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Allston Domino's says late-night delivery would mean less crime, fewer drunk drivers and health insurance for single moms
By adamg on Wed, 03/28/2012 - 5:28pm
For 20 minutes today, a meeting of the Boston Licensing Board became a battleground for the very soul of Allston.
In one corner, a Domino's franchise owner who wants to be able to deliver pizza until 3 a.m. every night of the week and the night owls who vow to consume its food. In the other corner, the Allston Civic Association and residents who say they just want to be able to sleep through the night. In the middle: The three members of the licensing board, who vote tomorrow on whether to let the franchise extend its hours to 3 a.m. every day, rather than just on Fridays and Saturdays.
Willam Mohan, a consultant to Domino's, said the issue was not really pizza but the benefits late-night pizza delivery would mean for the neighborhood: The extra hours would mean 12 new jobs - and he specifically cited single moms wondering how they would pay for doctor visits as an example of the sort of people Domino's would hire. More drivers would mean safer streets because they would call 911 if they saw any shady characters lurking about. And last pizza at 3 a.m. would mean fewer drunks roaming the streets of Allston because they'd be calling Domino's to deliver.
Mohan on drunks.
Mohan said it's not the 1980s anymore and people have to realize that Allston is a changed neighborhood, full of people who are up in the wee hours and who need something to eat. Residents who supported the application said Allston is now full of residents who work late shifts who need what one called Domino's "healthy" food and who should be afforded the same conveniences as residents who work more traditional hours.
Neighbor supports Domino's.
Paul Berkeley, president of the Allston Civic Association, countered he is tired of people telling him he has to accept noise and inconvenience as part of living in a city. City residents deserve the quiet enjoyment of their homes as much as anybody else and every time somebody like Domino's extends their hours, that's more time that commercial enterprises intrude on residential spaces.
Berkeley on hours.
Berkeley was supported by a woman with a young child:
Resident opposes Domino's.
Both sides stumbled on contradictions. Mohan said Domino's is already legally delivering at all hours of the night in Allston - but from stores in Fenway, where it closes at 3 a.m., and Mission Hill, where it never closes. If so, why is an Allston outlet so vitally important? On the other side, Berkeley did not answer why, if Domino's is already delivering so late in Allston, moving the delivery site closer to customers will make that much of a difference.
The mayor's office and city councilors Mark Ciommo and Steve Murphy opposed the proposed license extension.
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Comments
If they want to "sleep through the night"
Maybe they shouldn't order pizza at 3am?
Misread
It's those who don't want the added hours who hope to sleep through the night.
I lived in Allston for two years and always wondered where the civic association lurked. Rare was the day that I saw someone in Allston under the apparent age of 26.
Apparently you've never been
Apparently you've never been up on Sunday am around 7-8am. Allston is crawling with older folk around then. Its almost another place.
Two can play at this game!
Well in that case, I think businesses shouldn't open until 11:00 am, cuz all the people banging their doors in the morning keep me from sleeping.
It's not really a
It's not really a contradiction. They may want to dispatch drivers locally instead of the longer distance. False equivalence, Adam.
I see Paul brought the hysterical lady with him. She doesn't make any sense. I think she brought up "people slamming their car doors at night" at one point. How does she know that it's delivery folks doing it, and not the myriad of other people who could be on her street?
Not only is Dominoes-Fenway delivering late in Allston, but so is Pizza Days on Brighton Ave -- which was supported by the ACA.
So, what gives? Did Dominoes piss off some politicos? With an inconsistency like this, it strikes me that there's something ulterior going on.
On the health insurance issue
I used to think it was progressive for businesses to offer health insurance to people who make low wages and don't work full-time, but in reality with the families I work with, I find that it's actually somewhat of a disservice unless the employer is picking up the whole tab (which I really doubt Domino's is doing).
Where I work, the cheapest health insurance plan is about $70 a week from the employee's paycheck for a family plan. If you don't work full-time, your contribution is higher, up to about $110 a week for people working 20 hours per week.
If you're an entry-level person working 20 hours a week at $10 an hour, you're making $200 a week, out of which $110 is taken for insurance, about $30 is taken for taxes, and you take home about $60. But you can't get MassHealth or Commonwealth Care, because your job is offering you insurance.
While we really should just have a single-payer system, it doesn't actually benefit the working poor for places like Domino's to offer health insurance to people who don't make much more than minimum wage.
Cities mean people, which means noise
Look, the reality of living in a city is that you have to deal with having a lot of other people around. Not all of them will be on the same schedule as you. While going about their lives, they will make noise. For me, not having total peace and quiet is a trade-off I'm willing to make to live near restaurants, museums, shopping, etc.
It's totally reasonable to ask your neighbor to turn down loud music late at night, but it's not reasonable to expect the entire city to shut down. Regardless of how late Domino's can deliver pizza, there will be folks out and about at all hours of the day/night.
If I am ever compelled to
If I am ever compelled to attend a city meeting to oppose late-night pizza delivery, I hope someone will have the sense to just put me out of my misery as it's a sure sign I've given up on life.
The assclown that is
The assclown that is representing Dominos is a moron. How is staying open that late going to create 12 extra jobs? How many single moms do you think deliver pizza? Let alond deliver pizza late at night? Then he goes on to say "More drivers would mean safer streets because they would call 911 if they saw any shady characters lurking about. And last pizza at 3 a.m. would mean fewer drunks roaming the streets of Allston because they'd be calling Domino's to deliver"
Really? Have you ever delivered pizza? Everyone lurking about at 3 am looks shady. Why? Because you are ALONE at night in the dark with money and that makes you a target for robbery. No one is going to be calling 911 because of shady characters. That is just assinine. Fewer drunks roaming the streets? That is moronic! Just fucking stupid! Do you really think that because dominos delivers later that it will keep drunks off the street? Do you really think that these drunks are on the streets drinking and driving because they cant get your shitty pizza? No, they aren't they are on the streets driving to get home from the bar or a buddys house. The only thing that dominos sees or cares about here is making more money. Why do you think they treat their drivers like shit? Why do you think that they pay their drivers LESS than minimum wage to risk their lives to deliver shitty pizza? Yes, drivers risk their lives every time they leave the store, not only from the idiot drivers out there but they are a target for robbery. But Dominos and other pizza companies don't care about that, they force them to take deliveries to places where they could get robbed and pay them shit.