Park Street

FaLaLaLaLagate: MBTA employee told not to do it again

adamg — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:29:34 +0000

Updated late Monday.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

The employee today was reprimanded and the incident is now included in his personnel file. No further action will be taken unless such an incident happens again. This matter is closed.

MBTA update: Fa la la la prank: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Channel 25 reports the case of the reprogrammed message board on Christmas went straight to the top - and state transportation czar Rich Davey says the unidentified worker will not be punished.

Should the T discipline the worker who got the PA to play 'Deck the Halls'?

adamg — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:22:19 +0000

MBTAmas

adamg — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:03:57 +0000

When it doesn't think anybody's around, the automaton that runs the MBTA PA system can be quite jolly.

Occupy Plastic Bags

adamg — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:41:00 +0000

The Plastic Bag Lady of Park Street is in touch with the zeitgeist, based on the sign she was wearing on her back today.

No Red Line service between Broadway and Kendall this weekend

adamg — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:03:51 +0000

So the T can install an elevator at Park Street. Look for shuttle buses instead.

The T says Green Line service through Park Street will be unaffected.

Track fire under a train at Park Street

adamg — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:06:51 +0000

The scene at Park Street. Photo by Patrick Munnelly.

A small track fire erupted underneath a Red Line train shortly before 6 p.m. at Park Street, forcing the evacuation of the train and a shutdown of Red Line service.

"Never a good sign when there's smoke pouring out of the T station you're entering," Anne Holmer tweeted at 5:54 p.m.

Over in Central Square, David Day reports "Tons of Noam Chomsky fans spilling out of Central Square Red Line looking for cabs." Chomsky was scheduled to speak at Occupy Boston this evening.

10/22/11 - 5:55 pm

Man tells police he has no idea how he wound up on Red Line tracks; says he didn't smoke that much at HempFest

adamg — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:38:18 +0000

Red Line service was briefly halted Saturday night when a man dropped onto the tracks at Park Street - just as a train was pulling into the station.

The train driver was able to stop the train before hitting him; he then got up and climbed up onto the center platform, with the help of a T worker. According to an MBTA Transit Police report:

As I spoke with [the man], he seemed to be alert but confused. {he} stated, "I don't really know what happened. I think I tripped and the next thing I knew I was in the pit with a train coming towards me. {he} stateed, "I had come from the HempFest but had only smoked a little bit of weed."

He was taken to Tufts Medical Center with what appeared to be only a small cut in the back of his head.

Citizen complaint of the day: Why did I have to spend 30 minutes cleaning up the Common near Park Street?

adamg — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:59:34 +0000

An alert and now grumpy citizen complains:

Cleaned up this area, along with many other parts of the Common, with nothing but my bare hands and a pair of rubber gloves. Took me about 30 minutes. Imagine what a fully equipped cleaning crew could have done. However, I am now 30 minutes late for work. The sun has been out for nearly 4 hours and no evidence of a crew ever being here. Why are private citizens compelled to clean a park their tax dollars are paying for? Cleaning the high traffic areas, especially along the Freedom Trail, should be priority one. ... I am tired of doing your job.

Incident at Park Street leaves witness shaken

adamg — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:53:08 +0000

ED NOTE: Jacqueline Church filed a complaint with the MBTA over events she witnessed on a southbound Red Line train at Park Street around 3:15 p.m. yesterday. The following is an edited copy of her complaint, which she prefaced with: "Seeing someone nearly die in front of you can really put a damper on your day. Watching public transportation employees impede swift care, then deny the need for better emergency medical procedures, is worse. Then having no one in subsequent calls show one iota of accountability or sense of responsibility is infuriating. As a taxpayer I'm incensed. As a human being, I'm disgusted." The MBTA responds.

Not only did the driver NOT call 911 when another passenger and I informed him there was a medical emergency, he did not tell me, STANDING THERE WITH A CELLPHONE IN MY HAND, what he was doing. I asked him "ARE YOU CALLING 911?" His reply "We're not allowed."

SHOULD I CALL?

"We can't call."

So I called. I am shocked that in a medical emergency - the driver wasted critical minutes - the man in the third car was completely unresponsive with his eyes rolled back in his head - could have been having a stroke.

Pre-announced delays on the Green Line for the evening rush

adamg — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:47:27 +0000

The MBTA reports switch problems at Park Street will mean delays northbound - and suggest you take the Orange Line if your travel plans include Haymarket or North Station. Repair work's expected to continue past the normal end of service.

On the Red Line, no good deed goes unread

adamg — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:35:36 +0000

Lisa Medina reports that MBTA General Manager Richard Davey boarded the Red Line at Park Street this morning only to find coffee sloshing on the floor. So he picked up one of the car's spare Metros and put it down on the coffee, no doubt because, as all good T employees know, the Metro is extra absorbent.

And then, Medina adds, a woman picked up one of the coffee-drenched sections and began to read it.

At the sound of the tone, your ass will be so busted

adamg — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:54:14 +0000

Here's an interesting tale of how a guy waiting for the Red Line at Park Street got his iPad back after it was snatched out of his hands (while composing e-mail), thanks to a local company that provides IT management services:

Once the officers were in the area, McGowan enabled the iPad’s location alert. The alarm wasn’t loud enough to draw the attention of the officers, but it did make the perpetrator pull the device out of his backpack, which the officers then witnessed and swiftly moved in to retrieve the device.

To prove that the iPad was in fact the stolen property of his client, McGowan sent a message to the device that said "This iPad is stolen property." The officers felt this was sufficient enough evidence and they made sure to get the iPad safely back to its owner.

Feeding pigeons by the park

adamg — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:49:27 +0000

Some things never change - like people feeding pigeons by the Park Street T stop. But they rarely smile these days, like this lady did sometime between 1910 and 1920.

From the Library of Congress's prints and photos collection. More info and larger version.

Sparks and trash prove bad combination at Park Street Red Line station

adamg — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:10:01 +0000

Trash track fire. Photo by Ella Shenhav.

The Red Line southbound at Park Street was shut down because sparks from the third rail caused debris on the tracks to catch fire shortly before 11 a.m.

Sal Darjii tweets what the driver on his stuck Red Line train announced:

Due to the fiery conditions at Park St, we will be standing by.

Today's most elegant man without pants

adamg — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:17:50 +0000

BostonTweet snapped his photo at Park Street.

BosGuy, meanwhile, shot some video: