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Even the Secretary of State has to shovel his sidewalk in Boston
By adamg on Thu, 01/29/2015 - 2:09pm
In response to a citizen complaint yesterday about an unshoveled sidewalk outside the Kerry/Heinz homestead on Beacon Hill, the city said today:
Case Closed. TICKET: Ticket Issued.
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Comments
interesting
Surprised Kerry doesn't have someone come do this automatically since he's rarely in town anymore.
Maybe he does
and they are now fired
I'd say so
I'd say so.. :)
I think John Kerry got hung up
I think John Kerry got hung up in traffic at a James Taylor concert. Just kidding. He was in Saudi Arabia kissing ass. Somebody has to do it.
Those motherf*ckers are funding terrorism all over the middle east as their proxy forces, and so is Iran. Our Iraq invasion destabilized the region.
Aren't you glad we live in a country where the secretary of state is not above our snow removal laws and nobody gets stoned to death for adultery or whipped for blogging?
Wrong picture?
That pic has a hydrant in it. I thought Kerry and Trayza had it moved long ago?
They did
Used to be in front of their house - now it's around the corner to the left as you face the house. Despite all the hoopla - apparently there was some kind of legit reason to move it - but I don't recall what that was.
No parking there
Having in front of their place made an otherwise usable space unusable. Having it in current location inconveniences no one.
Real good a ticket does to
Real good a ticket does to punish millionaires. How about having a special crew that is available to shovel out these violators, then send them the bill. Ticket or not, the hazard remains.
The ticket notifies them that shoveling wasn't done
If you're out of town most of the time and the person you hire to do shoveling doesn't show up, you really have no way to know unless someone tells you. I've had my share of snow clearing guys disappear on me mid-winter when I thought everything was lined up - it happens.
Do that for everyone
The city could charge a $5/sq. ft. for snow removal + $50 processing fee.
The important thing is that the sidewalks get cleared and the city would more then make up whatever they would have to pay a private contractor.
Somerville Does it Right
Somerville's new snow shoveling regulations do just that. Now, if you don't shovel your piece of the sidewalk in time, they will both ticket you and charge you for the crews that they send out to clear your sidewalk.
http://www.somervillema.gov/snow/shoveling-regulations-and-info
Yup!
Somerville definitely does have the right idea. I'm glad they're clamping down on people who don't bother to shovel/salt down their sidewalks after a winter storm. Scofflaws should realize that it's in their best interest as well; the crack-down on such scofflaws by the City of Somerville will protect them from possibly being involved in a major (i. e. expensive) Civil Law Suit that no homestead could protect them against, because a saavy attorney could get around that with no problems.
I think this is a good idea
I think this is a good idea in theory but what happens with rental property? Or, like, I live on an alley with 5 other brownstones, who do you knick if the sidewalk outside our alley isn't shoveled, you know?
Buy Crayola Stock!
The Herald comment board might break the internet with this.
The louisburg Square side of his house is private while the Pinckney Stewet (right?) side is public. Somebody made a mistake. Cut the guy some slack. Isis is on it's knees, Putin will soon be broke, and we are nearly done with the Afghan War. I'll take 50 feet of snowy sidewalk in exchange.
On their knees huh?
You may want to tell their hostages that.
Pfft
Any bunch if thugs can hold a knife to someone's throat and put it on YouTube. The Kurds have Isis on the run. Stop paying attention to the shiny things and look at the bigger picture.
Clarification of view
The Kerry/Heinz home is at the corner of Pinckney and Louisburg. The front faces Louisburg, the private street. (Aha, but who owns the park in the middle has never been resolved.)
The photo above shows Pinckney Street, to the left of the home, with the sidewalk going up Pinckney, a public street.
The owners may be confused as to whom is responsible for shoveling a side sidewalk. Presumably, it is them (much like it is the responsibilities of retail shops at corners), so the ticket is justified.
You get 24 hours "after" a storm to shovel, right? When did the clock start?
24 hours? just a bit less than that.
You get 3 hours from when the storm ends, or from the sunrise.
Private way?
"Private ways" such as Louisburg Sq still need to be maintained for public use, no? Can one be ticketed for not clearing snow from a sidewalk on a private way?
Where was Chris Laudani?
Where was Chris Laudani?
I'm pretty sure Manny Ortez
I'm pretty sure Manny Ortez is responsible for shoveling.
Kerry admits goof, to pay up
The Globe reports Kerry will pay the $50 fine, says workers at the company he uses to shovel thought the yellow caution tape meant they couldn't go in that area.
anyone know who put the tape up?
Since I'm asking questions, and the readership of Universal Hub is so well informed, I thought I'd ask a second question:
What did Gov Baker do different in his driving ban that Gov Patrick did not do? I ask because state house news described the bans as similar.
A reasonable misunderstanding (and mention of UnivHub)
From the Globe:
"A picture of the uncleared snow was first posted on the blog site Universal Hub...The yellow hazard tape was put in place to warn pedestrians of falling snow and ice from atop the building. But Johnson said the snow removal company misconstrued the yellow tape as police tape and thought that part of the sidewalk was off limits.
Once the shovelers understood they were allowed to enter the area, they finished clearing the sidewalk late Thursday morning, Johnson said. By 5:45 p.m., snow was perfectly cleared from 19 Louisburg Square, and people in the neighborhood seemed unfazed by the whole affair."
There's Secretary of State then there's Secretary of State
There's the United States Secretary of State and then there's the Massachusetts Secretary of State/Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Secretary_of_the_Commonwealth
Isn't this also a security issue?
I remember when Tip was waked, during one of the snowiest winters on record, the OSS demanded that every scrap of snow and every snow pile be removed from a stretch of Mass Ave around the church where the funeral was to be held.
I would think the issues with such an accumulation around the house of the Secretary of State would be similar.
That's very Security Theater
That's very Security Theater-ish of you Swirly
Yeah, and no
Kerry is a clear and obvious potential target.
Hmmm, actually you might be onto something ... we should declare WAR ON SNOW and have all those MBTA cops come out and shovel it.
Its all about security!