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Something stinks in the North End

Oh, look: Another human defecater videoed in the act in the North End. Coming after last week's two girls, one alley incident, one can only declaim: People, get your shit together.

But wait, this isn't a problem just confined to the newly chi-chi North End: Somebody's been doing their public duty in Jamaica Plain as well.

Ed. Note: All of these links are NSFLunch.

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Comments

lol

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The North End has been fairly chi-chi for decades now... lots of fancy expensive restaurants and pricey apartments. Am I missing something?
Stay classy, people: don't shit in public.

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I just like the phrase.

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this was common practice prior to the north end becoming chi-chi? The north end was a stable, mostly Italian-American working class neighborhood before it became the Disney Land version of a big city Italian neighborhood. This was not common practice.

I'd suggest to you the problem is we have a much greater stratification involving wealth and poverty, not just in Boston but the country as a whole. We have a lot of homeless, druggies, alcoholics, and mentally ill people that was not as severe a problem as it was when we were a more stable country and society, and when we actually had a decent economy that offered opportunity and the ability to have at least a roof over your head [not a homeless shelter] for anyone who wanted to work. Boston, the north end have a much more transient population [regardless of socioeconomic status] than in the even fairly recent pass. This doesn't help create a stable neighborhood, city or society in general and contributes to a lot of antisocial behavior, rudeness, even crime.

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=== apologies if this reply posts twice ===

Are you responding to my comment about the North End not being newly chi-chi? If so, then I have no idea why you would be reading so much into my reply to Adam's 'newly chi-chi' remark.

For the 30+ years that I've been visiting the North End, I've always thought of it as being an interesting old neighborhood with fancy restaurants, fantastic architecture, nice people and an expensive place to live. I've been to Disney, and it's nothing like the North End. Perhaps you've never been to either and that's why you've so ignorantly insulted long-time and more recent North End residents.

Since you seem to be focused on issues of class, I'll let you know that my father grew up working class in Hyde Park. So what. No matter who you are or where you are you should not relieve yourself in public. Inferring otherwise speaks volumes about your own prejudices.

Lastly, you might want to brush up on your local history a bit. The North End was not originally an Italian neighborhood.

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I found an interesting fact while reading The Dark Tide (Joseph Pupoleo (sp?)) that compared the population of the North End during the start of the last century with Calcutta, both in density and sanitation. It seems the North End was the melting pot of new immigrants, all ethnicities and religions. It was after that it became a mainly Italian enclave.

I remember as a child visiting the North End, it was mostly Italian at that point and a very tight community. Crime was very low because of this. Coming from an Irish background, I can't tell you how much of a treat it was for us to get some good Italian food. Long before it became a tourist spot, many of the small restaurants were family owned and run and the food was fantastic.

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Crime was very low because of this.

Um, no. It was hushed up and not reported to police, lest you run afoul of the local family businessmen.

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I wonder how much this is truly a new phenomenon and how much - like child-kidnapping, conspiracy theories or twerking - it's a rara avis that, having been widely shared, creates the impression of a crisis. (Read the comments on the North End videos: the seventh seal has been broken and the zombies are rising.)

Posited: 20, 30, 40 years ago, we didn't have so many damn surveillance cameras. Someone crapped in an alley, one or two people saw it maybe, wrinkled their noses and swept it into a storm drain. Maybe complained to a friend or two over a sambuca. Now we not only have video of the act but can share it on the web, so everyone in the world can be revolted and rail about what's become of, etc.

Or maybe the world has fewer public toilets, or has become more feculent in general; I wouldn't dispute the latter. Nor is this intended to excuse feral behavior, whatever its possible socioeconomic underpinnings. But let's at least consider whether it's actually a big deal.

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Geez...if you're going to do that, at least bring along a human-sized doggy-dirtbag and a bottle of Purell so you can clean up after yourself like any considerate dog owner would.

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Here's the scary part: Those two young women and this man are walking around our city and possibly sitting on things without having wiped!

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No, the guy wiped. That (the paper - tissue?) went in the trash can behind him. Gee, how considerate of him.

Why did I watch that????

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I didn't watch this one, so thank you for the update. Now the one with the two chicks...

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I remember walking out of my N End apartment 7-8 years ago and seeing one of the local derelicts leaning up against a car, dropping anchor. I did not take a video or photo.

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This is a very (bowel) moving discussion.

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The reason the North End doesn't have public restrooms (and few residents that know this probably won't say much about it) is because of all the "transient" (read: homeless, drug-addicted, etc.) people that pass through the neighborhood. The North End is the biggest drug portal in Boston (does anybody know about those hidden tunnels that go from x to y to z?) - besides the fact that the neighborhood has already tried putting in public restrooms in the Prado. They were promptly closed and shut because of all the people they've found overdosed on heroin slumped in those very restrooms... which is why you'll only find one of those public toilets you see in Copley over by the hockey rink.
It's unfortunate, but you'll need to spend money to get into any restroom in the North End. That's just how the neighborhood works.

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