During the hustle of Monday-evening rush hour at the Forest Hills T station this week, a group of carolers thought they’d surprise the weary commuters with some cheerful holiday tunes. But shortly after the concert began, MBTA transit police shut down the singers because they hadn’t obtained the proper permit beforehand. “Apparently Christmas carols require a permit,” despondently tweeted the group’s organizer, the Rev. Laura Everett.
T spokesman Joe Pesaturo explained that after officials determined the carolers didn’t have the necessary approvals, “they were asked to leave the busy spot teeming with pedestrians. In the spirit of the holidays, however, GM [Beverly] Scott invited the singers back. Transit police and station personnel will find a suitable and safe location where their voices of the season can be enjoyed by one and all.”
Comments
You think, "in the spirit of the holidays" the police will cut some slack with Christmas carolers?
Puleeze, get real_ the Somerville police have cars stationed along Somerville Ave this week to catch grocery shopping motorists who come out of Market Basket parking lot and cross any line on the roadway. The police believe that motorists in Somerville are to wait in line for all stopped traffic, no matter what the reason for the obstruction (i.e. passing a UPS truck delivery, vehicles trying to enter a Starmarket, or a Somerville Ave strip mall). No matter what the reason for the stopped vehicle, it is apparently illegal to cross a line on the road to avoid the road obstruction.
Somerville police have no concept of 'Holiday Spirit' and are out looking to catch grocery shoppers with any trivial excuse they can conjure up.
Welcome Beverly Scott -- not only a breath of fresh air, and a human being with a sense of what makes a community work, but also the first transportation professional with distinguished national transit credentials to run the MBTA! What a wonderful beginning! In her first public appearance as Santa, singing with the chorus, I'm sure she got a list of what beleaguered Boston-area commuters want for Christmas. We look forward to seeing her on the South Shore one day soon to talk about how to make our buses, Red Line, commuter rail and ferries work better.