North End

Matt Conti reports the councilor for the North End threw water on a North End Chamber of Commerce idea to stuff more tourists into the neighborhood by turning Hanover into another Charles or Newbury. LaMattina also discussed vexing Hanover issues, from double-parked trucks to selfish valets and taxis that just circle the block, at a recent residents association meeting.

The Globe reports some North End business types have begun talking up the idea because they could cram in more tourists in a neighborhood that's been bustling like nobody's business since the Central Artery came down. Some residents, though, say the last thing the neighborhood needs is more tourists.

Scott Williams shot this video yesterday, between Somerville and the North End (and back again).

BU Today reports on the findings of a professor and students who have been studying the remains of a 19th-century brothel privy unearthed during Big Dig construction on Endicott Street in the North End.

William McAdoo reports on Jose Duarte's experiments with printing QR codes (think of them as bar codes for the smartphone set) on the plates at his Taranta in the North End. Why? Imagine scanning in the code and reading up on the seafood sitting in front of you:

The problem was: how to get it on the plate? His first attempt was with a rubber stamp, using edible squid ink. The squid ink proved a bit oily with traces of sandy grit that clogged the stamp. He then decided to actually screen print the code onto the plate using a more refined squid ink. This worked better.

Around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, 1950, the Brink's garage at 155 Prince St. was held up and robbed by a gang that got away with $2.78 million in cash, checks and securities.

The mask-clad hoods spent more than a year casing the joint - they even staged several overnight break-ins to steal locks from which to make keys, then returned the locks to their doors - and left behind few clues. But an embittered Specs O'Keefe turned on the other ten gang member after three failed attempts to rub him out and when he realized - while sitting in a jail in Springfield on other charges - that they'd taken all his money.

Most of the money was never recovered; the FBI says a good chunk was spent on legal bills as the feds and the state slowly closed in on the gang.

The Brink's facility still stands, although it's now a common run-of-the-mill parking garage, with an address of 600 Commercial St.

• Short version from Wikipedia.
• Longer version from the FBI, which focuses on the hunt for the robbers.
• Even longer version - Stephanie Schorow's "The Crime of the Century."

Destroyed El

On this day in 1919, 21 people died when a poorly maintained molasses tank off Commercial Street exploded, sending more than 2 million gallons of the syrup roaring down the street at 35 m.p.h. The above photo is from the Boston Public Library's collection of molasses images and shows what the stuff did to the elevated that ran down the street at the time.

• More from Wikipedia
• Dark Tide - The definitive book on the disaster.

NorthEndWaterfront.com explains why you need to avoid the spaces on Commercial Wharf West.

Melissa Manion cannot believe what she saw when she visited the Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the North End recently:

Copp's Hill is a mess. I cannot be blunter about that. One cannot even make out the words on the Shaw marker that our ancestors placed to honor this unique man. Gravestones are broken, their pieces are nowhere in sight. I can only hope that someone has them stored somewhere until they can be repaired and that they are not just gone for good. Stones are leaning into each other, many covered in lichen and with vines. There is no sense of honoring here, except for the Markers of the Mathers that some descendant likely conserved and this too troubles me. It would be unacceptable to me to watch the grounds around my loved ones rot away, imparting a feeling of some kind of cemetery ghetto.

Via The Two Palavers.

The Supreme Judicial Court today ordered a Superior Court judge to consider whether a DNA sample from the sneaker of one of three men convicted of pumping more than 20 rounds into two men in 1986 warrants a new trial.

Matt Conti posts some video of the New Year's fireworks over Boston Harbor.

Greg Cook took photos at Rockport's Nativity pageant.

Matt Conti posts photos from the North End Christmas parade.

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Meet like-minded progressives at Connecting for Justice on January 27 from 6-9PM at Lir Irish Pub and get connected to great social justice organizations in Boston. Have you been lurking on SoJust? It’s time to meet the friendly faces of the group that’s grown to almost 1600 members, hosted 85+ events and fostered hundreds of connections since our founding 4 years ago.

Join us if you are ready to go BEYOND ALLIES and build a CROSS-ISSUE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT.

RSVP at www.sojust.org (our main website) and view Member Profiles, Message Board and Calendar of Progressive Events. Newcomers always welcomed!

Cost: $2-$10 collected at the door

This is not a meeting - it's a fun networking social!
No Program. No Speaker. Just Us. For Justice.

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a new wrap and sub shop on Salem Street and an expansion of Bricco on Hanover Street.

Richard Shiner, the man arrested last week on charges he broke into St. Leonard Church in the North End and St. Anthony Shrine downtown, now faces charges he stole from five other churches, in Roxbury, Dorchester and the South End, Boston Police report.

Shiner is charged with two of three break-ins last month at Mission Church; two burglaries at St. Anthony; two break-ins and one attempted break-in at St. Leonard; one break-in each at All Saints Church and St. Ann's Church in Dorchester, larceny at St. John's Baptist Church in the South End and a break-in at Holy Cross Cathedral in the South End.

Innocent, etc.

That was fast: Boston Police report arresting Richard Shiner, 44, on charges he broke into St. Leonard's Church on N. Bennet Street - and while they had him, they also charged him with four break-ins at St. Anthony's Shrine, 100 Arch St. downtown.

Police say they're looking at Shiner's possible links to other church break-ins of late in Boston and say he could face additional charges.

Innocent, etc.

Boston Police report they have an arrest warrant out for this guy, Richard Shiner, 44, in connection with a break-in at St. Leonard's Church, Hanover and Prince streets.

Police charge Shiner broke into the church on the night of Nov. 28, broke open several donation boxes and stole an undetermined amount of money. Surveillance video and tips led to Shiner, who is still at large, police say.

The past couple of months have seen a rash of church burglaries. Mission Church on Mission Hill was broken into three times in November. Also last month, police arrested a man for a series of break-ins at churches in Dorchester.

Commuter rail lobby, to the left of the tracks.

Costs 25 cents.

Matthew Black, president of the North End Music and Performing Arts Center, makes the case on NorthEndWaterfront.com:

The North End as a standalone is home to 10,000 people. Show me a city that size anywhere in America that doesn’t have a theater. In many great societies, a theater is a shining point of pride. Even in the most impoverished places, there is an effort to provide a suitable place to gather.

Posted by Italian Yoga.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports city councilors Mike Ross (of course) and Sal LaMattina are working on an idea to "have students sign leases where certain loud party' terms are included." The idea is to then enforce those terms with fines or outright eviction.

Why is NorthEndWaterfront.com reporting on this? Seems the North End might soon have to rename itself East Allston, based on a rising number of complaints about out-of-control parties run by college students (the more enterprising of whom charge admission).

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports a woman entering her Salem Street apartment building around 4:30 p.m. on Monday was grabbed from behind by some man, who ran down Charter Street when she screamed.

The attack is similar to past, unsolved, incidents - right down to the guy running away when his victim screams - but earlier incidents happened late at night.

Map of attacks since 2008.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports Steven Fustolo is no longer suing Fredda Hollander for articles she wrote for a neighborhood newspaper over his proposed building plans.

The case reached the Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled in February that reporters are not covered by a state law intended to protect residents against lawsuits by big corporations for exercising their right to petition the government.

Boston Police report arresting a local man for attempting to break into a boat docked at Commercial Wharf in the North End.

Unfortunately for alleged suspect Eric Pfaltzgraff, 35, the boat's owner and his girlfriend were asleep on the vessel:

[U]pon hearing someone trying to break in, her boyfriend got up, opened their bedroom door and observed the suspect standing in the hallway outside their bedroom. According to the victim, the suspect was holding several items in his hands. At this point, the victim says the suspect took off and her boyfriend began chasing the suspect on foot. In short time, officers located the suspect still being chased by the victim who was barefoot, wearing boxers and a t-shirt.

Pfaltzgraff was charged with breaking and entering a boat in the nighttime.

Innocent, etc.