Category: Editorial Page

The Case for Year-Round Street Sweeping

Yesterday, we walked by gutters filled with leaves and trash. The City of Boston forgot to tell Mother Nature that we only clean the leaves until November 30th, so she'd better make sure they all fall by then.

Even if our fall leaf season doesn't extend into December, the litter season in Boston is year-round. We also have a natural phenomenon called snow that makes its appearance from December 1st to March 31st.

Now, imagine what the city could look like and how easy it would be for everyone to get around and park cars to the curb, if the streets could be cleared to the curb on the next street cleaning day after a storm.

With the city's excellent notification system, it would be very easy to cancel street sweeping any time the conditions would not allow it. It's far more difficult to get cars to move with less warning in order to remove snow or give the streets a sweep when weather permits.

What's your take on year-round street sweeping?

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 4, 2013
The Case for Year-Round Street Sweeping

Yesterday, we walked by gutters filled with leaves and trash. The City of Boston forgot to tell Mother Nature that we only clean the leaves until November 30th, so she'd better make sure they all fall by then.

Even if our fall leaf season doesn't extend into December, the litter season in Boston is year-round. We also have a natural phenomenon called snow that makes its appearance from December 1st to March 31st.

Now, imagine what the city could look like and how easy it would be for everyone to get around and park cars to the curb, if the streets could be cleared to the curb on the next street cleaning day after a storm.

With the city's excellent notification system, it would be very easy to cancel street sweeping any time the conditions would not allow it. It's far more difficult to get cars to move with less warning in order to remove snow or give the streets a sweep when weather permits.

What's your take on year-round street sweeping?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 4, 2013
The Case for Year-Round Street Sweeping

Yesterday, we walked by gutters filled with leaves and trash. The City of Boston forgot to tell Mother Nature that we only clean the leaves until November 30th, so she'd better make sure they all fall by then.

Even if our fall leaf season doesn't extend into December, the litter season in Boston is year-round. We also have a natural phenomenon called snow that makes its appearance from December 1st to March 31st.

Now, imagine what the city could look like and how easy it would be for everyone to get around and park cars to the curb, if the streets could be cleared to the curb on the next street cleaning day after a storm.

With the city's excellent notification system, it would be very easy to cancel street sweeping any time the conditions would not allow it. It's far more difficult to get cars to move with less warning in order to remove snow or give the streets a sweep when weather permits.

What's your take on year-round street sweeping?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 4, 2013
Boston Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars Available Online

Once upon a time (just a short time ago), you had to go to city hall to obtain a resident parking permit for a rental car. We learned that you can now apply and get a permit online so we tried it for our recent Provincetown trip. If you don't own a car, like us, and plan a few fall weekends away, this new service may come in handy.

We rented this Passat with New Jersey plates. Once we had the car, we went online to the city's page for "Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars," read the instructions, filled out the form, faxed a copy of our rental contract, proof of residencey (our cable bill), and the confirmation of our application to the city. They emailed a copy of our permit which we printed and put in the car's rear window.

Better, But Can Be Improved

This is much easier but still way behind the times. You should be able to carry out the entire process by email. You can grab a pdf of a cable, utility, or tax bill. The rental company probably sent you a copy of the rental via text or email. And, the city should be able to accept those forms via email.

What's more, they should be able to handle a simple transaction like this 24/7. We applied on a Saturday morning and had to wait until Monday to get our permit. That left us vunerable to parking tickets and ticked off neighbords over the weekend. Our solution was to leave a rear window note – explaining that the car was a rental belonging to a resident – along with a copy of our confirmation of applying for the permit.

If the mayor's hot line can operate 24/7 so can many more city services.

The city says,

"At this time, the new system is not available weekends and residents who pick up their vehicles after 3 PM will not be able to go online for a temporary permit.

These residents are eligible to have "Resident Parking Only" tickets cancelled by forwarding a proof of residency at their Boston address and a copy of the vehicle rental agreement to the Office of the Parking Clerk."

Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your Fall Shopping List? Click here for Fall Season Savings over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 BostonZest

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

September 27, 2013
Boston Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars Available Online

Once upon a time (just a short time ago), you had to go to city hall to obtain a resident parking permit for a rental car. We learned that you can now apply and get a permit online so we tried it for our recent Provincetown trip. If you don't own a car, like us, and plan a few fall weekends away, this new service may come in handy.

We rented this Passat with New Jersey plates. Once we had the car, we went online to the city's page for "Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars," read the instructions, filled out the form, faxed a copy of our rental contract, proof of residencey (our cable bill), and the confirmation of our application to the city. They emailed a copy of our permit which we printed and put in the car's rear window.

Better, But Can Be Improved

This is much easier but still way behind the times. You should be able to carry out the entire process by email. You can grab a pdf of a cable, utility, or tax bill. The rental company probably sent you a copy of the rental via text or email. And, the city should be able to accept those forms via email.

What's more, they should be able to handle a simple transaction like this 24/7. We applied on a Saturday morning and had to wait until Monday to get our permit. That left us vunerable to parking tickets and ticked off neighbords over the weekend. Our solution was to leave a rear window note – explaining that the car was a rental belonging to a resident – along with a copy of our confirmation of applying for the permit.

If the mayor's hot line can operate 24/7 so can many more city services.

The city says,

"At this time, the new system is not available weekends and residents who pick up their vehicles after 3 PM will not be able to go online for a temporary permit.

These residents are eligible to have "Resident Parking Only" tickets cancelled by forwarding a proof of residency at their Boston address and a copy of the vehicle rental agreement to the Office of the Parking Clerk."

Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your Fall Shopping List? Click here for Fall Season Savings over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 BostonZest

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

September 27, 2013
Boston Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars Available Online

Once upon a time (just a short time ago), you had to go to city hall to obtain a resident parking permit for a rental car. We learned that you can now apply and get a permit online so we tried it for our recent Provincetown trip. If you don't own a car, like us, and plan a few fall weekends away, this new service may come in handy.

We rented this Passat with New Jersey plates. Once we had the car, we went online to the city's page for "Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars," read the instructions, filled out the form, faxed a copy of our rental contract, proof of residencey (our cable bill), and the confirmation of our application to the city. They emailed a copy of our permit which we printed and put in the car's rear window.

Better, But Can Be Improved

This is much easier but still way behind the times. You should be able to carry out the entire process by email. You can grab a pdf of a cable, utility, or tax bill. The rental company probably sent you a copy of the rental via text or email. And, the city should be able to accept those forms via email.

What's more, they should be able to handle a simple transaction like this 24/7. We applied on a Saturday morning and had to wait until Monday to get our permit. That left us vunerable to parking tickets and ticked off neighbords over the weekend. Our solution was to leave a rear window note – explaining that the car was a rental belonging to a resident – along with a copy of our confirmation of applying for the permit.

If the mayor's hot line can operate 24/7 so can many more city services.

The city says,

"At this time, the new system is not available weekends and residents who pick up their vehicles after 3 PM will not be able to go online for a temporary permit.

These residents are eligible to have "Resident Parking Only" tickets cancelled by forwarding a proof of residency at their Boston address and a copy of the vehicle rental agreement to the Office of the Parking Clerk."

Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your Fall Shopping List? Click here for Fall Season Savings over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 BostonZest

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

September 27, 2013
George Washington, Refreshed & Renewed

Last week, we told you why the Statue of George Washington in the Public Garden was under wraps.

Today, we give you photos of our first Commander in Chief all polished up and renewed. The conservators have even replaced his sword blade.

Unfortunately, the replacement blades are plastic, these days, since this part of the memorial is so often vandalized.

The art conservators who work to restore this statue (and know what they are doing) won't climb on it without building a scafolding to protect the fragile base of the monument.

But, obviously the criminal element who climb it to steal the sword or deface it with promotional material for area sporting events don't care if they damage it.

Nor, do they care about the people who come here from all over the world and would like to take a photograph of the statue with the sword and without the addition of a tacky sports ad.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 27, 2013
George Washington, Refreshed & Renewed

Last week, we told you why the Statue of George Washington in the Public Garden was under wraps.

Today, we give you photos of our first Commander in Chief all polished up and renewed. The conservators have even replaced his sword blade.

Unfortunately, the replacement blades are plastic, these days, since this part of the memorial is so often vandalized.

The art conservators who work to restore this statue (and know what they are doing) won't climb on it without building a scafolding to protect the fragile base of the monument.

But, obviously the criminal element who climb it to steal the sword or deface it with promotional material for area sporting events don't care if they damage it.

Nor, do they care about the people who come here from all over the world and would like to take a photograph of the statue with the sword and without the addition of a tacky sports ad.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 27, 2013
George Washington, Refreshed & Renewed

Last week, we told you why the Statue of George Washington in the Public Garden was under wraps.

Today, we give you photos of our first Commander in Chief all polished up and renewed. The conservators have even replaced his sword blade.

Unfortunately, the replacement blades are plastic, these days, since this part of the memorial is so often vandalized.

The art conservators who work to restore this statue (and know what they are doing) won't climb on it without building a scafolding to protect the fragile base of the monument.

But, obviously the criminal element who climb it to steal the sword or deface it with promotional material for area sporting events don't care if they damage it.

Nor, do they care about the people who come here from all over the world and would like to take a photograph of the statue with the sword and without the addition of a tacky sports ad.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 27, 2013
Do Not Block Intersection! State Law, $150 Fine

As one of the key alternate routes, traffic coming across the Harvard Bridge (Mass Ave Bridge) onto Massachusetts Avenue in both directions was under careful scrutiny at the start of the Longfellow Bridge Project.

We don't know if the new grid patterns painted on intersections and the addtion of signs to the lights was a direct result of having a police officer on every block. But, these things did happen at the same time.

Obviously, it will take more than signs. It will take enforcement and a few fines to make any progress towards the goal of avoiding gridlock by convincing Boston drivers to obey the law.

That law says, "The driver of a motor vehicle shall not cross or enter an intersection, which it is unable to proceed through, without stopping and thereby blocking vehicles from travelling in a free direction. A green light is no defense to blocking the intersection. The driver must wait another cycle of the signal light, if necessary." Here's a link that that section of the Massachusetts laws.

It is also illegal to stop in any crosswalk:

"…nor shall any such operator enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is crossing or until there is a sufficient space beyond the crosswalk to accommodate the vehicle he is operating, notwithstanding that a traffic control signal may indicate that vehicles may proceed." Here's a link to that section of the Massachusetts laws.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a birthday or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

August 20, 2013