Metro moments with the Mayor

This week's questions

Dear Mayor Menino,
I live in the North End and am surprised that, even with the start of spring, the new tennis court evening lights, the North End bocce court lights and the baseball field lights are still not set to go on after dark. With the beautiful weather of late, it has been disappointing not to be able to utilize these public facilities in the evening. I have tried calling the Parks Commission several times and have yet to receive a response. Is there a reason why the lights have not been set to go on at nightfall? Many thanks for your help.   
Chris
 
Chris,
There are separate answers to your question. First, the bocce court and ball fields are city property and those lights have been on for at least two weeks. And second, the tennis courts next to Steriti Rink and the Bridge are Mass. DCR property, not the Parks Department. I am sorry that you have not received any response from the Parks Department. For questions and comments you can always call the city’s 24-hour hot line at 617-635-4500. DCR, who my staff will be in touch with about your request, can be reached at 617-626-1250.
 
Dear Mayor,
I am a proponent of keeping the streets clean, however, I do think that a $40 ticket plus getting your car towed, another $100 to $120, is excessive for street cleaning. Over the past year there has been a huge increase in vehicles getting towed due to street cleanings. I have read some forums on this issue and I see that many residents are frustrated at the situation. If we look at the areas where this is happening the most, we can easily see that they are high population/low income parts of Boston. Dorchester for example, has many triple-deckers with each floor owning two cars, that’s six cars per household. It is hard enough to find parking when both sides of the streets are open never mind packing us in on one side. The new laws are targeting a demographic that cannot change our parking options. We can’t move to the suburbs because we lack the financial capability to do so. Mayor, do you think it’s right to choke the poor to make our city better?   
Hoang Hu
 
Dear Mr. Hu,
I bet if you asked your neighbors, they would say that a clean street is important to them. They don’t want leaves and dirt, salt and sand, or loose trash to pile up on your street and neither do I. Every neighborhood in Boston has street cleaning. Though not every community is part of the posted street program, every street is swept by Public Works on a schedule. The cars that get ticketed and towed are the ones that ignore the warnings to move on their street cleaning day. For years, the fine for not moving a car on street cleaning day was $25 and many people chose to pay the ticket instead of simply moving their car, and the streets looked terrible. Since then, the city has increased the fine to $40 and contracted tow companies to urge residents to move their cars and we continue to see better results. The city does not wish for anyone to get towed, we just ask residents to move their cars on their street cleaning day.