EAST BOSTON, Mass. — Boston city officially say they shut down an illegal apartment being used by flight attendants at nearby Logan airport. Inspectors from the city acting on a tip for fire officials found up to 20 people using a commercial garage area as a makeshift apartment.
Boston Inspectional Services officially condemned this property on Geneva street. The city says flight attendants from unknown airlines were using the illegal apartment as a crash pad. Officials say 19 people were each paying $300 a month in rent.
Boston police helped escort several women who were retrieving belongings from inside the space after it was condemned. The women would not identify themselves or answer any questions.
The city says the apartment was unfit for human habitation and had multiple fire hazards. The owner identified as Aaron Daigneault told us the apartment is registered with ISD Housing Rental Registration. I collect one rent from one tenant monthly. The rent is $3,600. Monthly for a four bedroom utilities included. I completely respect and am ready to work with all City of Boston officials moving forward to permit any and all use.
The city had a hearing with the owner Thursday and laid out the code violations that need to be addressed including proper permits to convert a commercial garage into residential.
Gabriela Cartagena is with City Life Vida Urbana is a housing Justice organization. She says they have been lobbying lawmakers to invest in more affordable housing for all walks of life. “The rent is rising here in East Boston and rising across the state and we need to state of MA to pass rent control,” said Cartagena.
The city scheduled a follow up inspection for later this month on April 14th to see if the owner complies.
When reached for comment, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA issued the following statement:
“Crash pads are common in aviation and have been for a long time, but the increased number in recent years is a condition of the destruction of careers and the overall affordable housing crisis in our country. After 9/11 almost every airline “restructured” in bankruptcy - terminating pensions, slashing pay, cutting staffing, and scheduling longer days, more often. Then mergers consolidated many crew base cities to some of the most expensive places in the country to live and the ranks of commuting-by-air-crewmembers increased exponentially because Flight Attendants and pilots want to live where they can afford to have a family and a decent life. Consolidation also cut capacity in an effort to raise ticket prices, making it harder for commuting crew to compete for an open seat to get to work. This all leads to a greater need for a place to “crash” for the night between flight assignments or being able to commute home. The result is more people, more often using the crash pad.
Crash pads are a symptom of a much bigger problem in our country. We need decent pay for decent work and the ability to live closer to where we work. Too many people in every industry spend hours of their own time and money commuting to work. Clearly, it is a safety issue in addition to a quality of life issue.”
Previous coverage below:
[ East Boston garage illegally turned into two-bedroom apartment with 19 occupants ]
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