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Downtown Crossing board to pushcarts: You suck, so get out of here
By adamg on Fri, 03/08/2013 - 1:42pm
With downtown becoming the latest hot neighborhood, the quasi-public group that oversees Downtown Crossing has decided that the pushcarts that have long lined Washington and Summer streets are declasse and need to be removed immediately, the Globe reports.
The Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, which levies fees on Downtown Crossing merchants for promotional efforts and WalMart-style greeters, has told pushcart operators they have to vacate the area by the end of the month, the Globe says.
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Comments
Removing life from the street
The pushcarts add vibrancy and life and personal contact to a stretch blighted by greedy landlords and empty storefronts.
The fucking hole in the ground? THAT is declasse.
People with carts full of brightly colored wares who smile and say "hi"? That is urban life.
I know
I guess Boston doesn't want to "play city" anymore. Maybe, the Onion was on to something...
The hole is going away
An actual apartment tower is going in there, built by the same people building Millenium Place (across from the Ritz). But even with new construction, the push carts belong in that area and always will. Downtown crossing really captivated me the first time I visited Boston, in large part due to the carts, and is one of the reasons I ended up coming to school here.
OH THANK GOD THERE WILL BE NO
OH THANK GOD THERE WILL BE NO PUSHCARTS AND AN APARTMENT TOWER!!! FINALLY, WORLD-CLASS URBAN LIVING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN BOSTON!! EAT IT, THE ONION!!!!
They're not all bad pushcarts either.
A few times I've bought stuff from the flower guy.
Suburban Mentality
They want a sterile, homogenized, utterly controlled space devoid of any spontaneity.
All fun needs to go through six layers of pre-approval and be micromanaged until it ceases to exist.
It's like the food trucks. "We are currently accepting applications for a Tex-Mex Asian Neo-Fusion SubOrganic Vegan food truck that can be positioned on this specific corner only during the ridiculous hours of 11am and 6pm every twelve Thursdays past a fortnight each Friday."
Can't be that
I live in the burbs and I don't have that attitude.
Try again, city boy.
Boston is like a bad HOA or Lifestyle Center
Boston's attitude towards fun and expression is similar to those you see directed at mailbox colors in a subdivision. Everything must follow an exacting process and meet certain exacting standards. See something interesting? Pull out the rule book and prepare the sanctions. Create an approval process that will most certainly not favor the favored... because that would be wrong.
It's not to prevent any actual harm, but to allow certain individuals to assert their own will and fulfill a desire to control.
The control over public space and the erosion of true public space mirrors the increasing ratio of Private-Public to Public space in suburbs and exburbs. Where entire "downtowns" are actually owned by private entities that allow only certain activities by certain individuals at certain times. Strictly enforced, of course.
The limited range of space in these communities where one could reasonably hope to interact with others leaves these open to the public, but not really public areas as essentially cartoon versions of real life, but the only option. Where the approximation of reality is only allowed to be so approximate.
So yes, I'd argue that Boston's micromanaging does reflect a suburban mentality.
Or it could reflect a city
Or it could reflect a city with some sort of a plan.
Do tell
This plan is? Do we know? Have they made a comprehensive master plan public for comment?
Other than to make yet another portion of the city safe for well-heeled tourists scared of anything but the usual generica?
If only PF Chang's had a pushcart!
Or is their plan to recreate EPCOT, where the lack of street vendors and their signature food odors makes it seem totally fake?
the suburbs are full of push carts
There are push carts in almost every suburban mall. I'm guessing this is to make them more charming and "urban".
I think the push carts should stay, but I suspect that they are trying to kill of the current crop of hardy operators (who have helped make that area seem somewhat alive through some tough times) so they can replace them with the suburban mall type vendors and charge them a lot more rent.
There are push carts in
I thought it was so that they can rent out floor space in the corridors. The carts and kiosks and such usually aren't all that charming. Unless you're charmed by cellphone cases or something.
Wow
It seems like Boston is working overtime to make the city as uninteresting and corporatized as possible. Menino sucks, the neighborhood groups suck, the hack politicians suck. What other ways can they come up with to make it ever more boring to live here.
Much less reason to go there now.
I go to the area is DSW shoes and the food carts. Now I'll be in the area far less often.
Does the BID even have that authority?
I thought the push cart vendors were licensed by the city.
That's a good question, HenryAlan.
Me, too.
BID enforcement power
I'm curious about this, too. What exactly is their authority? Could they do this to a store they didn't like? Or a business working in one of the offices in DTX? What are they going to do if the vendors keep showing up after the 30-day window? Do they have the authority to call the police to keep them away?
There was a line in the article where a vendor said he's using the cart that BID chose and it made me wonder if BID or the vendors actually own the carts. If BID (or the city, which seems happy to fall in line with what BID wants) owns the carts and leases them to the vendors, then shutting down the vendors is simple enough. But if the vendors own the carts and are individually licensed by the city I fail to see what authority BID has to enforce the order.
Push carts pushed out...
I remember purchasing the best chicken fingers from a little push cart in the mid 1980s. And maybe an article of clothing, or two, from a few others.
I always found them intersting and non abrasive. Apparently they just don't fit in with the new vision of Downtown Crossing.
And I bet you 10 to 1 that the name "Downtown Crossing" will be up next for a revamp.
Shame.
Some "Improvement" District
Aren't they already trying to get us to say DTX instead of Downtown Crossing? Acronyms sound so much cooler when splashed over luxury apartment literature.
Leave it to the "Improvement" District to take away an actual, working source of revenue from the place which has watched over the past decade as longstanding retail disappears, store by store. Screw them and screw their gentrified, walled garden vision of downtown.
Done
DoCro
"Menino Crossing"
"Menino Crossing"
Double Crossing
Why are neighborhood groups given so much authority and allowed to act like ignorant bullies?
Welcome to the City of Boston
Welcome to the City of Boston folks! Complaints and Restrictions all day
More than meets the eye
There must be more to this than meets the eye from this short article. My bet is there is money involved here in terms of the application process and the business improvement district isn't getting something it wants from these pushcarts. Alternatively, I bet the members of the improvement district run businesses that compete with the pushcarts and want to do away with them in good old fashion monopoly style. The article makes no mention of whether the City (his Honna) knows about this. If not, I suspect that we will be hearing more about it and that it will not happen. I also suspect that the head of the BID will be shot from a cannon into the harbor from atop City Hall.
DTX, the latest hot neighborhood?
IIRC, Downtown Crossing was quite hot or at least vibrant for decades before Menino. Interesting that as Menino declines before us, private investment in Boston rejuvenates.
What I meant by "neighborhood"
Yes, Downtown Crossing, um Washington Street, used to be a lot more vibrant than today. But it wasn't a neighborhood - nobody lived there. Now you've got a few thousand people already living there - with more on the way. That's what I meant by "hot."
Yep, sure
Such a great place Downtown was prior to Menino. Remember the old Paramount Theatre? A great place to go catch a late night flick (or crabs maybe?). Or the "Art Cinema"-- where they played lots of "art" films. Or that Christy's across from the theatre that was open after the bars closed where the crack dealers would hang out in front all night long. Yep, those were the days!
Get real.
Menino should declare victory and retire
n/t
What?!
Downtwon Crossing is the latest "hot" neighborhood? If you mean "hot" in the sense of stolen goods and crime, then maybe. Who would want to live in that sh*thole area? Just because some realtwhores say so doesn't mean its true!
And the best thing (perhaps the ONLY good thing) about that area are the pushcarts!
Who the F are the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District?
Who are they? Why are there so many committees for this and that in Boston [and Cambridge, etc.,]?
The push carts have kept DTX alive for the past number of years as the rents went through the roof and retail outlets abandoned the area. They give the neighborhood character, and not for nothing, those carts actually sell useful sh*t that average people use. You need a cap, sunglasses, cheap watch, t shirts, whatever, those carts as a good a place as any, in fact better and cheaper than most stores. The city is fast becoming very bland and homogenized. Back Bay and Beacon Hill are lost causes in many respects, Harvard Square likewise, now Downtown Crossing. I suppose they ultimately would like it to look like Kendall Square, sterile, well groomed, and devoid of street life. Or Government Center, which is the perfect spot for farmer's market, flea market, etc., and it would bring life to the area, but no, you wouldn't want that.
Menino needs to go, yesterday.
Government Center does have a farmers' market
Every Monday and Wednesday, from late May through late November. http://www.bostonpublicmarket.org/markets-events/
I can only hope the city will
I can only hope the city will use this development as an opportunity to re-open Washington and Summer Streets to traffic in Downtown Crossing. Hopefully they can put some parking spaces in where those carts used to be.
Huh?
They were never closed to traffic. Tons of foot traffic goes through there every day. They just don't allow cars.
I meant REAL traffic, silly!
I meant REAL traffic, silly!
Translation
"I want to inconvenience tens of thousands of people everyday so that I can take a short cut"
This city's downtown will never be car or bike friendly. It was designed by cows walking around a peninsula. It is a city plan thats over 300 years old and we never fixed it.
Now, now. It wasn't cows. The
Now, now. It wasn't cows. The placement of the streets was perfectly logical given where things were, where the land was, and what the contours of the hills were, hundreds of years ago. It's hardly the fault of our original settlers that no one walks up to Spring Lane to fill up a bucket of water anymore, or ties up their boat at the town dock adjacent to Faneuil Hall.
Really? Do you even remember
what it was like on Washington Street when cars were allowed? It was a mess all day long. This was a far better idea and it should stay that way.
I suggest you all look at his
I suggest you all look at his name.
Ya'll just got trolled. Just sayin'.
Slow Down There
Look, these busybody groups are awful, but those pushcarts are even worse. First, there's no value. It's all cheap, knock-off, fall-apart-when-you-get-home stuff. You're not going to miss a single one of them. Second, whenever it rains or snows, guess who blocks off the walkway under the alcove along Washington Street? These guys, meaning that pedestrians (locals, tourists and homeless alike) can't stand there until the weather clears. Let's find something actually worth complaining about, huh?
Their merchandise hurts my feelings.
Yes we should get rid of them and all the other stores selling cheap stuff to cheap people. The sight of them and the people who purchase things from them hurt my eyes, especially when I've just come from an afternoon at Restoration Hardware. Now there's some quality merchandise. The one that really offends me though is the pretzel lady with her cheap knock off pretzels.
And to top it off, when it rains, and my town car is late, I am left standing in the gutter with the trash, getting all wet and the people from the Ritz are looking down at me, laughing, thinking look at that slob with her cheap pretzels. What a trial it has been!
We're talking about food vendors, right?
Pretzels, hot dogs, lemonade, Lambert's fruits and vegetables, etc. I'd miss those if they went away. They're a useful addition to street life.
Didn't see it specified, but
Didn't see it specified, but I'd also assume merchandise vendors are out too (hats, shirts, toys, etc). You bring up an interesting point w/ Lambert's. It's not technically a push cart...wonder how they're licensed?
Let the market decide
If enough passersby want to buy cheap, knock-off, fall-apart-when-you-get-home stuff, then who is a government official to say that this is not a worthy business?
As noted above
it's not a "government official" who made this decision. It's the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, a private organization.
BIDs are quasi-governmental
just like HOAs.
Spend Much Time Downtown?
There are a hell of a lot of people who migrate out of their offices at lunch time and in the afternoon and ... spend money!
Now I wonder: if there is no place to browse, to buy good sunglasses at half the CVS cost, to pick up a shawl because the AC in the office is on too high ... where are people going to wander?
This is an awesome plan to get rid of what little street life remains in downtown crossing.
Hilarious!
Back in the late 70s when it was decided by the powers-that-be that they would turn the vibrant urban shopping area that was Washington Street into the what they thought would be an approximation of an outdoor suburban mall, by renaming it "Downtown Crossing", shutting off traffic, and hanging a few flowers on streetlights (yes, they actually did that for a while),one of the first things they did was bring IN pushcarts, because they thought it added a classy touch. Now they want to get rid of them because it doesn't suit the new vision of a luxury residential area. Exactly when did the real soul that Boston had get so completely sucked out?
Exactly
The area has been mismanaged from the get-go. What was once, literally, The Hub (and why in hell there was a felt need to remove that bit of history, the sidewalk designation of same - does anyone know what I'm talking about? - I'll never understand) is now a pitiful shadow of the vibrant shopping area it once was. Certainly, a lot of it has to do with changing shopping mores, and may have happened organically anyway, but almost nothing the city has done has helped matters.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Hub of the Universe
I remember that "Hub of the Universe" plaque near the Winter street entrance to what was Filene's. Near where the produce guys are now. I hope they're not being pushed out with the pushcarts too. I buy a lot of produce from them (when the price is right).
Wait, when did they take out
Wait, when did they take out the Hub plaque?
Not Sure
All I know is it isn't there. Some info that may give a clue (perhaps it's not gone, but just forgotten...)
From Panorama (http://www.bostonguide.com/articles/boston%27s%20o...)
"Local retail giant Filene’s even erected a plaque outside its flagship store at the corner of Washington and Summer streets, declaring that particular spot to be the actual, geographical center of the universe. (To our knowledge, neither Carl Sagan nor Stephen Hawking was consulted on this.) Sadly, the plaque is today covered by a storage facility."
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Time to get out the peashooters!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pushcart_War
Tell them
I don't head down there much, but I do remember enjoying the carts when I went down there as a child. The nice thing about business organizations is that they don't like to make customers angry... let them know.
Petition to save the pushcarts
Downtown Boston Business Improvement District: Don't force loyal pushcart vendors out of DTX as desired by BID
Downtown Boston Business Improvement District?
Exactly who are this "Downtown Boston Business Improvement District"? They haven't done much of a job "improving" things, have they? And now they want to take away useful things like produce vendors that many of us who work in the area use. I guess the rich young offspring of overseas royalty that they hope will be moving into the luxury highrises at Downtown Crossing will have to have their concierges go elsewhere to buy the produce.
They don't buy produce. They
They don't buy produce. They only eat out.
These are the Downtown Boston Business Improvement Districtites
BID has a mostly corporate board of directors and a politico Executive Director Rosemarie E. Sansone.
Short of a major social media and PR campaign, pretzel lady and the other cart vendors don't stand a chance.
The BID and the city of Boston are very much the same
All the vendors, food and retail are being kicked out. The BID says there may be a new vending program although so far it hasn't been discussed as an option for anyone. Although if there is one the current vendors may be left out,
"There’s no guarantee that they necessarily will get a spot, and there’s no guarantee that they will get the same spot, because we’re looking at new locations throughout the district,” said Rosemarie Sansone, president of the BID," from the Herald
It's insane. There's always been an adversarial relationship between the Downtown Crossing Association, The Boston Redevelopment Authority and the vendors. I think they really believe that unless you are a deep pocketed property owner like a Ron Druker, or a powerful politician like Mayor Menino, then they have no use for you. Even if your money is literally paying their salary. Before they became the BID the Downtown Crossing Association's only source of revenue was the vendors.
I also would like to address the quality comments. T-shirts, luggage, back packs, winter wear and everything else sold on the carts is first quality, the same thing you'd get in the stores and half the price in most cases. So snobs feel free to shop in Macy's.
These are good people. I know them all. They work seven days a week all year, in all weather. They deal with crazies, addicts, thieves and of course all the great people too. They have managed to make it out there through a recession and through the "hole in the ground" debacle. They deserve to be taken care of by the landlords who take their money every month. They would LOVE to have the marketplace upgraded.
I'm dying to hear where Mayor Menino stands in all this. Everyone I know thinks of this as a no brainer. Help the little guy. Not too many people care about Downtown Crossing or DTX or whatever. The people who do care should be cultivated not alienated.
Thanks. If you need me , tomorrow morning I'll be shoveling out the sidewalk to make room for my cart and for you guys to have room to walk by. Thanks for all the support. We certainly need it.
Excellent response
Let's keep in mind that Rosemarie Sansone is an old time Boston political hack who has found new life and profit in the non profit world.
Glad to see the shakedown tactics she learned in the Council Chamber are still serving her well, much to the dismay of the aforementioned vendors, who are being extorted, plain and simple.
Reminds me of the client I used to drive who lived in the Ritz condos. He once remarked to me " I wish the brochure had shown me the rear view before I bought into this shithole neighborhood".
Or when the Lafayette Hotel first opened and we were asked by the hotel management to bring in their guests down Tremont and then to Avery to get to the hotel and woe be unto the driver that brought them up Devonshire street.
This is the problem with BIDs
They essentially turn over government functions to a board of private company representatives. They have power to tax, spend, and, apparently, grant permits. What don't they have? Accountability to the public. This is ridiculous. What kind of organization says, sorry, your livelihood is over in less than 30 days?
(No subject)
The Pushcart War
So maybe Jean Merrill's The Pushcart War should be the "One city, one story" selection for this year's Boston Book Fest?
it actually would be a fitting tribute...
... jean passed away in August of 2012.
my sister lived up in vermont with jean and her life-long companion ronnie solbert, who illustrated the pushacart war. i had the honor of spending a few evenings talking with both women about the unexpected staying power of the book they created almost fifty years ago. i could not think of anybody more deserving.
Awesome book
I cannot believe it's not in print anymore.
A vendor posted this on Boston.com
How can anyone in their right mind argue with this statement? How can anyone not see this is just a repeat of what has happened to so many other neighborhoods in this city? People that have never spent one day in Downtown Crossing are now deciding that the people who have stayed there through everything over the years will now be pushed out.
You know what's coming next? Soon we'll start seeing little mentions of the new stupid name that some asshole thinks that area should be called in the BBJ and Boston Magazine. You know, like how one day it was the shitty part of the South End and then you wake up the next day and it's SoWa. Or where you take the shitty waterfront and call it the Innovation District.
These aren't terms designed to add a new appreciation for our fair city, they're marketing terms used to derive new money from some of the same old shitholes.
You have hit the nail on the head!
"People that have never spent one day in Downtown Crossing are now deciding that the people who have stayed there through everything over the years will now be pushed out."
That's exactly what happens. The same way overbuilt monstrosity impractical T stations are designed by people who have never taken the T, and usually do not even live in Boston. I have had jobs where serious decisions on how to do the job are made by people who have never held that job, or, even worse, by the dreaded "outside consultants". The thing all these people have in common is that their knowledge of the situation is theoretical, based on figures on a piece of paper (or screen),and never hands on or practical. Figures lie. This disconnect is alllowed to flourish, and causes most of the problems we have.
SoWhaah? More like EaWa!
There's a reason that the streets change from East (street name here) to West (street name here) when they cross Washington. As someone who lives east of Washington St (I mean really, south of Washington St is, like, Rhode Island, I think..), I can tell you that no one calls it that. Except for maybe the real estate agents or the people stupid enough to overpay for a loft up past the cathedral, closer to East Berkeley St.
In defense of SoWa
This part of Washington Street runs at about a 45-degree angle.
'SoWa' is a useful descriptor for a small part of the South End that is dominated by art galleries, studios, and a weekly flea market.
It's the vacancies, stupid.
It astounds me that the "Business Improvement District" people target hardworking pushcart proprietors as the problem, rather than the number of vacant storefronts in Downtown Crossing. The old Barnes and Noble location serves as a prime example - it's been about seven years since that store closed. Instead of hating on the pushcarts, why can't the brain trust get creative and work with the property owners to bring in business to the vacancies? A good example is the temporary farmers' market in the old Central Square Blockbuster store.
Being a "world class city" isn't about being upscale. It's about vibrancy and variety. It's sad that the mayor's office and the "business improvement" people don't comprehend that.
Vacancies
I think plenty of businesses *would* want to be in Downtown. The owners just need to set the rent to an appropriate level and start leasing. Look at the mix of shops that appears today on Centre Street in JP, that's the ideal mix of stuff, what people want to be around. I think the owners won't budge because they're holding out waiting for future unicorns to pay fatter monthly fees. I remember lots of stores in the old days. There was a store that sold scripts for play to the theatre community. There were stores like Porta Classica that catered to people going out to night clubs. I wonder about the future of the produce markets, Winsor Button, the fabric stores, the antiquarian book shops, the coin shops, in short anything that isn't Legal Seafoods or Louis Vuiton, and which, however low-profit, were adding some interest to this area. There's this (I think delusional) idea by developers that you can just pour a cup of "Instant Manhattan Everywhere (R)" and add water, and the luxury buyers will appear, like Sea Monkeys. Hence the uncreative, copycat names like "SoWa". The sad truth, in my opinion, is that at the end of this folly they will be completely shocked to discover that if you push the foot traffic of ordinary people out of that area, with them will depart any desire to walk on the half-empty streets. Oops, no profits...
An let's not forget the debacle that was
Lafayette Place?
It must have seemed like a
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time to have a circular floorplan so that nobody could tell where they were within the mall. Not that that was their biggest problem, but it certainly seemed emblematic (to me) of a certain kind of "thinking" that went into that project. Whatever, it was the late 80s, right? Everyone thought the trick to saving urban spaces was to turn them into malls. 20 years later and they're trying to turn the malls into urban spaces.
Why it failed but Copley Place thrived
Location, location, location.
Copley Place is right on top of a turnpike exit, so suburbanites could drive in and drive right out without ever having to deal with the actual icky city.
Lafayette Place, in addition to yelling "You suck!" at all the people walking along Washington Street, had no easy way for suburbanites to get to it.
Lafayette Place was three blocks from the Central Artery
and it had a pay parking garage (still does), just like Copley Place. I don't think parking or highway access was the reason that it failed.
Three blocks make all the difference
To get to Copley Place, you basically turn right off the turnpike and boom, you're there (remember when it was just a giant grassy circle in the middle of the offramp?). Three blocks in downtown Boston? Fuhgedaboudit.
Plus, one's "in" Back Bay, which is all chic 'n' stuff, while the other's in Downtown Crossing, which isn't.
savethepushcarts
I am a pushcart vendor in the program for over 25 years. Please help us. Follow us on twitter @savedtpushcarts. We need your help. Thank you for your support.
register a name here
and write an entry up under your account. I'm sure Adam will promote it.