Citizen complaint of the day: Fed up with the biker Teamsters at the Schrafft building

I'm sure it says somerville as the location because the person who reported this took the photo then kept driving. When he/she submitted the report they were in somerville, so the app picked up that location.

Regardless, nobody should be above the law. If an area is marked "no parking" you shouldn't be allowed to park there, period.

from the neighborhood where the lawbreaking's going on, Tom Joad. If you want to, as the other guy said, "concern troll" the Teamsters in a neighborhood that's not your own, the least you can do is show even an ounce of bravery. First off, what makes you think that a precinct is Charlestown is going to give a damn what "concerned citizen of indeterminate origin" has to say?

Secondly, if people are so "concerned" about these bikes blocking a bus stop, why have none of these complaints come from a bus rider? Does anyone know what bus runs that route? If/when it stops at that shelter? Wouldn't the MBTA and its drivers have some interest in keeping the area clear?

The area around Sullivan Square on that side of the tracks is pretty desolate. That doesn't make it OK to go putting your bike in front of a bus stop, but that also doesn't necessarily make doing so tantamount on the list of offenses in that neighborhood. Considering you don't live there, don't work there and don't seem to frequent that area very often, it doesn't seem like you can offer than much insight. While it's great that you want to play Batman, there are better issues to launch a caped crusade over.

We had this problem during a JP thread about a moving container. Instead of taking any direct action -- like maybe contacting the Teamsters or MBTA -- you want the police to handle the messy little community relations details for you.

That brings up quite a few problems. First off, that's just the kind of insular, introverted way of thinking that likely led the bike riders to park there in the first place. Nobody said anything the first few times they did it, so why not keep doing it?

Secondly, if you were a regular bus rider on that route, I'm guessing the Teamsters see you there regularly. If they do so and ignore you, report it to the bus driver or the T after you squeeze around the bikes to get to your bus and, if that doesn't work, contact the parking authority or the cops.

Third, if you're just a commuter who passes through and takes a picture, who says you have the whole story? The MBTA's been cutting some bus routes and cutting down some others. That stop may be defunct.

Finally, "I know how things work around here" will never change things. When my neighborhood has problems with noise, parking, spotlights from neighboring businesses and structures, etc., my neighbors and I consider City Hall or BPD the last resort. Knocking on doors at least gives neighbors a chance to say the "fuck you" you're assuming you'll get. You'd be surprised how rarely that happens. In the last five years, we've helped a neighbor fix a car we thought was abandoned, helped a church redirect lights that were shining straight through neighbors' windowshades, helped new neighbors contact the city for moving/parking permits and helped older neighbors clear snow from between and beneath parked cars to reduces neighborhood place holders to nearly none.

Had we gone right to the city or police with any or all of these, we would've unnecessarily diverted resources and almost certainly made life more miserable for both ourselves and our neighbors.