Tour Buses Idling for 90 Minutes at Harvard University

Harvard University attracts many tour buses. Some students complained that they were idling near their dorm windows along Mass Avenue near Harvard Square. City officials noted this and wondered about enforcing the state law against idling vehicles for more than 5 minutes. Some of the bus drivers looked for other less prominent places to wait for their passengers. Some of them found the block on Broadway between Quincy Street and Prescott Street across from my windows. It is a No Stopping Zone. Seldom are laws affecting Harvard enforced in Cambridge. Who would dare to give a summons to a University with $35 billion?
I noticed the bus idling at about 4:15 PM on Friday December 7, 2007. I went to the Senior Center to pick up the agenda for the City Council meeting on Monday December 10, 2007. When I returned at 5:45 PM the bus was still there still idling in a No Stopping Zone. I called to the police dispatcher explaining that it was 90 minutes since I noticed the bus idling. He said he would send someone. That does not mean that he would. They always say that. I suspect that there are some dispatchers who answer telephones and others who dispatch the patrol cars. Each of them has discretion what to do with the calls. At about 6:00 PM 105 minutes after I noticed the bus idling it was gone. This bus had a telephone number on it with an area code for Ohio. I'll bet he did not know about the idling law.

CELEBRITY SCOFFLAWS

From the online and TV gossip show, TMZ, these clips show Melanie Griffith, Julia Roberts and Britney Spears parked in spaces reserved for persons with disabilities.

Cambridge Role Models 2

This Cambridge Police patrol car was parked in a bus stop at about 1630 Mass Avenue near Linnaean Street, while the officer-driver was having dinner at Boca Raton at 1628 Mass Avenue at about 7:40 PM on Thursday Aug. 16, 2007.

Cambridge MA City Solicitor Parks Illegally

These photos were taken in June 2004. I had no blog at the time and the local newspapers refused to publish them. Cambridge MA City Solicitor, Donald Drisdell sits in his illegally parked car at the corner of Bishop Allen Drive and Inman Street near City Hall. He earns more than $125,000 per year and parks illegally regularly. City Parking and Traffic enforcement officers explain that even if they gave his vehicle a ticket it would be "knocked down." Drisdell along with a few other City officials have blue Massachusetts police license plates on his car as can be seen in other photos. In these photos he is parked too near the corner, the crosswalk, and too near a Stop Sign; but also other violations as can be seen from the four signs in addition to the Stop Sign where he is parked. On other occasions he parked at meters along Inman Street for several hours contrary to city ordinance. This is typical of the way that city officials show their contempt for law and abuse their power. If the "Broken Window" theory of policing applies to humans, this would suggest that there are greater concerns about the way that the City Solicitor does business.