works her craft at Keleidoscope Tattoo & Art. Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

The other, Kaleidoscope Tattoo & Art at 2374 Massachusetts Ave., just found out its building is for sale.

The owners of Redemption are looking for a new location, first in the neighborhood, next in Cambridge, but they are finding tremendous resistance, said Erick Lynch, who owns the parlor with Jason Loui and Mike Shea.

Lynch said potential landlords prefer empty storefronts than to rent to him and his partners despite their more than a decade in business with no violations, complaints or incidents.

They had considered Somerville, but dropped the idea when they found out that tattoo parlors have been zoned out the squares, he said.

Until they have to pack up, they will continue to serve their clients, who tend to be older and more interested in larger pieces at artwork than at most tattoo parlors, he said.

Right now, Lynch said the big trend is for retro designs that were popular 40 or 50 years ago, such as iconic ships, eagles or other Americana.

Shea said the some of the more popular designs he has seen at Redemption are traditional American and Japanese style designs. 

Mike says that these designs have been the most popular designs on request for several years now, probably because they represent something timeless and unchanging.

Redemption co-owner, Mike Shea, inks a tattoo on the arm of for hamburger-meister R.F. Sullivan. Sullivan, a Navy veteran, said he wants to reinforce the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks. Alewife Photo by Neil W. McCabe

The artists at Redemption most happy working with religious images, probably for similar reasons, he said. “I recently just did a Virgin Mary on a guy’s whole arm.”

Before getting a tattoo, Shea said to look around. “Go to many shops and look at their portfolios.”  Many artists have examples of their work on their Web sites.

It is important to have a comfortable feeling comfortable with the person doing your tattoo, he said. “Get a good feeling for the people working there.  If you get a bad vibe, go somewhere else.”
“Then we will see you back at our shop,” he said.

Kelley, NCSC challenge Just-a-Start

by Valerie W. Chung

A spokewoman from the non-profit affordable housing corporation developing the former Nai Nan Ko car repair shop site Dec. 14 met with the North Cambridge Stabilization Committee to discuss neighbor concerns about parking, trees and oil leaks.

“It is in our best interests to keep the property as lush and green as we can,” said Beatriz C. Gomez Mouakad, who represented Just-a-Start, which provides assistance and training to foster more accessible housing, as well as developing affordable housing projects.

Just-A-Start is currently developing property on a number of sites, including one on Bolton Street and Rindge Avenue of Northwest Cambridge, but it was the 2495 Massachusetts Ave. site that was the key item on the NCSC agenda.

The site was formerly the auto-repair garage Nai Nan Ko, and is adjacent to a Valvoline station that was once a Shell Oil station.

The project is funded predominantly by the city and subsidized by the Affordable Housing Trust and Housing and Urban Development funds, Mouakad said.

“There are concerns because the area is very polluted from years of automative use and oil dumping, as well as the presence of heavy metals and asbestos in the buildings,” says Michael Brandon, the secretary of the NCSC.

“There was a Shell leak which migrated onto the Nai Nan Ko site. It needs to be cleaned up and dealt with properly,” he said.

The property has undergone several cleanup efforts already, and a lot was done before J.A.S.’s purchase, but the housing corporation will still be responsible for problem areas, and may have negotiated a lower purchase price in anticipation of the funds that will have to be spent on remediation, he said.

The Shell Oil company was responsible for the initial spill next door, and was accordingly responsible for the cleanup of certain areas, and Nai Nan Ko itself has made contributions, said Mouakad.

The site appears to be a continuous problem area, however, Brandon said.

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