East Boston residents fed up with incessant parking tickets during construction road closures

East Boston neighbors can't seem to avoid parking tickets after a litany of road closures makes getting around the neighborhood extremely difficult. Now, they are asking the city to let up. 

"Maverick Square was closed. Bremen Street was closed. Sumner Street was closed. Everett Street is closed. Gove Street is closed, and other corners and intersections of Lubec, Cottage, and Webster," listed an aggravated Anthony White, "BTD [Boston Transportation Department] vehicles circling neighborhoods like hawks."

The city sent a letter to neighbors only went out seven days before the closures began. It was a surprise for residents and business owners alike. The Quiet Few Tavern had to close its outdoor dining due to the construction on the road out front.

"There needs to be some sort of construction liaison to say 'Company A has got a permit for Chelsea Street, and Company B has a permit for Bremen Street. Let's make sure they don't block the roads at the same time,'" continues Moulaison.

But even with the warning, White now has three parking tickets. They were given to workers who were doing construction on his property, despite their having work permits. 

The sign out front also says two-hour visitor parking during the day, but they were given tickets starting at 9:15 am. It is also mislabeled for the area, having "Dorchester" plastered on top rather than "East Boston." The whole situation caused confusion for residents in the area who just want to park their cars.

"There was also street cleaning that day that was told to the residents that it wouldn't be done that day, which it was done," added White, explaining that this further blocks parking on one half of the roads that are open.

The office of city councilor Gabriella Coletta Zapata said they are pushing for the city to hold off on street cleaning for now, adding that their office was told tagging and towing would be paused during ongoing work. They encourage any resident to contact their office to appeal the tickets.

"Some people still got ticketed and towed, but I don't think they were on the streets that were necessarily being affected by the paving," said Nick Moulaison, an Eastie resident and owner of Carmella's Market. "I tried last week to talk to the city councilor. I called the city and 311. It's construction that has to happen, but you can't just come into a neighborhood like this and say 'Alright, the next 10 days we are going to pave these streets with no parking on Everett, Sumner, or Webster.'"

We reached out to City Hall to ask what more can be done, but have yet to hear back.