To the Editor:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen kids of all ages doing their best to adapt to the world with masks and social distancing restrictions in place while still needing to socialize. Playgrounds and parks are a great respite for kids of all ages.

However, in the Lower Mills/Ventura Park neighborhood, we have seen a major increase in the number of teenagers hanging out at night in the woods along the Neponset River point.

The park and woods have long been a hangout spot for local youth, but the numbers have grown in the past year, with more than 20 individuals on many occasions. And their behavior is getting worse.

We understand that kids will be kids and we don’t have a problem with anyone using a public park for normal recreational purposes, but recent activity is not typical or okay. It includes:

Drinking openly on the sidewalk/street. 
Urinating on private property.
Lighting unattended fires in the woods.
Jumping on/vandalizing parked cars.
Stealing signs from private property.
Leaving large amounts of trash and broken glass.
Writing racial slurs on the basketball court.

There has also been a major uptick in graffiti on personal and public property, both on the side streets and on structures at the Lower Mills/Adams Street/Dot Ave. intersection. While we’re not sure who is responsible, the increase in graffiti is concerning. 

There is an escalating risk of confrontations with our neighbors and many of them don’t feel safe in the park, going to the playground or basketball court, or even walking around their own sidewalks.

As seen in the Dorchester Reporter last week, our neighborhood recently brought together a group of volunteers to remove more than a truckload of trash, but there is still a large quantity of broken glass preventing us from letting young children or dogs walk through the woods even after the parties are over.

We are grateful and appreciate BPD’s willingness to work with our neighborhood and address this issue. With help from BPD Officer Timothy Golden, we are starting to make some progress. New signage has been put up, some graffiti has been covered, and outreach has been done to the Mass State Police (since the park/woods area falls under Department of Conservation and Recreation management).

We remain concerned, however, especially since there are young kids in the neighborhood and the activity is close to a popular playground, baseball field, and basketball court.

We are asking the community to continue to alert BPD by calling 9-1-1 when the groups start arriving and reporting any graffiti or other vandalism. We hope that with increased vigilance, we can avoid escalating confrontations and bring this beautiful part of Dorchester back to a place that everyone can enjoy.

Adam Barney,
on behalf of neighbors in Lower Mills