Falling through the Cracks

Posted by John B. Kelly

The Boston Globe reported today that

Since last Thursday's storm, Boston's Inspectional Services Department has issued some 250 tickets with fines of $50 for residents and $150 for businesses.

The city can also ticket the state, but so far has opted not to.

"The state's got a large area," said Boston Police Captain Michael Mackan, who heads code enforcement. "If we get a complaint about one of their areas or the MBTA's, I'll call them, and I know they'll get out there and take care of it. . . . Things fall through the cracks."

I contacted the governor's office, and sent in a detailed map with accompanying pictures of unshoveled walkways in the Fenway.

A work crew showed up today, and cleared about 5 feet worth of the ramp on either side of Agassiz road. After that cleared 5 feet, it was all ice.

The crosswalk above, one of the most important in the neighborhood, is even marked as a "medium priority" by the Department of conservation and recreation. That means it should be shoveled within 12 hours of a storm, which would have meant by last Friday. but it still hasn't been done.

As for the 250 tickets in six days-- a little more than 40 per day, try comparing that to the 4812 parking tickets the city wrote during a 36 hour snow emergency in February, 2006.