‘MegaCambridge Is Inevitable’: Cambridge City Councilor Files Policy Order to Annex Boston

The Cambridge City Council is considering annexing the City of Boston — a power grab to secure the “strategic resources” of Dunkin’ Donuts, Fenway Park, and craft beer.

City Councilor Burhan Azeem filed a late policy order Monday night, putting forward a resolution that “formally initiates conversations to annex the City of Boston.”

The City of Boston did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Azeem has pulled April Fool’s Day pranks since being elected in 2021. Last year, Azeem spent $5,000 of his own campaign money to finance 77 billboards advocating the annexation of Boston.

In 2022 he proposed a similar annexation of Somerville on the holiday. And the next year, he made a video with City Councilors from Boston and Somerville boasting permission to annex their municipalities.

But Azeem is escalating his tactics this year — bringing the fight directly to the Cambridge City Council. In Monday’s Council meeting, Azeem advanced a resolution to annex Boston that will be addressed by councilors at the April 7 meeting.

He also sent a copy of the resolution to Boston city councilors and Mayor Michelle Wu ’07, who did not respond.

Beyond his legislative efforts, Azeem also took to the streets — printing out flyers with the slogan “MegaCambridge is Inevitable” to post around Central Square and offer to residents.

Azeem said the annexation of Cambridge’s southern neighbor is in the city’s “strategic interest.”

He stressed that the annexation is essential to “protecting our borders, in terms of having control of the Head of the Charles and the duck boats, and making sure that we have covered all of our river defenses.”

“It just would be very important for us to annex Boston,” he added.

In 1634, the governor of Massachusetts relocated the capital from Cambridge to Boston — a decision that bothers Azeem to this day.

“I've had a little bit of a grudge for a couple hundred years on this, and I think the city has as well,” Azeem said.

Azeem’s annual prank comes from a genuine interest in regional cooperation among the many municipalities that make up the metro Boston area. He specifically cited cities’ work to unify the BlueBikes network across the Greater Boston area as an example of successful collaboration.

“We’re going to go from the Articles of Confederation of how the BlueBikes system is set up to the full constitution of MegaCambridge,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to do great things.”

Azeem is confident that MegaCambridge will provide benefits for residents on both sides of the Charles River.

“Greater Boston — or what I would say is MegaCambridge — has the GDP of Poland, and we can't seem to figure out how to add a new train station, “ he said, “I’m fairly certain that MegaCambridge could actually figure that out.”

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.