The Shoestring

Northampton Connects and The Privatization of Public Dialogue Harrison Greene and Will Meyer New York Times columnist David Brooks loves “civility.” In 2011, he wrote that, “Civility is the natural state for people who know how limited their own individual powers are and know, too, that they need the conversation. They are useless without the […]

An interview with Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing Will Meyer   Brooklyn College sociologist Alex Vitale, whose book ‘The End of Policing’ came out last year, argues that armed police are rarely, if ever, the answer to our social problems. In his striking book, he suggests that we need to radically “rethink […]

A new online survey from the Mayor’s ‘Work Group on Panhandling’ considers further criminalization of the houseless. The Shoestring On Monday, The Shoestring published a confidential document from the Mayor’s ‘Work Group on Panhandling.’ City health department officials, representatives from non governmental organizations, and police officers distributed a survey to members of the downtown community […]

We asked houseless people what they thought of the Mayor’s confidential “survey on panhandling.” The Shoestring [UPDATE: 4/12, The Mayor’s Work Group on Panhandling has issued another survey, this time aimed at ‘Northampton Residents.’ Read our story: Another day, Another Survey About ‘Panhandling’ from Progressive Mayor Narkewicz.] In the Fall of 2017, Northampton Mayor David […]

Water, Guns, n’ Weed BLAIR GIMMA On April 5, the Northampton City Council held its sixth meeting of the year. Councilor Maureen Carney (Ward 1) was not present. Approximately 15 people attended. Reporters from the Gazette and MassLive were at the meeting. Public Comment During public comment three people, Marlene Morrocco, Lorraine Weimann, and Susan […]