Welcome back to our weekly update that highlights some of the cases appearing on 311 in the North End/Waterfront neighborhoods. All 311 cases are public information and can be found at 311.boston.gov.
Homeless Loitering on Hanover Street
This 311 user says, “Homeless person has set up a homeless hotel behind this pink curtain please come by and disperse them we have called 911 and there really isn’t much that they can do but the north end is becoming overrun with the junkies and homeless people!”

The original 311 post can be found here. The post was submitted and opened on May 8, , 2020 and remains open as of May 12, 2020.
Turkeys in Christopher Columbus Park
This 311 user writes, “Please send animal control.”

The original 311 post can be found here. The post was submitted and opened on May 6, 2020 and remains open as of May 12, 2020.
Illegal Trash Out on Hanover Street
This 311 user shared the following photos and wrote, “232-234 Hanover street north end.”

The original 311 post can be found here. The post was submitted and opened on May 7, 2020 and was closed on May 8, 2020 with the following note, “Closed with status: Case Resolved: No code violations found at above address.”
Remember, to report a claim with 311, you can call 311, go to the 311 website, tweet at 311, or download the app. What do you think about these 311 cases? Follow our “What’s The 311?” tag to see past week’s postings!
Oh yeah. Hanover Street dining Is looking better and better.
I’m pretty sure the 311 request for animal control at Christopher Columbus Park isn’t about turkeys. 🐕
Maybe Walsh should open the dog parks rather than keeping them closed to benefit certain dog walking businesses….
As I understand it, it wasn’t the City that decided to shut the dog parks. It was the local dog group R.U.F.F. in response to complaints about people congregating in them. See: https://northendwaterfront.com/2020/04/dog-park-and-run-closed-after-311-complaints/
Since then, there have been dozens of 311 complaints about off leash dogs in Christopher Columbus park:
https://311.boston.gov/reports/101003260607
https://311.boston.gov/reports/101003266814
https://311.boston.gov/reports/101003271732
That’s not how I read it. Looks to me the city leaned on them to close them.
Either way, as long as the parks remain closed, CCP will be used as a dog park.
Thank you. I know it is difficult for them, but they do not wear masks. This puts all of us at risk.
And if it was purely a social distancing thing and masks, then shut down Christopher Columbus Park as well because I see plenty of people not following the guidelines there either.
No punishment for that however…
The people that called 311 on the parks and dog parks I feel we’re more irritated about the noise, have been for a while, and this was their opportunity to take care of it.
Unfortuantely, because of a lack of dog parks and entitled dog owners ( my dog doesn’t need a leash) Columbus Park and The Greenway are not enjoyable for people, kids, and picnics anymore. Columbus Park is a dog park and has been for years.
This is correct. I cringe when I see people sitting on the grass a CCP. Blanket or not, you are sitting on a dog toilet.
Columbus Park is “pet friendly “Dogs are supposed to be on a leash at all times which of course dog owners ignore.
That spot on Hanover Street has ALWAYS had a garbage problem~~~~even way before this pandemic !! Nothing was ever done !!! Certainly —no Award will be given here !!!
What is the purpose of 311? Seriously! I have called on many occasion and different issues and not one of my complaints have been answered. Not one has been fixed. What is the sense of having a hotline if nothing is going to be done about things such as illegal trash, street sign poles are knocked down, street lights that are out, graffiti on buildings (which I was told on this one that the owner had to call, why?), there’s so much graffiti on mailboxes and buildings now, it’s terrible, homelessness, drug activities, wellness check on neighbors whose groceries were left out on outside stairs of the building for 4 days and nothing happened. To me, 311 seems to be useless. Just a place for constituents to call instead of 911. This only seems to happen in the North End.
I have found 311 to be very helpful when reporting trash that’s left out other than pick up days. The city generally responds to that pretty quickly. I’ve talked to the ISD guys in the North End and they showed me how they are sent real time updates to 311.
But there are other requests that seem to get closed without resolution.
Not much mentioned about the homeless situation. More remarks on dogs and Turkey’s. This is a failure of the city in every way. It’s true, there are a lot of people making the N.E. Their home in parks, in that construction staging. The Police really need to focus on these quality of life issues, their not that busy right now. They should never let them set up camp. I’m not sorry to say, that some bring in drugs, petty crime, Bother people and camp out in doorways. The city has shelters, they shouldn’t let any neighborhood look like what the N.E. Is becoming. There is no reason that these folks can’t be given assistance.
MichaelG, many of the homeless will tell you that they feel safer on the streets than in shelters, plus the police cannot force people to go to a shelter. The homeless population is not one size fits all . You have some people who are down & out , some are substance abusers, some suffer from mental health issues and some have been released from jails and prisons. I’m curious as to what type of assistance would you suggest?
Wait another few weeks when the homeless drug abusers start camping at CCP. I wonder if the conversation will shift from dogs…..