Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Well, you know it must be Christmas time in Boston when Mayor Menino embarks on his annual Christmas Eve walk down Geneva Avenue in Dorchester to greet the commoners and show everyone what a safe, crime-free utopia we live in. Of course, it helps that this little P.R. charade of his takes place in the middle of the day and has him "surrounded by an entourage" of armed police details and adoring media outlets.
Gee, Mr. Mayor, it's too bad you didn't schedule your little stroll for 6:30 the following evening down on Barry Street in Dorchester. Mr. Baptiste's family sure could have used some of that "assurance" so generously doled out to the people of Boston via your little publicity stunt there.
Or maybe you could have swung by the Madison Village projects in Roxbury with your entourage. There's another family who could use of your "assurance".
Or maybe, you could have talked your entourage into staying out even later that night and swinging by Waverly Street in Roxbury to bring some of that cuddly, feel-good, holiday "assurance" to this gentleman before he bled to death on the streets of your "safe city".
I'll understand though, if that would have interfered with your chestnut-roasting schedule.
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da. Happy new year, Boston.
A decade ago, one of the fatal gunshots that rang out frequently on Dorchester's Geneva Avenue claimed the life of an innocent grocery owner shot in a scuffle with a masked man over $4.
Yesterday, as Mayor Thomas M. Menino took his annual Christmas Eve walk down the street, the AMC grocer where Manuel Monteiro was shot is now a laundromat whose owner's biggest complaint is customers passing counterfeit $20s.
[snip]
"This area was riddled with a lot of violence," said Menino, surrounded by an entourage. "I wanted to give people assurance and make sure it's a safer place."
Gee, Mr. Mayor, it's too bad you didn't schedule your little stroll for 6:30 the following evening down on Barry Street in Dorchester. Mr. Baptiste's family sure could have used some of that "assurance" so generously doled out to the people of Boston via your little publicity stunt there.
A 26-year-old Dorchester father about to have Christmas dinner with his family was ambushed by a gang of three men who jumped out of the bushes and fired several shots at him and a friend as they sat in a car parked outside his house, police and friends say.
Or maybe you could have swung by the Madison Village projects in Roxbury with your entourage. There's another family who could use of your "assurance".
A Christmas Eve shooting left a young man in critical condition last night after suffering gunshot blasts to the chest in a Roxbury housing complex, police said.
Or maybe, you could have talked your entourage into staying out even later that night and swinging by Waverly Street in Roxbury to bring some of that cuddly, feel-good, holiday "assurance" to this gentleman before he bled to death on the streets of your "safe city".
Around 3 a.m. yesterday, the body of an older, unknown black man was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of Verizon offices on Waverly Street in Roxbury. His was the 64th homicide this year.
I'll understand though, if that would have interfered with your chestnut-roasting schedule.
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da. Happy new year, Boston.
