Even for that quick slice of pizza on the way home, make sure to lock the car door; whatever time or warmth you are saving is not worth the risk, said Community Service Officer Matthew Conley (E-18) at the monthly East River Street Neighborhood Association (ERNA) meeting.

The heart of the meeting was on Conley’s police report for a section of Hyde Park, and he provided a plethora of stats. On Nov. 21, a man reported the theft of a female friend’s vehicle after she stepped out, with the car still running, to make a quick phone call. Two days later, also on River Street, a man went to pick up his son, leaving the engine on resulting in another theft, but later that day the car appeared on Coronado Road in Hyde Park with the keys still inside. Conley mentioned the theft of a car left overnight only to be discovered on Elm Street.

Conley urged residents not to leave cars running. He said the gamble of keeping the car warm when measured against theft was not worth it. Numbers for auto theft across the city are up, but especially in E-18.

“Don’t leave any valuables in the car either; it’s a crime of opportunity.”

One resident said to at least lock the car, and the officer sympathized with the need to run into a bakery or eatery for a slice of pizza but strongly advised against it.

Another resident asked for more police presence on Wood Avenue, near a church, where she said she has heard cars whizzing by and cutting the corner on Westminster Street. She also mentioned a congregation of cars at the corner of Frazer and Reddy Ave. preventing her from safely making a turn late at night. She had to call 911.

“That’s a fire hazard. God forbid there’s a fire or medical emergency. Trucks will not be able to make the turn from Frazer onto Reddy,” she said.

Conley said he would request more enforcement overnight.

A man was suckered into his own robbery when a female friend asked him for a ride from a designated meeting place to Brockton, Conley said. When he arrived his “friend” was in the back seat of a car and a man in the driver’s seat came out yielding a firearm demanding belongings; his “friend” and the gun-toting man fled. This case is under investigation.

Breaking and entering crimes were zero. In larcenies, a female said her boyfriend stole her iPhone after an argument. He denied it. A report was written. Drug related crimes were zero. One ballistic incident occurred in early December on Frazer Street. Residents in the area heard gunshots but did not witness anyone. Officers discovered shell casings in front of 2 Frazer St. Officers are investigating.

A fire took place on Dec. 1, at 74 Birchcroft Road due to a knocked down space heater and then someone tossed a blanket over it which escalated the fire. The resident was hospitalized for evaluation. One of the leaders of ERNA, Patricia Odom, inquired about the specific hospital, as she lives in the area. Conley said he believed the hospital was Boston Medical.

One resident brought up the ongoing disturbances at Ross Field, which have lasted all year, lessening with the end of the baseball season. Despite the Parks Department not renewing permits for certain teams, residents still experience high levels of noise and excess cars in the area on weekends. One Hyde Park resident lamented that the Parks Department’s recommendation to merely set games earlier was a “meek” solution. He referenced a November article in The Bulletin on this issue, which noted the official at the Parks Department’s suggestions. He is now waiting to hear back from City Council President Ruthzee Louijuene’s office on the matter. Odom referenced the holidays and said to try back in January and not give up.

Also on the virtual call was Hyde Park liaison for the Office of Neighborhood Services Zoe Petty who said City Hall would make no new policy decisions regarding Ross Field until early next spring, to leave room for incoming applications. Petty swiftly changed topics to the Trolley Tour by Mayor Michelle Wu who went all around Boston, offering families and passersby holiday cheer. In addition to the mayor and Santa entertaining crowds, musical youth programs in Hyde Park provided impressive performances, and Petty recommended residents support them.

Petty also mentioned a third-quarter tax hike on residential properties set for early January. “I try very hard not to get this information wrong when I talk to residents about it.” A single-family house will increase by 13 percent, which translates to ~$780 per household. Mayor Wu is pushing back on this by suggesting that residents reach out to their local state senators that represent Boston for a discussion on the state level. City Hall is in agreement that the tax burden should fall on commercial properties, but since the pandemic, commercial properties have decreased in value as many people began working from home. Many people continue this trend still. Wu has devised a re-crafted bill which raises residential property taxes by only 9 percent (which would be around $550 per household), lessening the financial burden.

To contact Petty, email: zoe.petty@boston.gov for help on how to write letters to state senators. Barbara Hamilton, one of the leaders of ERNA, clarified who they should reach out to: Rep. Rob Consalvo and Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reed are the Hyde Park state representatives;the state senators are Liz Miranda and Nick Collins. She encouraged writing letters to all four of them for this pertinent issue. “Do your homework, folks,” she said.

Eddie Conley, constituent services and policy coordinator for Enrique Pepén’s office, said the major update was that Pepénand his wife are expecting their third child by the end of the year. Pepénplans to continue his “coffee hours” in the community. They just had the last one for the year and plan to visit every precinct in District 5 in 2026 to broaden their reach.

Suzanne Hinton, Greenways program coordinator for the Neponset River Watershed Association, also said a few words at the end of the meeting. She also organizes for the Hyde Park Neponset River Access Committee and noted the start of the Doyle Park construction and the EPA’s decision on how it is going to clean the first mile of the Superfund site. The actual clean-up will go from 2027 to 2030.