Dorchester North Neighborhood Association
Meeting Minutes – September 11, 2025
Meeting held in person at the Annapolis Street Community Room and via Zoom.
Police Report – Officer Downing
Officer Downing began the meeting with a review of recent neighborhood incidents:
- Robbery (Sumner St): A particularly concerning incident occurred when two well dressed suspects—described as a couple—approached a resident who was sitting on her porch on a Saturday afternoon. They struck up a friendly conversation, engaged for about 20 min, and then robbed the resident of her jewelry before leaving. The conversation is to probe and size up the situation.
- Assault and Battery (Columbia Road) – woman was charging her phone when another woman said she was in her seat and hit her when she refused to move.
- Breaking and Entering (Columbia Road) – 5 youth broke into a vacant triple decker. The officers evicted them and arrested one that had a tool for breaking in.
Key reminders from Officer Downing:
- Call 911 to report suspicious activity. Even if something seems minor or not an emergency, it is important to call. Calls create a record of activity in our neighborhood, and this record is what the department relies on to determine patrol levels. Without a call, there is no official record.
- 911 is not just for emergencies. Dispatchers will ensure calls are routed to the appropriate department if necessary.
- Increased calls = increased patrols. The more issues reported, the more police presence we receive.
- Engage with the Community Engagement Team. These officers are meant to be visible and approachable. If you see them in the neighborhood, say hello—they want to connect with residents.
Transportation & Parking Issues
Residents discussed several ongoing transportation and parking challenges. The Association will compile this list and share it with Anthony Nguyen, neighborhood liaison from the Mayor’s Office, to request stronger enforcement and possible changes.
Ongoing concerns identified:
- Wrong-way traffic on Sumner Street: Cars frequently travel the wrong way down Sumner to cut through Annabel Street as a shortcut to Columbia Road, creating unsafe conditions.
- Narrow roadway on Annabel Street: Two cars cannot pass each other at the same time, leading to standoffs between drivers. This problem is compounded by drivers speeding down Annabel in hopes of avoiding oncoming traffic.
- Columbia Road & Pond Street intersection: Cars often block the intersection when attempting to turn left onto Columbia. Once the light changes, those cars cannot move forward, blocking Columbia Road entirely and creating backups that can last multiple cycles. The problem is especially severe during school drop-off and pick-up times.
- Blocked fire hydrant on Annabel Street: A car is almost always parked in front of the hydrant. Multiple 311 reports have been submitted, but the issue persists.
- Illegal parking at Annapolis & Bakersfield: A large white van frequently parks in the no-parking zone, making it difficult to turn right onto Bakersfield. This is a serious issue for larger vehicles, especially emergency vehicles and school buses. Despite repeated 311 reports, the van often sits there for days without being ticketed.
- Overnight parking enforcement: BTD does not appear to be enforcing the “resident-only” overnight parking restrictions. Numerous cars with out-of-state plates and no resident stickers are parking overnight without consequence, particularly on Friday nights.
- Request for a left-turn signal: A resident asked whether a protected left-turn signal could be installed at Columbia and Annabel, where the flow of traffic rarely stops long enough to allow the turn to be made safely.
- Parking violations at Stoughton Street laundromat: Cars frequently park illegally in front of the laundromat, despite posted signs. This makes it very difficult to pull into the intersection from Bakersfield Street. The violations happen multiple times a day and often overnight. Although the city has said bollards or flex posts cannot be installed because the space must remain open for emergency vehicles, residents question this explanation. Could emergency vehicles not simply drive over the posts if needed? The neighborhood is asking for some kind of physical deterrent to stop cars from parking illegally in this space.
Additional concerns for the City:
- Residents are frustrated that the city often tickets for small issues (like gardens spilling over sidewalks) while ignoring much larger quality-of-life problems such as trash, illegal parking, and rat infestations.
(FYI. If you go to boston.gov/code-enforcement, under overgrown weeds and grass, they give a link to this code – not much of a justification
16-12.19 Cutting of Grass.
No person in control of any estate abutting on a sidewalk shall knowingly suffer to remain uncut any overgrowth of grass planted therein by the city.)
- One property repeatedly mentioned is 7 Bakersfield Street, where dumpsters are consistently open and overflowing with trash on a daily basis. Despite repeated complaints, little to no enforcement action has been taken.
- The status of the long-abandoned, burned-out building next to KFC was questioned. Neighbors feel it is unsightly and dangerous, and want to know why it has been allowed to remain in this condition for so long.
Pleasant Street Project Concerns
Residents raised questions about the ongoing Pleasant Street Project but noted that outreach to both the City of Boston and D’Allesandro Construction has not received a response. Concerns include:
- Crosswalk at Willis Street: The Willis Street side of the new crosswalk is steeper and some cars are bottoming out when going over it.
- Maintenance of new green spaces: Several areas of new grass have been added. Residents want clarification on whether the City will be responsible for mowing and upkeep, or whether adjacent homeowners will be expected to maintain them.
- Parking restrictions on Mayfield Street: New curb build-outs have already reduced the number of spaces on Pleasant Street. Additional no-parking signs on Mayfield remove even more spaces, extending 44 feet from the intersection and 22 feet from the crosswalk. Homeowners on both sides of the street are questioning why these restrictions are necessary.
Legislative Updates
- Representative Dan Hunt’s Office: New liaison Cassie Tobin attended and introduced herself. She encouraged residents to reach out with concerns. Contact: cassie.tobin@mahouse.gov
- Councilor John Fitzgerald’s Office: Jessica Correia was present and offered to assist with neighborhood issues raised at the meeting. Email: jessica.correia@boston.gov
New Ideas for DNNA
Several new ideas for Association initiatives were discussed:
- Neighborhood yard sale: Residents expressed interest in holding a coordinated neighborhood-wide yard sale this coming spring (or we could coordinate with the CSHCA yard sale the first Saturday in September.
- Expanding DNNA boundaries: Discussion on whether to include additional streets between Dot Ave and Pleasant Street to increase membership and participation. Potential streets include Edison Green, East Cottage, Howes, Taft, Mayfield, Victoria, Pearl, and Thornley.
- Absentee landlord outreach: It was suggested that DNNA begin reaching out in an “official capacity” to absentee landlords, particularly those whose properties generate frequent 311 complaints. The goal would be to encourage these landlords to take more responsibility for property maintenance and to be more engaged with the community.
Next Meeting
Tentatively Thursday, November 13, 2025 – 7:00 PM