BOSTON - Wednesday, March 19, 2025 - This evening, Mayor Michelle Wu will deliver her 2025 State of the City Address. Please see below her remarks as prepared:
Good evening, Boston! Thank you to our hosts at the MGM Music Hall, and to all our interpreters tonight. Governor Healey, Congresswoman Pressley, Council President Louijeune, Chair Robinson, Mayor Janey, and all our city, state, and county officials: Your partnership makes our work possible. Thank you. To our City workers: At a time when public servants are being dismissed and discredited, you continue to show up for our residents and remind us what good government looks like. Thank you for setting the standard every day.
To my family here tonight—my husband Conor; the best big brothers, Blaise and Cass; and baby Mira—I am so lucky; I love you so much.
And to the people of Boston: Thank you for the honor of doing this work alongside you.
Two weeks ago, I went down to D.C. because Congress had some questions about how we do things here in Boston. It might have been my voice speaking into the microphone that day, but it was 700,000 voices that gave Congress their answer: This is our city.
No one tells Boston how to take care of our own. Not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies. In D.C., during the breaks to nurse the baby, I caught up on the scene unfolding back home: Hands joined in prayer across an interfaith circle at St. Paul’s; bright letters illuminated on the Old State House bricks; homemade signs held high among the crowds on City Hall Plaza: “We stand with immigrants,” “You belong here,” “Somos una ciudad de inmigrantes,” “Boston doesn’t back down.”
We are a city where the Irish coffee is strong and our opinions are stronger. We may not always agree or see eye to eye, but at the end of the day, we are a family. If you come for one of us, you will get all of us. We are a city that knows our strength is each other: And we will defend the people we love with all that we’ve got. When the weight of the world presses down, Boston stands up. It is because of this community—and the work we’ve done together—that I was able to raise my right hand, swear an oath, and tell the nation the truth: That Boston is the greatest city on earth.
We are a city that values hard work—where the members of UNITE HERE Local 26 secured a nation-leading contract so that, for the hotel and hospitality workers who drive Boston’s tourism industry, one job is enough. We are a city that drives innovation—where the scientists at Vertex invented life-changing non-opioid relief, to tackle pain and an epidemic. We’re a city focused on the everyday fundamentals—filling 15,000 potholes; cutting the ribbon on 20 parks and playgrounds; planting more than 5,000 trees and expanding library service by 10,000 hours; repairing more than 30 miles of sidewalk and 60 miles of roadway.
We’re a city where the hot dogs and raspberry lime rickeys at Sullivan’s are James Beard-award worthy, and where kids named Ayo and Jeremy from Dorchester and JP grow up to win Emmys and Tonys.
We are a city that fills the streets when our teams bring home a banner: Congratulations to the state champion Charlestown and New Mission boys’ basketball teams; Josiah Quincy girls’ wrestling; Boston Latin boys’ hockey; and English High baseball. And the Boston Celtics are pretty good too! And, together with our first responders, frontline public health workers, faith leaders, and partners in every neighborhood, we have made Boston the safest major city in the nation.
Four years ago, gun violence in Boston had just hit a ten-year high. Every year since taking office, we’ve set new record lows. Thank you to Commissioner Michael Cox and the entire Boston Police Department.
Under your leadership, community policing has reached a new level of trust focused on safety and quality of life Downtown and across all of our neighborhoods. We recruited the largest and most diverse classes of new officers at the Academy, and set national standards for accountability and reform through the police contract: Later this year, Boston residents will be trained as civilian flaggers for the very first time, earning good pay while keeping us safe.
Four years ago, racial health disparities had deepened. Today, the Boston Public Health Commission is making progress tackling those disparities through targeted intervention on drug overdoses, infant and maternal health, and chronic disease. Thank you, Dr. Bisola Ojikutu and all our health equity partners. Four years ago, businesses like Eli Lilly, SAP, Roche, LEGO, and NVIDIA called other cities home. Today, they have all chosen Boston.
To keep up that momentum, tonight I’m announcing the City will launch a Business Recruitment Office to fill commercial vacancies, retain and attract talent, and continue revitalizing Downtown. Thank you to our Business Recruitment Task Force and the Boston Employer Working Group for partnering with us to make Boston the best place to do business.
Four years ago, Boston had just a handful of Black-owned spaces for community to come together and connect. Since we took office, they have more than doubled: From Grace by Nia in the Seaport, Hue in Back Bay, and Park 54 in Hyde Park, to the Mix in Dorchester, and Jazz Urbane opening this summer, right around the corner from Soul & Spice in Nubian Square. Thank you to all our entrepreneurs for investing in Boston.
And with leadership from the City Council and State House, we added the most new liquor licenses since Prohibition: 225 new opportunities for neighborhood restaurants to create jobs, close gaps, and build community.
Four years ago, the City wasn’t doing enough to support diverse businesses. In the last year alone, we’ve awarded over $150 million in city contracts to businesses owned by people of color—more than double the value in 2021.
And four years ago, BPS student athletes were left with a sports facility that was rarely open and had been crumbling for four decades. Today, we are renovating White Stadium into a world-class athletics hub guaranteed for BPS students, coaches, and residents 15 hours a day, more than 345 days of the year. And I will never stop fighting for what our city kids deserve. Thank you to all our coaches, students, advocates, and the Franklin Park Coalition for guiding us.
Over the last four years, we have shown the country what it looks like to build a team that reflects our communities—and build a foundation for tackling challenges no one thought possible. Together, we’ve shown the world that you can build a city that’s safe, green, and growing—a home for everyone—if you refuse to give up. Today, Boston is stronger, more determined, and prouder than ever to be who we are in a moment when we need each other and our nation needs Boston. So tonight, I can say that the State of our City is strong. And we have to be.
Because all over the country, people are feeling the weight of a federal administration that’s attacking our sources of strength—the same people and purpose that make Boston great: Public servants and veterans; immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community; the institutions that conduct groundbreaking research and provide lifesaving care.
We are home to the nation’s best hospitals, best colleges and universities, best labs and research facilities—they drive our economy, employ our residents, and make Boston America’s engine of innovation. And today, they are all under attack. Boston is the target in this fight for our future because we are the cradle of democracy, pioneers of the public good, the stewards and keepers of the American Dream. We were built on the values this federal administration seeks to tear down.
But for 395 years, come high water or hell—no matter who threatens to bring it—Boston has stood up for the people we love and the country we built. And we’re not stopping now.
To be a home for everyone, we must be the best city for families, and there’s more work to do.
Since taking office, we’ve helped more than 850 residents buy their first homes. We’ve built more than 11,000 new units, and the most affordable homes in at least 25 years. In the last three years, we’ve taken more than 700 homes off the speculative market to make them permanently affordable.
Just last week, I joined Ms. Annie at the Fairlawn Estates in Mattapan—where she’s lived for fifty years. And for the last six, she led her tenant association battling rent hikes and evictions intended to gentrify her community—and she won. Together, with CityLife/Vida Urbana, Related Beal, and our Housing Acquisition Fund partners, we were able to protect all 347 homes and make them permanently affordable. Ms. Annie and the Fairlawn family are here tonight!
We’re also working with developers to convert unused office space into more homes for families. By next summer, we’ll have 1,000 new homes under construction in the heart of Downtown. Tonight, I’m announcing that we are expanding this office-to-residential conversion program to universities and employers looking to reactivate office buildings as dorms or workforce housing.
We are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to building, preserving, and reimagining housing all over our city.
Tomorrow, we are releasing our first-ever Anti-Displacement Action Plan, because Boston’s growth should stabilize families and deepen their roots.
I’m also proud to announce the launch of our city’s Co-Purchasing Pilot Program: Helping households combine their purchasing power to buy multi-family homes with 0% interest deferred loans from the City.
In many homes—including my own—multi-generational families share the same roof. Co-Purchasing can make buying a home more accessible, and make sharing meals and moments a built-in part of life. I grew up with thousands of miles between me and my grandparents; I knew them mostly through red envelopes at New Year’s and long-distance calls. Today, my kids get to grow up with their grandma downstairs instead of an ocean apart.
The best city for families should make it easy to live with the people you love. But, for too many, caring for family is unaffordable: Across Massachusetts, private daycare and preschool can easily cost $2,000 a month, per child. But tomorrow morning, all across Boston, nearly 5,000 three- and four-year olds will head to classrooms in elementary schools, in community centers, and homes—for free early education and pre-K. As a mom, and as Mayor, I have made it a priority to grow this program every year since we took office—adding more than a thousand new seats for our littlest learners.
When it comes to raising your family, Boston will be the village it takes. Household budgets are also strained by higher energy bills. So we’ve harnessed our collective buying power to provide energy that’s affordable and clean through Boston Community Choice Electricity—saving residents and businesses more than $260 million.
But if your home isn’t well insulated; you’re using space heaters or an outdated boiler, you’re spending too much to stay warm. So, tonight, I’m announcing the Boston Energy Saver: A historic new partnership with Eversource and National Grid that will deliver more than $150 million in state funding for our residents to upgrade their homes and lower their bills. If you need new windows or an updated heating system, we’ll find every dollar available to get the job done.
And because buildings are the biggest source of our city’s emissions, starting this summer, all new big buildings in Boston will be net zero from day one. Our climate leadership is making homes more affordable, big buildings greener, and creating opportunities for young people like Slader—who had been living in a shelter four years ago. He came to the U.S. at seven from Haiti, left home at 18, and ended up on the streets.
Today, Slader’s an engineer at a building Downtown—a role he landed through our City’s green jobs program, Boston PowerCorps. And, this year, our new climate workforce collaborative will begin training 1,200 more residents to build more resilient shorelines and communities.
The best city for families should prioritize the programs that save families money, keep all of us healthy, and set our young people up to inherit the greatest city on earth.
And in the city that created public education, we must set the standard for others to meet. We aren’t there yet, but today, our public schools are on the right track and steadily building momentum: BPS enrollment is growing for the first time in ten years. Graduation rates are up, chronic absenteeism is down, and our state accountability results show meaningful progress. And we’re making the hard but necessary decisions to right-size our district and best serve our students.
This school year, for the first time ever, families can track students’ bus rides, and BPS finally has data on which students are riding on which days. Today we're averaging 94% of buses arriving on time, and will take more steps to improve routing this year.
Today, nearly all schools are cooking healthy meals on-site, sourced from Massachusetts farms, so our students have the fuel to focus and learn. And our BPS educators are state champs too: Winning Massachusetts Assistant Principal, School Counselor, and Teacher of the Year.
I’m proud to report that, last night, we reached a tentative three-year agreement with the Boston Teachers’ Union. These school nurses, counselors, and educators serve in some of the most important jobs in our city. Thank you for continuing to put our students first every day.
And putting our students first means investing in the partnerships that prepare them to succeed: This fall, the very first expanded class of 200 ninth graders will be starting at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, thanks to a $38 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to build a nation-leading partnership with Mass General Brigham.
I also want to thank UMass Boston for expanding what’s possible for students at the Ruth Batson Academy right next door. And, thanks to the Martin Richard Foundation, the Dorchester Field House will be breaking ground there next month. This year, we’ll also be partnering with the WPS Institute to make sure 7th and 8th graders are prepared to make the most out of high school; we’re working with Bain to strengthen early college pathways; and we’re joining employers to triple the size of the co-op program at Madison Park so students can earn credentials and a paycheck at the same time.
We are connecting our young people to an excellent and expansive education: rigorous academics, summer learning and jobs, after-school enrichment, student athletics, and access to the arts.
As soon as last school year ended, summer learning began: We set new records for students enrolled in 5th Quarter summer learning and working paid summer jobs; and gave more than 3,000 free bike lessons and 6,000 free swim lessons.
Our Human Services team helped fund equipment and fees at 55 youth sports organizations, making sure that payment isn’t a barrier to young people who want to play, and we’re changing the fact that—for too many students—after-school math, science, and tech programs are too expensive or too far away.
Miguel, is a 6th grader at the Holmes Innovation School: He runs track, plays basketball, and wants to be a pilot some day. He knows pilots need to know math to calculate things like flight plans and emergency landings. But the Holmes doesn’t currently offer after-school math programs.
Tonight, I am excited to announce that we are standing up a new set of Advanced Math programs inside the Boston Public Schools! Partnering with the Young People’s Project and the Calculus Project, we’re launching math clubs, competitions, and advanced math communities, so students like Miguel know that advanced math courses are where they belong.
As for the arts, last year, 50,000 students and family members visited one of Boston’s museums for free—thousands for the very first time—through our Boston Family Days program. This year we are adding Boston’s Revolutionary sites—the Paul Revere House, Old North Illuminated, Old State House, Old South Meeting House, and the USS Constitution as well as our leading performing arts institutions: ArtsEmerson, The Boch Center, the Wheelock Family Theatre, the Huntington Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Ballet. Thank you to our amazing partners for making this possible!
And, tonight, I am announcing the launch of BCYF Creates, an investment in free arts programming that will more than double arts instruction across our community centers. So if you’re a student excited to explore our nation’s history, take in a show, try a new sport or join the math team, all you have to do is live in Boston. And in Boston, being the best city for families means supporting family members of every generation.
On Monday, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at the East Boston Senior Center. Over corned beef and cabbage, a grandmother named Judy told me that, after her husband passed, she became a crossing guard, because it lifts her spirits—rain, shine, or snow—to see all the smiling faces on their way to and from school. She spends the hours in between school drop-off and pick-up with friends at the senior center.
For residents like Judy, together with Ethos and our partners at the state, we are adding an extra day per week to the senior programming at the Elks in West Roxbury, and we’re adding new senior programming across five neighborhoods this summer. And, the City Council and I look forward to working with the State House, Governor, and State Senate to finally pass our bill to lower residents’ taxes and keep seniors in their homes.
Our seniors are the living history of Boston—they show us what it means to live with joy in community, and with resilience through all the challenges we have faced down together.
Two months ago, I welcomed my daughter into this world. The truth is, it’s not the world I expected or hoped for her. I want her to grow up in a country that’s admired, not feared. A country stable and safe, not one that feels like it’s coming apart at the seams.
I want her to grow up in the America that Paul Revere rode for; that Dr. King marched for; that my parents left home for. It’s the same America that our faith leaders at St. Paul’s joined hands and prayed for and that the people of Boston have rallied and fought for, every generation for 250 years.
It’s the version of America that belongs not to kings but to kin, where workers have dignity, and science is real. Where it’s possible to go from living on the street to working Downtown, and eviction notices are replaced by the keys to your first home. Where energy is clean and affordable, and the best places are free for everyone; where every school has the resources and partnerships to challenge every student, and every student has space to grow and create.
The good news is: That is the America we are building in Boston.
So while this national moment isn’t the one I—and so many families—had hoped for, I am grateful that my daughter gets to call this city home.
Boston is not a city that tolerates tyranny.
We are the city that leads in the storm; that stands up under pressure, together; and finds strength in each other. We will defend the people we love with all that we’ve got.
I couldn’t ask for more in a family.
God bless our City, God bless our people, and God save whoever messes with Boston. | 
