David Jones, an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, died Saturday afternoon when he fell through a rickety set of stairs between the JFK/UMass T station and Old Colony Avenue.
The Dorchester Reporter reports State Police found a missing stair above Jones's body after they and Transit Police responded around 1:30 p.m.
Despite their proximity to the train station, the MBTA says the stairs belong to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The Reporter says a sign with MBTA branding at one end of the stairs said they were scheduled to be closed until "Fall, 2020." The Suffolk County District Attorney's office is now handling the investigation into what State Police called "an unintended death."
Jones, 40, joined the School of Public Health faculty in 2014 and specialized in the politics and social issues related to public health. In a message to the School of Public Health on Sunday, Dean Sandro Galea wrote:
In truth I have no words to describe the devastation of this news. David joined the School of Public Health in 2014. He has, since then, been an exemplary member of our community. He was founding Editor-in-Chief of the Public Health Post, he was awarded AUPHA’s John D. Thompson Prize for Young Investigators, AcademyHealth’s Outstanding Dissertation Award, and the BU School of Public Health Excellence in Teaching Award. He cared deeply about bridging research and policy, and conducted work in places as far as France and the Mississippi Delta. And above all David was a wonderful human being, living with integrity and a deep commitment to all we do. I have so loved all my interactions with David, I cannot really imagine what it means to not have David as part of our community.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe page for his wife and three children.
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Comments
Sending thoughts and courage to his family.
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 10:53am
What a senseless tragedy.
I wish I lived...
By Bob Leponge
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 10:57am
... in the first world.
My condolences to all who are diminished by this completely unnecessary premature death.
Wishes
By BostonDog
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:21am
I wish I lived in a state where the Department of Conservation and Recreation was tasked (and budgeted) with managing parks and the department of transportation managed things like roadways and attached stairs.
DCR should have never been given MDC's responsibilities. And regardless, they can't keep cutting budgets and expecting maintenance problems to just disappear.
Was DCR's budget cut? Hint: nope.
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:29pm
Check out DCR's budget for each of the past five years. Is it budget cuts, or a failure within DCR's management to prioritize appropriately?
FY17: $86.9M
FY21: $103.3M
That's a budget growing at about 4.5% per year, well above inflation. They haven't had budget cuts -- their budget has been growing.
[To be clear, I'm not arguing that DCR shouldn't have more money to do more/better things. I'm simply pointing out that DCR hasn't actually experienced budget cuts over the past five years, in real or nominal dollars. On the contrary, their budget has grown faster than inflation.
DCR's failure to maintain safe infrastructure isn't actually a budgetary problem, it's a management problem.
DCR's failure to maintain
By CH
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:10pm
This statement is only true if the budgeted amount is enough in absolute terms for them to carry out their obligations. Even if the budget has grown faster than inflation for several years, it's possible that the starting point several years ago was even further below what's required than the growth could make up for. It's also possible that the prices for what DCR specifically needs have grown faster than overall inflation. Either of those would suggest there's still a budget problem.
5 years?
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 4:55pm
A rising budget doesn’t mean its an appropriate amount of funding. More information is needed to make your assessment. A look back of 15 or 20 years is needed.
You're missing data
By BostonDog
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 7:25pm
Lots and lots of DCR cuts if you go back further. The whole point of the MDC merge was to cut costs.
The management of DCR sucks, no question about that. But more to the point, why is one agency tasked with everything from the random stairway and pedestrian crossing signal, to parkland, and to urban roadways?
Roads and the stairways that connect them should be the domain of MassDOT.
And $100M is peanuts when you consider all the things they manage across the state. Replacing that stairwell entirely (which is what was needed) would cost several hundred thousand.
Is this where you got your figures?
By ElizaLeila
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 2:28pm
https://budget.digital.mass.gov/capital/fy22/beneficiary-agency/energy-a...
Why does it matter? It's not
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:03pm
Why does it matter? It's not unreasonable for a parks agency to maintain a staircase. And the MDC was more than a parks agency. It was a regional services agency that originally included parks, roads, water, and sewer (until the latter two were split off into the MWRA).
Streetview from Nov 2020:
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:00am
Streetview from Nov 2020:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3213114,-71.0520472,3a,75y,268.1h,105t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw8eN_q3TSR0v07z78MgWsQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0
Looks like windblown yellow safety tape was the only thing installed to close it off. Does look like it is part of the bridge and not the MBTA property though.
If you zoom in you can see
By djheini
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:25am
If you zoom in you can see there's a portable chicken coop style fence as well (like the ones they have in stations sometimes around work areas)
There's a fence (maybe hard
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:28am
There's a fence (maybe hard to see) blocking the bottom of the stairs in the streetview above. This view of the top of the stairs from the same timeframe has a huge concrete block, plus a fence, blocking the stairs.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3214543,-71.0522704,3a,75y,157.91h,83.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQg8Pb_tYybd2GcIj-ZNOng!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0
And the streetview from the top
By eeka
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 6:34pm
https://tinyurl.com/xa8xrx2t
Edit: I see it's posted lower down too.
Globe has posted a photo of the stairwell
By Irma la Douce
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:05am
A section of around 7 steps missing. Horrifying.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/13/metro/void-...
Oh, wow!
By adamg
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:10am
I wonder if the steps were missing or if they were there and gave way when he stepped on one.
I remember going up those stairs in 2019 (to get photos of workers repairing the damage from the Red Line train that derailed there) and they were in pretty bad shape then.
It looks like they've been gone for some time
By Neal
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:27am
The November 2020 Street View from Old Colony Avenue shows four steps missing, yellow tape, and fencing at the bottom of the stairs, and the Street View of the top of the stairs, also from November 2020, shows a concrete block, fencing, and a sign stating the stairs were closed.
How did he get on the stairs?
By Ralph
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:12pm
That fence is there at the top even in the Globe photo so did he climb the concrete block to jump the fence? Such a sad tragedy but there has to be more to this story. Something doesn't add up.
What about the bottom?
By Ron Newman
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 2:38pm
Perhaps he was climbing the stairs rather than descending them, and there was nothing blocking off the bottom sufficiently to deter him?
I'm guessing from the bottom, since the newly missing stairs
By Tim Mc.
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 5:02pm
are the lowest two. (And of course the top was blocked off better.)
but if he was going up, how
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 2:43pm
but if he was going up, how could he not see the missing stairs? I assumed it was down because the field of vision would have presented a narrower view of the missing stairs.
I figure he may have tried to stand on the steps
By Tim Mc.
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 7:01pm
just before the gap, perhaps to look down through the hole or take a picture, not realizing that the other steps were missing because of corrosion. It's the kind of ill-advised thing I might have done. -.-
Perhaps security cameras at
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:23pm
Perhaps security cameras at the station will show if someone intentionally pulled-back the fence, the victim may have thought the stairs were open if the fence was removed.
I actually have a picture
By HighGuard
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 2:38pm
I actually have a picture from Jan 2020 showing the stairs in decrepit state with steps already missing. It's been blocked off since that time with fencing and a jersey barrier. You could not actually just walk onto these stairs by accident, you would have to intentionally drag the barrier out of the way. In all honesty except to get to Columbia road overpass slightly faster the stairs don't serve much of a purpose, the only time I ever used them was to watch the derailed redline train get lifted by a Crane
Yes, I often walked from
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 2:47pm
Yes, I often walked from Columbia Rd to the Star Market and I always used the MBTA Station Passage because it is covered and has ramps. That stairway was rickety for the last 15 years.
Yep, gone for awhile
By adamg
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:04pm
Also visible in that picture
By Sock_Puppet
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:32pm
The chainlink at the top of the stairs, blocking access to them from the bridge.
The Globe shot seems to be obscuring the sign in the middle of that chain link, facing the bridge. I'm not sure what that says, probably something like "don't go here"
https://goo.gl/maps/EgdwNiCM3TJworqT6
It's terrible. It sounds like he was a great guy.
Those stairs need to be torn down, pronto. That sign, the chain link fence, and the jersey barrier aren't enough to keep people safe.
They need to be replaced, not
By DPM
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 2:46pm
They need to be replaced, not torn down.
Well
By downtown-anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:22pm
to be fair they need to be replaced, but given the state's inability to do that they should be torn down in the mean time.
That's how we keep ending up
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 8:56pm
That's how we keep ending up with shittier and shittier infrastructure, projects delayed and deferred indefinitely. If there aren't going to be any cars driving over it, just stick it on the back burner until everyone forgets about it. What stairs? What are you talking about?
The sign from the top
By Gary C
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:33pm
Circa November 2020:
https://goo.gl/maps/HYwjdpee8zFNiX3eA
Cement barrier, chainlink fence and sign "Stairs closed"
Criminal negligence
By Plen-T-Pak
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:09am
Someone needs to be held accountable but my cynicism tells me this is unlikely.
Counter-take would be that as
By Anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:51am
Counter-take would be that as an adult Professor he would hold some liability as having been around long enough to know the steps were bad news. They should have been walled up better. They should have been fixed or dismantled. It could have been avoided. Those are all true but I do believe he would known the danger they posed. He has been a Professor seven years. You can see the rust and the missing steps. This is a bright intelligent person. My guess is he was curious and took a climb up to see for himself.
Who would be criminal negligent in this instance? It is easy to just blurt that out but when you go hunting for the blame it becomes much harder. Ultimately it comes down to funding.
I would personally like to see lawsuits that asked for defendants to be forced to fix these problems. If I were on a jury I would be willing to award a judgement declaring millions of dollars need to be spent to remove or fix all of the decaying infrastructure like this in the area.
victim blaming
By horrible
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:37pm
This is victim blaming pure and simple and it always seems to happen whenever pedestrians are hurt or killed in a way that could easily have been prevented, not by themselves but by actually planning for their safety.
incentives
By Dooder
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:44pm
The purpose of punishment is to incentivize those responsible to do their job. This deteriorating staircase has been a problem for years and the initial response is squabbling over who is actually responsible for the upkeep of this section of stairs. I'm not appreciating your point at all. You really just want to get the MBTA and DCR together and say, "c'mon guys, let's just fix this thing." Someone died and 3 kids are going to grow up without their dad. Yes, someone should be held accountable. If no one is in charge of fixing these stairs, and therefore no one to to blame directly, then you don't think there's a highly dysfunctional organization responsible with inept leadership?
I see
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 5:01pm
So if you don't take that route every day you should just DIE.
And if somebody made it look like it was okay to go that way, well, that's what you get for not living here all your life blah blah blah blah and being outside your "assigned home zone".
Right. Makes soooo much sense. Kill all the newcomers, visitors, etc.
Go pound sand.
So sad
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:14am
The MBTA has had several questionable homicides lately from people falling off the roofs of garages to the tragic death of the young woman at Back Bay station found in a loft in the station. The Transit Police have to do a better job investigating tragedies instead of responding 'Its not on us."
Our infrastructure is a disgrace
By Bananarama
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:15am
Why do these things sit for years and year rusting away until they're literally collapsing and killing people? Why is continued preventative maintenance not a thing here? Why do the smallest projects take the longest time to complete in the most incompetent, VE'd way?
In this case the answer
By Refugee
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 6:46pm
In this case the answer appears to be beaurocracy. At least three government entities which could have fixed the stairs, each determined they belonged to some other government entity which is supposed to fix the stairs.
It is federal money no matter who is in charge
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 3:00pm
That's why we need 3 trillion in infrastructure, because "moderate" democrats and power hungry republican's refuse to legislate and refuse to tax anyone but the middle class. Of course it is a ridiculous amount of money, but that's what happens when our elected officials grandstand instead of working.
The city and state will send
By Kinopio
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:20pm
The city and state will send out countless snow plows and sand trucks at the mere threat of a little bit of snow. The budget for this is literally limitless. Yet if you are walking on two feet you are treated as disposable and get close to no infrastructure spending from the city and state. And you have to shovel the sidewalk and crosswalks and ramps.
Sing Johnny One Note sing!
By Hardy Har Har
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:15pm
nm
Please tell the class
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 5:03pm
What about what he just stated isn't true?
I think the CARS HAVE RIGHTS idiots are the johnny one notes around here.
Call DA Rollins!
By Hardy Har Har
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 8:25pm
Car And Driver and the World's Foremost Authority have identified the perp - the automobile driver.
Because maintenance isn't sexy
By merlinmurph
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:01pm
Because maintenance isn't sexy.
Maintenance is an expense, not an investment.
No politician has gotten his picture taken when a roof gets repaired at a school.
Great questions.
By jmeltzer
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:56pm
Charlie Baker needs to appoint a Special Task Force to answer all of them!
Ironic that he's a public
By Meow Mix
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:39am
Ironic that he's a public health professor. What a way to go, poor guy
As usual the MBTA starts the
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:49am
As usual the MBTA starts the damaging controlling blame game. How often is MBTA property inspected?????????????????
This isn't MBTA property.
By CH
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:20pm
This isn't MBTA property.
And even if it were, both ends of this staircase have been fenced off for many months and the MBTA posted a sign saying the stairs are closed so I can pretty much guarantee you that the MBTA is as aware of the situation as possible and additional inspections would be useless. What's needed are repairs.
Unnecessary
By Timmy
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:11pm
Unfortunately this is just one of many fatalities ahead of us if we don't start rebuilding our roads and bridges. Everyone is so worried about climate change wr better start worrying about our infrastructure. Rest in peace my friend!! Soooo preventable
It's on the list.....
By BOSTON QUACKIE
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:31pm
POSTED 2 years ago!!!!!
https://www.uptoboston.com/viral-image-shows-massi...
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