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Citizen complaint of the day: The school janitor shoveling snow into the street
By adamg on Thu, 02/05/2015 - 8:43am
A concerned citizen was outraged to see a janitor at the Condon School in South Boston shoveling snow off the sidewalk and onto the street:
I understand the need for the safety of children but what about the rest of us? They have backhoes and trucks removing snow all night and our sidewalks are piled high and now our streets are full of snow that they are shoveling into the street. Unacceptable.
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Comments
The snow police.
The snow police, they live inside of my head, the snow police, they come to me in my bed
The snow police, they're coming to arrest me, oh, no!
Sisyphus Shovels
Gladys Kravitz
"Abner, there's a man out there shoveling snow into the road. Abner, Abner."
Won't someone please think of
Won't someone please think of the
childrenyuppies?!?
Is 'yuppies' now just a term for people we don't like?
you have a phone call
Maybe in 1993. I thought 'hipster' was the current blanket term.
Simple answer
Yes -- except "hipster" can be used, alternatively, for somehat younger people unliked by yahoos.
I know
What is this, 1985?
1985 was fackin ossum.
Before all the bahnies moved into Summaville.
God forbid townies do
God forbid townies do anything to improve the neighborhood on their own.
Townie
Yuppie. Hipster. Pissants, all of you.
You're all hilarious.
hahahahahahhaha ... *wipes tear* 'townies'
Now if they would take care
of the snowbank across the street at the end of the sidewalk from Laboure Center I'd be happy. They used a Bobcat down the sidewalk but left a 10-foot pile of snow at the end so you can't cross W. 4th St. without walking down narrow D St. from their parking lot entrance.
I feel like 90% of the
I feel like 90% of the citizen complainfs posted on here are made by whiney yuppies who just moved into the neighborhood and feel like they're doing everybody else a favor by making a big deal out of nothing. UNACCEPTABLE!!! Somebody find out who this guy is and have him fired immediately!!!!
Only difference between
Only difference between "yuppies" and old timers is the venue for complaining. Try sitting in a neighborhood association meeting some time; same shit as Citizens Connect, different format.
Yeah, because you never
Yeah, because you never complain. Never ever.
Thank you complainer
It is good to know that you who lives in the third floor corner unit at the SE corner of D and West Fourth hates someone who is concerned about kids slipping on ice.
The custodian is doing the right thing owing that the temperature will slip to the single digits today and is using the warmth of the pavement and the crushing of school bus tires to get rid of small bits of snow and ice.
Yes it is illegal to put snow in the street, but get over it Ms. Prissy.
That should be legal.
...it's not like he is dumping mounds of snow on to the street any car can handle that amount.
It gives kids, teachers and every other citizen in SoBo a clean sidewalk to walk on.
She/He should used your time to complain about the 7 ft snow banks at every corner. That snow on the street will be gone in a few hours.
- The Original SoBo Yuppie
It's an issue for drivers
This is a personal annoyance of mine, now that the number of people doing this on my street has jumped from one in years past to several. During the day, the ice gets mushy, but then it freezes up at night, turning the street the DPW crews so nicely got down to blacktop into a skating rink.
Granted, I'm especially bitter and cranky because the people who are doing this all seem to be down by the half-block stretch where the road is a sharp incline/decline, so it's always fun going down in the morning wondering if you're just going to lose all traction and go flying into the house at the end of the street (and then, from there, continue through it and off the end of the cliff behind the house) and then fun again in the evening trying to get up the hill (my car has one of those useless skid-warning idiot lights and man is that thing annoying when you're revving up the engine and the wheels are spinning and you're kind of sliding upwards at a rate of about an inch a minute). But even on a flat street, anybody who has to deal with this, yeah, I can see why they'd get annoyed.
I see your point
On my typical driving route to the outside world, there are several people in a row in a street narrower than yours where seemingly several people in a row do this, so the street goes from well plowed to seemingly unplowed (though of course plowed.) And they do it regardless of the temperature out, which means the snow could sit there and harden. On the other hand, given the weather, and assuming this was done yesterday, I don't fault the guy.
I begrudge the citizen nothing. They saw an impending problem. Hopefully the custodian will make sure the street hasn't become an ice rink.
I'm with you, Adam. City
I'm with you, Adam. City plows abandoned my neighborhood from late Tuesday afternoon until this morning (probably because they had a parade to get ready for). That shouldn't have been a big deal, since the storm was basically done, and the streets were plowed and sanded down to bare, albeit narrow, pavement. Then my lovely neighbors started plowing and shoveling their driveways out into the street, and it became nearly impassible again for 24 hours or so, until the city finally plowed it again this morning.
Shoveling snow into the street is inherently antisocial. It will either sit in the street or get plowed into your neighbor's driveway, and either way you just proved that you care about nothing and nobody but yourself.
Slow Down
Maybe you shouldn't be flying down a hill when there is snow on it. Seems like your complaint is more a fact that you don't know how to drive in winter conditions.
You should drive around the hills of Roslindale some time
First, nobody is flying down my street these days, not when it's officially a two-way road that is really too narrow for two-way traffic even in the middle of July, let alone with four feet of snow piled on it.
Second, I'm talking about inching down the hill with the brakes on. Karl Malden and Michael Douglas are not my spirit animals (nor is Leslie Nielsen).
Third, yeah, I've been driving down that incline for 20 years now. Still haven't actually crashed into that house, or anything else. Doesn't mean going down it with a coating of icy sludge on it is fun.
Solution on Ice
Tire chains for Prius:
Tongue-in-cheek
Originally I thought he was tongue-in-cheek. But he's been doing this so long and so many consistent viewpoints... this guy really does embody and represent the yuppie who moves in and imposes his background rather than integrate into the new city.
You do know that people has been calling South Boston Southie for generations. That SoBo is a term coin by real estate marketers to fit with the nomenclature of New Yorkers.
it's not legal for a reason
My street in JP was plowed down to asphalt surprisingly quickly after the last snow. It's now covered in slush, a few inches deep, from people shoveling into the street. With a rapid freeze like we're expecting tonight, that slush is going to turn into solid ice, which is much harder to get rid of and way more dangerous for everyone (cars, peds, dogs, etc), and will likely be there for over a week given the current forecast. It also makes it hard to plow new snow, when there's rock solid chunks of ice on the road.
Leave it to pansy drivers to
Leave it to pansy drivers to complain about the tiniest bit of snow on the street. Meanwhile one of their own in the house across from me plows their driveway and creates a 4 foot pile of snow on the sidewalk that they just leave there. People NEED to walk in the city. Having a car and a plowed driveway is not a necessity.
Pedestrians are lowest on the
Pedestrians are lowest on the Boston totem pole: cars, bikes, pedestrians at the far bottom.
While I agree that the custodian should not have been throwing the snow into the street, it wasn't THAT much snow and school kids need to be able to walk to school safely on city sidewalks.
In my neighborhood there are 10 foot plus snowbanks at intersections. Pedestrians simply can't see oncoming traffic all that well at many crosswalks and we have delivery vehicles, cabs and other cars blowing through stop signs despite the limited visibility. If I get honked at one more time trying to legally cross the street I'm going to lose it!
On that note: Almost got plowed into by a bunch of rich brats in a Range Rover purposely doing donuts on Comm. Ave. during the blizzard while people were trying to shovel sidewalks and navigate the street on foot. They had the windows rolled down and were laughing their asses off -- two cars in a row full of these dbags. This went on for at least an hour. I called 911 and quite frankly the 911 operator seemed baffled at why I was concerned at all.
Man, I miss that town!
Not.
So angry
n/t
People NEED to walk in the city
The MBTA doesn't think so. The sidewalk in front of the Highland station in West Roxbury is never cleared. Not sure how they think people get to the trains. Oh wait...cars.
And the road slush is full of
And the road slush is full of salt which will speed the melting of this snow.
Is he?
It looks more like he's shoveling the snow in the street, trying to move it around so it will melt. There is probably salt in the middle there to melt it.
Lazy
Regardless its stupid of him. There is a giant pile right behind him that he could fling the snow onto without any modicum of effort. Then it would be off the sidewalk and off the street.
Have you tried...
Have you tried to put this stuff on an already-existing snow mountain? It doesn't pack. Once it gets to a certain height, it just rolls right back off.
Believe me; I know.
I call BS.
Yes, you can put this stuff on an existing pile. It sucks, and your back might hurt afterward, but no more excuses. This is my house; it piles high.
How tall are you?
Makes a difference. If you are 6' tall, your arms will also be longer than those of a 5' tall person. That means your reach is as much as 2' higher than someone who is 5' tall.
Height makes right?
Yup. I'm 5'3" and can't extend one of my arms fully at the moment. I'm trying to put snow on the -sides- of these mountains, because I cannot reach the top.
I don't see the problem here
He's moving snow from one part of the public way to another part of it. I swim at the Condon Elementary School pool in the evenings and can attest that the sidewalks, especially right at the crosswalks nearby, are in horrendous condition -there's a huge snow mound blocking the sidewalk on D St by the Catholic Charities building, which forces pedestrians (many of which are students at the Condon) to walk in the fairly busy street. Clearing the sidewalks should be as much a priority as clearing the middle of the streets, especially near an elementary school. The amount being shoveled into the street from the sidewalk will in no way impede traffic on West Fourth St. It's not like a person cleared their car off and completely blocked a public way or anything, which I've seen happen several times over the past week or so.
Safety isn't just a football term
Why isn't the City prioritizing clearing the sidewalks and crosswalks around schools (she asked rhetorically)? I look out my window and see parents walking their toddlers and preschoolers in the street, as well as elementary-aged students by themselves, because they can't get down the City-controlled sidewalks.
Safety isn't just a football term
Why isn't the City prioritizing clearing the sidewalks and crosswalks around schools (she asked rhetorically)? I look out my window and see parents walking their toddlers and preschoolers in the street, as well as elementary-aged students by themselves, because they can't get down the City-controlled sidewalks.
Clearing the sidewalks should
Yes, this is completely true, and completely irrelevant. All he has to do is lift that shovel up and to the left, and he can clear the sidewalk while not blocking the road.
Newton does this
According to my coworkers, Newton has school zones where they both plow the walks and the ramps and expect homeowners to clean up what is left.
Just be glad he's shoveling the sidewalk at all
A little snow in the street isn't much of a problem, compared to having it on the sidewalk.
I commend the janitor
The street is salted. If we all do this, we can gradually move snow from giant snowbanks and piles blocking parking spots and let it melt
I understand not wanting people to block streets. But the city war against putting the slightest bit of snow in the street is misguided.
It will melt there faster than anywhere else. *
* Agree that this is not smart if on a corner and/or hill. But a great idea on flat straightaway.
road dependant
... On a well traveled road/street.
There are enough side streets that aren't driven on except by residents (and not very often) where this is a very bad idea. For example, I can't imagine this melting very quickly on Forbes St in JP. So the City takes a blanket approach rather than going to the nth degree defining where it's OK to throw snow into the streets.
That is not how that works...
That is not how that works...
Amount and time of day is key...
I've no problem with some snow being spread onto the street so it can melt. Done in the morning on a sunny day and not in big piles, it'll melt by the evening commute. And with the high snow piles we have, helping snow to melt is a community service.
A couple years back, I did snow melting community service on a big pile so driver could see around it to make the turn. Took me days to get it down far enough for drivers to see. All the neighbors were greatly amused - and appreciative. They've already asked when I was going to start on this year's pile!
I really hope the agency that
I really hope the agency that's responsible for clearing these roads is not the same agency who's having their time wasted having to respond to these petty complaints over what looks like a few cubic feet of snow tossed into the road.
Chess Match
I move it this way. You move it that way. The other guy moves it over there. Live with it and mind your business. You must me a very productive member of society if youre taking i shots from the 3rd floor of your condo squawking about a guy shoveling snow off a sidewalk. Get a life, or is this your life posting asshole pics on the interwebs.
Gladys Kravitz
"Abner! Abner! Come quick! You'll never believe what I just saw!"
No reason to be doing that,
No reason to be doing that, put it on the pile beside the building. I tell all the guys I work with not too do that.
Somebody's always watching and they all have a camera.
But on the flip side I have neighbors who dump their snow onto school property and BPW completely destroying work done by BPS custodians. City needs to start working together.
Not as easy as it looks
I've spent the past few days trying to move snow onto mountains like that. Once they reach a certain height, the snow just falls right back down. This stuff won't pack.
You don't have to tell me
You don't have to tell me about snow removal, I'm a BPS custodian. The last two weeks have been hell but I'm not going to throw it in the street.
Sorry
Sorry, I read the comment without paying attention to who wrote it. Thank you for your hard work in general, and especially now.
Correct!
You can see in the photo that he could have shoveled the snow (i.e. put it on the shovel and carried it 3 steps) to add it to the big pile near the building. Positively no need to ruin the street.
Perhaps what the janitor
should have done instead was carry the snow across the street and dump it in the parking space marked with the space saver (see upper right portion of photo).
Could be
Since it is basically a pile of snow with a cone in it.
(Come on savers! If you're going to mark it, do the work!)
BPS
Doesn't have janitors, they have custodians.
Just wanted everyone to know
Just wanted everyone to know I work at the Condon School it is has never been as good since the custodian in the picture started working here he was out there shoveling hours at a time the plow had just come by and knocked the snow on the sidewalk after he shoveled trying to clear sidewalks so the kids can come to school give him a break
Punctuation FTW
n/t
Give this guy a break. My
Give this guy a break. My gosh...really...taking pics from your window? You might want to join a Meetup and get some friends. You must be really really bored and sad.