If you thought Boston would respond to the April bombings in a sensible, measured way–did you hear they caught the guys?–think again.
The Esplanade is done up like a prison yard this morning. There are multiple surveillance cameras attached to nearly every lightpost east of Mass Ave. Tree branches lower than 15 feet from the ground have been sawn off at the trunks. A bomb squad apparatus and rows of matte-black police trucks are lined up behind the Hatch shell. Police and FBI agents with bulletproof vests and guns in thigh holsters are pacing the paths. State troopers were closing off the footpaths with metal gates just as I finished my morning run.
There are large signs everywhere outlining PROHIBITED ITEMS and what is CLOSED and where RE-ENTRY WITHOUT CREDENTIALS IS PROHIBITED. And none to welcome people, or to say “have fun!”
It is a choice to live this way. It’s amazing that so many people respond with attitudes like, “I guess we have to?”
Welcome to the new Boston.