After nearly 100 top officials promised visible changes in “days and weeks” to increase downtown Boston’s public safety, a new city task force was created to get the job done — and Winter Street has started to look different.

“We’ve probably had 20 or 25 follow-up conversations in the last week,” Rishi Shukla told MassLive on Thursday.  “Everyone is eager and on board to do more,” said Shukla.

Last Thursday, Feb. 27, the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association (DBNA) hosted a public safety summit to address ongoing challenges facing the Downtown Boston neighborhood. While Boston has achieved record low levels of homicide and violent crime, congregate drug-use; petty crime, including retail theft; and homelessness continue to impact the quality of life, experience, and perception of safety among those who live, work, visit, and do business in Downtown Boston.

Last Thursday, the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association (DBNA) hosted a public safety summit to address ongoing challenges facing the Downtown Boston neighborhood. While Boston has achieved record low levels of homicide and violent crime, congregate drug-use; petty crime, including retail theft; and homelessness continue to impact the quality of life, experience, and perception of safety among those who live, work, visit, and do business in Downtown Boston.

Boston officials said last week they are taking new steps to end congregate drug use and related criminal activity around the city. Civic leaders, government officials, and others met for a major meeting on the topic, and are promising more concrete actions soon.  

The moves come as residents and local leaders continue to voice frustrations about public safety concerns in areas including downtown Boston.

Boston officials gathered on Thursday for a closed-door meeting to discuss ongoing public safety issues in downtown Boston.

The meeting, held on Washington Street in Boston’s downtown neighborhood, was called to address the “significant challenges” of crime in the area and the “impact on quality of life” for residents, City Councilor Ed Flynn told Boston.com.

Safety concerns are still plaguing people who live in Downtown Boston.

The Boston City Council held a public safety and criminal justice meeting on Tuesday night.

Several groups were in attendance including Friends of the Public Garden, Downtown Boston Alliance, Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, and the Beacon Hill Civic Association.

It sure seems like addressing safety in downtown Boston has become an “all hands on deck” situation.

More than 90 people packed a room in a downtown condo building Thursday night for a summit to discuss the drug-dealing, shoplifting, and other quality-of-life issues plaguing the Downtown Crossing and Boston Common areas. Rishi Shukla, a summit organizer and co-founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, said the collegiality and productiveness of the two-hour discussion exceeded his expectations.

Sidewalks, handicap ramps, vacant building facades and more in downtown Boston will get an upgrade this spring after about 100 state, city and civic leaders met Thursday night to discuss “urgent” public safety concerns.

“Everyone was asked to come prepared to talk about commitments they wanted to make... and really just putting aside the petty stuff that sometimes comes out in the public realm,” Rishi Shukla said of the closed-door, 92-person Downtown Boston Public Safety meeting.

Officials in Boston held a closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss how to address safety concerns in some of the city's most-visited areas.

According to the Boston Police Department, crime has reached its highest level in the last seven years in Downtown Crossing and Boston Common, totaling nearly 1,000 offenses.

A community meeting in the Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood focused on safety after months of crime and drug activity in the area. 

Over the past several months, downtown shop owners and residents have complained about increased vandalism, robberies, drug activity and violence, including several incidents of teens wreaking havoc up and down Washington Street. 

Downtown Boston has faced a surge in public safety issues over the past 18 months, with rising concerns about discarded needles, shoplifting and recent stabbings, according to community members.

Residents and business owners call these issues “urgent” threats to their neighborhood, and prompted city leaders to schedule a special meeting on Thursday night to think through solutions.

As crime has reached a 7-year high in Downtown Crossing, Boston’s mayor, top cop and prosecutor are blaming congregate drug use from Mass and Cass spillover and plan to focus on treating, rather than arresting, many drug users and dealers. 

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced an expansion of the city’s efforts to crack down on public drug use in response to rising complaints from residents.

The mayor cited “quality of life issues, the impacts of the opioid crisis and the many challenges that residents are facing.”

The Black Seed Halal Grill sits on Tremont Street facing the Boston Common, a setting that should be considered prime and draw plenty of customers.

Every day, though, crowds gather outside to do drugs and people end up fighting, said owner Ibraham Ibraham, making diners feel uncomfortable and hesitant to enter his eatery.