with a viral post last month, an anonymous Reddit user said that Davis Square looked like a dumpster, including pictures of the gleaming brick plaza coated with soggy debris during a downpour.
Litter cleanup and other maintenance at the famous plaza, which is home to the Somerville Theatre and the Burren, seem to have been neglected since the city’s public works department is understaffed.
However, Nick Hancock, a recent arrival in Somerville, stated in an interview with Boston.com that he saw the viral post and thought, “This is literally something we can work on, something that we can fix.”
According to Hancock, his new litter cleanup team, the Davis Square Litter Crew, gathers every Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to pick up any rubbish larger than a cigarette butt from the square’s plaza, surrounding parks, and bus stops.
“It’s just a great time getting people to put in as much as they’d like,” Hancock said, adding that that often amounts to an hour. We get all of them cleaned up and made to look nice.
Hancock first picked up some rubbish by himself after seeing the Reddit post, then he shared it with the same online community that had expressed sympathy for the waste in hundreds of comments. According to him, there was a huge surge in interest in supporting him, either by attending with him or helping to pay for the materials.
Eleven volunteers spent around an hour picking up Seven Hills Park and Davis Square during the first meeting last month. At their most recent Sunday gathering, a team of seven people collected three bags of rubbish, including numerous tiny bottles of alcohol, according to Hancock.
According to Hancock, it was amazing. The fact that follow-up personnel frequently attend our cleanups surprises me. That makes me really delighted because I wasn’t expecting it. Whether people show up or not, I would still be doing it. That’s exactly what I like to do at the moment.
In response to a question regarding the litter issue in Davis Square, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in a statement that the city is working to support our homeless neighbors by increasing outreach, which includes a notable rise in the number of check-ins by community police officers and health workers, which we call compassionate patrols.
While several readers cited the increased number of homeless individuals and reported witnessing open drug use in the area, the original popular post blasted those who hang out there every day and have no manners. The Boston Globe reports that the neighborhood, which was already a meeting spot for those with and without homes, has seen a rise in the number of homeless persons.
The city also announced increased street sweeping and more frequent rubbish pickups in the square.
In a statement, Ballantyne said, “As with all parts of the City, we take pride in maintaining Davis Square, one of our most iconic public spaces.” We have more work ahead of us, but I’m dedicated to maintaining Davis Square’s vibrancy, safety, and inclusivity for all.
This past Sunday, while attending a meeting of the Davis Square Litter Group, volunteers discovered needles. According to Hancock, the group called 311 to have the needles taken out because it was their first time handling anything hazardous.
Jake Wilson, an At-Large City Councilor, joined the group on Sunday.
Wilson, a mayoral candidate, told Boston.com, “I’m really happy to see the community step up like this and help out in an area where we need to see this sort of thing happening.” I can’t even begin to count the number of people who thanked me and the other people who witnessed us picking up trash in Davis Square.
Wilson claimed that lengthy contract discussions caused the city’s public works department to become chronically understaffed.
It will take some time to restore our personnel because we lost so many excellent employees in those two and a half years while they were waiting for better pay and working without a contract, he said.
Hancock advised anyone who wants to participate with the cleanup effort to pack sun protection, garden gloves, and a grabber. The organization could pick up the trash that accumulates in the square around the bus stops if they had more volunteers.
Hancock plans to continue a litter-pick-up group in Union Square after relocating there.
After just three weeks, Hancock said, “But people walk by us as we’re doing our little cleanup, and people are always thankful and saying something nice and are very appreciative.” I’ve been chatting to friends, and they had heard of this organization, which I thought was ridiculous.
Molly Farrar works for Boston.com as a general assignment reporter, covering topics such as politics, crime, and education.
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