“I look at these photographs and feel the overwhelming sensation of the noise of these low-flying aircraft. Yet I could leave what seemed like a war zone. And it was a kind of war, long-time residents trying for normalcy and the powers that be wanting them out.”
– Michael Philip Manheim on Logan Airport, Boston, 1973
Near Logan Airport – Airplane Coming in for a Landing Over Neptune Road Homes 05/1973
For the Documerica Project (1971-1977), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hired freelance photographers to capture images relating to environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday life in the 1970s.
Michael Philip Manheim was assigned to document the noise pollution crises in the East Boston neighborhood around Neptune Road. Manheim’s images of the deteriorating community illustrate its proximity to one of the nation’s busiest airports and the plight of residents living under the landing path of jets on the approach to Logan’s busy runways.
For a while the people living on and around Neptune Road fought back. They organised meetings, signed petitions and lay in the road in an effort to stop the bulldozers.
Mary Bruno Hangs Laundry at Her Home at 39 Neptune Road at Her Right Are Frankfort Street Homes. Neptune Road, Closest Residential Area to Logan Airport, Has Some Fifty Homes, Many of Them Three-Decker Buildings Housing Three Families Each 05/1973
Matthew Vieira Stands in the Very Place Where, Some Thirty-Five Years Ago, He Took These Pictures of His Children. At That Time the Area Was Wood Island Park (Known Earlier as World War I Memorial Park). Since Then the Water Has Been Filled in and the Site has become part of Logan Airport, 06/1973
Well-Kept Backyards Are the Rule in East Boston Where Homeowners Take Great Pride in Their Neighborhood 06/1973
Massport gets tough
In the 1960s, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) took control of a parcel of residential land and popular fishing area near the northwest side of the airfield. This land included Frederick Law Olmsted’s 46-acre Wood Island Park, a valued recreational area for a neighborhood with “fewer park and recreation facilities than other neighborhood in the city.” After decades of litigation, the forfeiture was undertaken to extend Runway 15R/33L, which later became Logan’s longest runway via artificial land.
Wood Island Park was leveled early one morning in 1967. On April 23, 1969, 35 workmen with 35 chain saws toppled 35 elm gtrees along the road.
Outside of the park on Neptune Road, residents of the neighborhood, formerly, with its convenient park access, the “most prestigious street in East Boston”, were bought out of their homes and forced to relocate.
Sandra Bruno Straightens a Pillow in the Immaculate Living Room of Her Family’s Home at 39 Neptune Road 07/1973
Residents React to Notice of Landlords’ Meeting Posted in Market Window and Called by Massport (Massachusetts Port Authority), Which Owns and Operates Logan Airport. Purpose Is to Discuss Sale of Homes to Massport 06/1973
Portrait
Peeling Paint on This Neptune Road House Typifies Neglect of Exterior Home Maintenance by Residents of This Neighborhood Interiors, However Are Well Kept Up. Neptune Road Borders Immediately Upon Logan Airport. Residents Do Not Feel That the Expense of Complete Maintenance is Justified, When They Could Lose Their Homes to MASSPORT (Massachusetts Port Authority) at a Fraction of Their Value, 05/1973
Parking Lot at Logan Airport. East Boston Residents Complain That Much of the Land Taken from Them to Expand the Airport Is Used Only for Parking, Not for Essential Air Transport 09/1973
Once Neptune Road Led to Wood Island Park and the Sea. Now It Is Bounded by a Fence and the Logan Airport Runway Area 05/1973
Neptune Road and Frankfort Street. MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) Pedestrian Bridge in Background Frankfort Street Provides Access to a Number of Airport and Air Industry Buildings 05/1973
Lovell Street Homes in Jet Aircraft Landing Pattern 05/1973
Logan Airport Looking Northeast from 16th Floor Observation Deck. Main Access Road to Airport on the Left. Parking Fields. Main Exit Road on the Right. Tobin Bridge in Background 09/1973
Logan Airport Area. Neighborhood Boys Play Rough with an Abandoned Car behind the Wood Island Station of the MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) 05/1973
Logan Airport Area. Lovell Street near the Intersection of Frankfort Street 05/1973
Logan Airport Area. Children Play in Neptune Court, Which Is Bounded by the Now Unused Ramps of the Wood Island Trains Station Busses Once Swung Around These Ramps, to Turn and Head Back for Bennington Street, the Main Road of East Boston 05/1973
John Vitagliano, Manager of the East Boston Little City Hall and Chairman of the Winthrop Noise Abatement Committee, Points Out on Aerial Photograph the Section of Neptune Road and Logan Airport Runway 15r-33l that he Is Facing, Looking Southeast Down Neptune Road, 06/1973
Jet Zooms Over Southwestern Side of Neptune Road 05/1973
From the Rear Porch of His Home at the Southern Corner of Neptune and Lovell Streets, Larry Vienza Watches Jet Take Off from Runway 15r-33l. Once Airborne, the Jet Will Fly Directly Over His House 05/1973
From a Hill at Orient Heights near the Northern (Revere) Boundary of East Boston, Anthony Bruno, John Briganti, and Joseph Porzio Point Out How Logan Airport Dominates the Landscape. 05/1973
Empty Parking Spaces at Logan Airport. Area Residents Complain That the Airport Takes Land from Them That Is Not Required for Air Transport Operation 09/1973
Constitution Beach, on Boston Harbor – An Excellent Vantage Point for Viewing Logan Airport, 05/1973
Constitution Beach – Within Sight and Sound of Logan Airport’s Takeoff Runway 22r 07/1973
Constitution Beach – Within Sight and Sound of Logan Airport’s Takeoff Runway 22r 07/1973
Community Leaders Anthony Bruno (Center) John Briganti (Left), and Joseph Porzio. Mr. Bruno Is Reading a Classified Ad He Placed in a Boston Newspaper to Rent the Ground Floor Apartment of His Neptune Road Home. Neptune Road Is the Residential Community Closest to Logan Airport. Mr. Bruno Warned all Prospects of the Disadvantages of Living Here, Rented the Apartment Nevertheless, 05/1973
Children Play Ball in Front of Their Homes on Neptune Road Logan Airport Is at the End of the Street. Many of the Children’s Parents Are Involved in Continuing Efforts to Halt Expansion of the Airport 05/1973
Carolyn Brobrek in Living Room of Her Home at 99 Cowper Street Where, in October 1969, She Felt Her Ears Pop When a Jet Took Off. It Was Discovered That a Bone in the Inner Ear Had Broken Corrective Work Was Done But She Still Has a 15-20% Hearing Loss in her Right Ear, 07,1973
Building Under Construction, Off Neptune Road, Will Be Used by Food Preparation Company That Services Airlines 05/1973
Bernard Picarello in Bathroom of His Home at 112 Moore Street. He Blames Crack in Bathroom Tile on Aircraft Vibration. His Home Is Directly Under a Logan Airport Flight Path 07/1973
Approaching MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) Train Records 87 Decibels on Noise Meter 06/1973
Anthony Bruno Affixes a Protest Sticker to the Front Door of His Neptune Road House While Joseph Porzio Looks On. Mr. Bruno, Who Teaches Law and Economics at Rindge Technical High School in Cambridge, Is a Community Leader. Mr. Porzio, a Neighbor, Is co-chairman of the Legislative Committee of the East Boston Neighborhood Council. Environmental and Economic Problems Caused by Adjacent Logan Airport are of Prime Concern to Both Men, 05/1973
A Side of the MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) Pedestrian Bridge That Links the Split Segments of Neptune Road 05/1973
A Jet Flies Over Neptune Road 05/1973
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