A basketball net that has been a fixture on Husson Place in Cambridge is coming down after 27 years.
Why you may ask is the city taking down the net? They say the main concern is public safety.
“The reason behind that is number one safety,” says Andrea Montgomery, who works for the city of Cambridge. “For example we’ve had a basketball net fall onto a car and then that’s a liability issue for the city.”
The basketball net is cemented into a boulevard at the end of Husson; a Cambridge by-law says that you can’t mount anything permanent onto city property.
Susan Young, who is a parent on the street, says that on any given night there could be anywhere from six to a dozen kids playing basketball.
Another parent, Cavell Kavanagh, who has children with special needs say that it means so much more to her family than a spot for picking up a game of hoops.
“This net is amazing to us, to help them socialize with other children, most of all the safety, it’s safe for them here, it’s secure,” says Kavanagh.
Andrea Ribeiro has been living on Husson for 33 years can remember the day it went up, she remembers that kids from all around used it as a hang-out spot.
“It’s safe, the neighbours are great, if you need anything you can knock on anybody’s door and they’ll help you,” says Ribeiro.
An order to take down the net was issued for the beginning of May, however an appeal committee is set for July.
"There are bigger things in Cambridge that are going on that the city need to worry about, not a basketball net, and not kids playing on a basketball net,” says Young.
With reporting by Daryl Morris
