Breaking: James Levine having surgery
Posted by Geoff Edgers September 29, 2009 12:30 PM
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director James Levine will undergo surgery for a herniated spinal disc.
That's in a statement from Ronald Wilford, Levine’s manager. That means Levine won't be conducting the BSO in Boston tonight or Saturday. Oct. 3 at Carnegie Hall. He's also withdrawn from performances at the Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 6 and 10. He has already missed time at the Met.
This is the latest health setback for Levine, who missed four months in 2006 after falling onstage during a Symphony Hall concert and tearing his rotator cuff. In 2008, Levine missed all but the opening night concert at Tanglewood during the BSO's summer season to have a kidney removed.
The BSO, in a release, said that assistant conductor Shi-Yeon Sung will conduct tonight’s performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Mozart’s Requiem. Shi-Yeon Sung and assistant conductor Julian Kuerti will split Saturday's program.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Fired Housekeepers reject Hyatt's job offer
Fired Hyatt housekeepers vote to reject hotel chain's job offer
September 28, 2009 04:19 PM
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Seventy-seven of the 98 fired Hyatt housekeepers met for two hours today at the Unite Here Local 26 union office and came to the unanimous decision that they would not accept the Hyatt Hotel Corp.'s offer to place them in jobs with a staffing organization.
"No way Hyatt," the housekeepers chanted at a press conference across the streets from the Hyatt Regency Boston.
"We want our jobs back, nothing else," said Lucine Williams, who worked at that downtown Hyatt for nearly 22 years. "We will not accept temp positions that are designed to put others out of work."
Union president Janice Loux declared an official boycott against the Hyatt, promising to aggressively go after Hyatt's customers and ask them not to do business with the hotel company. The housekeepers did not belong to the union, which represents local hotel workers.
Responding to public pressure over the firings, on Friday Hyatt offered the housekeepers fired at the three Boston-area Hyatts full-time positions with United Service Companies, a Chicago-based staffing organization that the hotel uses for contract labor at hospitals, hotels, and shopping centers. If they accept one of these jobs, the housekeepers will be guaranteed their Hyatt rate of pay through the end of next year and their Hyatt health care benefits through the end of March. Those who don't take the jobs will be offered career assistance and receive their Hyatt wages through the end of March or until they find a permanent job.
The Hyatt's Aug. 31 move to fire the Boston housekeepers, who made about $15 an hour, and replace them with subcontracted workers who make about half as much, sparked an uproar, prompting businesses to cancel conventions and Governor Deval Patrick to threaten a state boycott of the hotel chain if the housekeepers' jobs weren't restored. As of late Monday afternoon, Patrick had not yet called off the planned boycott.
September 28, 2009 04:19 PM
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Seventy-seven of the 98 fired Hyatt housekeepers met for two hours today at the Unite Here Local 26 union office and came to the unanimous decision that they would not accept the Hyatt Hotel Corp.'s offer to place them in jobs with a staffing organization.
"No way Hyatt," the housekeepers chanted at a press conference across the streets from the Hyatt Regency Boston.
"We want our jobs back, nothing else," said Lucine Williams, who worked at that downtown Hyatt for nearly 22 years. "We will not accept temp positions that are designed to put others out of work."
Union president Janice Loux declared an official boycott against the Hyatt, promising to aggressively go after Hyatt's customers and ask them not to do business with the hotel company. The housekeepers did not belong to the union, which represents local hotel workers.
Responding to public pressure over the firings, on Friday Hyatt offered the housekeepers fired at the three Boston-area Hyatts full-time positions with United Service Companies, a Chicago-based staffing organization that the hotel uses for contract labor at hospitals, hotels, and shopping centers. If they accept one of these jobs, the housekeepers will be guaranteed their Hyatt rate of pay through the end of next year and their Hyatt health care benefits through the end of March. Those who don't take the jobs will be offered career assistance and receive their Hyatt wages through the end of March or until they find a permanent job.
The Hyatt's Aug. 31 move to fire the Boston housekeepers, who made about $15 an hour, and replace them with subcontracted workers who make about half as much, sparked an uproar, prompting businesses to cancel conventions and Governor Deval Patrick to threaten a state boycott of the hotel chain if the housekeepers' jobs weren't restored. As of late Monday afternoon, Patrick had not yet called off the planned boycott.
Casinos in Mass. will not be approved this year
Casinos off the table
Govenor, top lawmakers suddenly shift vote to ’10
By Hillary Chabot | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Beacon Hill leaders said yesterday that legalized casinos probably won’t be up for a vote this year, shocking both opponents and supporters of expanded gambling legislation, who were told as recently as last week that lawmakers would take up the measure.
“I think everyone expected (a vote this year),” said anti-casino Rep. Dan Bosley (D-North Adams), who thought leadership would push for a vote before a Nov. 18 legislative session deadline.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), Senate President Therese Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick said shortly after their leadership meeting yesterday that the intricacies of legalized gambling mean it’s unlikely that the complicated legislation will be passed before that date, however.
“To say that we’ll have a bill on the governor’s desk by the end of this (year), I think, may be a difficult task,” said DeLeo, who supports casinos and slots at the racetracks.
DeLeo, Murray and Patrick all support expanded gambling to some extent, and all are facing grim tax revenue numbers that could force additional budget cuts.
DeLeo was pushing as recently as last week for an October vote on gambling, but other lawmakers said they are pleased that leaders are taking their time.
“I want to make sure we’ve got all our i’s dotted and our t’s crossed so this legislation is done the right way,” said Sen. Anthony Petrucceli (D-Boston), who supports gambling.
Gov. Patrick added yesterday, “Nobody wants to permit gaming to suck all the air out of the work that has to be done here in the Legislature on behalf of the people of the commonwealth.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200747
Govenor, top lawmakers suddenly shift vote to ’10
By Hillary Chabot | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Beacon Hill leaders said yesterday that legalized casinos probably won’t be up for a vote this year, shocking both opponents and supporters of expanded gambling legislation, who were told as recently as last week that lawmakers would take up the measure.
“I think everyone expected (a vote this year),” said anti-casino Rep. Dan Bosley (D-North Adams), who thought leadership would push for a vote before a Nov. 18 legislative session deadline.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), Senate President Therese Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick said shortly after their leadership meeting yesterday that the intricacies of legalized gambling mean it’s unlikely that the complicated legislation will be passed before that date, however.
“To say that we’ll have a bill on the governor’s desk by the end of this (year), I think, may be a difficult task,” said DeLeo, who supports casinos and slots at the racetracks.
DeLeo, Murray and Patrick all support expanded gambling to some extent, and all are facing grim tax revenue numbers that could force additional budget cuts.
DeLeo was pushing as recently as last week for an October vote on gambling, but other lawmakers said they are pleased that leaders are taking their time.
“I want to make sure we’ve got all our i’s dotted and our t’s crossed so this legislation is done the right way,” said Sen. Anthony Petrucceli (D-Boston), who supports gambling.
Gov. Patrick added yesterday, “Nobody wants to permit gaming to suck all the air out of the work that has to be done here in the Legislature on behalf of the people of the commonwealth.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200747
Culture Clash in the North End
A culture clash in North End
Alarmed by late-night revelry, residents try to reclaim neighborhood’s family atmosphere
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff | September 29, 2009
When the Central Artery came down five years ago, reconnecting the North End to the rest of Boston, residents hailed the improvements: more light and air, welcoming new parks, and a flood of tourists from Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, along with visitors from other city neighborhoods who came to eat, drink, and shop.
Now some North Enders fear the influx has hurt more than it has helped.
Alarmed by a burgeoning late-night bar scene, and businesses seeking more outdoor seating and later hours, concerned residents are fighting to contain the drinking and carousing. In recent months, they have fended off two new outdoor patios slated for Salem Street restaurants, bristled at a deli’s proposal to sell takeout until 4 a.m., and criticized the owners of new beer and wine shop for reneging on their pledge to sell groceries.
Underlying the tension is a fundamental struggle over what the historic neighborhood will become: a late-night playground for 20-somethings, or a haven for families like those who have lived there for centuries.
“It’s great to live in a neighborhood with an active street life, but you don’t want to get to the point where the activity is so excessive, people don’t want to live there anymore,’’ said Matt Conti, a neighborhood council member whose six-month-old website, northendwaterfront.com, keeps residents informed.
Compact and densely populated, with some 12,000 residents in less than 2 square miles, the North End was mostly Italian for much of the last century. Its narrow streets are still lined with family-owned cafes and bakeries; elderly ladies still walk to Mass every morning. The highway that once cut it off from the city helped preserve its traditions, limiting the interest and influence of outsiders. In its absence, the pace of change accelerated. Young professionals settled into high-end condos, college students grabbed up more affordable apartments, and new boutiques opened to cater to their interests.
With 89 bars and restaurants serving alcohol and 11 stores selling it, the neighborhood is more awash in liquor than any other corner of the city, according to the North End/Waterfront Residents Association. A younger crowd has gravitated to its upscale bars and restaurants, some of which serve drinks and food until 1 or 2 a.m. Meanwhile, house parties thrown by college students rage into the wee hours - in the first half of September, Boston police had received 16 calls about loud parties - and a 24-hour bakery, Bova’s, pulls in hungry revelers after bars in other neighborhoods close.
“When I went to Northeastern, I didn’t like to walk across that area into the North End,’’ said Lisa Chang, 28, whose Hanover Street clothing store, Lit, opened last month and targets fashionable 20-somethings. “Now, kids are hanging out on the Greenway, and it’s brought a huge amount of traffic.’’
The neighborhood’s nightlife, along with its relative affordability and close proximity to campus, accounts for its appeal to students, said Christopher Gray, 21, a Suffolk University junior who lives on Salem Street.
“The streets are always packed with people, and it definitely feels more upbeat, more vibrant, than Beacon Hill,’’ he said.
On a recent morning on Parmenter Street, traffic paused as a Ketel One Vodka truck backed up to make a delivery. “Welcome to the North End, the greatest place on earth,’’ said a message chalked on a Coors Light sandwich board outside a Salem Street market, where fresh ricotta cheese and homemade gnocchi shared space with bottles of Peroni, an Italian beer.
Some restaurant owners say they have been unfairly blamed for noise and litter caused by college students. Boston police Captain Bernie O’Rourke confirmed that students, mostly from Suffolk and Emerson College, cause most of the problems reported, not patrons at bars.
But some residents say the bars are partly responsible, for ramping up night life in a way that makes the North End irresistible to students and less enjoyable for other residents.
“People used to stroll on Hanover and Salem streets in the evening, to meet up with neighbors and talk, and watch the visitors, who included a lot of families,’’ said David Kubiak, a leader of the residents association and a North End resident for 25 years. “It was a pleasant experience to be there, and that’s no longer the case - if you could even fight your way through the crowds to be there.’’
Large and active, with more than 300 members, the North End/Waterfront Residents Association has drawn energy from the growing number of families with young children settling in the neighborhood, said Mark Paul, the group’s president. In its role as an adviser to the city licensing board, it has pressed to limit business hours to 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends, and it has had much success. Nick Varano, owner of Nick’s Deli on Cross Street, recently withdrew a plan to offer takeout until 4 a.m. after residents rallied against it.
Not everyone sees reason to resist. “Boston is crippled by our post-Puritan trappings, and we should be embracing life after midnight, not hobbling it,’’ commented one reader of Conti’s blog. Another, Brian Brandt, scoffed at the uproar. “[P]anic over available liquor reaching some kind of cosmic threshold is hogwash,’’ he wrote. “If the sales are there, the market is there.’’
To Frank De Pasquale, the owner of seven North End businesses including Bricco, one of its hottest restaurants, where pizza is served until 2 a.m., the sparring is an affront to his attempts to be neighborly. He said his employees sweep sidewalks, police the area around his businesses, and send food to police and firefighters.
“Every time the residents ask for a donation for what they’re doing, the businesses step up to the plate,’’ he said. “But whenever we go in front of the resident boards, it’s always negative. It’s always to take something away from us, never to give.’’
If residents wanted silent nights, he said, they should have moved to Dover or Marblehead.
“It’s not a secret we have 100 restaurants here,’’ he said.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Alarmed by late-night revelry, residents try to reclaim neighborhood’s family atmosphere
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff | September 29, 2009
When the Central Artery came down five years ago, reconnecting the North End to the rest of Boston, residents hailed the improvements: more light and air, welcoming new parks, and a flood of tourists from Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, along with visitors from other city neighborhoods who came to eat, drink, and shop.
Now some North Enders fear the influx has hurt more than it has helped.
Alarmed by a burgeoning late-night bar scene, and businesses seeking more outdoor seating and later hours, concerned residents are fighting to contain the drinking and carousing. In recent months, they have fended off two new outdoor patios slated for Salem Street restaurants, bristled at a deli’s proposal to sell takeout until 4 a.m., and criticized the owners of new beer and wine shop for reneging on their pledge to sell groceries.
Underlying the tension is a fundamental struggle over what the historic neighborhood will become: a late-night playground for 20-somethings, or a haven for families like those who have lived there for centuries.
“It’s great to live in a neighborhood with an active street life, but you don’t want to get to the point where the activity is so excessive, people don’t want to live there anymore,’’ said Matt Conti, a neighborhood council member whose six-month-old website, northendwaterfront.com, keeps residents informed.
Compact and densely populated, with some 12,000 residents in less than 2 square miles, the North End was mostly Italian for much of the last century. Its narrow streets are still lined with family-owned cafes and bakeries; elderly ladies still walk to Mass every morning. The highway that once cut it off from the city helped preserve its traditions, limiting the interest and influence of outsiders. In its absence, the pace of change accelerated. Young professionals settled into high-end condos, college students grabbed up more affordable apartments, and new boutiques opened to cater to their interests.
With 89 bars and restaurants serving alcohol and 11 stores selling it, the neighborhood is more awash in liquor than any other corner of the city, according to the North End/Waterfront Residents Association. A younger crowd has gravitated to its upscale bars and restaurants, some of which serve drinks and food until 1 or 2 a.m. Meanwhile, house parties thrown by college students rage into the wee hours - in the first half of September, Boston police had received 16 calls about loud parties - and a 24-hour bakery, Bova’s, pulls in hungry revelers after bars in other neighborhoods close.
“When I went to Northeastern, I didn’t like to walk across that area into the North End,’’ said Lisa Chang, 28, whose Hanover Street clothing store, Lit, opened last month and targets fashionable 20-somethings. “Now, kids are hanging out on the Greenway, and it’s brought a huge amount of traffic.’’
The neighborhood’s nightlife, along with its relative affordability and close proximity to campus, accounts for its appeal to students, said Christopher Gray, 21, a Suffolk University junior who lives on Salem Street.
“The streets are always packed with people, and it definitely feels more upbeat, more vibrant, than Beacon Hill,’’ he said.
On a recent morning on Parmenter Street, traffic paused as a Ketel One Vodka truck backed up to make a delivery. “Welcome to the North End, the greatest place on earth,’’ said a message chalked on a Coors Light sandwich board outside a Salem Street market, where fresh ricotta cheese and homemade gnocchi shared space with bottles of Peroni, an Italian beer.
Some restaurant owners say they have been unfairly blamed for noise and litter caused by college students. Boston police Captain Bernie O’Rourke confirmed that students, mostly from Suffolk and Emerson College, cause most of the problems reported, not patrons at bars.
But some residents say the bars are partly responsible, for ramping up night life in a way that makes the North End irresistible to students and less enjoyable for other residents.
“People used to stroll on Hanover and Salem streets in the evening, to meet up with neighbors and talk, and watch the visitors, who included a lot of families,’’ said David Kubiak, a leader of the residents association and a North End resident for 25 years. “It was a pleasant experience to be there, and that’s no longer the case - if you could even fight your way through the crowds to be there.’’
Large and active, with more than 300 members, the North End/Waterfront Residents Association has drawn energy from the growing number of families with young children settling in the neighborhood, said Mark Paul, the group’s president. In its role as an adviser to the city licensing board, it has pressed to limit business hours to 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends, and it has had much success. Nick Varano, owner of Nick’s Deli on Cross Street, recently withdrew a plan to offer takeout until 4 a.m. after residents rallied against it.
Not everyone sees reason to resist. “Boston is crippled by our post-Puritan trappings, and we should be embracing life after midnight, not hobbling it,’’ commented one reader of Conti’s blog. Another, Brian Brandt, scoffed at the uproar. “[P]anic over available liquor reaching some kind of cosmic threshold is hogwash,’’ he wrote. “If the sales are there, the market is there.’’
To Frank De Pasquale, the owner of seven North End businesses including Bricco, one of its hottest restaurants, where pizza is served until 2 a.m., the sparring is an affront to his attempts to be neighborly. He said his employees sweep sidewalks, police the area around his businesses, and send food to police and firefighters.
“Every time the residents ask for a donation for what they’re doing, the businesses step up to the plate,’’ he said. “But whenever we go in front of the resident boards, it’s always negative. It’s always to take something away from us, never to give.’’
If residents wanted silent nights, he said, they should have moved to Dover or Marblehead.
“It’s not a secret we have 100 restaurants here,’’ he said.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Hyatt Housekeepers refuse new jobs
Not ready to check out
By Herald Staff | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Corporina Belis, who worked at the Hyatt Regency Boston for 24 years, rallies yesterday outside the Unite Here Local 26 union with dozens of other hotel housekeepers.
The workers say they refuse to take hotel housekeeping jobs with a temp agency as part of deal orchestrated by the hotel.
The offer was made after Hyatt Hotels drew sharp criticism for firing nearly 100 housekeepers.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200744
By Herald Staff | Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Corporina Belis, who worked at the Hyatt Regency Boston for 24 years, rallies yesterday outside the Unite Here Local 26 union with dozens of other hotel housekeepers.
The workers say they refuse to take hotel housekeeping jobs with a temp agency as part of deal orchestrated by the hotel.
The offer was made after Hyatt Hotels drew sharp criticism for firing nearly 100 housekeepers.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200744
Monday, September 28, 2009
North Shore toursim industry had a mixed summer
Mixed results
Summer business on N. Shore as fickle as weather and economy
By Joel Brown, Globe Correspondent | September 27, 2009
Streaky weather and a bad economy made for a tricky summer for the tourism and recreation industry on the North Shore. How you did, and when, depended on what type of business you were in.
The second rainiest June in history and half a rainy July made for tough sailing, said Jonathan Van Campen, who owns the Ninth Wave catamaran sailing charter business in Newburyport. “But the spots that were sunny were absolutely gorgeous . . . and people came out in droves when the weather was good,’’ he said. “Everybody was really enthusiastic about getting out after being stuck in all through the beginning of the summer.’’
But Cape Ann Lanes in Gloucester “definitely had a record month in June, we were probably up 30 to 40 percent,’’ owner Al Gangi said. The bowlers were a mix of locals and bored tourists. “We had people from South Carolina who said they had better weather down in the Carolinas than they had here,’’ Gangi said, “and they had nothing to do, so they all came bowling.’’
Either way, the weather demanded a philosophical approach. Van Campen said he relies on a piece of advice from veteran local captain Bill Taplin, who told him that once he was established, each season would eventually even out, with roughly the same total of passengers despite the ups and downs.
“Last year was kind of the shining example of that. I was kicking myself all year long think how awful it was, and when was all said and done, I was within $1,000 of the previous year’s numbers,’’ Van Campen said. “This year may be the exception to the rule. . . . But I still manage to make payroll and keep everybody working. So I’ll let the dust settle before I start crying.’’
The revenue per hotel/motel room for Essex County in June was off 11.5 percent in June, said Bob Hastings, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. “We haven’t seen July [revenue numbers] yet, but we expect them to be down some,’’ Hastings said. “But what I’m hearing is that August was great, and we know our beaches were stronger than ever after the sun came out.’’
The tourism and recreation businesses are more weather dependent than ever because of the Internet, Hastings said. “Everybody is an amateur meteorologist,’’ he said. “They can go online and get the weather, and they’re making reservations much closer to the time they’re coming.’’
At Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, only 9,300 vehicles passed through the gate in June, “one of the lowest months so far this year,’’ said park ranger Jody Uerling. “You find time to do stuff you never knew you needed to do.’’ By August, traffic was up to 22,500 vehicles, a 4 percent increase over the previous year.
Ann Ormond, president of the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the rainy weather and the economy made for “a perfect storm, if you will, with both of those things colliding. All in all, I don’t think it’s been a total bust, but it’s less than desired.’’
Bright spots, Ormond said, included many European visitors. “It’s been a big German and French summer,’’ she said. While there seemed to be more day-trip “staycations’’ than longer visits, she said, some local inns made up for it with special occasion and event business.
“June was huge for us,’’ said Jay Finney, chief marketing officer of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. “Primarily for the rain, people were looking for alternatives indoors. That was very, very helpful for the museum, if not for a lot of other businesses.’’
Peabody Essex attendance in June was up 12 percent over last year, Finney said, thanks to the combined effects of the rain and the exhibit “The Golden Age of Dutch Seascapes,’’ which opened June 13. There were small percentage increases in July and August, and overall the museum drew about 60,000 people this summer, up 4 percent from last year, Finney said.
“We were very nervous about this summer in terms of the impact of the economy,’’ Finney said. “We saw early in the year that people were still going to museums as they were to movies . . . and then the question was how much summer travel would there be?’’
That proved not to be a problem. Figures from the Salem visitors center showed numbers were up about 5 percent for the whole summer, he said.
But being indoors did not guarantee good business in the rain.
At the Rockport Art Association, the economy has cut into business slightly, but June was definitely slower due to the rain, said Alise Watson, special events and publicity coordinator. “People come [to Rockport] because they want to be outside near the ocean, and when it’s downpouring, it’s dead,’’ she said.
Even as the season wanes, travelers have to be ready to adapt quickly to conditions.
“I’ve actually got some gentlemen here from Los Angeles that were supposed to go out on a whale watch or a boat tour or something,’’ said Gangi of Cape Ann Lanes, but it was “canceled, so they decided to go bowling.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Summer business on N. Shore as fickle as weather and economy
By Joel Brown, Globe Correspondent | September 27, 2009
Streaky weather and a bad economy made for a tricky summer for the tourism and recreation industry on the North Shore. How you did, and when, depended on what type of business you were in.
The second rainiest June in history and half a rainy July made for tough sailing, said Jonathan Van Campen, who owns the Ninth Wave catamaran sailing charter business in Newburyport. “But the spots that were sunny were absolutely gorgeous . . . and people came out in droves when the weather was good,’’ he said. “Everybody was really enthusiastic about getting out after being stuck in all through the beginning of the summer.’’
But Cape Ann Lanes in Gloucester “definitely had a record month in June, we were probably up 30 to 40 percent,’’ owner Al Gangi said. The bowlers were a mix of locals and bored tourists. “We had people from South Carolina who said they had better weather down in the Carolinas than they had here,’’ Gangi said, “and they had nothing to do, so they all came bowling.’’
Either way, the weather demanded a philosophical approach. Van Campen said he relies on a piece of advice from veteran local captain Bill Taplin, who told him that once he was established, each season would eventually even out, with roughly the same total of passengers despite the ups and downs.
“Last year was kind of the shining example of that. I was kicking myself all year long think how awful it was, and when was all said and done, I was within $1,000 of the previous year’s numbers,’’ Van Campen said. “This year may be the exception to the rule. . . . But I still manage to make payroll and keep everybody working. So I’ll let the dust settle before I start crying.’’
The revenue per hotel/motel room for Essex County in June was off 11.5 percent in June, said Bob Hastings, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. “We haven’t seen July [revenue numbers] yet, but we expect them to be down some,’’ Hastings said. “But what I’m hearing is that August was great, and we know our beaches were stronger than ever after the sun came out.’’
The tourism and recreation businesses are more weather dependent than ever because of the Internet, Hastings said. “Everybody is an amateur meteorologist,’’ he said. “They can go online and get the weather, and they’re making reservations much closer to the time they’re coming.’’
At Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, only 9,300 vehicles passed through the gate in June, “one of the lowest months so far this year,’’ said park ranger Jody Uerling. “You find time to do stuff you never knew you needed to do.’’ By August, traffic was up to 22,500 vehicles, a 4 percent increase over the previous year.
Ann Ormond, president of the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the rainy weather and the economy made for “a perfect storm, if you will, with both of those things colliding. All in all, I don’t think it’s been a total bust, but it’s less than desired.’’
Bright spots, Ormond said, included many European visitors. “It’s been a big German and French summer,’’ she said. While there seemed to be more day-trip “staycations’’ than longer visits, she said, some local inns made up for it with special occasion and event business.
“June was huge for us,’’ said Jay Finney, chief marketing officer of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. “Primarily for the rain, people were looking for alternatives indoors. That was very, very helpful for the museum, if not for a lot of other businesses.’’
Peabody Essex attendance in June was up 12 percent over last year, Finney said, thanks to the combined effects of the rain and the exhibit “The Golden Age of Dutch Seascapes,’’ which opened June 13. There were small percentage increases in July and August, and overall the museum drew about 60,000 people this summer, up 4 percent from last year, Finney said.
“We were very nervous about this summer in terms of the impact of the economy,’’ Finney said. “We saw early in the year that people were still going to museums as they were to movies . . . and then the question was how much summer travel would there be?’’
That proved not to be a problem. Figures from the Salem visitors center showed numbers were up about 5 percent for the whole summer, he said.
But being indoors did not guarantee good business in the rain.
At the Rockport Art Association, the economy has cut into business slightly, but June was definitely slower due to the rain, said Alise Watson, special events and publicity coordinator. “People come [to Rockport] because they want to be outside near the ocean, and when it’s downpouring, it’s dead,’’ she said.
Even as the season wanes, travelers have to be ready to adapt quickly to conditions.
“I’ve actually got some gentlemen here from Los Angeles that were supposed to go out on a whale watch or a boat tour or something,’’ said Gangi of Cape Ann Lanes, but it was “canceled, so they decided to go bowling.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Baggage fees spread to International Flights
Baggage fees spread to international flights
By Associated Press | Monday, September 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
MINNEAPOLIS - You can leave the U.S., but it’s getting harder to leave behind baggage fees.
Fees to check bags on international flights are creeping in and may be here to stay. In the past three months, all the big U.S. carriers have added $50 fees to check a second bag on flights to Europe. Delta and Continental are charging second-bag fees for flights to Latin America, too.
We’ve flown this route before, with domestic bag fees. United Airlines started with a fee to check a second bag last year, and other carriers followed. The wave of international bag fees got started July 1 when Delta began charging to check a second bag between the U.S. and Europe.
By limiting baggage fees to domestic flights, the U.S. carriers left out a huge chunk of their traffic. More than half of Continental’s traffic this year has been international. At Delta, which started the move toward international bag fees, almost 39 percent of its traffic is international.
So far, the U.S. carriers don’t charge bag fees on most Asian routes. That will likely change. And charging to check the first bag on international flights is a revenue opportunity that might be too good to pass up.
“Yes. Of course baggage fees will spread worldwide to include even the first bag,” said Jay Sorensen, an airline consultant who has studied and written about the carriers’ so-called ancillary revenue.
“I think baggage fees will be the most widespread of the a la carte fees, because they truly are optional,” he said. “You don’t have to check a bag.”
The new fees are coming from a shrinking number of travelers. Traffic between North America and Europe on all airlines fell 12 percent to 25.4 million travelers through the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2008, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200522
By Associated Press | Monday, September 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
MINNEAPOLIS - You can leave the U.S., but it’s getting harder to leave behind baggage fees.
Fees to check bags on international flights are creeping in and may be here to stay. In the past three months, all the big U.S. carriers have added $50 fees to check a second bag on flights to Europe. Delta and Continental are charging second-bag fees for flights to Latin America, too.
We’ve flown this route before, with domestic bag fees. United Airlines started with a fee to check a second bag last year, and other carriers followed. The wave of international bag fees got started July 1 when Delta began charging to check a second bag between the U.S. and Europe.
By limiting baggage fees to domestic flights, the U.S. carriers left out a huge chunk of their traffic. More than half of Continental’s traffic this year has been international. At Delta, which started the move toward international bag fees, almost 39 percent of its traffic is international.
So far, the U.S. carriers don’t charge bag fees on most Asian routes. That will likely change. And charging to check the first bag on international flights is a revenue opportunity that might be too good to pass up.
“Yes. Of course baggage fees will spread worldwide to include even the first bag,” said Jay Sorensen, an airline consultant who has studied and written about the carriers’ so-called ancillary revenue.
“I think baggage fees will be the most widespread of the a la carte fees, because they truly are optional,” he said. “You don’t have to check a bag.”
The new fees are coming from a shrinking number of travelers. Traffic between North America and Europe on all airlines fell 12 percent to 25.4 million travelers through the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2008, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200522
Boston to host BIO convention in 2012
Boston to host BIO convention in 2012
By Jay Fitzgerald | Monday, September 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Boston will once again host the giant BIO International convention that only two years ago shattered attendance records here.
Political leaders are expected to convene today at the South Boston convention center to announce that the show is returning to the city in 2012.
The convention was last here in 2007, attracting 22,000 people and packing city hotels and restaurants for days. The new show in 2012 is expected to attract about 26,000.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200606
By Jay Fitzgerald | Monday, September 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Boston will once again host the giant BIO International convention that only two years ago shattered attendance records here.
Political leaders are expected to convene today at the South Boston convention center to announce that the show is returning to the city in 2012.
The convention was last here in 2007, attracting 22,000 people and packing city hotels and restaurants for days. The new show in 2012 is expected to attract about 26,000.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200606
Fenway's Restaurant Row is eager to reopen after fire
The Boston Globe
In fire’s aftermath, Restaurant Row eager to get back to business
By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | September 27, 2009
The fire in January that ripped through the section of Peterborough Street known as Restaurant Row did more than gut a commercial building housing six restaurants and a dry cleaner. It tore out a vibrant stretch of businesses that had given residents a gathering place and a sense of community, apart from the lights and noise of Fenway Park.
So when 20-year Fenway resident Lori Frankian grabbed a microphone yesterday and announced “Restaurant Row is going to return!’’ the crowd of more than 100 at the “Revitalizing Peterborough’’ block party broke out into applause.
But a question loomed: When?
“There’s no timeline at all,’’ said Bud Thornton, co-owner of Thornton’s Fenway Grille, one of the neighborhood anchors. Thornton and his brother, Marty, are awaiting word from property owner Monty Gold about when they can return.
Jim Hoben, whose fish tacos at El Pelon Taqueria drew diners from far beyond Fenway, said to cheers that he was optimistic about returning soon “to serve some great Mexican food.’’ But afterward, he could do little more than shrug.
“We’re just kind of waiting for Monty,’’ he said. “We’re ready to go. It’s just, you know, kind of where we are - I don’t know.’’
Frankian, one of about 130 residents temporarily evacuated after the four-alarm fire Jan. 6, helped organize the party as a board member of the Fenway Community Development Corporation to restore festivity to the block. The CDC collaborated with staff and students at McKinley Preparatory High School across the street on a colorful mural to cover the boarded-up, charred remains of Restaurant Row.
The mural - painted by five students working with their art teacher and three artists, and funded by a City Hall grant for youth summer employment - was officially unveiled at yesterday’s party, which included a band, drum circle, dance troupe, and face-painting.
How long the mural would stand - before being replaced by new construction - remained unanswered. “There’s just so much runaround,’’ Frankian said, alluding to insurance company delays. “I had thought the roof was going to be up by now, but it’s not. It’s a hurry up and wait situation.’’
City records list the owner as 84-100 Peterborough Realty Trust, with Warren I. Gomberg and David H. Weisman as trustees.
Gold, identified as the owner in the party program, told the Globe in March that he wanted to restore the building exactly as it was, but that he had to wait for his insurer to respond to his claim. That helped reassure residents who packed a community forum, concerned that the cavity might be filled with high-rise condominiums lacking the character of the old red-brick row. Gold attended yesterday’s party, but said he did not want to discuss the status of the rebuilding.
Basking before the mural, neighbors said they were glad to have the eyesore replaced with something as colorful and multinational as the neighborhood and its former restaurants. The panels include a Venetian gondolier, a couple of Delta blues musicians, and a Phoenix rising from the ashes.
“It takes a blight and it makes it public art,’’ said Margaret Witham, who has lived in the Fenway for 25 years.
The five muralists from the alternative public high school - Mario Darget, Danavian Daniels, Wolf Louis, Jerry Cooper, and Billy Margetis - received citations yesterday from state Senator Steven A. Tolman for their “initiative, creativity, and genuine concern for the community.’’
Standing near the mural afterward, Darget reflected on the January day he arrived to find school canceled, with the smell of smoke filling the air and firetrucks crowding the street.
“That was a really dark day,’’ said Darget, a 17-year-old from Roxbury. He and his classmates used to seek permission from the school to get lunch at the restaurants when they tired of cafeteria food. Now starting his junior year, Darget said he hopes they rebuild by graduation.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
In fire’s aftermath, Restaurant Row eager to get back to business
By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | September 27, 2009
The fire in January that ripped through the section of Peterborough Street known as Restaurant Row did more than gut a commercial building housing six restaurants and a dry cleaner. It tore out a vibrant stretch of businesses that had given residents a gathering place and a sense of community, apart from the lights and noise of Fenway Park.
So when 20-year Fenway resident Lori Frankian grabbed a microphone yesterday and announced “Restaurant Row is going to return!’’ the crowd of more than 100 at the “Revitalizing Peterborough’’ block party broke out into applause.
But a question loomed: When?
“There’s no timeline at all,’’ said Bud Thornton, co-owner of Thornton’s Fenway Grille, one of the neighborhood anchors. Thornton and his brother, Marty, are awaiting word from property owner Monty Gold about when they can return.
Jim Hoben, whose fish tacos at El Pelon Taqueria drew diners from far beyond Fenway, said to cheers that he was optimistic about returning soon “to serve some great Mexican food.’’ But afterward, he could do little more than shrug.
“We’re just kind of waiting for Monty,’’ he said. “We’re ready to go. It’s just, you know, kind of where we are - I don’t know.’’
Frankian, one of about 130 residents temporarily evacuated after the four-alarm fire Jan. 6, helped organize the party as a board member of the Fenway Community Development Corporation to restore festivity to the block. The CDC collaborated with staff and students at McKinley Preparatory High School across the street on a colorful mural to cover the boarded-up, charred remains of Restaurant Row.
The mural - painted by five students working with their art teacher and three artists, and funded by a City Hall grant for youth summer employment - was officially unveiled at yesterday’s party, which included a band, drum circle, dance troupe, and face-painting.
How long the mural would stand - before being replaced by new construction - remained unanswered. “There’s just so much runaround,’’ Frankian said, alluding to insurance company delays. “I had thought the roof was going to be up by now, but it’s not. It’s a hurry up and wait situation.’’
City records list the owner as 84-100 Peterborough Realty Trust, with Warren I. Gomberg and David H. Weisman as trustees.
Gold, identified as the owner in the party program, told the Globe in March that he wanted to restore the building exactly as it was, but that he had to wait for his insurer to respond to his claim. That helped reassure residents who packed a community forum, concerned that the cavity might be filled with high-rise condominiums lacking the character of the old red-brick row. Gold attended yesterday’s party, but said he did not want to discuss the status of the rebuilding.
Basking before the mural, neighbors said they were glad to have the eyesore replaced with something as colorful and multinational as the neighborhood and its former restaurants. The panels include a Venetian gondolier, a couple of Delta blues musicians, and a Phoenix rising from the ashes.
“It takes a blight and it makes it public art,’’ said Margaret Witham, who has lived in the Fenway for 25 years.
The five muralists from the alternative public high school - Mario Darget, Danavian Daniels, Wolf Louis, Jerry Cooper, and Billy Margetis - received citations yesterday from state Senator Steven A. Tolman for their “initiative, creativity, and genuine concern for the community.’’
Standing near the mural afterward, Darget reflected on the January day he arrived to find school canceled, with the smell of smoke filling the air and firetrucks crowding the street.
“That was a really dark day,’’ said Darget, a 17-year-old from Roxbury. He and his classmates used to seek permission from the school to get lunch at the restaurants when they tired of cafeteria food. Now starting his junior year, Darget said he hopes they rebuild by graduation.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Wet summer could mean increase in fall foliage tourism
Bound for glory
After soggy summer, a forecast of spectacular foliage, bringing joy to the eye and tourism gold
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff | September 27, 2009
First you were forced to reach for an umbrella instead of the sunscreen. Then blight blasted your tomatoes, and the daisies drowned. In June and July, when the recession dampened travel plans to exotic destinations, Mother Nature offered you little more than indoor board game weather and mud.
But New Englanders, a blazing crimson, gold, and orange reward is about to be yours: That miserable soggy start of summer and the crisp, clear conditions now are the essential ingredients for what promises to be one of the most spectacular foliage seasons in recent memory.
Already, isolated areas of northern New England may hit peak color this weekend, before nature’s paintbrush meanders south.
Tourism officials and business owners are downright giddy at the prospect of a surge of “staycationers’’ and far-flung leaf-peepers. A Maine foliage hot line is fielding three times the number of calls it normally gets from tourists.
“We are off the Richter scale,’’ Gary Armitage of The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, N.H., said of the conditions there, near the Canadian border. The hotel’s vice president of sales and new business development, he said last-minute reservations are flooding in.
“It was a strange summer,’’ Armitage said, “but this outstanding fall weather is helping us economically.’’
Of course, there is a longstanding truth about foliage forecasts from those with a stake in the season: It’s always going to be a good year. Even when the leaves were downright dull in 2005 and 2007 in many places, predictions were for an impressionist palette so breathtaking that tourism officials seemed to suggest missing it would be a lifelong regret.
But this year, even scientists say the predictions are on track to be true.
The soggy spring allowed the region’s maple, ash, oak, and other trees to grow bushy with broad green leaves, which are providing larger-than-normal canvases for color.
Now, as lengthening nights signal trees to begin shutting down for the winter, the succession of warm, sunny days and cool - but not freezing - nights is providing a foundation for riotous hues.
Here’s how: Cells in the bases of leaf stems begin to die, forming a barrier that prevents many nutrients from reaching the leaf. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, begins to break down, revealing yellows the green was masking.
Those colors tend to stay fairly constant each year, but late summer’s and early autumn’s warm, sunny weather allows leaves to produce another pigment - anthocyanin - the source of vivid reds, purples, and crimsons. When they combine with the yellows already present, outstanding oranges arise.
“The intensity, the quality, is determined by the growing conditions at the time the tree enters dormancy,’’ said Peter Del Tredici, a senior research scientist at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum.
Why would a tree that is about to drop its leaves expend so much energy to produce such brilliant reds? Scientists have a leading theory - sunscreen. Without chlorophyll to absorb sunlight, the leaf is being bombarded with solar radiation. The red pigment may be a “defense response,’’ said Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections at the Arboretum.
Millions of visitors - and dollars - come to New England each year to savor this stunning curtain-raiser to winter. In Vermont, tourists spent about $375 million between September and November in 2007, the most recent data available. The state gets its greatest proportion of overseas visitors during autumn, and this year the state is also being inundated with requests from Texans, running “contrary to the conventional wisdom in the tourism industry that leisure travelers will stay closer to home this year,’’ according to Gregory Gerdel, research and operations chief for Vermont’s Department of Tourism and Marketing.
Taking nothing for granted, states and communities are aggressively courting visitors, with tourist hot lines, festivals, and online maps showing where the best viewing is in all of the New England states. New Hampshire hotels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts are offering a suite of foliage deals, and Massachusetts has webcams to help leaf lovers track the color.
Hot lines and hotels get one persistent question from leaf-peepers: Where - and when - will the leaves peak?
The answer is not easy. Even when the elements for a perfect season are all there, an early frost could fizzle the show. A string of overcast days may make the trees more muted gold than fiery red.
“All the signs are good but no one can predict it,’’ said Timothy Palmer-Benson, who runs www.foliage-vermont.com, a webpage about foliage. “Sometimes it comes, and then the leaves go dry and yucky.’’
Leaves do seem to be turning about a week earlier than usual, foliage watchers say. Some have reported blazing single trees from Brockton to Bangor, although they are surrounded by others of the same species that remain green.
Scott Thompson, manager of Aroostook State Park in northern Maine, says colors are “beginning to pop’’ and could reach peak this weekend, in time for a planned foliage hike today. Foliage is expected to hit peak in many parts of Vermont by early to mid-October, with colder places on ridges and mountains and in valleys turning first. The rule of thumb in many places is that the best foliage tends to coincide with Columbus Day weekend.
“I think foliage evokes some kind of longing,’’ said Palmer-Benson. “It’s an emotional experience.’’
Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
After soggy summer, a forecast of spectacular foliage, bringing joy to the eye and tourism gold
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff | September 27, 2009
First you were forced to reach for an umbrella instead of the sunscreen. Then blight blasted your tomatoes, and the daisies drowned. In June and July, when the recession dampened travel plans to exotic destinations, Mother Nature offered you little more than indoor board game weather and mud.
But New Englanders, a blazing crimson, gold, and orange reward is about to be yours: That miserable soggy start of summer and the crisp, clear conditions now are the essential ingredients for what promises to be one of the most spectacular foliage seasons in recent memory.
Already, isolated areas of northern New England may hit peak color this weekend, before nature’s paintbrush meanders south.
Tourism officials and business owners are downright giddy at the prospect of a surge of “staycationers’’ and far-flung leaf-peepers. A Maine foliage hot line is fielding three times the number of calls it normally gets from tourists.
“We are off the Richter scale,’’ Gary Armitage of The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, N.H., said of the conditions there, near the Canadian border. The hotel’s vice president of sales and new business development, he said last-minute reservations are flooding in.
“It was a strange summer,’’ Armitage said, “but this outstanding fall weather is helping us economically.’’
Of course, there is a longstanding truth about foliage forecasts from those with a stake in the season: It’s always going to be a good year. Even when the leaves were downright dull in 2005 and 2007 in many places, predictions were for an impressionist palette so breathtaking that tourism officials seemed to suggest missing it would be a lifelong regret.
But this year, even scientists say the predictions are on track to be true.
The soggy spring allowed the region’s maple, ash, oak, and other trees to grow bushy with broad green leaves, which are providing larger-than-normal canvases for color.
Now, as lengthening nights signal trees to begin shutting down for the winter, the succession of warm, sunny days and cool - but not freezing - nights is providing a foundation for riotous hues.
Here’s how: Cells in the bases of leaf stems begin to die, forming a barrier that prevents many nutrients from reaching the leaf. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, begins to break down, revealing yellows the green was masking.
Those colors tend to stay fairly constant each year, but late summer’s and early autumn’s warm, sunny weather allows leaves to produce another pigment - anthocyanin - the source of vivid reds, purples, and crimsons. When they combine with the yellows already present, outstanding oranges arise.
“The intensity, the quality, is determined by the growing conditions at the time the tree enters dormancy,’’ said Peter Del Tredici, a senior research scientist at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum.
Why would a tree that is about to drop its leaves expend so much energy to produce such brilliant reds? Scientists have a leading theory - sunscreen. Without chlorophyll to absorb sunlight, the leaf is being bombarded with solar radiation. The red pigment may be a “defense response,’’ said Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections at the Arboretum.
Millions of visitors - and dollars - come to New England each year to savor this stunning curtain-raiser to winter. In Vermont, tourists spent about $375 million between September and November in 2007, the most recent data available. The state gets its greatest proportion of overseas visitors during autumn, and this year the state is also being inundated with requests from Texans, running “contrary to the conventional wisdom in the tourism industry that leisure travelers will stay closer to home this year,’’ according to Gregory Gerdel, research and operations chief for Vermont’s Department of Tourism and Marketing.
Taking nothing for granted, states and communities are aggressively courting visitors, with tourist hot lines, festivals, and online maps showing where the best viewing is in all of the New England states. New Hampshire hotels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts are offering a suite of foliage deals, and Massachusetts has webcams to help leaf lovers track the color.
Hot lines and hotels get one persistent question from leaf-peepers: Where - and when - will the leaves peak?
The answer is not easy. Even when the elements for a perfect season are all there, an early frost could fizzle the show. A string of overcast days may make the trees more muted gold than fiery red.
“All the signs are good but no one can predict it,’’ said Timothy Palmer-Benson, who runs www.foliage-vermont.com, a webpage about foliage. “Sometimes it comes, and then the leaves go dry and yucky.’’
Leaves do seem to be turning about a week earlier than usual, foliage watchers say. Some have reported blazing single trees from Brockton to Bangor, although they are surrounded by others of the same species that remain green.
Scott Thompson, manager of Aroostook State Park in northern Maine, says colors are “beginning to pop’’ and could reach peak this weekend, in time for a planned foliage hike today. Foliage is expected to hit peak in many parts of Vermont by early to mid-October, with colder places on ridges and mountains and in valleys turning first. The rule of thumb in many places is that the best foliage tends to coincide with Columbus Day weekend.
“I think foliage evokes some kind of longing,’’ said Palmer-Benson. “It’s an emotional experience.’’
Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Plymouth Rock studios secures major loan
Studio project secures big loan
$550m deal will aid construction on Plymouth site
By Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent | September 25, 2009
PLYMOUTH - A team of California film executives who came to Plymouth two years ago with a plan to build the first full-fledged production studio on the East Coast announced yesterday that they have secured a $550 million loan to begin construction on Plymouth Rock Studios later this year.
Plymouth Rock Studios said Prosperity International LLC, an Orlando-based firm, has agreed to be the direct lender for the project.
“This is a huge private sector vote of confidence for the industry here in Massachusetts,’’ said Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office.
“This project is going to have a dramatic impact in the long run. It turns Massachusetts from a seasonal production state to a full-blown year-round production state. That’s a quantum leap forward.’’
According to a statement from Plymouth Rock, the studio “must provide the lender with acceptable security in the form of a bank instrument issued from a major bank’’ as a condition of the loan.
Prosperity International principal Michael Burgess said yesterday that representatives from his firm and the studio would probably make a joint announcement detailing the financial arrangements in the next week or so.
“This is an extremely large project as far as Prosperity is concerned, but the funding will be provided over a period of time,’’ Burgess said.
After they get the money, Plymouth Rock Studios executives say their next step will be to purchase Waverly Oaks Golf Club, the 240-acre target site that carries a price tag of $16.5 million. The deal is set to close in November, about the same time construction on a $50 million access road to the facility will get underway. Studio construction is scheduled to begin in earnest in the spring and the studio’s executives say they are hoping to open for business in spring 2012.
Plymouth Rock has estimated the venture will create more than 2,000 high-income jobs. Plans call for the studio complex to include 14 soundstages, a 10-acre back lot, production and post-production facilities, a theater, and an “amenity village’ that could include a grocery store, pharmacies, and hair salons. Planners will provide space for a major hotel. The facility will allow producers to make movies and television shows, from start to finish, on the site, studio developers say.
“This is a seriously large deal in a terrible economy,’’ said Plymouth Rock’s real estate partner, Bill Wynne , who praised the company officials who came up with the studio plan.
Plymouth Rock has spent about $11 million on engineering studies and plans that were needed to secure local permits, as well as on material required for its 1,000-page environmental impact study.
Before construction on the studio can begin, the state must sign off on the environmental impact report, which was submitted Sept. 15.
Wynne said he hopes state environmental officials will agree the company’s proposed measures for protecting the environment are sufficient and approve the report before the end of this year.
That might be optimistic because the Eel River Association, a local group, has expressed concern over the proposed wastewater treatment plan. The organization says the discharge of water into the Eel River Watershed could degrade water quality. If the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs agrees with Eel River Watershed advocates, studio officials could be asked to provide more information or to adjust their treatment plan.
While the local Planning Board has already signed off on a so-called master site plan for the project, more specific information on each of its components will be required as building moves forward.
“This whole project is going to come to life in the next month,’’ Wynne said. “We obviously had to focus on the capital. Now that we have access to the money, we can start to implement the visions, goals, and dreams we’ve talked about.’’
Plymouth Rock Studios has had its share of obstacles during the last two years, starting with problems over murky titles on the 1,000 acre Plymouth property it originally targeted. The site was abandoned in summer 2008 in favor of Waverly Oaks.
Plymouth Town Meeting representatives gave the project a crucial endorsement in October 2008, approving property tax breaks as well as a zoning change necessary for studio construction.
In June, the state denied $50 million in infrastructure funding, causing a delay. Robert Bliss, spokesman for the state Department of Administration and Finance, noted yesterday that the film industry is already getting “big tax credits’’ for film work done in the state.
Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
$550m deal will aid construction on Plymouth site
By Christine Legere, Globe Correspondent | September 25, 2009
PLYMOUTH - A team of California film executives who came to Plymouth two years ago with a plan to build the first full-fledged production studio on the East Coast announced yesterday that they have secured a $550 million loan to begin construction on Plymouth Rock Studios later this year.
Plymouth Rock Studios said Prosperity International LLC, an Orlando-based firm, has agreed to be the direct lender for the project.
“This is a huge private sector vote of confidence for the industry here in Massachusetts,’’ said Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office.
“This project is going to have a dramatic impact in the long run. It turns Massachusetts from a seasonal production state to a full-blown year-round production state. That’s a quantum leap forward.’’
According to a statement from Plymouth Rock, the studio “must provide the lender with acceptable security in the form of a bank instrument issued from a major bank’’ as a condition of the loan.
Prosperity International principal Michael Burgess said yesterday that representatives from his firm and the studio would probably make a joint announcement detailing the financial arrangements in the next week or so.
“This is an extremely large project as far as Prosperity is concerned, but the funding will be provided over a period of time,’’ Burgess said.
After they get the money, Plymouth Rock Studios executives say their next step will be to purchase Waverly Oaks Golf Club, the 240-acre target site that carries a price tag of $16.5 million. The deal is set to close in November, about the same time construction on a $50 million access road to the facility will get underway. Studio construction is scheduled to begin in earnest in the spring and the studio’s executives say they are hoping to open for business in spring 2012.
Plymouth Rock has estimated the venture will create more than 2,000 high-income jobs. Plans call for the studio complex to include 14 soundstages, a 10-acre back lot, production and post-production facilities, a theater, and an “amenity village’ that could include a grocery store, pharmacies, and hair salons. Planners will provide space for a major hotel. The facility will allow producers to make movies and television shows, from start to finish, on the site, studio developers say.
“This is a seriously large deal in a terrible economy,’’ said Plymouth Rock’s real estate partner, Bill Wynne , who praised the company officials who came up with the studio plan.
Plymouth Rock has spent about $11 million on engineering studies and plans that were needed to secure local permits, as well as on material required for its 1,000-page environmental impact study.
Before construction on the studio can begin, the state must sign off on the environmental impact report, which was submitted Sept. 15.
Wynne said he hopes state environmental officials will agree the company’s proposed measures for protecting the environment are sufficient and approve the report before the end of this year.
That might be optimistic because the Eel River Association, a local group, has expressed concern over the proposed wastewater treatment plan. The organization says the discharge of water into the Eel River Watershed could degrade water quality. If the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs agrees with Eel River Watershed advocates, studio officials could be asked to provide more information or to adjust their treatment plan.
While the local Planning Board has already signed off on a so-called master site plan for the project, more specific information on each of its components will be required as building moves forward.
“This whole project is going to come to life in the next month,’’ Wynne said. “We obviously had to focus on the capital. Now that we have access to the money, we can start to implement the visions, goals, and dreams we’ve talked about.’’
Plymouth Rock Studios has had its share of obstacles during the last two years, starting with problems over murky titles on the 1,000 acre Plymouth property it originally targeted. The site was abandoned in summer 2008 in favor of Waverly Oaks.
Plymouth Town Meeting representatives gave the project a crucial endorsement in October 2008, approving property tax breaks as well as a zoning change necessary for studio construction.
In June, the state denied $50 million in infrastructure funding, causing a delay. Robert Bliss, spokesman for the state Department of Administration and Finance, noted yesterday that the film industry is already getting “big tax credits’’ for film work done in the state.
Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Friday, September 25, 2009
Hyatt offers housekeepers jobs elsewhere
Hyatt offers fired housekeepers jobs elsewhere
September 25, 2009 05:25 PM E-mail|
By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
Hyatt Hotels Inc. responded today to public outcry and calls for a boycott of the hotel chain, saying it would offer housekeepers it fired new jobs through an outside staffing agency or retraining programs.
Company officials said the 98 housekeepers -- who were fired last month and replaced by employees of a staffing agency -- would be offered jobs in the Boston area through United Service Companies -- an outsourcing firm -- at other hotels in the city. Hyatt does not plan to rehire them to work at its own hotels, it said.
The employees would be offered retraining services through the Manpower company and Right Management, Hyatt officials said.
"We have gone to a lot of effort" to create the options, said Farley Kern, Hyatt's director of Brand Relations. "We feel that there were aspects of the original business decision that we didn't handle in a way that was consistent with our values and this is a way to address that."
Governor Deval Patrick said this week that he would direct state workers to boycott the hotel chain unless the workers were rehired. Kyle Sullivan, a spokesman for Patrick, said in statement, "The governor has spoken with local Hyatt management and worker representatives, and is reviewing the proposal. In the end he wants to ensure that this is a proposal the workers can depend on and feel is fair. Having been treated so unfairly, they are understandably hesitant
to trust any proposal short of restoring them their jobs."
Officials from Unite Here Local 26, a union that represents hotel workers -- but not the fired Hyatt employees -- were not satisfied by the offer.
"Hyatt’s latest proposal is simply a smokescreen designed to trick people in to thinking Hyatt is doing the right thing," union president Janice Loux said in a statement. "It does not provide the women with the one thing they really deserve. These women have made it clear that they want to be returned to the jobs they have held for years, and Hyatt’s PR scheme does not diminish their determination."
The Boston Taxi Drivers Association, which has threatened to boycott Hyatt, said it is reviewing the offer before deciding whether to go ahead with the boycott.
"What they're trying to do is take the easy way out and think that it will all go away and that we have short memories," said Donna Blythe-Shaw, a taxi drivers union representative.
"This is absolutley unacceptable," she added. "They are not going to bring these people back."
Kern said the housekeepers would be offered new full-time positions at the same rate of pay through the end of 2010. The company said it would also extend health care coverage for the workers until March 31, 2010.
In a a press release, Hyatt officials said they are meeting with the housekeepers to explain the options, answer their questions and "ease the transition."
Katie Johnston Chase of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
September 25, 2009 05:25 PM E-mail|
By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
Hyatt Hotels Inc. responded today to public outcry and calls for a boycott of the hotel chain, saying it would offer housekeepers it fired new jobs through an outside staffing agency or retraining programs.
Company officials said the 98 housekeepers -- who were fired last month and replaced by employees of a staffing agency -- would be offered jobs in the Boston area through United Service Companies -- an outsourcing firm -- at other hotels in the city. Hyatt does not plan to rehire them to work at its own hotels, it said.
The employees would be offered retraining services through the Manpower company and Right Management, Hyatt officials said.
"We have gone to a lot of effort" to create the options, said Farley Kern, Hyatt's director of Brand Relations. "We feel that there were aspects of the original business decision that we didn't handle in a way that was consistent with our values and this is a way to address that."
Governor Deval Patrick said this week that he would direct state workers to boycott the hotel chain unless the workers were rehired. Kyle Sullivan, a spokesman for Patrick, said in statement, "The governor has spoken with local Hyatt management and worker representatives, and is reviewing the proposal. In the end he wants to ensure that this is a proposal the workers can depend on and feel is fair. Having been treated so unfairly, they are understandably hesitant
to trust any proposal short of restoring them their jobs."
Officials from Unite Here Local 26, a union that represents hotel workers -- but not the fired Hyatt employees -- were not satisfied by the offer.
"Hyatt’s latest proposal is simply a smokescreen designed to trick people in to thinking Hyatt is doing the right thing," union president Janice Loux said in a statement. "It does not provide the women with the one thing they really deserve. These women have made it clear that they want to be returned to the jobs they have held for years, and Hyatt’s PR scheme does not diminish their determination."
The Boston Taxi Drivers Association, which has threatened to boycott Hyatt, said it is reviewing the offer before deciding whether to go ahead with the boycott.
"What they're trying to do is take the easy way out and think that it will all go away and that we have short memories," said Donna Blythe-Shaw, a taxi drivers union representative.
"This is absolutley unacceptable," she added. "They are not going to bring these people back."
Kern said the housekeepers would be offered new full-time positions at the same rate of pay through the end of 2010. The company said it would also extend health care coverage for the workers until March 31, 2010.
In a a press release, Hyatt officials said they are meeting with the housekeepers to explain the options, answer their questions and "ease the transition."
Katie Johnston Chase of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
J,J. Foley's celebrates 100th anniversary
J.J. Foley’s celebrates 100th anniversary as family-run pub
Pouring reign
By Kerry J. Byrne | Wednesday, September 23, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com
J.J. Foley’s, the old warhorse of the Boston bar scene, is quietly celebrating its 100th anniversary this year - still in the hands of the family that founded it in 1909.
“I believe we’re the oldest family-owned establishment in Boston, and one of the oldest in the country,” said Michael Foley, a fourth-generation publican. “My great-grandfather (Jeremiah J. Foley) came over from Ireland when he was 15 years old, worked at bars and saved up enough money to buy this place. At the time, there was a neighborhood of people here from County Kerry, which is where he was from.”
Michael and his dad, Jerry, still pour beer and whiskey almost every day, always in their signature uniform that evokes a bygone era of bartending: crisp white shirt, black tie, white apron and bar towel slung over the shoulder.
The East Berkeley Street bar has witnessed its fair share of history.
In 1919, a controversial police strike that divided Boston was launched from Foley’s. The entire force was fired by Gov. Calvin Coolidge, who parlayed the spotlight into the White House in the 1920s. A plaque was recently placed at the bar to memorialize the 1,117 policemen who lost their jobs.
And during Prohibition, Foley’s was a “very popular shoe store,” joked Michael - one that sold a lot more than wingtips.
In recent years, the bar has gentrified along with its “SoWa” neighborhood.
The Foleys added a kitchen two years ago that serves gastro-pub fare next door to the “men’s bar,” where yuppies often bend elbows beside pro athletes and politicians. But the original half of Foley’s is still gritty enough to maintain its street cred as an old-school Boston dive.
The “hands-on” ownership remains the secret to a century of success, said Foley. “The owners are always here,” he said. “I think people respect that. They know they’ll be treated to a good night of dinner, drinks, service, food. I think people like the history that’s here, too.”
(J.J. Foley’s, 117 E. Berkeley St., 617-728-9101, jjfoleyscafe.com.)
Pouring reign
By Kerry J. Byrne | Wednesday, September 23, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com
J.J. Foley’s, the old warhorse of the Boston bar scene, is quietly celebrating its 100th anniversary this year - still in the hands of the family that founded it in 1909.
“I believe we’re the oldest family-owned establishment in Boston, and one of the oldest in the country,” said Michael Foley, a fourth-generation publican. “My great-grandfather (Jeremiah J. Foley) came over from Ireland when he was 15 years old, worked at bars and saved up enough money to buy this place. At the time, there was a neighborhood of people here from County Kerry, which is where he was from.”
Michael and his dad, Jerry, still pour beer and whiskey almost every day, always in their signature uniform that evokes a bygone era of bartending: crisp white shirt, black tie, white apron and bar towel slung over the shoulder.
The East Berkeley Street bar has witnessed its fair share of history.
In 1919, a controversial police strike that divided Boston was launched from Foley’s. The entire force was fired by Gov. Calvin Coolidge, who parlayed the spotlight into the White House in the 1920s. A plaque was recently placed at the bar to memorialize the 1,117 policemen who lost their jobs.
And during Prohibition, Foley’s was a “very popular shoe store,” joked Michael - one that sold a lot more than wingtips.
In recent years, the bar has gentrified along with its “SoWa” neighborhood.
The Foleys added a kitchen two years ago that serves gastro-pub fare next door to the “men’s bar,” where yuppies often bend elbows beside pro athletes and politicians. But the original half of Foley’s is still gritty enough to maintain its street cred as an old-school Boston dive.
The “hands-on” ownership remains the secret to a century of success, said Foley. “The owners are always here,” he said. “I think people respect that. They know they’ll be treated to a good night of dinner, drinks, service, food. I think people like the history that’s here, too.”
(J.J. Foley’s, 117 E. Berkeley St., 617-728-9101, jjfoleyscafe.com.)
Teranga review
Teranga is terrific
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, September 25, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
TERANGA: B
You will love Teranga, a new Senegalese restaurant in the South End.
You’ll love the cuisine - with its African, European and Southeast Asian influences - and less-than-$20-per-entree price point. You’ll love the chic decor with its earthen tones, zebrawood accents and folk and modern art. And you’ll love the wait staff, whose affability exemplifies the restaurant’s name (Teranga is Wolof for hospitality).
And how can you not love Teranga’s personable owner Marie-Claude Mendy? The restaurant is the culmination of a lifelong dream for the financial analyst, who briefly ran the kitchen when her inaugural chef left due to an emergency.
These days, Mendy oversees the front of the house. But the recipes are all hers. And assiduously authentic. Mendy’s mother, a Dakar caterer, regularly sends her daughter care packages of foodstuffs.
The fare is an amalgam of West African, Arab, French and Portuguese dishes, as well as Vietnamese dishes, brought back by the Senegalese soldiers who fought alongside the French in the First Indochina War.
The Teranga menu offers a delicious overview.
The offerings include nems ($7), fried, rice paper-wrapped spring rolls, stuffed with chopped meat, veggies and rice vermicelli, which you dunk into tart and garlicky Vietnamese nuoc mam sauce; and fataya ($7), pastry turnovers filled with a mixture of tomato paste and ground fish - like an empanada filled with a croquette.
For a taste of Senegalese street eats, try accara ($6) black-eyed pea fritters whose crunchy exteriors hide baking-soda-spongy insides. They’re served with piquant mayonnaise. I’d much prefer something considerably spicier in keeping with the Wolof proverb “ku begue accara day gneme kaani” (“to enjoy accara one must also endure the hot-pepper sauce”).
There’s nothing ordinaire about salade ordinaire ($6). It’s a colorfully delectable combo of greens, potatoes, yams, beets and hard-boiled eggs, tossed in tangy coconut-lime dressing.
Thiebou djeun rice with fish ($15) is widely considered the national dish of Senegal. This plate of herb-stuffed fish in thick tomato sauce accompanied by nutty, browned, broken rice pilaf and braised cassava, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower and cabbage, is rich in symbolism.
The fish reflects Senegal’s long Atlantic coastline. The broken rice celebrates its rise out of poverty. And the New World vegetables demonstrate the diversity of its culinary heritage.
Just be forewarned, the fish (kingfish, we’re told) can be overdone and dry.
You’ll like the citrusy spiciness and humble honesty of yassa guinaar ($14) a grilled, chicken leg covered with slow-simmered, lemony onions.
Mafe ($14) lamb stew boasts a savory, peanut-based gravy that’s commonplace in West African cooking. The stew is chockablock with vegetables - carrots, potatoes, yams and cabbage.
Roasted michoui ($17) lamb shank napped with caramelized onions seasoned with mustard is fall-off-the-fork tender. It comes with Moroccan couscous, redolent of cinnamon. It could be more moist.
cw-3 Teranga has a small but well-considered and ultra-affordable wine list that nicely complements its menu. With the thiebou djeun and yassa guinaar, we drank a crisp 2008 Bonny Doon Ca del Solo Albarino ($31). With the mafe and michoui, a fruity, black-peppery ’07 Marquis Philips Roogle Shiraz ($30). Or try one of the house juices ($3) made from bissap (sorrel), ginger or bouye (fruit of the baobab tree) mixed with pineapple juice, orange-flower water and vanilla. They’re wonderfully aromatic and said to combat fatigue.
For dessert ($6), we had thiacry, a soupy millet couscous pudding studded with raisins and cubes of mango. And beignets dougoup, crusty millet doughnuts garnished with creme Anglais and whipped cream. Such exotic sweets are a welcome change from molten chocolate cake or creme brulee.
1746 Washington St. (South End). 617-266-0003; terangaboston.com.
Price: $20-$40
Hours: Lunch daily, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner daily, 5-11 p.m.
Bar: Beer and Wine
Recession specials: No
Credit: MasterCard, Visa
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: On street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1199797
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, September 25, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
TERANGA: B
You will love Teranga, a new Senegalese restaurant in the South End.
You’ll love the cuisine - with its African, European and Southeast Asian influences - and less-than-$20-per-entree price point. You’ll love the chic decor with its earthen tones, zebrawood accents and folk and modern art. And you’ll love the wait staff, whose affability exemplifies the restaurant’s name (Teranga is Wolof for hospitality).
And how can you not love Teranga’s personable owner Marie-Claude Mendy? The restaurant is the culmination of a lifelong dream for the financial analyst, who briefly ran the kitchen when her inaugural chef left due to an emergency.
These days, Mendy oversees the front of the house. But the recipes are all hers. And assiduously authentic. Mendy’s mother, a Dakar caterer, regularly sends her daughter care packages of foodstuffs.
The fare is an amalgam of West African, Arab, French and Portuguese dishes, as well as Vietnamese dishes, brought back by the Senegalese soldiers who fought alongside the French in the First Indochina War.
The Teranga menu offers a delicious overview.
The offerings include nems ($7), fried, rice paper-wrapped spring rolls, stuffed with chopped meat, veggies and rice vermicelli, which you dunk into tart and garlicky Vietnamese nuoc mam sauce; and fataya ($7), pastry turnovers filled with a mixture of tomato paste and ground fish - like an empanada filled with a croquette.
For a taste of Senegalese street eats, try accara ($6) black-eyed pea fritters whose crunchy exteriors hide baking-soda-spongy insides. They’re served with piquant mayonnaise. I’d much prefer something considerably spicier in keeping with the Wolof proverb “ku begue accara day gneme kaani” (“to enjoy accara one must also endure the hot-pepper sauce”).
There’s nothing ordinaire about salade ordinaire ($6). It’s a colorfully delectable combo of greens, potatoes, yams, beets and hard-boiled eggs, tossed in tangy coconut-lime dressing.
Thiebou djeun rice with fish ($15) is widely considered the national dish of Senegal. This plate of herb-stuffed fish in thick tomato sauce accompanied by nutty, browned, broken rice pilaf and braised cassava, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower and cabbage, is rich in symbolism.
The fish reflects Senegal’s long Atlantic coastline. The broken rice celebrates its rise out of poverty. And the New World vegetables demonstrate the diversity of its culinary heritage.
Just be forewarned, the fish (kingfish, we’re told) can be overdone and dry.
You’ll like the citrusy spiciness and humble honesty of yassa guinaar ($14) a grilled, chicken leg covered with slow-simmered, lemony onions.
Mafe ($14) lamb stew boasts a savory, peanut-based gravy that’s commonplace in West African cooking. The stew is chockablock with vegetables - carrots, potatoes, yams and cabbage.
Roasted michoui ($17) lamb shank napped with caramelized onions seasoned with mustard is fall-off-the-fork tender. It comes with Moroccan couscous, redolent of cinnamon. It could be more moist.
cw-3 Teranga has a small but well-considered and ultra-affordable wine list that nicely complements its menu. With the thiebou djeun and yassa guinaar, we drank a crisp 2008 Bonny Doon Ca del Solo Albarino ($31). With the mafe and michoui, a fruity, black-peppery ’07 Marquis Philips Roogle Shiraz ($30). Or try one of the house juices ($3) made from bissap (sorrel), ginger or bouye (fruit of the baobab tree) mixed with pineapple juice, orange-flower water and vanilla. They’re wonderfully aromatic and said to combat fatigue.
For dessert ($6), we had thiacry, a soupy millet couscous pudding studded with raisins and cubes of mango. And beignets dougoup, crusty millet doughnuts garnished with creme Anglais and whipped cream. Such exotic sweets are a welcome change from molten chocolate cake or creme brulee.
1746 Washington St. (South End). 617-266-0003; terangaboston.com.
Price: $20-$40
Hours: Lunch daily, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner daily, 5-11 p.m.
Bar: Beer and Wine
Recession specials: No
Credit: MasterCard, Visa
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: On street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1199797
Hyatt finds jobs for workers let go
Hyatt finds jobs for laid-off housekeepers
By Donna Goodison | Friday, September 25, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Hyatt Hotels Corp. today said it’s arranged full-time jobs through an outsourcing firm for the 98 housekeepers it recently fired from its three hotels in Boston and Cambridge and replaced with cheaper outsourced workers.
But a Hub union that’s taken up the laid-off housekeepers’ cause called the move a “smokescreen” and insisted Hyatt give them back their original jobs.
Hyatt has faced withering criticism and even a boycott threat from Gov. Deval Patrick over the firings, which sparked protests yesterday in Chicago, where the company is headquartered.
Hyatt said the jobs in the Boston market will be provided by United Service Cos., which will match the employees’ Hyatt rate of pay through the end of next year.
Many of the fired housekeepers reportedly had been making $15 an hour while the replacements make $8 an hour.
“Every housekeeping employee who wants a job will have one,” Hyatt Boston General Manager Phil Stamm said in a statement. “That’s our promise.”
The jobs will be similar to the ones formerly held by the employees, according to Hyatt spokeswoman Farley Kern.
Janice Loux, president of Unite Here Local 26, issued a statement blasting the hotel company’s move.
“Hyatt’s latest proposal is simply a smokescreen designed to trick people into thinking Hyatt is doing the right thing. It does not provide the women with the one thing they really deserve,” she said.
“These women have made it clear that they want to be returned to the jobs they have held for years, and Hyatt’s PR scheme does not diminish their determination.”
Hyatt also offered to extend the health care of the employees who accept the positions through March 31, 2010, at which time they will have the option of obtaining health benefits through United Service Cos.
For those housekeepers who choose to pursue another career path, Hyatt said it’s formed a partnership with Manpower and Right Management for career services and retraining. Those employees will receive financial support equal to their Hyatt pay rate through March 2010 or until they obtain permanent jobs, whichever comes first.
The housekeepers were laid off in a cost-cutting move in August. Hyatt has denied claims that the workers were tricked into training their replacements.
Patrick - who said he would direct state workers to avoid doing business with Hyatt if the housekeepers weren’t rehired - met Wednesday with a group of workers at a union hall.
Hyatt had responded to the boycott threat by saying the governor’s move threatens the jobs of the company’s 600 remaining Bay State workers.
Patrick’s boycott threat apparently still stands.
“The governor has spoken with local Hyatt management and worker representatives, and is reviewing the proposal,” said Kyle Sullivan, Patrick’s spokesman, in a statement. “In the end he wants to ensure that this is a proposal the workers can depend on and feel is fair. Having been treated so unfairly, they are understandably hesitant to trust any proposal short of restoring them their jobs.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200063
By Donna Goodison | Friday, September 25, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Hyatt Hotels Corp. today said it’s arranged full-time jobs through an outsourcing firm for the 98 housekeepers it recently fired from its three hotels in Boston and Cambridge and replaced with cheaper outsourced workers.
But a Hub union that’s taken up the laid-off housekeepers’ cause called the move a “smokescreen” and insisted Hyatt give them back their original jobs.
Hyatt has faced withering criticism and even a boycott threat from Gov. Deval Patrick over the firings, which sparked protests yesterday in Chicago, where the company is headquartered.
Hyatt said the jobs in the Boston market will be provided by United Service Cos., which will match the employees’ Hyatt rate of pay through the end of next year.
Many of the fired housekeepers reportedly had been making $15 an hour while the replacements make $8 an hour.
“Every housekeeping employee who wants a job will have one,” Hyatt Boston General Manager Phil Stamm said in a statement. “That’s our promise.”
The jobs will be similar to the ones formerly held by the employees, according to Hyatt spokeswoman Farley Kern.
Janice Loux, president of Unite Here Local 26, issued a statement blasting the hotel company’s move.
“Hyatt’s latest proposal is simply a smokescreen designed to trick people into thinking Hyatt is doing the right thing. It does not provide the women with the one thing they really deserve,” she said.
“These women have made it clear that they want to be returned to the jobs they have held for years, and Hyatt’s PR scheme does not diminish their determination.”
Hyatt also offered to extend the health care of the employees who accept the positions through March 31, 2010, at which time they will have the option of obtaining health benefits through United Service Cos.
For those housekeepers who choose to pursue another career path, Hyatt said it’s formed a partnership with Manpower and Right Management for career services and retraining. Those employees will receive financial support equal to their Hyatt pay rate through March 2010 or until they obtain permanent jobs, whichever comes first.
The housekeepers were laid off in a cost-cutting move in August. Hyatt has denied claims that the workers were tricked into training their replacements.
Patrick - who said he would direct state workers to avoid doing business with Hyatt if the housekeepers weren’t rehired - met Wednesday with a group of workers at a union hall.
Hyatt had responded to the boycott threat by saying the governor’s move threatens the jobs of the company’s 600 remaining Bay State workers.
Patrick’s boycott threat apparently still stands.
“The governor has spoken with local Hyatt management and worker representatives, and is reviewing the proposal,” said Kyle Sullivan, Patrick’s spokesman, in a statement. “In the end he wants to ensure that this is a proposal the workers can depend on and feel is fair. Having been treated so unfairly, they are understandably hesitant to trust any proposal short of restoring them their jobs.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1200063
Globe editorial against Patrick's proposed boycott of Hyatt
GLOBE EDITORIAL
Patrick is right to chide Hyatt, wrong to threaten a boycott
September 25, 2009
THE HYATT CORP.’S heavy-handed firing of 98 hotel housekeepers rightly offends Governor Patrick’s sense of fairness. But the governor’s emotions seem to have gotten the better of him with his recent threat to boycott Hyatt hotels for those on state business. By invoking a possible boycott as a way to open the door for the rehiring of the workers, he is setting a dangerous precedent.
The fired workers at the three Hyatt hotels in and around Boston say they were treated more like furniture than longtime valued employees. They say they were duped by the company into training lower-paid replacements from a Georgia-based outsourcing company, a claim the company denies. But the workers make the more compelling case. There is a right and wrong way for companies to take the painful but sometimes necessary step of contracting out services in a down economy. Hyatt mishandled the process, showing too little regard for the dignity of its workers in its rush to replace housekeepers who make about $15 an hour with contract employees who earn about half that amount.
Private individuals may opt to spend their tourism or business dollars with hotels that show greater commitment to the in-house cleaning crews who play a central role in upholding standards of neatness and sanitation. But the governor should not be making that decision with public dollars. His threat to boycott Hyatt - which he claims is aimed at the hotel chain’s unusually poor treatment of the workers, rather than opposition to outsourcing in general - nonetheless puts the state in the position of passing judgment on banks, construction companies, food service providers, and a range of other potential contractors on an equally large range of labor practices.
Few readers may be willing at this point to sit still for a moral lecture from Hyatt executives. After all, the company replaced a group of loyal workers who don’t earn much with a group of even lower-paid workers. But the company still raises a legitimate argument about the fate of “600 associates who work in Hyatt properties’’ should Patrick’s boycott threat start to snowball.
The governor was absolutely right to condemn Hyatt’s treatment of its housekeepers. And his initial phone calls did seem to induce the company to be more generous in the area of severance. But his decision to raise the stakes with the unusual threat of boycott is based more on emotion than reason.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Patrick is right to chide Hyatt, wrong to threaten a boycott
September 25, 2009
THE HYATT CORP.’S heavy-handed firing of 98 hotel housekeepers rightly offends Governor Patrick’s sense of fairness. But the governor’s emotions seem to have gotten the better of him with his recent threat to boycott Hyatt hotels for those on state business. By invoking a possible boycott as a way to open the door for the rehiring of the workers, he is setting a dangerous precedent.
The fired workers at the three Hyatt hotels in and around Boston say they were treated more like furniture than longtime valued employees. They say they were duped by the company into training lower-paid replacements from a Georgia-based outsourcing company, a claim the company denies. But the workers make the more compelling case. There is a right and wrong way for companies to take the painful but sometimes necessary step of contracting out services in a down economy. Hyatt mishandled the process, showing too little regard for the dignity of its workers in its rush to replace housekeepers who make about $15 an hour with contract employees who earn about half that amount.
Private individuals may opt to spend their tourism or business dollars with hotels that show greater commitment to the in-house cleaning crews who play a central role in upholding standards of neatness and sanitation. But the governor should not be making that decision with public dollars. His threat to boycott Hyatt - which he claims is aimed at the hotel chain’s unusually poor treatment of the workers, rather than opposition to outsourcing in general - nonetheless puts the state in the position of passing judgment on banks, construction companies, food service providers, and a range of other potential contractors on an equally large range of labor practices.
Few readers may be willing at this point to sit still for a moral lecture from Hyatt executives. After all, the company replaced a group of loyal workers who don’t earn much with a group of even lower-paid workers. But the company still raises a legitimate argument about the fate of “600 associates who work in Hyatt properties’’ should Patrick’s boycott threat start to snowball.
The governor was absolutely right to condemn Hyatt’s treatment of its housekeepers. And his initial phone calls did seem to induce the company to be more generous in the area of severance. But his decision to raise the stakes with the unusual threat of boycott is based more on emotion than reason.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Firing Creates a PR mess for Hyatt
Firing housekeepers creates PR mess for Hyatt
Effect on bottom line of cancellations, boycott calls unclear
By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | September 25, 2009
The firing of 98 housekeepers from Boston-area Hyatt hotels has created a big public relations mess for the hotel chain, one that experts say could take a long time to clean up.
Criticism of the company has swept across chat boards and blogs like The Consumerist, Executive Nomad, and the Harvard Business Review since the story broke on Sept. 17. Union activists have launched a “Save the Hyatt 100’’ site on Facebook. And on Tuesday, Governor Deval Patrick thrust the issue into the national spotlight, taking the unusual step of threatening a government boycott of the hotel chain.
“I’m sure our indignation will temper and pass over time,’’ said Paul Michelman, who wrote that Hyatt had “a nice big black eye’’ on the Harvard Business Review’s blog. “But were I personally planning to spend the night in the Boston area sometime soon, I’d do my best to avoid staying at a Hyatt.’’
Experts say that indignation has been fueled by the Hyatt Hotels and Resorts chain’s muted response to the uproar after it fired housekeeping staffs at the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Harborside, and Hyatt Regency Cambridge and replaced them with workers from an Atlanta staffing company.
In a front-page story in the Globe on Sept. 17, the housekeepers said they had to train their replacements and were told the staffing agency workers were vacation fill-ins. Many of the housekeepers at the center of the controversy - mostly minority women - made about $15 an hour, while the replacement workers make $8 an hour.
Company officials have declined to give phone interviews and have issued only e-mail responses to Globe inquiries, including one in which the chain said the accusation that it “tricked our associates into training their replacements’’ is “absolutely false.’’
Hyatt officials have also said they regretted the firings and had to make “very difficult decisions to adjust costs in response to continuing declines in revenues.’’
Public relations staff at the chain did not respond to an interview request for this story.
In the meantime, outrage over the firings has only grown, with politicians, businesses leaders, and organizations canceling reservations or calling for boycotts.
The National Employment Lawyers Association canceled its contract with the Hyatt Regency Boston.
Similarly, union officials at the Boston Taxi Drivers Association said they faxed a letter to the Hyatt yesterday, saying taxi drivers would boycott the Hyatt and refuse to service the chain’s Boston locations unless the housekeepers were rehired.
The union represents 1,700 taxi drivers, said Arthur Rose, a union representative.
And the Eastern Sociological Society, a group of sociology professionals and scholars, said yesterday that it would withdraw its business unless the chain reconsidered its actions.
Perhaps most surprising was Governor Patrick’s unusual response.
Last week, he wrote to Hyatt chief executive Mark S. Hoplamazian, asking him to rehire the housekeepers. After Hyatt offered them a three-month extension of their health care benefits and assistance looking for a job, Patrick rallied on the workers behalf, announcing he would direct state employees to boycott Hyatt hotels unless the workers were reinstated.
It’s unclear how much Patrick and the union’s efforts as well as the other attention have hurt Hyatt’s bottom line. But William Holstein, author of the book “How to Manage Media,’’ said the company reacted too late to blunt the damage.
“It’s almost always a mistake to stonewall,’’ Holstein said. “It feeds media intensity.’’
David Sexton, a marketing professor at Columbia Business School and author of “Value Above Cost,’’ suggested that Hyatt executives take another look at the savings they thought they would gain by replacing the housekeepers and compare it with what they might lose over time due to negative publicity.
He compared the incident to a recent instance involving criticism of Citibank for ordering a jet for its executives. Even though it would have been more economical for the company to own the jet instead of flying its executives on commercial flights, customers were incensed with the image of excess the jet conveyed.
The bank canceled the order, Sexton said
Hyatt might want to consider reinstating the housekeepers, he added.
“The damage to their brand reputation might cost them much more than the money they save replacing the housekeepers,’’ he said.
Sexton said hotels, as well as banks and airlines, are especially conscious of their image because they spend so much money marketing themselves as comfortable, safe, and stable.
“They are their brand and they talk about their services and how nice they are to put a mint on your pillow,’’ he said.
“Then you see them firing people who make $15 an hour. The point is everything you do these days is visible.’’
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Effect on bottom line of cancellations, boycott calls unclear
By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | September 25, 2009
The firing of 98 housekeepers from Boston-area Hyatt hotels has created a big public relations mess for the hotel chain, one that experts say could take a long time to clean up.
Criticism of the company has swept across chat boards and blogs like The Consumerist, Executive Nomad, and the Harvard Business Review since the story broke on Sept. 17. Union activists have launched a “Save the Hyatt 100’’ site on Facebook. And on Tuesday, Governor Deval Patrick thrust the issue into the national spotlight, taking the unusual step of threatening a government boycott of the hotel chain.
“I’m sure our indignation will temper and pass over time,’’ said Paul Michelman, who wrote that Hyatt had “a nice big black eye’’ on the Harvard Business Review’s blog. “But were I personally planning to spend the night in the Boston area sometime soon, I’d do my best to avoid staying at a Hyatt.’’
Experts say that indignation has been fueled by the Hyatt Hotels and Resorts chain’s muted response to the uproar after it fired housekeeping staffs at the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Harborside, and Hyatt Regency Cambridge and replaced them with workers from an Atlanta staffing company.
In a front-page story in the Globe on Sept. 17, the housekeepers said they had to train their replacements and were told the staffing agency workers were vacation fill-ins. Many of the housekeepers at the center of the controversy - mostly minority women - made about $15 an hour, while the replacement workers make $8 an hour.
Company officials have declined to give phone interviews and have issued only e-mail responses to Globe inquiries, including one in which the chain said the accusation that it “tricked our associates into training their replacements’’ is “absolutely false.’’
Hyatt officials have also said they regretted the firings and had to make “very difficult decisions to adjust costs in response to continuing declines in revenues.’’
Public relations staff at the chain did not respond to an interview request for this story.
In the meantime, outrage over the firings has only grown, with politicians, businesses leaders, and organizations canceling reservations or calling for boycotts.
The National Employment Lawyers Association canceled its contract with the Hyatt Regency Boston.
Similarly, union officials at the Boston Taxi Drivers Association said they faxed a letter to the Hyatt yesterday, saying taxi drivers would boycott the Hyatt and refuse to service the chain’s Boston locations unless the housekeepers were rehired.
The union represents 1,700 taxi drivers, said Arthur Rose, a union representative.
And the Eastern Sociological Society, a group of sociology professionals and scholars, said yesterday that it would withdraw its business unless the chain reconsidered its actions.
Perhaps most surprising was Governor Patrick’s unusual response.
Last week, he wrote to Hyatt chief executive Mark S. Hoplamazian, asking him to rehire the housekeepers. After Hyatt offered them a three-month extension of their health care benefits and assistance looking for a job, Patrick rallied on the workers behalf, announcing he would direct state employees to boycott Hyatt hotels unless the workers were reinstated.
It’s unclear how much Patrick and the union’s efforts as well as the other attention have hurt Hyatt’s bottom line. But William Holstein, author of the book “How to Manage Media,’’ said the company reacted too late to blunt the damage.
“It’s almost always a mistake to stonewall,’’ Holstein said. “It feeds media intensity.’’
David Sexton, a marketing professor at Columbia Business School and author of “Value Above Cost,’’ suggested that Hyatt executives take another look at the savings they thought they would gain by replacing the housekeepers and compare it with what they might lose over time due to negative publicity.
He compared the incident to a recent instance involving criticism of Citibank for ordering a jet for its executives. Even though it would have been more economical for the company to own the jet instead of flying its executives on commercial flights, customers were incensed with the image of excess the jet conveyed.
The bank canceled the order, Sexton said
Hyatt might want to consider reinstating the housekeepers, he added.
“The damage to their brand reputation might cost them much more than the money they save replacing the housekeepers,’’ he said.
Sexton said hotels, as well as banks and airlines, are especially conscious of their image because they spend so much money marketing themselves as comfortable, safe, and stable.
“They are their brand and they talk about their services and how nice they are to put a mint on your pillow,’’ he said.
“Then you see them firing people who make $15 an hour. The point is everything you do these days is visible.’’
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Patrick will boycott Hyatt if company doesn't rehire workers
Gov. Patrick says state will boycott Hyatt if it doesn't rehire workers
September 23, 2009 12:21 PM
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick plans to direct state employees to boycott the Hyatt while conducting state business unless the hotel company rehires the housekeepers it fired, he said in a letter sent yesterday to Hyatt chief executive Mark Hoplamazian.
"I understand first hand how difficult it is to manage through the current economic challenges without compounding the disruptions the times have caused," Patrick wrote. "But surely there is some way to retain the jobs for your housekeeping staffs, as other hotels have done, and to work with them to help the company meet its current challenges, rather than tossing them out unceremoniously to fend for themselves while the people they trained take their jobs at barely livable wages."
The three Boston area Hyatts -- the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and the Hyatt Harborside at Logan International Airport -- fired their 98 staff housekeepers on Aug. 31 and replaced them with $8-an-hour employees of the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions. The staff housekeepers, some of whom had been cleaning rooms at the hotels for more than 20 years and made more than $15 an hour, said they had been asked to train some of these new employees over the past few years and were assured they would not be replacing them. The cleaning company and the Hyatt deny these claims.
The firings have prompted a public outcry against the hotel company. The union that represents Boston-area hotel workers organized a rally in front of the Hyatt Regency Boston last week and several local politicans and business owners have called for a boycott. The National Employment Lawyers Association canceled its contract with the Hyatt Regency Boston after it heard the news and is searching for another Boston hotel to hold its October seminar.
Patrick called Hyatt's chief executive last week to express his concern over the outsourcing, and the two spoke again on Monday. Hoplamazian sent Patrick a letter over the weekend, and Patrick replied yesterday. "You must understand," he wrote, "that what has been imposed on these workers -- most of whom have worked hard, played by the rules, and invested their time and energy in your company's success -- is both upsetting in its own right and also the worst nightmare of every worker in today's weak economy."
Patrick called on Hoplamazian to reconsider the decision to replace the housekeepers, and if he doesn't, Patrick said he would tell state employees not to use the Hyatt. "This is not how I like to operate," Patrick concluded in the letter. "But the treatment of these workers appears to be so substandard that it leaves me no choice."
Read Governor Patrick's letter to Hyatt (PDF)
September 23, 2009 12:21 PM
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick plans to direct state employees to boycott the Hyatt while conducting state business unless the hotel company rehires the housekeepers it fired, he said in a letter sent yesterday to Hyatt chief executive Mark Hoplamazian.
"I understand first hand how difficult it is to manage through the current economic challenges without compounding the disruptions the times have caused," Patrick wrote. "But surely there is some way to retain the jobs for your housekeeping staffs, as other hotels have done, and to work with them to help the company meet its current challenges, rather than tossing them out unceremoniously to fend for themselves while the people they trained take their jobs at barely livable wages."
The three Boston area Hyatts -- the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and the Hyatt Harborside at Logan International Airport -- fired their 98 staff housekeepers on Aug. 31 and replaced them with $8-an-hour employees of the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions. The staff housekeepers, some of whom had been cleaning rooms at the hotels for more than 20 years and made more than $15 an hour, said they had been asked to train some of these new employees over the past few years and were assured they would not be replacing them. The cleaning company and the Hyatt deny these claims.
The firings have prompted a public outcry against the hotel company. The union that represents Boston-area hotel workers organized a rally in front of the Hyatt Regency Boston last week and several local politicans and business owners have called for a boycott. The National Employment Lawyers Association canceled its contract with the Hyatt Regency Boston after it heard the news and is searching for another Boston hotel to hold its October seminar.
Patrick called Hyatt's chief executive last week to express his concern over the outsourcing, and the two spoke again on Monday. Hoplamazian sent Patrick a letter over the weekend, and Patrick replied yesterday. "You must understand," he wrote, "that what has been imposed on these workers -- most of whom have worked hard, played by the rules, and invested their time and energy in your company's success -- is both upsetting in its own right and also the worst nightmare of every worker in today's weak economy."
Patrick called on Hoplamazian to reconsider the decision to replace the housekeepers, and if he doesn't, Patrick said he would tell state employees not to use the Hyatt. "This is not how I like to operate," Patrick concluded in the letter. "But the treatment of these workers appears to be so substandard that it leaves me no choice."
Read Governor Patrick's letter to Hyatt (PDF)
More than economy to why restaurants close
The Boston Globe
The kitchen is closed
In a fragile economy, changing tastes can seal a restaurant’s fate
By Devra First, Globe Staff | September 23, 2009
From Aujourd’hui to Z Square, a drove of local restaurants have closed their doors in the past year. The cause was quickly pronounced: the economy. Individuals have less money to spend, and corporations aren’t wining and dining like they used to.
But is it really that simple? Restaurants that cater to similar clientele, offer comparable food at comparable prices, or are situated just a street away - or even in the same building - can meet very different fates. When the economy is fragile, an imperfect location, outdated concept, or flawed financial plan can quickly mean the difference between in play and out of business. It may be more useful for restaurateurs to look at the recession as a catalyst, not a cause.
“The economy was the kiss of death,’’ says Michael Krupp, whose restaurant, Persephone, closed last month. But, he says, “our biggest challenge was the neighborhood.’’
Krupp and business partner Shaka Ramsay opened boutique-slash-restaurant the Achilles Project - which Persephone was part of - in Fort Point, long touted as an upcoming area in Boston. “Unfortunately, Fort Point never took off,’’ he says. “All this talk of it being the next big neighborhood never happened.’’
Persephone was on Summer Street, rather than a block over on Congress, where places such as Lucky’s, Drink, and Sportello are located. “Congress is significantly better from a walking traffic standpoint,’’ he says. “I believe [Drink and Sportello owner] Barbara Lynch is going to get through this rough time and when the economy turns around do bang-up business.’’
Too, Krupp and Ramsay’s business was out of the ordinary: a mash-up of retail and dining, featuring edgy, expensive fashions in the same space as dishes crafted from local, sustainable ingredients.
“Boston has always been a bit of a conservative city,’’ Krupp says, “especially when it comes to new concepts. We got a lot of positive feedback, but there were people who didn’t get it or didn’t want to give us a chance.’’
Kenneth Himmel - whose Himmel Hospitality Group operates restaurants including Grill 23, Harvest, and the forthcoming Post 390 and Bistro du Midi - agrees that Boston is conservative, at least financially. “People here are educated and have incredible taste. For whatever reason, they expect to go to Paris, London, New York and experiment with food and food service and creativity. But in their hometown, I’ve never seen people orient themselves to a willingness to spend premium money. The moment the average check gets past $100, it’s going to take something extraordinary to get people to come.’’
That affected Excelsior, a Himmel restaurant that closed in February. It lost corporate business because of the economy, but it was also simply expensive for Boston. “It was more stylized food, a more serious menu with a more serious composition of ingredients,’’ Himmel says. Tastes were changing, shifting away from fine dining, and not solely because of recent financial developments. “What’s transpired in the last five years is not a revolution but an evolution, to a form of dining where people are looking for a lot more comfort and value,’’ he says.
Similar factors were at work at Aujourd’hui and Icarus, which closed June 27 and July 3, respectively.
“Aujourd’hui was a very successful restaurant,’’ says chef William Kovel, who worked at the formal restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel. (Hotel representatives declined to participate in this story.) “When people think about closing restaurants, they think about the severity of the economic times, but we were still consistently busy.’’
Yet the Four Seasons is also home to the Bristol Lounge, a more casual establishment that remains open. “It’s a hotel company, not a restaurant company,’’ Kovel says. Four Seasons nationally and internationally are phasing out their second restaurants, he says. “It’s a brand initiative to move toward more casual dining.’’
Chefs’ tastes have shifted along with diners’. “I got less interested in fine dining than I was when I was younger,’’ says Chris Douglass, who operated Icarus in the South End for more than 30 years. “I found that as my cooking got better, my audience got smaller. They got to be less like me; they were people I related to less.’’
Four years ago, he opened Ashmont Grill in Dorchester - a fun, casual restaurant in his own neighborhood. Last year he followed it up with Tavolo, serving pizza and pasta at a reasonable price point.
Why is this shift occurring? “There’s a self-confidence about American cuisine that maybe when I was starting 30 years ago didn’t really exist,’’ Douglass says. “As American cooks then, we really looked to emulate a European model.’’
Also, people who eat in restaurants are now much more knowledgeable about food. “The idea of somebody being a foodie, 20 years ago I never really heard anybody say that. Now it’s cool. You can be 20 years old and be a foodie who’s into pork belly. That wasn’t around when I was starting to cook. Then the patron was well-to-do, traveled, read Gourmet. Now people are much more savvy and hip.’’
Of course, aiming at savvy young hipsters doesn’t guarantee success if a restaurant isn’t built on a solid foundation. “There’s a low barrier to entry in the restaurant business,’’ says restaurant development consultant Michael Staub of Group M Inc. “You need more dollars than sense. A poorly developed plan poorly executed is going to guarantee failure.’’
He cites Z Square, a project he consulted on, as an example. (Owner David Zebny could not be reached for comment.) “Conceptually, it was the right thing for the right place,’’ he says - a casual restaurant catering to students and workers in Harvard, Kenmore, and Post Office squares. But the financial plan did not add up: Rent was high, and there wasn’t enough capital behind the project. It likely wouldn’t have succeeded in any economy.
“A business needs to be well capitalized with real equity, not with debt,’’ Staub says. “If your rent is fixed and typically 8 to 10 percent of sales, and your sales drop off between anywhere from 5 to 20 percent, your rent becomes 15 to 20 to 25 percent of sales. If on top of that all the funding that went into the business is debt and needs to be paid back on a regular basis, it’s unsustainable. If you borrow too much and your rent is too high, you’re going to fail.’’
It’s a simple, undeniable equation, but knowing the math doesn’t make the task easy. Yet as the economy picks back up, so does the restaurant business. And entrepreneurs are once again starting to want in.
“We’re probably the busiest we’ve been in 18 months,’’ says Daniel Newcomb of real estate firm Atlantic Restaurant Group Inc. “We have a number of buyers looking for Boston. We need more inventory. There’s absolutely an abundance of buyers now, more with cash than I’ve ever seen.’’
The money comes from private investors rather than banks, he says, and the people wielding it are often experienced operators who see now as a good time to buy.
Himmel is partnering with London-based restaurant group MARC to open Bistro du Midi this fall. In the former Excelsior space, the Provencal bistro will be much less formal than its predecessor. He will also open Post 390 in the Back Bay in early October. Part of the Clarendon, a new luxury condo building, the casual restaurant will have more than 300 seats and a menu that focuses on modern versions of comfort food; press materials call it an “urban tavern.’’
Among the restaurants expected to open in the coming weeks and months are Trina’s Starlite Lounge, serving hot dogs, fried chicken, and other reasonably priced comfort fare in Inman Square; Coppa, an Italian wine bar with snacks, small plates, and pizza made from local ingredients; Regal Beagle, a self-titled “neighborhood joint’’ in Coolidge Corner serving upscale comfort food; and Woodward, in the new Ames hotel, which partner Seth Greenberg has described as a “modern tavern.’’
“There is no fine dining coming into the market now,’’ Newcomb says. “Everything is casual, everything is lounge, everything is medium range.’’
That seems to be what diners are most looking for these days. Restaurant closures are difficult, but they make room for the kind of food people want to eat right now.
“There are new restaurants, new chefs, new spaces becoming available,’’ says Kovel. “There’s a cycle of evolution in the city.’’
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
The kitchen is closed
In a fragile economy, changing tastes can seal a restaurant’s fate
By Devra First, Globe Staff | September 23, 2009
From Aujourd’hui to Z Square, a drove of local restaurants have closed their doors in the past year. The cause was quickly pronounced: the economy. Individuals have less money to spend, and corporations aren’t wining and dining like they used to.
But is it really that simple? Restaurants that cater to similar clientele, offer comparable food at comparable prices, or are situated just a street away - or even in the same building - can meet very different fates. When the economy is fragile, an imperfect location, outdated concept, or flawed financial plan can quickly mean the difference between in play and out of business. It may be more useful for restaurateurs to look at the recession as a catalyst, not a cause.
“The economy was the kiss of death,’’ says Michael Krupp, whose restaurant, Persephone, closed last month. But, he says, “our biggest challenge was the neighborhood.’’
Krupp and business partner Shaka Ramsay opened boutique-slash-restaurant the Achilles Project - which Persephone was part of - in Fort Point, long touted as an upcoming area in Boston. “Unfortunately, Fort Point never took off,’’ he says. “All this talk of it being the next big neighborhood never happened.’’
Persephone was on Summer Street, rather than a block over on Congress, where places such as Lucky’s, Drink, and Sportello are located. “Congress is significantly better from a walking traffic standpoint,’’ he says. “I believe [Drink and Sportello owner] Barbara Lynch is going to get through this rough time and when the economy turns around do bang-up business.’’
Too, Krupp and Ramsay’s business was out of the ordinary: a mash-up of retail and dining, featuring edgy, expensive fashions in the same space as dishes crafted from local, sustainable ingredients.
“Boston has always been a bit of a conservative city,’’ Krupp says, “especially when it comes to new concepts. We got a lot of positive feedback, but there were people who didn’t get it or didn’t want to give us a chance.’’
Kenneth Himmel - whose Himmel Hospitality Group operates restaurants including Grill 23, Harvest, and the forthcoming Post 390 and Bistro du Midi - agrees that Boston is conservative, at least financially. “People here are educated and have incredible taste. For whatever reason, they expect to go to Paris, London, New York and experiment with food and food service and creativity. But in their hometown, I’ve never seen people orient themselves to a willingness to spend premium money. The moment the average check gets past $100, it’s going to take something extraordinary to get people to come.’’
That affected Excelsior, a Himmel restaurant that closed in February. It lost corporate business because of the economy, but it was also simply expensive for Boston. “It was more stylized food, a more serious menu with a more serious composition of ingredients,’’ Himmel says. Tastes were changing, shifting away from fine dining, and not solely because of recent financial developments. “What’s transpired in the last five years is not a revolution but an evolution, to a form of dining where people are looking for a lot more comfort and value,’’ he says.
Similar factors were at work at Aujourd’hui and Icarus, which closed June 27 and July 3, respectively.
“Aujourd’hui was a very successful restaurant,’’ says chef William Kovel, who worked at the formal restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel. (Hotel representatives declined to participate in this story.) “When people think about closing restaurants, they think about the severity of the economic times, but we were still consistently busy.’’
Yet the Four Seasons is also home to the Bristol Lounge, a more casual establishment that remains open. “It’s a hotel company, not a restaurant company,’’ Kovel says. Four Seasons nationally and internationally are phasing out their second restaurants, he says. “It’s a brand initiative to move toward more casual dining.’’
Chefs’ tastes have shifted along with diners’. “I got less interested in fine dining than I was when I was younger,’’ says Chris Douglass, who operated Icarus in the South End for more than 30 years. “I found that as my cooking got better, my audience got smaller. They got to be less like me; they were people I related to less.’’
Four years ago, he opened Ashmont Grill in Dorchester - a fun, casual restaurant in his own neighborhood. Last year he followed it up with Tavolo, serving pizza and pasta at a reasonable price point.
Why is this shift occurring? “There’s a self-confidence about American cuisine that maybe when I was starting 30 years ago didn’t really exist,’’ Douglass says. “As American cooks then, we really looked to emulate a European model.’’
Also, people who eat in restaurants are now much more knowledgeable about food. “The idea of somebody being a foodie, 20 years ago I never really heard anybody say that. Now it’s cool. You can be 20 years old and be a foodie who’s into pork belly. That wasn’t around when I was starting to cook. Then the patron was well-to-do, traveled, read Gourmet. Now people are much more savvy and hip.’’
Of course, aiming at savvy young hipsters doesn’t guarantee success if a restaurant isn’t built on a solid foundation. “There’s a low barrier to entry in the restaurant business,’’ says restaurant development consultant Michael Staub of Group M Inc. “You need more dollars than sense. A poorly developed plan poorly executed is going to guarantee failure.’’
He cites Z Square, a project he consulted on, as an example. (Owner David Zebny could not be reached for comment.) “Conceptually, it was the right thing for the right place,’’ he says - a casual restaurant catering to students and workers in Harvard, Kenmore, and Post Office squares. But the financial plan did not add up: Rent was high, and there wasn’t enough capital behind the project. It likely wouldn’t have succeeded in any economy.
“A business needs to be well capitalized with real equity, not with debt,’’ Staub says. “If your rent is fixed and typically 8 to 10 percent of sales, and your sales drop off between anywhere from 5 to 20 percent, your rent becomes 15 to 20 to 25 percent of sales. If on top of that all the funding that went into the business is debt and needs to be paid back on a regular basis, it’s unsustainable. If you borrow too much and your rent is too high, you’re going to fail.’’
It’s a simple, undeniable equation, but knowing the math doesn’t make the task easy. Yet as the economy picks back up, so does the restaurant business. And entrepreneurs are once again starting to want in.
“We’re probably the busiest we’ve been in 18 months,’’ says Daniel Newcomb of real estate firm Atlantic Restaurant Group Inc. “We have a number of buyers looking for Boston. We need more inventory. There’s absolutely an abundance of buyers now, more with cash than I’ve ever seen.’’
The money comes from private investors rather than banks, he says, and the people wielding it are often experienced operators who see now as a good time to buy.
Himmel is partnering with London-based restaurant group MARC to open Bistro du Midi this fall. In the former Excelsior space, the Provencal bistro will be much less formal than its predecessor. He will also open Post 390 in the Back Bay in early October. Part of the Clarendon, a new luxury condo building, the casual restaurant will have more than 300 seats and a menu that focuses on modern versions of comfort food; press materials call it an “urban tavern.’’
Among the restaurants expected to open in the coming weeks and months are Trina’s Starlite Lounge, serving hot dogs, fried chicken, and other reasonably priced comfort fare in Inman Square; Coppa, an Italian wine bar with snacks, small plates, and pizza made from local ingredients; Regal Beagle, a self-titled “neighborhood joint’’ in Coolidge Corner serving upscale comfort food; and Woodward, in the new Ames hotel, which partner Seth Greenberg has described as a “modern tavern.’’
“There is no fine dining coming into the market now,’’ Newcomb says. “Everything is casual, everything is lounge, everything is medium range.’’
That seems to be what diners are most looking for these days. Restaurant closures are difficult, but they make room for the kind of food people want to eat right now.
“There are new restaurants, new chefs, new spaces becoming available,’’ says Kovel. “There’s a cycle of evolution in the city.’’
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
W Hotel may benefit from Government loan
HUD OK's $69.7m in loan guarantees for the Hub
September 22, 2009 11:50 AM
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is approving a $69.7 million loan guarantee to the city of Boston that will create a revolving loan pool that aims to kick-start stalled real estate development projects and stimulate the hiring of nearly 2,000 full-time workers.
"The city of Boston will create the Boston Invests in Growth Loan Fund, a program intended to boost commercial real estate development throughout the city by offering gap financing for projects in the $10 million to $15 million range," the department said in a press release.
Among local projects that are likely to benefit from this program are the $10 million construction of the new W Hotel, the construction of the Shops at Riverwood, and a plan by Pappas Enterprises and Gloria Foods to facilitate the opening of a new neighborhood market in South Boston, the department said.
In its release, the department noted that its Section 108 Loan Guarantee Assistance Program looks to enable local governments to borrow money at reduced interest rates to promote economic development, stimulate job growth, and improve public facilities. (Globe Staff)
September 22, 2009 11:50 AM
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is approving a $69.7 million loan guarantee to the city of Boston that will create a revolving loan pool that aims to kick-start stalled real estate development projects and stimulate the hiring of nearly 2,000 full-time workers.
"The city of Boston will create the Boston Invests in Growth Loan Fund, a program intended to boost commercial real estate development throughout the city by offering gap financing for projects in the $10 million to $15 million range," the department said in a press release.
Among local projects that are likely to benefit from this program are the $10 million construction of the new W Hotel, the construction of the Shops at Riverwood, and a plan by Pappas Enterprises and Gloria Foods to facilitate the opening of a new neighborhood market in South Boston, the department said.
In its release, the department noted that its Section 108 Loan Guarantee Assistance Program looks to enable local governments to borrow money at reduced interest rates to promote economic development, stimulate job growth, and improve public facilities. (Globe Staff)
Stadiums and hotels issued terrorist alert
Stadiums, hotels warned to watch for terrorists
AP
By DEVLIN BARRETT and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett And Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writers – Tue Sep 22, 10:45 am ET
WASHINGTON – Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorist interest in attacking stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels — the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
In the two bulletins — sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press — officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems.
The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaida training manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of the organization.
"While DHS and FBI have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to remind transit authorities to remain vigilant," Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said Monday night.
Separately, law enforcement officials said a Colorado man may have been planning with others to detonate backpack bombs on New York City trains in a terrorism plot similar to past attacks on London's and Madrid's mass-transit systems.
The investigation and the earlier warning about mass transit system have already prompted officials around the nation to step up patrols.
Two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation told The Associated Press late Monday that more than a half-dozen individuals were being scrutinized in the alleged plot.
In a statement, the FBI says that "several individuals in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere" are being investigated.
Investigators say Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born immigrant who is a shuttle van driver at the Denver airport, played a direct role in the terror plot that unraveled after an overnight 1,600-mile trip from Denver to New York City around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He made his first court appearance Monday and remains behind bars.
Zazi and two other defendants have not been charged with any terrorism counts, only the relatively minor offense of lying to the government. But the case could grow to include more serious charges as the investigation proceeds.
Backpacks and cell phones were seized last week from apartments in Queens, where Zazi visited.
Zazi has publicly denied being involved in a terror plot, and defense lawyer Arthur Folsom dismissed as "rumor" any notion that his client played a crucial role.
Publicly, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said they are unaware of a specific time or target for any attacks. Privately, officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case said investigators have worried most about the possible use of backpack bombs on New York City trains, similar to attacks carried out in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004.
Backpack bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. On July 7 the next year, bombing attacks in London killed 52 subway and bus commuters.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned that improvised explosive devices are the most common tactic to blow up railroads and other mass transit systems overseas. And they noted incidents in which bombs were made with peroxide.
In the bulletin, obtained by The AP, officials recommended that transit systems conduct random sweeps at terminals and stations and that law enforcement make random patrols and board some trains and buses.
The effects of the warning were not immediately clear Monday. New York's transit agency said it was in touch with an FBI-NYPD task force but wouldn't comment further.
The task force feared Zazi may have been involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Investigators said they found notes on bomb-making instructions that appear to match Zazi's handwriting, and discovered his fingerprints on materials — batteries and a scale — that could be used to make explosives. He also made a trip to Pakistan last year in which he received al-Qaida explosives and weapons training, the government said.
Zazi, a legal resident of the U.S. who immigrated in 1999, told the FBI that he must have unintentionally downloaded the notes on bomb-making as part of a religious book and that he deleted the book "after realizing that its contents discussed jihad."
A strange sequence of events began to unfold nearly two weeks ago when Zazi — already under surveillance by federal agents — rented a car in Colorado and made the 1,600-mile trek across the heartland to New York. He told reporters that he went to New York to resolve an issue with a coffee cart he owned.
He was briefly stopped entering the city as part of what was believed to be a routine drug check, and proceeded to his friend's place in Queens. Once there, his car was towed and authorities confiscated his computer. He was told by an NYPD informant that detectives were asking about him, and decided to cut the trip short and fly back to Colorado, authorities said.
Their surveillance blown and their main suspect flying back to Colorado, officials speeded up the investigation and launched raids on several Queens apartments in a search for evidence of explosives.
Zazi and his 53-year-old father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, were arrested Saturday in Denver. Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, was arrested in New York, where he is an imam at a mosque in Queens. The three are accused of making false statements to the government. If convicted, they face eight years in prison.
Afzali was ordered held without bail after prosecutors said they believed he might flee if released. He smiled and blew kisses to his wife and other relatives before deputy marshals led him out of the courtroom.
His attorney, Ron Kuby, accused authorities of trying to make Afzali a scapegoat for a botched investigation. Kuby told reporters outside court that before Afzali's arrest, authorities had begged him to help them in the Zazi investigation. He said his client knew he was being recorded, and never tried to mislead the FBI.
"They blew their own investigation and now they're trying to blame my client," he said.
Zazi's father is accused of lying when he told authorities he didn't know anyone by the name of Afzali. The FBI said it recorded a conversation between Mohammed Zazi and Afzali.
AP
By DEVLIN BARRETT and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writers Devlin Barrett And Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writers – Tue Sep 22, 10:45 am ET
WASHINGTON – Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorist interest in attacking stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels — the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
In the two bulletins — sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press — officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems.
The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaida training manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of the organization.
"While DHS and FBI have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to remind transit authorities to remain vigilant," Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said Monday night.
Separately, law enforcement officials said a Colorado man may have been planning with others to detonate backpack bombs on New York City trains in a terrorism plot similar to past attacks on London's and Madrid's mass-transit systems.
The investigation and the earlier warning about mass transit system have already prompted officials around the nation to step up patrols.
Two law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation told The Associated Press late Monday that more than a half-dozen individuals were being scrutinized in the alleged plot.
In a statement, the FBI says that "several individuals in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere" are being investigated.
Investigators say Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born immigrant who is a shuttle van driver at the Denver airport, played a direct role in the terror plot that unraveled after an overnight 1,600-mile trip from Denver to New York City around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He made his first court appearance Monday and remains behind bars.
Zazi and two other defendants have not been charged with any terrorism counts, only the relatively minor offense of lying to the government. But the case could grow to include more serious charges as the investigation proceeds.
Backpacks and cell phones were seized last week from apartments in Queens, where Zazi visited.
Zazi has publicly denied being involved in a terror plot, and defense lawyer Arthur Folsom dismissed as "rumor" any notion that his client played a crucial role.
Publicly, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said they are unaware of a specific time or target for any attacks. Privately, officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case said investigators have worried most about the possible use of backpack bombs on New York City trains, similar to attacks carried out in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004.
Backpack bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. On July 7 the next year, bombing attacks in London killed 52 subway and bus commuters.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned that improvised explosive devices are the most common tactic to blow up railroads and other mass transit systems overseas. And they noted incidents in which bombs were made with peroxide.
In the bulletin, obtained by The AP, officials recommended that transit systems conduct random sweeps at terminals and stations and that law enforcement make random patrols and board some trains and buses.
The effects of the warning were not immediately clear Monday. New York's transit agency said it was in touch with an FBI-NYPD task force but wouldn't comment further.
The task force feared Zazi may have been involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Investigators said they found notes on bomb-making instructions that appear to match Zazi's handwriting, and discovered his fingerprints on materials — batteries and a scale — that could be used to make explosives. He also made a trip to Pakistan last year in which he received al-Qaida explosives and weapons training, the government said.
Zazi, a legal resident of the U.S. who immigrated in 1999, told the FBI that he must have unintentionally downloaded the notes on bomb-making as part of a religious book and that he deleted the book "after realizing that its contents discussed jihad."
A strange sequence of events began to unfold nearly two weeks ago when Zazi — already under surveillance by federal agents — rented a car in Colorado and made the 1,600-mile trek across the heartland to New York. He told reporters that he went to New York to resolve an issue with a coffee cart he owned.
He was briefly stopped entering the city as part of what was believed to be a routine drug check, and proceeded to his friend's place in Queens. Once there, his car was towed and authorities confiscated his computer. He was told by an NYPD informant that detectives were asking about him, and decided to cut the trip short and fly back to Colorado, authorities said.
Their surveillance blown and their main suspect flying back to Colorado, officials speeded up the investigation and launched raids on several Queens apartments in a search for evidence of explosives.
Zazi and his 53-year-old father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, were arrested Saturday in Denver. Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, was arrested in New York, where he is an imam at a mosque in Queens. The three are accused of making false statements to the government. If convicted, they face eight years in prison.
Afzali was ordered held without bail after prosecutors said they believed he might flee if released. He smiled and blew kisses to his wife and other relatives before deputy marshals led him out of the courtroom.
His attorney, Ron Kuby, accused authorities of trying to make Afzali a scapegoat for a botched investigation. Kuby told reporters outside court that before Afzali's arrest, authorities had begged him to help them in the Zazi investigation. He said his client knew he was being recorded, and never tried to mislead the FBI.
"They blew their own investigation and now they're trying to blame my client," he said.
Zazi's father is accused of lying when he told authorities he didn't know anyone by the name of Afzali. The FBI said it recorded a conversation between Mohammed Zazi and Afzali.
Hertz Tops List of Companies that could go bankrupt
Ten Big Companies That Are Veering Toward Bankruptcy
Posted Sep 18, 2009 12:21pm EDT by Vincent Fernando and Joe Weisenthal in Investing, Media, Products and Trends, Recession
From The Business Insider, Sept. 18, 2009:
Despite a few green shoots in the economy and a rocketing stock market, many large companies are still struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
A new report by Audit Integrity identifies some high-profile names "that have the highest probability of declaring bankruptcy among publicly traded firms."
Which companies appear the worst off? We took the list and removed any company with a market cap under $3 billion. We then ranked the remaining names by a simple measure of the market's perceived bankruptcy risk - Market Cap (MC) divided by Enterprise Value (EV). The less MC vs. EV, the less residual shareholders' value (above what debt holders can claim) the market is pricing-in for the company. Thus a lower MC/EV means the market thinks the company is more likely to go bankrupt.
1. Hertz
When you have tons of debt financing your fleet of cars, falling rental demand really hurts.
While the company raised new capital in May for some breathing room, Fitch and Moody’s actually cut their ratings for the company in July.
Ignoring the downgrade, shares kept rallying and are now at over five times the March $2 low. Best of luck.
Market Cap (MC)/Enterprise Value (EV) = 32%
Posted Sep 18, 2009 12:21pm EDT by Vincent Fernando and Joe Weisenthal in Investing, Media, Products and Trends, Recession
From The Business Insider, Sept. 18, 2009:
Despite a few green shoots in the economy and a rocketing stock market, many large companies are still struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
A new report by Audit Integrity identifies some high-profile names "that have the highest probability of declaring bankruptcy among publicly traded firms."
Which companies appear the worst off? We took the list and removed any company with a market cap under $3 billion. We then ranked the remaining names by a simple measure of the market's perceived bankruptcy risk - Market Cap (MC) divided by Enterprise Value (EV). The less MC vs. EV, the less residual shareholders' value (above what debt holders can claim) the market is pricing-in for the company. Thus a lower MC/EV means the market thinks the company is more likely to go bankrupt.
1. Hertz
When you have tons of debt financing your fleet of cars, falling rental demand really hurts.
While the company raised new capital in May for some breathing room, Fitch and Moody’s actually cut their ratings for the company in July.
Ignoring the downgrade, shares kept rallying and are now at over five times the March $2 low. Best of luck.
Market Cap (MC)/Enterprise Value (EV) = 32%
MBTA upgrades system maps
MBTA upgrades maps, some 40 years old
September 21, 2009 12:38 PM
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The MBTA began a two-year effort this morning to upgrade its rapid transit maps -- known as spider maps -- in its stations, along with some neighborhood maps that haven't been upgraded in more than 40 years.
The new spider maps show 15 key bus routes, for the first time, along with subway lines, commuter rail lines, and the Silver Line enhanced bus service. The first map went up today in Government Center station. Eventually, the new maps will go up in every subway, commuter rail stop, trolley stop, and bus terminal. Smaller maps with a few less details will go up in subways and trains.
The T replaces old route maps every few years, but this is the first major systemwide upgrade in a long time, though officials could not say exactly how long.
The neighborhood map that was also replaced in Government Center had not changed since 1967, when the station was known primarily as Scollay Square. It showed, for example, the old elevated highway where the Rose Kennedy Greenway now sits, as well as a planned linear office building near Faneuil Hall that instead became the Holocaust Memorial.
The new spider maps still have a few quirks -- including showing a Silver Line link between from Washington Street to South Station that will not be in service until next month. "Would you prefer we put up maps now and then again in a month?" said Joe Pesaturo, MBTA spokesman, in response to a question about potential confusion. "It's already been over 40 years."
The map replacement project is expected to take two years and cost a total of $500,000 -- including labor and production, Pesaturo said.
September 21, 2009 12:38 PM
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The MBTA began a two-year effort this morning to upgrade its rapid transit maps -- known as spider maps -- in its stations, along with some neighborhood maps that haven't been upgraded in more than 40 years.
The new spider maps show 15 key bus routes, for the first time, along with subway lines, commuter rail lines, and the Silver Line enhanced bus service. The first map went up today in Government Center station. Eventually, the new maps will go up in every subway, commuter rail stop, trolley stop, and bus terminal. Smaller maps with a few less details will go up in subways and trains.
The T replaces old route maps every few years, but this is the first major systemwide upgrade in a long time, though officials could not say exactly how long.
The neighborhood map that was also replaced in Government Center had not changed since 1967, when the station was known primarily as Scollay Square. It showed, for example, the old elevated highway where the Rose Kennedy Greenway now sits, as well as a planned linear office building near Faneuil Hall that instead became the Holocaust Memorial.
The new spider maps still have a few quirks -- including showing a Silver Line link between from Washington Street to South Station that will not be in service until next month. "Would you prefer we put up maps now and then again in a month?" said Joe Pesaturo, MBTA spokesman, in response to a question about potential confusion. "It's already been over 40 years."
The map replacement project is expected to take two years and cost a total of $500,000 -- including labor and production, Pesaturo said.
Hyatt to aid laid off workers
Hyatt to help laid off workers find jobs and extend benefits
September 21, 2009 06:24 PM E-Mail|
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is creating a task force to assist the 98 housekeepers who were fired from the three Boston-area Hyatt hotels last month, according to a statement the company released yesterday.
The hotel company is extending the housekeepers' health care benefits -- originally set to expire at the end of September -- until the end of the year. Hyatt also said it has committed to helping each of the dismissed housekeepers find a new job, "utilizing every commercially reasonable means available." Farley Kern, a Hyatt spokeswoman, said the company had not yet worked out the details.
Hyatt has been caught in a firestorm of public criticism since a front page story in the Globe revealed that the hotel company laid off the staff housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and Hyatt Harborside Hotel on Aug. 31, citing challenging economic conditions, and replaced them with lower-paid workers from the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions.
The housekeepers said they were asked to train the staffing company's employees, an assertion that the staffing company denies. The move to outsource housekeepers -- generally the largest part of a hotel's payroll -- is an unusual one in the hotel industry, and there has been an outpouring of support for the fired workers, including a rally organized by the local hotel workers' union and politicians calling for boycotts of the Hyatt.
The Hyatt statement included a quote from Phil Stamm, general manager of Hyatt Regency Boston: “We deeply regret whenever staff reductions are necessary. Throughout this difficult period we have treated our employees with dignity and respect, but certainly have not adequately communicated that commitment to the Boston community. The additional outplacement support initiatives we are providing through our task force underscore our concern for our affected employees.”
Fired housekeeper Lucine Williams, who worked at the Hyatt Regency Boston for nearly 22 years, was grateful for the additional three months of health care but worried about her job prospects. "For them to extend the benefits until the end of the year is a pretty good thing, but what happens then afterward?" she said.
September 21, 2009 06:24 PM E-Mail|
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is creating a task force to assist the 98 housekeepers who were fired from the three Boston-area Hyatt hotels last month, according to a statement the company released yesterday.
The hotel company is extending the housekeepers' health care benefits -- originally set to expire at the end of September -- until the end of the year. Hyatt also said it has committed to helping each of the dismissed housekeepers find a new job, "utilizing every commercially reasonable means available." Farley Kern, a Hyatt spokeswoman, said the company had not yet worked out the details.
Hyatt has been caught in a firestorm of public criticism since a front page story in the Globe revealed that the hotel company laid off the staff housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and Hyatt Harborside Hotel on Aug. 31, citing challenging economic conditions, and replaced them with lower-paid workers from the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions.
The housekeepers said they were asked to train the staffing company's employees, an assertion that the staffing company denies. The move to outsource housekeepers -- generally the largest part of a hotel's payroll -- is an unusual one in the hotel industry, and there has been an outpouring of support for the fired workers, including a rally organized by the local hotel workers' union and politicians calling for boycotts of the Hyatt.
The Hyatt statement included a quote from Phil Stamm, general manager of Hyatt Regency Boston: “We deeply regret whenever staff reductions are necessary. Throughout this difficult period we have treated our employees with dignity and respect, but certainly have not adequately communicated that commitment to the Boston community. The additional outplacement support initiatives we are providing through our task force underscore our concern for our affected employees.”
Fired housekeeper Lucine Williams, who worked at the Hyatt Regency Boston for nearly 22 years, was grateful for the additional three months of health care but worried about her job prospects. "For them to extend the benefits until the end of the year is a pretty good thing, but what happens then afterward?" she said.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Designers suggests ways to improve stall project sites in Boston
Visions and revisions
We asked designers to suggest ways to spruce up stalled building projects around the city. Practical and whimsical alike, the results are a far cry from Boston’s buttoned-down norm.
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | September 20, 2009
There is no telling when a building will rise again at the stalled Filene’s redevelopment, so the city’s architects are filling the void with a few ideas of their own: One is proposing to use the site for a makeshift movie theater, another envisions an exhibit for 1950s neon signs, and still another imagines a towering vertical garden to grow algae for alternative fuels.
The ideas are not restrained by considerations of practicality or cost, and they are not meant to be. They represent an effort to do something creative with a landscape marred by a prolonged slump in commercial building. At stalled work sites, architects and planners are seeking to create forums for artistic expression and experimentation, transforming weed-strewn lots into places where people could pause to enjoy intriguing urban scenery, or at least walk their dogs.
“The idea is to breathe new life into these projects at a time when people would really appreciate it,’’ said Shauna Gillies-Smith, a landscape architect who proposed a medicinal garden for an empty site in the Longwood Med ical Area. “It’s about signaling a present and future commitment to the public realm.’’
At the request of the Globe, Gillies-Smith and nearly 20 other architects and designers submitted proposals for enlivening idled sites across the city. The $700 million Filene’s redevelopment, because of its prominent location downtown, drew the most responses. But proposals were also produced for the $800 million Columbus Center development, Harvard University’s $1 billion science center in Allston, and a $300 million biotechnology laboratory at the corner of Longwood and Brookline avenues.
While some submissions are whimsical, others propose straightforward improvements such as basic lighting improvements or graphics to upgrade dull construction fencing. At Columbus Center, principals of Schweppie Lighting Design Inc. proposed covering a fence with panels that change color as people pass by. At Harvard, John Powell suggested covering the fence in a video screen with images of Allston’s past and renderings of how development could change it in the future.
The fixes range in cost from $300,000 to $1.2 million. Together, they urge developers and city officials to break from Boston’s insistence on the traditional and consider bold displays that are more common in cities such as Tokyo or New York. At the least, said Tim Love, a principal of design firm Utile Inc., developers have an obligation to see that stalled projects don’t become eyesores.
“Any landowner has a civic responsibility to make their property look attractive,’’ Love said. “If a homeowner has a weed-filled front yard or leaves trash out, they would face penalties in most municipalities.’’
Other cities are adopting an array of solutions to the construction slump. In Miami, officials are renting idled sites from developers for $1 a year and making temporary parks of them. In Seattle, one developer of a stalled 15-story office building volunteered to build a fountain, benches, and landscaping, while another allowed local food vendors to set up at the proposed site of a hotel he hasn’t been able to build.
A New York City business association solicited proposals for art installations at four work sites. The installations include a large mural, a series of ink and graphite drawings on a construction barricade, and a covering for 400 feet of Jersey barriers emblazoned with flowers and other colorful images.
Boston officials are now mulling whether to install temporary dressings at several sites. The Boston Redevelopment Authority asked developer John B. Hynes III to cover the two half-demolished buildings on his Filene’s site with large screens. Hynes and city officials are considering whether to print graphics or other designs on the screens.
The BRA is also consulting with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority about restoring the land at the Columbus Center site. And it is collaborating with the Blackstone Group on a project to install permanent sculptures in and around the lobbies of several buildings the company is renovating downtown.
“There’s not a lack of ideas being batted around,’’ said Kairos Shen, the BRA’s chief planner. “The problem is, how do you implement them? The reason these installations seldom get off the ground is there is no money to pay for them.’’
In most cases, the burden of paying for temporary installations falls on the developer. Builders already don’t have the money restart construction, so they are reluctant to find and spend as much as $1 million for aesthetic improvements.
“I’m not averse to landscaping and creating something unique, but by the time you take down the fencing and mobilize to do the work, we hopefully will be ready to proceed with our development,’’ said Tom Alperin, chief executive of National Development, which stopped construction last fall on the Longwood biotech lab.
The Globe received two proposals from urban designers for the Longwood site, one a landscaped park with a raised plaza and walkways across the property; and the proposal by Gillies-Smith for a medicinal garden with echinacea, begonias, and other plants intended to evoke the healing theme of the neighborhood.
Alperin said it would be too much work to accommodate either proposal in the time frame he’s working with. He said he hopes to resume construction within 18 months.
Some architects and designers urged the city to consider new regulations to help pay for art installations. Josh Barandon, chief executive of Squared Design LLC of Los Angeles, said the city should consider levying a penalty on developers who leave their sites dormant for prolonged periods.
“In our opinion, such a penalty is both logical and feasible, especially in light of the current situation at Downtown Crossing,’’ said Barandon, whose firm collaborated with Howeler + Yoon of Boston to create a vertical garden at Filene’s to grow algae for the production of alternative fuel.
Love, the principal of Utile, said the city could require developers to buy insurance that would pay for aesthetic improvements in case financial problems forced them to stop construction.
“If developers want to play in this city and take risks, one of the risks they have to mitigate is the chance that the economy might collapse between permitting and construction,’’ he said.
But advocates for the commercial building industry said putting more demands on developers will only stifle building that the city should be trying to stimulate. “To financially penalize developers trying to hold onto their projects is ludicrous at a time like this,’’ said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate trade group. “We have a unique circumstance in the financial markets. If you try to put in place regulations because of that, it could have unintended consequences for future growth.’’
Hynes, the Filene’s developer, doesn’t know when he’ll be able to resume construction. In the meantime, as he prepares screens to protect the two buildings on the site this winter, Hynes said he is willing to consider incorporating art but is more focused on the functional than the fanciful.
“Priority one is to protect the structure of the buildings, and priority two is the aesthetics,’’ he said. “We’re not predisposed to anything, but the hope for us is that whatever we end up doing, the emphasis is on temporary.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
We asked designers to suggest ways to spruce up stalled building projects around the city. Practical and whimsical alike, the results are a far cry from Boston’s buttoned-down norm.
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | September 20, 2009
There is no telling when a building will rise again at the stalled Filene’s redevelopment, so the city’s architects are filling the void with a few ideas of their own: One is proposing to use the site for a makeshift movie theater, another envisions an exhibit for 1950s neon signs, and still another imagines a towering vertical garden to grow algae for alternative fuels.
The ideas are not restrained by considerations of practicality or cost, and they are not meant to be. They represent an effort to do something creative with a landscape marred by a prolonged slump in commercial building. At stalled work sites, architects and planners are seeking to create forums for artistic expression and experimentation, transforming weed-strewn lots into places where people could pause to enjoy intriguing urban scenery, or at least walk their dogs.
“The idea is to breathe new life into these projects at a time when people would really appreciate it,’’ said Shauna Gillies-Smith, a landscape architect who proposed a medicinal garden for an empty site in the Longwood Med ical Area. “It’s about signaling a present and future commitment to the public realm.’’
At the request of the Globe, Gillies-Smith and nearly 20 other architects and designers submitted proposals for enlivening idled sites across the city. The $700 million Filene’s redevelopment, because of its prominent location downtown, drew the most responses. But proposals were also produced for the $800 million Columbus Center development, Harvard University’s $1 billion science center in Allston, and a $300 million biotechnology laboratory at the corner of Longwood and Brookline avenues.
While some submissions are whimsical, others propose straightforward improvements such as basic lighting improvements or graphics to upgrade dull construction fencing. At Columbus Center, principals of Schweppie Lighting Design Inc. proposed covering a fence with panels that change color as people pass by. At Harvard, John Powell suggested covering the fence in a video screen with images of Allston’s past and renderings of how development could change it in the future.
The fixes range in cost from $300,000 to $1.2 million. Together, they urge developers and city officials to break from Boston’s insistence on the traditional and consider bold displays that are more common in cities such as Tokyo or New York. At the least, said Tim Love, a principal of design firm Utile Inc., developers have an obligation to see that stalled projects don’t become eyesores.
“Any landowner has a civic responsibility to make their property look attractive,’’ Love said. “If a homeowner has a weed-filled front yard or leaves trash out, they would face penalties in most municipalities.’’
Other cities are adopting an array of solutions to the construction slump. In Miami, officials are renting idled sites from developers for $1 a year and making temporary parks of them. In Seattle, one developer of a stalled 15-story office building volunteered to build a fountain, benches, and landscaping, while another allowed local food vendors to set up at the proposed site of a hotel he hasn’t been able to build.
A New York City business association solicited proposals for art installations at four work sites. The installations include a large mural, a series of ink and graphite drawings on a construction barricade, and a covering for 400 feet of Jersey barriers emblazoned with flowers and other colorful images.
Boston officials are now mulling whether to install temporary dressings at several sites. The Boston Redevelopment Authority asked developer John B. Hynes III to cover the two half-demolished buildings on his Filene’s site with large screens. Hynes and city officials are considering whether to print graphics or other designs on the screens.
The BRA is also consulting with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority about restoring the land at the Columbus Center site. And it is collaborating with the Blackstone Group on a project to install permanent sculptures in and around the lobbies of several buildings the company is renovating downtown.
“There’s not a lack of ideas being batted around,’’ said Kairos Shen, the BRA’s chief planner. “The problem is, how do you implement them? The reason these installations seldom get off the ground is there is no money to pay for them.’’
In most cases, the burden of paying for temporary installations falls on the developer. Builders already don’t have the money restart construction, so they are reluctant to find and spend as much as $1 million for aesthetic improvements.
“I’m not averse to landscaping and creating something unique, but by the time you take down the fencing and mobilize to do the work, we hopefully will be ready to proceed with our development,’’ said Tom Alperin, chief executive of National Development, which stopped construction last fall on the Longwood biotech lab.
The Globe received two proposals from urban designers for the Longwood site, one a landscaped park with a raised plaza and walkways across the property; and the proposal by Gillies-Smith for a medicinal garden with echinacea, begonias, and other plants intended to evoke the healing theme of the neighborhood.
Alperin said it would be too much work to accommodate either proposal in the time frame he’s working with. He said he hopes to resume construction within 18 months.
Some architects and designers urged the city to consider new regulations to help pay for art installations. Josh Barandon, chief executive of Squared Design LLC of Los Angeles, said the city should consider levying a penalty on developers who leave their sites dormant for prolonged periods.
“In our opinion, such a penalty is both logical and feasible, especially in light of the current situation at Downtown Crossing,’’ said Barandon, whose firm collaborated with Howeler + Yoon of Boston to create a vertical garden at Filene’s to grow algae for the production of alternative fuel.
Love, the principal of Utile, said the city could require developers to buy insurance that would pay for aesthetic improvements in case financial problems forced them to stop construction.
“If developers want to play in this city and take risks, one of the risks they have to mitigate is the chance that the economy might collapse between permitting and construction,’’ he said.
But advocates for the commercial building industry said putting more demands on developers will only stifle building that the city should be trying to stimulate. “To financially penalize developers trying to hold onto their projects is ludicrous at a time like this,’’ said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate trade group. “We have a unique circumstance in the financial markets. If you try to put in place regulations because of that, it could have unintended consequences for future growth.’’
Hynes, the Filene’s developer, doesn’t know when he’ll be able to resume construction. In the meantime, as he prepares screens to protect the two buildings on the site this winter, Hynes said he is willing to consider incorporating art but is more focused on the functional than the fanciful.
“Priority one is to protect the structure of the buildings, and priority two is the aesthetics,’’ he said. “We’re not predisposed to anything, but the hope for us is that whatever we end up doing, the emphasis is on temporary.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Pazzo review
Pazzo is far from crazy-good
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, September 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
PAZZO: C
I’ve been a fan of Bill Bradley since the Napa-trained chef put Bricco in the North End on the culinary map more than a decade ago. Bradley went on to cook at Carmen, and then oversaw the expansion of the Rustic Kitchen chain. Most recently, he was at Incontro Restaurant & Lounge in Franklin.
Now, Bradley is behind the stove at Pazzo (Italian for crazy) on Newbury Street. It’s not nearly as good as you would expect from a cook of his caliber.
Oh, the lengthy Italian menu reads promisingly. And you have to love the affordable prices (entrees top out at $24) and equally affordable wine list. But dinner on two separate visits was a series of hits and misses.
I loved the homemade sausage and herbed ricotta pizzetta ($12) with its light, chewy crust. I also liked Venetian-style fritto misto ($12) fried squid, rock shrimp, baccala and haricots verts, presented in a wooden salt cod box with spicy aioli for dipping.
Our server enthusiastically recommends the wild-boar Bolognese ($18), a thick and savory sauce, speckled with bits of pancetta. Embarrassingly, it’s served over penne that’s overcooked and limp.
You can taste only peas in an asparagus risotto ($21) accompanied by a three-pea salute - peas, tendrils and puree - and four seared scallops. What’s with the slice of warm tangerine tucked under the tendrils on top?
There’s a sloppiness to this kitchen that surprises me.
We can all forgive roast chicken at home when the thigh meat is juicy but the breast meat is dry. You can’t forgive it dining out. Pazzo’s spicy roasted chicken ($18) is a not-very-spicy fiasco of overdone breast, moist thigh and mushroom-tossed Sardinian couscous.
It’s not often this lover of chile peppers complains about heat. But the spicy lobster broth in the pan-roasted local cod aqua pazza ($19) is so spicy it masks the taste of the fish.
Dishearteningly desiccated veal parmesan ($19) topped with melted homemade mozzarella is as lackluster a version of the Italian-American classic as I can imagine. At least the side of linguine in marinara sauce is al dente.
You’ll be happier with braciola ($17), a compact meatloaf rolled around a hard-boiled egg and prosciutto. It’s humble, homey and delish with a dollop of sweet-and-sour tomato jam.
You can drink decent vino on the cheap at Pazzo. I appreciate that. With the chicken and cod, we enjoyed a young, tart 2008 La Valentina Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Rose for $24. A ruby-red 2006 Donna Laura Alteo Chianti DOCG ($28) pairs well with the veal and braciola.
Warm chocolate cake, creme brulee, tiramisu, pear tart and gelato. Could there be any more boring (and not especially Italian) dessertselection? The pear tart ($8) slathered with almond paste is soggy. Admirably, the tiramisu ($8) doesn’t stint on mascarpone or rum.
Pazzo is located in the former Croma space between Fairfield and Gloucester streets. It covers two large rooms on two floors with a popular sidewalk patio out front. Inside are brick walls, black leatherette banquettes, white tile floors and battery-operated votive candles on each table.
The lighting is so dim, some patrons pop the faux candles from out of their glass holders to use as flashlights.
The wait staff needs training. One night we never received bread or white-bean spread. When the hostess who showed us to our seats mispronounced the name of the restaurant, I winced.
269 Newbury St. (Back Bay). 617-267-2996; pazzoboston.com.
Price: More than $40
Hours: Mon.-Thurs., noon-10 p.m.; Fri., noon-11 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession Specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby garages, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1198197
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, September 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
PAZZO: C
I’ve been a fan of Bill Bradley since the Napa-trained chef put Bricco in the North End on the culinary map more than a decade ago. Bradley went on to cook at Carmen, and then oversaw the expansion of the Rustic Kitchen chain. Most recently, he was at Incontro Restaurant & Lounge in Franklin.
Now, Bradley is behind the stove at Pazzo (Italian for crazy) on Newbury Street. It’s not nearly as good as you would expect from a cook of his caliber.
Oh, the lengthy Italian menu reads promisingly. And you have to love the affordable prices (entrees top out at $24) and equally affordable wine list. But dinner on two separate visits was a series of hits and misses.
I loved the homemade sausage and herbed ricotta pizzetta ($12) with its light, chewy crust. I also liked Venetian-style fritto misto ($12) fried squid, rock shrimp, baccala and haricots verts, presented in a wooden salt cod box with spicy aioli for dipping.
Our server enthusiastically recommends the wild-boar Bolognese ($18), a thick and savory sauce, speckled with bits of pancetta. Embarrassingly, it’s served over penne that’s overcooked and limp.
You can taste only peas in an asparagus risotto ($21) accompanied by a three-pea salute - peas, tendrils and puree - and four seared scallops. What’s with the slice of warm tangerine tucked under the tendrils on top?
There’s a sloppiness to this kitchen that surprises me.
We can all forgive roast chicken at home when the thigh meat is juicy but the breast meat is dry. You can’t forgive it dining out. Pazzo’s spicy roasted chicken ($18) is a not-very-spicy fiasco of overdone breast, moist thigh and mushroom-tossed Sardinian couscous.
It’s not often this lover of chile peppers complains about heat. But the spicy lobster broth in the pan-roasted local cod aqua pazza ($19) is so spicy it masks the taste of the fish.
Dishearteningly desiccated veal parmesan ($19) topped with melted homemade mozzarella is as lackluster a version of the Italian-American classic as I can imagine. At least the side of linguine in marinara sauce is al dente.
You’ll be happier with braciola ($17), a compact meatloaf rolled around a hard-boiled egg and prosciutto. It’s humble, homey and delish with a dollop of sweet-and-sour tomato jam.
You can drink decent vino on the cheap at Pazzo. I appreciate that. With the chicken and cod, we enjoyed a young, tart 2008 La Valentina Cerasuolo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Rose for $24. A ruby-red 2006 Donna Laura Alteo Chianti DOCG ($28) pairs well with the veal and braciola.
Warm chocolate cake, creme brulee, tiramisu, pear tart and gelato. Could there be any more boring (and not especially Italian) dessertselection? The pear tart ($8) slathered with almond paste is soggy. Admirably, the tiramisu ($8) doesn’t stint on mascarpone or rum.
Pazzo is located in the former Croma space between Fairfield and Gloucester streets. It covers two large rooms on two floors with a popular sidewalk patio out front. Inside are brick walls, black leatherette banquettes, white tile floors and battery-operated votive candles on each table.
The lighting is so dim, some patrons pop the faux candles from out of their glass holders to use as flashlights.
The wait staff needs training. One night we never received bread or white-bean spread. When the hostess who showed us to our seats mispronounced the name of the restaurant, I winced.
269 Newbury St. (Back Bay). 617-267-2996; pazzoboston.com.
Price: More than $40
Hours: Mon.-Thurs., noon-10 p.m.; Fri., noon-11 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession Specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby garages, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1198197
Cape Cod Bridge work to delay traffic for months to come
The Boston Globe
Second lane to open on bridge, easing Cape Cod commute
By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent | September 20, 2009
Cape Cod visitors and commuters, who have been frustrated recently by traffic backups due to construction on the Sagamore Bridge, will get a respite as they head off-Cape today when the US Army Corps of Engineers frees up a second lane on the span.
The Corps recently closed one of the two outbound lanes on the bridge for repairs. But the agency will suspend work and reopen the second lane at 11 a.m. today. The work suspension will end at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
The 23-hour hiatus comes after a week of traffic jams that forced some to wait up to an hour to get off the Cape. The Corps is repairing the bridge deck and repaving the lanes.
Corps spokesman Tim Dugan said engineers are on a tight schedule because they need to finish the job before their federal stimulus funding expires in September 2010. But engineers discovered that they could give drivers a break without falling behind.
“We’re trying to accommodate motorists. We realize it’s an inconvenience,’’ he said. “Our engineers are confident we can make the time up.’’
After the deadline tomorrow morning, the outbound side will shrink back to one lane. Workers have also closed one of the bridge’s two inbound lanes, but the backups on that side haven’t been as severe.
Repair work is expected to continue around the clock through the fall, weather permitting. Engineers hope to finish the job by late spring, before vacationers head to the area.
Dugan said it was unclear if this halt in construction might be repeated
“This might just be a one-time deal,’’ he said. “We’re just going to look at it week to week to see if we can open the lanes up again down the road.’’
Pam Santry, manager of the British Beer Co. in Sandwich, said the delays have significantly affected her restaurant’s business in an already lackluster tourist season.
“Usually, we stay pretty busy because a lot of people wait until after Labor Day to come to the Cape,’’ she said. “It’s been very slow in here, and I know it’s because of the bridge work. People just don’t want to come.’’
Local and state authorities have been deluged with complaints regarding the delays. Jeff Larson, general manager of traffic information company SmartRoutes, said there’s very little that can be done about the backups.
“The work needs to be done,’’ he said. “It’s just a part of life. The bridge needs to be fixed.’’
Santry said she appreciated that the work suspension would allow people to get off the Cape for the end of the weekend, but was skeptical about the effect it would have on the overall problem.
“It’s good to know that people can move tomorrow,’’ she said. “But in the end it’s just that - it’s just tomorrow.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Second lane to open on bridge, easing Cape Cod commute
By Emma Rose Johnson, Globe Correspondent | September 20, 2009
Cape Cod visitors and commuters, who have been frustrated recently by traffic backups due to construction on the Sagamore Bridge, will get a respite as they head off-Cape today when the US Army Corps of Engineers frees up a second lane on the span.
The Corps recently closed one of the two outbound lanes on the bridge for repairs. But the agency will suspend work and reopen the second lane at 11 a.m. today. The work suspension will end at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
The 23-hour hiatus comes after a week of traffic jams that forced some to wait up to an hour to get off the Cape. The Corps is repairing the bridge deck and repaving the lanes.
Corps spokesman Tim Dugan said engineers are on a tight schedule because they need to finish the job before their federal stimulus funding expires in September 2010. But engineers discovered that they could give drivers a break without falling behind.
“We’re trying to accommodate motorists. We realize it’s an inconvenience,’’ he said. “Our engineers are confident we can make the time up.’’
After the deadline tomorrow morning, the outbound side will shrink back to one lane. Workers have also closed one of the bridge’s two inbound lanes, but the backups on that side haven’t been as severe.
Repair work is expected to continue around the clock through the fall, weather permitting. Engineers hope to finish the job by late spring, before vacationers head to the area.
Dugan said it was unclear if this halt in construction might be repeated
“This might just be a one-time deal,’’ he said. “We’re just going to look at it week to week to see if we can open the lanes up again down the road.’’
Pam Santry, manager of the British Beer Co. in Sandwich, said the delays have significantly affected her restaurant’s business in an already lackluster tourist season.
“Usually, we stay pretty busy because a lot of people wait until after Labor Day to come to the Cape,’’ she said. “It’s been very slow in here, and I know it’s because of the bridge work. People just don’t want to come.’’
Local and state authorities have been deluged with complaints regarding the delays. Jeff Larson, general manager of traffic information company SmartRoutes, said there’s very little that can be done about the backups.
“The work needs to be done,’’ he said. “It’s just a part of life. The bridge needs to be fixed.’’
Santry said she appreciated that the work suspension would allow people to get off the Cape for the end of the weekend, but was skeptical about the effect it would have on the overall problem.
“It’s good to know that people can move tomorrow,’’ she said. “But in the end it’s just that - it’s just tomorrow.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Minuteman National Historical Park Celebrates 50th anniversary
Historical park celebrates 50th anniversary
By Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondent | September 20, 2009
CONCORD - Near the entryway of the wooden house, a woman sat with a black shawl over her shoulders and a bonnet covering her hair. The corset tightened around her waist forced an erect posture.
A few people entered through the open doorway and she smiled at them, pressing the counter in her hand once for each person. Surrounded by the trappings of an 18th-century Colonial home, replete with the proper dishware and linens, it was the only modern item in sight.
Hannah Rodgers, 23, doesn’t typically dress in a bed jacket - what she calls the “boxers and T-shirt of the era’’ - when she leaves her home. But as an intern at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, she will be donning Colonial garb for the park’s 50th anniversary celebrations, running today through next weekend. She expects a couple thousand to attend the gala ceremony tonight, the first anniversary gala held by the park.
“We get people from everywhere,’’ the Travers City, Mich., native said of the park. “It’s extremely significant, not only to Americans, but all over the world.’’
The Hartwell Tavern, where Rodgers was stationed, usually is the only house open on Battle Road Trail, the path through the area where the battle of Concord took place. But on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., all 10 of the Colonial homes on the trail will be open.
At the Hartwell Tavern, another person stationed in full Colonial get-up was Polly Kienle, 42, of Lexington.
Kienle has researched the home in order to be able to explain its history. During her investigation, she uncovered new information, such as when the house was built and details about the family that lived there, which she said she is excited to share with visitors.
Speaking of the park’s 50th anniversary, Kienle said, “the big push for the next 50 years is education [of the public].’’ On Saturday, she will be stationed at the Jacob Whittemore House on the Battle Road Trail.
As Rodgers greeted visitors to the Hartwell Tavern, she was ready to explain what a certain Colonial tool was or the story of how John, Isaac, and Sam Hartwell fought as Minutemen during the battle. It’s the history of the park that makes it so significant to those who work there and those who visit, they all explained.
“It’s stories,’’ Rodgers said. “All of this is a great story.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Terri Schwartz, Globe Correspondent | September 20, 2009
CONCORD - Near the entryway of the wooden house, a woman sat with a black shawl over her shoulders and a bonnet covering her hair. The corset tightened around her waist forced an erect posture.
A few people entered through the open doorway and she smiled at them, pressing the counter in her hand once for each person. Surrounded by the trappings of an 18th-century Colonial home, replete with the proper dishware and linens, it was the only modern item in sight.
Hannah Rodgers, 23, doesn’t typically dress in a bed jacket - what she calls the “boxers and T-shirt of the era’’ - when she leaves her home. But as an intern at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, she will be donning Colonial garb for the park’s 50th anniversary celebrations, running today through next weekend. She expects a couple thousand to attend the gala ceremony tonight, the first anniversary gala held by the park.
“We get people from everywhere,’’ the Travers City, Mich., native said of the park. “It’s extremely significant, not only to Americans, but all over the world.’’
The Hartwell Tavern, where Rodgers was stationed, usually is the only house open on Battle Road Trail, the path through the area where the battle of Concord took place. But on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., all 10 of the Colonial homes on the trail will be open.
At the Hartwell Tavern, another person stationed in full Colonial get-up was Polly Kienle, 42, of Lexington.
Kienle has researched the home in order to be able to explain its history. During her investigation, she uncovered new information, such as when the house was built and details about the family that lived there, which she said she is excited to share with visitors.
Speaking of the park’s 50th anniversary, Kienle said, “the big push for the next 50 years is education [of the public].’’ On Saturday, she will be stationed at the Jacob Whittemore House on the Battle Road Trail.
As Rodgers greeted visitors to the Hartwell Tavern, she was ready to explain what a certain Colonial tool was or the story of how John, Isaac, and Sam Hartwell fought as Minutemen during the battle. It’s the history of the park that makes it so significant to those who work there and those who visit, they all explained.
“It’s stories,’’ Rodgers said. “All of this is a great story.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
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