APB for people who keep stealing the dividers on benches at the Central Square T stop

"non-violent" doesn't include vandalism and theft of public property
"civil disobedience" doesn't include fleeing the scene and avoiding facing charges

... except that it does though...

When being street homeless is normalize to the point of fighting over amenities, so street homeless individuals can relax, the conversation has gone too far in the wrong direction. It's not normal and vandalizing public property is just another a task in the goal of keeping the homeless targets of action policy and " services ".

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses for the poor?"

Do you mean the police have the right to toss the homeless out into the cold streets.

Thank you for this.

The shelter's are not full
By cinnamngrl on Thu, 03/04/2021 - 1:15pm.

I believe that we are responsible to help people that need help but I can't agree that they are entitled to sleep and live where ever they choose. You can't sleep in the T after it is closed. It is a safety issue. There have been fires and fatal accidents.

The T workers and police have to wake up and eject homeless people. By preventing them from sleeping on these benches, you avoid the whole confrontation.

We need to create more long term housing for homeless people instead of sabotaging people trying to do their job. What about the disabled people that need to sit? Should they be the ones that ask them to move.

Yeah, there's nowhere I'd rather stay in the middle of an unchecked pandemic while homeless and without any kind of health insurance than a crowded shelter full of strangers who have been following who-knows-what kind of safety protocols.

And that's ignoring the usual issues with shelters, ie theft, abusive staff, threats of mental and physical violence from other shelter residents, the need to show up in the middle of the day to "claim" a spot which prevents you from panhandling or earning money otherwise, etc...

Give these people actual homes that are safe and secure and you won't see them trying to sleep on benches.

Seems like, if that's the problem that needs solving, then solve it, and this one would go away.

Yes, the right solution to "people are unhoused" is "house them". You're not wrong about that. But it does not follow that "make the city ugly and uncomfortable for everybody in order to ensure that it is even more uncomfortable for homeless people" is a good step in thr meantime.

You want people to stop sleeping on T property, and fulfill that goal by making other places to sleep better, so that people have better options, and will go to those instead? I am all about that.

You want people to stop sleeping on T property, by making T property worse so that they are even worse than sleeping on the streets?

That seems like you're looking at it backwards.

Also, "the shelters are not full" is both false, and reminds me a bit of Scrooge's quote, "are there no workhouses?"

Actually one of the big things that the T does with station renovations is make them ADA compliant. There are still a ton of green line stations that are not ada complaint, it's literally in the public information they put out every time they renovate a station. So the T being not in compliance with the ADA isn't exactly new, the move at a glacial pace

Have you ever seen the bathrooms in T stations that actually have them? Like Malden Center?
Disgusting isn't the word. Apparently just because there is a toilet doesn't mean people use it. Urine soaked floors, needles, disgusting refuse. Intravenous drug users go in there, lock the door and just stay in there. Way, way too many people are posting here that clearly have no clue how the T and it's denizens actually operate.

Which train lines/buses are you taking that you're not seeing homeless/chemically altered/mentally ill equipped people on a near-daily, if not daily, basis? I'm not being a smartass here (well, not completely...); I take the 88, 90, Red Line, and E Green Lines regularly, and see all kinds of people with all kinds of problems, although I do have to say that the huffer I saw a couple of years ago on the Green Line heading west from Lechmere with a very large plastic grocery bag carrying multiple spray cans (he had at least a dozen, maybe more), who was very obviously huffing away when he wasn't dropping cans and chasing them down the middle of the train probably takes the cake.

Most of us would like these people to please go somewhere else, but where can they go? They can't stay at shelters during the day; the libraries are doing pickup/dropoff only; and it's really too cold to just hang around outside, although a lot of people do it. Clearly there needs to be some kind of solution and safe places for the homeless and troubled to go, but what's the idea setup for this kind of thing, and how do we make it happen? And what would these people actually like to have for their use? You can build it, but if they won't use it for one reason or another, you've just spent a boatload of money for nothing. I can also understand not wanting to stay in shelters given the crime, proximity to illness, etc., and it's also likely that some of the employed homeless (yes, they do exist; we all know how expensive housing is around here) are working the night shift and need somewhere to sleep during the day. How do we help them out? And then there are the people no one wants to deal with, who are arguing with other people/the demons in their heads, trying to fight, smelling godawful, nodding out on the T, etc. etc. etc. What would be most helpful for these people that would also make public transit more pleasant for everyone?

Right now all these people are on T property, because a lot of them just don't have anywhere else even marginally warm to go. There were a handful of people semi-regularly camped out on the platform at Davis for a while, although I haven't seen them since the new architecture went in, and I hope they're OK wherever they are. A lot of them will move back into the parks, gardens, and other wooded areas when the weather warms up, which then causes its own problems, but at least they aren't sleeping on the T. What do we need to do to help everyone--ordinary people and those with problems alike--live a decent life and make public transportation more pleasant? I don't have any answers, but surely there are people who have some ideas on what mind work...

ADA is generally flexible and in this case the guidelines offer suggestions for best practices and are not requirements. The state regulatory agency, the MAAB tightens up those requirements and seeks input from the community. Those suggestions were considered in the benches on the T and in state parks, for example "If provided, grab bars cannot obstruct transfer to the bench.", that's why the bars are offset a full seat space, it's done to allow someone to transfer from an assistive device and onto the bench. I've transferred from a chair onto a bench and made good use of the bar to pull myself on securely. The bars were also very vital making it possible for me to get back onto my chair.

A few Saturdays ago I am happy to report that a residentially challenged male was using the dividers as props at the Central Sq T for his belongings. All while not wearing a mask. He took up several spaces doing so. During a pandemic, this is a biological hazard for the entire community. Furthermore, elderly passengers and folks with temporary or permanent disabilities find these supports to be helpful.
I wish the individuals stealing the seat handles would work on cleaning the station, encouraging mask adherence, and creating a station that would be safe for all. Taking away supports for our elders is agist, disheartening, and misplaced anger. It would be great if the activists chose instead to target student loan companies, credit card companies, Amazon,and banks who are exploiting the pandemic to rake in the cash.