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Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown

Tom Menino has a new mission: Turn Faneuil Hall into the Natick Mall. The Globe reports that an angry Menino, way up there near the top of Mt. Crumpit, could no longer take the noise, noise, noise, noise and ordered Boston Police to bust up those dangerous street performers - and balloon artists - in front of Faneuil Hall:

The officers shooed away clowns and caricature artists. They ordered music and dance acts to contain their performances to a single, small patch of brick - measuring 15 feet by 15 feet - near a stand of trees. And they erected steel crowd-control barricades in a wide swath around three sides of Faneuil Hall, to make sure the performers didn't sneak back.

But did they confiscate their tartinkas and who-hubas?

Why, Tommy, why?

Tom Grinchino
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Comments

The faneuil hall area is a tourist ghetto, and a necessary and fabulous one at that. It's not for residents, but it saves us. And the diversity and color at this end, with clowns and breakdancers and magicians and whatnot is the most interesting thing about it from my standpoint of passing through.

We really need a mayor that understands and enjoys city life, not some undertalented bureaucrat from suburban Readville.

The idea of a single, 15' x 15' area for performers is outrageous. I'm ready to go down and make much more noise than any bucket drummers. Anyone with me?

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The idea of a single, 15' x 15' area for performers is outrageous

Fifteen feet by fifteen feet isn't enough space? 'Cmon. Fair is fair- the city doesn't want one massive group hogging space. I don't think they're preventing people from wandering around and working a crowd, just not putting out a ton of shit with a huge entourage. I saw one group that practically had a stage- multiple amps, mics, wires everywhere...guys, book a show somewhere like everyone else!

There's so much hyperbole being slung around, I can't tell what's legit and what's just bitching. The metal barriers are ridiculous. Running around with noise meters (as long as they're being used properly) is not, though using them on people clapping *is*.

As for the restaurant- sorry, the rights of performers do not trounce the rights of the restaurant. Fist, face, swing, etc. If patrons in the restaurant can't enjoy a meal because the music's too loud, turn it down.

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We don't need a franchised Texas restaurant at Faneuil Hall. If they don't like the noise of real people enjoying a real city, they are welcome to shut down. Any number of locally-owned outfits would eagerly grab up the space. It won't stay empty long.

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Save it for Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal, pal.

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That's communism right there

I would have thought it to be capitalism. If you move into a noisy area, then your customer base doesnt appreciate the noise, you close and someone with a customer base that enjoys noise comes in.

Communism is telling the street performers exactly where they can play, for how long, and what they can do.

Capitalism = Less control, more free market
Communism = More control, less free market

In Soviet Russia street performs you!

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The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins.

Oliver Wendell Jones knew his constitution- apparently, you don't.

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The question is, where does the restaurant owner's nose end.

Some might say it ends inside the restaurant - otherwise, that's a very long nose, to be sure.

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The Fishsmell District needs more restaurants so that people attending conferences have a place to go eat.

They can move over there if they want it quiet. Otherwise, the area is a PUBLIC PLACE not a PRIVATE PARTY. Huge difference.

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The dancer guys are really loud not just for Houstons but also office workers in the immediate area.

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Maybe you're confused by the name of the restaurant, but Houston's is not a 'franchised Texas restaurant'. Not that the headquarters location of any franchised business has anything to do with this issue. Anyway... Houston's is based in California.

I think our forward thinking mayor is using their noise complaint as an excuse to clear out the people the mayor would rather not see (or hear). The street performers must have forgot their kickback last month.

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Does this mean I cant be entertained by the guy who does his crazy magic act between Quincy Market and Fanuel Hall? Ive seen him a couple times, he is great. Well its not magic as much as it is picking up a block, then two blocks (at the same time) and proceeds until he is picking up 15 little blocks and doing tricks with them. Then he drops the whole thing, runs across the "stage" (he sets up an area that is for the act) and does a flip thing while putting on a sport coat. Ive actually thought of going to Quincy Market just to see him, and believe me a little square is not gonna suffice for his act.

Maybe thats why he wants to move City Hall to the waterfront! He can set up a nice quiet noise free zone a mile around his office so he can take a nap in the afternoons.

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There are a couple of guys who will bang anything ... like a drum, of course. They do it very very well, and I adore hearing them from a distance as well as up close. Like the pulse of the market.

Too tribal for Tom or something? What is it with that generation and their elders and their freak outs over all things drumness - or saying that things they don't like or culturally fear are "too noisy" when they most certainly are not? I remember giving my nephew a quiet drum to play with and the inlaws freaking out about it being "loud" until I whipped out a dB meter and compared it to other toys ... which is why I really sincerly doubt that this has any last thing to do with any real measured "noise" (drum or otherwise) and much to do with "stuff Tom doesn't get". The packs of schoolkids are much, much noisier and shreikier than the junk bangers - can Menino require them to be muzzled? Abecrombe and Fitch probably sells muzzles.

Do Faux Franklins count as "street performers", or sacred cows?

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Can't Mumbles just move his fancy corner office to the other side of City Hall? I mean, he's the mayor. And then, if he ever DOES want to see his citizens perform, he can bike on down the hallway maze and get a free show.

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If there ever was a stupid use for guards and barriers, this is it.

The Breeze Team founder, James Geddie, said the guards, armed with sound-level measuring devices, told them to turn down their music, and eventually told them to stop performing.

"They told us to stop because the audience was clapping too loud," Geddie said.

Hey, that's a great idea! Let's make sure the only performers allowed are the ones who suck and people hate! Hey, where's Gallagher when you need him? He'd make people not clap. Because clapping is bad. It makes noise!

A family from Virginia leaned on the metal barricade, looking at a guide and deciding what to visit next. They said they had just come from Quebec.

"They had tons of street performers," said Sarah Moore, who was visiting Boston for two days with her husband and two teenaged children. "It was awesome."

Yeah, that's a great result. We want people to think "Hmm, which is more fun, Boston or Quebec? Alors! Je me souviens! C'est Quebec!" Because Boston is no place for tourists to have fun and be entertained. Those damn tourists should just get in line, pay their money, and get out.

And besides Menino, whose heart is two sizes too small? Well, it's the drones at some crappy corporate chain restaurant called Houston's.

"When it's nice, we like to open the doors," said Jennifer Achevarria, who has managed the Faneuil Hall Houston's location for three months. "Our biggest concern is the noise level, which directly affects our paying guests and disturbs the ambience."

I say it's the creeps at Houston's who are messing up Boston's ambience. They should pack up their bags and go back to Texas if they want not to be disturbed by the natives. We've got our own crappy corporate chain restaurants, and we don't need them. I'd threaten to boycott, but it's not like I'd ever have eaten there in the first place. Who would, when Kingfish Hall is right there and is both local and excellent.

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I say it's the creeps at Houston's who are messing up Boston's ambience. They should pack up their bags and go back to Texas if they want not to be disturbed by the natives.

Leave it to a Texas themed restaurant to stamp on your civil liberties.

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> Those damn tourists should just get in line,
> pay their money, and get out.

I suspect that is as succinct a summation of the predominant attitude as one can find.

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Boston isn't a real city. Boston is a frozen-in-time relic ... a historic colonial Disneyland.

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I perform ON City Hall Plaza all the time, and nobody's ever said boo to me. I haven't been out there recently, but perhaps today would be a good day to see what happens...it's public property, after all, and there's no ordinance against it.

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In an earlier life I was on the plaza handing out free newspapers to people as part of a promotion (when your in college you do anything for money) and an officer approached us while putting a glove on one hand and actually reached for his gun with the other. He asked if we had a permit, I lied and said we did, he gripped the gun a little more and said he knew for a fact we didnt. I turned around to see my two cohorts had ran for it, and I backed away from the guy very slowly and apologized for being on the Plaza. So long story short, I dont do anything on that Plaza those cops are crazy, but good luck to you!

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I do have the privilege of having worked for the City for a while, so I know many of the City Hall cops, at least by sight, and I know the vast majority of the Law Department by name. We'll see.

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Because you don't want to get run over by a giant hamster ball.

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I'm sure it will all blow over when the Mayuh's small heart grows three sizes and he, he himself, the Tom carves the Roast Beast.

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That should be "noise, noise, noise, noise."

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Fixed, and added in a photo of a little tot asking "Why, Tommy, Why?"

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BTW: fabulous post.

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If you don't like what the city has done, this is a good place to register your complaint. Select "Arts, Tourism & Special Events" from the "Department" menu. When I called that office earlier today, the people there were not at all happy with the new policy, and blamed the Property Management office for this fiasco.

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... for a boycott?

Though, I'd be effing shocked if "Houston's" lasted any longer than the Austin Grille did in Cambridge. The only customers they're ever going to have are tourists from Texas, and those are likely to get thin on the ground come September.

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Texans may be many things, but stupid enough to travel 2000 miles for bad BBQ isn't usually one of them.

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Bashing a restaurant that has been in that spot for a few years is pretty lame. Let's stop making this into some evil corporation fighting against the poor innocent street performers and demanding the restaurant move. I don't even like Houstons personally but this talk is over the top.

Obviously, there is overreaction here on all fronts. It is unnecessary to set up barrier around the area and make it look like it's on lockdown. By the same token, some of these performers, specifically the dancers with the loud stereo equipment are a distraction, especially for people working in the area. I know that first hand. You should not be able to put on that kind of performance without a permit, an average citizen has to get a permit so they should too.

The Globe has stoked the flames here with an obviously biased story. Regardless, I'm sure it'll cool down in the next few days and all will be right in the world once again,

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Oh, they walk by.

Street performers are a part of what draws such intense foot traffic to the area. Intense foot traffic helps restaurants survive.

Again, they might be welcome in the nice quiet seaport district if they don't want the hubbub of the hub. There they could survive on a lack of competition, and have pleasant sea breezes to blow quietly by.

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I'm not against street performers and do in fact understand how tourism in that area works, thank you. But I'm saying these specific guys, while they put on a cool show, are pretty loud. Faneuil Hall is not in some vaccuum where there aren't workers around and business is not being conducted. I think Houston's sucks as a restaurant so they're not my concern beyond thinking it's silly to claim they should move or whatever.

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I wonder if Menino heard complaints from restaurant owners with outdoor seating in the market area. Just sayin, once you're inside it's not such an issue.

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How long has Houston's been there? I ask because I don't know, but I'm fairly certain there were performers making noise outside when they signed the lease.

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of the Houston's is that it opened in early 2003.

usatoday.com...2003-10-09-spotlight-chowder_x.htm

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I recall that space used to contain a Houlihan's restaurant. (And now I wonder if they took advantage of that fact by changing only some of the old sign's lettering.)

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OHHH I know of Houlihans, so its the same location?

Probaly explains why I dont remember Houstons.

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I guess I'm in the minority of local people who actually LIKE Houston's. I think the food is good and service is great -- it's like you have three waiters. Nice and dark in there too.

I remember when I worked at Brattle Square the performers had an agreement that stipulated sound levels. Once a manager asked one of them to tone it down a bit. I don't remember if he did or not, but in any case, a day or so later, a guy representing the performers came by and talked to the manager to hash out the problem. Problems were rare.

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who have to stay a certain distance from each other, and stay within decibel limits. This came about a decade or two ago, after a period when too many performers were trying to out-loud each other with excessive amplification.

I have nothing against Houston's, other than that it's a non-locally-owned establishment that is now trying to interfere with a local tradition of street performance.

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I can't believe I'm defending a restaurant I don't like, but while you see it as interference, they in fact are a commercial business paying taxes to be here so they have every right to complain if they want. I'd prefer they be locally owned as well but it doesn't diminish their right to complain if they're bothered. There's nothing out there saying they have to just suck it up if they see something affecting their business. Obviously it does if they're now complaining because I doubt they'd be just be out there looking for the negative publicity that inherently flares up when some people read this type of story, this blog being exhibit A.

As for "the local tradition," I'm almost positive Houston's actually predates the guys that have the breakdance sessions (which again are awesome to watch) in front of Faneuil Hall. I've only seen them there the last 2 or 3 years, and they're all pretty young as is. They're great performers and deserve a chance to showcase their abilities. But I don't think having that kind of talent grants them a license to take over the entire plaza area by the Sam Adams statute either. I'm sure a compromise could be reached. The city admittedly has overreached here. They should just sit down and work it out, it shouldn't be too hard.

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That's the key. What bothers me about this incident is not the mayor or his minions trying to do something about noise (certainly a legitimate issue), but the way they did it - a rolling phalanx smashes its way across that plaza, steamrolling everything there (unless Menino has really sensitive ears and can hear balloons squeaking way up in his aerie).

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Since when does a business have more rights than people? Especially when it comes to something consitutionally protected like free expression on public proprety! Before the central artery went down, the highway noise was far greater in that area anyway.

Gee, I really despise the excessive noise from trucks using their jakes coming off of the Tobin Bridge. That 90+ dB farting noise really does interfere with my ability to do my work. Should I call city hall? The state? Have them ban all traffic on Route 1? Oh, and then there is the maritime horn noise whenever a very large ship enters or leaves the port. I should mention that too, so these vessels will be restricted to a 15' by 15' area.

Of course not. There is no constitutional amendment protecting a right to quiet for commercial entities - beyond the dB limits already in place for general purposes.

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For the most part I agree with you, but the Central Artery was at the opposite end of the marketplace from this plaza, which is between Faneuil Hall and Congress Street.

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The noise profile for a six-lane elevated highway is actually worse than it is for a ground structure.

Add in Boston's accoustic properties (I know that in the similarly constructed area where I work, noise from Rt 1/Tobin and from the harbor can echo pretty seriously) and the noise could travel pretty much throughout the area.

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Charlestown?

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But my company is moving to the financial district over the next two weeks.

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Who mentioned constitutional rights? I said they have a right to complain about noise they find excessive outside their establishment to the city. Doesn't mean the city has to listen to them, but they can complain til their voices go. They pay taxes as an entity so they have a legitimate stake here. If you disagree, fine, go ahead, run for mayor, whatever.

Given your strong feelings on this, I suggest you write to the mayor and the powers that be in the same fashion, if you have not already done so.

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I think you're right on the money. Businesses like Houstons and other cafe restaurants with outdoor seating get the benefit of Menino's policy-making authority, which at the same time is dismissive of the rights of street performers to congregate in public places and make noise.

That said, performers that draw crowds that don't make noise may well be desirable to the commercial interests of the businesses.

Street Performers need to organize and get a pro bono advocate. Alternatively, Menino's subjects can make it a campaign issue.

What do people do about their neighbor's dog's incessant barking?

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I wish I remembered the details, but I recall that at one time, not too long ago, the area around the Sam Adams statue had nothing but tourists milling around, taking photos of "the guy on the beer." Then something happened, that opened the floodgates for street performers around the statue (as opposed to on the other side of Faneuil Hall, where people already performed). Immediately afterward break-dancing troupes coming up from NYC nearly came to blows about who would perform. I don't think this was more than 5 years ago (thus while Houston's was open), but I could be wrong -- the years blur.

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Harvard Square (which includes Brattle) seems to have a very good relationship with the performers. Performers are always at events over there, and they always seem to be where they are best suited. Sure there are problems but they are not spread out all over the place. There seem to be several large areas in high traffic zones that dont impede traffic that the performers have "agreed" to stay in. So maybe Menino and his crew need to map out the same situation in Quincy Market.

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Joe Keohane explains why: Basically, people in positions of power who hate urban noise do great damage - just look at Robert Moses in New York or LeCourbusier:

... The man, who well along into the late stage of his power, has developed a powerful lust for gleaming glass towers full of the silent rich, is now taking his inner Corbu to the streets, in an effort to drive the suburbanization of Boston to critical mass. The crackdown on newspaper street boxes continues piecemeal, for example. This is because Hizzoner considers them "blight," and not the unsightly instruments of the unsightly thing called democracy that they are. ...

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Menino passed a home rule in the City of Boston intended to get absentee home owners to keep their properties from falling into disrepair - dilapidation, garbage accumulation over-grown lawns and shrubs. Inspectional Services will ticket the properties when complaints are lodged and if not paid, will be attached as a lien.

Residents discovered they can use this home rule to harass neighbors who lawns are unkempt or shrubs are not trim. With a phone call, you can sick Inflectional Services on your neighbor. Home rule does not have the force of law until passed by city council, the state legislature and the governor but that wont keep the mayor and Inspectional Services from issuing citations in the meantime.

Th home rule says your lawn cannot be longer then above ankle length. There does not seem to a written standard regarding shrubs.

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Rightly or wrongly, that same thing can be said about almost any regulation ISD has enforcement power over with residential property. It's always a neighbor having squealed when ISD shows up on your street.

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One thing that struck me when travelling in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver - all cities of rather similar population to Boston - was the variety and number of alt weeklies available at any given place. These didn't seem to produce blight, since there was a different mix at different places around the city, but gave the impression of a vibrant cultural scene for music, art, politics, etc.

San Francisco has this going on too, but that is a considerably larger city than Boston.

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This article was great to read, but the news was sad to hear. But it was best summed up with:

"They [Quebec] had tons of street performers," said Sarah Moore, who was visiting Boston for two days with her husband and two teenaged children. "It was awesome."

Yeah.

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Instead of harassing buskers, why doesn't the City put its energy into enforcing actual nuisances like obnoxiously loud car radios with bass that can be heard for blocks and penetrates walls and is audible in interior rooms.

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