Christian MilNeil | StreetsblogMASS | July 30, 2020
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2020/07/30/how-did-the-north-ends-car-owners-steal-a-public-playground/
Like many parking lots, the one on Foster Street in the North End is easy to overlook. It’s the kind of place that few people care about: a dead-end alleyway with trash collecting in its corners and about 18 cars parked haphazardly among its potholes.
But unlike most parking lots, this small plot of pavement is technically a public park.
According to the 2020 Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s directory, the 0.11 acre parcel at 15 Foster Street is officially known as “Foster Street Playground,” originally acquired as parkland in 1930.
In a March 2020 op-ed for NorthEndWaterfront.com, Peter Petrigno, an abutting property owner, recalled how car owners took advantage of the city’s neglect to take over the property:
“I played there everyday as a child. It was my backyard. As the demographics of the area changed and fewer children were playing there, the city completely abandoned the property. Cars eventually started parking there. When the city didn’t take notice, more cars parked there. After a number of years, someone apparently with connections to City Hall, had neighborhood parking signs posted. I say ‘apparently’ because the Public Works Department does not have jurisdiction of the property, and therefore would not post signs as a matter of their standard practice.”
A Boston Parks and Recreation Department official confirmed some of those details on Thursday.
“At some point in the late 80s, the community and local elected officials opted to convert the tot lot into parking. It is North End resident parking only,” wrote a spokesperson in an email message.
Now, after decades of neglect, the city is finally taking some responsibility for the property. But instead of planting trees and gardens or installing playground equipment, the city plans to surrender the property to private car storage by spending over $50,000 to pave the “park” under a fresh layer of asphalt.
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