Back Bay
Low blow in Copley Square
By adamg - 2/7/12 - 1:45 pm
Photo by Eric Steinhardt.
A pawnbroker dumped 900 pounds of Butterfingers candy bars in Copley Square today to commemorate Wes Welker's performance in the Super Bowl. The CEO claims he loves to talk to people; you can let him know what you think at 720-320-7777.
UPDATE: The mayor's office reports:
Code enforcement has tracked company's address and contacts; will be issuing violation for commercial dumping.
That could mean a fine of up to $1,000.
Three bars win approval for fairly sober bottle service at certain tables
By adamg - 2/3/12 - 4:56 pmThe Boston Licensing Board yesterday approved requests from Red Lantern in the Back Bay, Kennedy's Midtown downtown and Down Ultra Lounge in the Financial District to let groups of customers drink from a bottle of liquor right on their table.
But bowing to the city's general distaste for bottle service, all three said customers would not actually be able to buy an entire bottle of liquor for the night.
Backhoe takes out electricity to parts of Fenway, Back Bay, Kenmore Square
By adamg - 2/2/12 - 9:27 amFirefighters, police and NStar workers are on scene on Massachusetts Avenue by the Berklee construction site, where a backhoe took out some underground power conduits around 9 a.m., causing a power outage that extends to Northeastern and Bay State Road. The backhoe operator was apparently injured, but not critically.
Roving UHub reporter Chelsea reports:
Saw flashes then puff of smoke at mass ave and belvedere
Back Bay neighborhood group declares all-out war on graffiti, ad flyers
By adamg - 1/31/12 - 8:18 amMatt considers a new effort by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay to combat scrawls, stencils and band promotions, doesn't much think of trying to curb the flyers:
If you see an old flyer, tear it down and throw it away. If someone you know regularly puts up flyers and leaves the old ones up underneath, tell them to take them down and stop being a jerk. But don't call the cops on them. Don't take $300 out of a 23-year-old kid in a band, out of a broke comic, out of a struggling theater company, or out of a man with a van. These streets are for all of us, and so are these [poles]. Taking all the flyers down all the time makes it impossible for the really little guys to promote, and while it might make your streets a little cleaner, it also makes them more sleepy. You live in a city. There's stuff going on in a city. Instead of trying to stop people from finding out about it, maybe try going to it. ... on the nights that you don't have Back Bay Association meetings, of course.
Dolts captured on video in act of Boloco burglary
By adamg - 1/29/12 - 10:59 amBoloco has posted this video of a trio of criminal masterminds breaking into its restaurant on Boylston at Mass. Ave., about 30 minutes after it closed last night. Notice how you get a real nice closeup of one of their faces when he tries and fails to smash the security camera with his sledgehammer.
Boloco is offering a $1,000 reward for their capture.
H/t eeka.
Two bars want to let patrons say: I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy
By adamg - 1/28/12 - 10:52 amRed Lantern on Stanhope Street and Kennedy's Midtown on Province Street - which are owned by the same group - go before the Licensing Board on Wednesday for permission to serve entire bottles of booze to patrons at their tables.
The hearings could prove interesting - the licensing board has long taken a dim view of letting people have unfettered access to high-proof liquor.
How Beacon Hill can cram as many people in as parts of Manhattan without skyscrapers
By adamg - 1/21/12 - 9:26 pmMike the Mad Biologist riffs on Bostonography's population density maps and ponders how much of Beacon Hill, the Back Bay and the North End approach Manhattan levels of density without anything approaching Manhattan-style building heights:
Boston has two things going for it that most other cities don't have: narrow streets and sidewalks. Not a lot of space is wasted in residential areas. Sidewalks at most are about nine to ten feet wide, and skinnier in other places (e.g., Beacon Hill). The streets typically are very narrow–about ten Mad Biologist paces (my pace length is about average)–if you factor in parked cars, add about four paces. Not only does this making walking around easier, but the real estate is used to house people, not air or cars. That allows much higher densities (although it makes drivers crazy at times) without skyscrapers.
Ed question: Would that also apply in Somerville, still one of the most densely packed cities in America?
Sardine canning narrowly avoided on Storrow Drive
By adamg - 1/21/12 - 12:25 pmMike Mac captured the scene on Storrow Drive yesterday.
Sometimes, cuteness takes awhile to be appreciated
By adamg - 1/19/12 - 3:01 pmChannel 5 tracks down the Andover father whose video of his daughter saying "bye!" to people going down a Copley Place escalator became an Internet sensation this week - two years after he posted it.
