The Port neighborhood, home to Washington Elms and Newtowne Court, two of the oldest public housing developments in the country, has long existed in the shadow of its thriving high-tech neighbors in Kendall Square. The gulf between the two communities has perhaps never been wider than at the start of 2021 when the quest to defeat COVID-19 with vaccines went into high gear.

The time away from the game in the middle of a pandemic created space for reflection, on the scandal and to confront past managerial challenges.