2019 - Neighborhood View

Is the Grass Really Greener?

December 12, 2019 joanneelie 3

By Joanne Elie On Monday, November 25, 2019, the City of Malden met with members of the Malden community and the Malden City Council to unveil the design of the Roosevelt Park Improvement Project at a public information meeting. Many in attendance expressed their apprehensions about turf. Kathleen Sullivan, a fifth-grade science teacher who attended the meeting, is one of many who is not for turf. “Removing natural grass is detrimental to our environment. Artificial turf raises surface temperatures and creates a heat island effect while grass cools the surface naturally through transpiration. Turf is counterproductive to the work we need to do as a society to combat the effects of climate change.” Megan Buczynski, principal engineer for Activitas, Inc. the landscape design company working on the project, responds to the heat effect turf may produce. “The organic infill we plan to use reduces the heat on the field vs the rubber that is more commonly used in other fields.” The Geo infill referred to is a material that is 100% environmentally friendly. Geo infill […]

ELECTION 2019: Final Questions for Candidates: Political Philosophy & Campaign Team

October 30, 2019 priscotammaro 2

By Prisco Tammaro The 2019 elections in Malden are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. To provide Malden voters with information, Neighborhood View has been running a series of “Quality of Life” questions and answers with the city council and mayoral candidates. Suggestions for questions were provided via Facebook on a Malden (MA) Politic’s poll; 10 questions were formulated by the moderators in consultation with Neighborhood View and sent to all candidates. Each candidate was given 150 words to respond to each question. Every effort was made to reach out to every candidate. Below are answers to Question 9 and 10. Question 9 focuses on political philosophy and Question 10 asks about campaign committees. Please note: all opinions here are those of the candidates and Neighborhood View has not checked the accuracy of these comments. See links for previous questions at the bottom of this page. QUESTION 9: As an elected official, what is your philosophy? Is it your responsibility to follow the will of the voters […]

Norman Greenbaum feels the Spirit in Malden

October 27, 2019 NeighborhoodView 2

By Joe Bohrer Photos by Paul Hammersley On Oct. 16, the downtown Malden came alive with the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll when classic rocker and former Malden resident Norman Greenbaum returned home to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mural inspired by his famous “Spirit in the Sky” hit. Also on hand was Texas-born artist Jesse Melanson who had painted the four-story mural at 110 Pleasant Street, facing the Exchange Street side, to honor Greenbaum and his enduring song. A small but excited crowd gathered before the ceremony. When learning that “Spirit in the Sky” would be played, a participant said, “I hope they blast it!” Another participant commented, “This is so nice” when asked about the mural. When Greenbaum walked in from across the street, he got stuck in the crowd because so many wanted to talk to him, shake his hand and get a picture with him. When the crowed finally let Greenbaum get to the front, a representative of Malden Arts ARTLine, which sponsored painting of the mural, gave a quick speech […]

Malden Works receives Norman B. Leventhal Prize to improve access to the Malden River

October 17, 2019 NeighborhoodView 3

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story misattributed quotes on the Leventhal jury process to to Kathleen Vandiver; the quotes should have been attributed to Marcia Manong. Neighborhood View regrets the error. By Kevin Perrington-Turner A Malden urban coalition has won a prestigious $100,000 prize from the Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that will be used to fund a two-year program of projects on the Malden River to create greater access to the river for Malden’s diverse population. Malden Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience, known as Malden Works, was named the winner of the first Norman B. Leventhal City Prize in September. Malden Works has formed a steering committee to ensure all communities are represented in upcoming projects. The $100,000 triennial prize was established by the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism to catalyze innovative, interdisciplinary urban design and planning approaches worldwide to improve both the environment and the quality of life for residents. “The prize was a really difficult competitive […]

ELECTION 2019: Questions for the Candidates: Week 4 of 5 – Housing Needs

October 13, 2019 priscotammaro 3

By Prisco Tammaro The 2019 elections in Malden are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. To provide Malden voters with information, Neighborhood View is running a series of “Quality of Life” questions and answers with the city council and mayoral candidates. Suggestions for questions were provided via Facebook on a Malden (MA) Politic’s poll; 10 questions were formulated by the moderators in consultation with Neighborhood View and sent to all candidates. Each candidate was given 150 words to respond to each question. Every effort was made to reach out to every candidate. Below are answers to Question 7 and 8 which focus on housing needs in Malden. Please note: all opinions here are those of the candidates and Neighborhood View has not checked the accuracy of these comments. See links for previous questions at the bottom of this page. QUESTION 7: What percentage of units in new developments would be allocated to affordable housing? MAYOR – Incumbent – GARY CHRISTENSON Several communities have adopted inclusionary zoning to leverage the […]

ELECTION 2019: Questions for the Candidates: Week 3 of 5: Trees & Traffic

October 5, 2019 priscotammaro 4

By Prisco Tammaro The 2019 elections in Malden are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. To provide Malden voters with information, Neighborhood View is running a series of “Quality of Life” questions and answers with the city council and mayoral candidates. Suggestions for questions were provided via Facebook on a Malden (MA) Politic’s poll; 10 questions were formulated by the moderators in consultation with Neighborhood View and sent to all candidates. Each candidate was given 150 words to respond to each question. Every effort was made to reach out to every candidate. Below are answers to Question 5 and 6 which focus on trees and congestion in Malden. See links for previous questions at the bottom of this page. QUESTION 4: What can we do to increase the number of trees in the City, and preserve the existing stock we have? MAYOR – Incumbent – GARY CHRISTENSON I am committed to making sure we set aside funding for tree plantings so that we can continue to plant over 150 […]

The artist who brought the “Spirit in the Sky” mural to Malden

October 3, 2019 santilloart 7

By Sharon Santillo Have you ever known a little kid who liked to draw all the time? Jesse Melanson, the designer and and painter of the new “Spirit in the Sky” mural in Malden, was one of those kids growing up in Maine in the 1990s. His journey from Maine to Malden took him from a friend’s car to California, on a bicycle to Central America, and to Austin with his lady love and her horse. In early 2019, Melanson, an Austin, Texas-based artist, answered the call to artists from Malden Arts ARTLine for public art proposals, especially proposals to honor well-know artists, writers, and musicians from Malden. A major fundraising campaign was held in 2018 and Patronicity and the community responded with enthusiasm. The first mural in 2018, located at Exchange Street at FitzGerald Park, honored Malden-born award-winning children’s illustrator, Ed Emberley. A playground for small children was recently added nearby. In August, Melanson, assisted by Megan Lacy, executed a four-story mural at the corner of Washington and Exchange Streets to honor Malden musician/composer Norman Greenbaum […]

ELECTION 2019: Questions for the Candidates: Week 2 of 5 – Open Space

October 1, 2019 priscotammaro 10

By Prisco Tammaro The 2019 elections in Malden are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. To provide Malden voters with information, Neighborhood View is running a series of “Quality of Life” questions and answers with the city council and mayoral candidates. Suggestions for questions were provided via Facebook on a Malden (MA) Politic’s poll; 10 questions were formulated by the moderators in consultation with Neighborhood View and sent to all candidates. Each candidate was given 150 words to respond to each question. Every effort was made to reach out to every candidate. Below are answers to Question 3 and 4. These questions focus on development along the Malden River and development at the site of the former Malden Hospital. There is a link at the bottom to Questions 1 and 2, which focused on transparency. QUESTION 3: Malden River is being redeveloped. How do you suggest we plan to make the banks of the Malden River accessible to the general public? MAYOR – Incumbent – GARY CHRISTENSON The […]

ELECTION 2019: Questions for the Candidates: Week 1 of 5 – Transparency

September 24, 2019 priscotammaro 15

By Prisco Tammaro The 2019 elections in Malden are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. To provide Malden voters with information, Neighborhood View will run a series of “Quality of Life” questions and answers with the city council and mayoral candidates. Suggestions for questions were provided via Facebook on a Malden (MA) Politic’s poll; 10 questions were formulated by the moderators in consultation with Neighborhood View and sent to all candidates. Each candidate was given 150 words to respond to each question. Every effort was made to reach out to every candidate. Today’s two questions focus on issue of public meetings and government transparency. QUESTION 1: PUBLIC MEETINGS Would you support a plan and provide resources to have Committee of the Whole, Subcommittee and License Board meetings be live streamed and archived for the public? MAYOR – Incumbent – GARY CHRISTENSON Not only would I support such a plan, but as chair of the Municipal Building Committee for the new City Hall, I have made it a priority to […]

Second rally calls for more racial equity in Malden public schools

August 28, 2019 NeighborhoodView 0

By the staff of Neighborhood View/Photos by Elizabeth Scorsello On Aug. 26 MaldenCORE held its 2nd “Rally for Racial Equity in the Malden Public Schools” in a lively event on the steps of Malden High School, attended by about 50 participants, including students, graduates, teachers, local officials, candidates for office, a representative of the NAACP, the president of the teachers union, and school administrators. All stressed the need for more diversity in the school teaching staff, professional training in racial/cultural sensitivity, and an improved system for reporting and addressing issues of racial inequity in the Malden public schools. “In all my time I only had one black teacher and one Hispanic teacher. And that’s six years. Of about 50 teachers I’ve had, only two have been a minority,” said Sarah Schneider, a Malden High 10th grader, told participants of the rally which was held on the first Professional Development day, which all teachers were expected to attend. “When the teachers of Malden look into the faces of the students in their classrooms, they see a never ending spectrum […]