Hizzoner, Mayor Menino regarding Sunday night riots

[Loonman]

In response, to this:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/02/04/liquor_laws_role_in_postgame_riots_is_hotly_debated/


Your Honor Mr. Mayor,


I respectfully disagree with your contention that
Sunday liquor sales were behind the mass student
disturbances on last Sunday night. I reside in
Allston-Brighton, and regardless of the availability
of liquor in the city, student behavior, specifically
in the Allston-Brighton neighborhoods has deteriorated
rapidly in the 7 years I have resided in Boston.

Every year, A-B natives and those in other areas are
subjected to year-round all-night keg parties dotted
all over our streets and throughout our neighborhoods.

Every Sunday morning, the streets are littered with
plastic cups, broken beer bottles and piles of vomit.

Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, I am
personally subjected to hearing the students and their
friends next door urinate in their backyard or my
driveway, sometimes until 4-5 in the morning.

Every year, the neighborhoods complain, and the
"student life" staffers and University Presidents
offer weak apologies and slaps on the wrist for
offenders.

I doubt most, or even a majority of the rioters on
Sunday night were city residents or even state
residents.

The colleges do nothing but nothing about the behavior
of their student bodies and laugh at us who have to
put up with it.

If the situation does not change, a coalition of
Boston Natives will be formed and will politically and
legislatively drive those who have no respect for us,
or our city out of our neighborhoods.

Respectfully,

[Raven]

1. Boy, do I ever agree with that letter.

I have lived a block from Boston College for the last 22 years and the neighborhood problems with students have gotten steadily worse. Weekend parties that are just out of control, urinating, illegal parking...all of it! When you call the school they pay lip service but do very little. They say that they cannot discipline students who live off-campus. These schools basically use the neighborhoods as dorms...Bc kicks all Juniors off campus and there is just not enough housing at BU and Northeastern. So these kids rent slum apartments and then trash them and the neighborhoods.

My street had a few two family homes that got rented to students. The damage they did was just amazing. Finally, after we could get no help from the school, we started a process by which a few of the neighbors on the street would pay these kids a visit after they moved in. We would tell them what we expected as far a behavior was concerned and we would get their names. It has worked pretty well and when we do have a problem with a party or whatever in the middle of the night, we call the landlord, wake him up and tell him that as long as the noise keeps us up, it's going to keep him up too. That has worked like a charm!

[Loonman]

2. It's gotten way out of hand in the last couple years up by me

I thought for a while, thinking "Am I getting lame, or are the hooligans getting worse?"

Decided on the latter.

See, the thing with nice students here, is you never hear about them, they're either sunbathing up by the Charles in the summer and studying at night, or having small gatherings that their neighbors never hear about.

[Raven]

5. It's not you!

Here is a story: 15+ years ago there was a group of BC students literally crammed in a house up the street. I had an MGB (which I loved) and used to park it in my driveway. One night at 4 am I woke to the fire deparment banging on my door. My car was in flames in my driveway. The cause of the fire was a mystery especially since someone pulled the fire alarm box on the street but never came foreward. Ten days after the fire there was a knock on my door. It was a BC student who admitted that he had set the fire. He said he had broken up with his girlfriend that night, got drunk and high on drugs and had broken into my car with the intention of setting himself on fire. He said he lost his nerve, got out of the car and pulled the firebox. He wanted to know what I was going to do about the situation. He lived in the basement of the crammed house up the street with no heat. I told this boy to come back to see me in a week and that I would have an answer. I prayed about it and sought advice and decided that I was not going to report this kid if he got help. He returned the next week and I told his what I had decided and that I wanted a call from a counsellor at BC to verify that he was gitting what he needed. I got that call a few days later and one of the things the counsellor told me was that this kid's living conditions were making his problems worse.

A year later this kid came back to see me. He had taken a semester off and had done intensive drug and alcohol counselling. He was back in school and was looking forward to graduating. A year after that I got a letter from him from an indian reservation where he was doing volunteer work. A happy ending but it could have been a nightmare. I wonder how many other kids like this are out there!

[Loonman]

6. Good that that turned out okay

I wonder how things would have gone if you hadn't talked to him.

Not as well as they did, now he has a new lease on lfe.

[Kat45]

3. Good letter, Loonman.

I live close enought to Allston-Brighton to know what goes on there, and blaming the liquor stores being open is ridiculous. But it doesn't surprise me in the least that Menino is doing that, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's not the only one. Some folks just love to demonize liquor. And of course, these days "personal reponsibility" seems to have gone out the window.

[Loonman]

4. Thanks

It didn't bounce back, so the address is right, and no autoreply, so I might get a real reply.

Usually I back Menino, because he is always telling Mitt(the shit) to step off for interfering in city affairs.