Politics April 13, 2017
Is this town like the Eagleton of Rhode Island?
North Providence, Rhode Island is so worried about their pristine parks that they don’t even want their own citizens playing on their basketball courts.
Kind of like that fancy living room at your childhood friend’s house with the white carpets and furniture you weren’t even allowed to sit on… But somehow Mayor Charles Lombardi still thinks he’s doing the whole town a solid.
See, town-sanctioned leagues will be allowed to use the courts from this point forward. But individual citizens can no longer head over to the park to practice some free-throws or play a pick-up game with friends… not even children.
When asked how he thought taxpayers would feel about the unfair ban, the Mayor said, “As far as watching the backs’ of the taxpayers, that’s exactly what I’m doing.” Uh, okay.
It sounds a little Lindsay Carlisle Shay to us. You know, the Eagleton nemesis of Leslie Knope, who fenced in a playground just to keep out Pawnee kids on “Parks and Recreation.” But whatever you say, Mayor. I’m sure kids looking for a place to hang out with friends and stay out of trouble will totally get your point.
North Providence basketball court ban is like when Eagleton put up a fence around nicer park on “Parks and Recreation.”
“These are the courts I grew up playing. It just builds community outside of social media,” citizen Owolabi Oduwole said. Hm, sounds pretty wholesome and kind of like the entire point of a public park, right?
For now, the Mayor has spoken. Police are monitoring the park to keep citizens off the courts. And they’re planning increased security measures like more police patrol, park curfews and security cameras for the future.
But hey, maybe the citizens of North Providence have their own scrappy Leslie Knope-type and can figure out a way around the ban. Until then, Mayor Lombardi – get a life.
