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City, state officials try to scare people away from Salem on Halloween
By adamg on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 4:28pm
Seriously, just stay away, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and Gov. Baker said today. Driscoll said the city is so worried about becoming a superspreader it's canceling events and spending money on advertising to warn people to find something else to do that night. "This is not the year to come to Salem," Driscoll said. Also, MBTA commuter-rail trains will be bypassing Salem on numerous runs.
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Comments
Already big crowds early this month
Was working in Salem for several days during the first week of October--including that sunny weekend, which attracted big crowds. Most folks masked. But definitely concerning--as crowds there get bigger and bigger as Halloween approaches.
A spookerspreader in Salem is
A spookerspreader in Salem is still safer than South Boston, where cars will be Trunk or Treating.
Should protesting also be
Should protesting also be discouraged in Salem?
Has there been a lot of those
Has there been a lot of those in Salem lately?
A prompt Google search
A prompt Google search undecided there has been (during pandemic). Glad to know those are ok but Halloween isn’t.
Post the links
Post the links . So we can see how large these massive protests were
Goodness
Based on your posting history tonight, all I can suggest to you is this:
Alternately, you could try not making comments that prompt a first reaction of “this is so incoherent that I’m kind of worried that our habitual troll is actually having a major medical issue.”
Please don't make fun of
Please don't make fun of stroke victims.
You're still an ass.....
Haven't been on this site in a while, but it's nice to see that one of the bigger jack asses in Uhub history is still going strong.
Protesting is typically
Protesting is typically something that people do because of issues that gravely affect their lives or the lives of those dear to them.
Trick or treating and partying is not
So whiny.
I enjoy the whiny, snowflake-y “wahhhhh! People protested 4 months ago but I don’t get to do my frivolous activity” non sequiturs.
These people would show up to a house fire during a drought and ask the fire department “why, during a water ban, is this house getting hosed down when I can’t water my lawn?”
Ok
Ok
Protesting during pandemic not ideal
State actors murdering black people during a pandemic even less ideal, so maybe we can stop doing that and see what happens.
What could be the difference??
The difference is that protests are short, outside and generally involve locals and not a whole lot of booze. In the pictures that I have seen, the protesters are mainly wearing masks (except for those protesting masks.)
Salem "Halloween" lasts for the entire month, involves a lot of going in and out of small shops and waiting in line to get into the small shops. It is also bringing in people who should be doing a 2-week quarantine, but probably aren't. I'm worried not just for Salem but for all the places to which these tourists will return.
In your Google search, did you find any situation where a protest a hotspot? There were a lot of worries about it, but I didn't see any place where the a protest started an outbreak.
There were several BLM protests in Salem in the spring.
Hey, jackass, it’s ok to
Hey, jackass, it’s ok to disagree on things and still be friends
But the freedom to assembly is kind of a big deal. Not to mention that it wasn’t planned for George Floyd’s lynching to happen during a pandemic but Halloween happens every year and it typical over takes an entire town so maybe you can use some -fucking- common sense the next time you think.
You gotta be quite daft to go
You gotta be quite daft to go to Salem right now. All the events are canceled so what are you going to do there? Stuff you could do any other month but with more people/virus carriers around.
You'd have to be quite daft to go to Salem
anytime during October when the events haven't been cancelled. At least this year, there's no chance of a Red Sox parade falling on Halloween.
get a coffee. walk around.
get a coffee. walk around. go hang out by the lighthouse by the customs house. look at the graveyard. see some costumes. go check out the tank.
Walk around The Point neighborhood
and see all of the outdoor art there.
I think it’s a great idea to
I think it’s a great idea to cancel Halloween events and private parties, limit business hours and capacity, and close parking garages.
But I think it’s offensive to suspend MBTA service. It’s a slap in the face to residents and essential workers who don’t have cars or who aren’t able to drive for medical reasons.
The MBTA changes are bad for North Shore residents
Anyone who needs to commute from Boston back to Salem, or from Salem to towns further north, is having their routine disrupted for no good reason. Not everyone riding these trains is doing so for frivolous reasons.
I sympathize, but...
...a superspreader weekend is worse.
And worse
The mayor's press conference was live cast on Facebook but the microphone was so far at a distance that no one online could hear what was being said. The "chat" side bar was full of people saying "I can't hear you" and no one took any action to fix the problem. Salem needs a lesson in technology.
The cut backs on trains will impact people that work in Boston as well as those who reverse commute to work in Salem and that was not addressed what so ever. Some people have to work to put bread on the table. And many of the businesses in Salem, including the non-"witchy" ones need the Halloween business to carry them through the winter months. If you thought Boston was losing restaurants, watch Salem next. As it is there are a lot of businesses there that lock up after Christmas and do not re-open till spring because in the winter the city turns into a ghost town (no pun intended).
Also not addressed is that the #450 and #455 bus operate to and from Wonderland Station (Blue Line) to Salem Station on weekends and those buses already carry a lot of working-class people, and it is likely that the throngs will just switch to that as their access to the city... not to mention ride share services. Here comes the peak pricing.
I seem to remember reading someplace that the Salem station is the 5th busiest on the Commuter rail system in the MBTA network, and that is outside of the Halloween spike in service.
The buses will be a horrible
The buses will be a horrible overcrowded disaster. A tiny fraction of a trainload of people will crush load a bus.
Cutting all rail access to a city of 173,000 people is incredibly stupid.
I'm all in favor of limiting
I'm all in favor of limiting business hours and capacity, canceling events and private parties, and restricting parking. But this suspension of MBTA service is stupid and offensive. It's a slap in the face to residents and essential workers who don't have cars or who are unable to drive.
You...
...already said that.
When you're an anon,
When you're an anon, sometimes Adam misses you're post and doesn't approve it. And sometimes he gets to it after a while. At the time I posted the second one, he hadn't approved the first one.
Thanks for the thought, but our routines are already disrupted.
After a horrible ride home on a Friday Halloween, I started taking Halloween off. My last Halloween train trip was spent in the section between the cars, terrified that one of the many drunken kids flapping around would push me out the door. It was clear from the crowd at North Station that waiting for a later train was not an option.
On normal Halloweens, the MBTA parking garage is full of tourists, trains start skipping the station in the evening, the streets nearby are closed and those that are open are clogged with traffic. This is just one more thing.
But you did get home. Much
But you did get home. Much better than being stranded at North Station or dumped unexpectedly in Beverly.
This year's MBTA suspension is for more than just Halloween itself. It's for October 23, 24, 25, 30, and 31.