Students Lead Protest Against Renewal Plan

Three Harvard undergraduates are organizing residents of the area adjacent to the Business School in a fight against the Boston Redevelopment Authority's plan to replace the existing low-cost housing there with a new highrent apartment building.

Steven B. Goldin '65 said yesterday that despite violent protests from the 71 families involved, the BRA has declared the area "blighted" and has received Federal aid for an area renewal project.

The New England Urban Development Corporation has contracted to build "300 moderate-income housing units with rents ranging from $140-$250 per month on the land," said Maurice Simon, a developer for the firm.

Fifty residents, spurred by formal notification on November 25 of the BRA's plans to redevelop the land, met last Monday to spell out a definite resistance crusade. They decided to hang, from every balcony and window, posters proclaiming that they shall not be moved. "We're going to stay here till Hell freezes over," Goldin exclaimed.

Residents Happy As Are

The present residents, including four Harvard students and one M.I.T. professor, now either own their homes or pay approximately $50-$100 rent, Goldin said. Many of them feel that they will be unable to afford the resulting rent increase they would have to pay if forced to move.

For housing lots on land adjacent to that which Harvard recently paid Boston television channel 2 $250,000 per acre, the BRA has offered $2000, Goldin stressed.

Paul C. Lareau, a BRA staff member, last night labeled the land "run down" and pointed out that the houses do not meet minimum Boston building code standards.

A sign erected by the area residents states, however, that "the only blighted land belongs to a near-by university."