North End

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a two-hour neighborhood meeting about trash and rats; says Councilor LaMattina has made some calls to particularly offensive property owners to get them to clean up their property. Other offenders get a "Letter from the Councilor" with tips on making their refuse less rat-happy.

Pouring 40,000 oysters into Boston Harbor to help clean it up even more:

Massachusetts Oyster Project blog.

Via NorthEndWaterfront.com.

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday ordered the owner of 5 North Square to take out the bar seats in a room where servers pick up drinks and patrons wait for tables.

The move came after complaints from some nearby residents about the restaurant's "service" bar, which is only supposed to prepare drinks for patrons eating meals, but which had a few seats at which waiting patrons could order both food and drinks from waitresses.

The restaurant had asked the board to remove the "service" restriction, but the board voted to keep that restriction in place. It also ruled waiting patrons could be served no more than one drink while waiting.

The Boston Licensing Board tackles the question Thursday when it decides what to do about neighborhood complaints about the bar at 5 North Square.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a trifecta of out-of-control parties in the North End, including one on Halloween at 224 Hanover St.:

... College students were throwing bottles and cans down to the street. The police initially had difficulty gaining access when a male dressed in a baby's outfit refused to open the door. BPD eventually gained access and the officers detained 15-20 Suffolk university students. There probably were more at the party which had dispersed as the police entered. ...

Ya know, we haven't had a good horrifying rat story recently. Chris Faraone to the rescue, with a look at Boston's rat rampage, from the North End to Allston/Brighton. With bonus fun fact on how male rates mate with up to 20 other rats a day.

On Monday, the Supreme Judicial Court hears arguments in a case that pits a North End developer against a resident who wrote about issues with his projects for a neighborhood newspaper.

Jen can't decide, but says the cannolis at Mike's have one advantage - if you buy so many that you can't eat them all at once:

... From personal experience, I have found that the cannolis from Mike's Pastry keep longer. The shells seem to stay relatively crunchy for at least one whole day (overnight), whereas the Modern Pastry cannolis get soggy in less than 24 hours. This could be because the Modern shells are smaller, lighter, and more delicate than the heftier, cookie-like shells from Mike's. ...

Mary Pierce posts video of gun-toting nuns at Commercial Street and Foster Street as part of, naturally, Ben Affleck's roving art installation, Guns on the streets of Boston. Actually, it looks a lot like a lot of people milling around not doing anything much besides shooting guns, then the nuns show up, then everybody goes back to milling about, firing weapons.

Oops, did I just give the plot away?

You pour them into Boston Harbor from Commercial Street in the hopes they'll establish a colony and help clean up Boston Harbor.

Massachusetts Oyster Project - which has already placed 150,000 oysters in the harbor by the mouth of the Charles.

Matt Conti runs down all the proposed developments for the Greenway - mostly all completely unfunded. One of the projects, which would replace the shelved plan to build a Boston museum atop a series of ramps, would consist of an "urban nursery," in which:

Trees would be planted in pots along rows, as if in a real nursery. After a period of time, an entire row would be "harvested" for use in other locations.

NorthEndWaterfront.com posts a photo of a toilet that's been sitting on the Freedom Trail on Hull Street near Old North Church since Tuesday, along with a note from the disgusted photographer:

... Why the stewards of the historic shrine or any of the commercial and residential abutters have not taken action to remove the plumbing fixture is a graphic commentary on what they really think about the neighborhood.

Sure, you could just stage a boring rally to call for action on climate change. Or you could hold a Boston Under Water Climate Festival, featuring such fun events as

• Building a sandbag flood barrier
• A massive group photo in front of the sandbag wall with a banner calling on world leaders to get us back to 350 and to pass a fair, ambitious and binding climate treaty this yearFlooding Station: learn about what sea level rise and higher storm surges will mean for Boston
• Fred Small sings "Three Five 0"
• Canoe relay racing!!
• Participatory Climate Theater!!
• Plus blue face-painting, bike-flag making, and much, much more!

Saturday, Oct. 24, 3-5:30 p.m. at Christopher Columbus Park.

A Newton butcher shop was fined $1,000 today for advertising kosher meat even after it stopped paying for kosher certification, the state Attorney General's office announced today.

The Gordon and Alperin Butcher Shop made a business decision in 2008 to drop its kosher certification, but the AG's office said the shop continued to post "Kosher meat" signs in Hebrew and to advertise the same on a Web site.

Gordon and Alperin has since regained its kashrut certification, Kosher Blog reports.

Today was the annual Columbus Day parade through the North End. Lots of marching bands, of course, along with a float of clowns throwing clown noses into the crowds. One lady put hers on:

One high school's uniforms were kind of unsettling:

A two-alarm fire that broke out shortly before 5 a.m. at 247 Hanover St. did about $300,000 in damage according to tweets from Boston Fireman and the Boston Fire Department. About seven residents had to be evacuated, but nobody was injured, the department reports.

Pre-fire:

Jen reports on a recent visit to the North End restaurant:

... Their chefs definitely know what they are doing and can execute excellent dishes. The downside? The menu is not very large, and it's a bit pricey. Even though we really enjoyed our meal there, in the end we both agreed that our favorite restaurant in North End is still Prezza. Being pasta lovers, we were a bit sad that there were only a few pasta choice on this menu. Nevertheless, this is still an excellent restaurant and definitely worth trying. ...

Thetan battle between Cruise and Affleck? Night filming of one of their movies? Does the Town just want to keep the North End up all night?

Anybody know?

Channel 5 reports the bomb squad called in a water cannon to dispense with "suspicious material" found in an unoccupied apartment at 57 Fulton St. around noon.

Oh, phew, it was just a movie.

So here's hoping there's no real gunfire as Thatcher, Endicott, Prince and North Margin streets are shut for moviemaking today.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports a man walking down Parmenter Street around 2 a.m. on Sept. 26 was "punched in the face numerous times" by an attacker who took his wallet.

Boston Police tweet the Sovereign Bank branch at 287 Hanover St. was robbed this morning by a man who passed a note but didn't show a weapon. Described as 5'8", thin, in his 30s, wearing a black T-shirt.

The fast-moving storm that just hit Boston knocked down trees across the city, Boston Fireman tweets:

A tree that fell on Cooper Street in the North End blocked the street and hit a couple of parked cars, while plunging trees on Greenville Street in Roxbury and Courtland Road in Mattapan took power lines down with them. A tree also fell across the road at Alwin Street and Dietz Road in Hyde Park.

Matt Conti reports Hanover Street's new fortune teller has already violated three of her license requirements, most notably a prohibition on garish neon signs.

Conti says when he heard about the proposed shop, he just knew this would happen.