"Allston Christmas" is over and what remains is mostly trash
The annual September 1 move-in rush, known as "Allston Christmas," has come and gone. However, streets in neighborhoods like Allston and South Boston are still lined with trash and discarded furniture following the holiday weekend and a delayed city pickup.
Boston works to clean up streets after move-in rush
"Bed frames, mattresses, couches, pottery - all kinds of funny things, big and small," said Allston resident Jack Hamm of the items scattered across sidewalks and spilling into alleyways.
As thousands of renters shuffled apartments across the Greater Boston area, some residents were able to score free secondhand furniture over the weekend. But by Tuesday, the good finds had largely disappeared.
"If you're picking up anything that I'm seeing now as I look around, you're probably hurting. It looks like all the good stuff is gone," Hamm said.
The city's 311 app has been flooded with complaints about trash pileups. Mayor Michelle Wu said the city is working quickly to respond.
"The reason we have a 311 app is so that we can know where these things are happening and get out there right away," Wu said.
Neighbors say there's more trash now than in the past
Still, some neighbors say the problem feels worse than in past years.
Charlie Shroyer, who moved into an Allston apartment on Labor Day, managed to grab a TV stand from the piles but said most of what remains is unusable.
"I've just noticed a lot of trash piling up everywhere," he said. "I don't know what the schedule is or when trash is supposed to be picked up, so I know about as much as anyone else."
A building owner in Allston said he expects most of the debris to be gone by Wednesday, with the city's usual Tuesday pickup pushed back a day because of the holiday.