Ferrarini, who is more involved in helping set up the displays earlier in the year, said he and the other neighbors are not city planners, so they leave decisions like that up to the Streets Department and other experts and follow their lead.
The police and fire departments say they know what happens every year with the Miracle, and have never had any issues with emergency vehicles getting through. However, Jamill Taylor, a police inspector and commanding officer of South Police Division, said traffic in the area is a “nightmare” this year because of construction happening on other nearby streets.
Councilman Mark Squilla, who represents the area, said a resident told him that a driver who was asked to stop honking responded by saying “I have a gun.” He said that was scary to hear about, and anyone who encounters something like that should file a police report.
Squilla added that some additional measures have helped reduce the congestion: electronic signs warning drivers about slow traffic, tour buses and trolleys dropping visitors off further away so they can walk to enjoy the lights, and residents turning off the holiday displays by 10 p.m. during the week.
“I would say the majority of people think it helped,” Squilla said. “Do they think it made everything go away? I’m going to say no, but I do think that because of everybody working together we’re able to put some things in place to address the concerns and we’ll continue to do that on an ongoing basis.”