
You would walk by Northampton Lodging at 129 Pleasant Street in the daytime and never give it a thought. The building itself is attractive , landscaped and attractively signed. The ship on its sign is fully rigged and sailing on calm seas. Ah, but if you were down and almost out and needed a place to stay for a couple weeks, checking in might be the gateway to some bad company and lousy adventures. There would be a lot of coming and going and banging at night and someone sleeping in the corridor in the morning. Someone who goes by the name of spentfuelrod is posting on MassLive (see post 6851) about a rooming house that has to be Northampton Lodging. He is urging people to call the Mayor about it, and characterizes it as a major source of drugs in Northampton. I went down there the other night to see what was going on, and although the building was quiet, you could see what spentfuelrod was talking about. The high tech set of pushbuttons on the front door didn't work, and anyone could walk in and out at any hour. And downstairs I smelled crack cocaine in the air outside one room, and another door was suspiciously ajar. Anyone who leaves his door open at 10:30pm in a rooming house is probably looking for business to walk in.
Long ago Norma Rubeck was the manager of the place, and she was tough and fair and the Lodging, while not a palace, worked as rooming house. Now someone else is managing the place, and conditions have gone downhill. I didn't have my badge with me, and I couldn't get in to see the bathrooms, which were locked, but my fellow blogger, who I think probably lives in the building, says that they are pretty foul. In the nineties the city had a task force working with people in the SROs and I heard that the city wanted to have Valley CDC take it over as they did with a number of SROs in Florence. But somehow Bill McCloughlin, the owner and CEO of Bowditch LLC and the city were never able to come to terms. For many years, I think, he had it on the market without any bites. He lives far out in the country, of course, in scenic Conway.
So something needs to happen here. The Mayor needs to broker a little meeting and do some jawboning. The Board of Health needs to inspect. Officer Opie needs to come by and check the doors and make a call when calls need to be made.The place should not be shut down, but it needs to shape up. Two consecutive nights I went down there and the building was wide open both times.

So something needs to happen here. The Mayor needs to broker a little meeting and do some jawboning. The Board of Health needs to inspect. Officer Opie needs to come by and check the doors and make a call when calls need to be made.The place should not be shut down, but it needs to shape up. Two consecutive nights I went down there and the building was wide open both times.


(Thanks, Mike, for this; I posted the following at MassLive, where you directed your readers, at spentfuelrod):
ReplyDeleteIf there were enough rooming houses, those couple of tenants who are having trouble would not have to wait for the City and/or the building owner to get their act together. They could simply select a rooming house that has the reputation for being safe and well-run. It would probably make policing easier, if the idea was to crack down, and if people lived there who had habits such as smoking that affect other people, it would be easy for others to escape to safety (perhaps motivating the landlord to act swiftly). The principle of self-sorting would prevail.
But when there is scarcity of such housing, people are stuck, and anyone who isn't sick already is likely to become so. Apparently, certain tenants are not able to find suitable equivalent alternative housing.
spentfuelrod thanks Kirby on the Loose for bringing NL to the public's attention. The lock on the front door ended up becoming operational. Not sure why NL's owner is so resistant to positive change. Maybe a greater number of less desireable tenants improves his bargaining position with Northampton.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much it cost in money and time to fix this place up? Definitely not that much. The owners should consider these as investments rather than expenses to attract better tenants and better standing with the neighbors and city officials.
ReplyDeleteI was recommended this blog by my cousin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem. You are amazing! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso visit my website :: girlfriend quotes
hi!,I love your writing so a lot! percentage we keep up a correspondence extra about your
ReplyDeletepost on AOL? I need a specialist on this space to solve my problem.
May be that's you! Taking a look forward to see you.
Feel free to visit my web blog: mistake quotes
Great blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to start my own website soon but I'm a
little lost on everything. Would you advise starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid
option? There are so many options out there that
I'm completely overwhelmed .. Any ideas? Cheers!
Here is my site: rolling stones songs
I was able to find good info from your blog articles.
ReplyDeleteAlso visit my web page unusual animals
Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to learn more of your useful information.
Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.
Visit my homepage - brother and sister quotes
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The
ReplyDeletewords in your post seem to be running off the screen in Ie.
I'm not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I'd post to let
you know. The design and style look great though! Hope
you get the problem solved soon. Kudos
Here is my homepage; frank ocean quotes
I savour, cause I discovered just what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteYou've ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
Here is my blog unusual animals
I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I don't know who
ReplyDeleteyou are but certainly you're going to a famous blogger if you are not already ;) Cheers!
Also visit my blog post ... understanding quotes
Hi there it's me, I am also visiting this website regularly, this website is actually good and the visitors are really sharing pleasant thoughts.
ReplyDeletemy web page ... feelings quotes
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular post! It's the little changes which will make the most important changes. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy webpage - depressing quotes
Yes! Finally something about irs problem.
ReplyDeleteAlso visit my webpage: hatred quotes
Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It's on a totally different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
ReplyDeleteFeel free to visit my website - douglas adams quotes
It's going to be finish of mine day, except before end I am reading this great article to improve my experience.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to surf to my web-site tired quotes
Hi, I wish for to subscribe for this webpage to obtain most recent updates, thus
ReplyDeletewhere can i do it please help out.
Also visit my blog post william shakespeare quotes
Outstanding post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic?
ReplyDeleteI'd be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Appreciate it!
my web page ... stephen hawking quotes
I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up? I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
ReplyDeleteI'm not very internet savvy so I'm not 100% certain. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
my site ... unusual animals
Woah! I'm really digging the template/theme of this blog. It's simple, yet effective.
ReplyDeleteA lot of times it's tough to get that "perfect balance" between user friendliness and visual appearance. I must say that you've
done a excellent job with this. Also, the
blog loads super quick for me on Internet explorer. Outstanding Blog!
Review my website ... genghis khan quotes
Thank you for another informative web site.
ReplyDeleteThe place else may I get that kind of info written in
such an ideal manner? I've a mission that I'm just now running on,
and I've been on the glance out for such information.
my web page; sylvia plath quotes
This is a very good tip especially to those new
ReplyDeleteto the blogosphere. Short but very accurate information… Appreciate your sharing
this one. A must read post!
Feel free to surf to my web-site brother and sister quotes
This design is steller! You certainly know how to keep a reader amused.
ReplyDeleteBetween your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start
my own blog (well, almost...HaHa!) Great job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
Visit my web blog; commitment quotes
My partner and I stumbled over here from a different
ReplyDeleteweb address and thought I may as well check things out.
I like what I see so now i'm following you. Look forward to looking over your web page again.
My website: future quotes
Amazing! Its genuinely amazing piece of writing, I
ReplyDeletehave got much clear idea concerning from this piece of writing.
Feel free to surf to my site - depressing quotes
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt that that you ought to publish more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but generally people do not discuss such topics. To the next! Many thanks!!
Check out my weblog :: sylvia plath quotes
Thanks for finally writing about > "Blogger pays surprise visit to Northampton Lodging" < Loved it!
ReplyDeleteHere is my web-site; douglas
adams quotes
I know this site gives quality depending content and other data,
ReplyDeleteis there any other web site which gives these things in
quality?
Look at my blog post :: kahlil gibran quotes
You're so cool! I do not think I have read a single thing like this before. So wonderful to find someone with some original thoughts on this subject. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that's needed on the web, someone with a
ReplyDeletelittle originality!
Feel free to surf to my web blog zayn malik quotes
So how do you know what crack cocaine smells like?
ReplyDelete