Winter Play Days with Project Play Return!
Project Play is happy to announce that the popular Winter Play Days series will return in 2025, this time on a weekly basis! These free indoor playdays will kick off on January 5 and will be held every Sunday, 10AM – 12PM through March. For Kids Only has generously donated their space and toddler toys to be used alongside Project Play’s signature pop-up play equipment of mats, climbers, walkers, and ride-ons.
Thanks to a grant from the Mass Cultural Council, playdays will feature free musical entertainment, demos, and classes from community partners. We look forward to hosting Knucklebones, Ralph Tufo, Kaliloops, Rockabye Beats, and more special guests!
Young children ages 0-5 and their caregivers are invited to join the fun at the FKO building (233 Winthrop Street) to move, play, and connect with other families.
Winter Play Days are made possible by the generosity of our Winthrop community, including the support of Winthrop Charities, the Mass Cultural Council, and Chanel Fish Co. in East Boston. Project Play kindly encourages donations, including play equipment in good condition. Please also consider volunteering your expertise as a special guest, or signing up to help staff the weekly events. Visit projectplaywinthrop.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more! Or contact us directly at [email protected].
Two men arraigned for flying drones from restricted Long Island
Two men were charged in Dorchester BMC today with three counts each connected to flying drones in hazardous air space around Long Island and Boston Harbor on Saturday, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
Robert Duffy, 42, of Charlestown, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, of Bridgewater, were each charged with trespassing, breaking and entering, and violating a municipal ordinance or bylaw. Judge Erika Reis released the men on personal recognizance and ordered them to stay away from Long Island and to not operate drones. Both will return to court February 6 for pre-trial hearings.
Boston Police responded to the abandoned homeless and hospital campus on Long Island via patrol boat at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday to investigate reports of unmanned aircraft being flown in hazardous proximity to Logan Airport. As officers searched the site they saw a light on in a building and a person walk by a window. Officers climbed to the second floor of the building by fire escape stairs and conducted a room search. Officers encountered Duffy and Folcik in the building. Duffy told officers he had been flying a drone and that it was in his backpack. Duffy and Folcik told officers they had been transported to the island on a boat owned by a third man. They said they did not know the man’s name. Boston Police asked a State Police patrol boat unit for assistance in locating the third man but he was not apprehended.
Using data from the drone’s serial number officers identified six recorded flights on Saturday and seven recorded flights on December 7.
“No trespassing” signs are posted on structures throughout the shuttered Long Island campus.
“There are many areas in Massachusetts to safely operate drones. But flying them from an area closed to the public while creating a potential public safety hazard in the process is conduct that will land people in court to answer to criminal charges, which is exactly what happened here,” Hayden said.