"Tent city raises issues about use of public park; Cambridge’s homeless population grows" by Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | October 8, 2009
CAMBRIDGE - After peddling donated books in Harvard Square each day, Kenneth O’Brien packs up his belongings and family and heads around the corner to a city-owned park, where he sets up for the night.
As darkness falls, O’Brien and his girlfriend, Earlene French, prepare for bed in a new encampment in Flagstaff Park staked out by the homeless, who huddle under tents while the bright lights of vehicles swirl around them. “This is where we want to be,’’ O’Brien said.
Recently, the camp, located at a park at the junction of Garden Street and Massachusetts Avenue, has been a source of intrigue among passersby and on YouTube, where videos proclaim a new tent city rising at Harvard’s front doors.
Yup, TRILLIONS for WARS, BANKS, etc, but NOTHING AT ALL for YOU, American people!!!
Related: Harvard's Untouchables
Back-to-School Series: At the End of the Day
The homeless aren't getting anywhere hear there.
The camp has also placed Cambridge authorities in a quandary as they wrestle with the legality of removing harmless homeless people from public land and with the question of what to do with O’Brien, a longtime Harvard Square fixture who has wrangled with them on other issues.
Where is the LIBERAL COMPASSION I have heard so much about, Cambridge?
Nothing but a bunch of ELITIST LIMOUSINE LIBERALS who TALK S***!
“Everybody knows he’s there, but nobody knows what to do with him,’’ said Officer Eric Helberg, who conducts homeless outreach for the Police Department. “It’s technically a public park and open to public use, but how far that goes - that is the question.’’
Cambridge, known for its prestigious institutions and intellectual flavor, also has a growing reputation as a haven for the homeless.
That is a STAIN UPON AMERICA, folks!
There should not be ONE HOMELESS PERSON ANYWHERE in AmeriKa!
The Cambridge area has seen its homeless population increase by 33 percent, from 487 in 2008 to 651 in 2009, officials say. Panhandlers flock to high-traffic areas in Central and Harvard squares.
Related:
"Earlier this month, police wrapped up a 30-day sting involving plainclothes officers mimicking tourists and other pedestrians. Once they were panhandled, they essentially became victims guaranteed to show up for a trial"
Yeah, the Boston cops got time to cruise the strip, bust brothels, hang out in bars, buy drugs, and worry about cellphones while ROBBERIES, RAPES, and MURDERS go UNSOLVED!!!
See: Who Remembers Timothy Finch?
Others, including those weary of shelters, have been pitching tents in the woods, behind buildings, and in public parks in a struggle for autonomy.
Yeah, you may be living outside but at least you are INDEPENDENT, homeless! I'd ask you how you felt about the insult, but I doubt you have access to the web.
“Sadly, they are out there all year round,’’ said Meghan Goughan, a Cambridge homeless advocate.
That means in COLD, SNOW, and RAIN, folks -- because they WANT to be there, right?
Jim Greene, who directs Boston’s Emergency Shelter Commission, said such encampments are common in the Boston and Cambridge areas.
And BANKS MADE BILLIONS last quarter!
Greene said the camps raise a larger issue about how to move homeless people off the streets and into homes they can afford....
Yeah, just make them go away so we don't have to look at them and feel guilt.
The homeless are also finding the Cambridge Common very attractive, especially at night when it is not heavily traveled, Helberg said. But residents began complaining, and over the summer police cleared a band of homeless people who were sleeping there.
So far, however, authorities have left O’Brien and his friends alone. “We don’t do the Common, because the Common is a drinking crowd, and we don’t do that here,’’ O’Brien said. O’Brien, 56, has been on the streets for 35 years....
About 10:30 that night, O’Brien and French were in their tent relaxing under a cool breeze over coffee, cigarettes, and conversation. Inside their tent were two chairs, two tables, and a new sleeping bag to shield them from the cold....
Almost as if it were ANY HOME, huh?
I'm sorry, readers, but I really am getting sick of the s*** journalism by the BG day after day. Such insulting, elitist garbage!
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Tent City
Camping Out in Rhode Island
It's Not Your Father's Homeless Anymore
Polanski the Pervert (second item down)
Tent cities popping up all over the Palestinian States of Amer... I mean United States of America, readers.
