In East Boston, using space savers year round was the norm for many years, especially among the old time residents who felt entitled to "their" parking space. It has lessened in recent years as some of these old timers die off or move away to the North Shore.

Or

By jaypee on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 11:27am.

they get handicap plates and the city installs special reserved parking signs outside their house. Since moving to Eastie last year I've noticed an abundance of handicap spots which I've not seen in any other Boston neighborhood where I've lived.

Really , you been there a

By kvn on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 1:37pm.

Really , you been there a year and people are going gang busters on the handicap plates.IF you knew a little bit more about East Boston, you might find that some of those older residents might have bought their first and maybe only ever house, and maybe not speaking English too well if at all , are reluctant to leave the neighborhood as they grow older and less mobile. Sheesh, this new world order is something else.

The "out on disability" crowd

By anon on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 2:12pm.

Believe me, jaypee is accurate about the overabundance of handicapped spots in East Boston. It's a continuation of what I saw there growing up in the 60s and 70s where there was a large population of middle aged white men who were always "out on disability" yet were perfectly functional to do home repairs, garden and hang out on corners playing cards and smoking cigarettes with their buddies. It seemed to me as a child that almost nobody in the neighborhood ever worked. Yet they were often the same ones who would complain about other people "on welfare".

Less mobile

By AndyC on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 4:56pm.

If theyre less mobile and legally or otherwise handicapped, maybe its time to start the conversation about ending their driving life. Opens up parking spaces, keeps the roads safe, win win. free delivery on their first instacart just in time for the bread and eggs for french toast

Slow down there friend

By anon on Mon, 12/28/2015 - 9:13am.

I'm not proclaiming the veracity of any given HP placard, but the inability to be easily mobile isn't tied with the inability to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Folks with poor eyesight, poor reflexes, or other driving impediments shouldn't be able to keep their licenses. But folks with bad knees, hips, or back certainly should.

Not For Snow?

By Not for Snow on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 11:16am.

Well, we can't speak for all but if this neighborhood is desperate for parking, holiday visitors could be exacerbating an already-problematic issue.

Elsewhere and in our case, we left the city to visit relatives on Christmas Day and a neighbor asked if his Christmas company could park in my driveway. I said "sure" since we were away for much of the day. When we returned they were still having dinner and desert so we found a place to park not near the house on the street where we live. Later in the evening as their holiday was winding down we switched out so we could retire for the night.

So before we jump to Harvey and French Toast as the blame, there can be other issues.

The fact that it's a holiday

By Kinopio on Sun, 12/27/2015 - 12:05am.

The fact that it's a holiday for a certain religion doesn't give people the right to treat public property as their own or leave trash out on the street.

Smoking Chair?

By SwirlyGrrl on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 11:27am.

One of the families in our neighborhood put lawn chairs out on the side of the street as a "smoking lounge" for those two or three relatives who still smoke. At enormous family party, even the overflowing deck or patio was off limits, I guess.

And here I thought you were

By tofu on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 3:57pm.

And here I thought you were advocating to set that chair on fire.

If you're that upset about it

By anon on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 11:42am.

If you're that upset about it, get a bike and then you won't have to worry about parking your car or be upset when people use space savers. You also won't have to shovel out a parking space after a snowstorm or dig out your car after a plow creates a wall of snow beside it. Being inconvenienced is fairly conmon when you live in the city... you have to pick and choose your battles or you're going to be in a constant state of agitation.

You do, however, need an indoor place to store your bike

By Ron Newman on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 1:18pm.

or else you're not likely to still have an bicycle that's in rideable condition by the time April rolls around.

Also, not everyone can ride a bike.

Biking in winter?

By Allstonian on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 6:44pm.

Not to mention that not even everyone who can ride a bike is comfortable cycling with snow and ice on the ground, or negotiating rutted, narrow streets.

A car driver who thinks they

By Kinopio on Sun, 12/27/2015 - 12:08am.

A car driver who thinks they are above the law but blames cyclists for no reason?!? Surely this is the first in American history.

They've got it all wrong

By Waquiot on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 11:45am.

This is a tradition in Luxemburg. The day after Christmas you put all the chairs used for the celebrations out on the street, and in return you take an equal number of chairs that someone else put out and bring them into your house for the coming year.

It's like Boxing Day, but with chairs. To be honest, I'm surprised someone took this set but just left the one chair behind. Pater Sesseltag will be very disappointed.

because marty walsh enables

By cleokid on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 12:57pm.

because marty walsh enables this kind of behavior.

marty's a dope...

By anon on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 1:07pm.

for plenty of reasons, but it's not like he started the tradition.

And

By Waquiot on Sat, 12/26/2015 - 2:04pm.

Typically there needs to be at least an inch of snow on the ground before the chairs come out.

(Not that I think chairs should be out when only an inch of snow is on the ground. I think savers, if used at all, should be used only after serious snow storms, hence the Menino Doctrine of 48 hours after a snow emergency.)

And, of course, when there is a snowstorm be quicker to declare a "snow emergency" so that the streets don't have parallel parked cars... making proper plowing and snow removal a possibility.

Why the cop?

By Waquiot on Mon, 12/28/2015 - 11:18am.

The DPW can just pick up the litter. If you want a sanction, that is ISD.

Citizen complaint of the day: Oh, come on, we're not expecting that much snow

Comments

Smash it to bits posthaste.

East Boston "tradition"

Or