There are several event spaces that have opened up illegally in storefronts along Fresh Pond Road, Myrtle Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue, and shootings have been connected to two of the venues. The spaces are illegal because these locations need a change in the Certificate of Occupancy for the buildings which they do not have and in most cases they cannot get. C of O violations are handled by the Dept of Buildings, but they have generally not been able to gain access to the buildings during the day because they are closed during typical business hours. This should be an easy thing to remedy as the properties in question are advertising public events and open houses. Then there are the quality-of-life problems these places encourage. We have requested MARCH (multi-agency response to community hotspots) actions, but this has fallen on deaf ears. Instead of busting these folks for disrupting the peace and serving liquor without licenses, our local precinct wastes manpower babysitting the lawbreakers, making excuses for them and meeting with them repeatedly to “lay ground rules.” Talk about dumb. Hopefully the next administration takes this issue seriously and greenlights enforcement action.