Boston residents with disabilities pack City Hall, demand fix to snow‑removal
Boston's residents with disabilities showed up in force on Tuesday afternoon, filling the City Hall chamber with more than 50 sign-ups to testify about the city's snow removal failures.
Their turnout set the tone for a three‑hour hearing that pushed accessibility to the center of the city's winter weather debate.
"I'm not going to be subtle about it. I'm going to be in your face. You need to do a better job. No excuses," said Bill Todd, a legally blind resident who described watching "a mother push a stroller in the street" because the sidewalk in West Roxbury was still buried in snow.
"Shame on the city, shame on the landlords," he added. Behind him, people nodded, their white canes, crutches and wheelchairs peppering the filled-up rows of seating.
A hearing sparked by viral advocacy
The highly-attended meeting came after deafblind advocate and North End resident Casandra Xavier, 36, spoke out on her experiences at the start of February, as a person with disabilities trying to navigate the city sidewalks and streets after a major snowstorm.
After seeing MassLive's recent news coverage about Xavier , Councilor Ed Flynn — chair and one of the three city councilors, with Enrique J. Pepén and Brian Worrell, who sponsored the public hearing — met with Xavier to discuss what steps the city can take to help.
Xavier and Todd were each invited by Flynn to sit as panelists during Tuesday's hearing on snow removal relief, where councilors discussed creating a dedicated "snow corps" and shifting from renting to purchasing snow‑melting equipment. More than 50 people signed up to testify.
The MassLive video Flynn saw on Facebook was played at the start of testimony from Xavier and Todd, depicting Xavier having to walk on the road alongside cars due to uncleared sidewalks. Several city councilors, like Erin Murphy and Pepén, later cited the video in their remarks, describing it as a wake‑up call about how the city's snow response affects disabled residents.
Xavier reiterated her invite to city councilors, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov. Maura Healey to join her on a "blindness simulation" through Boston.
"I appreciate this opportunity to come and speak up, not only for myself, but along with the disability community and the residents of Boston and beyond," Xavier said. "I'm really surprised and happy that this got the attention that it needed. Hopefully, for next year, we could definitely not have that happen again."
"Sidewalks to be cleared away, curb cuts wide enough for wheelchairs, rollators and walkers to get through — or simply someone with physical challenges to be able to get through — without stepping through street slush," she said.
What can be done?
Councilors pressed interim Chief of Streets Nick Gove on whether Boston has the right tools for snow removal relief, while acknowledging the hard work city employees have done in the past two storms.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn (left) speaking to Disability Commissioner Kristen McCosh (right) in front of attendees at the public snow removal hearing on March 3, 2026.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
Gove pointed to up to 14 snow farms and more than 10,000 truckloads of snow hauled with rented melters, which have been part of the city's "tool kit for the last 11 years." However, he said capacity and dumping space are real limits and that melters cost "between $2,500 and $4,800 an hour" to run.
Councilors also drilled into who is actually responsible for clearing key areas. Gove said property owners must clear sidewalks and the curb cuts in front of them, while the city has started doing more crosswalks and medians because those are "a significant burden" on residents.
On MBTA bus stops, he said the city and MBTA "need to … work to figure out who's going to take responsibility for that balance in between."
He told councilors that solo stretches of sidewalk are "exactly the type of locations … the city would look to potentially take care of."
A seasonal workforce to remove snow, however, may not be as easily delegated, officials said. Disability Commissioner Kristen McCosh warned that expanding a snow‑shoveling corps for seniors and disabled residents could take "a substantial budget and staff."
McCosh noted a previous pilot program through PowerCorps Boston which showed that "it's not a scalable program," she said. She added the idea raises hard questions about "who qualifies" along with "legal issues (and) liability" and volunteers' reliability.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn at the public hearing on snow removal relief at Boston City Hall on March 3, 2026.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
But before the councilors even got to public commentary, the meeting's format itself briefly turned contentious. Councilor Sharon Durkan objected that the hearing was being structured "while we've been sitting here" and worried Gove would leave before full questioning.
Flynn replied that he intentionally let people with disabilities — Xavier and Todd — go first and said listening to them, along with their testimony on being blocked by snowbanks and ice, "makes us better city officials."
Stranded by snow and ice
In the public testimonies, residents painted a consistent picture of roads getting cleared, but many sidewalks, curb cuts, medians and bus stops staying buried or icy for days. As Xavier showed in her advocacy, this effectively traps people with disabilities at home or forces them into traffic.
A visually-impaired Dorchester mother told councilors after the most recent blizzard — which councilors had touted as improved removal, compared to January's storm — her neighborhood is full of ice.
"I can't get out, I can't go to groceries, I can't bring my 11‑year‑old to school," she said. "To get to the Ride… I have to get on my knees, on the floor, on my butt, to get to the van. My 11‑year‑old is watching me do this. It's not safe." Her remarks left the councilors frowning.
Attendees of the public hearing on snow removal relief at Boston City Hall on March 3, 2026.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
Cyclists and pedestrian advocates also went to the microphones and echoed that pattern. At least two advocates said bike lanes and crossings were used as "places to dump the snow," pushing riders and walkers into mixed traffic.
Volunteers from groups like the Boston Cyclists Union and Allston‑Brighton DSA said they cleared dozens of crosswalks, curb cuts and bike lanes themselves in a few hours. They argued that if around 20 people with plastic shovels can make that difference, the city can too.
Across testimony, residents framed the issue less as inconvenience and more as a matter of civil rights — necessary access to work, school, groceries, medical appointments and simply leaving the house without risking injury.
'Mobility is freedom'
And while no vote was taken, the council agreed Boston's snow policy has to be reworked with accessibility at the center to treat disability rights as civil rights and prioritize sidewalks, curb cuts and bus stops alongside roads.
Flynn promised a follow‑up hearing within 30 to 60 days, focused specifically on Pepén and Worrell's proposals for a snow corps workforce and whether the city should buy its own snow melters instead of renting.
Casandra Xavier at the public hearing on snow removal relief at Boston City Hall on March 3, 2026.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
They also called for clearer coordination among the city, MBTA and state agencies, as well as better communication to private property owners, so that key gaps — especially at bus stops and isolated sidewalks — are no longer left in limbo.
Yet, by the end of the three-hour meeting, the only councilor who remained with the sponsors was Julia Mejía.
"That's expected because, once again, it just shows the ignorance that is blissful with people ... they're not experiencing what we're dealing with," Xavier told MassLive after the meeting, when asked about the slowly-emptied chambers.
"They've got their cars or whatever, they're perfectly fine. They don't have to deal with living with blindness or some sort of disability ... It's in human nature — if it's not affecting you directly, they don't feel like they have to listen to you," she continued.
Xavier added that those councilors would be the first ones she invites to a "blindness simulation."
Regardless, Xavier said she felt heartened by the city's response to the issue of snow removal.
"I didn't know what to expect when I came in here ... but to actually be considered someone worth listening to? It felt amazing to be in spaces that I typically don't belong in, or that I supposedly don't belong in, even though I do so," Xavier said.
"It felt really nice to be included, heard and seen as a whole person, and not just someone who's complaining. Mobility is freedom, and that should be regarded no matter what. I appreciate that they saw it, they heard it, and they understood, and they're even willing to do a simulation," she said.
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