Government Center

Government Center T stop evacuated after escalator catches on fire

adamg — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:19:09 +0000

Firefighters quickly knocked down a fire in an escalator at the Government Center T stop shortly after 7 p.m., but heavy smoke forced them to evacuate everybody from the station and ask the MBTA to have Green Line trolleys bypass the stop until the smoke could be cleared.

4/9/12 - 7:10 pm

White powder in envelope empties three floors at DA's office

adamg — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:42:30 +0000

Firefighters outside DA's office. Photo by Jake Wark.

An envelope containing "a suspicious material" forced the evacuation of three floors of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in Government Center this morning, in a replay of a similar scare at the Israeli consulate last month.

The person who opened the envelope, a Boston Police officer assigned to the DA’s Special Investigations Unit, contained the envelope in a secure environment and remained with it until he was cleared to leave by medical personnel. The building's ventilation system was shut down and employees on the second, third, and fourth floors were evacuated; business continued as usual on the remaining six floors. District Attorney Daniel F. Conley remained in the building and was never in danger.

Because the envelope came in the mail, federal officials have taken custody of the envelope and will test its contents, the DA's office reports. The affected floors re-opened after 30 minutes.

Who can take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh?

adamg — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:21:54 +0000

Orange Bird tweets:

Nothing perks up a bad day like hearing the Sammy Davis Jr. doppelganger at Gov Center sing "Candyman"

Bomb threat shuts Suffolk Superior Court

adamg — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:10:32 +0000

UPDATE: The all clear was given not long after State Police arrived.

State Police, bomb squad on scene at the courthouse behind Center Plaza, after a bomb threat was called in.

The parade

adamg — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:05:01 +0000

Biggest victory parade ever? That's what BPD is saying. Sure felt like it at Government Center, where a sea of jumping, chanting, happy people waited in the melting sun for the Bruins and the Cup - and then exploded into a chant of "We got the Cup!" when they arrived in a cloud of black and gold confetti.

Photos from the parade.

College student injured in crash caused by texting trolley driver sues MBTA

adamg — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:04:18 +0000

Quinn's trolleyThe Salem News reports on the suit filed yesterday by Samantha Mattei, who suffered a broken back and a concussion when Quinn he crashed his Green Line trolley into a stopped trolley because he was too busy texting to notice it.

Mattei filed her suit the same day the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the 2009 crash, basically concluding that texting trolley driver was texting. However, the board also said the accident could have been avoided if the T had an automated system to stop trolleys that go through red signals, like the ones in place on the T's other lines.

In the aftermath of the crash, which did an estimated $10 million in damage, the T banned cell-phone use by train drivers and other employees.

T wants to shut Government Center stop for three years

adamg — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:39:43 +0000

The Herald reports MBTA officials figure a full shutdown would let them rehab the station in less time and wouldn't drag on forever and ever like certain other T-stop projects one could think of.

Good thing they had that emergency drill at Bowdoin yesterday

adamg — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:29:48 +0000

Boston firefighters are at Government Center dealing with a trash fire on the Blue Line tracks. Expect delays, traffic problems by the station.

At least one train is stuck in a tunnel because of the power shutdown required to let firefighters on the tracks.

Early plan for Government Center a bit different than what we actually got

adamg — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:03:42 +0000

Utile posts an image from a 1959 plan for a Scollay Square replacement that would have started pretty much at Old City Hall and which would have involved a series of low-slung buildings:

In spatial design, as well as building massing, and no less in spatial and massing composition we were very mindful of weaving into the existing social and physical texture of this part of Boston.

Via Boston Reddit.

T riders need to be careful with cell phones, too

adamg — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:38:57 +0000

The T forwards a report from one of its workers on an incident around 2:50 p.m. yesterday on the Green Line platform at Government Center:

A 14 yr old male was walking while on his cell phone and he walked right into one of the columns that holds the ceiling up. He is bleeding from his face and is requesting medical at this time. Boston H&H dispatched, Transit Police dispatched.

Kid was taken to Tufts Medical Center with a small laceration on his forehead.

The pillar he walked into:

Can Government Center go green?

adamg — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:34:16 +0000

The city hosts a symposium on greening Government Center on Thurs., Dec. 9 in the Rabb Lecture Hall at the BPL in Copley Square. Starts at 4 p.m.

Panic on the train after trolleys collided

adamg — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:07:18 +0000

The trolley hit by train operated by Aiden Quinn. Photo by NTSB

Operators of three of the four trolleys involved in a major trolley smashup just past Government Center on May 8, 2009, described chaos and panic among passengers in the moments after the collision, in interview transcripts released today by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The fourth operator, Aiden Quinn, charged with plowing into the stopped train in front of him because he was too busy texting his girlfriend to notice the stopped train, did not cooperate with the federal investigation into the crash, which injured 46 people and caused several million dollars in trolley damage. Quinn lost his T job and is still awaiting a trial on a charge of gross negligence by a person in control of a common conveyance, which carries a maximum jail term of 2 1/2 years.

In his NTSB intervew, Jimmy Zhu, operator of the rear car in the train that got hit, described the scene:

Getting ahead of yourself there, aren't you, Mr. Bellringer?

adamg — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:24:47 +0000

A concerned citizen passes along this photo of, yes, a Salvation Army bellringer, today, Election Day, outside the Government Center T stop. Paging Dr. Suldog.

Swingsets not included

JohnAKeith — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:43:51 +0000

That Google Maps has Boston City Hall Plaza tagged as a "park" is a bit sad, no?

(However, they get points for still including Cornhill Street on their maps considering it doesn't really exist and hasn't for, say, 64 years.)

Signal troubles at Government Center dash dreams of getting to work on time for some Green Line riders

adamg — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 12:59:19 +0000

It's a-busing we go between Kenmore and downtown stations as the Green Line sits moldering underground due to the ever popular signal problems.

Robinite took this photo from one of the emergency shuttle buses at Kenmore. Notice how almost nobody's smiling? Notice how her bus isn't moving?