The following is a message from District A-1 (Downtown) Captain Kenneth Fong, posted today on BPDNews:
“As you know, the North End of Boston proudly celebrates a number of feasts each year which are family-oriented and always celebrated in a positive way. In fact, the next scheduled celebrations are the Fisherman’s Feast and Saint Anthony’s Feast. Recently, however, the feasts have experienced some disruptive behavior by individuals visiting the area and acting in an irresponsible manner.
As a result of the unruly behavior, the Boston Police Department would like to remind all those who attend the feasts and those visiting the City of Boston to celebrate responsibly. Feast-goers should know disruptive behavior such as public drinking and fighting will not be tolerated and community members who witness such behavior are kindly asked and encouraged to call 9-1-1. In addition, those attending the feasts should expect to see additional police presence to address any issues or concerns.
Again, the feasts are a staple in the community and special to those who have celebrated for decades. In closing, we hope and expect to continue this fine tradition and welcome all who plan to attend to do so in a responsible, respectful manner.”
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we “kindly ask” that PBD show up in a timely manner when we do call 911. Take us seriously and we’ll take your response to this issue seriously.
We didn’t move into their neighborhood they moved in to ours….. They are Outsiders that are not coming down to the feast to celebrate family honor tradition and devotion they are just outsides. looking to ruin tradition in the city of Boston it’s a pretty hard swallow when you call the police for details and they don’t even show up to fill them…….
Please just make sure the police are in place and ready to enforce the law because I have a sneaking suspicion that these teenagers are not regular readers of the North End Waterfront, so they will likely not receive the above message ahead of time.
This is a pretty pathetic “statement”. Back it up with boots on the ground and then maybe people will believe you. A couple of mounted patrols would send a message to the punks.
Hi,
As the message by Captain Fong states, there will be a larger police presence at the upcoming Feasts.
His message was originally posted on the Boston Police Department’s website (www.BPDnews.com).
I spoke with Captain Fong Sunday to pass along the continued concerns of our residents, and spoke with him twice yesterday, as well.
I will be spending some time with the Captain at the Fisherman’s Feast this Friday night to observe the crowds and police presence in and around the area and will report back on both this site and Facebook.
Thanks.
David Marx
-Host of the monthly North End Public Safety Meetings with Boston District A-1 Police-
Difilipo park on prince has been drawing huge teen crowds. It’s not just commercial street. I hope they move around the neighborhood to monitor, not just stay in one area.
After successive weekends with hordes of teens embarking to our neighborhood and creating havoc, the Boston police, I believe, need a visible, proactive police presence this upcoming Friday and Saturday nights. The teens are arriving en mass via the subway, thus, mounted police at the T stations along with bicycle, motorcycle and foot patrol officers would be a strong deterrent. I also believe cruisers and paddy wagons strategically placed on Commercial Street (where the majority of the teens congregate) with their lights displayed would send a very strong message that unruly behavior is not going to be tolerated. All of this should have taken place last weekend after what went down the weekend prior. Anyone caught in the midst of this mob would have been frightened, I know I was.
Our area is filled with thousands of tourist; our local businesses rely on tourist dollars to stay alive. If I was a visitor returning to my hotel with my family last Saturday night, I would have not only feared for my families safety but I would never return after witnessing gangs of teens – many inebriated and high – running, yelling, fighting, knocking mailboxes etc. Not only that, I would make a point to share with family and friends, after what I witnessed, that Boston’s North End at night is not safe during the weekends.
Having the commanding officer make his statement about visitors being orderly at the Feast is fine, but he’s missing his target audience ~ the teens, they’re not reading this online paper. Let’s hope a much more ‘visible’ proactive presence will bring calm and safety back to our neighborhood this weekend.
The situation has clearly escalated from merely crowd control to one of desperately needed law enforcement. Those people committing crimes in our neighborhood should at a minimum be issued summonses, and when necessary, detained and/or arrested. Public drinking and urination, destruction of property, and disturbing the peace are all crimes that need to be taken more seriously by BPD. If the excuse is that BPD has insufficient resources to properly police these events, then it should seriously think about curtailing the hours of operation for the feasts since most of the illegal activity is taking place after 9pm.
If you take away these Feasts, the kids are still going to come to drink/party. I have been at both Feasts after 8PM and I saw very few kids who are at the ages of the kids described in the story.
Why is it all of a sudden associated with the Feasts when they have been going on for 100 years with little or no similar issues? The only thing they have in common is timing. Steriti Rink is 1/4 mile from the intersection of Hanover and Commercial. Not sure how the Feasts are somehow the cause of this.
Friday night of Agrippina at 6:30 I saw 2 groups of 10 or more kids walking in front of Union Wharf with black plastic bags…gee, guess what was in those bags? It’s out in the open if the police care to look. But they have to be proactive about it.
They don’t actually go to the feast, they hang out in the parks in the neighborhood and get high and drunk….then smash their beer bottles and break things in the playgrounds. I don’t think they spend any time at the actual feast.