North End

Guy breaks into apartment; victim hits him over head with pot, chases him outside, where police arrest him.

Francisco Serrano, 22, of Apple Valley, Minn., arrested.

20 Prince St.

More info.

Apparently not satisfied with merely kicking a sleeping homeless man in the stomach in Langone Park off Commercial Street early this morning, two guys doused him with a flammable liquid and then set him on fire. He was taken to Mass. General with burns on his legs. The two suspects, described as black men about 30 (one wearing a White Sox cap) are still at large, BPDNews reports.

Channel 4 report.
Channel 7 report.

Meanwhile, over in the South End, a 7-Eleven clerk who tried to stop two men from walking out the door with stolen goods shortly after 1 a.m. got himself dragged outside and stabbed in the stomach. Police say he's expected to recover (more details at the same link above).

Now at Mass. General with burns to his legs. Two black men, about 30, one wearing a White Sox cap, are sought.

Police say the pair kicked the sleeping man in the stomach at Langone Park, then returned with a flammable liquid, which they doused him with and then ignited. Police arrived on the scene to five-foot-high flames; the men fled toward N. Washington St.

Commercial St. (Puopolo Park)

More info.

So who started it? Guy pulls into open space on Hanover Street yesterday - where another guy is standing. Driver guy tells police standing guy then walked to his window and punched him in the face. Standing guy claims driver guy struck him in the leg with his car. Both refused medical treatment. Neither was sent to his room.

Man parking car tells police man saving space punched him in face; space-saving man claims driver hit him in leg with car.

267 Hanover St.

More info.

State trooper on paid detail hears screaming, finds victim being hit with piece of wood and kicked. Suspected arrested at the scene.

Cross St.

More info.

William Deyesso doesn't understand how anybody in the North End could oppose his plans to open a nice cafe for his kids to run. Jay helpfully provides the Google search to explain why some people might be concerned beyond the size of the proposed cafe.

Shaun fails to find good pastry:

... The two famous pastry shops (Mike's and Modern) in the North End S-U-C-K. I've had both of their eclairs and, truth be told, I could build a pretty nice house out of them if I'd had a little mortar. Brick-like pastry with whipped cream cheese centers. Eclairs are meant to be light, fluffy and rich as hell. ...

Don't even get him started on Mike's tiramisu.

David reports on a community meeting last night called to discuss late-night partying:

... Standing room only (300 people), it reminded me of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting - disorganized, volatile and held in the basement of a church. I wish I had it on tape. It was comedy, it was drama. I actually felt sorry for and emphathized with these people. They were tired, exasperated and at their wit's end. This has become a real epidemic and I could not believe some of the stories I heard. "Hello, my name is Esmerelda PapaGeorgio and I live at 87 Richmond Street. I hate all drunk college kids and non-responsive police." The F-word was used by senior citizens more than once. As was a fist to stifle laughter, but there weren't too many of us smiling. ...

This afternoon around 4:30 pm, the power went out at my office on Union Wharf. A quick survey of the neighborhood found Hanover Street jammed with fire trucks, and smoke pouring out of the street near Sovereign Bank. When I returned to Union Wharf, smoke was also pouring out of a manhole in our parking lot.

Apparently this was the third underground North End fire in less than 24 hours. According to the lunchtime crowd at Contrada's, there was a fire last night around 10 pm, and another one this morning.

The Madonna della Cava festival is supposed to start tomorrow night around Hanover and Battery Street. I hope NStar can fix the problem by then.

Karl reports on the worst North End meal he's ever had:

... Finally this women resembling a cross between Zsa Zsa Gabor (with her big yellow, hairsprayed hair) and Edie the Egg Lady (from John Waters' Pink Flamingos ... complete with TIGHT camisol type top and TIGHT capri-length leggings covering her 250 pound 65 year old body) approached the table next to ours. She gruffly asked the diners "Do you want food or pizza?" They said they weren't sure yet so Edie Gabor rolled her eyes and yelled across their table to ours, "Do you want food or pizza?"

Confused, because I always thought pizza was food, I stuttered back "um, food." She groaned, rolled her eyes again and said "then another waitress will help you." Then she walked away mumbling to herself. ...

Alas, he doesn't cite the specific name, just that it begins with "La Famiglia."

The North End is a great place to just amble around. The other day, we wound up at Puopolo Park on Commercial Street, which is possibly the only park in Boston with public bocce courts (and definitely the only park with a plaque commemorating the Great Molasses Flood). Sometimes, bocce is a game of finesse, where you try to carefully roll your ball as close as possible to the pallina, a small white ball (points go to whoever gets their balls the closest). And sometimes, it's a game of smackdown, as you try to throw your ball as hard as possible to knock your opponent's balls away from the pallina. In either case, liberal use of hand gestures and Italian exclamations are always appropriate.

Karl loves ambling about, taking in everything from parades and fireworks to the bocce matches at Puopolo Park:

... It's just so much fun watching the old men with cigars yelling at each other (playfully) in Italian. ...

Michael reminds us that tomorrow is the 86th anniversary of the Great Molasses Flood, when 21 people drowned in molasses after a giant North End storage tank full of the stuff burst. Molasses fans will recall it happened on an unseasonably warm January day - good thing there aren't any molasses tanks left in the North End today, eh?