Mass. Ave. pizzeria manager called 911 to report a panhandler was robbing customers at knifepoint; only problem, the guy wasn't

Quite possible that the manager thought the police don't even bother responding to calls of such a low priority now. No idea if this is true in Boston but it's happening elsewhere. Police completely ignoring anything less than acts of physical violence.

It sounds like they did:

somebody from New York Pizza called 911 at 9:38 p.m. to ask for help removing the man.

And then, three minutes later:

At 9:41, Troy continued, that person called 911 again, this time to report the man had a knife and "was trying to rob the store."

Any reasonable person is not going to expect a cop car to get there in three minutes. It's not like they called for trespassing, got impatient, and then called again. I would bet 10 whole american dollars and a slice of pizza that the 9:38 call involved dispatch asking if the man was doing anything violent, being told no, and telling the pizza owners that cops will "get around to it" when they "have time" and not to expect a response anytime in the future. Maybe cops will come around tuesday to check it out or something. The worker on the phone then has a minute or two to confer with their coworkers and decides to escalate, thus the call at 9:41.

Which, yes, is still lying and still not okay, but there's a certain understandable logic to it. When the mechanisms by which the state is supposed to uphold its end of the deal (providing police services) break down, the contract that normal people hold (not lying about the situation requiring police) also tends to break down, because people are failable and if the choice is putting up with a mentally ill probably verbally aggressive panhandler and holding up some philosophical high horse about the rule of law, somebody making 15$ an hour burning themselves on the pizza oven is going to choose what solves their problem.

While sadly, many are, and their behaviors present a lot of problems for anyone just trying to live or run a business in the area.

Maybe we should actually do something about homelessness. Most are not drug addicts or drunks.

is this satire?

Most of the people milling about Mass&Cass and living there in tarp huts and pop-up dome tents are struggling with serious and chronic mental illness which too many have treated by self-medicating with drugs and or alcohol. That is the reality. Yes, we need housing. Free housing with wrap-around services. Once people are on the mend, if ever (another reality check here folks), then they can move out of housing with wrap-around services into subsidized housing, provided they can secure and hold onto a job--in other words, live independently as autonomous adults. And, if we can't see fit to provide free housing with wrap-around services to those most in need, then we are going to see more and more places that look like Mass&Cass.

Such as Mental health facilities but there is too much money being made to “solve” homelessness, so I suspect it will get worse before it gets better. Throw in an economic downturn and bleek is the color of the day.

… been to Downtown Crossing, North Station area, Boston Common/Tremont Street, and, of course, the tent city known as "Methadone Mile" lately? I have. If most of the homeless of the City of Boston are not drug addicts, alcoholics and/or mentally ill, then they are keeping well out of sight.