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City Councilors: Leave Faneuil Hall pushcarts alone

City councilors talked tough today: They don't want the current operator of Faneuil Hall Marketplace to ditch the pushcart vendors that have long peddled their wares there.

City Councilors Michael Flaherty and Tito Jackson both accused Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. of duplicity, telling different city agencies different stories about the fate of the pushcarts.

"This is really an interesting question because we have a larger organziation and probably national chains who are now coming in, now that things are OK," Jackson said. "These pushcart vendors were literally there through thick and thin."

Flaherty and Councilor Steve Murphy submitted a formal request for a hearing on the issue involving some 60 pushcarts and 300 employees.

Murphy said Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market have served as a public market for the city since the 1700s and that history demands it remain that sort of civic space for residents of the city.

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Comments

Downtown Crossing is still fighting the same battle.

It's amazing how many ivory tower types just don't get it.

People go to places like this looking for a good cheap bite and cool cheap t-shirt.

These businesses have been profitable for decades! Then some, "I know better than you" developer or Boston Hack steps in and screws up everyone's livelihoods.

Tourists and locals alike love the vendors. Leave them alone. Preserve them at all costs.

Letting these Elitist condescending out of touch fools make decisions that hurt people is SO old.

Faneuil Hall and Downtown Crossing are both destinations that can easily be ruined by a lack of imagination, vision and a failure to see what works.

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Dont forget the greatest deal in the area , Haymarket Pizza !

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Although I dunno if that's actually considered part of Quincy Market. Is it?

Also, the Middle Eastern basement store with the name I can't remember and the amazing pita from Montreal.

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Blackstone street,right across from where the pushcarts setup. Seeing as I was commercing at the markets before they went all spiify , I hereby decree that yes it is part of Quincy Markets .....

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Haymarket+Pizza/@42.3616922,-71.0563487,3a,75y,311.38h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sejTM5CsU6KtH2w0l5_vPNw!2e0!3e2!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xdb5c96c06cc3cf8a!6m1!1e1

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I shall defer to you, sir.

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That,s kind of you . On a more business note , I recall a trucking company breaking Boston up into three parts , like Gaul was ( Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres ). You had the Back Bay /South End , North End / Fanueil Hall , and the tweener. The tweener was stuff in the middle that didnt fit into the other two ( by volume ). The king of the tweener was the Zone...

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But I would say that it is great pizza.

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...I do not think that term means what you think it means
(to paraphrase The Princess Bride).

I have never heard anyone refer to those that run a business or politicians as "Ivory Tower" as it is usually meant as a pejorative for those in academia or possibly other "think tank" like occupations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_tower

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... especially as that has been a good small or "entry level" business for a lot of people, but let's be honest: how often do locals actually buy from them? I've never bought anything except jewelry from a cart, and that was my friend's cart. How many "CRAZEE CAT LADY" night gowns or fuzzy lobster hats do Bostonians need? The pushcarts need to be in a tourist destination or they'll go under.

Your mention of Downtown Crossing jogged something in my mind, though. Assuming the Boston Market eventually opens, and now that the RMV has relocated, the FH/QM area will be attracting more locals, and Ashkenazy is probably thinking of targeting the stores for a local demographic. I personally think FH/QM is big enough to be divided into a "tourist side" and a "local side," or just made to target both just as Prudential/Copley manages to with high end shops. Actually, probably the "2 side" configuration would work better, but whatever. My point, which I'm eventually getting to, is that the pushcarts must be somewhere with tourist traffic. If Ashkenazy is making a play for the locals, then the pushcarts need to be somewhere either within or outside of FH/QM that the tourists will see them. That may mean right on the Freedom Trail line, or keep Faneuil Hall "touristy" but target the Chatham Street side towards locals, or, as I like to call them, "us."

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Based on the plans that that they have published, this isn't about what local residents are more likely to buy or whether the current vendors should spruce up their wares. It is a simple plan to make Quincy Market an upscale shopping and dining "destination," as opposed to a relatively low margin seasonal tourist trap. The push carts will definitely go, regardless of what Ashkenazy says now, much as they have been pushed out of DTX. They are also effectively getting rid of all "take out" dining inside and transforming it into sit down restaurants, which is a vastly different concept from what has always existed there. They are also replacing a part of the market with a "boutique hotel." This isn't about tweaking the concept, but rather wholesale restructuring. Whether or not this is a good thing for the city financially and culturally I don't know but it probably isn't good for any of the current vendors, so I can understand why they would be calling City Councilors.

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You are correct on all counts, especially the part about money. But, as of right now, they are just plans. Plans which have yet to be approved.

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Remind me of how the cabbies are getting treated by the city today...

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Cabbies have no one to blame but themselves for that one.

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Before the Soxies got a sweetheart deal to shut down a public road (named after a racist, by the way) there were independent vendors on that street. My neighbor knew one of the vendors who used the extra cash to help his kid through college.

Once the Sox came in, he was forced to move a couple blocks down and didn't get enough foot traffic and was forced to shutdown.

If these city councilors a really tough, they would ask the city to revaluate that deal.

- The Original SoBo Yuppie

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It doesn't matter which company it is. As long as a single private company is managing the pushcarts, they are going to be a fake imitation of what an actual urban market used to be.

Whenever I visit the Reading Terminal Market or Pike Place, I have a deep sense of regret for what Boston used to have but threw away.

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Removing the smaller vendors from the marketplace and replacing them with larger companies will further perpetuate this loss.

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Maybe. But I'll avoid the place as long as the only options are crappy tourist souvenirs, regardless of the size of the companies that run the pushcarts.

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The Crappy Trinkets Lobby is powerful. DO NOT PISS THEM OFF.

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Thank you for fighting for this.

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That guy kicks alot of ass, doesn't he ???

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I've always liked Fisherman's Wharf in SF, and would love an experience more like that here (though seafood stands in SF aside, the food inside Quincy Market is admittedly way better).

Again, this is as it relates to tourist traps directly.

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I find Fisherman's Wharf largely obnoxious and unappealing.

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but at least thy don't throw fish around like at Pike's...talk about obnoxious; this is funny/entertaining about once

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It's like a glitzy highway rest stop, or a permanent fairground. There's nothing but crappy trinkets (I heart Daschunds magnets and plush Minecraft toys), low-quality junk food, Applebee's, and Holiday Inns for a full mile radius. Plus, it's mostly surrounded by residential neighborhoods, so it's hard to get out of without walking up a bazillion hills or figuring out a less-than-user-friendly bus system.

The sea lions are the only fun part, arr arr arr!

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Chain restaurants, tourist traps...and seals. (though didn't the seals all disappear a few years ago?)

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Quincy Market had seals? Awesome. Bring them back!

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3 for $12 t-shirts that you wouldn't just donate to goodwill upon receiving? The seafood stands that are better than anything seafood related in Quincy Market (only speaking of the walkup), and affordable hotels nearby vs all luxury in Boston? Also, just about everything worthwhile in that city is surround by residential neighborhoods and hills. Not that I'm saying FW is worthwhile, but as tourist traps go, I prefer it to Quincy Market.

But maybe it is worse because it has a Hard Rock, a Dick's Last Resort, and a Hillstone. Boston would never think of doing such a thi...err...nevermind.

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Better example to shoot for is probably Boroughs Market in London. The Greenwich Market in London is also a pretty great example. Hell, all the markets in London are great examples. Even their versions of Quincey Market, aka the corporate/tourist markets, Spittlefields and Covent Garden, would be great to shoot for.

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Whether you like Quincy Market and the pushcarts or not, the fact remains: These are small, local businesses owned and operated by people who live, vote and spend their earnings in Boston.

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I suggest we have a push cart derby like they did in Cool Runnings. Top 5 get to keep their spot.

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Right down Blackstone St. on a Friday !!!

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Does anyone remember the book "The Pushcart War" by Jean Merrill? All these goings-on make me think of it

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Read it as a kid growing up when little folks in New York really were getting pushed around like that (was the era of Robert Moses).

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How is it that a company headquartered in New York City can dictate what Bostonians should be doing? Am I missing something here? These guys want to waltz into Boston and turn a historic property into an upscale mall with national franchises that will replace small LOCAL business owners that have been part of the marketplace since it reopened in 1976. ALL of the pushcart and food court vendors have been part of QM since the beginning of time. They have stayed there through thick and thin. They endured the construction that created what is now the "Greenway". They stuck it out and as Bostonians we should NOT be shaming them for wanting to stand up to a NEW YORK CITY based company for their right to stay at Quincy Market. You morons that belittle these hard working small business owners should be ashamed of yourselves!! You people probably don't even work!! You must be collecting some type of welfare benefits and scamming our government, you scumbags! Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp doesn't give a rat's behind about all of the small businesses that are currently located at QM. They only care about collecting high rents from national retailers and rid the market of SMALL, LOCAL business owners. They probably have plans to 'spruce up" the property and then turn around and sell the lease to the highest bidder. Who are they kidding? It's classic text book real estate business. Boston doesn't need another high end mall. Look at Copley and the Pru....no one goes there anymore. Every time I have walked through those locations, they are not bustling with people like they once did. Washington Street is where national franchises should be located not Quincy Market. The problem with the property is that it doesn't have enough local vendors. Who the HELL wants to go to Ann Taylor,Victoria's Secret etc.. when they can go to those same stores in a mall that offers free parking? Think about it!! A year or so ago, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp also didn't want the street performers there either. Seriously who the HELL do they think they are? They need to research the ORIGINAL intent of the marketplace in 1976 and improve upon it by attracting more local vendors. Their latest tenant is a Japanese retailer that sells clothes that are shoddier than the Gap. Some of the other stores there are also owned by other international retailers. So before you bash SMALL LOCAL business owners, do your homework and see for yourself where the other retailers are truly based - here's a hint to get you started....they're not from Boston .

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