Alewife

Alewife commuters to notice absence of a couple of panhandlers

adamg — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:45:48 -0400

They were arrested on Friday on charges they got into a cab, attacked the driver, then stole his cab. They were tracked down in part thanks to a GPS unit in the cab.

Why are the feds searching cars at Alewife?

adamg — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:06:52 -0400

Zolok reports it wasn't just MBTA cops searching cars today - TSA agents were in the house as well:

... This is the third time since January that I've seen high profile security swarming the Alewife Red Line. ...

Diary of an Alewife commuter

adamg — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:21:36 -0500

Tim chronicles one day on his way to work, from getting stuck in the Alewife rotary on the way to the T stop to almost not getting off at Kendall because the doors on his Red Line car don't open (with a detour at Harvard when his train goes out of service):

... I walk to the stairwell because the escalator is being overhauled. This escalator is broken at least 3 times a month and now it seems that they are trying to fix it permanently. With any luck it will now only be broken 2 times a month. On the stairwell is the usual white bucket overflowing with a mysterious brown liquid. The liquid is dripping from the ceiling, landing on the bucket and then overflowing down two floors worth of steps.

I could understand if there was an unexpected leak, but this bucket and the brown goop is there every day, rain or shine. I'm sure there isn't anything bad in the goop; after all, this must be all very carefully supervised. ...

Ooh, look! Here are some Alewife photos, including one of the usual white bucket overflying with a mysterious brown liquid. And here (by the same commuter) is a description of Alewife:

... Just walking in that station, getting hit with the smell of yuck, looking at the cracked glass ceiling panes and watching all of the cracked, "white" (with 4 inches of black soot piled on top) pipes from above drip in every direction- all I can think is GROSS. ...

No fancy pants on the T

adamg — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:55:54 -0500

Elisha Boudreau took some photos during yesterday's pantsless T rides.

Caroline Roberts provides a participatory report (she dropped trou):

... One woman had pictures of herself taken with pantsless riders and triumphantly shouted, "I'm putting this on my match.com page!" Another young woman sitting across from pantsless riders who hadn't heard about the event decided that she was going to take her pants off. ...

Thom Dunn reports bringing his bike on the T with no pants on:

... When I was transferring trains at Kenmore, one of the MBTA employees stopped me and wouldn’t let me get on the train-because of my bike. She didn't mention or seem to notice that I wasn't wearing pants. She just kicked me off for my bike. ...

Nick Carlisle reports:

It was fun telling random people that I accidentally left my pants at home. Video shall come soon.

I never thought I'd say this, but props to the MBTA for being so accommodating. The T police were very kind and friendly, and even seemed to be mildly amused at some points. ...

Jack reports:

... It became really awkward on the ride back to Alewife Station on the Red Line when I got separated from my group, and I was the only pantless rider on the train. ...

Tough choice on what to do on Saturday

adamg — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:04:42 -0500

You could see the 2007 World Series trophy at the re-opening of the Roslindale Community Center (Washington Street and Cummins Highway in Rozzie Square, starting at 10 a.m.) or you could meet at the Alewife T stop at 3 p.m. and ride around the T with no pants on:

... Interested people who are game to give pants-free T-riding a try along with some of Boston's bravest should know that it's not illegal to walk around in public in just your underwear in Boston. ...

Or, you could be brave and do both.

The post-apocalyptic T stop

adamg — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:37:34 -0400

Mike Mennonno explores the back side of the Alewife T station:

... The playground here at the base of the exit ramp of the parking garage is probably the strangest, saddest, most incongruous touch of them all. Here's this post-apocalyptic concrete landscape--there's nothing around--and then, at the base of this concrete monolith is this weedy fenced-in parcel with its brightly-colored plastic jungle gyms, swings and slides.

You'd have to pity the children who played there. ...

Even the rich like saving on parking

adamg — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:23:19 -0400

Elias reports that the Alewife garage was extra crammed today with BMWs and Priuses:

.. It is commencement at Harvard don'cha know and not even the proud parents of our future rulers can resist a bargain like all day parking for $5.

Today's novel reason for a Red Line slowdown: Crazed librarian with a backpack

adamg — Thu, 10 May 2007 16:24:47 -0400

Channel 7 reports the guy allegedly made bomb threats to T workers. He was arrested; his backpack was made to go boom. No word if the heat had affected him.

Channel 5 reports it was not Don Saklad.

Alewife Ground Round closed again, for real this time, no, they mean it

adamg — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:45:50 -0400

Apparently, people really weren't that desperate for another burger joint, Boston Restaurant Talk says.

One good thing about Moscow during the decline of communism

adamg — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:18:30 -0500

Zolok, who experienced the Moscow subway during the 1980s, gets off the Red Line at Alewife last night and says The T could learn a thing or two about subway operation:

I could've gotten to Alewife faster if the MBTA had the foresight to hitch up our train to a team of oxen.

No joke, I was a young man when I boarded that train full of naive' hopes about overcoming "switching problems in Davis Square", decades later we limped into Alewife liked the starved survivors of Stalin's GULAG. ...