Newbury Street

Only they got their asses handed to them by the man, of Algerian descent.

Earlier:
Hijab-wearing mother attacked in Malden.

The owner of the shuttered Ciao Bello on Newbury Street at Fairfield yesterday asked the Boston Licensing Board to let him hold onto the liquor license he holds but isn't using, saying he is close to getting an SBA loan that will, he promises, finally let him finish what turned into a multi-year renovation project.

Joseph Cimino's attorney, Stephen Miller, told the board that "multiple national chefs" have expressed interest in leasing the marquee space, but only after Cimino finishes the work. Cimino himself added that he might still want to run the restaurant on his own rather than leasing it out - he says he'll decide that after the place is actually ready for still more work to turn it into a high-class restaurant.

Cherie L. King photographed a sign on Newbury Street this morning.

The Steaming Grate. Photo by Chelsea Hanna Cohen.

Around 3:30 p.m., yesterday, an alert went out over Boston fire and police channels: Car on fire at Clarendon and Newbury. When first responders got there, though, they realized some well meaning 911 caller had been tricked by the Steaming Storm Drain Grate.

Apparently, this thing has been venting steam for years now. TriGen or the city or somebody sends a crew down every so often but never manages to fix whatever the problem is. So when conditions are just right and somebody parks on top of the thing, a passerby could have reason to think that steam is smoke and the car's about to erupt in flames.

J. Goodell jokes:

Sometimes I park there to degrease my undercarriage.

The Proper Bostonian writes she could deal with a Frye boot store replacing one of her favorite restaurants - Charley's at Newbury and Gloucester. But she will not abide by the arboreal destruction she says Frye committed outside the location - eight trees chopped to bits:

Besides the kousa dogwoods there was a white birch, and other trees. It's a grim scene and a great loss to our neighborhood. ... Since I love boots and live in them, I was looking forward to buying some Fryes from the new store. I know they make spectacular bags, too. Now I think - no, I know - I can never own a pair of Fryes or a bag. At least not until there are twinkling lights on some tall kousa dogwood trees on that corner again. I will miss the trees far more than I will miss the boots or the bag. I'll bet I'm not the only customer they lose over this.

A former Harvard Square Upper Crust renamed the Just Crust could soon be joined by a former Newbury Street Upper Crust to be renamed the Proper Slice.

The Boston Licensing Board today gave SS Investments permission to start serving food at the old Upper Crust at 222 Newbury St., a location it acquired from bankruptcy court in December. However, the board deferred action on a request from the company to also obtain the location's beer and wine license, pending submission of some corrected paperwork.

Attorney Mark Evlogiadis said his client, which already runs a pizza place in Brighton, will not need much time to start cheesing up the street - because the old Upper Crust's kitchen and dining area "are in pristine condition."

Gnimsh captured part of his his show in front of the old Best Buy at Mass. Ave. and Newbury.

Ed. note: It will never happen, but wouldn't it be awesome if he teamed up with Chicken Man and danced in the back of his truck?

Tyler Brewer captured the scene outside H&M at Clarendon and Newbury Street around lunchtime, where a hydrant was busy pumping water into the street.

A Boston cop who just didn't want to leave Daisy Buchanan's at closing time on June 3 - and who ordered a round of beers for himself and two friends nearly an hour later - earned the restaurant a trip to the Boston Licensing Board today, because two on-duty police detectives spotted the trio drinking their beers.

Owner Joseph Cimino apologized to the licensing board this morning. He said he realizes he should have kicked the trio out at 2, but that he felt "a little uncomfortable" because at least one, whom he said he knew, was a cop.

Leslee watched some guy on Newbury Street yesterday show off his iguana to some young ladies - some of whom decided to give it a feel.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Myron Freeman captured Newbury Street in the dark last night, before power came back around 11 p.m.

Copyright Myron Freeman. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

Clover, best known for its vegetarian food trucks, will be setting up shop this spring in an MBTA-owned spot on Newbury Street near Mass. Ave., around the corner from the entrance to Hynes station.

The T says Clover will pay $1,000 a month - and utilities - for the right to occupy the space for one year.

The Boston Fire Department reports a two-alarm fire on Dartmouth Street started when a hot coffeepot ignited a towel shortly after midnight.

The fire was confined to a single fifth-floor condo at 271 Dartmouth St., but other residences sustained significant smoke and water damage, the department reports. Residents who couldn't find another place to stay were able to stay warm in one of two MBTA buses kept running outside the BPL main library on Boylston Street. The Red Cross was called in to help 25 residents find alternate housing until repairs can be made.

Damage was estimated at $1 million.

Stanley Staco reports two guys with a gun stuck somebody up around 9:45 p.m. at Newbury and Exeter streets, then ran toward Arlington Street.

Apparently naked women have lost their appeal, so PETA instead plans to station people with whistles along Newbury Street at noon tomorrow:

Blowing high-decibel whistles, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with anti-fur slogans, and shouting "Shame!" every time they spot someone dressed in fur, PETA members will congregate at busy intersections in Boston's upscale shopping district on Wednesday.

The state Architectural Access Board has ordered Converse to close its year-old store at 348 Newbury St. because the entrance does not comply with state accessibility regulations.

In a cease-and-desist order issued yesterday, the board said the sneaker vendor has repeatedly refused to do anything about the lack of access and said the store can only reopen after an inspection shows the store is actually handicap accessible. The store says it has been unable to do the work because of more pressing problems fixing leaks from the neighboring Hynes Green Line station.

Leslee watched bicyclists on some sort of protest ride down Newbury Street on Saturday (she wonders who they were).

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Leslee spotted this man and dogs rolling down Newbury Street yesterday.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Suspect at work at 179 Newbury on July 7.

Boston Police report a man arrested as he appeared to be getting ready to break into a Newbury Street shop early this morning will be charged with a series of other heists along the street.

Officers on routine patrol around 1:45 a.m. today spotted a guy jumping down from an air-conditioning unit in an alley behind BLVD Boston, 251 Newbury St. They asked him what he was doing there. He said he was just using the alley as a restroom, but their attention was drawn to a backpack up on the AC unit, police say:

The Herald reports the mayor is outraged about T-shirts at Niketown he says promote drug use.

John Carroll suggests the mayor leave Newbury Street fashion policing to the Back Bay Hysterical Society.

The annual Santas in Speedos run (now formally known as SSRun for some no doubt perfectly good reason that I just can't figure out at 6:46 a.m.) starts at 1 p.m. this Saturday at Lir on Boylston Street.

The annual No Pants Subway Ride comes up on Jan. 9, between 2 and 4 p.m., at an exact location to be named later.

Hide the kids' eyes when you walk past the demonically possessed spirit of Marilyn Monroe in a Santa suit.

The Globe reports on the 25-cents-an-hour spaces.

Watch your step while passing the Ted Baker store, 201 Newbury.

Via.

The Singing Spare Change Guy (not the Grating Spare Change Guy) is back; he was outside DeLuca's on Newbury Street today.

The birds inside the Forest Hills T station were singing up a storm.

The "seasonal special" on sandwiches at the new bagel place in Quincy Market is now $6.96, compared to the $4.94 "seasonal special" for the same exact sandwiches two weeks ago.