SOFAS IN THE ROAD!

“...for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (from 2 Corinthians 3:6)

Yesterday on his radio show, WTKK’s Michael Graham was talking about the phenomenon and tradition of residents of places such as South Boston and East Boston who shovel out a parking space in front of the building in which they live and then “claim it” by leaving a orange traffic cones, or trash cans, or a lounge chair, or maybe even an old refrigerator to “claim” the space as “theirs”. In fact, this is NOT just something which happens within the city limits of Boston or Cambridge. On the southernmost strip of Grant Street, Framingham, (near Howard Street) in the downtown Framingham area you can drive by and see an interesting assortment of chairs, appliances, etc. “claiming” residents’ parking spaces.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino had taken a lot of criticism for a policy he’s implemented which states a person who shovels out in one of the city’s congested neighborhood WILL BE ALLOWED to do one of those “claim it with a sofa” routines for up to 48 hours after the end of a snowstorm. After that, city workers are told to haul away the sofas, bookcases, and refrigerators as trash.

Michael Graham thinks the practice of people shoveling out and “claiming:” public parking spaces is ridiculous. He believes the practice should not be allowed and that if you see a lounge chair “claiming” a spot where you want to park, you should just move the lounge chair and park there. Well, I think we’d all like to SEE Michael Graham do that and then see what might take place! I think we’d all agree that TECHNICALLY Michael Graham (and those who agree with him) ARE correct. The street IS a public street. A person who lives adjacent to a parking space has no more right to it than that guy in Natick with whom I had the little incident on last fourth of July. (The guy in Natick thought the TOWN property in front of his house where my daughter and I were watching the parade was HIS land- and it wasn’t.) I get that technically that parking space belongs to the city- it’s public and anybody can use it. BUT, to quote my father, the late Eugene A. Baril, “there’s such a thing as COMMON SENSE.” I don’t want to put words in his mouth because I’m not 100% sure where he’d have come down on this issue but I THINK he’d sympathize with the guy who’d shoveled out the space in front of his house. I can just hear my father saying, in his loud, dramatic, blue-collar, Boston-accented manner, “WELL, where’s the guy supposed to PAHHK his Chevy Impala, ON THE MOON??!!”

If you LIVE there and there’s nowhere else to park, it’s just kind of common sense that you can claim the space in front of your house! NOW, there ARE admittedly better ways for municipalities to handle this stuff than just allowing people to put sofas and refrigerators out in the street. In some neighborhoods in Boston, there are designated Resident Parking areas. I think that’s the case in much of the North End. My understanding is you PAY for an annual sticker for the designated Resident Parking area, and you can park in front of, or at least very close to, your house. Framingham also has areas which are designated as “Resident Parking Only”. I’m not sure why Grant Street is NOT designated that way, but perhaps the Town should look at expanding the Resident Parking Only areas.

In the meantime, those who have nowhere to park should “have no fear”! Just park in Michael Graham’s driveway in “East Worcesterboro” and have him shuttle you to and from the city!