When the DNC hits Beantown for its national convention this July, getting around town is going it become a living hell for the millions of men and women who live and work in Metro Boston. In particular, the 25,000 commuters who get to work via the rail line will no longer be able to take the train all the way into the city due to security concerns. The FleetCenter, where the convention is scheduled to take place, sits at the hub of the city's transportation network. Boston residents are understandably upset.
"It would be bedlam to close North Station," said Lorri Seaver, a Newburyport resident who works at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. "It affects all the hospitals, everybody around here. It's like closing a city. How do you do that?"Many commuters said they felt ignored, that officials glibly plotted station closings for the sake of the convention without contemplating the possible disruption to their lives.
"Had they asked people who actually commute. . ." one woman snapped last week, making it known that she would have opposed anything remotely like closing North Station.
To add insult to injury, Penn Station, an even larger transportation center than Boston's North Station, is scheduled to remain open during the GOP convention in New York this August.
"How come New York has fewer concerns than Boston?" queried Salem resident Gifford Campbell, a bartender who stopped at North Station yesterday for a cup of coffee. "It makes no sense to me at all."Andover resident Tom Raymo has been weighing the injustice during his 45-minute rides, wondering why a major transportation hub could remain open in Manhattan — the victim of a terrorist attack three years ago — during the Republican convention while North Station would not.
"I think it's pretty safe to say people think it's pretty outrageous," Raymo said.
Republican Governor Mitt Romney has an elegent solution to the problem: simply move the convention to the newer, larger convention center in South Boston.
``It would clearly be easier if this were being held at the new convention center . . . it doesn't have trains coming into it, subway stops and a big roadway next to it,'' Romney said. ``I would love to see it there.''
Additionally, holding the convention in South Boston would highlight the urban renewal taking place in that part of town and pump much needed revenue into area businesses:
"I'm not a Democrat, but it would mean extra money for the neighborhood. We could use extra money," said Bill Foley, 37, a lifelong South Boston resident. "I think it would be great if they came here. It's my neighborhood."Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
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Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
this whole thing is very misleading...because what you're leaving out is the fact that it was the MBTA's idea to shut down north station, not the dnc's. the secret service is involved as well.
oh yea, those evil dems...in addition to eating their babies and practicing witchcraft, they now want to stomp on the working class.
sure thing.
2 - bhw
This is why Boston shall forever remain rinky dink: it's full of whiners. Boston gets a convention and the suburban drones bitch about being inconvenienced for a few days, rather than show pride that their city was chosen over the other competitors.
I'm sure the DNC and RNC will both remember all the complaining the next time around, too.
3 - Shark
Shed a tear for Boston and vote for Bush.
Scott, I love you, man!
I'm just glad to know there's someone as whacked out, obsessive, and single-minded as I am.
We might even cancel each other out.
~ Uh-oh. That means Flanagan is still on the loose.
(shark handing stun-gun to Hal P.)
4 - Scott Pepper
Single-minded?!?!? I spend more time on my American Idol reviews than all other posting combined, including the political garbage...
Also, I'm still on the fence as to who gets my vote in November.
5 - JR
Aha! So you admit your political posts are garbage.
6 - Scott Pepper
99% of writing on politics is garbage.
7 - Mark Saleski
since 99% of politics is garbage, that about makes sense.
8 - JR
I wonder what percent of garbage is politics...
9 - Eric Olsen
no, politics goes in the recycle bin
10 - Shark
...because it's plastic!
~bada-bing!
11 - Shark
re: American Idol
Yeah, Scott, I was just SHOCKED that there would be racist reviews on a Fox TV web site. Even more shocked that anyone with a brain stem would pay any attention to 'em.
~zzzzzzzzz