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Comments
mother nature's evil invasive twin is laughing at you
Good luck with that! It takes a hell of a lot more than a vote to get rid of Phragmites.
That's why there is massive
That's why there is massive river restoration project by the Army Corps of Engineers to remove them by 2015.
It takes a heck of a lot more than a MOW...
It takes a heck of a lot more than a MOW to get rid of Phrag. In fact mowing on its own without chemical treatment is just as likely to cause an increase in Phrag growth. This might temporarily clear the view but it's still going to be a bed of reeds.
City Officials are Remiss
Invasive species aside, the real issues in the Fens are public safety, public health and the accountability of City (and now State) officials.
Petitions to the Mayor have been ignored, police on bikes in the Fenway Gardens promised by BPD Commissioner Davis, have not been delivered. Park Rangers no longer go near the Fenway Victory Gardens and last year's effective patrols have disappeared.
The cost to tax payers for EMS to respond to drug overdoses in the park and the frightening assaults in the Fens may not sway the State Environmental Powdered wigs to approve the temporary cutting of the reeds, but a green tourist attraction and otherwise developing neighborhood risk decay from the neglect of officials who turn their backs on the "growing" problem that Mike Mennonno aptly reminds us of.
It's pretty clear that the
It's pretty clear that the Mayor's Office doesn't care very much about the neighborhood beyond relations with the RedSox, trying to claim credit for private redevelopment on Boylston Street , and occasionally using the Residents Vs. Student battle as forum to gain leverage for extorting additional revenue. The mayor got en earful at his coffee hour in the Fenway last year and couldn't be bothered to visit this year after the whole mounted unit debacle.
We can't even get working (non concrete monstrosity) streetlights/signals that don't fail every other month, working police phones in the parks (the blue light phone by the rose garden is routinely broken for months on end),OR THE TRASH BARRELS/COMPACTORS WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR FOR DECADES!
The street sweeping program on Boylston and Hemenway we were promised this year hasn't even started. Yet the city is still ticketing and towing people for non existent street cleaning.
The city just doesn't care. Michael Ross will show up for a photo op or to bullshit some people (if one of his minions says there is large enough a crowd) for an hour, but other than that NOTHING!
Get permission? Who does the
Get permission? Who does the city need to get permission from to do landscaping? Do the trolls have a lawyer fighting for their right to ?
That's Boston and its Can-Do Mayor.
From The Departed: When I
From The Departed:
When I tell you... to dump a body in the marsh, you dump him *IN* the marsh. Not where some guy from John Hancock goes every Thursday, TO GET A FUCKING BLOWJOB!
SHAME ON BOSTON
It's unbelievable that the City can't manage to keep this relatively small area in the heart of Boston, surrounded by major institutions, college kids and families, safe and clean. BPD won't patrol the area as it should because it's AFRAID that those involved in criminal activity might claim civil rights violations (oh yeah, now I have lots of confidence in the cops protecting us); Parks Dept. won't clean up the resulting mess from public sex and drug activity (endless used condoms, needles, human waste, bloody tissues, bum wipes); the process for cutting the reeds is such a nonsensical, needlessly bureaucratic tangle that it seems intentionally designed to allow pathetic politicians/agencies like Menino, Ross, DEP, Conservation Commission etc. off the hook for taking any responsibility and effectively fixing the problem. How about some common sense solutions like increased lighting, enforcing the park's closing time, fencing off the Victory Gardens, security cameras?! We all know that Menino, Ross, BPD, DEP are just waiting for the furor to simmer down so they are relieved from pretending to do something to address this problem and can go back to really doing nothing. $$ Developers in the area must step up here because the situation in this part of the Fens directly affects property value. Sadly, the City's inability to address the Fens problem is a reflection of how poorly this City is run in general.
There seem to be a lot of
There seem to be a lot of smart, civic-minded folks that understand the history of the situation and the way things work around here--why aren't we more effective? What could we be doing that would put pressure on the politicians and bureaucrats to act? What would garner media attention? What are organizations like Fenway CDC doing to rally the community around this issue and others? Why can't students/colleges and businesses be encouraged to join with Emerald Necklace Conservancy and other stakeholders to concentrate efforts and make ourselves unignorable? Do we have the names and addresses of community leaders who could spearhead something more concerted?
The problem is that so many
The problem is that so many government organizations have jurisdictional overlap in the area that they all play the "Oh, it's XXXXX's job to do that" or "Oh no, we can't do that because XXXX won't let us". So many people are 'responsible' in the governmental agencies that no one will ever claim responsibility. It's nothing but a constant circle of shirking responsibility and finger pointing.
Haviland is correct
Haviland is absolutely correct that "it's nothing but a constant circle of shirking responsibility and finger pointing" which results in no one taking responsibility for this blighted area in our neighborhood and the situation remaining status quo. Over the years, many Fenway residents have tried to address the problem by attending hearings, meetings, letter writing, but ultimately to no avail. Reps. like Michael Ross (who pays lip service to the issue, but does nothing of substance) depend on residents becoming fatigued by their fruitless efforts and giving up (and hopefully, moving away). What might force some accountability/action from the City: documentation of Boston's Sex/Drug Park (inevitably embarrassing) posted on a venue with a substantial audience, such as youtube.com.
The Olmsted Legacy
Sept. 22 the MFA is having an exclusive screening of "The Olmsted Legacy" co-presented by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy: http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.asp?eventkey=444...
I wonder if the Fens sex park will be featured in this documentary that "weaves together [Olmsted's] engaging and poignant personal story with those of the lasting masterpieces he left for us today." ???
Olmsted gave us a world class
Olmsted gave us a world class park system and the city allowed it to fall apart over the last 70 years. Now Boston built a glorified median strip in place of an elevated highway and seems to think no expense should be spared financially and in regulation to preserve it. Anyone else see a problem here?