Channel 5 reports on the incident at Faneuil Hall this morning. The building has been under renovations for awhile now.

Naturally, there's a site that collects tacky tourist photos and, yes, of course, one of the entries involves the Red Auerbach statue and some guy's finger. Guess it beats what Harvard students do to poor John Harvard, though.

Via Jay Fitzgerald.

A Florida street performer who came north to perform in front of Faneuil Hall last year only to be herded into a small space with lots of other performers is asking a federal judge to rescind what he calls a violation of his First Amendment rights.

Bruce "Chance" Peck sued the city earlier this year in US District Court in Boston over Mayor Menino's decision in July, 2008 to restrict street performers alongside the Faneuil Hall building, because their noise was bothering Hizzoner up in his fifth-floor City Hall office.

Peck's lawsuit says Peck's performances could hardly be hard that high up:

In the summer of 2008, Peck performed as a human statue, namely, a golden cowboy. He wore a golden outfit and painted his skin gold. As part of his act, he struck various poses for the crowd's enjoyment.

His suit alleges:

Sean Sullivan stays up late at the Hong Kong at Faneuil Hall.

Copyright Sean Sullivan. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

A couple hundred Globe workers, members of other unions and politicians rallied today at Faneuil Hall, telling the New York Times to accept the same sort of cuts they're demanding from Globe workers, keep the Globe going and keep their hands off Boston. City Councilors Mike Ross and Charles Yancey spoke out for the Globe, as did Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes.

Jaime Rebhan reports two competing balloon-hat guys were giving each other the evil eye outside of Faneuil Hall the other day.

So when do we get a new Yelp category for best balloon hat in Boston?

Interview with one of the dancers in front of Faneuil Hall, by Megan Peet and Mallory Cooke:

Faneuil Hall Marketplace (dammit: Quincy Market) was meant to bring life back to a somnolent downtown. It succeeded. Now it's basically a Natick Mall but with a better food court. Brand Avenue considers the birth, life and slow death of the nation's first "festival marketplace" and wonders what could replace it, especially now that its operator is trying to stave off bankruptcy.

Via Joanne McNeil, who also notes the market's migration from quirky only-in-Boston shops to chain stores:

How curious that urban pedestrian walks grow to tedious and commercial.

Boston Police report arresting a Weymouth man on a charge that he held up the Crabtree and Evelyn shop at Quincy Market on Saturday evening.

Police say Glenn Kerivan, 49, entered the store around 6 p.m., went up to the counter, motioned as if he had a weapon and said "this is a holdup."

Mall security officers were able to find and detain him after he fled with an unspecified amount of money, police say, adding police officers recovered a knife.

Innocent until proven coated in a delicate honeysuckle-scented body wash.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace up for sale.

Well, technically, the lease on the city-owned marketplace is up for sale, as current operator General Growth shrinks.