People are digging out from yet another storm across all of Massachusetts. But residents of South Boston seem especially frustrated.
Snow shovels are everywhere in Southie, as people try to find their cars again under all the snow. Kyle Acomb summed up how a lot of them are feeling.
“There’s nowhere to put this stuff" he said. "I don’t know why they don’t clear out South Boston like they did the rest of the city.”
Seventy-two-year-old Harold Main says he’s been shoveling since the storms started. He says the city should be giving tickets to people who aren’t clearing sidewalks.
“If I can do it, they can do it,” he said.
And he says he’s not happy with how the city has responded in his neighborhood.
“They’re not getting on some of the side streets, and even on the main streets like D Street," he said. "I mean, they haven’t pushed it back far enough. Cars can barely pass. People are walking in the streets. Come on governor, come on Mayor: Get off your butts and do the right thing.”
On some of those side streets, snow is still deep enough for cars to get stuck.
"Where’s the money going to?" Bill Crowley asked. "Because there is no snow removal."
Crowley was hired to shovel out a parking lot across from his place.
"There’s got to be something to help us," he said. "They went to one-way streets all over the place. But there's got to be more they can do."
Those side streets are one-way because huge snow banks on either side make it just too narrow for more than one car to be on at a time. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says he’d be open to turning the streets of other neighborhoods into one-way roads, but it’s especially effective in South Boston because of the neighborhood’s grid system.
John Foley says it’s not clear enough that the roads are one-way.
"I think there should be more signage available," Foley said. "I saw one sign at the end of this street, but if you’re coming down F Street and you want to take a right on this street, there’s no sign prohibiting that."
All this snow is also a safety issue when it comes to possible fires. Rick Boggs and other firefighters from Ladder 18 work their way down West Broadway, digging out hydrants along the way.
“We just have to be able to get to these, be able to get to the caps on the side," Boggs said.
Getting to hydrants is only part of the challenge, when reaching a building that’s on fire could mean getting a ladder over a six-foot snow bank.
“The roofs themselves are tricky," Boggs said. "They’re all snow and ice up there. There’s definitely some extra hazards. Sometimes if it’s cold enough the hydrants are frozen and you can’t get any water out of them. So you just have to be ready for all of it. It’s part of working in Boston, I guess. You just got to come to look out for these things.”
Southie resident Tom McCarthy says there’s been one positive to come of the snow — a renewed sense of community.
“We had like, six, seven people on my street, we all worked together," McCarthy said. "Got the snow off the cars, so we got parking spots — because you know how valuable parking spots are. So you, know. It was nice to see everyone working together.”
And while it seems to many here that the snow may never be gone, McCarthy has his sights set on St. Patrick’s Day, in a very Southie take on optimism.
"Well, they got to get it clean for the parade, right?"
