The Cambridge Department of Public Works started removing all space savers Wednesday — and reminded residents they’re never allowed on any public way.
“You don’t own the spot on the street. The city owns that spot,” said Cambridge City Councilor Marc McGovern. “And so, how do we work together? Cooperate with each other? Be a little more tolerant of each other, a little more considerate and nicer to each other?”
Cambridge’s public works department warned residents before making its sweep Wednesday, telling them they needed to take their items inside or they’d be removed by the city.
Parking restrictions are still in place on some narrow streets to maintain access for emergency vehicles, highlighted on a city map. According to the city’s update, those streets will be marked marked with either “flip-down” metal signs or temporary paper signs indicating no parking.
Snow operations and cleanup of snow remain active across the city.
McGovern said Cambridge city workers are doing the best they can with snow removal.
After digging out a spot in front of his home, McGovern said he returned at the end of the workday to find someone else in that parking spot.
“I share the frustration that people have. But, you know, this is snow, and we are in the Northeast,” he said. “So we gotta suck it up a little bit.”
In Boston, a snow parking dispute turned violent early Wednesday morning. Boston Police say one resident stabbed another at 1:25 a.m. along Evans Street in Dorchester following an argument over a parking space.
Some residents shared on social media that they’d assumed, since the city of Boston allows space savers for 48 hours, that same rule applied to Cambridge. But it does not — and so many days after the snow emergency was lifted, space savers are once again prohibited in Boston. (And space savers are never permitted in the South End and Bay Village.)
“I spent 30 minutes today looking for a spot in my neighborhood,” one Cambridge resident complained on Reddit. “This evening I was walking back home and passed three space savers. I threw every chair into the near-by snowdrifts.”
