At Boston pub, anti-Olympics group celebrates victory
The group and its supporters met on Monday night at Beantown Pub.
The back room of the Beantown Pub, a short walk from Boston Common in a part of the city that’s on the way to a lot of things but closely associated with none of them, was full Monday night. Pitchers of beer foamed with varying states of fullness on sticky tables. On the walls and windows behind them, someone had taped signs that read, “No Boston Olympics’’ and “Better schools, no Olympic games.’’ An eclectic dress code ran the gamut from suits to t-shirts and shorts, though it was dark enough in the room to blur the difference.
Chris Dempsey, one of the three co-chairs of the group No Boston Olympics, made his way around the room, smiling and shaking the hands of his supporters. Each time he finished one conversation, someone else came to shake his hand, eagerly thanking and congratulating him. Throughout the evening, he took a few moments to himself, sinking into a booth in the back of the room to check his cell phone or talk briefly to his co-chair Kelly Gossett. They looked tired, but happy.
Their work was over, and they had won.
After months of working as unpaid volunteers, they were celebrating their victory over Boston Olympic bid organizers Boston 2024 with a room full of about 30 colleagues, supporters, and friends.
“It’s a relief,’’ Dempsey said. “This shows that there’s a wide range of people who supported our efforts. It’s great to bring some of those people together.’’
Earlier that day, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and bidding group Boston 2024 made the mutual decision to pull the plug on the city’s bid, following a growing lack of public support and the loss of Mayor Marty Walsh’s full backing. The bar event, attended by venture capitalists, state senators, and environmental activists, was as much a celebration as a moment to exhale.
“It’s just a big sense of relief,’’ Michael Femia, who works at Wentworth Institute of Technology and lives in Somerville, said. “We’re here because a lot of people fought really hard. It’s nice that this isn’t going to be hanging over our heads for the next nine years.’’
Femia echoed the complaints of many Boston-area residents, or at least of those ten people on Twitter who have opposed the city’s bid. Many feared the burden Olympic games would place on taxpayers, the MBTA, and the environment.
“I was against it from the getgo,’’ Charles Lax, a venture capitalist of Wellesley said. He came out to celebrate No Boston Olympics’ efforts on Monday night after donating money to the cause, thinking that writing a check now would be proactive, saving him from shelling out extra taxes in the coming years to cover the games’ costs.
“David kicked Goliath’s butt to wake up extremely intelligent Boston to the fact that these games are a disaster,’’ he said.
While opposition to the games has increased, many were surprised that the bid died after six months with just a little over a month until the USOC must submit a bidding city for the 2024 games.
“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in,’’ Jamie Eldridge, State Senator of Acton, said. “I really didn’t think the bid for Boston would be pulled so soon.’’
“It was just such a bad idea,’’ Vicki Cupper, who works at Wentworth Institute of Technology and lives in Boston, said, before punctuating her thoughts with some color. “Boston 2024 would’ve been like wisdom tooth surgery on your rectum.’’
Gallery: Here’s what Boston would have looked like before, during and after the Olympics
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