Debris field Townhouse Apartments Meadow Street North Amherst
It's not even dark and already APD has responded in force to a large unruly gathering of students in the quad area of Townhouse Apartments North Amherst breaking up a crowd of 2,000 around 4:00 PM and then an hour later called back because they party goers returned and set fire to a couch in the middle of the quad. Officers had to dodge bottles and cans launched in their direction.
The festivities also required an AFD response for the burning couch, thus tying up both branches of our emergency first responders. Townhouse units #48, #51, #44, #104, and #125 were cited for "nuisance house" @ $300 each.
And yes, Saturday was "UMass UMake a difference day," where 200 UMass students volunteered to help clean up around Amherst. “We are trying to show people what UMass is really like,” said Garrett Gowen, SGA vice president in the Daily Collegian.
Obviously the kids at Townhouse Apartments did not get that text message.
Arrested for Inciting a Riot:
Clyde Odei Nsiah, 72 Outlook Dr, Worcester, MA, age 23 (UMass student)
7 comments:
Where is the article on the volunteer efforts?
I drove passed that area yesterday afternoon, around 4:30pm and I couldn't figure out why so many "kids" were just out wandering around. I thought an event at Mullins Center was scheduled for the evening. But I guess it was just you're basic Saturday-Let's-Go-Ape-Shit kind of day. They ruin it for the students who are there to actually learn.
With weekend visitors- I slept in a room facing E Pleasant St. (one side window slightly open as there is a window A/C) I should have had it turned on to block the noise!
Non stop traffic, sirens and hoards of students hooting and hollering as they walked by.
Fri night seemed to calm down after bar hours (or I convinced myself it would)
When I finally fell asleep last night- I was awoken by the sounds of a car accident- I never located anything when I checked via windows. (and a loud mass of walkers passing didn't seem to be concerned)
Town needs a curfew-so we can charge them all!
Town needs a curfew-so we can charge them all!
I am not surprised that this is suggested, nor would I be surprised to see it implemented (I actually hope you do) but it is highly un-constitutional and perhaps after a Federal court strikes down a few things, attitudes might change in Amherst.
Curfews can only be imposed upon un-emancipated minors -- children under the age of 18. Bill Newman (ACLU) may or may not say something if you were to impose a curfew on adults -- but I am almost certain the Federal Court would...
What I find maddening about this is that Amherst is using the college kids as pawns.
Townhouse are condos -- all individually owned, most as investment properties by absentee owners who expect to earn a certain percentage of return on their investment, and don't understand that rental housing isn't quite the same as a money market fund.
They contract with - I believe - Eagle Crest Mgt to send them a check each month -- that is all they care about, their monthly check.
And to do this, Eagle Crest, like the company before them, has to minimize the money spent on maintenance and maximize the revenue from rent, a situation exacerbated by Amherst's high property taxes. This results in students renting overpriced units that often do not even meet code -- a situation that Boston (but not Amherst) is addressing.
These $300 fines -- they are the priced of being popular and part of the cost of college. Amherst arrests so many people for the noise ordinance -- and is known throughout MetroBoston for doing so -- that being arrested for "noise" is becoming what being arrested at an anti-Vietnam protest was for their parents. Not exactly something you put on your resume, but it is becoming no big deal.
Folks, read The Great Gatsby and look at the expense he went to for a date with the girl he had a crush on -- a $300 fine is nothing...
...
The real problems started in the Spring of 2003 with Hobart -- these kids were in elementary school back then - these particular kids weren't there. And this isn't even spring...
You are bailing against the wind.
Now if you were to summons the PROPERTY OWNERS (not Eagle Crest) into housing court a week from Tuesday, they would not be happy having to drive out to Northampton and if you did that 2-3-4 times, these problems would end. The flip side is that the APD would have to pick its fights a little bit more carefully because some of these might be contested.
But if you did this -- particularly with Townhouse, the problems would end and the rents would drop because the property owners would either sell to an owner/occupant or accept less income for the property.
Second, the question to ask Enku is why is UMass not meeting their social needs? These parties are an attempt to meet social needs that UM isn't otherwise meeting.
Do you people have nothing better to do than rant and rave about UMass students? Why not just move out of Amherst instead of wasting your time bitching and moaning about it? Coming from a student that is "here to actually learn", it seems pretty logical to me.
Thanks Mr. Spock .
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