Goodbye to Fender Alley

There are more than fifty public garages in Cambridge. There are also a lot of streets. To the garage men these streets could be annoying competition for the overnight parking trade but for one pleasantly coincidental fact; the City forbids parking on them.

Cambridge has a long ordinance prohibiting street parking after 2 a.m. The Police Department at one time stated that this law was written "to keep way clear for fire equipment," but insulted firemen said they could move cars just as fast at night as any other time. This inter-service conflict was resolved by both departments hastily dropping their attempts to explain the law; they now identically state that "even if the regulation is ridiculous, a law is a law and we'll enforce it."

They are doing a fine job. "Fender Alley," Mill Street between Winthrop and Lowell Houses, is being thoroughly worked over nightly by efficient tow-trucks and earnest tag-bearing policemen. The Elbery Garage is full of student cars waiting for their owners t reclaim them--and pay fat discouraging fees. The no parking ordinance makes fine sense for the men who own garages; the people who own cars find it tougher to understand.