It must be summer in the North End as 50-100 teenagers are seen regularly gathering along Commercial Street around the bocce courts and skating rink on weekend nights. A resident sends in this photo from Friday night expressing concerns of trash, broken bottles, and a huge mess left for others to clean up.
The location has a history of fights breaking out, often as kids come in from other neighborhoods. Police cars flash their lights as they drive by making the teens scatter but they reconvene within a few minutes, according to the resident. A few years ago, the park saw extensive vandalism.
This is an accident waiting to happen
the feasts should have to pay a detail cop to sit down in this area all weekend nights during the feasts. these teenagers are absolute punks and should not be tolerated at all in the neighborhood. also, the police should really explain their strategy of only driving by while flashing their lights.
Who should pay when kids are down there when there is no feast?
Tell them Jason! Morons! The police should be arresting them for public drinking not just driving by!
I concur
Exactly, Where are the police!!!
This is out of hand –
somebody gets paid to clean it up. it’s job security. we were all young once. hypocrites!
Here we go again ! Another argument among the commentators, with Michael in the lead .
Heather, I must make your day.You must think that roving groups of teenagers is a positive thing for the neighborhood.I watched this same scenario unfold along Revere Beach.The old timers would walk the beach or just socialize along the wall & Gazebo ,not any more.The groups of youths became mobs soon gang’s joined in and fights,led to stabbings & shootings.They terrorized the area & residents & if this isn’t nipped in the bud the same thing will happen here.
Heather.. You have a nerve, you comment more than anyone else!
Heather, you seem to love jumping into the argument on every single post and do not know when to be quiet.
You seem to think you are the expert on all things north end and nobody can differ with your opinion and always try to make it an us vs them issue.
This is a bad situation with so many underage kids drinking and smoking pot In the past there have been fights and stabbings every single year during the feasts. It is out of control, Thanks to RUFF, the dog park aka the flights in the Gassy are locked every weekend during the feasts another trouble spot.
It will be interesting to see what you say if one of these kids drowns in the harbor or is killed in a fight or overdoses or dies from alcohol poisoning.
You’re right Joyce… She has a lot to say!
Finally someone has spoken up to this “Heather”! Joyce and Berna, you are both right and I agree with Jason, it’s not the feasts that make those kids hang there…this has been going on for many many years!
Heathah, take a dip in the habah!
Joyce always hits the nail on the head. She has a lot of history of the North End. She’s informative and constructive — perhaps it’s wisdom that comes with age…
I remember being in South Medford at 14 Years of age hanging around a Corner on Main St. near Royal House Park and
the Police arrested My friend & I. I ran away, but my parents later found out what occurred. We were not drinking, but
were just standing there.
This beautiful waterfront area got invaded by teenagers from outside the city & they made this a major hangout, and there
were empty 6 Pack cases on the ground, and not “1” copy in sight.
If our cops are afraid to address this situation, then let the State Police get involved. There have been plenty complaints
about this area thru the past years, and like our on going trash situation, nothing is being done.
Money talks & B.S. walks. Fines & big fines will shake up these kids families when they have to pay or appear in
court. This is a very simple solution, but our Cops are not doing anything. Why must there always be a tragedy before
these cops step up to the plate. Why aren’t our politicians getting involved? Where is the Mayor? Who the hell are we
voting for?
We were teenagers once,,we never disrespected our neighborhood,it’s not the feast fault or the cops fault,,it’s these kids who have no respect ,if this was back in our day I think most of my north Enders would agree we as a group would not tolerate that and kept them away,the very people who complain are not “original” north Enders ,Berna,Jason,,they all grew up with me and others,,we didn’t have these issues especially during feast times,,RESPECT!, it not like it was ,,we knew the meaning,,we kept the riff raff out ,,it’s sad for the ones who stayed and try to keep it the way it was,,prices pushed most out of the area,,but it’s always home,,
Massachusetts has loitering laws and disturbing the peace laws. Why aren’t the cops enforcing them? Bet their doing drugs. Certainly not playing bocce! Fact Facer is right. Wait until somebody gets hurt.
Ma has or had public drinking laws, panhandling laws.jaywalking laws & bicycle laws you name it. Do you think that Walsh or Evans are going to address crime in Boston. especially the North End & scare away the tourists who flock to the area?
Micheal that why they should take care of the problem. When i was younger we never had that many kids hanging in one spot. There were many places that we all gathered North Square, the flights, endicott st, charter st. The waterfront, the prado, the new park. Many places. There is no reason there should be more than 20 to 30 kids in any one location.
Moskie
Moskie, I agree with you and I have no explanation as to why this tolerated.
Here I am again ! In response to the various insults from you people, I do see most of your names whenever there is an argument about something. It’s the same people who blog. You know who you are !
It’s a different time & world today than the one most of us grew up in. With social networks, smart phones these kids can text one another & organize a large group anywhere they choose & if the BPD does nothing that’s like pouring gasoline on a fire & as several people pointed out someone is going to end up hurt or dead.
Michael, I am not seeing probable cause, only suspicion of drugs. A large congregation of young kids, might disconcerting and even a little threatening to older people, but there is no proof that they have done anything wrong. If I were in their shoes and wanted to do something that I knew was wrong, I wouldn’t stand on a well lit street. If I were some horny teenager and wanted to get a look at a girl, well I would go there. OK, I have some experience there. Not recent, but some experience.
This doesn’t just occur during the feasts. I walk down that way with my dog nearly everyday and it has been occurring all summer. I don’t understand why there is no cop on foot patrol walking through there are so many people out there and the place is an absolute mess in the morning with broken bottles everywhere. I can’t walk my dog or let my nieces and nephew play in the tot lot.
Heather, I don’t know how old you are, or where you live, but these are legitimate concerns. I don’t think our Beautiful
Waterfront area should be a hangout for all these teenagers who are coming into our neighborhood from God knows where.
What is it you don’t get? You blame the Trash Situation on Tourist, and the Tourist are not putting Trash Outside of Buildings,
the Residents who consider the No. End a Pit Stop are. These kids are coming down the No. End Drinking & Drugging at
every Residents’ Expense. Do you why they are? I will tell you why, they CAN’T do this in their Neighborhoods & get
away with it. Plain & Simple. The Cops in the Burbs would Never allow this. Why should we, North End Residents not be
able to enjoy our Waterfront without having to deal with these teenagers. I hung around every playground in the No. End & I
have never seen an invasion of kids like this. Our Cops are to Blame, along with our Politicians. There is a Great Lack of
Enforcement. If you want to get a Point across, you have to Hit them in the Pocket. I read all your remarks attacking Original
No. End Residents, Italians, etc., What the hell are you living here for? We didn’t move into anyone’s Neighborhood and try
to change things, why should anyone else think they should come into our Neighborhood & Trash it & Disrupt it.
People only get away with what you allow them to get away with.
Marie,
I agree with you 110% but I must add this….
The kids coming from out of town to hang here in the North End is because the North End kids that go to school out of town bring these kids here to hang…the out of town teens wouldn’t know where to hang if they North End teens didn’t bring them here.
This has been going on for years. There isn’t that many kids that live in the North End.
I have a 16 year old and she would never, ever even think of hanging behind the rink or the “new park”. It’s all about drinking, smoking grass and sex (and I’m sure other drugs).
The simply solution is to have the cops detail there daily and nightly.
Once these kids know that the cops are coming every night, they will not go there anymore.
Marie, what made the NE the great place it is and was for us who grew up here was the passion of the people . Heather, apparently does not understand that & it was her who injected the word argument .Truth suggested that the Feast’s should pay for a cop detail to deal with the uninvited thugs , thereby implying that somehow the Feast’s are responsible for bringing in this element. Jason replied & asked why should the Feast’s foot the bill? I viewed the discussion as a disagreement & a debate rather than an argument The comment’s have have been almost unanimous with the exception of someone whose user name is “who cares” & apparently doesn’t care about anything.
Always the same complaints and the same comments as the years go by…. The North End is getting old.
The police put their blue lights on when they drive by ??????????? See, that’s an issue, in stead of biting the problem in the butt and give a straight message. They drive by ??. I saw them last night, a large group, some were chasing others. What happens if they start bothering people walking by or vehicles. This has nothing to do with the feast. The Police will wait till something happens and then, they will do something. The Saint Anthony Feast will be around the corner this week, we can’t have this large group hanging around looking for trouble and this will have nothing to do with the feast. They put their blue lights on, that’s sad.
Each summer there is an influx of nearby suburban kids that come to the North Rnd for a piece of the North End boys. It is very dangerous. It is with utter frustration that I hear these large groups are still being dealt with with drive bys and flashing lights. If not looking for fights, these kids are coming to get drugs in the North End. I don’t know how else to beg the police to get out of their cars, send a message and make the North End too safe for kids to come do this. Previous poster who said they come to the North End bc their communities won’t tolerate this is so right. Unless this attitude can he’s, I fear we are in for a big fight this coming weekend.
Maybe Marty Walsh & Bill Evans can deploy the strategy that they use in the inner cities of Boston to curb violence & crime.Dispatch the BPD ice cream truck to pass out hoodsies to the misguided youth.
Not much that they are doing wrong that is obvious. Cops walking among them will only incite an incident. It would be better to head for Carson Beach, but they would get their head handed to them there. Mainly looks like drunk guys looking for drunk girls. That is mostly what these gatherings are all about. They are pretty much contained there.
Ticketing the non-resident cars would probably reduce some of the crowd.
t.Mobile, he “hands off ” approach was tried during the occupy Wall St. takeover of a portion of the Greenway a few years ago. The result was the area was turned into a campground and a outdoor toilet. They destroyed the grass, sold & used drugs & booze ,plus engaged in sex acts in broad daylight. Several stores were vandalized & burglarized over & over the items in demand where cigarettes & beer.After months the Mayor ,Police & City officials finally came to their senses & had these people removed by force.People, tourists & workers were then able to enjoy their lunch or just relax on public property once again.
Yes I remember that. Mayor told the police to stand down. You could smell it from across the street. Also, Elizabeth Warren, then running for senator, said she supported these people. Unless she was completely oblivious, she must have known about the drugs. You are right, if there are drugs at the park, it won’t go away. But someone would need some sort of evidence of drug distribution. Maybe through inspecting the trash that they leave, some pictures, etc… However a picture from across the street will not do it. And you probably also know what claims of excessive police force get you these days. Can’t do much when you don’t have the support from your own politicians.
Last sat was particularly awful….my husband and I brought a pizza to the park and were so disturbed by what we saw. Teens literally having sex on the benches, disgusting. Urinating several times behind the rink, and worst of all was the way they were fighting, it was scary. We called the cops after a fight broke out (and yes it was the NE teens participating)
For those of you who say we can’t blame the feasts, well I disagree in part. We overheard SEVERAL times how excited the teens were that there parents were partying all night at the feasts allowing the teens to go and steal their parents alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, definitely did this as well growing up! Bottom line, it IS the residents of the NE who need to step up and parent their teens. It was actually very sad.
My problem is that this should have never been allowed to get to this point.With kids everything is a test to see what they can get away with. During the opening night of the St.Agrippina Feast I watched 6 Boston cops sitting on their parked motorcycles across from the Fire House socializing with several twenty something females.There could have been a riot going on & these guys would have not budged. Face it being a Boston cop & being assigned to duty in the NE is like hitting a lottery jacpot.[not much heavy lifting involved]
Walked my dog this morning in this area, many broken bottles and about half dozen Bud Light beer cans floating in the harbor. Can’t the police arrest these kids for public drinking?
Totally out of control this past Saturday. The police were overwhelmed and even told me they were outnumbered. There needs to be a real plan in place by next summer. No excuses.
Truth. there is a plan ,the plan is wait for the cold weather to settle in.