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City councilor once again promises ice cream to kids who shovel out hydrants

City Councilor Matt O'Malley (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury) is promising $5 JP Licks gift certificates to Boston kids whose parents send him photos of them standing next to the fire hydrants they've dug out after tomorrow's bombocyclopocalypse - just like he's done after other snowstorms over the past few years.

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Anyone looking for where hydrants are can check out this map, made by Boston DoIT.

http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=dc2644edf7ea427b862...

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$5 won't even get u a small icecream there. Poor kid still has to come up with a couple more bucks. Unless the parents are from the JP elite.

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Sheesh.

You need to get out more.

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Gets you about a pint in a cone.

The sad thing about this is that when O’Malley started this, there were 2 ice cream shops on Centre Street. Now there are none.

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.

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But the Hancock Village one is close for some of the West Roxbury kids.

Of course, just now I realized that O'Malley not only represents JP too, but he lives there now. D'oh!

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Cambridge has one too; no promises re: ice cream.

https://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/Engineering/hydrantsmap

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n/t

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Shoveling out fire hydrants is a feel-good activity, but the odds of a particular hydrant getting hooked up on any given day are so tiny, it's probably better for kids to shovel the sidewalk and curb cuts that pedestrians actually use.

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We would have put the fire out sooner, but we couldn't use the fire hydrant nearest to your house because somebody decided that shoveling out the sidewalk was more important.

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The sidewalks and curb cuts are the responsibility of homeowners. The homeowners need to take care of their responsibilities, not dump them on kids or expect free shoveling service.

The hydrants don't have assigned responsibility - and it is great for kids to clear them because you don't use a snowblower. They are doable for even younger kids, and kids take some pride in the work.

There was just a fire in NH where the FD was tweeting thanks to whoever shoveled out the hydrant - seems that quick access meant that they could confine the damage to a room rather than futz about while the house went up.

A couple years ago, three younger kids were underfoot in the neighborhood looking for something to shovel. My neighbor was way too excited about maniacally using his snowblower, so I wanted to get them out of there. Realizing that the hydrant was still packed in, I stoked them up to dig it out by saying things like "helps firefighters" and "protects your neighborhood".

They were on their third hydrant when the retired fire chief who lived next to it came out, praised them, and gave them junior fire fighter pins. Those kids were wound up enough to clear those three hydrants the rest of the winter.

Low odds? Yes - but very important for community safety when seconds count.

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party pooper!
Great idea from matt as it gets kids and their parents out doing some exercise together and engages them in civic-minded activity. Plus then there is the ice cream!

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That have not been serviced since OMalley rolled them out to great fanfare in the summer of 2016. this situation absolutely requires a really stupid and futile gesture be done on somebody's part.

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O’Malley’s sunscreen dispensers are at a handful of parks & playgrounds (NOT city buildings) and are removed each Autumn. Before they were installed last Summer, there was an upgrade of all the equipment. Thanks for playing, though!

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If I fill a sunscreen dispenser?

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Shouldn't you be finding your local hydrants?

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