The metal gate near the lamppost on Pearl Place in East Boston was blocking some residents from using a local shortcut. The city has since removed the gate.
(Christina Pazzanese for the Boston Globe)
Globe Watch
Private gate blocks a local shortcut
The metal gate near the lamppost on Pearl Place in East Boston was blocking some residents from using a local shortcut. The city has since removed the gate.
(Christina Pazzanese for the Boston Globe)
April 11, 2009
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What happens when private citizens appoint themselves gatekeepers of public property? A tipster who calls herself "an upset East Boston resident looking for answers" writes to tell GlobeWatch about a shortcut blocked by a newly installed fence erected by someone who apparently doesn't want the neighbors getting too familiar.
"I am writing in regards to a fence that has been put up in the Jeffries point area of East Boston. I am a senior citizen and have lived here for 65 years," our tipster writes. "During these years I have always used 'Pearl Place,' a public walk way between Webster Street and Marginal Street to get to the ocean-front park located here. Someone has interrupted this and put a fence up, thus blocking myself and all others from using it. This is public land and unless the City of Boston has put this fence up, how can anyone have a right to do this? . . . I've reported this to City Hall and have been told that 'They will look into it' time and time again. Still, no action has been taken. More bothersome, this fence has been removed previously and is now back up again. It's terrible. As the summer months approach, I and many others would like to be able to use this public walk way again. Please see to it that something is done."
With no signs or other indicators clearly identifying the walkway, it took a Globe reporter several tries to find Pearl Place. Wedged between two homes, from Webster Street it looks more like someone's private driveway than a public way. The only tip-offs are a cobblestone driveway marked with a stone line reminiscent of the Freedom Trail and two old-fashioned street lamps. About halfway down, a shiny, tall metal gate - closed, but unlocked - separated the cobblestone walk from a narrow, dirt footpath tightly tucked between two houses facing Marginal Street.
The city responds
Pearl Place is indeed city-owned property and was established as a public walkway in 1875, said Dennis Royer, commissioner of public works and transportation for the City of Boston.Though there are many public walkways and staircases dating to colonial times across the city, it's "a rarity" when residents so boldly try to annex public land for themselves, said Royer.
"We're not going to allow it," he said. On Thursday afternoon, DPW workers took down the fence, said Christopher Loh a city spokesman.
Royer noted this isn't the first time in the last few years that an illegal fence was put across Pearl Place and then removed by the city.
Boston's Inspectional Services Department issues warnings to residents who infringe on public property, and if necessary, files them in Boston Housing Court, said spokesman Lisa Timberlake. Anyone who wishes to report such violations is urged to call to the mayor's 24-hour constituent hotline at 617-635-4500.
CHRISTINA PAZZANESE
GlobeWatch
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