PAX Centurion - January / February 2013

Page 36 • PAX CENTURION • January/February 2013 617-989-BPPA (2772) EMT mapmaker gets ‘Dot’ right By Bill Forry I f you’re aDorchester-phile, then you have to get a look at themap that aman named EdMcCarthy has created depicting our neighborhood. Themap –whichMcCarthy has sold one-by-one to friends and colleagues since 2008 – is beautifully illustrated and pops with interesting flashbacks about Dorchester’s past. An image of the map is shown here at right.You can get a closer look by looking at the attachment below. Much to the relief of this space, the map is also a well-drawn and accurate laying out of historic Dorchester. McCarthy is a veteran city ambulance driver who knows the streets of Boston as well as anyone could. Fascinated with Boston history and geography, he grew increasingly dissatisfied with the neighborhood maps that he saw in circulation in books and at City Hall. So he decided to work up one himself. “I said, ‘I can do this,’so I hit the library and did the research. I got registered at the state archives and spent a lot of time at the BPL. I tried to get every reference I could find and I packed it into the map.” When he started the project in 2008, he was mainly working the streets of South Boston and Dorchester, so his first twomaps focused on those neighborhoods. He has since branched out to create maps of all of the sections of Boston, including Mattapan, which was historically part of Dorchester but is now regarded as its own distinct neighborhood. The hardest part, McCarthy acknowledges, was figuring out boundaries. Rather than rely on the suspect and ever-changing versions offered up by City Hall planners through the years, he did something novel: He asked his colleagues and people who actually live in the neighborhoods to tell himwhat they thought. Long before any sophisticated online project sought to map the city through “crowd-sourcing,”McCarthy did it the old-fashionedway, by doing some reporting and asking ques- tions of folks during his tours as an EMT. “When it comes down to it, it’s what the neighborhood people say that guided me,” said McCarthy, who now works the night shift out of Brighton. “Fortunately, working on the ambulance, I had no shortage of people tell me, ‘This is Roxbury or this is Dorchester.’ I talked to a lot of people who work in public safety and live in the area. I’m very pleased most townies agree these maps are very accurate.” McCarthy sold his 74 th map this week. He usually gets them printed up individually as orders come in – quite randomly – from interested folks who stumble into his work during house parties or office meetings. “It goes very slowly, but I’m satisfied with that because there’s more of personal touch to it.” McCarthy sells the unframed, 24-x-36 inch full-color prints for $100 a piece. To order one, send him an e-mail at emssbasn@comcast.net. (Reprinted from the Dorchester Reporter, December 12, 2012.) RECENT CASE SUMMARY FACTS: Officer injured on-duty when police vehicle struck by suspect avoiding arrest. Officer was disabled and collected IOD pay and medical bills were paid under c.41 s.111F. Officer recovered and returned to full duty. CASE: Officer sought free legal consultation and pursued claims against the vehicle operator and owner – and under his personal auto policy – for lost detail and overtime pay, and compensation for pain and suffering. OUTCOME: Officer received gross recovery of: $8,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in additional medical payment benefits, $20,000 insurance policy limits for the defendant operator and owner, and $80,000 in Underinsured Motorist benefits. ATTORNEY: Scott Goldberg If you have been injured you may have a case. Attorney Goldberg provides free consultations. The law firm only receives a fee if we recover compensation for you. And we give police officers a 10% discount off our general public legal fees. Contact Attorney Scott Goldberg at 617-227-1888 or scott@goldberglawfirm.net . THE LAW FIRM OF SCOTT D. GOLDBERG, P.C. Assisting and Representing Police Officers Since 1990 SCOTT D. GOLDBERG, ESQ. FANEUIL HALL 4 SOUTH MARKETPLACE BOSTON, MA 02109 617-227-1888 www.goldberglawfirm.net 800-349-1888