Eastern fronts

As planes roar overhead, two young politicians with powerful mentors prepare to slug it out

by Ben Geman

CITY HALL

patronage has set in motion in this hidden neighborhood across the harbor. Last year, Eastie's long-time state representative, Emmanuel "Gus" Serra, was among a handful of Democratic legislators who crossed the fence to back Paul Cellucci against Scott Harshbarger in the governor's race. Cellucci didn't forget the favor -- last month, Serra was handed a top post at the Massachusetts Port Authority, and the $119,000 salary that goes with it.

What's left in his wake is a war ferocious enough for even the most seasoned political observers to relish -- one that pits the power of City Hall against Serra's nearly three-decade legacy in East Boston. Two ambitious twentysomething Democrats are already off and running toward the May 11 Democratic primary in the race to replace Serra, who had held office since 1971. One of them, Anthony Petruccelli, has worked for Mayor Menino; the other, Richard Lynds, has worked for Serra. Though Menino isn't up for reelection himself this year, the East Boston battle is a good barometer of the mayor's strength.

Petruccelli, 26, was until recently the East Boston coordinator for the Menino administration's Office of Neighborhood Services. That means he comes to the race with the backing of key Menino workers, including long-time City Hall employee and East Boston political operative Junior Lombardi -- whose political presence in East Boston dates back to his work with former mayor Kevin White.

Lynds, 29, is an attorney who recently stepped down as director of the East Boston Foundation, which helps funnel money from Massport into job training, open space, and other projects aimed at compensating the neighborhood for the burden of being near the airport. Lynds worked for Serra for more than five years, moving up from intern to chief of staff. And even if a state-representative seat doesn't come with the foot soldiers that the mayor's office does, Serra's 28-year reign in Eastie is expected to help his protégé. "Twenty-eight years in the State House means a lot of favors for a lot of people," says one insider. "Gus Serra is still able to put a lot of people on the street for a cause important to him."

Fans of raw politics have plenty to look forward to here. For one thing, some say this race never would have happened if Serra hadn't gone back on his word: Petruccelli was looking to run against Serra in 1998, but reportedly decided against it after Serra -- perhaps already aware of the Massport job -- said he would not run again and would back Petruccelli when the seat opened up. (Serra, through a Massport spokesman, declined comment.)

At any rate, though, East Boston has a long history of political street fighting. Here, says former East Boston city councilor Diane Modica, politics "is not like a lesson out of a civics book." Already, Petruccelli says some of his campaign signs have been torn down.

Brian Wallace, a city employee who hosts local cable-television shows and worked East Boston for Ray Flynn in last year's Eighth Congressional District campaign, says turf wars for space to hold signs get "competitive and territorial" in East Boston. "People would feel like you were invading their territory if you worked a stand-out too close," recalls Wallace, also a columnist in several neighborhood newspapers, of the race for the Eighth. There are rules of engagement, Wallace says, but it's an essentially savage undertaking. "It's still a basic street fight. Local politics at its best, door to door."

Newspaper to newspaper, too. One of the town's competing community papers, the East Boston Times-Free Press, is strongly behind Lynds, regularly criticizing Menino and bashing Lombardi. A March 3 story on the race, for example, called it a match-up between "a young, bright lawyer and a City Hall candidate." And here's a sample from the January 27 "As I See It" column: "Informants are eagerly spreading information that Junior Lombardi has been using City Hall phones to campaign for his selected candidate for state rep."

It's further evidence that East Boston's traditional politics have remained intact even as the neighborhood, with its influx of Latino residents, has grown more diverse. Legendary East Boston operatives such as Tony Albano and Tony Cannata remain hugely important, according to the Boston Globe's Alan Lupo, who devoted much of a recent column to describing how they've lined up on opposite sides of this fight. No one remembers the two friends' splitting up politically before, he wrote, calling it "unthinkable." But though allegiances may have shifted, the same players are calling the shots.

Some of the race's fervor stems from the insularity bred by the neighborhood's geographical isolation. It creates something of a frontier mentality, says John Nucci, an East Boston resident and former Boston city councilor. "There's a harbor between [Eastie] and the rest of the city -- it's not part of Boston proper and quite often thinks of itself that way," he says. "It's a neighborhood that's had to fend for itself for a lot of years against a lot of institutional expansion. They have to live with an airport, the tunnels, a racetrack, and tons of traffic. It's no picnic, and it has made East Bostonians feel somewhat isolated from the city."

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From the graffiti-covered bridge over the tracks of East Boston's Wood Island MBTA station, the jets that roar overhead look almost close enough to touch. Even in Day Square, farther from the airport, the noise stops conversation as the planes gain altitude. "That's nothing," says Lynds, standing in Day Square next to supporters holding campaign signs, moments after a jet flies by. "When they're constant, every 45 seconds to a minute, it can get overwhelming."

"Not a day goes by when you do not feel or see or smell the airport," says Modica. "It has a positive influence in terms of jobs, but frankly, the land-taking, the environmental issues, the traffic problems -- they're all part of our daily existence, and you can't avoid thinking about it."

Massport, say residents, has long subjected the neighborhood to excessive noise from planes flying overhead. Now, East Boston has joined with scores of other nearby cities and neighborhoods to fight the agency's plans to ease flight delays by building another runway at Logan. The new runway would redistribute noise away from the most burdened areas, Massport says, but opponents say that allowing more flights will make a bad situation worse in the long run. It's an issue that's central to the race for Serra's seat. Petruccelli's camp charges that Lynds would be too close to the port authority where his former boss now works. (Serra, according to a Massport spokesman, is recused from the new runway's planning.)

Lynds -- who, like Petruccelli, is a lifelong East Boston resident -- calls the accusations ridiculous. "I'm not Gus Serra," he says. "I had an opportunity to work with him and, if anything, an opportunity to learn the ropes. And that experience will be beneficial.

"I have an independent mind," he adds. "I don't have to take my cues from Gus Serra." Indeed, he says he's as opposed to the new runway as Petruccelli is, calling it a "Band-Aid" fix when Massport really needs to beef up operations at Hanscom Field or elsewhere.

Lynds's testy reply cuts to the heart of how both sides are framing the race. Each candidate wants to turn the other's political lineage into a liability. Petruccelli, says Lynds, is part of a "power grab" by City Hall in East Boston, an indirect effort by Menino to call the shots in the neighborhood. "I think City Hall's agenda is being put forward here," says Lynds, who argues that on issues such as property taxes, East Boston's and City Hall's interests can diverge. "The point I want to make is that I don't think City Hall's agenda belongs in a state-representative seat."

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A huge picture of Petruccelli's face stares down from a campaign sign hung on a building at the corner of Bennington and Saratoga Streets, in East Boston's Orient Heights. Down the street, about 200 supporters are holding up campaign signs and waving to motorists, some of whom honk to show support. It's an impressive display, one that Junior Lombardi calls proof of Petruccelli's strength beyond City Hall. "Walk down this line," says Lombardi. "Ninety percent of these people have no affiliation with City Hall."

That, of course, leaves plenty who do. But Petruccelli doesn't see his link to Menino as negative. "I'm not afraid to say that Mayor Menino is supporting my candidacy," he says, taking a break from shaking hands and chatting with supporters. "I'm proud to say that."

A couple of days earlier, Petruccelli stands outside his campaign headquarters near East Boston's Maverick Square -- just a block from Lynds's campaign office -- and pronounces himself ready to fight both the runway and Lynds. "There's no two ways about it -- there needs to be a line drawn in the sand," he says of the runway. "If we want families to move in here and stay in the neighborhood and want to raise their children here, then we have to do everything we can to improve the quality of life, and that means fighting airport expansion."

Inside the office, on the ground floor of the building where Petruccelli grew up, a group that includes his father and Albano is stapling signs together and making other preparations for the coming fight. Everyone's kidding around. "Look at that kisser," says Petruccelli's father, stepping back from a newly made sign, then jokes: "Get the darts, will you?"

Better hurry -- if predictions hold, they may soon be in short supply.

Ben Geman can be reached at bgeman[a]phx.com.