Alewife Paths Safety Response

At a glance

What: City Manager's response (awaiting report 25-61) to a policy order of October 6, 2025 on cleanliness and public safety on the Alewife paths near Russell Field in North Cambridge, where residents reported many more people living outdoors, needles, vandalism and theft.
Where it stands: report placed on file 9-0 on December 22, 2025, though a neighbor group asked that it not be treated as resolved.
Next: city, MBTA, state and developer partners to walk the area again and meet in spring 2026; a second needle box on order near the MBTA station at Steel Place.

Deputy Commissioner Nardone: weekly city cleanups continue; the state park agency (rendered "DCS" in the transcript, probably DCR) put the area on an ongoing maintenance schedule; the MBTA and the developer IQHQ are sweeping weekly; a needle box was installed at the turnaround off Rindge Avenue; most of the land belongs to the state, MBTA and private owners, not the city. Police do at least weekly patrols, with more when activity rises.
City Manager Huang: the work spans Public Works, Police, community safety and public health; opioid settlement funds support the needle reimbursement program; Porter Square and Central Square are also being watched; the aim is connecting people to services and safe places to sleep.
Nolan: some of the improvement is likely the cold weather, so a spring plan matters; coordinating services such as the care team is as important as cleanup. Zusy asked about the textile donation bin, which she called an "attractive nuisance"; Nardone said it collects about a ton and a half of textiles a month, state landfill bans make such bins necessary, it is well lit, and the operator responds quickly. Siddiqui asked how often police patrol and how many people are connected to services. Wilson, who grew up in North Cambridge, cautioned against over-policing unhoused people and asked for a plan for spring and summer.

Joel Nogic (a North Cambridge neighborhood study group) said conditions improved from actions by the city, MBTA, IQHQ and the state, but that colder weather had sharply increased encampments and numbers would rise again in warm weather, and asked that the item not be considered resolved and be worked on again next year.

Report placed on file 9-0; no action beyond a spring follow-up promised by Public Works.