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Citizen complaint of the day: The abandoned lemon tigermobile of Weld Hill Street
By adamg on Fri, 07/16/2021 - 3:53pm
A fed-up citizen files a double 311 complaint about the situation on Weld Hill Street in Jamaica Plain, where an abandoned car is now getting tow requests painted on it:
Car that's been sitting here for months has now started to be vandalized. City needs to get this under control. Tow it. But also, arrest the vandals.
Ed. note: Usually, we run the photo that people upload with their complaints. But this particular car was so dramatic that the UHub Mobile Action News Unit had no choice, really but to spring into action and race, well, putter, over in the UHub Mobile Action News Prius to get a better look at the tiger's head that somebody mounted on the roof of the car. So click the complaint link to see the original citizen photo. Also, yes, looks like the crack citation writers of the Boston Transportation Department have been busy - and yet, like the Dude, the bright-yellow Cobalt abides.
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Comments
Duplicate requests are a big
Duplicate requests are a big No no at 311. Close them both as duplicates.
It’s most likely stolen and I
It’s most likely stolen and I bet no one at BTD has bothered to check the VIN.
Can we get a human who gets
Can we get a human who gets things done?
Sometimes cars are left
Sometimes cars are left because they are worthless but in this case it looks like someone liked this car at some point. The police should run the plates and do a wellness check on the owner... It's clearly not a junker.
*Ok so I just saw it didn't have plates... Are there other ways to check? I really get a weird feeling with this car.
trace it back...
...From the VIN numbers located on the bottom face plate of the windshield. They alway make the last registered owner responsible for disposal fees if they can track that party down especially if they have registered a new car. At least they do in some cities and towns.
Alternately
Find that it was reported stolen and unrecovered.
In reality, there is no reason to abandon a car like this. If charity groups were willing to bag my son's '96 Minima, they would happily take this beast and sell it for parts.
I agree- It seems likely
I agree- It seems likely there is a sad story behind this car. An owner who got sick, or similar.
A sad story in which the
A sad story in which the owner became sick with covid and his last action before getting on a ventilator was to take plates off and turn them in at a DMV branch.
There’s a van that’s been
There’s a van that’s been sitting around the corner from me, no plates, windshield covered in tickets, parked two feet from the curb, and the cops just ignore it because it’s abandoned and the city can’t can’t make any money off of it.
Tip it over into the main roadway
I bet it'll get towed in a jiffy. ;-)
(Don't actually do this.)
Any small car is worth at
Any small car is worth at least $300 as scrap. A van a lot more.
The way BPD is supposed to work is they sticker an abandoned vehicle left for 72+ hours, and tow in a couple of days if it's still there. An unregistered car should get towed immediately. If the owner doesn't collect the car from impound and the vehicle does not have "substantial value" then it gets sold for scrap, and the city keeps the money to offset towing and impound costs. If the vehicle has value, then it goes to auction. The last BPD vehicle auction was just yesterday.
I don't understand the city isn't towing abandoned vehicles faster than it is. It's not like there's a glut of used cars that they won't get sold at auction.
If the car rusts to the point
If the car rusts to the point where all hazardous liquids leak out into the street, the city won't have to deal with it at the impound lot.
How do they know it's not
How do they know it's not registered if the plates have been removed?
Was the tiger head mounted by the owner?
Or is this some super oddball vandalism designed to get BTD's attention?
Possible solution
Just make it harder to ignore.
Cover it with Janey for Mayor
Cover it with Janey for Mayor stickers and post pics. I bet it'll be towed within an hour.
I'm always amazed by stories
I'm always amazed by stories like this after living in neighborhoods where getting the same spot 2 nights in a row is enough to raise the ire of some neighbors- lived in Oak Sq. during April Fools Day blizzard in 1997 and was confronted by a neighbor after not driving anywhere for 5 days on a relative no-rules (at the time) street and not parked in front of his property
This is not one of those
This is not one of those stories.
Was commenting on how in just
Was commenting on how in just about every neighborhood I've lived in in this area across the spectrum- there was always some sort of self-appointed neighborhood parking watch of sorts that wouldn't let a situation fester like this
Don’t tow.
It could make a shelter for some unfortunate person. People are so quick to get irate about a parking spot for a machine but not so quick when it comes to a place to rest for a human.
Except there's no reason to
Except there's no reason to think that it is. There are plenty of hypothetical things it could be. It could be a mobile vaccine distribution center. But it isn't. It could be an alien disguised as a car and it's here to study us. But it isn't. It could be a school. But it isn't. People aren't irate about removing a place of rest for a human, because it isn't that.
What it is, is a vacant car
What it is, is a vacant car that will not door a cyclist and whose space saving attributes may convince a frustrated car owner to finally decide to give up his exhaust spewing killing machine that is more trouble than it is worth.
The alien in disguise is more
The alien in disguise is more likely than that.
Not a safe shelter
Not in this climate anyway.
True.
But cut off the roof, poke a few holes and you have a bang up raised bed planter to grow fresh berries and vegetables for the hungry.
One doesn't wish ...
... for the perfect to get in the way of the good, but maybe here's a likely-sounding time to get a real issue. There's plenty.