South Boston

Cambridge, Mass. — Tickets are on sale now for George V. Higgins’ The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Stickball Productions’ world premiere stage adaptation of the quintessential Boston crime novel. The production runs Dec. 8–Jan. 15 at Oberon in Harvard Square, for tickets, visit www.thefriendsofeddiecoyle.com

It is the winter of ‘69 in Boston and Eddie Coyle is a bottom of the barrel hood attempting to stay alive and out of jail among his “friends” – cops, bartenders, radical hippies, bank robbers, hit men and informants. Weeks away from a prison sentence for trucking stolen booze, Eddie’s making a few bucks supplying the guns for a rash of brazen bank heists, while looking to tip someone in for a kind word to the judge.

George V. Higgins’ classic novel has been called the “best crime novel ever written” by Elmore Leonard, and literary scholars have compared his unforgiving and realistic depiction of Boston’s underworld with the works of Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Balzac. Through dialogue quintessentially Bostonian, and the most poignant homage to Bobby Orr and the ’69-’70 Boston Bruins in literature, The Friends of Eddie Coyle has set the bar for Boston crime stories for nearly 40 years.

Kathryn Kinzel photographed the demolition of the Quiet Man Pub in South Boston today, several years after the place closed.

The Globe provides the definitive look, including the identity of the cat-loving Icelander who brought him down.

A man who jumped into Boston Harbor from the roof deck at Whiskey Priest in August has gotten the bar in hot water.

A manager at the Northern Avenue watering hole told Boston Licensing Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer today they've added additional staff to the deck and posted 10 to 12 signs around the deck warning that harbor jumping will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law - assuming they can catch the jumpers to begin with.

Boston Police report 3 D's Variety, 249 E St., was held up around 2:10 p.m. on Thursday, by a white man, around 22, 5'10" and 180 lbs. He had a white T-shirt pulled up around his face and a black handgun, police say, adding he got away with $300 to $400.

Greg MacKay spent some time by Fort Point Channel earlier this week.

Copyright Greg MacKay. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Somebody who thinks saving a space on a public street is a problem reported this pre-snow space saver on F Street in South Boston.

Of course, the wily spacesaving Southie resident removed the chair before a city DPW worker could do so.

See competing early-season efforts in Eastie, Brighton, Roslindale and JP.

Mike Ball considers last night's results in District 2, which saw challenger Suzanne Lee of the South End top incumbent Bill Linehan of South Boston:

Like those inconsiderate schlubs who stroll slowly while jaywalking to inconvenience as many drivers as possible, some Boston neighborhoods love a sense of power. South Boston has been one, as in returning the dreadful bigoted Jim Kelly to this seat numerous times. He was obnoxious, inefficient and a true insult to the district outside of Southie. They did it because they could.

Linehan is much more low-key and doesn't exhibit the worst of Kelly's traits, certainly not the anti-gay stance that Kelly finally recanted when he was dying. Yet, despite the incumbent's drabness, there is a clear choice here. Lee is an achiever, an idea and action person, with specific programs and goals to improve the lives of those in the district and whole city.

Voters in District 2 (South Boston, South End, Chinatown), District 3 (Dorchester) and District 7 (Roxbury, Fenway) will narrow down the field of candidates tomorrow for the November elections.

In District 2, incumbent Bill Linehan is facing challenges from Suzanne Lee and Robert Ferrara. Report from a candidate forum.

In District 3, seven candidates want to replace retiring Councilor Maureen Feeney: Frank Baker, Doug Bennett, Stephanie Everett, Craig Galvin, Marty Hogan, John O'Toole and Mary-dith Tuitt. Candidate answers to questionnaire.

In District 7, part-term incumbent Tito Jackson will face either Sheneal Parker or one of two perennial candidates: Althea Garrison or Roy Owens.

Man cage to the rescue. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports some shifting rebar pinned two workers and injured a third some 30 feet below ground level around 1:40 p.m. at the Vertex construction site on the waterfront at 50 Northern Ave.

Firefighters used a crane and a "man cage" to get the men, suffering from leg and arm injuries up to waiting EMTs.

The workers are helping to build two 18-story buildings as the $1-billion headquarters of Vertex, a pharmaceutical company now based in Cambridge.

Adam J. Cassino was ordered held without bail yesterday at his arraignment on charges he beat Barbara Tagen to death in her Andrew Square apartment last month, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

This just in from Steve MacDonald at BFD about last night's fire on Melcher Street:

Fire Investigators have determined the most probable cause of last nights 3 alarm fire on Melcher St. was the careless disposal of a cigarette. There were workers working on the building during the day. At least one was a smoker. They were in the vicinity of the roof of the crossover, where investigators say the fire began. The investigators ruled out other causes such as electrical, etc.

The Northern Avenue restaurant says it's taken steps to reduce the number of people who try to dive into Boston Harbor, following yet another incident that saw it explaining itself to the Boston Licensing Board.

Beer Garden officials say nobody has jumped into Boston Harbor from their decks since Aug. 10, when a patron took of his shoes and jumped in - and was promptly arrested. That came a couple months after somebody celebrated the Bruins' Stanley Cup win by diving into the harbor from the restaurant's roof - while holding a small replica of the Cup.

UPDATE: BFD identifies the cause of the fire.

Remains of the crossover. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a three-alarm fire broke out shortly before 11 p.m. at 27 Melcher St., in the warren of large, old interconnected buildings off Summer Street.

The fire, in a four-story high crossover between two buildings, sent one firefighter to the hospital with a separated shoulder and another to the hospital with an arm injury, the department reports. Damage was estimated at $200,000, the cause is under investigation.

27 Melcher. Photo by BFD.

Her announcement. Maybe now that she's officially in the race, she'll stop treating all of her campaign stops, such as her formal announcement at the Broadway T stop this morning, as state secrets (reporters were told in advance, of course, but only on the condition they not tell anybody).

Boston Police are investigating why a woman fell to her death down a shaft in a Summer Street building tonight.

The Boston Fire Department, which initially responded to a call for a person down a shaft at 281 Summer St., said their search was at first hampered because the roof was dark and the building has more than one shaft. After more than an hour searching - and breaking down walls to several shafts - rescuers found her body at the bottom of a shaft on the third floor, the department says. The building is eight stories tall on one side; seven on another.

She was declared dead at the scene. The medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy.

Boston Police tweet the Sovereign Bank branch at 474 W. Broadway was held up this afternoon by a 20-year-old white man, slim, 5'4" and wearing a Green Bay hat.

The bank was also held up in June. The Eastern Bank branch at 470 W. Broadway has been held up so often tellers are beginning to get a bit tired of it all.

They probably won't be renaming the Seaport Center on D Street New Wingo Square, however.

The FBI's Bank Robbery Task Force has posted photos of the guy who allegedly failed in a robbery attempt at a bank on West Broadway in South Boston last week because nobody would take him seriously.

Compare to the photos of the guy who managed to rob an East Broadway bank earlier this week.

Boston Police tweet the Mt. Washington bank branch at 708 E. Broadway was held up this afternoon by a skinny white guy, about 18, 5'5" with blond hair and wearing a white T-shirt, a white hat and blue jeans.

Compare to the failed bank holdup last week a few blocks away on W. Broadway.

Kyle Maley noticed an impromptu dry dock along the beach today.

Nobody braving Carson Beach Sunday morning. Photo by Lauren Sommer.

Around 8:45 a.m., Jack Stack tweeted:

VERY loud pop and then all the power went out in Savin Hill Boston

North Waltham is also out.

Stephen Walsh reports a pole came down across Hammond Pond Parkway, blocking three lanes.

Some people may not be cut out for a life of crime. Boston Police report on one guy's attempt to rob the Eastern Bank branch at 470 W. Broadway yesterday evening:

On arrival, officers spoke to a bank teller who stated that the suspect came to her window and showed a note which said, "Give me all your money." The teller then told the suspect that the window was CLOSED. The suspect then proceeded to the next window where there was a customer in line. The suspect was then told to wait his turn in line and to remove his hood. A customer then also told the suspect to take off his hood. The suspect refused to take off his hood and left the bank without receiving any money.

Police say he was last seen walking (walking?) down Broadway toward F Street. He is still at large, police add.

The Herald identifies the man found shot to death after a harbor cruise ship docked off Northern Avenue early yesterday as Robert McDaniel, 24.

McDaniel's brother, Joseph, was shot to death in 2003 in Framingham.

The MetroWest Daily News identified both brothers as members of the Kendall Street Thugs, a Framingham-based gang, and says Joseph was a founding member before his death at age 19 - although their mother insists the group was not a gang.

Both brothers were stabbed in a Framingham brawl in 2002; Robert survived being shot several times in 2005.

In October of last year, Ashland Police arrested Robert McDaniel and two other men for possession of a revolver loaded with hollow-point bullets after they were stopped for speeding. However, a judge threw out the gun evidence last month, saying police didn't have probable cause to search the car - in which they said the gun was hidden in a secret compartment.

McDaniel was due in Framingham District Court on Thursday to face a charge of driving with a suspended license.

Viking StarlinerVictim identified as Robert McDaniel; had escaped death twice before.

Boston Police report the man had been on a harbor cruise on the Viking Starliner and that a fight may have broken out on the ship. The victim, identified only as a man in his 20s, was shot on the dock after the ship had pulled in around 2:20 a.m., police say.

Channel 7 reports he was shot in the back of the head and that police are looking for a white SUV.

The shooting was almost three years to the day after another man was shot to death after getting off a harbor cruise ship by Pier 4. Police continue to look for Courtney Wilson's killer.