Back Bay

Big Ferris wheel for the Esplanade?

adamg — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:56:44 +0000

The Globe and the Herald report on a plan for the Esplandade that calls for better access across Storrow Drive, a cafe next to the Hatch Shell, doing more with the Charles River dam and the Muddy River and just generally sprucing up the existing facilities after decades of neglect. Another idea would be a 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel by the Museum of Science. Of course, this would take some money.

Low blow in Copley Square

adamg — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:45:24 +0000

Photo by Eric Steinhardt.

A pawnbroker dumped 900 pounds of Butterfingers candy bars in Copley Square today to commemorate Wes Welker's performance in the Super Bowl. The CEO claims he loves to talk to people; you can let him know what you think at 720-320-7777.

UPDATE: The mayor's office reports:

Code enforcement has tracked company's address and contacts; will be issuing violation for commercial dumping.

That could mean a fine of up to $1,000.

Three bars win approval for fairly sober bottle service at certain tables

adamg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:56:59 +0000

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday approved requests from Red Lantern in the Back Bay, Kennedy's Midtown downtown and Down Ultra Lounge in the Financial District to let groups of customers drink from a bottle of liquor right on their table.

But bowing to the city's general distaste for bottle service, all three said customers would not actually be able to buy an entire bottle of liquor for the night.

Backhoe takes out electricity to parts of Fenway, Back Bay, Kenmore Square

adamg — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:27:33 +0000

Firefighters, police and NStar workers are on scene on Massachusetts Avenue by the Berklee construction site, where a backhoe took out some underground power conduits around 9 a.m., causing a power outage that extends to Northeastern and Bay State Road. The backhoe operator was apparently injured, but not critically.

Roving UHub reporter Chelsea reports:

Saw flashes then puff of smoke at mass ave and belvedere

Make way for Gronklings

adamg — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:51:55 +0000

On their way to Indianapolis?

Back Bay neighborhood group declares all-out war on graffiti, ad flyers

adamg — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:18:30 +0000

Matt considers a new effort by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay to combat scrawls, stencils and band promotions, doesn't much think of trying to curb the flyers:

If you see an old flyer, tear it down and throw it away. If someone you know regularly puts up flyers and leaves the old ones up underneath, tell them to take them down and stop being a jerk. But don't call the cops on them. Don't take $300 out of a 23-year-old kid in a band, out of a broke comic, out of a struggling theater company, or out of a man with a van. These streets are for all of us, and so are these [poles]. Taking all the flyers down all the time makes it impossible for the really little guys to promote, and while it might make your streets a little cleaner, it also makes them more sleepy. You live in a city. There's stuff going on in a city. Instead of trying to stop people from finding out about it, maybe try going to it. ... on the nights that you don't have Back Bay Association meetings, of course.

Dolts captured on video in act of Boloco burglary

adamg — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:59:00 +0000

1/28/12 - 11:00 pm

Boloco has posted this video of a trio of criminal masterminds breaking into its restaurant on Boylston at Mass. Ave., about 30 minutes after it closed last night. Notice how you get a real nice closeup of one of their faces when he tries and fails to smash the security camera with his sledgehammer.

Boloco is offering a $1,000 reward for their capture.

H/t eeka.

Two bars want to let patrons say: I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy

adamg — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:52:44 +0000

Red Lantern on Stanhope Street and Kennedy's Midtown on Province Street - which are owned by the same group - go before the Licensing Board on Wednesday for permission to serve entire bottles of booze to patrons at their tables.

The hearings could prove interesting - the licensing board has long taken a dim view of letting people have unfettered access to high-proof liquor.

How Beacon Hill can cram as many people in as parts of Manhattan without skyscrapers

adamg — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:26:43 +0000

Mike the Mad Biologist riffs on Bostonography's population density maps and ponders how much of Beacon Hill, the Back Bay and the North End approach Manhattan levels of density without anything approaching Manhattan-style building heights:

Boston has two things going for it that most other cities don't have: narrow streets and sidewalks. Not a lot of space is wasted in residential areas. Sidewalks at most are about nine to ten feet wide, and skinnier in other places (e.g., Beacon Hill). The streets typically are very narrow–about ten Mad Biologist paces (my pace length is about average)–if you factor in parked cars, add about four paces. Not only does this making walking around easier, but the real estate is used to house people, not air or cars. That allows much higher densities (although it makes drivers crazy at times) without skyscrapers.

Ed question: Would that also apply in Somerville, still one of the most densely packed cities in America?

Sardine canning narrowly avoided on Storrow Drive

adamg — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:25:41 +0000

Mike Mac captured the scene on Storrow Drive yesterday.

Sometimes, cuteness takes awhile to be appreciated

adamg — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:01:14 +0000

Channel 5 tracks down the Andover father whose video of his daughter saying "bye!" to people going down a Copley Place escalator became an Internet sensation this week - two years after he posted it.

Not everybody looks kindly upon the guy who roams Copley Square on a sail-equipped scooter

adamg — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:58:11 +0000

Scooterdude reports some of the less-than-favorable reactions he gets from people, including the ever popular "get a job!" and motorists who scream at him about taking up valuable road space. Also:

There's the 'deer-in-the-headlights' reaction when a pedestrian crossing against the traffic light steps right in front of the Wind-scooter, stops and, stunned, waits for there to be a collision. Fortunately, both my skill and the braking feature of the scooter secures my immediate halt.

Food-truck operator to city: Food trucks hurting, need more opportunities in the Back Bay, downtown

adamg — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 17:30:24 +0000

Adam Gendreau, co-owner and co-operator of the Staff Meal food truck, has penned an open letter to city officials about Boston's nascent food-truck efforts:

Despite the media portrayal that the food truck industry in Boston is thriving, the reality is that the city hasn’t implemented a system that will allow food trucks to succeed.

The problem, as I see it, is a cultural one. There has never been a street food culture in this city; we’re building one from the ground up. With that in mind, there’s a reasonable expectation that the city would shine a spotlight on this burgeoning industry in order to aid the cultural adoption on the part of both vendors and customers. The model of deciding where food trucks would be successful isn’t currently working well.

Gendreau praises city efforts, but says food-truck operators and the city should be focusing on certain heavily trafficked areas first before spreading out across the city - such as the Back Bay and the Financial District:

At the very least the city should allow multiple trucks to cluster in Back Bay. This would easily help all of us fill our schedules with spots that are known to be prosperous. It also provides multiple food options, which most people would see as being a good thing. Clustering would be a simple solution to help the food truck industry expand.

Police: Saudi student arrested on charges of being an asshole

adamg — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:10:15 +0000

1/12/12 - 2:45 am

Boston Police report arresting a Suffolk University student from Saudi Arabia who they say was hanging out in the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental in a bathrobe and nothing else, threatening to pummel officers like he did to a hotel worker who had tried to escort him out.

Officers responding to the Boylston Street hotel around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday found Saud Alsharif, 22, on a lobby couch, police say:

Fellow riders rescue man who fell onto commuter-rail tracks at Back Bay

adamg — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:16:40 +0000

Edited to reflect fact incident was on commuter rail, not Orange Line.

Jessica Keener reports on an incident shortly before 10 a.m. on the outbound side at Back Bay station:

My husband + 3 others just pulled a blind man who fell down into the train tracks + saved this man's life in Boston today!!!!

Not long after, she tweeted at acting MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis:

My husband & 3 other men saved a man from Back Bay train tracks. No MBTA people were there. Why not???

She later added:

Back Bay train sta. about 15 people on platform. Blind man was a good 50 yards away toward Clarendon, one man trying to pull blind man out

My husband and 2 other men heard cries of help, sprinted! to man helping blind man, they all pulled together. So inspiring!