Millennium Partners Astroturfs Public Meeting on Winthrop Garage Project
Photo courtesy Grace Holley
The battle over shadows encroaching on the Common saw a new proxy war develop at Thursday night’s public meeting on the Winthrop Square garage project: buttons.
The city reached a deal with Millennium Partners in October to demolish the long-defunct, city-owned parking garage on Devonshire Street and build a 775-foot tower, Boston’s third-tallest, dwarfing the New York-based developer’s eponymous Millennium Tower by 65 feet. But the project has drawn criticism for its apparent violation of a state law forbidding new development from casting shadows on the Common and Public Garden for long periods of time, a law the Walsh administration will lobby to change.
The Boston Planning and Development Agency convened a public meeting on the project at 101 Federal Street in the Financial District, utilizing a decentralized “open house” format. Numerous attendees were given buttons that read “Let Boston Rise”—courtesy of Millennium Partners.
Grace Holley, a Fenway community organizer who was in attendance, tweeted that Millennium principal Joe Larkin told her the buttons were part of a “political campaign” in response to the “Keep Our Parks Sunny” buttons produced by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, or NABB.
Turns out I should be a reporter bc after asking 20 ppl I found out who made the "Let Boston Rise" pins. It was indeed Millennium Partners
— Grace Holley (@hollley) January 6, 2017
@hollley Joe Larkin of Millennium says they thought of it after seeing the opposition’s pins at past mtgs; it’s now a “political campaign”
— Grace Holley (@hollley) January 6, 2017
@hollley and they want ppl who support project to “feel comfortable” w so much opposition around. (No one wearing pins knows who made them)
— Grace Holley (@hollley) January 6, 2017
Just two people have used the #letBOSTONrise hashtag since the meeting, one of which was Richard Baumert, a partner at Millennium.
Incredible outpouring of support tonight for the much needed development of Winthrop Square in downtown Boston. #letbostonrise
— Richard Baumert (@richbmp4wg) January 6, 2017
The astroturfing effort—that is, the masking of a political message’s often well-heeled sponsor to give the appearance of grassroots support—is reminiscent of that employed by the failed Boston 2024 Olympic bid.
What a great, organic, grassroots social media presence Boston2024 has. pic.twitter.com/YxzwOx6QdJ
— Joel Fleming (@jfleming2870) July 9, 2015
Neither Millennium Partners nor NABB immediately responded to requests for comment.
