This story is so Boston! 

The Globe reports: "[T]he state commissioner who oversees [the Charles River Esplanade] is opposing landmark status, saying that the parkland - which he once proposed paving over for a temporary road - is already well-preserved."

Richard Sullivan, commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, is quoted as saying: "Really, there isn't any reason to do it. It would just add another layer of bureaucracy to the process."  Which is precisely the reason to do it.  Because we all know the more layers of bureaucracy, the less risk of anything getting done, and in this case we don't want anything "getting done."

Especially not what Sullivan calls "a more parkway park approach to Storrow Drive and the tunnel."  He doesn't seem to get that this is not about Storrow Drive and the tunnel, it's about the Esplanade.  And that's why the park needs protection, most of all from those currently charged with protecting it.

See the Charles River Esplanade Study Report here, and decide for yourself whether it's worth protecting.