A social media post for an illicit street soiree or a flier for a backyard party, complete with cover charges and security, can often be the difference between a nice weekend and a nightmare for residents of Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods, residents and elected officials say.
The loud parties and pop-up street bashes, which had their birth during the pandemic, have reached a zenith in parts of the neighborhoods, leading residents, along with Boston Police, to seek new ways to curb them.
The gatherings have grown into a cottage industry where backyard parties feature metal detectors, security guards, and $200 cover charges, while pop-up parties close down streets, without the requisite permit, and draw hundreds of people.
Police officers, overwhelmed and outnumbered, can’t fully quell the situations, leaving sleepy residents angry and revelers with nowhere to go.
City Councillor Brian Worrell, who represents Dorchester and Mattapan, said he was introduced to the growing problem this summer on Old Road, which is located across Blue Hill Ave. from Franklin Park – when hundreds of people began staging pop-up parties that lasted beyond 2 a.m.
“I live on Columbia Road, so I have walked over there myself and witnessed it and heard the noise, too,” said Worrell. “This is an issue we’re dealing with throughout the district…and Boston where there’s a lack of spaces to congregate and people are just using parking lots and the parks and even side streets like Old Road.”
He added, “It’s not just 10 to 30 people like in other parts, but hundreds of people in the street.”
State Rep. Russell Holmes blamed social media. “It used to be hard to get 200 people to show up because you couldn’t make 200 phone calls,” he said. “Social media is the driver for getting these pop-up parties going in the middle of the night that we have to chase from place to place.”
In the West of Washington (WOW) neighborhood, leaders there said they have tried a coordinated and respectful approach that includes working with neighbors, police, and partiers. “When you all work together the police respond quicker, and they have to pay attention,” said WOW board president Laquisa Burke. “That one person calling is just not going to work.”
She added that many partiers come from JP and other areas to Dorchester, “It’s because they know it will be tolerated here. We have to call 20 times and talk to the police and have meetings. In other areas, it’s stopped immediately.”
Dustin Gardner, a member of the WOW board, said they’ve had great success curbing the backyard parties by showing respect. “What I’ve liked about our approach is that it’s an organization that uses phone trees, but we also dropped off letters to the homes where the issue was coming from,” he said.
Sandy Zamor Calixte said her neighbors on Hazelton Street have long complained about gatherings in front of a vacant lot and business at the end of the street. “The car dealer place is open and the cars park on the sidewalk and they are partying in that lot and having a great time,” she said. “I don’t understand why they can’t do anything about it.”
Boston Police are encouraging residents to inform them before the parties start, and they utilize district detectives to deal with the situation – even visiting absentee landlords at their homes. Residents are now being encouraged to use an anonymous tip-line if they don’t want to get involved, police said.
“We want the community to reach out to us,” said Sgt. John Boyle, BPD spokesman. “It’s much easier to prevent this from happening rather than respond after it’s happening.”
Local leaders disagree on root causes. Worrell said the problem is the lack of legitimate gathering spaces. With few liquor licenses, restaurants, and event spaces, people turn to the streets and the backyards. He said he is trying to steer more neighborhood-based liquor licenses to the Blue Hill Avenue area, and has a study funded in the city’s capital budget to look at the need for event space such as the “Lawn on D” by the convention center in South Boston.
“At the end of the day, it’s about creating a space for young people or people in general to enjoy themselves inside the district,” he said. “We can’t blast music until 3 a.m. and block off the streets. We do have laws to abide by. We want people to enjoy themselves, but we need parameters around it.”
Burke, the WOW board president, agreed, saying there are few places to go at night. When there are existing bars and restaurants, she noted that they charge entertainment fees and covers, putting more barriers in place to socializing.
“I don’t remember Boston being so rambunctious with music and people having so many house parties in the past,” said Burke. “I guess there were a lot of bars and places to go. We don’t have restaurants or resources in our community where you can go and have a drink or a meal that caters to the Black community and what we like and our culture.”
But others, like Rep. Holmes, say the answer is more enforcement. “Let the city shut down because it gives it a chance to breathe,” he said. “We need the city to have a chance to breathe. It’s one reason I like Boston, because it shuts down, and that’s part of our culture here.”
