Back home, his clout felt in hospitals, at colleges
By Susan Milligan and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | August 26, 2009
WASHINGTON - Edward M. Kennedy was best known for his work on the national - and international - stage, battling vociferously for health care overhaul and working with Irish politicians on the Northern Ireland peace process.
But in the Bay State, too, Kennedy has left an indelible mark, steering federal dollars to the state and paying attention to state and local matters, Massachusetts lawmakers and advocates said.
“Ted Kennedy has contributed more to this state than any other five people put together,’’ said former Senate President Robert Travaglini, a Democrat from East Boston. “He’s in a class by himself, and we’ve had some powerful people. I mean no disrespect to Tip O’Neill, or to his [Kennedy’s] brother the president. But he’s surpassed them all.’’
Kennedy helped secure funding for the Big Dig, steering the plan through the Senate while former House Speaker O’Neill worked the House. He was also a major advocate for both his alma mater, Harvard University, and for public higher education, the University of Massachusetts system.
Health industry representatives credit Kennedy for protecting Medicare reimbursements to Massachusetts hospitals - a critical issue for the state’s many teaching hospitals - and for successfully expanding National Institutes of Health funding for research that often ended up being done here.
“It’s no accident that Massachusetts is the number one recipient of federal research funding - it’s because of Ted Kennedy,’’ said Philip W. Johnston, a former state secretary of health and human services and longtime friend of the Kennedys. “There are very few federally funded programs in this state that do not bear his imprint.’’
Kennedy was also “absolutely instrumental’’ in securing a federal waiver so the state could implement its mandatory health care insurance program, said Lynn Nicholas, chief executive of the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
Traditionally, senior senators leave to the junior senator and congressional delegation the task of attending to local issues. And early in his career, Kennedy was not known for a great focus on local matters.
But after his difficult 1994 reelection campaign, Kennedy took on Bay State issues in earnest. In 1999, he fought for budget changes that brought $272 million in Medicare payments to Massachusetts hospitals over the next five years. Mental health research funding in Massachusetts doubled to $70 million in the last five years after Kennedy’s push for money.
Kennedy won passage of several pieces of legislation to preserve Massachusetts heritage, including getting $5 million for the Essex National Heritage Area, and an expansion of the Lowell National Hospital Park to allow for more historic canal walkways.
In 2006 and in 2008, Kennedy secured millions of dollars to help Massachusetts fishermen hit by the red tide outbreak and restrictions on cod fishing.
“In reality, a lot of things in Massachusetts wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Ted Kennedy. He’s really irreplaceable,’’ said Boston-based consultant Larry Rasky.
Political divisions did not keep Kennedy from pursuing Massachusetts priorities. In 2004, he teamed up with former GOP Governor Mitt Romney to fight to retain military bases here. In 2001, when the nomination for Republican former Governor Paul Cellucci to be ambassador to Canada was imperiled, Kennedy approached then-Senate majority leader Trent Lott late one night on the Senate floor.
“Cellucci! Cellucci! Tomorrow! Tomorrow!’’ Kennedy said, waving his hands as if he were in an Italian opera. Lott chuckled, waving Kennedy off - then scheduled a vote that night, securing Cellucci’s approval.
Kennedy would call Mayor Thomas M. Menino on a Saturday night to offer an update on an issue. Former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi once said the state’s senior senator called him 15 times over three or four months to talk about landmark health care legislation.
Just before the Massachusetts health care overhaul legislation was signed, Travaglini invited Kennedy to speak, for the first time, at the State House, in the Senate chamber.
Kennedy, in typical fashion, sent a personal note to Travaglini saying how much he appreciated the invitation, and how fitting it was that his brother had given a speech in the House chamber, and he in the Senate.
That letter is one of the few political mementos hanging in Travaglini’s home.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Club staff say they warned victim of beating
Club staff say they warned victim
Owner asks to reopen after deadly assault
By John Ellement, Maria Cramer, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff | August 26, 2009
Jose Alicea refused to back down, standing steadfast with a friend outside a Back Bay nightclub last week, surrounded by a dozen irate men. Everyone had just left 33 Restaurant & Lounge, and the nightclub’s staff urged Alicea and his friend to walk away in the face of overwhelming danger, according to testimony yesterday at City Hall.
“They weren’t having it,’’ said Brian Jacobs, director of security for the nightclub, in testimony before the Boston Licensing Board. “They were standing their ground.’’
The 12 men Alicea faced down were all members of a violent street gang, according to three Boston officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the investigation. The group, many of whom wore matching black tuxedos with red vests, had come from the funeral of another member of their gang, according to the officials.
Moments later Alicea lay unconscious and bleeding on Columbus Avenue with a massive head injury that would cost the 22-year-old Hyde Park man his life. The 12 men have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his savage beating and death.
Yesterday at City Hall, Jacobs and several witnesses testified under oath as the owners of the nightclub asked city regulators to allow them to reopen their doors.
Two city regulators, the Boston Licensing Board and the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, took the reopening request under advisement. The Licensing Board is scheduled to vote on the measure today.
Thursday is Latin Night at 33 Restaurant & Lounge, and Alicea was described by bar staff as a regular. The owner, Greg F. Den Herder, testified that about 30 people, some wearing matching tuxedos, arrived in two limousines between 11 and 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Staff eventually learned that the men and at least two women were wearing the tuxedos with red accents because it was the same outfit their friend was buried in.
“It was a very nice night,’’ Herder said. “They were very peaceful people, relaxing, enjoying their friends.’’
Police and bar staff testified that the violence broke out at 2:25 a.m. Friday. The attack took place down the block from 33 Restaurant & Lounge, near the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Cahners Place, witnesses said.
The incident began when Alicea tried to ask for a cigarette from the men. An argument ensued, and someone threw a bottle that hit Alicea in the head, and he was allegedly attacked.
Bar staff testified that they called 911 and alerted arriving police that the suspects were sitting inside a limousine. Police surrounded the limousine and kept everyone inside while witnesses identified the alleged participants in the beating.
Sergeant Detective Daniel Keeler testified, however, that security at the nightclub should have known that the suspects might have been in a gang because so many of them were dressed the same. The tuxedos with red accents should have been a warning to the nightclub of the potential for trouble, he said.
“To suggest that these people were part of a wedding party - I find it absurd,’’ Keeler told the board. “There has to be a level of responsibility here by the licensee.’’
Herder said the bar staff is used to seeing people dressed in tuxedos, and wedding parties.
Over the objections of an attorney for the nightclub’s owner, Keeler also told the board about another conflict that involved patrons from 33 Restaurant & Lounge. Two weeks ago an argument that began inside the club spilled outside, Keeler said. Shots were fired.
Police arrested a suspect, who had a Glock handgun stolen from the Boston Police Department in 1995, Keeler testified. That suspect was also a known gang member, Keeler said.
The attorney for the nightclub, Stephen Miller, repeatedly insisted that Keeler was blaming 33 Restaurant & Lounge for an incident that was the responsibility of another Boston nightclub.
Some of the defendants from Friday’s beating were in the process yesterday of having new attorneys assigned to them or hiring their own lawyers. The lawyers who could be reached denied their clients were connected to a street gang or to Alicea’s death.
Steven Kim, the Brookline attorney representing Miguel Flaquer, said the significance of the tuxedos has been misunderstood.
“I think that’s pretty ridiculous and ludicrous,’’ Kim said of linking the color of the tuxedos to gang affiliation. “They were all pallbearers from a funeral, which is why the were all in black tuxedos with red ties and a vest. It was the exact same clothing, the color, that their dead friend was buried in. It had nothing to do with gang affiliation whatsoever.’’
Boston attorney Michael Laurano, who was appointed to represent Ramon Lavona, who is also known as Frank Martinez, said his client is adamant he was not involved in Alicea’s death. Laurano said Lavona was not wearing a tuxedo and had no marks on his hands or chest that would suggest he participated in a beating.
Lynn residents also facing charges are: Ramona Berroa, 28; Justin Cooke, 25; Michael Welch, 27; Ruskyn Garcia, 25; Jonathan Fernandez, 23; Johan Garcia, 28; Jose Castros, 22; Jorge Encarnacion, 26; Jason Benalfew, 26. Anthony Villaobos, 21, of Revere was also charged.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Owner asks to reopen after deadly assault
By John Ellement, Maria Cramer, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff | August 26, 2009
Jose Alicea refused to back down, standing steadfast with a friend outside a Back Bay nightclub last week, surrounded by a dozen irate men. Everyone had just left 33 Restaurant & Lounge, and the nightclub’s staff urged Alicea and his friend to walk away in the face of overwhelming danger, according to testimony yesterday at City Hall.
“They weren’t having it,’’ said Brian Jacobs, director of security for the nightclub, in testimony before the Boston Licensing Board. “They were standing their ground.’’
The 12 men Alicea faced down were all members of a violent street gang, according to three Boston officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the investigation. The group, many of whom wore matching black tuxedos with red vests, had come from the funeral of another member of their gang, according to the officials.
Moments later Alicea lay unconscious and bleeding on Columbus Avenue with a massive head injury that would cost the 22-year-old Hyde Park man his life. The 12 men have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his savage beating and death.
Yesterday at City Hall, Jacobs and several witnesses testified under oath as the owners of the nightclub asked city regulators to allow them to reopen their doors.
Two city regulators, the Boston Licensing Board and the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, took the reopening request under advisement. The Licensing Board is scheduled to vote on the measure today.
Thursday is Latin Night at 33 Restaurant & Lounge, and Alicea was described by bar staff as a regular. The owner, Greg F. Den Herder, testified that about 30 people, some wearing matching tuxedos, arrived in two limousines between 11 and 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Staff eventually learned that the men and at least two women were wearing the tuxedos with red accents because it was the same outfit their friend was buried in.
“It was a very nice night,’’ Herder said. “They were very peaceful people, relaxing, enjoying their friends.’’
Police and bar staff testified that the violence broke out at 2:25 a.m. Friday. The attack took place down the block from 33 Restaurant & Lounge, near the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Cahners Place, witnesses said.
The incident began when Alicea tried to ask for a cigarette from the men. An argument ensued, and someone threw a bottle that hit Alicea in the head, and he was allegedly attacked.
Bar staff testified that they called 911 and alerted arriving police that the suspects were sitting inside a limousine. Police surrounded the limousine and kept everyone inside while witnesses identified the alleged participants in the beating.
Sergeant Detective Daniel Keeler testified, however, that security at the nightclub should have known that the suspects might have been in a gang because so many of them were dressed the same. The tuxedos with red accents should have been a warning to the nightclub of the potential for trouble, he said.
“To suggest that these people were part of a wedding party - I find it absurd,’’ Keeler told the board. “There has to be a level of responsibility here by the licensee.’’
Herder said the bar staff is used to seeing people dressed in tuxedos, and wedding parties.
Over the objections of an attorney for the nightclub’s owner, Keeler also told the board about another conflict that involved patrons from 33 Restaurant & Lounge. Two weeks ago an argument that began inside the club spilled outside, Keeler said. Shots were fired.
Police arrested a suspect, who had a Glock handgun stolen from the Boston Police Department in 1995, Keeler testified. That suspect was also a known gang member, Keeler said.
The attorney for the nightclub, Stephen Miller, repeatedly insisted that Keeler was blaming 33 Restaurant & Lounge for an incident that was the responsibility of another Boston nightclub.
Some of the defendants from Friday’s beating were in the process yesterday of having new attorneys assigned to them or hiring their own lawyers. The lawyers who could be reached denied their clients were connected to a street gang or to Alicea’s death.
Steven Kim, the Brookline attorney representing Miguel Flaquer, said the significance of the tuxedos has been misunderstood.
“I think that’s pretty ridiculous and ludicrous,’’ Kim said of linking the color of the tuxedos to gang affiliation. “They were all pallbearers from a funeral, which is why the were all in black tuxedos with red ties and a vest. It was the exact same clothing, the color, that their dead friend was buried in. It had nothing to do with gang affiliation whatsoever.’’
Boston attorney Michael Laurano, who was appointed to represent Ramon Lavona, who is also known as Frank Martinez, said his client is adamant he was not involved in Alicea’s death. Laurano said Lavona was not wearing a tuxedo and had no marks on his hands or chest that would suggest he participated in a beating.
Lynn residents also facing charges are: Ramona Berroa, 28; Justin Cooke, 25; Michael Welch, 27; Ruskyn Garcia, 25; Jonathan Fernandez, 23; Johan Garcia, 28; Jose Castros, 22; Jorge Encarnacion, 26; Jason Benalfew, 26. Anthony Villaobos, 21, of Revere was also charged.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Monday, August 24, 2009
CIty of Bosotn launches website to track resident complaints
Hub weaves web of woes on new site
Potholes, repairs to be tracked online
By Jessica Van Sack | Monday, August 24, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics
The Urban Mechanic is going digital.
Neighborhood gripes logged by the mayor’s hotline - from pesky potholes to streetlight repairs - can now be tracked online by the public as the city launches a new Web site today, just weeks before Mayor Thomas M. Menino faces three challengers in the Sept. 22 primary election.
The new Boston GIS Data Hub is full of brick-and-mortar tidbits about what’s been fixed - and what needs fixing - on Beantown streets.
“It’s about transparency,” said Bill Oates, the city’s chief information officer. “Ultimately, the expectation is all city services will be mobilized” and connected to the system.
The system contains data on the top 10 service agencies that come into the hotline - including parks, sanitation, street cleaning and transportation departments.
Although he’s averse to voicemail and hardly known for technological prowess, Menino is refusing to cede innovation to his three fresher-faced challengers - developer Kevin McCrea, and at-large councilors Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon.
Flaherty in particular has called for the Hub to adopt CitiStat, a performance-management system used by cities such as Baltimore and New York to increase government efficiency. He launched an ad campaign that likens Menino to an old Sony Walkman, himself to a sleek iPod.
Menino’s team hit back with an anvil, announcing weeks later a first-of-its-kind iPhone application that allows residents to snap a photo of neighborhood blights such as graffiti and potholes and e-mail them to City Hall for service requests.
As of today, the GIS Hub will allow residents to log online and see where those complaints and others fall on a map, when they were logged and whether they’ve been fixed.
The system includes other handy information, such as maps with neighborhood and police district boundaries.
Eventually, the portal will include the work of all city agencies, including the building department, inspectional services and police, Oates said. Project architects envision a system that tracks in real-time the daily feats of city workers - including their response times.
“We’re hoping this will look totally different in a year,” Oates said.
Log on to the mayor’s new site at hubmaps1.cityofboston.gov/datahub/
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1192976
Potholes, repairs to be tracked online
By Jessica Van Sack | Monday, August 24, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics
The Urban Mechanic is going digital.
Neighborhood gripes logged by the mayor’s hotline - from pesky potholes to streetlight repairs - can now be tracked online by the public as the city launches a new Web site today, just weeks before Mayor Thomas M. Menino faces three challengers in the Sept. 22 primary election.
The new Boston GIS Data Hub is full of brick-and-mortar tidbits about what’s been fixed - and what needs fixing - on Beantown streets.
“It’s about transparency,” said Bill Oates, the city’s chief information officer. “Ultimately, the expectation is all city services will be mobilized” and connected to the system.
The system contains data on the top 10 service agencies that come into the hotline - including parks, sanitation, street cleaning and transportation departments.
Although he’s averse to voicemail and hardly known for technological prowess, Menino is refusing to cede innovation to his three fresher-faced challengers - developer Kevin McCrea, and at-large councilors Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon.
Flaherty in particular has called for the Hub to adopt CitiStat, a performance-management system used by cities such as Baltimore and New York to increase government efficiency. He launched an ad campaign that likens Menino to an old Sony Walkman, himself to a sleek iPod.
Menino’s team hit back with an anvil, announcing weeks later a first-of-its-kind iPhone application that allows residents to snap a photo of neighborhood blights such as graffiti and potholes and e-mail them to City Hall for service requests.
As of today, the GIS Hub will allow residents to log online and see where those complaints and others fall on a map, when they were logged and whether they’ve been fixed.
The system includes other handy information, such as maps with neighborhood and police district boundaries.
Eventually, the portal will include the work of all city agencies, including the building department, inspectional services and police, Oates said. Project architects envision a system that tracks in real-time the daily feats of city workers - including their response times.
“We’re hoping this will look totally different in a year,” Oates said.
Log on to the mayor’s new site at hubmaps1.cityofboston.gov/datahub/
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1192976
Massachussetts Gambling Proposals being explored
Gaming options gather steam
Lawmakers talk, developers scurry
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | August 24, 2009
Real estate executives controlling the Bayside Exposition Center in Dorchester have floated their property as a potential casino site. Town leaders in Warren have formed a group to study the implications of having a casino in their Central Massachusetts community. State lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to weigh a wide variety of options for expanded gambling.
With gaming back atop the agenda this fall on Beacon Hill, there’s a flurry of activity among casino developers, landowners, politicians, and lobbyists, all of whom are looking ahead to what is likely to be the most friendly climate to date toward bringing casinos, and possibly slot machines, to Massachusetts.
Top lawmakers have yet to set dates for hearings, and they are mum on what form the debate may take. But with the issue possibly surfacing as early as next month, and with a powerful opponent of expanded gambling, former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, now out of office, the race is on.
“Lots and lots of meetings going on, and lots of discussions in the preparatory stage for what looks like the real debate,’’ said state Senator Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat who is the Senate’s point person on casinos. “We’ve had some good run-ups to this, but this is where the rubber is really going to meet the road.’’
Rosenberg said a range of options are being discussed, including licensing only slot machines at racetracks; allowing only resort-style casinos; providing slot machines at bars and restaurants; or some combination.
One option that some are floating involves the licensing of two casinos - one in Eastern Massachusetts, one in Western Massachusetts - and then allowing slots at Plainridge and Raynham Park racetracks.
“I know there’s enough votes to do gaming this year,’’ said state Representative Brian Wallace, a South Boston Democrat and strong casino advocate. “I just don’t know what form it will be.’’
State Representative Brian Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat and the point person studying casinos in the House, was on vacation and could not be reached for comment last week. A spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo released a statement saying only that “it is far too premature to comment on the merits of any one proposal at this time.’’
Governor Deval Patrick, who last year unsuccessfully pushed a plan to license three resort casinos, is expected to adopt a lower profile on the issue this time around. Patrick officials did not respond to requests for comment.
DeLeo, Patrick, and Senate President Therese Murray have all expressed support for expanded gambling, but have not agreed on its form. DeLeo has voiced support for slot machines at racetracks, while Patrick has envisioned resort casino developments; Murray has not expressed any preference publicly.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway around the state.
As for Bayside, it’s unclear how seriously the owners or operators of the site have pursued plans for a potential casino. Representatives of the facility’s managing company, Ballantine Management Group, were unavailable for comment.
If such a plan goes forward, it could represent a direct challenge to Suffolk Downs in East Boston, which has been a front-runner for a casino development in Greater Boston and has the backing of Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Out in Warren, selectmen recently decided to establish a Casino Study Committee, and have been soliciting volunteers.
“We should be prepared for anything,’’ said Robert Souza, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “It’s basically to protect the community, to make sure we’re prepared and understand what happens when a gaming company comes to our community, or near it.’’
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority owns four parcels in Warren totaling 208 acres, according to state records, and the property has been eyed as a possible casino site. The Turnpike Authority in 2002 explored a plan to lease land to a casino developer.
“As we look for nontoll revenues to take the burden off tollpayers, we’re sitting on 200 acres in Warren,’’ former Turnpike Authority chairman Matt Amorello told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in January 2003. “There’s not a better location in the Commonwealth.’’
No plan was ever hatched, and the state agency has not been in any discussions with casino developers about using the land, according to spokesman Colin Durrant.
State Senator Michael Morrissey, a Quincy Democrat, has also been a strong advocate for siting a casino in Warren. Morrissey filed legislation that would give a preference to land that is owned by the state, a municipality, or state authorities. Under his proposal, the state would lease the land to a casino developer.
“Why wouldn’t you want to enrich the Commonwealth before you enrich some private landowner?’’ he said.
Another privately owned parcel in Warren has also been on the circuit for potential casino developers.
But any casino developer in Warren would have to make up significant ground. Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut has plans to build a casino in neighboring Palmer, and for months has been laying political groundwork for the site.
In May, Mohegan Sun set up a storefront location to drum up local support for a proposal that includes a 600-room hotel, a spa, a casino, restaurants, and shops.
“We’re there; we have a presence,’’ said Jeffrey Hartmann, chief operating officer of Mohegan Sun. “We looked at sites all over the Commonwealth, and it’s probably not only the best site in Western Massachusetts but the whole Commonwealth.’’
There are several other developers who have hired lobbyists and expressed interest in Massachusetts previously, but have not announced any plans, including Steve Wynn, one of the most famous casino moguls in the world; Boyd Gaming Corp., a Las Vegas-based casino company that has 16 gambling sites; Penn National Gaming, which operates 19 facilities throughout the country; and Station Casinos Inc., which has 18 casinos in Nevada.
Gary Loveman, a Massachusetts resident and chief executive at Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., has been interested in having a presence in his home state, possibly by partnering with Suffolk Downs. Sheldon Adelson, a Dorchester native and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has sought to develop land near Marlborough.
“It looks like it will become a reality rather than just a conversation we have every couple of years,’’ said state Representative Todd Smola, Republican from Warren. “It’s a very, very divisive issue, the most divisive I’ve dealt with since being in the Legislature.’’
Some critics of expanded gaming are warning that the gambling issue needs to be fully vetted.
“I don’t think the average person, or even the average legislator, has a full grasp of the magnitude of what needs to be considered,’’ added Kathleen Conley Norbut, a resident of Monson and a member of the group United to Stop Slots in Mass.
Rosenberg said that with the debate now heating up, the biggest mistake the state can make is to rush the process.
“If we do this,’’ he said, “we’re going to live with this for a long time.’’
Globe correspondent Jack Nicas contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Lawmakers talk, developers scurry
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff | August 24, 2009
Real estate executives controlling the Bayside Exposition Center in Dorchester have floated their property as a potential casino site. Town leaders in Warren have formed a group to study the implications of having a casino in their Central Massachusetts community. State lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to weigh a wide variety of options for expanded gambling.
With gaming back atop the agenda this fall on Beacon Hill, there’s a flurry of activity among casino developers, landowners, politicians, and lobbyists, all of whom are looking ahead to what is likely to be the most friendly climate to date toward bringing casinos, and possibly slot machines, to Massachusetts.
Top lawmakers have yet to set dates for hearings, and they are mum on what form the debate may take. But with the issue possibly surfacing as early as next month, and with a powerful opponent of expanded gambling, former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, now out of office, the race is on.
“Lots and lots of meetings going on, and lots of discussions in the preparatory stage for what looks like the real debate,’’ said state Senator Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat who is the Senate’s point person on casinos. “We’ve had some good run-ups to this, but this is where the rubber is really going to meet the road.’’
Rosenberg said a range of options are being discussed, including licensing only slot machines at racetracks; allowing only resort-style casinos; providing slot machines at bars and restaurants; or some combination.
One option that some are floating involves the licensing of two casinos - one in Eastern Massachusetts, one in Western Massachusetts - and then allowing slots at Plainridge and Raynham Park racetracks.
“I know there’s enough votes to do gaming this year,’’ said state Representative Brian Wallace, a South Boston Democrat and strong casino advocate. “I just don’t know what form it will be.’’
State Representative Brian Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat and the point person studying casinos in the House, was on vacation and could not be reached for comment last week. A spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo released a statement saying only that “it is far too premature to comment on the merits of any one proposal at this time.’’
Governor Deval Patrick, who last year unsuccessfully pushed a plan to license three resort casinos, is expected to adopt a lower profile on the issue this time around. Patrick officials did not respond to requests for comment.
DeLeo, Patrick, and Senate President Therese Murray have all expressed support for expanded gambling, but have not agreed on its form. DeLeo has voiced support for slot machines at racetracks, while Patrick has envisioned resort casino developments; Murray has not expressed any preference publicly.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway around the state.
As for Bayside, it’s unclear how seriously the owners or operators of the site have pursued plans for a potential casino. Representatives of the facility’s managing company, Ballantine Management Group, were unavailable for comment.
If such a plan goes forward, it could represent a direct challenge to Suffolk Downs in East Boston, which has been a front-runner for a casino development in Greater Boston and has the backing of Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Out in Warren, selectmen recently decided to establish a Casino Study Committee, and have been soliciting volunteers.
“We should be prepared for anything,’’ said Robert Souza, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “It’s basically to protect the community, to make sure we’re prepared and understand what happens when a gaming company comes to our community, or near it.’’
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority owns four parcels in Warren totaling 208 acres, according to state records, and the property has been eyed as a possible casino site. The Turnpike Authority in 2002 explored a plan to lease land to a casino developer.
“As we look for nontoll revenues to take the burden off tollpayers, we’re sitting on 200 acres in Warren,’’ former Turnpike Authority chairman Matt Amorello told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in January 2003. “There’s not a better location in the Commonwealth.’’
No plan was ever hatched, and the state agency has not been in any discussions with casino developers about using the land, according to spokesman Colin Durrant.
State Senator Michael Morrissey, a Quincy Democrat, has also been a strong advocate for siting a casino in Warren. Morrissey filed legislation that would give a preference to land that is owned by the state, a municipality, or state authorities. Under his proposal, the state would lease the land to a casino developer.
“Why wouldn’t you want to enrich the Commonwealth before you enrich some private landowner?’’ he said.
Another privately owned parcel in Warren has also been on the circuit for potential casino developers.
But any casino developer in Warren would have to make up significant ground. Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut has plans to build a casino in neighboring Palmer, and for months has been laying political groundwork for the site.
In May, Mohegan Sun set up a storefront location to drum up local support for a proposal that includes a 600-room hotel, a spa, a casino, restaurants, and shops.
“We’re there; we have a presence,’’ said Jeffrey Hartmann, chief operating officer of Mohegan Sun. “We looked at sites all over the Commonwealth, and it’s probably not only the best site in Western Massachusetts but the whole Commonwealth.’’
There are several other developers who have hired lobbyists and expressed interest in Massachusetts previously, but have not announced any plans, including Steve Wynn, one of the most famous casino moguls in the world; Boyd Gaming Corp., a Las Vegas-based casino company that has 16 gambling sites; Penn National Gaming, which operates 19 facilities throughout the country; and Station Casinos Inc., which has 18 casinos in Nevada.
Gary Loveman, a Massachusetts resident and chief executive at Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., has been interested in having a presence in his home state, possibly by partnering with Suffolk Downs. Sheldon Adelson, a Dorchester native and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has sought to develop land near Marlborough.
“It looks like it will become a reality rather than just a conversation we have every couple of years,’’ said state Representative Todd Smola, Republican from Warren. “It’s a very, very divisive issue, the most divisive I’ve dealt with since being in the Legislature.’’
Some critics of expanded gaming are warning that the gambling issue needs to be fully vetted.
“I don’t think the average person, or even the average legislator, has a full grasp of the magnitude of what needs to be considered,’’ added Kathleen Conley Norbut, a resident of Monson and a member of the group United to Stop Slots in Mass.
Rosenberg said that with the debate now heating up, the biggest mistake the state can make is to rush the process.
“If we do this,’’ he said, “we’re going to live with this for a long time.’’
Globe correspondent Jack Nicas contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Globe Hybrid Cab Editorial
GLOBE EDITORIAL
Boston’s hybrid compromise
August 24, 2009
NOW THAT a federal judge has told the City of Boston that it cannot require all taxi owners to switch to hybrid cars by 2015, the city should work out a compromise allowing for used hybrids. There are other options - Boston could appeal the ruling or wait for Congress to amend the law that stands in the way of the new-hybrid mandate. But if the goal is to reduce cabs’ exhaust emissions and improve their fuel efficiency as quickly as possible, a settlement with the owners makes all the sense in the world.
The city laid down the all-hybrid rule a year ago at the same as it permitted taxi owners to raise their fares in response to the spike in gasoline prices to more than $4 a gallon. Especially in stop-and-go city driving, hybrids provide far better mileage than the refurbished police sedans that many taxi owners use. Even without city encouragement, taxi owners should find it advantageous to convert, especially if they can buy used hybrids.
Earlier this month, US District Court Judge William G. Young ruled that a 1975 law on energy conservation set national fuel standards for vehicles and prohibited local officials from setting their own. His decision echoed one by a federal judge in New York, which blocked a push for hybrid taxis in that city. In San Francisco, the mayor and the president of Yellow Cab have worked together to make the switch. Although hybrids there are still a minority, they have proved their durability: The first 15 Ford Escapes ran up 300,000 miles.
It is in the interest of both Boston officials and taxi owners to curb the increases in fares that have made the city’s cab rates among the highest in the country. Switching to hybrids, new or used, is the quickest way to reach that goal.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston’s hybrid compromise
August 24, 2009
NOW THAT a federal judge has told the City of Boston that it cannot require all taxi owners to switch to hybrid cars by 2015, the city should work out a compromise allowing for used hybrids. There are other options - Boston could appeal the ruling or wait for Congress to amend the law that stands in the way of the new-hybrid mandate. But if the goal is to reduce cabs’ exhaust emissions and improve their fuel efficiency as quickly as possible, a settlement with the owners makes all the sense in the world.
The city laid down the all-hybrid rule a year ago at the same as it permitted taxi owners to raise their fares in response to the spike in gasoline prices to more than $4 a gallon. Especially in stop-and-go city driving, hybrids provide far better mileage than the refurbished police sedans that many taxi owners use. Even without city encouragement, taxi owners should find it advantageous to convert, especially if they can buy used hybrids.
Earlier this month, US District Court Judge William G. Young ruled that a 1975 law on energy conservation set national fuel standards for vehicles and prohibited local officials from setting their own. His decision echoed one by a federal judge in New York, which blocked a push for hybrid taxis in that city. In San Francisco, the mayor and the president of Yellow Cab have worked together to make the switch. Although hybrids there are still a minority, they have proved their durability: The first 15 Ford Escapes ran up 300,000 miles.
It is in the interest of both Boston officials and taxi owners to curb the increases in fares that have made the city’s cab rates among the highest in the country. Switching to hybrids, new or used, is the quickest way to reach that goal.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Hotels now catering towards kids
Hotels giving children the VIP treatment
Upscale youth amenities key to attracting families
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 24, 2009
Chefs are whipping up record numbers of chocolate chip pancakes at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Recorded readings of “Make Way for Ducklings’’ are in demand around bedtime at the InterContinental Boston. At the Omni Parker House, the number of backpacks filled with canteens and mini flashlights being handed out by front desk clerks is through the roof.
Occupancy is down at hotels across the country, and business travel in particular has taken a beating, but hotels are finding a new group of customers to cater to: children. According to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel and tourism research company, the percentage of hotel rooms with children has been slowly but steadily increasing nationwide, from 25 percent in 2006 to 27 percent in 2008. And some local hotels have been rolling out the red carpet to attract these young guests, putting magicians in the lobby on Saturday mornings and stocking child-size bathrobes and slippers. Gone are the days when hotel extras were limited to adult-oriented features such as whirlpool bathtubs and froufrou cocktail lounges.
“Hotels are trying to maximize their busi ness, and since they have been doing well with the family market, they’re trying to capture more of it,’’ said Joe McInerney, president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Upscale operations in particular are attracting more families, according to the Massachusetts Lodging Association. If little Suzy wants a visit from the ice cream man and his make-your-own-sundae cart, she can get it at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel as part of the $500-a-night VIK (Very Important Kids) package. If Joey feels like taking a bubble bath before bed, an employee at the four-star InterContinental will draw one for him, complete with rubber ducky, confetti, and milk and cookies - as long as mother and father shell out $50 for it. And at the Liberty Hotel on Beacon Hill, every pint-size guest gets a stuffed animal and can have a Nintendo Wii game system hooked up to a 52-inch screen in their room.
Proprietors are finding that many hotel guests are coming from nearby - families from New Hampshire or Maine taking weekend vacations to Boston instead of longer, more expensive trips to far-flung destinations. “We’re marketing a lot to the suburbs because we understand people are staying closer to home,’’ said Stephanie Loeber, public relations director at the InterContinental Boston. Many local hotels aren’t specifically advertising their child-friendly features though, instead relying on their websites, in-house campaigns, and e-mails to past guests to get the word out.
“Staycationers’’ aren’t the only guests taking advantage of the family-friendly options at local hotels. Paul Tormey, general manager at the four-star Fairmont Copley Plaza, where a weekend room for a family of four in August starts at $329, said he thinks more business travelers are extending their trips and having their families join them after they are done with work.
The Fairmont has one of the city’s more unusual draws for children: Catie Copley, a Labrador retriever who serves as the hotel’s ambassador - as well as an unofficial barometer of the number of children staying at the hotel. “Catie is getting walked more than she did last year,’’ Tormey said.
Tormey is not the only one who has seen more children at his establishment this summer. Kristan Fletcher, spokeswoman for Four Seasons, has also noticed more children running through the lobby. The five-star hotel rolled out its VIK package, including cupcake demonstrations in the kitchen and scavenger hunts through the hotel, last summer, and will begin its fall version of the package in September. “I think we’re seeing that families are definitely traveling again,’’ Fletcher said.
John Murtha, general manager of the three-star Omni Parker House, said he has seen 25 percent to 30 percent more families this summer compared with last year. The hotel recently unveiled the Freedom Trail Suite, which includes a children’s room equipped with bunk beds, bean bag chairs, Colonial costumes, and a mural of the Freedom Trail - and runs from about $250 during the off-season to $450 at peak travel times.
“It’s been so successful that we’re looking to convert another suite into a family-oriented suite,’’ he said.
Lauren Lane and her family from Guilford, Conn., recently stayed in the Freedom Trail Suite. Usually Lauren, 16, and her family stay with her grandparents in Arlington, but after their cruise to the Bahamas was postponed because of work, they decided to stay in a nice hotel instead. Lauren said that she and her 19-year-old sister were a little too old for the room, but they liked it anyway. “I have always wanted bunk beds,’’ she said.
Hotels have long offered summertime specials for families, but some have proved so popular that they’ve decided to keep them year-round. At the four-star Hotel Marlowe, near the Museum of Science in Cambridge, officials installed a Wii system in the lobby in June to accompany its regular 5-to-6 p.m. wine hour - as did fellow Kimpton hotels Nine Zero and the Onyx. It’s been such a hit that they all plan to keep the Wii up and running.
“It’s a huge draw,’’ said Tom Thorn, area director of sales and marketing for Kimpton Hotels. The Marlowe has been trying to create a young, hip vibe all summer, he said, in part by granting room upgrades if a guest can hula hoop for 20 seconds or beat a clerk at rock-paper-scissors.
Jens Maitland and his 8-year-old son, Finn, were playing Wii Bowling at the Hotel Marlowe on a recent evening - Finn whirling the controller around his wrist like a gun slinger and his father sipping white wine between frames. The Maitlands, who were in town from Bermuda for four days and paid $165 a night for a room booked through hotels.com, plan their holidays around what amenities are available for children, And Jens likes it when those extras for his son - like the daily Wii hour - coincide with his own interests. “This will make it easier,’’ he said, “to get back for the 5 o’clock happy hour.’’
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Upscale youth amenities key to attracting families
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 24, 2009
Chefs are whipping up record numbers of chocolate chip pancakes at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Recorded readings of “Make Way for Ducklings’’ are in demand around bedtime at the InterContinental Boston. At the Omni Parker House, the number of backpacks filled with canteens and mini flashlights being handed out by front desk clerks is through the roof.
Occupancy is down at hotels across the country, and business travel in particular has taken a beating, but hotels are finding a new group of customers to cater to: children. According to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a travel and tourism research company, the percentage of hotel rooms with children has been slowly but steadily increasing nationwide, from 25 percent in 2006 to 27 percent in 2008. And some local hotels have been rolling out the red carpet to attract these young guests, putting magicians in the lobby on Saturday mornings and stocking child-size bathrobes and slippers. Gone are the days when hotel extras were limited to adult-oriented features such as whirlpool bathtubs and froufrou cocktail lounges.
“Hotels are trying to maximize their busi ness, and since they have been doing well with the family market, they’re trying to capture more of it,’’ said Joe McInerney, president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Upscale operations in particular are attracting more families, according to the Massachusetts Lodging Association. If little Suzy wants a visit from the ice cream man and his make-your-own-sundae cart, she can get it at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel as part of the $500-a-night VIK (Very Important Kids) package. If Joey feels like taking a bubble bath before bed, an employee at the four-star InterContinental will draw one for him, complete with rubber ducky, confetti, and milk and cookies - as long as mother and father shell out $50 for it. And at the Liberty Hotel on Beacon Hill, every pint-size guest gets a stuffed animal and can have a Nintendo Wii game system hooked up to a 52-inch screen in their room.
Proprietors are finding that many hotel guests are coming from nearby - families from New Hampshire or Maine taking weekend vacations to Boston instead of longer, more expensive trips to far-flung destinations. “We’re marketing a lot to the suburbs because we understand people are staying closer to home,’’ said Stephanie Loeber, public relations director at the InterContinental Boston. Many local hotels aren’t specifically advertising their child-friendly features though, instead relying on their websites, in-house campaigns, and e-mails to past guests to get the word out.
“Staycationers’’ aren’t the only guests taking advantage of the family-friendly options at local hotels. Paul Tormey, general manager at the four-star Fairmont Copley Plaza, where a weekend room for a family of four in August starts at $329, said he thinks more business travelers are extending their trips and having their families join them after they are done with work.
The Fairmont has one of the city’s more unusual draws for children: Catie Copley, a Labrador retriever who serves as the hotel’s ambassador - as well as an unofficial barometer of the number of children staying at the hotel. “Catie is getting walked more than she did last year,’’ Tormey said.
Tormey is not the only one who has seen more children at his establishment this summer. Kristan Fletcher, spokeswoman for Four Seasons, has also noticed more children running through the lobby. The five-star hotel rolled out its VIK package, including cupcake demonstrations in the kitchen and scavenger hunts through the hotel, last summer, and will begin its fall version of the package in September. “I think we’re seeing that families are definitely traveling again,’’ Fletcher said.
John Murtha, general manager of the three-star Omni Parker House, said he has seen 25 percent to 30 percent more families this summer compared with last year. The hotel recently unveiled the Freedom Trail Suite, which includes a children’s room equipped with bunk beds, bean bag chairs, Colonial costumes, and a mural of the Freedom Trail - and runs from about $250 during the off-season to $450 at peak travel times.
“It’s been so successful that we’re looking to convert another suite into a family-oriented suite,’’ he said.
Lauren Lane and her family from Guilford, Conn., recently stayed in the Freedom Trail Suite. Usually Lauren, 16, and her family stay with her grandparents in Arlington, but after their cruise to the Bahamas was postponed because of work, they decided to stay in a nice hotel instead. Lauren said that she and her 19-year-old sister were a little too old for the room, but they liked it anyway. “I have always wanted bunk beds,’’ she said.
Hotels have long offered summertime specials for families, but some have proved so popular that they’ve decided to keep them year-round. At the four-star Hotel Marlowe, near the Museum of Science in Cambridge, officials installed a Wii system in the lobby in June to accompany its regular 5-to-6 p.m. wine hour - as did fellow Kimpton hotels Nine Zero and the Onyx. It’s been such a hit that they all plan to keep the Wii up and running.
“It’s a huge draw,’’ said Tom Thorn, area director of sales and marketing for Kimpton Hotels. The Marlowe has been trying to create a young, hip vibe all summer, he said, in part by granting room upgrades if a guest can hula hoop for 20 seconds or beat a clerk at rock-paper-scissors.
Jens Maitland and his 8-year-old son, Finn, were playing Wii Bowling at the Hotel Marlowe on a recent evening - Finn whirling the controller around his wrist like a gun slinger and his father sipping white wine between frames. The Maitlands, who were in town from Bermuda for four days and paid $165 a night for a room booked through hotels.com, plan their holidays around what amenities are available for children, And Jens likes it when those extras for his son - like the daily Wii hour - coincide with his own interests. “This will make it easier,’’ he said, “to get back for the 5 o’clock happy hour.’’
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Saturday, August 22, 2009
12 arrested in beating outside of 33 Restaurant
12 in tuxedos nabbed after severe beating
By O’Ryan Johnson | Saturday, August 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
A dozen men in tuxedos stepped from a stretch limousine into blue Hub police cruisers early yesterday morning after they were accused of beating a 22-year-old man to the brink of death outside a South End club, authorities said.
The men, from Lynn, Malden, Revere and Philadelphia, were on Stanhope Street commemorating a friend’s funeral early yesterday morning when a fight broke out, cops said.
When police arrived about 2:30 a.m. they found the victim lying on the sidewalk with a severe head injury. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was near death last night.
Greg Den Herder, the owner of 33 Restaurant, said the fight happened outside his place on Columbus Avenue. He said an employee of his club called police. He declined to say if the men under arrest were inside prior to the beating.
“We are assisting Boston police with an ongoing investigation,” he said.
Jessica Villalobos, the sister of one of the men arrested, said earlier in the day her brother and his friends gathered for the funeral of a friend who died in a motorcycle crash last week in Lynn. She said the group had rented tuxedoes and a 20-person stretch Cadillac limousine for the occasion.
Investigators spoke with witnesses and the alleged attackers inside a limousine parked nearby.
Officers approached the limousine and took the men into custody. Witnesses identified the men and all were booked and jailed on charges of assault and battery with serious injury.
“Charges may be upgraded if appropriate,” Zanoli said.
The area outside 33 Restaurant and into the street is covered by several cameras, but police declined to say if the beating was captured on tape.
Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call Boston Police Homicide at (617) 343-4470, leave it anonymously at (800) 494-TIPS or text-message the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1192655
By O’Ryan Johnson | Saturday, August 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
A dozen men in tuxedos stepped from a stretch limousine into blue Hub police cruisers early yesterday morning after they were accused of beating a 22-year-old man to the brink of death outside a South End club, authorities said.
The men, from Lynn, Malden, Revere and Philadelphia, were on Stanhope Street commemorating a friend’s funeral early yesterday morning when a fight broke out, cops said.
When police arrived about 2:30 a.m. they found the victim lying on the sidewalk with a severe head injury. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was near death last night.
Greg Den Herder, the owner of 33 Restaurant, said the fight happened outside his place on Columbus Avenue. He said an employee of his club called police. He declined to say if the men under arrest were inside prior to the beating.
“We are assisting Boston police with an ongoing investigation,” he said.
Jessica Villalobos, the sister of one of the men arrested, said earlier in the day her brother and his friends gathered for the funeral of a friend who died in a motorcycle crash last week in Lynn. She said the group had rented tuxedoes and a 20-person stretch Cadillac limousine for the occasion.
Investigators spoke with witnesses and the alleged attackers inside a limousine parked nearby.
Officers approached the limousine and took the men into custody. Witnesses identified the men and all were booked and jailed on charges of assault and battery with serious injury.
“Charges may be upgraded if appropriate,” Zanoli said.
The area outside 33 Restaurant and into the street is covered by several cameras, but police declined to say if the beating was captured on tape.
Anyone with information about the attack is urged to call Boston Police Homicide at (617) 343-4470, leave it anonymously at (800) 494-TIPS or text-message the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1192655
Prudential Tower reopens
Prudential Tower reopens after leak, evacuation
August 22, 2009
By Nandini Jayakrishna, Globe Staff
The Prudential Tower reopened this morning, almost 24 hours after a leak in a pipe on the second floor brought thousands of gallons of water gushing to the lower floors and basement and forced the evacuation of nearly 2,000 office workers.
"We are running things as normal," Arista Joyner, spokeswoman for Boston Properties, the owner of the 52-story building, said this morning. "The Prudential Tower is open for business. Tenants are welcome."
Repairmen fixed the leak Friday, Joyner said, and the air conditioning and elevators are running. The skywalk on the 50th floor also opened this morning, along with the Top of the Hub restaurant, she said.
A Boston Fire Department spokesman said Friday that the basement and first two floors of the tower had "several inches of water" following the leak. Cleanup crews set to work on the lobby floor of the building soon after the incident. Joyner declined to comment on the cost and extent of damage caused by the water.
August 22, 2009
By Nandini Jayakrishna, Globe Staff
The Prudential Tower reopened this morning, almost 24 hours after a leak in a pipe on the second floor brought thousands of gallons of water gushing to the lower floors and basement and forced the evacuation of nearly 2,000 office workers.
"We are running things as normal," Arista Joyner, spokeswoman for Boston Properties, the owner of the 52-story building, said this morning. "The Prudential Tower is open for business. Tenants are welcome."
Repairmen fixed the leak Friday, Joyner said, and the air conditioning and elevators are running. The skywalk on the 50th floor also opened this morning, along with the Top of the Hub restaurant, she said.
A Boston Fire Department spokesman said Friday that the basement and first two floors of the tower had "several inches of water" following the leak. Cleanup crews set to work on the lobby floor of the building soon after the incident. Joyner declined to comment on the cost and extent of damage caused by the water.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Dante de Magistris profile
Dante’s Paradiso
For the owner-chef of Il Casale, home is where the restaurant is
By Joseph P. Kahn, Globe Staff | August 19, 2009
BELMONT - Hanging in his new restaurant, Il Casale, is a painting of Candida, Italy, 34-year old owner-chef Dante de Magistris’s ancestral home. Il Casale is very much a family operation - de Magistris’s partners include two of his brothers, Damian and Filippo, and his father, Leon - and Candida looms large over everything they do.
Keeping a familial home in the small (pop. 1,100) southern Italian hilltop town is one tie that binds. Clan members try to visit there at least once a year. Another is the rustic cooking style, passed down though their paternal grandmother, that dominates the menu at Il Casale (“rural home’’), which opened this spring in a renovated Belmont firehouse.
De Magistris has already proved he knows how to manage a successful restaurant in tough economic times. Last fall, in response to a tumbling stock market, he slashed prices and shrank the menu at dante, his award-winning eatery in Cambridge’s Royal Sonesta Hotel. Il Casale, long in the works by then, debuted with a wallet-pleasing selection of sfizi (little tastes, $5 each) and entrees, most priced under $20. The Belmont restaurant has been an immediate hit, its tables filled with hungry diners and its classic southern Italian fare (fritto misto, minestra, panna cotta) drawing rave reviews from critics and customers alike.
Yet another familial tie is the stories told about a way of life that transcends culinary style.
“A typical Italian village, mostly agricultural,’’ is how Leon de Magistris, sitting with his sons at the restaurant one afternoon, describes Candida. His father was a tailor and one uncle of his a monsignor. Church officials often dropped by for meals, he recalls, usually prepared by Leon’s mother, who, aware that clergy were traditionally fed the richest dishes a hostess could conjure up, opted for a lighter, healthier cooking style. “Hers was low-fat cooking before there was low fat.’’
Heads nod around the table. Joining in the conversation are Dante, Damian, and Filippo, all raised in Belmont. Damian, 30, the youngest, serves as general manager. Filippo, 36, is responsible for ordering supplies, supervising payroll, and grooming the service staff. Dante runs the kitchen, dividing his time between his two restaurants.
The food at Il Casale can be as simple as arugula tossed with olive oil and lemon juice, accompanied by a toasted bread salad topped with burrata (a creamy mozzarella-style cheese). Or a traditional carbonara made with the finest, freshest ingredients. Or pork and beef meatballs simmered in a San Marzano tomato sauce, garnished with fresh basil. This is reasonably priced family fare.
According to Damian, who has taught writing and freelances as a Web designer, the primary reason the brothers work well together is having complementary strengths and interests. “If we were all trying to chip away at the same stone, we’d shatter it,’’ he says.
Filippo, whose talents include bread baking, wine making, and sculpting, admits he did not join the enterprise lightly. “We argued about what would and wouldn’t work,’’ he says. Ultimately, he adds, “We knew we could trust one another.’’
Dante calculates it took six months to get his Cambridge restaurant running smoothly. That’s not unusual, he says, having cooked in some of Boston’s - and Italy’s - finest establishments and seen how hard a task that can be. “I see restaurants that have been around for 10 years and still haven’t got the right fit in place,’’ he says.
Much like the cuisine they have come to champion, the de Magistris’s story is an appealing blend of Old World and New, simplicity, and sophistication.
Leon and his mother immigrated to the Boston area in the 1960s. Abandoning plans to join the priesthood, he became a successful hairdresser; Leon and Co., his Belmont salon, a few doors down from the restaurant, is widely known among Boston fashionistas. At his country home in Woodstock, Vt., the family grows many of the herbs and vegetables served at their two restaurants. One more tie that binds.
Dante credits his father for nurturing his early interest in cooking. “I was always in the kitchen, fascinated by watching my grandmother cook,’’ he recalls. “We’d go out to eat, and my father would encourage me to go back into the kitchen to watch.’’
At age 4, as the oft-repeated story goes, Dante started a kitchen fire by cooking eggs in a Tupperware container. His career path was established early, however, and by 13, he was working in local restaurants in between summer trips to Italy. Plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America changed after a post-high school apprenticeship in Italy, where Dante cooked in restaurants from Florence to Bologna, seldom more than four months at a time. While serving as sous-chef at Ristorante Don Alfonso on the Amalfi Coast, he caught a game-changing break when the chef went on a road trip and Dante was put in charge. Guide Michelin reviewers showed up and later awarded Don Alfonso a coveted third star, singling Dante out for special praise.
Back in the United States, his employers and mentors grew to include Michael Schlow (when he ran Cafe Louis), Lydia Shire and Daniele Baliani (at the former Pignoli), and Jody Adams and Michela Larson (blu). His biggest adjustment, Dante says, was learning restaurant management American-style. “In Europe, make a mistake and you’re getting a potato thrown at your head,’’ he says with a smile. “I was this 21-year-old kid telling 30-year-olds what to do in a stern way. It took time for me to figure it out.’’
Adams and Baliani in particular helped him tame his temper and adopt a more laid-back managing style. Baliani now works for him at Il Casale. From Adams, says Dante, “I learned to step back, make note of a mistake, and talk to the people involved later, so it didn’t happen again. Trying to fix it right away only caused more mistakes.’’ It was at blu, according to Adams, that Dante mastered the difference between being a great cook and managing a successful restaurant, thereby proving he was ready to go out on his own.
“What makes Dante unique is he embodies two worlds of Italian cooking,’’ says Adams, “the traditional cuisine he learned from his grandmother and what he learned in contemporary Italian restaurants. He’s this fabulous interweaving of the traditional and the modern.’’
For an up-and-coming generation of Boston chefs, Dante has emerged as something of a mentor in his own right. Sunday dinners at his North End condo have become a regular gathering spot for talented young chefs like Will Gilson (Garden at the Cellar), Rodney Murillo (Avila), Anthony Susi (Sage), Marc Orfaly (Pigalle), and Louis DiBiccari (Sel de la Terre).
DiBiccari, who also has brothers in the restaurant business, says Dante’s style of cooking and restaurant managing is a natural outgrowth of his personality and familial roots. “He’s been a leader and a help to many of us,’’ Di-Biccari says. “When guys like me were still line cooks, we looked up to people like Dante and Tony [Susi] as a sort of Rat Pack. There’s a noncompete clause in our friendship that’s pretty rare, I think.’’
“Everyone supports each other in ways a lot of cities don’t,’’ agrees Dante. “It’s a small town with so many talented cooks and chefs my age. We have to work together to help make this city better and better.’’
Like family.
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
For the owner-chef of Il Casale, home is where the restaurant is
By Joseph P. Kahn, Globe Staff | August 19, 2009
BELMONT - Hanging in his new restaurant, Il Casale, is a painting of Candida, Italy, 34-year old owner-chef Dante de Magistris’s ancestral home. Il Casale is very much a family operation - de Magistris’s partners include two of his brothers, Damian and Filippo, and his father, Leon - and Candida looms large over everything they do.
Keeping a familial home in the small (pop. 1,100) southern Italian hilltop town is one tie that binds. Clan members try to visit there at least once a year. Another is the rustic cooking style, passed down though their paternal grandmother, that dominates the menu at Il Casale (“rural home’’), which opened this spring in a renovated Belmont firehouse.
De Magistris has already proved he knows how to manage a successful restaurant in tough economic times. Last fall, in response to a tumbling stock market, he slashed prices and shrank the menu at dante, his award-winning eatery in Cambridge’s Royal Sonesta Hotel. Il Casale, long in the works by then, debuted with a wallet-pleasing selection of sfizi (little tastes, $5 each) and entrees, most priced under $20. The Belmont restaurant has been an immediate hit, its tables filled with hungry diners and its classic southern Italian fare (fritto misto, minestra, panna cotta) drawing rave reviews from critics and customers alike.
Yet another familial tie is the stories told about a way of life that transcends culinary style.
“A typical Italian village, mostly agricultural,’’ is how Leon de Magistris, sitting with his sons at the restaurant one afternoon, describes Candida. His father was a tailor and one uncle of his a monsignor. Church officials often dropped by for meals, he recalls, usually prepared by Leon’s mother, who, aware that clergy were traditionally fed the richest dishes a hostess could conjure up, opted for a lighter, healthier cooking style. “Hers was low-fat cooking before there was low fat.’’
Heads nod around the table. Joining in the conversation are Dante, Damian, and Filippo, all raised in Belmont. Damian, 30, the youngest, serves as general manager. Filippo, 36, is responsible for ordering supplies, supervising payroll, and grooming the service staff. Dante runs the kitchen, dividing his time between his two restaurants.
The food at Il Casale can be as simple as arugula tossed with olive oil and lemon juice, accompanied by a toasted bread salad topped with burrata (a creamy mozzarella-style cheese). Or a traditional carbonara made with the finest, freshest ingredients. Or pork and beef meatballs simmered in a San Marzano tomato sauce, garnished with fresh basil. This is reasonably priced family fare.
According to Damian, who has taught writing and freelances as a Web designer, the primary reason the brothers work well together is having complementary strengths and interests. “If we were all trying to chip away at the same stone, we’d shatter it,’’ he says.
Filippo, whose talents include bread baking, wine making, and sculpting, admits he did not join the enterprise lightly. “We argued about what would and wouldn’t work,’’ he says. Ultimately, he adds, “We knew we could trust one another.’’
Dante calculates it took six months to get his Cambridge restaurant running smoothly. That’s not unusual, he says, having cooked in some of Boston’s - and Italy’s - finest establishments and seen how hard a task that can be. “I see restaurants that have been around for 10 years and still haven’t got the right fit in place,’’ he says.
Much like the cuisine they have come to champion, the de Magistris’s story is an appealing blend of Old World and New, simplicity, and sophistication.
Leon and his mother immigrated to the Boston area in the 1960s. Abandoning plans to join the priesthood, he became a successful hairdresser; Leon and Co., his Belmont salon, a few doors down from the restaurant, is widely known among Boston fashionistas. At his country home in Woodstock, Vt., the family grows many of the herbs and vegetables served at their two restaurants. One more tie that binds.
Dante credits his father for nurturing his early interest in cooking. “I was always in the kitchen, fascinated by watching my grandmother cook,’’ he recalls. “We’d go out to eat, and my father would encourage me to go back into the kitchen to watch.’’
At age 4, as the oft-repeated story goes, Dante started a kitchen fire by cooking eggs in a Tupperware container. His career path was established early, however, and by 13, he was working in local restaurants in between summer trips to Italy. Plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America changed after a post-high school apprenticeship in Italy, where Dante cooked in restaurants from Florence to Bologna, seldom more than four months at a time. While serving as sous-chef at Ristorante Don Alfonso on the Amalfi Coast, he caught a game-changing break when the chef went on a road trip and Dante was put in charge. Guide Michelin reviewers showed up and later awarded Don Alfonso a coveted third star, singling Dante out for special praise.
Back in the United States, his employers and mentors grew to include Michael Schlow (when he ran Cafe Louis), Lydia Shire and Daniele Baliani (at the former Pignoli), and Jody Adams and Michela Larson (blu). His biggest adjustment, Dante says, was learning restaurant management American-style. “In Europe, make a mistake and you’re getting a potato thrown at your head,’’ he says with a smile. “I was this 21-year-old kid telling 30-year-olds what to do in a stern way. It took time for me to figure it out.’’
Adams and Baliani in particular helped him tame his temper and adopt a more laid-back managing style. Baliani now works for him at Il Casale. From Adams, says Dante, “I learned to step back, make note of a mistake, and talk to the people involved later, so it didn’t happen again. Trying to fix it right away only caused more mistakes.’’ It was at blu, according to Adams, that Dante mastered the difference between being a great cook and managing a successful restaurant, thereby proving he was ready to go out on his own.
“What makes Dante unique is he embodies two worlds of Italian cooking,’’ says Adams, “the traditional cuisine he learned from his grandmother and what he learned in contemporary Italian restaurants. He’s this fabulous interweaving of the traditional and the modern.’’
For an up-and-coming generation of Boston chefs, Dante has emerged as something of a mentor in his own right. Sunday dinners at his North End condo have become a regular gathering spot for talented young chefs like Will Gilson (Garden at the Cellar), Rodney Murillo (Avila), Anthony Susi (Sage), Marc Orfaly (Pigalle), and Louis DiBiccari (Sel de la Terre).
DiBiccari, who also has brothers in the restaurant business, says Dante’s style of cooking and restaurant managing is a natural outgrowth of his personality and familial roots. “He’s been a leader and a help to many of us,’’ Di-Biccari says. “When guys like me were still line cooks, we looked up to people like Dante and Tony [Susi] as a sort of Rat Pack. There’s a noncompete clause in our friendship that’s pretty rare, I think.’’
“Everyone supports each other in ways a lot of cities don’t,’’ agrees Dante. “It’s a small town with so many talented cooks and chefs my age. We have to work together to help make this city better and better.’’
Like family.
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
James Taylor gives back to the BSO
Sweet benefactor James
Donating his fees for 5-day festival, pop star Taylor gives Tanglewood and classical music a lift
By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff | August 19, 2009
LENOX - The tickets sold out faster than any others in recent Tanglewood history. And they were not for just one night, or one show; these tickets were for a weeklong festival celebrating a bald, 61-year-old, baby boomer icon.
James Taylor, who has adopted the Berkshires as his home and musical headquarters, will be performing at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer campus. What’s more, the Grammy-winner, starting next Wednesday, will be the centerpiece of an unprecedented five-day festival. Never before has the BSO devoted so much attention to a mainstream musician.
For the BSO, which has faced financial challenges in recent years, the Taylor event will do more than introduce new visitors to the lush grounds of the campus. It will provide a financial boost. Instead of being paid for the gig, Taylor will give the symphony $500,000, his earnings after expenses. For Taylor, who has literally married into the BSO - his wife, Kim, was a longtime staffer and has now been elected to serve as a trustee - the concerts, roundtables, and master classes represent his latest and most dramatic show of support for the institution. Taylor, who played the cello as a boy, said that it is not by chance.
“The support for classical music is diminishing,’’ Taylor explained on a recent afternoon from his home in Lenox. “We have real concerns for what the future is for it. We also know it takes a huge structure to maintain a symphony and a lot of money.’’
The amount of Taylor’s gifts - the couple gave $500,000 this year and more than $700,000 in total from 2005 to 2008 - is large but not unheard of. The BSO has 60 other donors who have given $1 million or more over time. What makes the giving special, though, is that it is coming from a pop superstar. It comes as the relationship between the institution and the singer deepens.
Taylor has already committed to a pair of shows next July, and Mark Volpe, the BSO’s managing director, said that the singer can return for as long as he wants. Volpe imagines the musician holding a special place in the BSO’s history.
“When you think of the personalities who have kind of shaped Tanglewood’s history, you think of Koussevitzky, Bernstein, Copland, Ozawa, and now Levine,’’ said Volpe, listing the names of past music directors or prominent composers who devoted years to the BSO’s summer home. “Now, James is becoming one of the icons of Tanglewood.’’
There is history
James Taylor’s relationship with the BSO dates back to 1993. That’s when he played a concert with the Pops conducted by John Williams. It’s also when he met Caroline “Kim’’ Smedvig, the BSO’s longtime director of public relations and marketing. They went on their first date two years later and married in 2001.
Kim Taylor left the BSO officially in 2004, but she remained as a trusted adviser to Volpe. In 2007, she became a member of its board of overseers. In September, she’ll start a term as a trustee. In a joint interview with her husband at their home near the Tanglewood campus, Kim Taylor talked of having wanted to organize a festival around James’s music for several years. He resisted, she said, both because he didn’t want to commit to dates that might cut into his normal touring schedule so far in advance and because he felt uncomfortable with so much attention.
“It was like pulling teeth,’’ she said, looking over with mock exasperation at her husband. “He only wants the attention on someone else.’’
James Taylor said his logistical concerns disappeared with the move to Lenox.
“Seven years ago, I didn’t think I’d be playing Tanglewood every year,’ he said. “And it turns out we do. And the other thing is I think the symphony, over time, feels more comfortable trusting me and my audience. There used to be this sort of distrust or apprehension that a pop act was a necessary evil, so you minimized it, kept your distance from it. I think over time people have gotten used to me and they’ve seen my audience won’t tear the place up too bad.’’
Rock bands play Tanglewood, including last year’s Wilco show. But such performances are usually one-off gigs in which the Koussevitzky Music Shed is basically used as a rental house. The Taylor dates are different. They include collaborations with John Williams, the Boston Pops, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and longtime BSO favorite Yo-Yo Ma.
Taylor’s generosity also sets the event apart. At Tanglewood, the only other pop star to give significant money is Billy Joel, who has contributed $300,000 over the years. In return, the piano room at the Tanglewood Visitors Center has been named after him.
“I think it is unique,’’ said Williams, the former Boston Pops conductor whose scores for “Star Wars’’ and “Raiders of the Lost Ark’’ have made him a major attraction at Tanglewood “film nights.’’ Williams had to reach back to the 1950s to find a reference point for the Taylors’ gifts. “Until this, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye were really the only show business celebrities that supported, in a vigorous way, American symphony orchestras.’’
Past, present, future
Taylor’s connection to these rolling hills began long before he met his current wife. As a young musician he struggled with depression and drugs. While making his first solo record in 1968, he grew addicted to heroin. That’s when he had himself committed to the Austen Riggs Center, a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge. “It probably saved my life at one point, when I was at Austen Riggs, to come up here. I really did drive the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston,’’ he said, referencing a famous line in his song, “Sweet Baby James.’’ “I have a real connection to this place.’’
So does his wife, Kim. A former newspaper reporter, she started working at the BSO in 1980. While “James is basically very shy, a quiet, private person,’’ said Williams, “Kim has been an expert press person for many years. She’s very, very savvy.’’
It was only recently that James Taylor returned to the Berkshires for good. He and Kim bought a 100-acre property in Lenox in 1999, renovated the house four years later, and moved in for good in 2006. The main house is atop a hill. A pool and guesthouse are nearly finished. And Taylor, who decided not to re-sign with a record label after his contract expired in 2005, built a barn for all of his music business. That’s where he recorded his last album, “Covers.’’ On the top floor, a pair of workers sit at computers taking care of Taylor-related business.
“We feel so fortunate to be here,’’ said Taylor. “We love the people here and are increasingly grateful for our life here.’’
The BSO is also grateful. Though it is arguably the financially healthiest orchestra in the country, with an endowment of $305 million, the symphony hasn’t been immune from the economic downturn. That has meant deficits, including a $429,000 shortfall in 2008. Earlier this year, the BSO laid off 10 staff members as part of a 5.3 percent budget reduction.
Taylor is able to drive visitors to the BSO’s summer home. In 2002, Taylor set a record by drawing more than 24,000 people to a concert. But the show sparked such a traffic jam that local officials told the BSO it could no longer sell more than 18,000 tickets per concert. This year, Taylor has sold more than 60,000 tickets for his appearances. The festival includes a master class with Taylor band drummer Steve Gadd, a roundtable with Williams and Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, and a series of concerts with Sheryl Crow and Yo-Yo Ma.
The BSO has prepared for the onslaught of fans. Screens will be added to the shed for the Friday and Saturday night concerts with Crow and Ma. A special LED screen will go up at Ozawa Hall for the Thursday night conversation and performance spotlighting Taylor’s band. (Taylor will also participate.)
And he’s already thinking about next year. It won’t be a full-fledged festival, but he’s booked to play July 4 and 5 and hopes a range of longtime musical friends - anyone from Paul Simon to Carole King, Bonnie Raitt to Jackson Browne - might join him onstage in 2010 or beyond.
“I have the sense that my audience is less and less excited about getting poison ivy, sitting in the mud, and being bitten by mosquitoes,’’ said Taylor. “The thing about Tanglewood is that it’s the best available lawn experience. Tanglewood got it right.’’
It won’t be easy to find a place to stay during the Taylor weekend, said Peggy Roethel, innkeeper at the Garden Gables Inn, which has been booked for months.
“He’s like a native son,’’ she said. “I think next to Norman Rockwell, he’s held in the highest regard. People say when he does that ‘Stockbridge to Boston’ thing, the roof falls down.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Donating his fees for 5-day festival, pop star Taylor gives Tanglewood and classical music a lift
By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff | August 19, 2009
LENOX - The tickets sold out faster than any others in recent Tanglewood history. And they were not for just one night, or one show; these tickets were for a weeklong festival celebrating a bald, 61-year-old, baby boomer icon.
James Taylor, who has adopted the Berkshires as his home and musical headquarters, will be performing at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer campus. What’s more, the Grammy-winner, starting next Wednesday, will be the centerpiece of an unprecedented five-day festival. Never before has the BSO devoted so much attention to a mainstream musician.
For the BSO, which has faced financial challenges in recent years, the Taylor event will do more than introduce new visitors to the lush grounds of the campus. It will provide a financial boost. Instead of being paid for the gig, Taylor will give the symphony $500,000, his earnings after expenses. For Taylor, who has literally married into the BSO - his wife, Kim, was a longtime staffer and has now been elected to serve as a trustee - the concerts, roundtables, and master classes represent his latest and most dramatic show of support for the institution. Taylor, who played the cello as a boy, said that it is not by chance.
“The support for classical music is diminishing,’’ Taylor explained on a recent afternoon from his home in Lenox. “We have real concerns for what the future is for it. We also know it takes a huge structure to maintain a symphony and a lot of money.’’
The amount of Taylor’s gifts - the couple gave $500,000 this year and more than $700,000 in total from 2005 to 2008 - is large but not unheard of. The BSO has 60 other donors who have given $1 million or more over time. What makes the giving special, though, is that it is coming from a pop superstar. It comes as the relationship between the institution and the singer deepens.
Taylor has already committed to a pair of shows next July, and Mark Volpe, the BSO’s managing director, said that the singer can return for as long as he wants. Volpe imagines the musician holding a special place in the BSO’s history.
“When you think of the personalities who have kind of shaped Tanglewood’s history, you think of Koussevitzky, Bernstein, Copland, Ozawa, and now Levine,’’ said Volpe, listing the names of past music directors or prominent composers who devoted years to the BSO’s summer home. “Now, James is becoming one of the icons of Tanglewood.’’
There is history
James Taylor’s relationship with the BSO dates back to 1993. That’s when he played a concert with the Pops conducted by John Williams. It’s also when he met Caroline “Kim’’ Smedvig, the BSO’s longtime director of public relations and marketing. They went on their first date two years later and married in 2001.
Kim Taylor left the BSO officially in 2004, but she remained as a trusted adviser to Volpe. In 2007, she became a member of its board of overseers. In September, she’ll start a term as a trustee. In a joint interview with her husband at their home near the Tanglewood campus, Kim Taylor talked of having wanted to organize a festival around James’s music for several years. He resisted, she said, both because he didn’t want to commit to dates that might cut into his normal touring schedule so far in advance and because he felt uncomfortable with so much attention.
“It was like pulling teeth,’’ she said, looking over with mock exasperation at her husband. “He only wants the attention on someone else.’’
James Taylor said his logistical concerns disappeared with the move to Lenox.
“Seven years ago, I didn’t think I’d be playing Tanglewood every year,’ he said. “And it turns out we do. And the other thing is I think the symphony, over time, feels more comfortable trusting me and my audience. There used to be this sort of distrust or apprehension that a pop act was a necessary evil, so you minimized it, kept your distance from it. I think over time people have gotten used to me and they’ve seen my audience won’t tear the place up too bad.’’
Rock bands play Tanglewood, including last year’s Wilco show. But such performances are usually one-off gigs in which the Koussevitzky Music Shed is basically used as a rental house. The Taylor dates are different. They include collaborations with John Williams, the Boston Pops, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and longtime BSO favorite Yo-Yo Ma.
Taylor’s generosity also sets the event apart. At Tanglewood, the only other pop star to give significant money is Billy Joel, who has contributed $300,000 over the years. In return, the piano room at the Tanglewood Visitors Center has been named after him.
“I think it is unique,’’ said Williams, the former Boston Pops conductor whose scores for “Star Wars’’ and “Raiders of the Lost Ark’’ have made him a major attraction at Tanglewood “film nights.’’ Williams had to reach back to the 1950s to find a reference point for the Taylors’ gifts. “Until this, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye were really the only show business celebrities that supported, in a vigorous way, American symphony orchestras.’’
Past, present, future
Taylor’s connection to these rolling hills began long before he met his current wife. As a young musician he struggled with depression and drugs. While making his first solo record in 1968, he grew addicted to heroin. That’s when he had himself committed to the Austen Riggs Center, a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge. “It probably saved my life at one point, when I was at Austen Riggs, to come up here. I really did drive the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston,’’ he said, referencing a famous line in his song, “Sweet Baby James.’’ “I have a real connection to this place.’’
So does his wife, Kim. A former newspaper reporter, she started working at the BSO in 1980. While “James is basically very shy, a quiet, private person,’’ said Williams, “Kim has been an expert press person for many years. She’s very, very savvy.’’
It was only recently that James Taylor returned to the Berkshires for good. He and Kim bought a 100-acre property in Lenox in 1999, renovated the house four years later, and moved in for good in 2006. The main house is atop a hill. A pool and guesthouse are nearly finished. And Taylor, who decided not to re-sign with a record label after his contract expired in 2005, built a barn for all of his music business. That’s where he recorded his last album, “Covers.’’ On the top floor, a pair of workers sit at computers taking care of Taylor-related business.
“We feel so fortunate to be here,’’ said Taylor. “We love the people here and are increasingly grateful for our life here.’’
The BSO is also grateful. Though it is arguably the financially healthiest orchestra in the country, with an endowment of $305 million, the symphony hasn’t been immune from the economic downturn. That has meant deficits, including a $429,000 shortfall in 2008. Earlier this year, the BSO laid off 10 staff members as part of a 5.3 percent budget reduction.
Taylor is able to drive visitors to the BSO’s summer home. In 2002, Taylor set a record by drawing more than 24,000 people to a concert. But the show sparked such a traffic jam that local officials told the BSO it could no longer sell more than 18,000 tickets per concert. This year, Taylor has sold more than 60,000 tickets for his appearances. The festival includes a master class with Taylor band drummer Steve Gadd, a roundtable with Williams and Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, and a series of concerts with Sheryl Crow and Yo-Yo Ma.
The BSO has prepared for the onslaught of fans. Screens will be added to the shed for the Friday and Saturday night concerts with Crow and Ma. A special LED screen will go up at Ozawa Hall for the Thursday night conversation and performance spotlighting Taylor’s band. (Taylor will also participate.)
And he’s already thinking about next year. It won’t be a full-fledged festival, but he’s booked to play July 4 and 5 and hopes a range of longtime musical friends - anyone from Paul Simon to Carole King, Bonnie Raitt to Jackson Browne - might join him onstage in 2010 or beyond.
“I have the sense that my audience is less and less excited about getting poison ivy, sitting in the mud, and being bitten by mosquitoes,’’ said Taylor. “The thing about Tanglewood is that it’s the best available lawn experience. Tanglewood got it right.’’
It won’t be easy to find a place to stay during the Taylor weekend, said Peggy Roethel, innkeeper at the Garden Gables Inn, which has been booked for months.
“He’s like a native son,’’ she said. “I think next to Norman Rockwell, he’s held in the highest regard. People say when he does that ‘Stockbridge to Boston’ thing, the roof falls down.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Restaurant cleaners get back unpaid wages
Cleaning worker finds her voice and colleagues’ wages are lost no more
By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Nobody was supposed to see Gloria Rodriguez. She said she usually arrived around midnight for the overnight shift at a prominent Boston restaurant to scrub floors, tables, and toilets until they sparkled. By dawn, she was gone.
But once her paychecks failed to arrive on time - or bounced - Rodriguez suddenly became a public figure in an unusual campaign against the cleaning company Coverall and the restaurants she said they cleaned, Legal Sea Foods and the Cheesecake Factory. She told her story to churches, university students, state officials, and the media, and last month to the general counsel of Coverall cleaning company, who flew up from Florida to listen.
As a result, Coverall decided to donate $40,000 to two nonprofits that aided Rodriguez and other workers like her, Centro Presente and the Chelsea Collaborative. The groups said they will use the money to pay 18 workers their lost wages today at a press conference in Boston City Hall. Each nonprofit will get $5,000 as well.
“Many people thought it wouldn’t happen,’’ said Rodriguez at her home in Somerville. Rodriguez said she was owed $1,200 in lost wages; her husband, Rigoberto Cartagena, said he was owed more than $7,000.
“It took a long time, but it was worth it,’’ she said.
Coverall general counsel Jacqueline Vlaming was unable to confirm the workers’ stories because they worked for a local franchise that has since been terminated. But she said she believed the stories and the donation was made to “make it right.’’ The donation is not a payment of wages, she said, because the company is not legally responsible for paying franchise employees.
It also addresses a public relations problem for the company, which has 5,600 franchise holders nationwide, including 250 in Boston, many of whom are minorities.
“We sell franchises and having a bad reputation in the Hispanic community, that’s huge for us,’’ Vlaming said from company headquarters in Boca Raton. “Although I have no way of verifying their claims, my brand is important to me. It wasn’t entirely a philanthropic gesture. It was goodwill in the community.’’
Worker advocates are calling the payment a victory for immigrant workers who organized and stood up for themselves despite their unfamiliarity with state labor laws.
But it also opens a window into the complex world of the cleaning industry, where allegations of worker abuses are causing headaches both for employees of independent contractors and for the businesses that hire them.
Complaints of abuses have prompted the state attorney general’s office to investigate the cleaning industry overall, said spokesman Harry Pierre.
But legal violations, as the workers found, can be difficult to prove if a subcontractor disappears, making it hard to hold anyone accountable.
Rodriguez said she was excited to get a cleaning job nearly two years ago with a local franchise of Coverall Health Based Cleaning Systems, a Florida sales and marketing company that sells franchises nationwide for $10,500 to $32,000 each.
The corporation provides a brand name and training and helps franchise holders get contracts - but it is up to each franchise to pay its workers.
Rodriguez said she cleaned for a month at the Cheesecake Factory and for more than two months at Legal Sea Foods in the Boston area and was paid less than she earned. Her husband also worked for two months and was not paid at all.
The Globe could not independently confirm their accounts. The Coverall franchise holder’s account was terminated and he could not be located for comment. Executives at Coverall, Legal Sea Foods, and the Cheesecake Factory said only the franchise holder could confirm that they worked there.
Legal Sea Foods officials said it is Coverall’s responsibility to pay its workers. However, they said they complained to Coverall on behalf of individual workers who contacted them directly, even though they are not required to do so.
Legal Sea Foods terminated the cleaning contract in 2007, on concerns about workers’ treatment, and has started hiring their own cleaners at many restaurants directly, officials said.
“We acted by terminating the agreement and by also trying to meet with the individuals and seeing if we could employ them,’’ said Heather Lacey, associate general counsel for Legal Sea Foods. “We have done more than we were legally required to do.’’
Mark Mears, The Cheesecake Factory senior vice president, said the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based company learned about the dispute when workers picketed the restaurants in June. He said he had not previously heard workers’ complaints but the company had terminated its contract with Coverall early last year because of a variety of other issues.
He said it was unfair of Coverall’s workers to target the restaurants.
“It’s unfortunate that money that we paid to Coverall has not gotten to the actual people who did the work in our restaurants, but that’s their responsibility to pay their workers, not ours,’’ said Mears.
But the workers said they were responding to a system that seemed stacked against them. Coverall had workers willing to scrub floors all night, and the restaurants were left gleaming. But the workers were sometimes paid too little or not at all.
At first, Rodriguez considered cutting her losses and walking away.
Instead, she and other workers turned to Centro Presente, in Somerville, and the Chelsea Collaborative, for help filing confidential complaints with the state attorney general’s office.
After more than a year of waiting, the workers and the nonprofits decided to take their complaints public.
The nonprofits said they are distributing the checks today to workers in the amounts that they say they are owed.
“This is going to open the eyes of immigrant workers,’’ said Centro Presente executive director Patricia Montes. “They’re going to say, ‘Wait a minute, they have to respect us.’ ’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Nobody was supposed to see Gloria Rodriguez. She said she usually arrived around midnight for the overnight shift at a prominent Boston restaurant to scrub floors, tables, and toilets until they sparkled. By dawn, she was gone.
But once her paychecks failed to arrive on time - or bounced - Rodriguez suddenly became a public figure in an unusual campaign against the cleaning company Coverall and the restaurants she said they cleaned, Legal Sea Foods and the Cheesecake Factory. She told her story to churches, university students, state officials, and the media, and last month to the general counsel of Coverall cleaning company, who flew up from Florida to listen.
As a result, Coverall decided to donate $40,000 to two nonprofits that aided Rodriguez and other workers like her, Centro Presente and the Chelsea Collaborative. The groups said they will use the money to pay 18 workers their lost wages today at a press conference in Boston City Hall. Each nonprofit will get $5,000 as well.
“Many people thought it wouldn’t happen,’’ said Rodriguez at her home in Somerville. Rodriguez said she was owed $1,200 in lost wages; her husband, Rigoberto Cartagena, said he was owed more than $7,000.
“It took a long time, but it was worth it,’’ she said.
Coverall general counsel Jacqueline Vlaming was unable to confirm the workers’ stories because they worked for a local franchise that has since been terminated. But she said she believed the stories and the donation was made to “make it right.’’ The donation is not a payment of wages, she said, because the company is not legally responsible for paying franchise employees.
It also addresses a public relations problem for the company, which has 5,600 franchise holders nationwide, including 250 in Boston, many of whom are minorities.
“We sell franchises and having a bad reputation in the Hispanic community, that’s huge for us,’’ Vlaming said from company headquarters in Boca Raton. “Although I have no way of verifying their claims, my brand is important to me. It wasn’t entirely a philanthropic gesture. It was goodwill in the community.’’
Worker advocates are calling the payment a victory for immigrant workers who organized and stood up for themselves despite their unfamiliarity with state labor laws.
But it also opens a window into the complex world of the cleaning industry, where allegations of worker abuses are causing headaches both for employees of independent contractors and for the businesses that hire them.
Complaints of abuses have prompted the state attorney general’s office to investigate the cleaning industry overall, said spokesman Harry Pierre.
But legal violations, as the workers found, can be difficult to prove if a subcontractor disappears, making it hard to hold anyone accountable.
Rodriguez said she was excited to get a cleaning job nearly two years ago with a local franchise of Coverall Health Based Cleaning Systems, a Florida sales and marketing company that sells franchises nationwide for $10,500 to $32,000 each.
The corporation provides a brand name and training and helps franchise holders get contracts - but it is up to each franchise to pay its workers.
Rodriguez said she cleaned for a month at the Cheesecake Factory and for more than two months at Legal Sea Foods in the Boston area and was paid less than she earned. Her husband also worked for two months and was not paid at all.
The Globe could not independently confirm their accounts. The Coverall franchise holder’s account was terminated and he could not be located for comment. Executives at Coverall, Legal Sea Foods, and the Cheesecake Factory said only the franchise holder could confirm that they worked there.
Legal Sea Foods officials said it is Coverall’s responsibility to pay its workers. However, they said they complained to Coverall on behalf of individual workers who contacted them directly, even though they are not required to do so.
Legal Sea Foods terminated the cleaning contract in 2007, on concerns about workers’ treatment, and has started hiring their own cleaners at many restaurants directly, officials said.
“We acted by terminating the agreement and by also trying to meet with the individuals and seeing if we could employ them,’’ said Heather Lacey, associate general counsel for Legal Sea Foods. “We have done more than we were legally required to do.’’
Mark Mears, The Cheesecake Factory senior vice president, said the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based company learned about the dispute when workers picketed the restaurants in June. He said he had not previously heard workers’ complaints but the company had terminated its contract with Coverall early last year because of a variety of other issues.
He said it was unfair of Coverall’s workers to target the restaurants.
“It’s unfortunate that money that we paid to Coverall has not gotten to the actual people who did the work in our restaurants, but that’s their responsibility to pay their workers, not ours,’’ said Mears.
But the workers said they were responding to a system that seemed stacked against them. Coverall had workers willing to scrub floors all night, and the restaurants were left gleaming. But the workers were sometimes paid too little or not at all.
At first, Rodriguez considered cutting her losses and walking away.
Instead, she and other workers turned to Centro Presente, in Somerville, and the Chelsea Collaborative, for help filing confidential complaints with the state attorney general’s office.
After more than a year of waiting, the workers and the nonprofits decided to take their complaints public.
The nonprofits said they are distributing the checks today to workers in the amounts that they say they are owed.
“This is going to open the eyes of immigrant workers,’’ said Centro Presente executive director Patricia Montes. “They’re going to say, ‘Wait a minute, they have to respect us.’ ’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Icelandair makes Quincy its North American Headquarters
The Boston Globe
AROUND THE REGION
Icelandair makes Quincy a base
By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Icelandair, the national carrier of Iceland, has relocated its North American corporate headquarters from Columbia, Md., to Quincy.
The airline operates 11 flights a week from Logan International Airport, but relocation of the corporate office will have no immediate effect on Icelandair’s Boston flight schedule, an airline spokesman said.
The move from Maryland followed the airline’s decision to stop service about 18 months ago from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, said the spokesman.
The Quincy office has a staff of 17, according to the spokesman.
“Icelandair is pleased to be moving closer to Icelandair’s gateway in Boston,’’ Thorsteinn Egilsson, the airline’s Americas general manager, said in a statement.
“Our presence here will allow us to be more active in the community as well as being involved with local events and initiatives.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
AROUND THE REGION
Icelandair makes Quincy a base
By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Icelandair, the national carrier of Iceland, has relocated its North American corporate headquarters from Columbia, Md., to Quincy.
The airline operates 11 flights a week from Logan International Airport, but relocation of the corporate office will have no immediate effect on Icelandair’s Boston flight schedule, an airline spokesman said.
The move from Maryland followed the airline’s decision to stop service about 18 months ago from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, said the spokesman.
The Quincy office has a staff of 17, according to the spokesman.
“Icelandair is pleased to be moving closer to Icelandair’s gateway in Boston,’’ Thorsteinn Egilsson, the airline’s Americas general manager, said in a statement.
“Our presence here will allow us to be more active in the community as well as being involved with local events and initiatives.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Plan to fall trees along Memorial Drives runs into opposition
Growing disagreement along Memorial Drive
Group contests plans to fell trees
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
CAMBRIDGE - The state is gearing up to chop down more than 160 trees near the banks of the Charles River, including some healthy ones, as part of two long-planned projects that have local environmentalists on the defensive.
This fall, the Department of Conservation and Recreation will be removing nine healthy trees in the so-called goose meadow, in the shadow of the Boston University Bridge, to make way for rehabilitation of the dilapidated 80-year-old structure.
The department also plans to cut down 157 dead, diseased, and damaged trees along Memorial Drive, from the BU Bridge to the Longfellow Bridge, as part of its historic parkways project, which seeks to return that stretch to its original 19th century landscaping.
The two plans have been sources of contention for a local environmental group that disputes the state’s figures, saying the projects would actually destroy 400 to 600 trees along the Cambridge side of the river that serve as shelter for humans and wildlife.
The department flatly disputes that figure and says that every tree removed will ultimately be replaced with several others.
“The only trees we are taking down are dead, diseased, and damaged trees,’’ said Wendy Fox, the spokeswoman for the department. “I know people are attached to their trees. But we are not taking down hundreds of healthy trees.’’
Local environmentalist Marilyn Wellons called the state’s plans “outrageous’’ and refused to accept the state’s assertion that it will not harm healthy trees.
“They can say anything they like,’’ said Wellons, a member of Friends of the White Geese, which is fighting to keep the trees from the cutting block. “Their plan is to destroy hundreds and hundreds of trees there.’’
Walking along Memorial Drive recently, Wellons pointed out scores of trees she said the department will destroy as part of both projects. The bushy landscaping that shades the geese gathering spot near the BU bridge will be no more under the plan, she said.
“The trees that you see looking down into the goose meadow . . . will all be gone,’’ she said.
Fox, in an e-mail yesterday, said the department plans to replace the nine small healthy trees that will be cleared for the bridge rehabilitation.
“They are healthy trees,’’ she wrote, and will be replaced when the project is finished.
In an interview earlier this week, the state’s conservation and recreation commissioner, Richard K. Sullivan Jr., defended the two projects, saying the initiatives have been fully vetted by the community in a series of meetings and have been given the green light by the local conservation commission.
“We are very cognizant of the fact that trees play an important role not just in that landscaping, but all of the landscaping in that area,’’ he said. “As part of the environmental agency, we take that seriously.’’
Of the 542 trees the department inventoried on Memorial Drive, Fox said, only 157 dead, diseased, and damaged ones will be removed. They will be replaced by 301 new trees that stay true to the original landscaping, including lindens and maackias, as well as maples and oaks. The project will be state funded, a department official said.
Fox said there is no schedule yet to remove those trees.
“This is a tree loving-operation,’’ Fox said.
Jennifer Wright, director of the Cambridge Conservation Commission, said the state had informed the commission that it would remove some healthy trees on Memorial Drive along the paved walkway, where their roots might have been compromised.
Wright, whose commission has jurisdiction over riverfront projects within 25 feet of the Charles, said the commission was informed that only trees 100 feet from the riverfront will be removed.
She said the commission gave the state its approval because the parkway plan balances the needs of the users of the parkway. Moreover, she said, the department will plant more than two trees for every one removed, and each tree has a three-year guarantee.
That is a gain, she said, that might sway those initially opposed to removal.
“There is that shock initially when plants get removed,’’ she said. “Once [people] come back and they see that everything is being cared for and it’s done in a thoughtful way . . . people definitely come to realize that it is much better. “
Meghan E. Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Group contests plans to fell trees
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
CAMBRIDGE - The state is gearing up to chop down more than 160 trees near the banks of the Charles River, including some healthy ones, as part of two long-planned projects that have local environmentalists on the defensive.
This fall, the Department of Conservation and Recreation will be removing nine healthy trees in the so-called goose meadow, in the shadow of the Boston University Bridge, to make way for rehabilitation of the dilapidated 80-year-old structure.
The department also plans to cut down 157 dead, diseased, and damaged trees along Memorial Drive, from the BU Bridge to the Longfellow Bridge, as part of its historic parkways project, which seeks to return that stretch to its original 19th century landscaping.
The two plans have been sources of contention for a local environmental group that disputes the state’s figures, saying the projects would actually destroy 400 to 600 trees along the Cambridge side of the river that serve as shelter for humans and wildlife.
The department flatly disputes that figure and says that every tree removed will ultimately be replaced with several others.
“The only trees we are taking down are dead, diseased, and damaged trees,’’ said Wendy Fox, the spokeswoman for the department. “I know people are attached to their trees. But we are not taking down hundreds of healthy trees.’’
Local environmentalist Marilyn Wellons called the state’s plans “outrageous’’ and refused to accept the state’s assertion that it will not harm healthy trees.
“They can say anything they like,’’ said Wellons, a member of Friends of the White Geese, which is fighting to keep the trees from the cutting block. “Their plan is to destroy hundreds and hundreds of trees there.’’
Walking along Memorial Drive recently, Wellons pointed out scores of trees she said the department will destroy as part of both projects. The bushy landscaping that shades the geese gathering spot near the BU bridge will be no more under the plan, she said.
“The trees that you see looking down into the goose meadow . . . will all be gone,’’ she said.
Fox, in an e-mail yesterday, said the department plans to replace the nine small healthy trees that will be cleared for the bridge rehabilitation.
“They are healthy trees,’’ she wrote, and will be replaced when the project is finished.
In an interview earlier this week, the state’s conservation and recreation commissioner, Richard K. Sullivan Jr., defended the two projects, saying the initiatives have been fully vetted by the community in a series of meetings and have been given the green light by the local conservation commission.
“We are very cognizant of the fact that trees play an important role not just in that landscaping, but all of the landscaping in that area,’’ he said. “As part of the environmental agency, we take that seriously.’’
Of the 542 trees the department inventoried on Memorial Drive, Fox said, only 157 dead, diseased, and damaged ones will be removed. They will be replaced by 301 new trees that stay true to the original landscaping, including lindens and maackias, as well as maples and oaks. The project will be state funded, a department official said.
Fox said there is no schedule yet to remove those trees.
“This is a tree loving-operation,’’ Fox said.
Jennifer Wright, director of the Cambridge Conservation Commission, said the state had informed the commission that it would remove some healthy trees on Memorial Drive along the paved walkway, where their roots might have been compromised.
Wright, whose commission has jurisdiction over riverfront projects within 25 feet of the Charles, said the commission was informed that only trees 100 feet from the riverfront will be removed.
She said the commission gave the state its approval because the parkway plan balances the needs of the users of the parkway. Moreover, she said, the department will plant more than two trees for every one removed, and each tree has a three-year guarantee.
That is a gain, she said, that might sway those initially opposed to removal.
“There is that shock initially when plants get removed,’’ she said. “Once [people] come back and they see that everything is being cared for and it’s done in a thoughtful way . . . people definitely come to realize that it is much better. “
Meghan E. Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston retailers on the move
Luxe retailers play musical chairs amid Newbury Street flux
On the move
By Jill Radsken | Thursday, August 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Style & Fashion
Is Newbury Street down and out?
That’s where the retail tenants are going.
In the past six months, “For Lease” signs have replaced mannequins in many storefronts on Boston’s toniest street as longtime luxury brands relocate or leave altogether.
The European clothier Oilily closed its doors at No. 32, the prized (read: high-rent) first block of Newbury, with reported plans to reopen farther down the block in the fall. Bliss (121 Newbury) and Kitchen Arts (161) both moved to spaces equal or smaller in size at 225 and 215 Newbury, respectively.
“The rent is cheaper,” said a salesperson at Kitchen Arts, explaining the move.
Some have given up on Newbury altogether. Sassoon Salon, a 20-year resident at 14 Newbury, rounded the corner last month to open a bright, first-floor space at 399 Boylston St.
“We always wanted to be on the ground floor,” said Martyn Duff, regional creative director for Sassoon.
This game of retail musical chairs has extended into other neighborhoods and even malls. Sean, a menswear shop that left about nine months ago due to doubled rents, now resides at 76 Dartmouth St. in the South End. Stil, a womenswear boutique that left Newbury Street for the Prudential Center last winter, suddenly closed those doors, and is relocating its store on the second floor at the Mall at Chestnut Hill to a less-centrally located space there.
Dizzy yet?
Some stores - many of them chains - have simply gotten the corporate heave-ho.
New York-based apothecary C.O. Bigelow left Copley Place, as did bankrupt Crabtree & Evelyn. But the failure of Richart chocolatier at Copley hasn’t deterred Hotel Chocolat from planning its first U.S. store to open next month at 141A Newbury (formerly Tess & Carlos).
“We want to make a big splash in Boston,” said CEO Nikki Doggart of the luxury chocolate brand that started 20 years ago as a catalog company. “Boston hasn’t seen anything like us before.”
Doggart said Hotel Chocolat, which will feature a by-appointment tasting room, already has planned events with Boston Fashion Week (the last week of September) to help build its fashion-forward brand.
“In spite of the economic downturn, our business is growing and growing strong. We’ve seen - touch wood - growth,” she said.
Other corporate brands are taking the risk as well. Ben Sherman plans to open at the former Sean space at 284 Newbury, and London clothier Ted Baker is setting up shop at 201 Newbury. Home guru Jonathan Adler has staked out No. 127 (formerly home of Comptoir de Famille).
Still, the block will need more new blood to get its high-end energy back.
Meanwhile, in the South End, the retail scene is thriving.
Longtime Mario Russo stylist Kent Newton opened his own salon at 1315 Washington St. and Flock, a womenswear boutique, is aiming for a September debut at 274 Shawmut Ave. And Jane Miller will open JEM, a home accessories boutique at 470 Harrison Ave. this fall.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/fashion/view.bg?articleid=1192172
On the move
By Jill Radsken | Thursday, August 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Style & Fashion
Is Newbury Street down and out?
That’s where the retail tenants are going.
In the past six months, “For Lease” signs have replaced mannequins in many storefronts on Boston’s toniest street as longtime luxury brands relocate or leave altogether.
The European clothier Oilily closed its doors at No. 32, the prized (read: high-rent) first block of Newbury, with reported plans to reopen farther down the block in the fall. Bliss (121 Newbury) and Kitchen Arts (161) both moved to spaces equal or smaller in size at 225 and 215 Newbury, respectively.
“The rent is cheaper,” said a salesperson at Kitchen Arts, explaining the move.
Some have given up on Newbury altogether. Sassoon Salon, a 20-year resident at 14 Newbury, rounded the corner last month to open a bright, first-floor space at 399 Boylston St.
“We always wanted to be on the ground floor,” said Martyn Duff, regional creative director for Sassoon.
This game of retail musical chairs has extended into other neighborhoods and even malls. Sean, a menswear shop that left about nine months ago due to doubled rents, now resides at 76 Dartmouth St. in the South End. Stil, a womenswear boutique that left Newbury Street for the Prudential Center last winter, suddenly closed those doors, and is relocating its store on the second floor at the Mall at Chestnut Hill to a less-centrally located space there.
Dizzy yet?
Some stores - many of them chains - have simply gotten the corporate heave-ho.
New York-based apothecary C.O. Bigelow left Copley Place, as did bankrupt Crabtree & Evelyn. But the failure of Richart chocolatier at Copley hasn’t deterred Hotel Chocolat from planning its first U.S. store to open next month at 141A Newbury (formerly Tess & Carlos).
“We want to make a big splash in Boston,” said CEO Nikki Doggart of the luxury chocolate brand that started 20 years ago as a catalog company. “Boston hasn’t seen anything like us before.”
Doggart said Hotel Chocolat, which will feature a by-appointment tasting room, already has planned events with Boston Fashion Week (the last week of September) to help build its fashion-forward brand.
“In spite of the economic downturn, our business is growing and growing strong. We’ve seen - touch wood - growth,” she said.
Other corporate brands are taking the risk as well. Ben Sherman plans to open at the former Sean space at 284 Newbury, and London clothier Ted Baker is setting up shop at 201 Newbury. Home guru Jonathan Adler has staked out No. 127 (formerly home of Comptoir de Famille).
Still, the block will need more new blood to get its high-end energy back.
Meanwhile, in the South End, the retail scene is thriving.
Longtime Mario Russo stylist Kent Newton opened his own salon at 1315 Washington St. and Flock, a womenswear boutique, is aiming for a September debut at 274 Shawmut Ave. And Jane Miller will open JEM, a home accessories boutique at 470 Harrison Ave. this fall.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/fashion/view.bg?articleid=1192172
Boston advances in bid hold World Cup games
Boston advances in bid to hold World Cup
Seeks to be part of US package
By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Soccer fanatics in Boston rejoice: With the possibility of the FIFA World Cup being held in the United States within the next decade, local officials are trying to make sure Boston plays a role in hosting the world’s premier sports tournament.
The city could be one of 18 that will be part of US Soccer’s final bid package to host the World Cup, either in 2018 or 2022. The final bid will be submitted next year, and a decision could be made by FIFA by the end of 2010.
US Soccer’s USA Bid Committee is expected to reveal today that Boston is one of 27 US cities that has moved on to the last round of the bidding process, after 52 cities initially applied to become part of the overall package.
The final round of the bidding process could have Boston kicking off a major promotional campaign to show off the area’s commitment to soccer and its ability to host matches in the tournament.
“It’s so exciting to know Boston could be hosting the FIFA World Cup and again be able to showcase our city on the international stage,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday in a statement. “We will continue to work hard to sell our city as the best place for an event of this size and significance.’’
The city plans to team with Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and the New England Revolution, one of Major League Soccer’s most successful teams, in the campaign, holding events and rallies. Robert Kraft, owner of the Revolution and the New England Patriots, is a member of the USA Bid Committee Inc.
Local officials hope to stretch their promotional campaign from New Hampshire and Maine to Rhode Island and Connecticut, with Boston being the only city in the region to move into the final bid process. “Our residents and visitors come from all over the world and soccer is the world sport,’’ Menino said.
The only time the World Cup, a tournament of the 32 top national soccer teams in the world, was held in the United States was in 1994. Today that World Cup remains the largest in turnout in the tournament’s history, with more than 3.5 million people in attendance. That was also before FIFA, or the Fédéral Internationale de Football Association, increased the number of teams in the tournament from 24 to 32.
The turnout is attributed in large part to the country’s many large stadiums. In 1994, nine stadiums - including Gillette, then called Foxborough Stadium - hosted games. The stadium was voted by FIFA as the Most Hospitable of the tournament. Gillette also hosted several games in the Women’s World Cup in 1999.
Stacey James, a spokesman for Gillette Stadium, pointed out that the stadium is a newer, enhanced facility and officials would welcome the opportunity to host the tournament.
“Gillette is a state-of-the-art facility, a great and world-class facility to host a World Cup soccer match, and we hope to have that opportunity,’’ he said. He also pointed to the success of the New England Revolution and the MLS, which opened after the 1994 World Cup.
“Hosting the World Cup again would be a wonderful opportunity to continue to grow the national interested in the sport,’’ he said.
In the upcoming tournaments, FIFA is asking host countries - and their host cities - to do more. As part of the bidding package, Boston will have to show plans for security and hotel and travel logistics. Cities must also hold regular Fan Fests, with activities similar to those that would be held for a baseball All-Star game, and FIFA expects the events could draw as many as 50,000 people a day.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Seeks to be part of US package
By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | August 20, 2009
Soccer fanatics in Boston rejoice: With the possibility of the FIFA World Cup being held in the United States within the next decade, local officials are trying to make sure Boston plays a role in hosting the world’s premier sports tournament.
The city could be one of 18 that will be part of US Soccer’s final bid package to host the World Cup, either in 2018 or 2022. The final bid will be submitted next year, and a decision could be made by FIFA by the end of 2010.
US Soccer’s USA Bid Committee is expected to reveal today that Boston is one of 27 US cities that has moved on to the last round of the bidding process, after 52 cities initially applied to become part of the overall package.
The final round of the bidding process could have Boston kicking off a major promotional campaign to show off the area’s commitment to soccer and its ability to host matches in the tournament.
“It’s so exciting to know Boston could be hosting the FIFA World Cup and again be able to showcase our city on the international stage,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday in a statement. “We will continue to work hard to sell our city as the best place for an event of this size and significance.’’
The city plans to team with Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and the New England Revolution, one of Major League Soccer’s most successful teams, in the campaign, holding events and rallies. Robert Kraft, owner of the Revolution and the New England Patriots, is a member of the USA Bid Committee Inc.
Local officials hope to stretch their promotional campaign from New Hampshire and Maine to Rhode Island and Connecticut, with Boston being the only city in the region to move into the final bid process. “Our residents and visitors come from all over the world and soccer is the world sport,’’ Menino said.
The only time the World Cup, a tournament of the 32 top national soccer teams in the world, was held in the United States was in 1994. Today that World Cup remains the largest in turnout in the tournament’s history, with more than 3.5 million people in attendance. That was also before FIFA, or the Fédéral Internationale de Football Association, increased the number of teams in the tournament from 24 to 32.
The turnout is attributed in large part to the country’s many large stadiums. In 1994, nine stadiums - including Gillette, then called Foxborough Stadium - hosted games. The stadium was voted by FIFA as the Most Hospitable of the tournament. Gillette also hosted several games in the Women’s World Cup in 1999.
Stacey James, a spokesman for Gillette Stadium, pointed out that the stadium is a newer, enhanced facility and officials would welcome the opportunity to host the tournament.
“Gillette is a state-of-the-art facility, a great and world-class facility to host a World Cup soccer match, and we hope to have that opportunity,’’ he said. He also pointed to the success of the New England Revolution and the MLS, which opened after the 1994 World Cup.
“Hosting the World Cup again would be a wonderful opportunity to continue to grow the national interested in the sport,’’ he said.
In the upcoming tournaments, FIFA is asking host countries - and their host cities - to do more. As part of the bidding package, Boston will have to show plans for security and hotel and travel logistics. Cities must also hold regular Fan Fests, with activities similar to those that would be held for a baseball All-Star game, and FIFA expects the events could draw as many as 50,000 people a day.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Monday, August 17, 2009
BU-BC will play hockey at Fenway
BC-BU hockey a go at Fenway
By John Connolly | Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | College Hockey
Boston College and Boston University will play their own Winter Classic at Fenway Park [map] on Friday, Jan. 8. The official announcement will be made next week.
Sources confirmed the game will take place at 8 p.m. It will be preceded by a women’s game between the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University.
The Bruins [team stats] and Philadelphia Flyers are due to play the annual NHL Winter Classic game at Fenway on Jan. 1. As a result, the temporary ice surface will, in all likelihood, be kept in place at Fenway for the full week between the NHL and college games. There has been talk that city officials are angling toward using the ice for public skating sessions in between the two games.
“I’m really excited about that. It’s a dream come true,” said BC coach Jerry York of the outdoor matchup. “We just need a cold, clear night, don’t we? That be would be pretty good. And having the women’s teams, Wow!
“It’s going to be a late start (8 p.m.). How cold might that be?,” York asked quizzically. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I think ticket prices will be pretty good. I envision 25,000 people, maybe. What a thing for Hockey East. Hey, the CCHA has done it. The WCHA has done it.”
BC and BU are scheduled to play three times in the regular season in 2009-2010, with BC twice serving as the home team in the annual rotating schedule among Hockey East teams. BU hosts the first meeting at Agganis Arena on December 5. BC hosts the second meeting at Kelley Rink on January 22. The Fenway affair on Jan. 8, would technically serve as BC’s second home game.
Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, NU women’s coach David Flint, and UNH women’s coach Brian McCloskey could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/hockey/view.bg?articleid=1190622
Related Articles:
By John Connolly | Wednesday, August 12, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | College Hockey
Boston College and Boston University will play their own Winter Classic at Fenway Park [map] on Friday, Jan. 8. The official announcement will be made next week.
Sources confirmed the game will take place at 8 p.m. It will be preceded by a women’s game between the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University.
The Bruins [team stats] and Philadelphia Flyers are due to play the annual NHL Winter Classic game at Fenway on Jan. 1. As a result, the temporary ice surface will, in all likelihood, be kept in place at Fenway for the full week between the NHL and college games. There has been talk that city officials are angling toward using the ice for public skating sessions in between the two games.
“I’m really excited about that. It’s a dream come true,” said BC coach Jerry York of the outdoor matchup. “We just need a cold, clear night, don’t we? That be would be pretty good. And having the women’s teams, Wow!
“It’s going to be a late start (8 p.m.). How cold might that be?,” York asked quizzically. “I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I think ticket prices will be pretty good. I envision 25,000 people, maybe. What a thing for Hockey East. Hey, the CCHA has done it. The WCHA has done it.”
BC and BU are scheduled to play three times in the regular season in 2009-2010, with BC twice serving as the home team in the annual rotating schedule among Hockey East teams. BU hosts the first meeting at Agganis Arena on December 5. BC hosts the second meeting at Kelley Rink on January 22. The Fenway affair on Jan. 8, would technically serve as BC’s second home game.
Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, NU women’s coach David Flint, and UNH women’s coach Brian McCloskey could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/hockey/view.bg?articleid=1190622
Related Articles:
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Pet Airways may soon land in Massachusetts
Pets fly in style on own airline
Locals use New York hub for now
By Jessica Fargen | Sunday, August 16, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Local pet owners are forking over hundreds of dollars so their cats and canines can coast in comfort on the country’s first animal-only airline - which promises regular potty breaks, dog biscuits and even window seats for Rover.
At least a dozen Boston-area pet owners have used Pet Airways to fly their furry ones in and out of Long Island - its nearest location to the Hub - since it launched just a few weeks ago. The company says it hopes to expand service directly to Massachusetts soon.
“I thought it was the best thing ever,” said Mary Rae Woodford of Abington, who paid $315 to fly a rescued Bernese mountain dog from Illinois on Pet Airways, which for now has a small footprint at five regional airports near New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
Woodford and her fiance had planned to drive to Illinois to pick up their newly adopted pooch - Barbie - because they felt other transport options were inhumane.
Continental Airlines offers a climate-controlled cargo area for companion creatures, but Barbie would have been traveling for nine hours, Woodford said. Woodford said she couldn’t bear to put Barbie in a cargo hold after what her new pet had been through. The dog - forced to carry seven litters of puppies in seven years - had been rescued from a puppy mill.
“She’s such a love, all she wants to do is be petted or lay her head against you,” said Woodford, a Medicaid consultant. “It was the best way to fly her in. She was more comfortable. She was so happy when she got off. They fly in the regular part where the windows are and everything else.”
Barbie flew in on a 19-seat Beech 1900 turbo-prop airplane that has had the overhead bins and seats removed and replaced with secured individual pet carriers.
About 50 animals can fly at once in the modified aircraft cabins.
When Woodford arrived at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, L.I., to pick up Barbie, a “pet attendant” escorted the pooch from the plane to a pick up area at the airport.
“We just really want pets to be able to fly safely,” said Alysa Binder, who got Pet Airways off the ground this summer with her husband, Dan Wiesel. The first flight took off July 14. Pet Airways partners with Suburban Air, which flies twice a week for the airline.
Binder and Wiesel, both startup consultants, founded Pet Airways hoping to create a comfortable way for their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, 17, to fly when they relocated from San Francisco to Florida.
So-called “pawsengers” on Pet Airways get regular potty breaks and are checked on by pet attendants every 15 minutes. Flights can run $300 to $500 round trip.
Binder said Massachusetts is ripe for the service. “There’s such a great demand and interest for us to fly into Boston,” she said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1191284
Locals use New York hub for now
By Jessica Fargen | Sunday, August 16, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Local pet owners are forking over hundreds of dollars so their cats and canines can coast in comfort on the country’s first animal-only airline - which promises regular potty breaks, dog biscuits and even window seats for Rover.
At least a dozen Boston-area pet owners have used Pet Airways to fly their furry ones in and out of Long Island - its nearest location to the Hub - since it launched just a few weeks ago. The company says it hopes to expand service directly to Massachusetts soon.
“I thought it was the best thing ever,” said Mary Rae Woodford of Abington, who paid $315 to fly a rescued Bernese mountain dog from Illinois on Pet Airways, which for now has a small footprint at five regional airports near New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.
Woodford and her fiance had planned to drive to Illinois to pick up their newly adopted pooch - Barbie - because they felt other transport options were inhumane.
Continental Airlines offers a climate-controlled cargo area for companion creatures, but Barbie would have been traveling for nine hours, Woodford said. Woodford said she couldn’t bear to put Barbie in a cargo hold after what her new pet had been through. The dog - forced to carry seven litters of puppies in seven years - had been rescued from a puppy mill.
“She’s such a love, all she wants to do is be petted or lay her head against you,” said Woodford, a Medicaid consultant. “It was the best way to fly her in. She was more comfortable. She was so happy when she got off. They fly in the regular part where the windows are and everything else.”
Barbie flew in on a 19-seat Beech 1900 turbo-prop airplane that has had the overhead bins and seats removed and replaced with secured individual pet carriers.
About 50 animals can fly at once in the modified aircraft cabins.
When Woodford arrived at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, L.I., to pick up Barbie, a “pet attendant” escorted the pooch from the plane to a pick up area at the airport.
“We just really want pets to be able to fly safely,” said Alysa Binder, who got Pet Airways off the ground this summer with her husband, Dan Wiesel. The first flight took off July 14. Pet Airways partners with Suburban Air, which flies twice a week for the airline.
Binder and Wiesel, both startup consultants, founded Pet Airways hoping to create a comfortable way for their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, 17, to fly when they relocated from San Francisco to Florida.
So-called “pawsengers” on Pet Airways get regular potty breaks and are checked on by pet attendants every 15 minutes. Flights can run $300 to $500 round trip.
Binder said Massachusetts is ripe for the service. “There’s such a great demand and interest for us to fly into Boston,” she said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1191284
Hotel and meals tax increase being considered in Boston
Welcome to Bo$ton
Staying, dining in Hub will probably get pricier as bills to increase taxes go before the City Council
By David Abel, Globe Staff | August 16, 2009
It’s increasingly expensive to be a tourist in Boston.
In just about six weeks, the cost of staying in a hotel and dining at a restaurant in Boston will probably climb, and not just because of the sales tax increase that took effect this month. If endorsed by the City Council, as is expected, the hotel tax will rise to 14.45 percent, up from 12.45 percent, and the meals tax will jump to 7 percent, up from 5 percent last month.
And that is on top of fees and taxes that hit those who arrive at Logan International Airport before they even land, with average domestic ticket prices higher than at most other major airports and a mix of taxes and fees such as a $4.50-per-ticket “passenger facility charge,’’ the maximum the federal government allows airports to charge to help subsidize their building projects.
Visitors who rent a car at the airport can expect a slew of add-on fees that now amount to one-third of the overall price. For example, a compact car rented for one day at a base rate of $62.69 at Avis would now have a total cost of $93.88, which includes six different fees, from Logan, the state, and the rental company, such as the year-old $4 “customer facility charge’’ designated for a yet-to-be-built rental car facility.
The restaurant and hotel taxes are increasing as the number of visitors to Boston fell 6 percent in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. Over the same period, the city’s hotel room occupancy rate fell 12 percent, according to Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based company that monitors trends in the hotel industry.
“Boston is not the only city increasing its taxes and fees, and we’re not worried that people are going to decide not to come here because of the new taxes,’’ said Patrick B. Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, who blamed the falloff of tourism on the global recession and pointed out that Boston has lower taxes than many other large cities. “Most people are more focused on the experience and what the destination offers than taxes,’’ he said.
Tourists are taking similar hits around the country.
For example, the hotel tax in Hawaii increased 1 percentage point to 8.25 percent this summer and is scheduled to increase to 9.25 percent next July.
Nevada raised its hotel tax rate 3 percentage points, boosting the hotel tax rate in Las Vegas to 12 percent. In New York City, hotel taxes increased to 14.76 percent, up 0.5 percentage points, and with the city’s $3.50 a night surcharge, the taxes and fees on a $200 room amount to more than 16.5 percent.
Overall, Boston ranks near the middle of the country’s top 50 cities in terms of hotel and meal taxes, but Logan has become among the most expensive airports for car rentals, according to a survey by the National Business Travel Association, a Virginia-based group that represents the business travel industry.
In its survey last year, the group reported 18 of 50 cities surveyed had a hotel tax rate higher than 14.45 percent, Boston’s proposed new rate, with Nashville the highest at 17.18 percent and Las Vegas the lowest at its previous 9 percent rate. The survey found 33 of the cities had higher meal taxes than Boston’s planned 7 percent, with Chicago the highest at 10.25 percent - which has already risen this year to 11.5 percent - and Portland, Ore., the lowest, with no meal tax.
But of the 50 cities, only Chicago added more taxes and fees to the price of a rental car, last year’s survey found. Rental car companies now add nearly 23 percent in taxes and fees to the bill of cars picked up in downtown Boston.
“Even with the higher taxes, Boston remains in the middle of the pack,’’ said Fay Beauchine, president of National Business Travel Association’s Foundation, which oversees the survey. “The question is whether companies and other visitors will decide it’s too expensive and choose other cities to hold their conventions in.’’
Local restaurateurs and hotel operators said they are not concerned.
While many opposed the tax increases, they said they were more concerned about the precedent than the effect of those scheduled to start in the fall.
“I don’t see it affecting tourism,’’ said Paul J. Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, which represents more than 400 hotels and other inns in the state. “As a rule, we don’t support increasing taxes, but I don’t think a 2 percent increase will have a long-term impact. I just don’t want to see them go up further next year. Then it would start impacting convention business and other segments.’’
And most tourists taking in the sights in Boston last weekend shrugged off the prospect of raised taxes as generally reasonable or just inevitable.
Ed Johnson, 51, here on a short trip with his 14-year-old daughter from Troy, N.Y., said taxes are part of the recession. “It’s just a sign of the times,’’ he said at Faneuil Hall. “The state’s trying to get revenue and that’s how they do it. If it’s too high, maybe there’ll be another Boston Tea Party. Who knows?’’
At Logan Airport, Larry Self, his wife, and their teenage son and daughter were wrapping up a week’s vacation. The family had rented a car to tour the Cape and spent some time in Boston before heading home to Wichita, Kan.
Self said his 18-year-old son is considering moving to the Northeast after college, but Self said he would think twice about returning to Boston if an increase in hotel and meal taxes is approved.
“When things get so expensive, you can’t go as much as you want,’’ Self said.
But his wife, Sharon, said she knows that visiting New England comes with a higher price tag.
“There are certainly a lot less expensive places to vacation, but that’s kind of the whole Northeast in general,’’ she said. “You do have to decide to spend more on vacation.’’
Peter Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said the owners of the 5,000 restaurants he represents are more concerned about the effect of the tax increases on local residents than on tourists.
He added that many restaurateurs feel singled out, given that few other taxes target specific businesses.
“Why should a lunch salad be treated any differently than the sale of a flat panel TV?’’ he said. “I don’t think we’re taxing ourselves out of the market. I just worry about this being part of a slippery slope.’’
Globe correspondent Hannah McBride contributed to this report. David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Staying, dining in Hub will probably get pricier as bills to increase taxes go before the City Council
By David Abel, Globe Staff | August 16, 2009
It’s increasingly expensive to be a tourist in Boston.
In just about six weeks, the cost of staying in a hotel and dining at a restaurant in Boston will probably climb, and not just because of the sales tax increase that took effect this month. If endorsed by the City Council, as is expected, the hotel tax will rise to 14.45 percent, up from 12.45 percent, and the meals tax will jump to 7 percent, up from 5 percent last month.
And that is on top of fees and taxes that hit those who arrive at Logan International Airport before they even land, with average domestic ticket prices higher than at most other major airports and a mix of taxes and fees such as a $4.50-per-ticket “passenger facility charge,’’ the maximum the federal government allows airports to charge to help subsidize their building projects.
Visitors who rent a car at the airport can expect a slew of add-on fees that now amount to one-third of the overall price. For example, a compact car rented for one day at a base rate of $62.69 at Avis would now have a total cost of $93.88, which includes six different fees, from Logan, the state, and the rental company, such as the year-old $4 “customer facility charge’’ designated for a yet-to-be-built rental car facility.
The restaurant and hotel taxes are increasing as the number of visitors to Boston fell 6 percent in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period last year, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. Over the same period, the city’s hotel room occupancy rate fell 12 percent, according to Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based company that monitors trends in the hotel industry.
“Boston is not the only city increasing its taxes and fees, and we’re not worried that people are going to decide not to come here because of the new taxes,’’ said Patrick B. Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, who blamed the falloff of tourism on the global recession and pointed out that Boston has lower taxes than many other large cities. “Most people are more focused on the experience and what the destination offers than taxes,’’ he said.
Tourists are taking similar hits around the country.
For example, the hotel tax in Hawaii increased 1 percentage point to 8.25 percent this summer and is scheduled to increase to 9.25 percent next July.
Nevada raised its hotel tax rate 3 percentage points, boosting the hotel tax rate in Las Vegas to 12 percent. In New York City, hotel taxes increased to 14.76 percent, up 0.5 percentage points, and with the city’s $3.50 a night surcharge, the taxes and fees on a $200 room amount to more than 16.5 percent.
Overall, Boston ranks near the middle of the country’s top 50 cities in terms of hotel and meal taxes, but Logan has become among the most expensive airports for car rentals, according to a survey by the National Business Travel Association, a Virginia-based group that represents the business travel industry.
In its survey last year, the group reported 18 of 50 cities surveyed had a hotel tax rate higher than 14.45 percent, Boston’s proposed new rate, with Nashville the highest at 17.18 percent and Las Vegas the lowest at its previous 9 percent rate. The survey found 33 of the cities had higher meal taxes than Boston’s planned 7 percent, with Chicago the highest at 10.25 percent - which has already risen this year to 11.5 percent - and Portland, Ore., the lowest, with no meal tax.
But of the 50 cities, only Chicago added more taxes and fees to the price of a rental car, last year’s survey found. Rental car companies now add nearly 23 percent in taxes and fees to the bill of cars picked up in downtown Boston.
“Even with the higher taxes, Boston remains in the middle of the pack,’’ said Fay Beauchine, president of National Business Travel Association’s Foundation, which oversees the survey. “The question is whether companies and other visitors will decide it’s too expensive and choose other cities to hold their conventions in.’’
Local restaurateurs and hotel operators said they are not concerned.
While many opposed the tax increases, they said they were more concerned about the precedent than the effect of those scheduled to start in the fall.
“I don’t see it affecting tourism,’’ said Paul J. Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, which represents more than 400 hotels and other inns in the state. “As a rule, we don’t support increasing taxes, but I don’t think a 2 percent increase will have a long-term impact. I just don’t want to see them go up further next year. Then it would start impacting convention business and other segments.’’
And most tourists taking in the sights in Boston last weekend shrugged off the prospect of raised taxes as generally reasonable or just inevitable.
Ed Johnson, 51, here on a short trip with his 14-year-old daughter from Troy, N.Y., said taxes are part of the recession. “It’s just a sign of the times,’’ he said at Faneuil Hall. “The state’s trying to get revenue and that’s how they do it. If it’s too high, maybe there’ll be another Boston Tea Party. Who knows?’’
At Logan Airport, Larry Self, his wife, and their teenage son and daughter were wrapping up a week’s vacation. The family had rented a car to tour the Cape and spent some time in Boston before heading home to Wichita, Kan.
Self said his 18-year-old son is considering moving to the Northeast after college, but Self said he would think twice about returning to Boston if an increase in hotel and meal taxes is approved.
“When things get so expensive, you can’t go as much as you want,’’ Self said.
But his wife, Sharon, said she knows that visiting New England comes with a higher price tag.
“There are certainly a lot less expensive places to vacation, but that’s kind of the whole Northeast in general,’’ she said. “You do have to decide to spend more on vacation.’’
Peter Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said the owners of the 5,000 restaurants he represents are more concerned about the effect of the tax increases on local residents than on tourists.
He added that many restaurateurs feel singled out, given that few other taxes target specific businesses.
“Why should a lunch salad be treated any differently than the sale of a flat panel TV?’’ he said. “I don’t think we’re taxing ourselves out of the market. I just worry about this being part of a slippery slope.’’
Globe correspondent Hannah McBride contributed to this report. David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Saturday, August 15, 2009
JetBlue lowers fares out of Boston
JetBlue pass adds to low-fare options at Logan
1-month promotion most likely to benefit business travelers
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
The low-fare battle heats up as JetBlue takes on Southwest.
When Southwest first announced it would fly from Boston to Baltimore for $49 each way, JetBlue added a route there too - for $39. And on Wednesday, a few weeks after Southwest’s eye-popping $30/$60/$90 airfare sale, JetBlue launched an unusual nationwide promotion: $599 for an unlimited month of travel.
According to JetBlue, the sale has nothing to do with other airlines. “This is more of an opportunity to take advantage of typically low periods of travel,’’ said spokeswoman Alison Croyle.
But it does mean that Boston travelers continue to have more low-fare options. Southwest starts service out of Logan International Airport tomorrow, and AirTran has more than 40 destinations on sale from Boston, including a $79 fare to Cancun. AirTran also is literally rolling out the red carpet at Logan on Wednesday to unveil its first business-class security lane in Boston.
Spokesmen for AirTran and South west said their airlines had no plans to match the monthlong travel deal. Air Canada offered an all-you-can-fly pass a few years ago, and Cathay Pacific has an All Asia pass for $1,499, good for 24 cities in 21 days.
JetBlue’s $599 All You Can Jet Pass, good from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, will probably most benefit business travel, an area that has been hit hard during the recession. But even a frequent flier taking short trips would have to travel a lot to make the pass worthwhile. Someone making more than two trips to Los Angeles (about $300 round-trip from Boston on JetBlue) in a month would benefit, but not a person taking less than four trips to Orlando (at $150 each).
“I’m not sure the business flier really can take that much advantage of this unless it’s a commuter who’s going back and forth every weekend,’’ said airline analyst Robert Herbst, who runs AirlineFinancials.com.
The unlimited-travel promotion, on sale through Friday, or until it’s sold out, has generated a lot of interest online. Traffic on JetBlue’s website has jumped about 700 percent since the sale was announced, Coyle said.
Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com expects special promotions like this to keep popping up, whether it’s two-hour megasales on Twitter or 50,000 bonus frequent flier miles, as airlines try to win back skittish travelers. “I think we’ll see a lot of these clever marketing schemes,’’ he said.
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
1-month promotion most likely to benefit business travelers
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
The low-fare battle heats up as JetBlue takes on Southwest.
When Southwest first announced it would fly from Boston to Baltimore for $49 each way, JetBlue added a route there too - for $39. And on Wednesday, a few weeks after Southwest’s eye-popping $30/$60/$90 airfare sale, JetBlue launched an unusual nationwide promotion: $599 for an unlimited month of travel.
According to JetBlue, the sale has nothing to do with other airlines. “This is more of an opportunity to take advantage of typically low periods of travel,’’ said spokeswoman Alison Croyle.
But it does mean that Boston travelers continue to have more low-fare options. Southwest starts service out of Logan International Airport tomorrow, and AirTran has more than 40 destinations on sale from Boston, including a $79 fare to Cancun. AirTran also is literally rolling out the red carpet at Logan on Wednesday to unveil its first business-class security lane in Boston.
Spokesmen for AirTran and South west said their airlines had no plans to match the monthlong travel deal. Air Canada offered an all-you-can-fly pass a few years ago, and Cathay Pacific has an All Asia pass for $1,499, good for 24 cities in 21 days.
JetBlue’s $599 All You Can Jet Pass, good from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, will probably most benefit business travel, an area that has been hit hard during the recession. But even a frequent flier taking short trips would have to travel a lot to make the pass worthwhile. Someone making more than two trips to Los Angeles (about $300 round-trip from Boston on JetBlue) in a month would benefit, but not a person taking less than four trips to Orlando (at $150 each).
“I’m not sure the business flier really can take that much advantage of this unless it’s a commuter who’s going back and forth every weekend,’’ said airline analyst Robert Herbst, who runs AirlineFinancials.com.
The unlimited-travel promotion, on sale through Friday, or until it’s sold out, has generated a lot of interest online. Traffic on JetBlue’s website has jumped about 700 percent since the sale was announced, Coyle said.
Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com expects special promotions like this to keep popping up, whether it’s two-hour megasales on Twitter or 50,000 bonus frequent flier miles, as airlines try to win back skittish travelers. “I think we’ll see a lot of these clever marketing schemes,’’ he said.
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Globe Interview with Southwest Airlines CEO
ON THE HOT SEAT
As Boston service starts, Southwest looks ahead
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 16, 2009
From its humble beginnings as a Texas-only carrier in 1971, Southwest Airlines has become the biggest domestic carrier in the United States, based on passenger numbers.
And the airline’s steady expansion continues, even during an economic downturn that has seen a decrease in the number of travelers. Southwest is entering four new markets this year and tried - unsuccessfully - to take over the bankrupt Frontier Airlines.
Today, Southwest begins service out of Boston - its 67th city - with four direct flights from Logan International Airport to Baltimore and four to Chicago. During the week, that number goes up to 10 nonstop flights a day.
Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly, a 54-year-old former quarterback for the University of Texas-El Paso, spoke with Globe reporter Katie Johnston Chase at the Langham Hotel on last week to talk about the carrier’s ambitions for Boston and beyond.
Southwest is starting with flights to Baltimore and Chicago, and everyone is very curious which destinations you’ll be adding. What are some Boston routes the airline might consider next?
I think that there’s a whole list of potential cities for us to consider, but for now we’re trying to approach the year very cautiously. It’s just a very difficult economy. We’ve got very weak business travel demand. We’re concerned about rising fuel prices. . . . There’s every good reason to believe we can grow in the future. It’s just again, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves yet.
There’s lots of competition at Logan, and since you’ve announced service here, some airlines have slashed fares on competing routes. Why should Boston area travelers choose Southwest?
We always have the effect of bringing down fares in the market, so travelers in and out of Boston can thank Southwest for that. We’re the low-fare leader and very, very proud of that. That’s our specialty. In addition to that, though, you’ve got the airline with the best customer satisfaction record, year in and year out, according to the [Department of Transportation] statistics. So we bring a unique brand of customer experience, and certainly our low fares, but also great people. Year in and year out, we’re at the top of the on-time performance list. We have great baggage handling, and we’re just continuing to expand our route system.
A lot of business travelers fly in and out of Boston. Is Southwest doing anything to court them specifically?
In 2007 we improved our overall boarding process. We created a new product called Business Select. If you buy our Business Select fare, that allows you to board the aircraft first, get your pick of seats. We offer open seating. You also get frequent flier credit, as well as a free cocktail.
A free cocktail - important for business travelers . . .
Very important.
We don’t offer a lot of frills, but on the other hand we’re very easy to do business with. We don’t charge change fees, we don’t nickel and dime you for baggage fees and things of that nature.
One onboard amenity that we’re working on is Wi-Fi. In fact, we launched a prototype early, and we’re still on the prototype stage, but I hope we have a decision on that soon.
Many airlines have started charging for checked baggage to generate more revenue, but the first two bags are still free on Southwest. Does Southwest plan to start charging for bags?
We don’t. And that’s not to say that we won’t revisit that. . . . But no, we have no plans to charge any bag fees this year.
Southwest recently raised the fees for overweight or third checked bags to $50, and started charging $25 for unaccompanied minors. Why?
We’re trying to match the fare to the service, and there’s just a lot of additional work involved certainly with heavy bags. And we think we’re already very generous with two free checked bags. And then the same applies to unaccompanied minors. There’s a significant number of additional steps involved with taking them into our care.
In May, Southwest also started allowing dogs and cats to fly, for a $75 fee. Are you feeling the heat from Pet Airways, the new airline that caters only to pets?
You know, we’re both sort of getting into the business at the same time, so I really don’t know. I don’t know how good they’re doing. So far, I haven’t got one complaint from a cat, not one complaint from a dog, so I’m a little envious of Pet Airways.
After making deals with Canadian and Mexican carriers - and bidding for Frontier, which flies to Mexico - Southwest appears to be gearing up to fly internationally. When do you foresee that happening?
I don’t think it will be before 2011, if then.
We have WestJet to Canada, Volaris to Mexico. That will be our first step internationally, and then we’ll evaluate from there whether we want to fly some of our own jets internationally.
But our first step is going to be . . . next year.
At a time when fewer people are traveling, Southwest is entering four new markets this year and tried to acquire another airline. Can you explain your growth strategy, and how does Boston fit into it?
It’s all about winning more customers. In this decade, we’ve seen the industry operating costs and ours in particular increase significantly.
So we have a need for higher revenues to offset higher operating costs, and until we get our finances stabilized, if you will, it does not make sense to grow the fleet. So that’s step one. So we plan to end this year with roughly the same number of airplanes as when we started [the year.] And likewise we don’t plan to grow our fleet in 2010.
We can still grow our route map because we have developed some very sophisticated aircraft-scheduling-optimization tools. . . . We can literally rewrite our schedule every time we publish it. . . . So what does that mean? It means we go in and we eliminate the unprofitable flights and we take that aircraft and we find a better use for it.
How will Providence and Manchester fit into your strategy? Will Southwest cut more flights in these cities as it grows in the Boston market?
We are trimming flights across the country to match the current economic environment, so that will continue to happen - and potentially again in Manchester and Providence.
But I don’t see that Boston Logan will cannibalize those markets. By all the research that we’ve done, the majority of customers that we serve out of Manchester and Providence are those local customers.
What else would you like people to know about Southwest?
We really do treat each other like family, and we try to extend from that to treat our customers like they’re guests in our homes. But it starts with the family feel, which is a genuine interest in people and having real empathy for what they do and the struggles that they go through. And a real support for trying to help people do their jobs. But it’s more than just that, you know we have been successful for 38 years. We’ve been profitable every year since our first full year of operation. We have never had a furlough, never had a pay cut, never had a benefits cut.
Southwest has never had layoffs?
Never. And a lot of people assume, “Oh, well you’re low cost, that means old airplanes and you’re nonunion.’’ No, we’ve got a very young fleet, and we’re probably the most unionized carrier in the country. . . . So it’s a real special place.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
As Boston service starts, Southwest looks ahead
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | August 16, 2009
From its humble beginnings as a Texas-only carrier in 1971, Southwest Airlines has become the biggest domestic carrier in the United States, based on passenger numbers.
And the airline’s steady expansion continues, even during an economic downturn that has seen a decrease in the number of travelers. Southwest is entering four new markets this year and tried - unsuccessfully - to take over the bankrupt Frontier Airlines.
Today, Southwest begins service out of Boston - its 67th city - with four direct flights from Logan International Airport to Baltimore and four to Chicago. During the week, that number goes up to 10 nonstop flights a day.
Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly, a 54-year-old former quarterback for the University of Texas-El Paso, spoke with Globe reporter Katie Johnston Chase at the Langham Hotel on last week to talk about the carrier’s ambitions for Boston and beyond.
Southwest is starting with flights to Baltimore and Chicago, and everyone is very curious which destinations you’ll be adding. What are some Boston routes the airline might consider next?
I think that there’s a whole list of potential cities for us to consider, but for now we’re trying to approach the year very cautiously. It’s just a very difficult economy. We’ve got very weak business travel demand. We’re concerned about rising fuel prices. . . . There’s every good reason to believe we can grow in the future. It’s just again, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves yet.
There’s lots of competition at Logan, and since you’ve announced service here, some airlines have slashed fares on competing routes. Why should Boston area travelers choose Southwest?
We always have the effect of bringing down fares in the market, so travelers in and out of Boston can thank Southwest for that. We’re the low-fare leader and very, very proud of that. That’s our specialty. In addition to that, though, you’ve got the airline with the best customer satisfaction record, year in and year out, according to the [Department of Transportation] statistics. So we bring a unique brand of customer experience, and certainly our low fares, but also great people. Year in and year out, we’re at the top of the on-time performance list. We have great baggage handling, and we’re just continuing to expand our route system.
A lot of business travelers fly in and out of Boston. Is Southwest doing anything to court them specifically?
In 2007 we improved our overall boarding process. We created a new product called Business Select. If you buy our Business Select fare, that allows you to board the aircraft first, get your pick of seats. We offer open seating. You also get frequent flier credit, as well as a free cocktail.
A free cocktail - important for business travelers . . .
Very important.
We don’t offer a lot of frills, but on the other hand we’re very easy to do business with. We don’t charge change fees, we don’t nickel and dime you for baggage fees and things of that nature.
One onboard amenity that we’re working on is Wi-Fi. In fact, we launched a prototype early, and we’re still on the prototype stage, but I hope we have a decision on that soon.
Many airlines have started charging for checked baggage to generate more revenue, but the first two bags are still free on Southwest. Does Southwest plan to start charging for bags?
We don’t. And that’s not to say that we won’t revisit that. . . . But no, we have no plans to charge any bag fees this year.
Southwest recently raised the fees for overweight or third checked bags to $50, and started charging $25 for unaccompanied minors. Why?
We’re trying to match the fare to the service, and there’s just a lot of additional work involved certainly with heavy bags. And we think we’re already very generous with two free checked bags. And then the same applies to unaccompanied minors. There’s a significant number of additional steps involved with taking them into our care.
In May, Southwest also started allowing dogs and cats to fly, for a $75 fee. Are you feeling the heat from Pet Airways, the new airline that caters only to pets?
You know, we’re both sort of getting into the business at the same time, so I really don’t know. I don’t know how good they’re doing. So far, I haven’t got one complaint from a cat, not one complaint from a dog, so I’m a little envious of Pet Airways.
After making deals with Canadian and Mexican carriers - and bidding for Frontier, which flies to Mexico - Southwest appears to be gearing up to fly internationally. When do you foresee that happening?
I don’t think it will be before 2011, if then.
We have WestJet to Canada, Volaris to Mexico. That will be our first step internationally, and then we’ll evaluate from there whether we want to fly some of our own jets internationally.
But our first step is going to be . . . next year.
At a time when fewer people are traveling, Southwest is entering four new markets this year and tried to acquire another airline. Can you explain your growth strategy, and how does Boston fit into it?
It’s all about winning more customers. In this decade, we’ve seen the industry operating costs and ours in particular increase significantly.
So we have a need for higher revenues to offset higher operating costs, and until we get our finances stabilized, if you will, it does not make sense to grow the fleet. So that’s step one. So we plan to end this year with roughly the same number of airplanes as when we started [the year.] And likewise we don’t plan to grow our fleet in 2010.
We can still grow our route map because we have developed some very sophisticated aircraft-scheduling-optimization tools. . . . We can literally rewrite our schedule every time we publish it. . . . So what does that mean? It means we go in and we eliminate the unprofitable flights and we take that aircraft and we find a better use for it.
How will Providence and Manchester fit into your strategy? Will Southwest cut more flights in these cities as it grows in the Boston market?
We are trimming flights across the country to match the current economic environment, so that will continue to happen - and potentially again in Manchester and Providence.
But I don’t see that Boston Logan will cannibalize those markets. By all the research that we’ve done, the majority of customers that we serve out of Manchester and Providence are those local customers.
What else would you like people to know about Southwest?
We really do treat each other like family, and we try to extend from that to treat our customers like they’re guests in our homes. But it starts with the family feel, which is a genuine interest in people and having real empathy for what they do and the struggles that they go through. And a real support for trying to help people do their jobs. But it’s more than just that, you know we have been successful for 38 years. We’ve been profitable every year since our first full year of operation. We have never had a furlough, never had a pay cut, never had a benefits cut.
Southwest has never had layoffs?
Never. And a lot of people assume, “Oh, well you’re low cost, that means old airplanes and you’re nonunion.’’ No, we’ve got a very young fleet, and we’re probably the most unionized carrier in the country. . . . So it’s a real special place.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
JetBlue editorial
GLOBE EDITORIAL
JetBlue: Passion for the peripatetic
August 16, 2009
For those who thought the American road trip required a Thelma-and-Louise-style convertible, replete with frayed red leather and rusty tailfins, comes JetBlue’s $599 monthlong travel pass to go anywhere the airline flies from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, no matter how many places or flights are involved. JetBlue’s airport lounges may lack the romance of writer William Least Heat-Moon’s blue highways, but the airline’s offer should still stimulate the salivary glands of travel-lovers in Boston, where JetBlue has a strong presence, and beyond. It proves that unexpected opportunities can emerge from a recession.
American Airlines has long offered a pass of its own - for 25,000 miles of travel over the span of one year - but that comes at the price of $11,250. On JetBlue, average Americans can easily go more than 25,000 miles on a tiny fraction of the cost, covering dozens of cities in a dash worthy of the last days of a presidential campaign.
But like a presidential campaign, such a frantic trip will have its compensations. Among them is the chance to see all the ways in which the states are alike - Taco Bell, anyone? - and at the same time vastly, breathtakingly different. A month of jet trips isn’t everyone’s idea of a great vacation. But JetBlue deserves credit for coming up with a useful way to take advantage of an expected post-summer lull in business, while - to paraphrase that American dreamer and frequent traveler F. Scott Fitzgerald - offering the peripatetic a deal commensurate with their capacity for wonder.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
JetBlue: Passion for the peripatetic
August 16, 2009
For those who thought the American road trip required a Thelma-and-Louise-style convertible, replete with frayed red leather and rusty tailfins, comes JetBlue’s $599 monthlong travel pass to go anywhere the airline flies from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, no matter how many places or flights are involved. JetBlue’s airport lounges may lack the romance of writer William Least Heat-Moon’s blue highways, but the airline’s offer should still stimulate the salivary glands of travel-lovers in Boston, where JetBlue has a strong presence, and beyond. It proves that unexpected opportunities can emerge from a recession.
American Airlines has long offered a pass of its own - for 25,000 miles of travel over the span of one year - but that comes at the price of $11,250. On JetBlue, average Americans can easily go more than 25,000 miles on a tiny fraction of the cost, covering dozens of cities in a dash worthy of the last days of a presidential campaign.
But like a presidential campaign, such a frantic trip will have its compensations. Among them is the chance to see all the ways in which the states are alike - Taco Bell, anyone? - and at the same time vastly, breathtakingly different. A month of jet trips isn’t everyone’s idea of a great vacation. But JetBlue deserves credit for coming up with a useful way to take advantage of an expected post-summer lull in business, while - to paraphrase that American dreamer and frequent traveler F. Scott Fitzgerald - offering the peripatetic a deal commensurate with their capacity for wonder.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Former Revolution Rock Bar manager arraigned
Lying charges in bar shooting
Former manager faces 20 years
By David Abel, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
The former manager of a downtown nightclub was arraigned yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court on charges he urged witnesses to a shooting outside the club to destroy evidence of the crime and that he lied repeatedly to police officers, prosecutors said.
Shawn Donovan, 29, of Billerica pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from a nonfatal shooting on Jan. 1 at the Revolution Rock Bar. Prosecutors said Donovan told police officers he didn’t know the shooter and ordered a photographer who was at the club that night to destroy photographs that showed the gunman with Donovan inside the club.
Donovan, who declined to comment, was charged under the state’s witness intimidation statute, which protects witnesses to violent crimes and punishes those who try to impede an investigation. If convicted, Donovan faces up to 20 years in state prison.
Prosecutors said Donovan lied to detectives when he told them he didn’t know Mario Mendez, 33, of Chelsea, a regular at the club who was later identified as the shooter.
Prosecutors said Mendez fired as many as five shots at Jared Yagjian, the 29-year-old victim, with whom he had argued inside the club shortly before the shooting.
Yagjian was hit in the left leg. Mendez has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and multiple drug offenses.
Investigators said Donovan and Mendez were well acquainted with one another.
Donovan’s case will go to trial in February.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Former manager faces 20 years
By David Abel, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
The former manager of a downtown nightclub was arraigned yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court on charges he urged witnesses to a shooting outside the club to destroy evidence of the crime and that he lied repeatedly to police officers, prosecutors said.
Shawn Donovan, 29, of Billerica pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from a nonfatal shooting on Jan. 1 at the Revolution Rock Bar. Prosecutors said Donovan told police officers he didn’t know the shooter and ordered a photographer who was at the club that night to destroy photographs that showed the gunman with Donovan inside the club.
Donovan, who declined to comment, was charged under the state’s witness intimidation statute, which protects witnesses to violent crimes and punishes those who try to impede an investigation. If convicted, Donovan faces up to 20 years in state prison.
Prosecutors said Donovan lied to detectives when he told them he didn’t know Mario Mendez, 33, of Chelsea, a regular at the club who was later identified as the shooter.
Prosecutors said Mendez fired as many as five shots at Jared Yagjian, the 29-year-old victim, with whom he had argued inside the club shortly before the shooting.
Yagjian was hit in the left leg. Mendez has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and multiple drug offenses.
Investigators said Donovan and Mendez were well acquainted with one another.
Donovan’s case will go to trial in February.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Judge reverses Hub taxi hybrid order
Hybrid mandate for taxis reversed
Judge says Boston rule violated act of Congress Owners no longer need to buy new cars by 2015
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
A federal judge struck down yesterday a year-old rule requiring Boston cab owners to buy new energy-efficient hybrid cars by 2015, ruling that Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s initiative violated an act of Congress.
US District Court Judge William G. Young sided with taxi owners who had argued that the mandate to green the entire fleet of 1,825 licensed cabs would cost them thousands of dollars and put many out of business.
The city, Young wrote, had infringed on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which establishes fuel economy standards for vehicles and forbids local officials from setting up their own standards.
In an unusual introduction to his ruling, Young related that his 10-year-old grandson had heard arguments recently on the case and asked him: “Why can’t Boston do what it wants with its taxis? It’s for the environment.’’
“The answer, Cam, is that the Congress of the United States, pursuing national goals it considers important, has forbidden Boston from taking this initiative on behalf of its citizens,’’ Young wrote.
The 17-page ruling, which resembled a recent decision by a federal judge in New York blocking a push for hybrid cabs there, delighted the Boston Taxi Owners Association, the plaintiffs.
“We think the judge made the right decision,’’ said Paul H. Merry, the association’s lawyer. “The cab operators have wanted from day one to support the city’s efforts to protect the environment. But those efforts need to be conducted in a way that does not deprive people of jobs.’’
He said he suspects the city will appeal the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, but hopes that the Menino administration will meet with cab drivers to discuss a less onerous way to improve fuel economy for taxis.
William F. Sinnott, the city’s corporation counsel, said he needs to talk with the Police Department’s Hackney Carriage Unit, which regulates the taxi industry, before he can say whether the city will appeal.
“We appreciate Judge Young’s thoughtful consideration of the issue,’’ Sinnott said. “We’re reviewing his memorandum and order, and we will meet with our clients shortly and assess our next steps.’’
Sinnott said the city might agree to negotiate a settlement out of court, saying, “We’re always amenable to discussions.’’
Merry said cab drivers might take steps to replace gas-guzzling taxis with more fuel-efficient cars if the city relaxes other rules it has recently imposed.
He said, for example, that some cab owners have had problems after installing required credit card machines in their vehicles. Some of the machines have malfunctioned, he said, requiring repairs that take hours or days.
“That costs people money,’’ Merry said.
Raphael Ophir, a Jamaica Plain plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he and other cab drivers favor the greening of the fleet. But they objected to a rule that they had to buy new hybrids, instead of less expensive used ones, and that said that other fuel-efficient cars were unacceptable.
“Let people choose what they are comfortable with,’’ said Ophir, 60, who owns three hackney medallions and leases them to several cab drivers. “If somebody wants to buy a hybrid, buy a hybrid. If someone wants to buy a regular Camry, buy a regular Camry.’’
Supporters of the rule were undeterred by Young’s decision.
George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, said he hopes the city will appeal the decision or ask Congress to amend the federal law to allow local communities to impose fuel economy standards. If that fails, however, he said, market realities will ultimately result in a fleet of hybrid taxis.
“With or without government intervention, the taxi fleet will convert to energy-efficient vehicles,’’ said Bachrach, who testified at city hearings in support of the rule. “It’s in [cab drivers’] own economic interest.’’
Menino and Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis announced the requirement for new hybrids last August as part of an effort to improve the condition of taxis. (The city also raised fares to among the highest in the nation to offset high gas prices.) Cab owners are required to replace taxis every six years to maintain the condition of the fleet.
Traditionally, most cabs in Boston are used Ford Crown Victorias, usually former police cars outfitted with new radios, partitions, and other taxi features. Cab drivers say they can buy such cars for as little as $4,000, although the city says the price ranges from $7,500 to $10,000.
After the new rule was adopted, cab owners pleaded unsuccessfully for the right to buy used hybrids or other fuel-efficient vehicles. That flexibility would save them money not only on the price of the vehicle, but also on the cost of insurance, which can run as high as $14,000 to $20,000 a year for a new Toyota Camry hybrid, cab owners said.
Two months ago, Boston cab drivers were buoyed when US District Court Judge Paul A. Crotty blocked a similar effort in New York. Those regulations promoted hybrid taxis by reducing the rates cab owners could charge drivers for leasing nonhybrid taxis. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has appealed.
Then, on July 23, Young granted the cab drivers’ request for a temporary injunction after Boston refused to hold off implementation of the plan while he considered whether the hybrid rule was legal.
Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com.
Judge says Boston rule violated act of Congress Owners no longer need to buy new cars by 2015
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | August 15, 2009
A federal judge struck down yesterday a year-old rule requiring Boston cab owners to buy new energy-efficient hybrid cars by 2015, ruling that Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s initiative violated an act of Congress.
US District Court Judge William G. Young sided with taxi owners who had argued that the mandate to green the entire fleet of 1,825 licensed cabs would cost them thousands of dollars and put many out of business.
The city, Young wrote, had infringed on the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which establishes fuel economy standards for vehicles and forbids local officials from setting up their own standards.
In an unusual introduction to his ruling, Young related that his 10-year-old grandson had heard arguments recently on the case and asked him: “Why can’t Boston do what it wants with its taxis? It’s for the environment.’’
“The answer, Cam, is that the Congress of the United States, pursuing national goals it considers important, has forbidden Boston from taking this initiative on behalf of its citizens,’’ Young wrote.
The 17-page ruling, which resembled a recent decision by a federal judge in New York blocking a push for hybrid cabs there, delighted the Boston Taxi Owners Association, the plaintiffs.
“We think the judge made the right decision,’’ said Paul H. Merry, the association’s lawyer. “The cab operators have wanted from day one to support the city’s efforts to protect the environment. But those efforts need to be conducted in a way that does not deprive people of jobs.’’
He said he suspects the city will appeal the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, but hopes that the Menino administration will meet with cab drivers to discuss a less onerous way to improve fuel economy for taxis.
William F. Sinnott, the city’s corporation counsel, said he needs to talk with the Police Department’s Hackney Carriage Unit, which regulates the taxi industry, before he can say whether the city will appeal.
“We appreciate Judge Young’s thoughtful consideration of the issue,’’ Sinnott said. “We’re reviewing his memorandum and order, and we will meet with our clients shortly and assess our next steps.’’
Sinnott said the city might agree to negotiate a settlement out of court, saying, “We’re always amenable to discussions.’’
Merry said cab drivers might take steps to replace gas-guzzling taxis with more fuel-efficient cars if the city relaxes other rules it has recently imposed.
He said, for example, that some cab owners have had problems after installing required credit card machines in their vehicles. Some of the machines have malfunctioned, he said, requiring repairs that take hours or days.
“That costs people money,’’ Merry said.
Raphael Ophir, a Jamaica Plain plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he and other cab drivers favor the greening of the fleet. But they objected to a rule that they had to buy new hybrids, instead of less expensive used ones, and that said that other fuel-efficient cars were unacceptable.
“Let people choose what they are comfortable with,’’ said Ophir, 60, who owns three hackney medallions and leases them to several cab drivers. “If somebody wants to buy a hybrid, buy a hybrid. If someone wants to buy a regular Camry, buy a regular Camry.’’
Supporters of the rule were undeterred by Young’s decision.
George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, said he hopes the city will appeal the decision or ask Congress to amend the federal law to allow local communities to impose fuel economy standards. If that fails, however, he said, market realities will ultimately result in a fleet of hybrid taxis.
“With or without government intervention, the taxi fleet will convert to energy-efficient vehicles,’’ said Bachrach, who testified at city hearings in support of the rule. “It’s in [cab drivers’] own economic interest.’’
Menino and Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis announced the requirement for new hybrids last August as part of an effort to improve the condition of taxis. (The city also raised fares to among the highest in the nation to offset high gas prices.) Cab owners are required to replace taxis every six years to maintain the condition of the fleet.
Traditionally, most cabs in Boston are used Ford Crown Victorias, usually former police cars outfitted with new radios, partitions, and other taxi features. Cab drivers say they can buy such cars for as little as $4,000, although the city says the price ranges from $7,500 to $10,000.
After the new rule was adopted, cab owners pleaded unsuccessfully for the right to buy used hybrids or other fuel-efficient vehicles. That flexibility would save them money not only on the price of the vehicle, but also on the cost of insurance, which can run as high as $14,000 to $20,000 a year for a new Toyota Camry hybrid, cab owners said.
Two months ago, Boston cab drivers were buoyed when US District Court Judge Paul A. Crotty blocked a similar effort in New York. Those regulations promoted hybrid taxis by reducing the rates cab owners could charge drivers for leasing nonhybrid taxis. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has appealed.
Then, on July 23, Young granted the cab drivers’ request for a temporary injunction after Boston refused to hold off implementation of the plan while he considered whether the hybrid rule was legal.
Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)