Bob Flynn, elderly Boston-area man ticketed for failure to shovel nonexistent sidewalk

The city of Lynn, Massachusetts, has repeatedly ticketed an elderly Boston-area man for his failure to shovel a nonexistent sidewalk.

Bob Flynn, 70, of Lynn, was issued a $50 ticket and a $100 ticket by the city for not shoveling mounds of snow where the city would like a path to exist. He was able to talk down the first ticket to $20.

“I got tickets for not shoveling the sidewalk, and I don’t have any sidewalk,” Mr. Flynn told a local NBC affiliate on Monday. “When you petition, they tell you that you have to shovel the street even though that’s a snow plow’s job,” he added.

Lynn’s Assistant Parking Director Bob Stilian said a sidewalk did cut through Mr. Flynn’s property in the past.

“There is a walkway there that should be maintained for the safety of the citizens,” Mr. Stilian told the station. “All they are looking for is a barrier to protect the children, so they aren’t walking out in the street.”

After Mr. Flynn’s story was aired, the city dropped the tickets. Officials still maintained that the elderly man should shovel a path, the station reported.