Harvard University Rents Out Public Land For Profit

Harvard University likes to think of the "Science Plaza" as their own private property. It is still city owned land, which the city allows Harvard to administer. Harvard not only uses public land for fund raising dinners among alumni, but now it also rents out public land for mobile retail food sales. 

[From article]
With the goal of finding the perfect combination for Harvard diners, Harvard Campus Services continues to experiment with the selection of food trucks serving in the Science Center Plaza under the University’s Common Spaces Initiative.
For years, Harvard has been bringing food trucks from local companies to the plaza, and Campus Services continues to experiment with the diversity of offerings.
[. . .]
The daily combination of food trucks available is determined by a strict schedule controlled by Campus Services. Each individual food truck company is told exactly which days of the week they can operate in the Science Center Plaza. As part of the agreement between Harvard and the trucks, food trucks must pay a $50 fee each day they conduct business in the plaza.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/4/24/food-trucks-science-plaza/

Campus Services Seeks Optimal Food Trucks
By HANL H. PARK and LARA C. TANG
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
April 24, 2015

Black Teen Indianapolis Gang Beats Young White Girl and Toddler Brother in Park

Screen Shot From Video

[From article]
By the time the camera person catches up the group already has the girl surrounded, and while the victim appears to explain something another girl from the group punches her in the face.
The victim then fell to the ground, yelling, “What did I do? What did I do?” while the assailant continues to throw punches.
As the victim pleads with her attacker to stop, another young man finally pulls off the attacker and the victim gathers her younger brother to leave the park. But as she leaves the camera person continues to follow, and the girl who originally attacks strikes again.
This time the victim’s younger brother, who appears to be somewhere around 5 or 6, tried to defend his sister by pushing away the attacker. But the attacker then turned her attention to the young boy, striking him and knocking him to the ground.
[. . .]
As the victim was asking why she was being attacked, one of the boys in the group appeared to answer, “You white, b***h.”

http://www.inquisitr.com/1926482/indianapolis-playground-beating-girl-and-her-little-brother-brutally-attacked-in-park-video-uploaded-to-facebook/

Posted: March 15, 2015
Indianapolis Playground Beating: Girl And Her Little Brother Brutally Attacked In Park, Video Uploaded To Facebook

Website Streams Live From Public and Private Spaces

[From article]
Insecam claims to feature feeds from IP cameras all over the world, including 11,000 in the U.S. alone. A quick browse will pull up parking lots and stores but also living rooms and bedrooms. "This site has been designed in order to show the importance of the security settings," the site's about page says. But it's also clearly running and profiting off ads.
[. . .]
To be sure, the streaming feeds aren't anything a determined person couldn't already find through Google or Shodan, the latter of which lets you look for connected devices like IP cameras.

http://gizmodo.com/a-creepy-website-is-streaming-from-73-000-private-secur-1655653510

A Creepy Website Is Streaming From 73,000 Private Security Cameras
Sarah Zhang
Filed to: November 6, 2014  5:18pm

Jihadists Train In French Public Park

Apprentice jihadists were found training in park in Strasbourg. 
Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP


[From article]
When officers pulled up they were greeted with cries of “infidels” according to French media reports.
The leader of the group told police they were training to “avenge the deaths of their Muslim brothers” before telling police they “would burn in hell”, RTL claimed.
One of the men involved later denied the men were trainee jihadists and insisted they were just taking part in a self-defence class.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20141015/jihadists-found-training-in-a-park-in-france

'Apprentice jihadists' train in French park
Published: 15 Oct 2014 09:18 GMT+02:00
Updated: 15 Oct 2014 09:18 GMT+02:00

Boston Mayor Opposes Parking App

The concept of using public property for profit is not a foreign idea to the Boston area. In Cambridge Harvard University conducts major fund raisers every year on city land. Food trucks sell their fare on the same land on the Broadway and Cambridge Street overpass near the Cambridge Fire Department headquarters. Local restaurants serve their customers on city sidewalks without any increased license fees. How is the computer app any different? Is the doctrine of ignoring inconvenient laws not applicable to Boston as it is in Cambridge and Washington DC? 

[From article]
 Daniel Koh, the mayor’s chief of staff, responded by saying the city was concerned about a private company, as well as drivers, profiting from public property.
[. . .]
When the first car leaves and the second takes its place, the driver of the newly parked vehicle is billed $3 electronically. The original occupant gets to keep $2.25, and Haystack takes a commission of 75 cents for facilitating the exchange.
Meyer contends his business does not broker the sale of public property but merely provides a cash incentive for drivers to swap useful information.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/15/haystack/ceD8Rcmz2PRd39Gp58gwhO/story.html

Boston mayor sharply rebukes Haystack parking app
By Callum Borchers

Boston GLOBE STAFF

JULY 15, 2014

Rent Free Use of City Land

What is referred to as "the Science Center plaza" is owned by the City of Cambridge. Will rental fees for city land be collected by Harvard administrators and given to city taxpayers? Is this an example of Harvard's largess providing city land rent free to food trucks to enhance the ambiance of walking across this piece of public land? 

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/9/26/farmers-market-trucks-oxford-plaza/

Truckers, Farmers Banished to Oxford Street
By KERRY M. FLYNN and MAYA JONAS-SILVER,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Harvard and City to Upgrade Overpass

The property over the underpass is City property. There is an agreement with the city to allow Harvard to administer it. Being aware that the current city manager serves the interests of the university there is little that the University may not do with that land. Nonetheless legally it is still city land.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/2/24/science-center-plaza-renovations/

Harvard To Upgrade Science Center Plaza
By Akua F. Abu and David W. Kaufman,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Published: Friday, February 24, 2012

Mexican Drug Gangs Grow Dope on Public Lands

http://bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view.bg?articleid=1236302

Drug gangs taking over public lands

By Associated Press
Boston Herald
Monday, March 1, 2010