[non] on the border/ny times [mdmd-related]

[Kaminker/Wood]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/26/nyregion/26NOTC.html

The Driveway? It's in Another State
By PAUL ZIELBAUER

SOUTHWICK, Mass., Jan. 24 — Up here in the Notch, a tidy pocket of land
where Connecticut borders Massachusetts on three sides, strange things
happen to ordinary people. 

Take Rocco Cianfarani, 64, a supermarket manager who thought he had built
his wood-frame house squarely in Southwick. Because of modern-day confusion
spawned by a 359-year-old surveying blunder that created the Notch, Mr.
Cianfarani is now the owner of a Connecticut address, a Connecticut phone
number and Connecticut tax bills he wants nothing to do with. And when he
calls the police, Connecticut officers may or may not drive up his
Massachusetts driveway.  "It's not funny," he said. 

Norma Yourous, 82, is another Notch resident for whom the geographic divot
whacked out of Connecticut's otherwise Cartesian northern border is an
expensive fact of life. Unlike Mr. Cianfarani, Ms. Yourous officially lives
in Southwick. But since she can walk to Granby, Conn., without leaving her
backyard, she also pays Connecticut property taxes, which are higher than
those in Massachusetts.  "That's just how it's always been," she said.

Then there are Janice and Thomas Carr, whose camper caught fire and was
quickly devoured by the Notch 10 years ago. Because the Carrs technically
live in Granby, Granby firefighters responded to their 911 call. But when
they saw that the flaming camper was parked in a Massachusetts patch of the
Carrs' property, the firefighters rolled up their hoses and urged the Carrs
to call a fire department from that state. 
Result: "The damn thing burned down," Mrs. Carr said. ...



Allan Wood