Happy Holidays from the BNA! We’ve been working hard to increase capacity and drum up support for a number of initiatives central to our mission, and aligned with our stated community priorities for 2025. We’re looking for more engagement from the community at large as we build new teams and renew our lasting commitments. Here are some highlights:

We have a new Bayside Community Garden Team leader! Holly Picotte has been a great asset as a fellow gardener, volunteer, and crew member and is steeping up to manage and administer the BNA garden. She can be reached through email at garden@baysideportland.org or by filling out the form on our website here: https://baysideportland.org/bayside-community-garden-signup/ We’ll also be posting again in the springtime on instagram @baysidecommunitygarden

We have a new Safe Streets Team, inspired by the dialogue at our December 17th meeting with Mayor Dion, Chief Dubois, Midtown Community Policing and many residents and business owners. Our new neighbors Bowman and Anna Brown of Elda have stepped up to lead the team and keep the momentum going. You can contact them at safestreets@baysideportland.org As always, the BNA continues to advocate for the safety and dignity of all residents, workers, and visitors.

Development developments continue to develop in Bayside, and the Development Team is on top of it! We’re following the following proposals for new construction projects in our neighborhood:
• 3300-seat music venue at Myrtle Street & Cumberland Ave
• 48-unit “housing first” project by Avesta at former Oxford Street shelter site
• Childcare center with 50-units of affordable family housing at Youth & Family Outreach
and of course we’ll continue to monitor the ongoing master development plan by Reveler including the apartments at 89 Elm St. which recently broke ground, and the still stalled Federated Co. Midtown project, among others. Learn more and get involved by emailing development@baysideportland.org

proposed 3300-seat music venue at the corner of Myrtle St. & Cumberland Av.

The BNA is also very much involved with the exciting new project at Justin Alfond’s 72 Parris Street property, which he is generously gifting to the community, forming a steering committee including BNA board members, residents, and other stakeholders to determine the best use of the former Fork Food Lab site. Check out this video of the first planning stage: 72 Parris Street Project

In other news: Meet the BAYsideBEEs!

The BAYsideBEEs volunteer corps is the brainchild of longtime Bayside artist in residence Deirdre Paul. Deirdre hopes to add “more fun” to everything we get done. From street cleanups to community meals, block parties, greening and educational programming, the BAYsideBEEs will be there to help, and we need your help to make that happen! Contact us at volunteer@baysideportland.org Working on hats too!

(above) Volunteers and staff for the Wayside Food Programs’ Community Lunch at 409 Cumberland Avenue. Mondays noon-1pm, starting again after the holidays on January 6th. All are welcome.

Next BNA Board Meeting: Tuesday, January 7, 2025 6pm online using zoom. Open to the public. Please email info@baysideportland.org for an invitation and link. Check our community calendar often for updates

Mission Statement:

“The Bayside Neighborhood Association (BNA) empowers the Bayside community by building meaningful partnerships that promote health, safety, green spaces, diversity, housing, and sustainable development for all who live, work, and play in this unique urban neighborhood.”

We need your help! Please consider a tax-deductible year-end donation to the BNA, a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Contact Jim Hall, treasurer for more information at treasurer@baysideportland.org

Congratulations to the new District One Portland City Councilor, Bayside’s own Sarah Michniewicz, who served as president of the BNA since 2017. Longtime board member and BNA vice-president Robert Sylvain will be stepping in as president pro tempore until elections can be held at the next annual general membership meeting.

Thank you to everyone who pitched in at the BNA Fall Community Cleanup! We met new neighbors from the Daymark Portland Condos , Jessica James from Longfellow Communications brought her team along, and unhoused neighbors showed up to help brighten up Bayside. Lucky volunteers won gift certificates to Isa, Leavitt & Sons, Portland , Bayside Bowl, Pizzaiolo and Dunkin’. And of course our indomitable Community Policing Coordinator Jen Rogers at Portland Maine Police Department led the way and organized gloves and trash bags. If you missed this one we’ll be doing it again in the spring!

It was great to see so many of you at the BNA Annual meeting and potluck on October 18! We’re grateful to our Bayside neighbors Foundation House for hosting us. Mayoral candidates Councilor Mark Dion, former councilor Justin Costa, & Dylan Pugh, and at-large candidate Bill Linnell, graciously joined us to hear what Baysiders had to say (and brought delicious cookies, mac & cheese and lobster rolls to share!)

This year’s Fall Cleanup and Raffle is on a Friday! Come join the BNA on on Friday, October 20 2023 from 3:30 PM – 5 PM to meet new neighbors and see old friends, have some snacks, and help beautify Bayside. As always, all volunteers will be entered for a chance to win a gift certificate to a great Bayside business! Isa Bistro and Leavitt & Sons Deli are two of our great sponsors.

This year’s Spring Cleanup and Raffle is on Arbor Day, because in Bayside trees are always on our minds! Come join the BNA on on Friday, April 28 2023 from 4:30 PM – 6 PM to meet new neighbors and see old friends, have some snacks, and help beautify Bayside. As always, all volunteers will be entered for a chance to win a gift certificate to a great Bayside business!

The BNA understands how important safe, accessible public bathrooms are for people experiencing homelessness, and worked with city manager Jon Jennings in 2017 to add new, outdoor bathrooms at the Oxford Street Shelter, and during the pandemic in 2020 advocated for the new portable toilets that have been placed in locations convenient to social service delivery sites.

Now we are hoping our Senators will support additional safe, dignified bathroom facilities to benefit all Portland residents and visitors. 

We were asked to support the City’s request for $1 million in funding from the Senate Appropriations Committee. Our letter is below. We also supported a previous request to Representative Pingree for help from the House appropriations committee, which was sadly unsuccessful. 

Dear Senators King and Collins,

I am writing today to voice the Bayside Neighborhood Association’s wholehearted support for the City of Portland’s Community Project Funding request of $1,000,000 toward the new construction of safe, accessible public restrooms.

The BNA represents the Bayside neighborhood, greater Portland’s hub of social services and homeless shelters. More than perhaps any other neighborhood, Bayside understands the community harm that comes from a lack of accessible and safe public bathrooms.

For those experiencing homelessness, it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a profound indignity that compounds their struggles. For the surrounding neighborhood, it’s an ongoing public health crisis, as Senator may recall from his tour of the Bayside neighborhood in 2018. For years, the unsanitary conditions on walking trails, playgrounds, private property, and sidewalks in front of homes and businesses have eroded quality of life and decreased business revenues.

That crisis only escalated with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of service providers and other public institutions, which were no longer able to admit community members for whom public restrooms are their only indoor option. The strain of the pandemic may ease, but the problems that existed prior will not be alleviated without funding to install clean, welcoming, and safe public bathrooms.

Providing humane bathroom access supports community members at all economic levels and grows strong, inclusive, and vibrant neighborhoods where everyone feels valued. The BNA respectfully requests that you support Portland and the Bayside neighborhood by submitting the City of Portland’s Community Project Funding request to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Sincerely,

Sarah Michniewicz
President, Bayside Neighborhood Association