Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Community info

Two e-mails came to me this afternoon asking that information be passed along:

***There was an armed robbery at about 9 p.m. last night "on Orleans Street near the Greenway." According to a Boston Police press release, a 5-foot-5 Spanish-speaking man with a thin mustache and heavy build approached a woman who was entering her home and showed her a gun, demanding money.

***The city's Licensing Board has officially denied the application to open a Burger King in Maverick Square.

Thanks to those active in the community for keeping the rest of us informed.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent news about the denied Burger King. It was a wrong fit for Maverick Square from the start. And with the opening of the new T head house, the potential for a successful independent coffee shop or cafe at this location would be perfect. Foot traffic and therefore visibility would be very high.

Anonymous said...

Armed robbery on Orleans Street? Where's the outcry?!

The greenway is done, the park has been opened and the fountains are completed, but the work has just begun.

I always imagine the remnants of the old "Eastie Pride" being the catalyst for these cosmetic improvements in out town.

But the sad part of the picture is that once the improvements are made, we hand your work over to elements that see it as nothing more than a new place to commit crime.

The crimes range from vandalism and public intoxication, to sexual assault and robbery.

We sit and watch, perhaps attend the meetings, and talk sadly or angrily to anybody who seems concerned, but nothing seems to really change on a deeper level.

It is truly sad to the fruit of your labor rot on the vine like this.

I'd call for the government to help, but as we know, all they do is bring the media and make a hollow promise to not put up with it and then go back to their safe lives while we're picked off the street by an element that shouldn't even be among us.

That same element systematically destroys the parks, playgrounds and public areas or just degrades the quality of these places with their very presence.

Can you enjoy the park or your street as it fills up with broken glass and trash, graffiti, and people whacked out on God knows what? Is that a place to "get away from it all", go for a walk, or bring your children?

Here in the city it is easy to overlook a lot: we can walk past the drunk on the sidewalk by CVS in Central Square, shake our head and keep walking, we can see the thieves near the park strip the stolen car without calling the police, we can watch people openly deal drugs either from a corner or the house next door, hear of sexual assault and armed robbery and just hope it isn't us next time, but hope is clearly not enough.

The parks are just a small scale example of the battle that every hard working citizen in the city wages against scavengers who feed off of them, or exploit their weaknesses.

The Governor and Mayor can't help, it is up to us.

As for Burger King, good to see them stopped.

By the way, is it official that the sexual assaulter of the greenway and neighborhood has been caught? Haven't really heard anything further about it beyond that one arrest.

Anonymous said...

To 3rd Generation
Nice post !

As far as the crime aspect of it goes ,we got the Fluff ,and Stuff Community meeting on the sexual assaults in the Walkway / Park.

The follow up was nice though ,OH wait there hasn't been one.?

The fact remains that we are at serious risk between 11 :45 p.m.,to 7 :45 a.m.,as we have the lowest number of police on the beat.

A second fact is that Crime is a serious problem,and shows no sign of being stopped.

Anyone of us at Any given time can be a victim of a vicous crime.

A third fact is that most victims ,are then revictimised by the Police,and the Courts.

A slap on the rist to a person who splits your head open with a brick is B.S.

Case filed for 6 months ,if no more problem ,no charge,or record of the incident.

I hope things change ,but do not expect it.

Just look at Central Square Park,its a land mas of about 1000 Square Feet,and NO ONE can control the public Drinking,drug Dealing,Urination,Puking, ETC.

A Public Park is supposed to be for the public.Families should never be subjected to those sites.

Yet they talk about Upscale Bistros,Sushi Bars,Martini Bars.

That requires people / developers to see a fruitful return on thier investment.

Not Happening Folks!

N.starluna said...

3rd generation:

What is your suggestion?

Anonymous said...

My feeling is that most of these things are in our control, if we're organized - or at least have a group of people that think along the same lines. I think where we drop the ball, is we don't demand enough from our public servants, which is not to say the solution is dialing 911 until things are better, but being dogged in persuit of problem resolution is a key.

Now, I'll admit, I'm partially talking out of my hat here. I'm not the most "informed" guy on the planet. I don't read blogs every day, I often go days without reading the paper...still, one picks up a lot of information in interacting with others, and that, I do do.

If we use the sexual assault incidents as an example, I don't know if that has been resolved. I know that somebody was arrested. I don't know if the person fit the published description of the suspect, I don't know if there was a connection to the hat that was found, and I don't know if the string of crimes has suddenly ceased. I don't even know if the person who was arrested has been in court. And in a way, that is part of the problem. No follow up in the press, no public pressure for information.

I do know that if we create an atmosphere here in Eastie that doesn't allow these issues to be forgotten until justice is served, we'll have a higher quality of living.

I may not be "the guy" to follow the issue to its resolution, I'm sure there are people who read this blog that have the ears of those who can make big things happen.

I think it takes all types to make these movements occur. Sometimes an idea causes someone else to take action...