As blogged about over at 4rilla is For Real this guy has been down at the Worcester Common every Saturday in the good weather since I moved here in mid October of last year. Sometimes he is so loud that I can't even watch television, read, or even concentrate in my own apartment, and I am 8 floors up and about 70 yards away. I decided this weekend that I would get to the bottom of it. Here is what transpired. Kudos to the police for the quick response.
1:03 PM
Here I am. In the common on the free city wi-fi. I am about to call the police on the dude. Let's see what they do.
1:08 PM
Supposedly an officer is on his way.
1:18 PM
An officer arrived and talked to the preacher. He in fact has a permit for every Saturday in the common for the rest of the summer.
So what is the next step here? Ask yourself. Would you stand for this? How much does it cost to get a permit to do something involving amplification in one of the most high profile public spaces in our city? If I wanted to have a concert in the common with amplification every Saturday could I? Would I need a police detail? Should the preacher have a police detail? Does my city councilor know about this? How does he feel about it? All questions I intend to get answered this week.
1:33 PM
I haven't heard a peep out of him in about 10 minutes he talked for a little bit after the police showed but since then I haven't heard much. The officer did tell him to turn down a bit.
I honestly don't mind him being there if he keeps it to a dull roar. I didn't move down here for the peace and quiet. Almost anything that loud that happens on a weekly basis though has gotta go.
1:55 PM
He's gone. He is usually here, two three hours. Interesting. He has a permit, but the police coming down obviously made him think about some things.
To be continued next week...
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4 comments:
Wow.
Very interesting post. I love the way you went after this. Interesting that he took off after the police visit even though he is permitted.
I'm glad I happened upon him a few weekends back and decided to shoot a little video.
Maybe it was the heat that drove him away. Wonder what next weekend will bring...
Or maybe he left because he didn't realize he was imposing on someone's peace and quiet.
On some blogs,I have read people admonishing those who have complained about the loud neighbors in Main South. "Hey this is a city what should we expect?" they would say. Usually, that is the response you get when the one doing the complaining is complaining about, drunk party goers, rap or latino music some feel the need to stick up for the noise makers. Is it different when someone is evangelizing? It could be worse right? I agree that it does suck when others seem to have no consideration for the space and peace of others. But if it was jazz, African or Celtic music played at the same db levels would you have called the Police?
Nisa
Hey Nisa,
Good point and definitely something I mulled over in my head when deciding to do what I did.
I did confront him a few times personally and asked him to turn down. He did not.
I am a big proponent off telling people to shut the hell up when complaining about noise in the city. My whole thing is this. I do not believe that I could have a Celtic, Jazz, African music show on the common every Saturday. I also believe that even if I could the permits would be very expensive and I would also have to hire a police detail. This guy and his PA dominate all of the Common as well as most of downtown. The whole thing screams of someone in the licensing department not knowing what the hell they are doing. The whole thing seems really really fishy to me. Not fishy in a somebody's up to something kind of way, but fishy in a somebody really isn't paying attention kind of way.
There is always the possibility too that this is totally on the up and up, it's cheap as heel to get a permit for a public address system in the common, and no one else is even asking to use the common on Saturday afternoon's in the summer.
If this is the case than next summer we need to put on some serious shindigs in the common.
Gabe, I feel for you. I'd hate it and would complain if this was happening outside of my living room window. I did notice in the "editor's review" of a Boston event that apparently this doesn't only happen in Worcester. We're not the only ones subjected to probably unwanted religious rantings.
http://boston.going.com/event-323701;Free_Shakespeare_on_the_Common_-_As_You_Like_It
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