As compared to other neighborhoods in Boston – and given the tight quarters of the neighborhood – Charlestown residents pulled their weight when it came to grabbing a shovel and getting to work throughout the Snowmageddon of the previous month.
City officials told the Patriot Bridge that from Jan. 23 through Feb. 18, there had been 3,868 violations sent out citywide for snow-related infringements. A majority of those violations, according to the Mayor’s Office, came due to property owners not shoveling their sidewalks – leaving no path through the mountains of white fluff.
However, of that total, only 322 were given out to Charlestown residents – comprising just less than 10 percent of the citywide total.
In Charlestown, one of the crucial arguments for getting sidewalks cleared is the fact that school children have to walk to school and the streets leading to the schools are often too narrow for a pedestrian and a vehicle.
Harvard Kent School Principal Jason Gallagher said he would give an ‘A’ not only to the job done by residents, but also to the jobs done by his custodial staff and the City in removing snow from around his building.
“As far as the neighborhood goes, we have been watching carefully and the kids who are walkers have had good attendance so they’ve obviously been able to make it to and from school,” he said. “It’s tough with the narrow sidewalks and I wasn’t sure how it would be, but it seems to be clear pathways. Parents have told me that their kids that walk are finding pathways, though narrow, to get through to school. Overall, I think things are really good and I think people did a good job around here given the amount of snow we had.”
Before coming back from February Break this week, Gallagher said he came in last Saturday to check out the routes and to see how the snow cover was at the Harvard Kent.
He said he was most surprised by the job that the City had done in clearing away all the snow so that school could resume without any major issues.
“As are as around the actual school goes, the City and our custodial staff have done a terrific job throughout this winter in keeping things clear,” he said. “The City did a great job of clearing our playground so the staff could park there and not have to take up spots on the neighborhood streets, which could cause problems. We’ll miss our playground, but hey, we can worry about that in the spring.”