Court Upholds Allston Evictions; BRA May Remove Families Today

Judge Francis J.W. Ford 04 yesterday lifted a temporary restraining order which had been delaying the eviction of four Allston families from their North Harvard Street homes.

Several hours after Ford's decision was handed down, John D. Warner, Director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), told reporters that he had "asked the sheriff to be on the site as soon as legally possible" to evict the three families who are still resisting relocation. BRA plans a 212-unit housing project on the site after the families are moved.

One Family Will Move

Warner stated that Stanley Zaleski, one of the four families remaining at North Harvard St., yesterday afternoon decided to accept relocation plans.

At an SDS meeting last night, however, Harvard students discussed the North Harvard St. situation and started a phone chain, which will be activated when an eviction attempt begins. Members of the chain will go to the site and try to prevent the Deputy Sheriffs from carrying out the eviction, a member of the SDS anti-expansion committee said.

Ford's ruling was a victory for BRA attorneys. They had filed a motion in Federal District Court to vacate the temporary restraining order which Ford had granted last Friday to the Allston families. The restraining order halted the eviction an hour after Deputy Sheriffs had started removing the families' furniture from their homes.

Immediately after the ruling. Boston Legal Assistance Project lawyers, who are representing the families, filed a notice of appeal in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. An 11 a.m. hearing today in the Court of Appeals will again pit BRA arguments against those of the Assistance Project over the necessity of a temporary restraining order.

BRA attorney Daniel D. Bickford said that he did not expect any evictions before a decision is reached at the 11 a.m. appeal hearing.