Letter: Stop Construction of Pittsfield Cell Tower

To the Editor:

Tuesday night, like so many others who have concerns about the cell tower permitting process, I called into the open comment portion of the City Council meeting to state them.

While four people were able to comment, there were at least another 10 of us on the line, trying, but unable to speak. When my number was called and I was told to unmute, I quickly tried. As soon as I unmuted, it said, "You are now muted by the host." Multiple speakers had the same experience. It felt deliberate. It felt like we were being silenced, as we have been from the very beginning of this.

We reached out to the mayor, the City Council, Community Development and the Zoning Board as soon as we discovered it was a cell tower being constructed with no abutter or community awareness. We asked them to please stop this project until after the initial crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic passed so we could have discussions. Now, even at the meeting nearly five months later, we go unheard.

Our voices have fallen on deaf ears, and continue to do so. We have been ignored, disregarded and made to feel less than. We did not receive any information in 2017 about the cell tower and that continues to this day with the city ignoring simple questions about when the tower will be turned on.

It is wrong that Verizon continues work despite the permit being litigated and a pending injunction ruling in Berkshire Superior Court. It is especially wrong that the city has failed to intervene despite the united voices of our blindsided community. It is wrong for there to be no notification to abutters and a deceptive street address so far away from the actual construction site that no road existed to connect the two.

Charlie Herzig
Pittsfield, Mass.

Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
10:55AM / Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Elm Street will be partially closed as cleanup continues. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wednesday morning was busy for Pittsfield first responders, as a pickup truck crashed into Samel's Deli & Catering and a fire broke out on First Street.

Around 9:45 a.m., the police reported that the street in front of Samel's Deli & Catering would be closed or down to one lane as a result of a two-car collision that sent the truck careening into the deli.

The department posted two photos on Facebook, one depicting the silver truck with New York license plates crashed through the glass of the front entrance and another of a white Honda CR-V with significant damage to the front end.

"A vehicle was coming out of one of the alleyways here and struck this truck, which continued into the building," Police Officer Craig Jones explained when iBerkshires arrived on the scene.

Jones reported that there was one injury but whether it was someone in the vehicles or in the deli. A crossing signal near Samel's front entrance was also taken out by the truck.

Around this time, crews worked to clear debris in front of the restaurant as the truck was towed away. That section of the road reopened around 11 a.m.

The police, firefighters and an ambulance responded to the accident and police intend to release a statement on the incident.

Around 6:15 a.m., the Fire Department reported that it had responded to a possible structure fire at 233-235 First St. Windows on all three floors of the multi-family building are now broken or boarded up and the cause is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office.