Chinatown

Cops didn't have to ask the Globe where the fire is

adamg — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:29:41 -0400

So the Fire Department puts out a $100,000 fire in a prominent Chinatown restaurant and uncovers illegal living quarters and possibly a gambling den in the seven floors above it. The Herald has the story. The Globe doesn't.

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Four charged with brutal Theatre District attack

adamg — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:54:17 -0400

A Chinatown restaurant's decision to seat two separate parties at the same table early one May morning led to a mugging and beating that left one man with permanent brain damage, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office and Boston Police charge, announcing the arrest of three men and a teenager for the attack.

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No pho: Fire shuts Chinatown restaurant, leads to evictions

adamg — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:42:36 -0400

Local 718 tweets a fire broke out in a heating unit at Pho Hoa, 17 Beach St., around 11 a.m.

The Boston Fire Department tweets the fire did roughly $100,000 in damage and that firefighters checking upper floors of the building found "a large room for sleeping" on the fifth floor, more "illegal rooms for people to sleep in" on the second floor and a social club on the third floor with "what appeared to be many code violations." Police and Inspectional Services are now handling the investigation.

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Setting up Chinatown's storeforont library

adamg — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:57:33 -0400

Photos. Background on the three-month project.

Worst restaurant service ever

adamg — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:26:29 -0400

Ari Herzog reminds us why it's a good thing we're usually asleep at 2:30 a.m. instead of trying to get something to eat at the Apollo restaurant in Chinatown:

... About TWO HOURS AFTER entering the place, and telling the kitchen to stop the teriyaki dish, we want to leave. We can't. We have a bill for $32. That was after taking the teriyaki dish off the bill. Why should we pay for food that arrived OVER AN HOUR LATE due to waiter forgetfulness and then bringing out the wrong teriyaki dish? Back and forth with the manager, yelling match ensues, we refuse to pay the bill but they won't let us out without paying.

Did I mention the large-framed bouncer at the door? ...

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Proposed Voter Choice (IRV) Ballot Question would bring more voices and choices into MA elections

amfriedman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:01:08 -0400

A “Voter Choice” initiative petition turned in to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office on Wednesday would give Massachusetts voters a chance to change to a voting system that lets voters rank their choices instead of voting for only one candidate. The change would apply to key races, including for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary and treasurer, among others, starting after January 2012.

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Three-alarm fire forces early-morning evacuation of Chinatown apartment building

adamg — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:24:58 -0400

The Boston Fire Department tweets the 2:30 a.m. fire, in a six-story apartment building at 49 Beach St., started in the basement, caused $200,000 of damage and forced 125 residents into the cold early morning air - 12 of whom had to be taken down on Fire Department ladders.

Downtown developer bucks trend; still plans condos in new tower

adamg — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:23:23 -0400

Developer Ori Ron told the Boston Civic Design Commission tonight he still plans to build a tower combining condos with retail space at the Dainty Dot parcel at Kingston and Essex streets, where Chinatown meets the Leather District and the Greenway.

Ron also told commission members and nearby residents he would not leave them with another Filene's-type hole: He said he would not tear down the existing Dainty Dot building until he has financing in place to at least build the external frame of the tower.

Ron showed the commission revised plans for the 180-unit building - which already has city approval - that would lower its height from 291 to 261 feet, decrease the number of parking spaces in a garage built into the building's lower floors and do away completely with the skeletal remains of the Dainty Dot building that now sits on the parcel.

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One charged, one sought for daylight armed holdup in Chinatown

adamg — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:39:07 -0400

Boston Police report a man walking along Kneeland Street around 11:50 a.m. on Monday was approached by two black males, one of whom said he had a gun and took his wallet.

Police say officer soon found one of the suspects, whom the victim identified. They add he had an amount of money on him that exactly equaled the amount the victim said had been taking from him.

Darrell Weaver, 50, was charged with armed robbery.

Innocent, etc.

Silver Line to lose real-time arrival info for a month

adamg — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:14:15 -0400

The MBTA says it's shutting down its GPS-based arrival system along Washington Street tomorrow to comply with a federal mandate to change the frequencies used by the system.

The T says it expects to have the system up and running by Sept. 24. The FCC is forcing the T to change frequencies to keep the system from possibly interfering with public-safety services. The T adds:

In addition, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology will be unavailable to dispatchers in the MBTA's Bus Operations Control Center. As a result, bus dispatchers will not have the capability of making real time schedule adjustments. As the MBTA’s mobile radios are reprogrammed, they will begin to migrate over to the new frequency set and begin to populate the data system. Completion is slated for September 24th, but communications personnel are determined to complete the transition before that date.