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Ross Field issues lingering
ERNA can’t keep quiet in Hyde Park

For years, Hyde Park neighbors’ complaints have fallen on mostly deaf ears by local officials when it comes to noise and quality of life issues at Ross Field.
The issue is that some members of a local softball league aren’t exactly being neighborly.
Promises and gestures are offered yet the problems persist despite the neighbors complying with recommendations, like making several 911 calls and contacting the Parks Department. About a month ago, the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) Hyde Park liaison Zoe Petty organized an in-person meeting between the softball league and neighbors, which went so-so according to some members of the East River Neighborhood Association (ERNA).
While last month’s meeting was skipped due to Mayor Michelle Wu’s coffee hour meeting in Hyde Park around the same time, this meeting on Monday, Sept. 14 was chock full of the old complaints and unfortunate misunderstandings.
One of the those misunderstandings had to do with the softball schedule. Joy Oliver, a vocal member of the group, said that her schedule showed that the softball schedule ended at the end of August, while Officer Rico Lucien (E-18) and Petty confirmed the schedule was at the end of September. No one had a good answer on why neighbors received a different schedule than the local officials.
Oliver went on to report that softball league members are there until 10 p.m. and sometimes midnight after the Ross Field park lights are off. “You can’t see them, but you can see the phone lights and you can hear the loud music playing. So of course we reported those things to 911. I don’t know if there’s been a response. So I wanted to ask Officer Lucien.”
Lucien asked Oliver for the specific times of the 911 calls, and Oliver said that it has been all the weekends for the month of August. Lucien reported 10 calls made about Ross Field and then paused and asked if Oliver made all those calls. She said she made several but her question was: what was E-18’s response to the numerous 911 calls? Lucien appeared to be looking at screens and then talked to a coworker and then said he would get back to Oliver.
Mark Oliver then expressed frustration toward ERNA’s organizers, Barbra Hamilton and Patricia Odom, regarding the skipped August meeting. Both Hamilton and Odom said they would make no apologies as they stated earlier that they may skip the August meeting and it turns out they did. People get busy with their summers and deserve some space, both said. Mark Oliver said, that in light of the shooting at Little Haiti on Hyde Park Ave., on Aug. 3, where one person died and several others suffered injuries, an ERNA meeting should have been a forum to discuss the tragedy.
Since the shooting, the restaurant was shut down voluntarily and only very recently reopened, but the Boston Licensing Board restricted their hours and eliminated live music until after a full review. Odom asked about where Little Haiti was and was amused by the name of the restaurant in Boston. Mark Oliver said the matter deserved some discussion in an August meeting.
Adding to complaints regarding disturbances at Ross Field was Nerlande Brice who said she could feel the vibration of the loud music in her home on weekend nights, and the problem is these issues are reported only to be repeated again by the same offenders. Joy Oliver then asked if there was still a noise ordinance. Lucien said, “yes.” Oliver then asked if it was being enforced. Odom then said emphatically, “No, but it should be.”
Hamilton tried to sympathize with both sides and said the officers had more areas to cover than Ross Field and asked how often the officers stayed in the area. Lucien said they are there every night. Hamilton said that was good to know. Joy Oliver then brought up the softball league’s supposed completion by the end of August, but noted their presence this past weekend and Labor Day weekend. According to Paul McCaffrey, director of the Permits Parks Division for Boston, Oliver said they were supposed to conclude their softball season by end of of August.
Lucien then looked up the schedule he had and said the softball season was until the end of September. Mark Oliver then said, “McCaffrey lied.” Hamilton said, “We are not going to say that.”
“I am,” Mark Oliver said. “Well, you can say it. You have a right to say what you want,” Hamilton said. Brice then recalled the July ERNA meeting where she noticed two different schedules shown: Joy Oliver’s and Councilor Enrique Pepén’s representative Dianna Bronchuk’s.
“My schedule was emailed in July,” Oliver said. “You may want to follow up with Mr. McCaffrey directly, because you are getting misinformation,” Hamilton said. “Which is pretty typical of the Parks Department, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Joy Oliver said.
Petty then highlighted some information she was excited about before getting into Ross Field, which she normally sounds less than enthused about discussing. Petty said the mayor held a recent press conference announcing roughly 1,600 school-year jobs for students. She said the city budget was challenging for a while as municipalities nationwide are dealing with fiscal constraints.

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