All day long Wednesday, a steady string of Boston Department of Public Works crews pulled into the city's Frontage Road yard, dumping confiscated parking-space savers in a growing heap.
The space saver sweep came on orders from Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who said the exertion of clearing at most three inches did not earn any Bostonian the right to claim a parking space on a city street as their own, an ages-old urban folk custom in many Hub neighborhoods.
"There's no need at all for space savers today, with the amount of snow we received last night. There's absolutely none," Walsh said. "Anyone who put a space saver out this morning on their way to work, when you go home, it won't be there."
People we talked to in South Boston agreed it was a little ridiculous for anyone to invoke the space-saving custom after Tuesday's paltry snowfall.
"It was only two, three inches in town," said Joe Gallagher.
Richie Keenan of Quincy, who has family and friend roots in Southie, said, "You could sweep the stuff away. People were just too lazy to do it" and instead put out buckets and cones and ironing boards to claim spaces.
Shauna Stoecklin, from Plymouth, works at a salon in South Boston and had her car trashed last winter after parking in what turned out to someone else's supposed spot.
Massachusetts
The latest news from around the state
"I don't feel like there's ever enough snow for people to justify space savers," she said. "I think it's ridiculous."
Walsh said one hard and fast rule now is that "if we call a snow emergency, we're allowing people to put space savers out, but if we don't call a snow emergency, there's no space savers, and I think that's where it pretty much [comes] down right now."
With videographer Anthony Bisceglia
