Discord at Symphony 8
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, April 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
SYMPHONY 8: D
Location. Location. Location. Many concertgoers headed to Symphony Hall are stopping beforehand at Symphony 8. It’s the new tavern around the corner in the old Tiger Lily location on Westland Avenue.
You can choose from two menus: bistro/comfort and Irish pub. But be forewarned: The food (assuming what you want is even available) is riddled with missteps. Dinner is dishearteningly disappointing.
From the bistro menu, spicy Asian skillet roasted clams ($10) taste more steamed than roasted. And they’re not at all spicy, surrounded by coconut milk speckled with diced peppers and served with aramekin of bottled Thai sweet-chili sauce and triangles of cold, store-bought naan.
Brussels’ mussels ($11) in beer aren’t much better. They’re overcooked and rubbery with scarcely enough bland, not-especially-beery broth to dunk thin slices of scali bread.
Baked four-cheese macaroni ($13) is a soupy mess of orecchiette pasta, mozzarella, american, cheddar and muenster that is more cream than cheese and lacks discernable seasoning - particularly salt.
Ordering at Symphony 8 isn’t easy. On my first visit, the kitchen was out of the Jamaican-jerk-rubbed pork loin and veggie dogs. On a second visit several days later, they were out of the filet mignon, beer-battered fish and chips, chili, tuna Nicoise and four of the seven sandwich options.
You’d think an industrious manager would replenish supplies from the Whole Foods Market [WFMI] across the street.
I could eat only a few bites of chicken Killarney ($16), which the menu appetizingly hypes as “boneless breast of chicken stuffed with Irish bacon and cheddar coated in crumbs and cooked till golden brown.” In reality, the outside of the chicken flirted with burnt while the center was sushi-raw. A scoop of mashed potatoes were delicious; sauteed baby carrots,inedibly salty.
I liked the actual fish in Tuxedo halibut ($18) - so named because the fillet is coated in black-and-white sesame seeds. And I liked the asparagus garnish. I didn’t like the pasty “sticky coconut rice cake” under the fish and gloppy, saccharine-sweet citrus sauce that overwhelms everything else on the plate.
Dishes from the Siansa 8 pub menu showed marginal improvement.
A Margharita (sic) pizza ($9) topped with tomato sauce, torn basil and fresh mozzarella is innocuous enough - although the thick crust is undercooked and gooey inside.
Shepard’s (sic) pie ($11) is a piping-hot casserole of ground beef, carrots, corn and peas in thickened, thyme-intense and oddly sugary gravy beneath a mashed potato crown. It’s forgettable.
You’ll be slightly happier with the “full” Irish breakfast, available all day, everyday. For $11 you get black and white puddings, ice-cold bacon, sausage links, a fistful of tater tots and baked beans. Plus, two greasy eggs, sunny side up, plopped onto a hunk of Irish soda bread.
Less is always more. The open-face green-chili tuna melt ($8) blanketed with pepper jack on sourdough was the best thing we ate. Just ignore the limp fries alongside.
Portions are indisputably generous.
Thirsty? Skip the pedestrian, nonvintage wine list in favor of cocktails, a 50-plus suds selection and flights of Scotch, bourbon and Irish whiskeys.
The sole homemade dessert is a fudgy, baked-to-order brownie souffle ($7) not unlike chocolate pudding cake. Vanilla ice cream on top will cost you an extra $2.
Symphony 8 is minimally decorated in shades of brick, beet and ebony with framed photographs on the walls.
Service is cursory - as in no water, no bread and dirty plates are belatedly bussed.
Looking to party? Admission to Prohibited, the cellar “speak-easy” open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m., is only via password, posted on Facebook.
8 Westland Ave.;
617-267-1200; symphony8boston.com.
Price: $20-$40
Hours: Daily, 11 a.m.-midnight (bar open until
2 a.m.)
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: On street, nearby garages
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1251145
Friday, April 30, 2010
Boston arts non profits resist higher payment to city
Arts bigs, Hub haggle over money
Groups reluctant to up payments to city
By Richard Weir | Friday, April 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Hub arts honchos are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from museums and cultural institutions whose tax-exempt properties are worth hundreds of millions - even as they balk at the mayor’s call to pay their fair share for city services.
Jill Medvedow, who scores $350,000 as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, said: “While the ICA recognizes that the current economy has hit the city’s tax revenues and created a deficit, we do not believe that taxing nonprofits is the answer.”
The city’s cultural institutions were put on notice by a task force commissioned by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to get tax-exempt institutions to chip in more to the cash-starved city.
“The principle here was in fairness,” said Stephen Kidder, the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) task force’s chair. “If it was fair for the hospitals and colleges, then it should be fair for the other institutions.”
The top institutions targeted are:
Museum of Fine Arts’ real estate empire, which includes 18 Hub properties valued at $239 million; director Malcolm A. Rogers pulled in $591,592.
Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Back Bay property, which is assessed at nearly $22 million; managing director Mark Volpe’s salary is almost $555,000.
New England Aquarium’s waterfront property, which is worth nearly $104 million; its president,Howard Ris, earned almost $275,000.
Boston Children’s Museum, which is on a Fort Point Channel parcel valued at nearly $30 million; its former president made nearly $200,000.
The ICA, which rests on choice waterfront property valued at more than $38 million.
Their property values are currently being reassessed, said Ronald Rakow, Boston’s assessing commissioner.
Under the new plan, all nonprofits with property worth $15 million or more will be asked to make a voluntary payment based on 12.5 to 25 percent of their assessment.
Using current assessments as a rough benchmark, the MFA would be asked to pay $1.7 million.
Rogers declined repeated requests for interviews, but an MFA spokeswoman said the museum has been reimbursing the city for services since 1988 and will contribute $64,000 as a PILOT payment this year.
Likewise, the BSO ponied up an $82,629 PILOT payment, an amount that could nearly double based on the new formula.
“Anything above and beyond what we’re already paying would make an already challenging fiscal environment significantly more difficult,” Volpe said.
The Children’s Museum did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Aquarium, which could face a PILOT payment of more than $700,000, was noncommital.
“We received the PILOT correspondence from the city just a few business days ago. This proposal is fairly complex and unprecedented. It will require extensive study on the Aquarium’s part,” said spokesman Tony LaCasse.
Medvedow of the ICA argued that cultural establishments help keep Boston competitive by providing jobs, serving residents and attracting tourists. Imposing a PILOT payment, she said, would “threaten the ability of organizations, like the ICA, to fulfill their missions.”
Taxpayer advocates give that argument a chilly reception.
“I don’t see any reason to give a tax break to museums or colleges, which not everyone uses,” said Barbara Anderson, head of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “Every tax break means somebody else is paying their share.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1251194
Groups reluctant to up payments to city
By Richard Weir | Friday, April 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Hub arts honchos are raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from museums and cultural institutions whose tax-exempt properties are worth hundreds of millions - even as they balk at the mayor’s call to pay their fair share for city services.
Jill Medvedow, who scores $350,000 as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, said: “While the ICA recognizes that the current economy has hit the city’s tax revenues and created a deficit, we do not believe that taxing nonprofits is the answer.”
The city’s cultural institutions were put on notice by a task force commissioned by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to get tax-exempt institutions to chip in more to the cash-starved city.
“The principle here was in fairness,” said Stephen Kidder, the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) task force’s chair. “If it was fair for the hospitals and colleges, then it should be fair for the other institutions.”
The top institutions targeted are:
Museum of Fine Arts’ real estate empire, which includes 18 Hub properties valued at $239 million; director Malcolm A. Rogers pulled in $591,592.
Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Back Bay property, which is assessed at nearly $22 million; managing director Mark Volpe’s salary is almost $555,000.
New England Aquarium’s waterfront property, which is worth nearly $104 million; its president,Howard Ris, earned almost $275,000.
Boston Children’s Museum, which is on a Fort Point Channel parcel valued at nearly $30 million; its former president made nearly $200,000.
The ICA, which rests on choice waterfront property valued at more than $38 million.
Their property values are currently being reassessed, said Ronald Rakow, Boston’s assessing commissioner.
Under the new plan, all nonprofits with property worth $15 million or more will be asked to make a voluntary payment based on 12.5 to 25 percent of their assessment.
Using current assessments as a rough benchmark, the MFA would be asked to pay $1.7 million.
Rogers declined repeated requests for interviews, but an MFA spokeswoman said the museum has been reimbursing the city for services since 1988 and will contribute $64,000 as a PILOT payment this year.
Likewise, the BSO ponied up an $82,629 PILOT payment, an amount that could nearly double based on the new formula.
“Anything above and beyond what we’re already paying would make an already challenging fiscal environment significantly more difficult,” Volpe said.
The Children’s Museum did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Aquarium, which could face a PILOT payment of more than $700,000, was noncommital.
“We received the PILOT correspondence from the city just a few business days ago. This proposal is fairly complex and unprecedented. It will require extensive study on the Aquarium’s part,” said spokesman Tony LaCasse.
Medvedow of the ICA argued that cultural establishments help keep Boston competitive by providing jobs, serving residents and attracting tourists. Imposing a PILOT payment, she said, would “threaten the ability of organizations, like the ICA, to fulfill their missions.”
Taxpayer advocates give that argument a chilly reception.
“I don’t see any reason to give a tax break to museums or colleges, which not everyone uses,” said Barbara Anderson, head of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “Every tax break means somebody else is paying their share.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1251194
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Fan Pier Hotel is a long way off, developer Joe Fallon says
Fan Pier may get apartments
Developer eyes 12-story tower
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, April 29, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The developer of Fan Pier said the credit markets are loosening up and the next phase of the stalled project could be three years away.
“Up until now, no one has wanted to talk about lending, but activity has picked up,” said Joseph Fallon, the Fallon Co.’s president and chief executive and developer of the $3 billion waterfront project.
In an interview following a NAIOP trade group forum about retail’s future on the waterfront, Fallon said he is talking with lenders about construction of a 12-story apartment tower. If he can secure the cash, the building would launch the next phase of Fan Pier, which has approval for seven more buildings to complete the three million combined square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. The law firm Fish & Richardson is planning to move into 125,000 square feet of space at One Marina Park Drive, the project’s first office building, but Fallon is seeking tenants for the rest of the 18-story tower.
While construction of a hotel for Fan Pier is a long way off, he said the rental market is “hot” and the need for new condominiums downtown is “not that far away.”
“There’s lots of absorption that has to happen first,” Fallon said, referring to unsold units at 45 Province, the Clarendon, Battery Wharf and the W Hotel and Residences, whose developer declared bankruptcy yesterday. “I’m projecting that will happen in three years and the signals today are very positive.”
George Fantini, chairman of Fantini & Gorga, a real estate financing firm in Boston, said while it’s true that banks and insurance companies are lending, the money is going to refinance existing buildings that are fully leased.
“There’s been a sea change in the last six months with regard to the desire of lenders to refinance loans,” he said. “But money for new construction is not there yet.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1250917
Developer eyes 12-story tower
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, April 29, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The developer of Fan Pier said the credit markets are loosening up and the next phase of the stalled project could be three years away.
“Up until now, no one has wanted to talk about lending, but activity has picked up,” said Joseph Fallon, the Fallon Co.’s president and chief executive and developer of the $3 billion waterfront project.
In an interview following a NAIOP trade group forum about retail’s future on the waterfront, Fallon said he is talking with lenders about construction of a 12-story apartment tower. If he can secure the cash, the building would launch the next phase of Fan Pier, which has approval for seven more buildings to complete the three million combined square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. The law firm Fish & Richardson is planning to move into 125,000 square feet of space at One Marina Park Drive, the project’s first office building, but Fallon is seeking tenants for the rest of the 18-story tower.
While construction of a hotel for Fan Pier is a long way off, he said the rental market is “hot” and the need for new condominiums downtown is “not that far away.”
“There’s lots of absorption that has to happen first,” Fallon said, referring to unsold units at 45 Province, the Clarendon, Battery Wharf and the W Hotel and Residences, whose developer declared bankruptcy yesterday. “I’m projecting that will happen in three years and the signals today are very positive.”
George Fantini, chairman of Fantini & Gorga, a real estate financing firm in Boston, said while it’s true that banks and insurance companies are lending, the money is going to refinance existing buildings that are fully leased.
“There’s been a sea change in the last six months with regard to the desire of lenders to refinance loans,” he said. “But money for new construction is not there yet.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1250917
Soccer Blogger apologizes for Boston Globe posting about Rangers-Celtic game at Fenway
Message from Mark Stokes regarding Celtic-Rangers column
Posted by Staff April 29, 2010 07:22 AM
By Mark Stokes
Mark Stokes is a longtime observer of international soccer who provides occasional commentary and analysis for the Corner Kicks blog.
In reference to the article entitled 'Celtic-Rangers game should be held at Gillette, not Fenway' of April 28, I wish to convey my most sincere apologies for any distress caused to fans of Glagsow Rangers or Glasgow Celtic, or others, many of whom have written to comment.
In reference to the Ibrox disaster of 1971, it is my belief that no one was responsible for this awful tragedy. It was, and remains, a terrible tragedy and its victims will be in my thoughts and prayers henceforth.
It was my intention through this article to convey to the people of Boston the passions of the respective fans, and for balanced reporting purposes, I had intended taking comments from Rangers fans in a subsequent article.
I remain hopeful that the Old Firm will play in the Boston area this summer so the citizens of Boston can experience the atmosphere which is unique to this fixture.
Editor's note: The article referenced here has been removed because of concerns about the content.
Posted by Staff April 29, 2010 07:22 AM
By Mark Stokes
Mark Stokes is a longtime observer of international soccer who provides occasional commentary and analysis for the Corner Kicks blog.
In reference to the article entitled 'Celtic-Rangers game should be held at Gillette, not Fenway' of April 28, I wish to convey my most sincere apologies for any distress caused to fans of Glagsow Rangers or Glasgow Celtic, or others, many of whom have written to comment.
In reference to the Ibrox disaster of 1971, it is my belief that no one was responsible for this awful tragedy. It was, and remains, a terrible tragedy and its victims will be in my thoughts and prayers henceforth.
It was my intention through this article to convey to the people of Boston the passions of the respective fans, and for balanced reporting purposes, I had intended taking comments from Rangers fans in a subsequent article.
I remain hopeful that the Old Firm will play in the Boston area this summer so the citizens of Boston can experience the atmosphere which is unique to this fixture.
Editor's note: The article referenced here has been removed because of concerns about the content.
W Hotel owner files for bankruptcy - Boston Herald
W Hotel Boston owner files for bankruptcy protection
By Greg Turner | Thursday, April 29, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The developer of the W Hotel & Residences in Boston has turned to bankruptcy court to help relieve its debt burden.
SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. The firm, owned by Boston-based Sawyer Enterprises, indicated it needs to buy time to rework its debt.
“Sawyer Enterprises’ goal is to restructure its existing debt and pay its creditors in full, and to continue to operate this project for the long term,” the company said in a statement. “Chapter 11 provides the breathing room to do so.”
Since opening in October, the 28-story W Hotel has had more success in booking its 235 rooms than selling the 123 luxury condominiums on the higher floors of the 28-story Stuart Street tower.
The developer said in its statement that 30 percent of the W Boston Residences, or about 37 condos, have been sold or are under agreement. A check of the Suffolk Registry of Deeds’ online database yesterday turned up 11 sales.
Recent sales ranged in price from $350,000 for a studio to nearly $2 million for a three-bedroom condo.
Boston handed out a $10.5 million loan in July to help the developer complete construction of the $243 million project. The city’s Department of Neighborhood Development said in a statement that the loan “remains secured by the hotel and condo complex, cash collateral and numerous other properties owned by Sawyer.”
The company said it will remain in charge of all operations and that the planned June opening of the Bliss Spa is still expected.
“This (bankruptcy filing) will have no impact on the operation of the W Hotel or the (200-plus) employees of the W hotel, which has been close to full occupancy in April, or affect the ongoing condominium sales,” the company said.
The venture’s largest creditor is Bovis Lend Lease, a construction management firm owed nearly $700,000.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1250970
By Greg Turner | Thursday, April 29, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The developer of the W Hotel & Residences in Boston has turned to bankruptcy court to help relieve its debt burden.
SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. The firm, owned by Boston-based Sawyer Enterprises, indicated it needs to buy time to rework its debt.
“Sawyer Enterprises’ goal is to restructure its existing debt and pay its creditors in full, and to continue to operate this project for the long term,” the company said in a statement. “Chapter 11 provides the breathing room to do so.”
Since opening in October, the 28-story W Hotel has had more success in booking its 235 rooms than selling the 123 luxury condominiums on the higher floors of the 28-story Stuart Street tower.
The developer said in its statement that 30 percent of the W Boston Residences, or about 37 condos, have been sold or are under agreement. A check of the Suffolk Registry of Deeds’ online database yesterday turned up 11 sales.
Recent sales ranged in price from $350,000 for a studio to nearly $2 million for a three-bedroom condo.
Boston handed out a $10.5 million loan in July to help the developer complete construction of the $243 million project. The city’s Department of Neighborhood Development said in a statement that the loan “remains secured by the hotel and condo complex, cash collateral and numerous other properties owned by Sawyer.”
The company said it will remain in charge of all operations and that the planned June opening of the Bliss Spa is still expected.
“This (bankruptcy filing) will have no impact on the operation of the W Hotel or the (200-plus) employees of the W hotel, which has been close to full occupancy in April, or affect the ongoing condominium sales,” the company said.
The venture’s largest creditor is Bovis Lend Lease, a construction management firm owed nearly $700,000.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1250970
Posto review
CHEAP EATS
Creative pizza and more
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Correspondent | April 28, 2010
Many months before the first paying customers would crowd into Posto, even as the owner was awaiting his wood-fired oven and tinkering with pizza dough fermentation, neighbors in Davis Square were already craving a slice. “Mmmmmmm. I’m hungry,’’ opined one Facebook follower last fall. It’s rare that a Somerville restaurant opens to so much anticipation. Then again, this is a new kind of establishment for Somerville.
Posto, which finally opened on a warm weekend earlier this month, with lines stretching out the door, is an upscale pizza parlor that also serves creative antipasti and an extensive array of drinks — and welcomes kids. The owners added sleek furniture and funky floor tiles to the cavernous space, which was last home to Green Tomatoes II. Flames from the pizza oven light the open kitchen. Young diners are given crayons and coloring pages, as well as their own menus.
For grownups, pizza is at the center of the menu, and Posto offers 10, from a basic margherita ($12) to a white arugula pizza ($18) with sliced garlic and hot chilis. The crust of the margherita, topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, is thin but not too crisp, still smoky from the oven. Shiitake ($17; pictured) is one of our favorite pizzas, with a Parmesan cream sauce and lots of the earthy mushrooms, though the cream deflates the crust. We miss the firm wood-fired crust of the less sauce-y pizzas.
On our first visit, just a few nights after Posto opened, the margherita is remarkably salty — so much that even our 4-year-old notices. An early glitch, we decide. When we return a week later, the pizza has normal sodium levels. Three ingredients can be added to any pie: soft farm egg ($3 extra), white anchovies ($3), and prosciutto ($5).
We love a menu with surprises and Posto has a remarkable one: pig’s ears ($7). The appetizer is breaded and fried, not at all chewy, served with a wedge of lime. A salad centered around favas, peas, and green beans ($12) is excellent, full of spring flavors; the peas taste as if they’ve just been plucked from their pods. Posto offers three pastas, including a creamy bucatini amatriciana, pasta with Parmesan and guanciale, a kind of Italian bacon similar to panchetta and made from pork cheeks. Agnolotti dal plin ($14), tiny ravioli filled with veal and chard, are also oversalted one night but otherwise quite good. Regular nightly specials tend to be modest, from roast chicken to spaghetti and meatballs.
Posto doesn’t take reservations, so getting a table on a weekend night may require a wait or a stint at the bar. As the weather warms, Posto plans one more enticement: outdoor tables along Elm Street. Get in line now.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Creative pizza and more
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Correspondent | April 28, 2010
Many months before the first paying customers would crowd into Posto, even as the owner was awaiting his wood-fired oven and tinkering with pizza dough fermentation, neighbors in Davis Square were already craving a slice. “Mmmmmmm. I’m hungry,’’ opined one Facebook follower last fall. It’s rare that a Somerville restaurant opens to so much anticipation. Then again, this is a new kind of establishment for Somerville.
Posto, which finally opened on a warm weekend earlier this month, with lines stretching out the door, is an upscale pizza parlor that also serves creative antipasti and an extensive array of drinks — and welcomes kids. The owners added sleek furniture and funky floor tiles to the cavernous space, which was last home to Green Tomatoes II. Flames from the pizza oven light the open kitchen. Young diners are given crayons and coloring pages, as well as their own menus.
For grownups, pizza is at the center of the menu, and Posto offers 10, from a basic margherita ($12) to a white arugula pizza ($18) with sliced garlic and hot chilis. The crust of the margherita, topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, is thin but not too crisp, still smoky from the oven. Shiitake ($17; pictured) is one of our favorite pizzas, with a Parmesan cream sauce and lots of the earthy mushrooms, though the cream deflates the crust. We miss the firm wood-fired crust of the less sauce-y pizzas.
On our first visit, just a few nights after Posto opened, the margherita is remarkably salty — so much that even our 4-year-old notices. An early glitch, we decide. When we return a week later, the pizza has normal sodium levels. Three ingredients can be added to any pie: soft farm egg ($3 extra), white anchovies ($3), and prosciutto ($5).
We love a menu with surprises and Posto has a remarkable one: pig’s ears ($7). The appetizer is breaded and fried, not at all chewy, served with a wedge of lime. A salad centered around favas, peas, and green beans ($12) is excellent, full of spring flavors; the peas taste as if they’ve just been plucked from their pods. Posto offers three pastas, including a creamy bucatini amatriciana, pasta with Parmesan and guanciale, a kind of Italian bacon similar to panchetta and made from pork cheeks. Agnolotti dal plin ($14), tiny ravioli filled with veal and chard, are also oversalted one night but otherwise quite good. Regular nightly specials tend to be modest, from roast chicken to spaghetti and meatballs.
Posto doesn’t take reservations, so getting a table on a weekend night may require a wait or a stint at the bar. As the weather warms, Posto plans one more enticement: outdoor tables along Elm Street. Get in line now.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Southwest to expand service from Boston
The Boston Globe
Southwest plans to boost Hub service, local staff
By Paul Makishima, Globe Staff | April 28, 2010
Southwest Airlines will continue its aggressive expansion in Boston, with plans to add workers to accommodate the growth of nonstop flights here, which will have more than doubled by early September, a little more than a year since the carrier launched service at Logan International Airport.
The low-cost airline said yesterday that it will begin daily nonstop service to Phoenix, starting Sept. 7, bringing the total number of dailies at Logan to 26 from just 10 last summer. Southwest also said that it would increase its ground operations staff of customer service and ramp workers by 30 to a total of 70.
The single daily flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will mark the sixth nonstop destination offered by the lower-price carrier since it launched service in August to Chicago Midway Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. In September, Dallas-based Southwest said that it would add nonstop flights from Logan to Denver International Airport and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and in February it revealed plans to start service to Philadelphia International Airport in June.
Analysts say that they are not surprised by Southwest’s aggressive expansion here.
“This is fairly typical for Southwest. Start small and expand to feed its hub/key markets,’’ said Henry H. Harteveldt, vice president and principal aviation analyst at Forrester Research. “What Southwest’s actions reflect is simple: It’s successfully attracting more passengers to its flights.’’
Daniel Kasper, head of the transportation practice at the Cambridge office of LECG, an economic and financial consulting firm, agrees that the moves are classic Southwest. But he also thinks the carrier is tailoring its strategy to the Boston market.
“I think it says first that Southwest wants to establish a major presence in Boston and to become the low-cost carrier of choice on key routes to/from Boston before other [low-cost carriers] do so,’’ he said, particularly JetBlue, one of the airline’s biggest rivals at Logan. “In addition, the expansion at Boston continues Southwest’s apparent strategy of establishing a significant presence in northeastern US cit ies.’’
Southwest already offered nonstop service to Arizona’s capital city from T.F. Green, near Providence, and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, N.H. The airline also said yesterday that it would begin flying from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to Phoenix in August.
After adding the Philadelphia flights, which will grow to eight a day before summer’s end, and the Phoenix service, Southwest determined that it needed additional staff at Logan. Massport officials say that Southwest, which occupies two gates in Terminal E and has 40 customer service and ramp workers at Logan, will pick up a third gate by the time it begins flying to the City of Brotherly Love.
“Our plans have really ramped up pretty fast,’’ said Paul Flaningan, a Southwest spokesman.
Separately, federal regulators hit Southwest with a $200,000 fine for breaking rules on bumping passengers from oversold flights, according to the Associated Press. The US Transportation Department lets airlines sell more seats than they have available as some passengers fail to show up, but if too many passengers arrive, the agency requires airlines to first ask for volunteers to give up seats for compensation before bumping passengers. Travelers who involuntarily lose their seats are entitled to compensation and written statements detailing their rights along with an explanation of how the carrier decides who gets bumped.
Paul S. Makishima can be reached at Makishima@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Southwest plans to boost Hub service, local staff
By Paul Makishima, Globe Staff | April 28, 2010
Southwest Airlines will continue its aggressive expansion in Boston, with plans to add workers to accommodate the growth of nonstop flights here, which will have more than doubled by early September, a little more than a year since the carrier launched service at Logan International Airport.
The low-cost airline said yesterday that it will begin daily nonstop service to Phoenix, starting Sept. 7, bringing the total number of dailies at Logan to 26 from just 10 last summer. Southwest also said that it would increase its ground operations staff of customer service and ramp workers by 30 to a total of 70.
The single daily flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will mark the sixth nonstop destination offered by the lower-price carrier since it launched service in August to Chicago Midway Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. In September, Dallas-based Southwest said that it would add nonstop flights from Logan to Denver International Airport and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and in February it revealed plans to start service to Philadelphia International Airport in June.
Analysts say that they are not surprised by Southwest’s aggressive expansion here.
“This is fairly typical for Southwest. Start small and expand to feed its hub/key markets,’’ said Henry H. Harteveldt, vice president and principal aviation analyst at Forrester Research. “What Southwest’s actions reflect is simple: It’s successfully attracting more passengers to its flights.’’
Daniel Kasper, head of the transportation practice at the Cambridge office of LECG, an economic and financial consulting firm, agrees that the moves are classic Southwest. But he also thinks the carrier is tailoring its strategy to the Boston market.
“I think it says first that Southwest wants to establish a major presence in Boston and to become the low-cost carrier of choice on key routes to/from Boston before other [low-cost carriers] do so,’’ he said, particularly JetBlue, one of the airline’s biggest rivals at Logan. “In addition, the expansion at Boston continues Southwest’s apparent strategy of establishing a significant presence in northeastern US cit ies.’’
Southwest already offered nonstop service to Arizona’s capital city from T.F. Green, near Providence, and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, N.H. The airline also said yesterday that it would begin flying from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to Phoenix in August.
After adding the Philadelphia flights, which will grow to eight a day before summer’s end, and the Phoenix service, Southwest determined that it needed additional staff at Logan. Massport officials say that Southwest, which occupies two gates in Terminal E and has 40 customer service and ramp workers at Logan, will pick up a third gate by the time it begins flying to the City of Brotherly Love.
“Our plans have really ramped up pretty fast,’’ said Paul Flaningan, a Southwest spokesman.
Separately, federal regulators hit Southwest with a $200,000 fine for breaking rules on bumping passengers from oversold flights, according to the Associated Press. The US Transportation Department lets airlines sell more seats than they have available as some passengers fail to show up, but if too many passengers arrive, the agency requires airlines to first ask for volunteers to give up seats for compensation before bumping passengers. Travelers who involuntarily lose their seats are entitled to compensation and written statements detailing their rights along with an explanation of how the carrier decides who gets bumped.
Paul S. Makishima can be reached at Makishima@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
W Hotel owner files for bankruptcy
W Hotel’s developer says it is bankrupt
Slow sales dogging upscale complex opened in October
By Casey Ross and Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | April 29, 2010
Just months after opening a 28-story tower in downtown Boston, the owner of the upscale W Boston Hotel and Residences filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, a stunning financial breakdown for a developer that labored for more than a decade, only to open as the hotel market plummeted and condo sales still had not picked up.
Documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Boston by SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC, a subsidiary of Sawyer Enterprises, list liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.
Several months ago, the City of Boston provided a $10.5 million loan the developer said it needed to finish building the $234 million project.
The complex’s troubles began even before its October opening, with Sawyer struggling to pay for furnishings and high-end finishes that guests and condominium buyers expect from the W brand, which emphasizes luxury amenities and aims to cater to trendsetters.
The W’s cash flow troubles grew early this year with slow sales of its high-priced condos. Typically, large hotel complexes rely on quick sales of the condos to allow the expensive hotel operations to establish a foothold in the market.
So far, 12 of the 122 condominiums, or about 10 percent, have been sold, according to Listing Information Network, which tracks downtown Boston sales. Sawyer said more units are under agreement, but with the housing market still unsettled, closing deals for luxury condos remains difficult. The W units have sold for as much as $1.9 million for a three-bedroom and $345,000 for a studio.
In Boston’s Theatre District at the corner of Stuart and Tremont streets, the W is a striking building with a sheer glass face, accented by fluorescent backlighting. It has 235 hotel rooms on its first 15 floors and 122 luxury residences on the top 13. Rooms can cost more than $300 a night.
In a statement yesterday, Sawyer said the condo and hotel operations will not be affected by the bankruptcy filing.
SW Boston developed and owns the complex, but the hotel is operated by a separate company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
“Sawyer Enterprises’ goal is to restructure its existing debt and pay its creditors in full, and to continue to operate this project for the long-term,’’ the company said. “Chapter 11 provides the breathing room to do so.’’
Sawyer Enterprises is run by Carol Sawyer Parks, daughter of taxi magnate Frank Sawyer, former owner of Checker Taxi Co. of Boston.
Sawyer had been trying to develop a hotel complex on the property since the 1990s, and was close to launching one with Loews Hotels in 2001 when the 9/11 attacks sent the economy, and the travel and hospitality industries in particular, into a deep funk.
The city, while long supporting a hotel for the Park Square property, was cautious about backing Sawyer. Last summer, Sawyer executives said they needed the city funding or the complex would not open on time. When it did loan the $10.5 million, Boston required Sawyer to put up several additional properties as collateral, in case of trouble with the W complex.
“We are committed to continuing to work with the W Hotel and other creditors to achieve a speedy resolution to this matter,’’ the Menino administration said in a statement.
Real estate and hotel specialists said the W opened at precisely the wrong time, with the hotel market tanking and the luxury condo market yet to fully rebound from one of the worst downturns in decades. Overall, rates for hotel rooms are down 12 to 15 percent in the Boston area since 2007. Condo sales began to rebound at the beginning of this year, but the W found itself in competition with several other new luxury complexes, including the Clarendon in the Back Bay and 45 Province downtown.
“The business model on which their financing was approved does not work in today’s falling-rate environment,’’ said Pat Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This is not an uncommon event right now.’’
Despite the broader economic turmoil, the W bankruptcy filing was remarkably sudden.
The hotel opened with fanfare last fall. Employees arrived for a 10-day training in trolleys that blared disco music. Stepping onto a purple carpet, the employees were met by a throng of faux paparazzi and a Joan Rivers impersonator. Inside, a tattooed DJ with a braided beard was spinning “Let the Sunshine In.’’
In explaining the touches the W uses to cultivate its air of exclusivity and hipness, such as labeling its housekeepers “stylists,’’ Roger Paull, senior director of brand management, told employees that day: “We’re not really a cult, but by using these words, we give [guests] something that is a little cult-like.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com. Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Slow sales dogging upscale complex opened in October
By Casey Ross and Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | April 29, 2010
Just months after opening a 28-story tower in downtown Boston, the owner of the upscale W Boston Hotel and Residences filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, a stunning financial breakdown for a developer that labored for more than a decade, only to open as the hotel market plummeted and condo sales still had not picked up.
Documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Boston by SW Boston Hotel Venture LLC, a subsidiary of Sawyer Enterprises, list liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.
Several months ago, the City of Boston provided a $10.5 million loan the developer said it needed to finish building the $234 million project.
The complex’s troubles began even before its October opening, with Sawyer struggling to pay for furnishings and high-end finishes that guests and condominium buyers expect from the W brand, which emphasizes luxury amenities and aims to cater to trendsetters.
The W’s cash flow troubles grew early this year with slow sales of its high-priced condos. Typically, large hotel complexes rely on quick sales of the condos to allow the expensive hotel operations to establish a foothold in the market.
So far, 12 of the 122 condominiums, or about 10 percent, have been sold, according to Listing Information Network, which tracks downtown Boston sales. Sawyer said more units are under agreement, but with the housing market still unsettled, closing deals for luxury condos remains difficult. The W units have sold for as much as $1.9 million for a three-bedroom and $345,000 for a studio.
In Boston’s Theatre District at the corner of Stuart and Tremont streets, the W is a striking building with a sheer glass face, accented by fluorescent backlighting. It has 235 hotel rooms on its first 15 floors and 122 luxury residences on the top 13. Rooms can cost more than $300 a night.
In a statement yesterday, Sawyer said the condo and hotel operations will not be affected by the bankruptcy filing.
SW Boston developed and owns the complex, but the hotel is operated by a separate company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
“Sawyer Enterprises’ goal is to restructure its existing debt and pay its creditors in full, and to continue to operate this project for the long-term,’’ the company said. “Chapter 11 provides the breathing room to do so.’’
Sawyer Enterprises is run by Carol Sawyer Parks, daughter of taxi magnate Frank Sawyer, former owner of Checker Taxi Co. of Boston.
Sawyer had been trying to develop a hotel complex on the property since the 1990s, and was close to launching one with Loews Hotels in 2001 when the 9/11 attacks sent the economy, and the travel and hospitality industries in particular, into a deep funk.
The city, while long supporting a hotel for the Park Square property, was cautious about backing Sawyer. Last summer, Sawyer executives said they needed the city funding or the complex would not open on time. When it did loan the $10.5 million, Boston required Sawyer to put up several additional properties as collateral, in case of trouble with the W complex.
“We are committed to continuing to work with the W Hotel and other creditors to achieve a speedy resolution to this matter,’’ the Menino administration said in a statement.
Real estate and hotel specialists said the W opened at precisely the wrong time, with the hotel market tanking and the luxury condo market yet to fully rebound from one of the worst downturns in decades. Overall, rates for hotel rooms are down 12 to 15 percent in the Boston area since 2007. Condo sales began to rebound at the beginning of this year, but the W found itself in competition with several other new luxury complexes, including the Clarendon in the Back Bay and 45 Province downtown.
“The business model on which their financing was approved does not work in today’s falling-rate environment,’’ said Pat Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This is not an uncommon event right now.’’
Despite the broader economic turmoil, the W bankruptcy filing was remarkably sudden.
The hotel opened with fanfare last fall. Employees arrived for a 10-day training in trolleys that blared disco music. Stepping onto a purple carpet, the employees were met by a throng of faux paparazzi and a Joan Rivers impersonator. Inside, a tattooed DJ with a braided beard was spinning “Let the Sunshine In.’’
In explaining the touches the W uses to cultivate its air of exclusivity and hipness, such as labeling its housekeepers “stylists,’’ Roger Paull, senior director of brand management, told employees that day: “We’re not really a cult, but by using these words, we give [guests] something that is a little cult-like.’’
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com. Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Security Concerns expressed over Celtics-Rangers game at Fenway Park
Opinion: Celtic-Rangers game should be held at Gillette, not Fenway
Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff April 27, 2010 09:28 PM
By Mark Stokes
Note: Mark Stokes is a longtime observer of international soccer who contributes occasional commentary and analysis to the Corner Kicks blog.
Concerts, Little League games and father-and-son days have worked at Fenway Park when the Red Sox are not in town, but the proposed Celtic-Rangers game, which could take place on the hallowed ground in July, is wrong on so many levels.
Monumental interest has been generated among local fans since this story aired last week, the brainchild of Sam Kennedy of the Fenway Sports Group. While Kennedy should be commended for his willingness to bring one of the greatest soccer experiences there is to our doorsteps, the reality is that Gillette Stadium is the only sensible option for such an event.
Few who witness an Old Firm game ever forget it – the pride, passion and banter generated at one of the world's biggest derby contests is second to none. Nothing this writer has experienced in the world of sports has ever compared with the rivalry between these clubs – just think of Game 7 of a Sox-Yankees ALCS, and multiply the intensity and multiply again.
For those who've not seen the happenings at Scotland's most passionate affair, a look (on YouTube) at a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is sure to whet the appetite.
The fixture is a perfect fit for the Boston area given that both clubs will be in the United States at the time – Celtic scheduled to meet Manchester United in Toronto on July 16 or 17, while Rangers are reportedly locked into games in Miami and New York.
There’s little doubt that an Old Firm derby at Gillette Stadium would sell out, which raises questions initially about the wisdom of settling for Fenway, a venue half the size of Gillette. Sales of tickets for Gillette would see both clubs gross about $1 million each, which after all, is what had them interested in the first place.
Celtic has tens of thousands of fans across America, with some 13 supporters clubs located from coast to coast. The team will draw on that support and the thousands more traveling from Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and many other parts of the globe. Rangers, the newly minted Scottish champions, are also well catered to Stateside, all of which makes a carnival atmosphere and plenty of revenue for the city of Boston a slam dunk.
All roads point to Gillette Stadium for economic reasons, yet the bigger issue is one of security.
Old Firm contests have been associated with some of the worst violence seen in the game (having narrowly escaped the mayhem visited on north Dublin by Rangers fans in the 80's, I can vouch for that).
While it is recognized that not all Rangers fans involve themselves in extracurricular activity, one can't help wonder how the city of Boston will fare out after a Fenway game, should the Rangers faithful feel the need to express themselves, as they did in Manchester in 2008.
Following their team’s defeat in the UEFA Cup final, the blue clad fans left parts of Manchester in shambles and forced the local constabulary to don full riot gear to restore order.
But Rangers have a long history of violence on their travels, dating back decades. Who can forget their pitch invasion in Barcelona in 1972, which earned the club a one-year ban from European competition?
The same fans brought their particular brand of fanaticism to Romania last year, clashing with police who were forced to use tear gas. Back home last December, the unruly ones saw fit to engage the fans of Hibernian, for which one of their number received a five-month jail sentence and 10-year ban from all football stadia.
With Spanish police reporting Rangers violence in 2006 (Villareal) and 2007 (Barcelona), the list goes on and on, right up to Edinburgh last Sunday, where there was unrest between Rangers and Hibernian fans once again after the Blues won the Scottish title.
Most notably, disaster struck at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium in 1971 following a crush-barrier failure, but it is widely accepted that the tensions between Celtic and Rangers fans played a major part in the 66 deaths that day (many of whom were children).
Celtic by comparison, can be charged with ... well, not much at all. A green and white clad fan invaded the pitch and struck the Vienna goalkeeper at Old Trafford in 1984, after the club was ordered to replay a European game.
If their archrivals have dragged the name of Glasgow through the mud, it must be said that Celtic fans have done their best to restore the good name. Indeed the same Manchester police who struggled to contain the Rangers fans commended Celtic’s for their behavior in a recent friendly vs. Manchester United.
If any evidence was needed as to the pedigree of supporters of the green and white, it surely comes from the Mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirin, who was so moved by Celtic's supporters that he wrote a letter to Glasgow’s Lord Provost Liz Cameron.
Having traveled to that city's Stadio Olimpico for the UEFA Cup final in 2003, Celtic fans, who numbered about 85,000 according to best estimates, just would not fit in the 60,000 seat facility. Thirty-five thousand ticket bearing Scotsmen made it inside the stadium while the remainder watched the game in local bars and parks.
"I would like to send publicly the congratulations of the City of Seville to the fans and, in general, to all the citizens of Glasgow. We hope to see you again in Seville on a similar occasion, when you will surely be luckier on the playing field."
Lord Provost Cameron said: "I am proud and delighted that the Mayor of such a lovely city as Seville has praised the Celtic fans so highly. I was in Seville for the game and saw how the fans created a party atmosphere. The fans were wonderful ambassadors for Glasgow and maintained the city’s good reputation across Europe."
Voicing his concerns about Fenway Park and Rangers fans marauding through Boston afterwards (and in the process giving a big thumbs up to Gillette Stadium), local Celtic Supporters Club chief Billy Ramsey says: “Segregation is going to be a major issue. Maybe if they gave them (Rangers) the bleachers and us the seats it might work.”
All things considered, the assumption must be that the Boston Police will be 'on top of their game' when Celtic and Rangers come to town. The BPD is reserving comment on the game until it is confirmed, I was informed by a department spokesperson on Tuesday.
An historic soccer game at Fenway Park is something we all want, but not at the cost of blood-stained faces, smashed store fronts and police sirens from Kenmore Square to Fanueil Hall. Celtic vs. Rangers at Fenway Park - let's hope it is remembered in years to come for all the right reasons.
Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff April 27, 2010 09:28 PM
By Mark Stokes
Note: Mark Stokes is a longtime observer of international soccer who contributes occasional commentary and analysis to the Corner Kicks blog.
Concerts, Little League games and father-and-son days have worked at Fenway Park when the Red Sox are not in town, but the proposed Celtic-Rangers game, which could take place on the hallowed ground in July, is wrong on so many levels.
Monumental interest has been generated among local fans since this story aired last week, the brainchild of Sam Kennedy of the Fenway Sports Group. While Kennedy should be commended for his willingness to bring one of the greatest soccer experiences there is to our doorsteps, the reality is that Gillette Stadium is the only sensible option for such an event.
Few who witness an Old Firm game ever forget it – the pride, passion and banter generated at one of the world's biggest derby contests is second to none. Nothing this writer has experienced in the world of sports has ever compared with the rivalry between these clubs – just think of Game 7 of a Sox-Yankees ALCS, and multiply the intensity and multiply again.
For those who've not seen the happenings at Scotland's most passionate affair, a look (on YouTube) at a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is sure to whet the appetite.
The fixture is a perfect fit for the Boston area given that both clubs will be in the United States at the time – Celtic scheduled to meet Manchester United in Toronto on July 16 or 17, while Rangers are reportedly locked into games in Miami and New York.
There’s little doubt that an Old Firm derby at Gillette Stadium would sell out, which raises questions initially about the wisdom of settling for Fenway, a venue half the size of Gillette. Sales of tickets for Gillette would see both clubs gross about $1 million each, which after all, is what had them interested in the first place.
Celtic has tens of thousands of fans across America, with some 13 supporters clubs located from coast to coast. The team will draw on that support and the thousands more traveling from Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and many other parts of the globe. Rangers, the newly minted Scottish champions, are also well catered to Stateside, all of which makes a carnival atmosphere and plenty of revenue for the city of Boston a slam dunk.
All roads point to Gillette Stadium for economic reasons, yet the bigger issue is one of security.
Old Firm contests have been associated with some of the worst violence seen in the game (having narrowly escaped the mayhem visited on north Dublin by Rangers fans in the 80's, I can vouch for that).
While it is recognized that not all Rangers fans involve themselves in extracurricular activity, one can't help wonder how the city of Boston will fare out after a Fenway game, should the Rangers faithful feel the need to express themselves, as they did in Manchester in 2008.
Following their team’s defeat in the UEFA Cup final, the blue clad fans left parts of Manchester in shambles and forced the local constabulary to don full riot gear to restore order.
But Rangers have a long history of violence on their travels, dating back decades. Who can forget their pitch invasion in Barcelona in 1972, which earned the club a one-year ban from European competition?
The same fans brought their particular brand of fanaticism to Romania last year, clashing with police who were forced to use tear gas. Back home last December, the unruly ones saw fit to engage the fans of Hibernian, for which one of their number received a five-month jail sentence and 10-year ban from all football stadia.
With Spanish police reporting Rangers violence in 2006 (Villareal) and 2007 (Barcelona), the list goes on and on, right up to Edinburgh last Sunday, where there was unrest between Rangers and Hibernian fans once again after the Blues won the Scottish title.
Most notably, disaster struck at Rangers’ Ibrox Stadium in 1971 following a crush-barrier failure, but it is widely accepted that the tensions between Celtic and Rangers fans played a major part in the 66 deaths that day (many of whom were children).
Celtic by comparison, can be charged with ... well, not much at all. A green and white clad fan invaded the pitch and struck the Vienna goalkeeper at Old Trafford in 1984, after the club was ordered to replay a European game.
If their archrivals have dragged the name of Glasgow through the mud, it must be said that Celtic fans have done their best to restore the good name. Indeed the same Manchester police who struggled to contain the Rangers fans commended Celtic’s for their behavior in a recent friendly vs. Manchester United.
If any evidence was needed as to the pedigree of supporters of the green and white, it surely comes from the Mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirin, who was so moved by Celtic's supporters that he wrote a letter to Glasgow’s Lord Provost Liz Cameron.
Having traveled to that city's Stadio Olimpico for the UEFA Cup final in 2003, Celtic fans, who numbered about 85,000 according to best estimates, just would not fit in the 60,000 seat facility. Thirty-five thousand ticket bearing Scotsmen made it inside the stadium while the remainder watched the game in local bars and parks.
"I would like to send publicly the congratulations of the City of Seville to the fans and, in general, to all the citizens of Glasgow. We hope to see you again in Seville on a similar occasion, when you will surely be luckier on the playing field."
Lord Provost Cameron said: "I am proud and delighted that the Mayor of such a lovely city as Seville has praised the Celtic fans so highly. I was in Seville for the game and saw how the fans created a party atmosphere. The fans were wonderful ambassadors for Glasgow and maintained the city’s good reputation across Europe."
Voicing his concerns about Fenway Park and Rangers fans marauding through Boston afterwards (and in the process giving a big thumbs up to Gillette Stadium), local Celtic Supporters Club chief Billy Ramsey says: “Segregation is going to be a major issue. Maybe if they gave them (Rangers) the bleachers and us the seats it might work.”
All things considered, the assumption must be that the Boston Police will be 'on top of their game' when Celtic and Rangers come to town. The BPD is reserving comment on the game until it is confirmed, I was informed by a department spokesperson on Tuesday.
An historic soccer game at Fenway Park is something we all want, but not at the cost of blood-stained faces, smashed store fronts and police sirens from Kenmore Square to Fanueil Hall. Celtic vs. Rangers at Fenway Park - let's hope it is remembered in years to come for all the right reasons.
Soccer Game at Fenway set for July 21st
Celtic-Rangers at Fenway
Posted by Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff April 23, 2010 02:53 PM
A Celtic-Rangers exhibition match is being set for Fenway Park Wednesday, July 21, a source confirmed Friday.
This would be the first time the two Glasgow clubs have met outside Scotland. Celtic has performed at several venues in the Boston area, including a Fenway Park appearance in 1931.
Rangers (24-2-8, 80 points) leads Celtic (21-7-6, 69 points) in the Scottish Premier League standings and is close to winning its 53d league title. Celtic has won the championship 42 times.
Posted by Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff April 23, 2010 02:53 PM
A Celtic-Rangers exhibition match is being set for Fenway Park Wednesday, July 21, a source confirmed Friday.
This would be the first time the two Glasgow clubs have met outside Scotland. Celtic has performed at several venues in the Boston area, including a Fenway Park appearance in 1931.
Rangers (24-2-8, 80 points) leads Celtic (21-7-6, 69 points) in the Scottish Premier League standings and is close to winning its 53d league title. Celtic has won the championship 42 times.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Louis Boston owner involved in legal dispute as new location opens
Behind the Louis move
As retailer reopens on Fan Pier, owners in legal battle over Back Bay building
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | April 27, 2010
In public, Debi Greenberg sounded like a brave urban pioneer making a beeline to the future. She was taking her famously high-end Newbury Street clothing store, LouisBoston, out of the stodgy old Back Bay and relocating to the edgy South Boston Waterfront, a district more a theory than an actual neighborhood yet.
But behind the scenes, leaving the Back Bay is proving not so easy. Greenberg has been involved in a messy legal fight over the control and value of the old LouisBoston property, an architectural masterpiece from 1862 that once housed the New England Museum of Natural History, and that sits on one of the most enviable pieces of real estate in the city.
According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Suffolk Superior Court, Greenberg is at war with her longtime co-owners of the Back Bay building — Stephen Weiner, one of the region’s most prominent developers, and the daughters of a second co-owner and developer, the late Julian Cohen.
Greenberg is willing to sell her stake in the building — for $8.7 million. But Weiner and the Cohens say that her interest is only worth $5 million and that she is trying to claim a “grossly inflated’’ price based on improperly calculated tax and sales numbers, according to the lawsuit.
Neither Weiner nor Greenberg would comment on their dispute, and the Cohens could not be reached for comment. But associates who know all three parties said the matter has fueled bitter resentment between Weiner and Greenberg.
LouisBoston, a retail icon in the city, moved from Boylston Street to Newbury in the late 1980s. The freestanding three-story building, designed in the French academic style, was a fitting monument to Louis’s high fashion. When Louis opened in its new location in 1989, the Globe called it a “gem of a historic 1860s building surrounded by giants of brash ultramodern 1980s construction,’’ and said its restored quality equaled that of “the expensive clothes that grace its grand rooms.’’
The move was engineered by Debi Greenberg’s father, Murray Pearlstein, who struck up a partnership with Weiner and Cohen to buy the building in 1995. The partnership purchased the building from New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. for $8.2 million, according to Suffolk County property records.
In 2003, Greenberg bought out her father and assumed control of LouisBoston. Her disenchantment with the Back Bay — and with Weiner — began almost immediately, according to associates of both executives.
While the store was at the epicenter of the city’s most exclusive shopping district, Greenberg was never enamored with the location, saying publicly that it represented an outdated notion of luxury and was being hemmed in by national chains.
“I want a home that is my own identity,’’ Greenberg told the Globe in a 2008 interview. “Here on Newbury Street, the stores are all similar. There isn’t anything new anymore. The building next door houses H&M and Victoria’s Secret. It makes this area feel less special and less unique.’’
That viewpoint contrasted sharply with the business ethos of Weiner, whose development firm, SR Weiner & Associates, focused primarily on developing and managing New England shopping malls filled with the kind of chains Greenberg had decried in the Back Bay.
The fight over LouisBoston’s Back Bay building began in late 2009, when Greenberg’s move to leave Newbury triggered a monthslong tussle over the breakup of their partnership and control of building, according to the lawsuit.
Weiner and the Cohens allege in court papers that Greenberg sought to “artificially engineer’’ a dispute — by introducing a third party buyer for the building last November — that would break up the trio’s partnership as she prepared to move to the South Boston waterfront.
Weiner and the Cohens did not agree to the sale of the building for $15 million, but offered to buy Greenberg’s 49 percent stake for $5 million. But Greenberg says that her stake is worth $8.7 million, citing additional money Weiner and the Cohen family owed her for excess rent she paid during their partnership, according to the suit.
Weiner and the Cohens, however, say that Greenberg’s assertion of the excess rent is based on her own miscalculations. For example, the suit says, Greenberg inflated the amount she’s owed by improperly including insurance costs and by misreporting some sales figures.
Greenberg’s lawyer, David Hill, said yesterday that his client has not filed an answer to the complaint and declined to comment further. The Weiners and Cohens are asking the court to take one of two actions: force Greenberg to sell her stake in the building to them for $5 million, or, if the court deems some reimbursement for excess rent is owed, declare the amount asserted by Greenberg “erroneous and overstated’’ and establish the correct amount on which to base the sale.
As the case wends its way through the court, Greenberg last week opened the new LouisBoston — now known as Louis — at the Fan Pier development on the South Boston waterfront.
As Greenberg seeks to start over there, Weiner’s team is trying to pick up the pieces at the store’s former Newbury Street location. Executives with the building’s manager, W/S Development, have said it will take months to rehabilitate the historic building and find a high-end retailer to fill its vacant space.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
As retailer reopens on Fan Pier, owners in legal battle over Back Bay building
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | April 27, 2010
In public, Debi Greenberg sounded like a brave urban pioneer making a beeline to the future. She was taking her famously high-end Newbury Street clothing store, LouisBoston, out of the stodgy old Back Bay and relocating to the edgy South Boston Waterfront, a district more a theory than an actual neighborhood yet.
But behind the scenes, leaving the Back Bay is proving not so easy. Greenberg has been involved in a messy legal fight over the control and value of the old LouisBoston property, an architectural masterpiece from 1862 that once housed the New England Museum of Natural History, and that sits on one of the most enviable pieces of real estate in the city.
According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Suffolk Superior Court, Greenberg is at war with her longtime co-owners of the Back Bay building — Stephen Weiner, one of the region’s most prominent developers, and the daughters of a second co-owner and developer, the late Julian Cohen.
Greenberg is willing to sell her stake in the building — for $8.7 million. But Weiner and the Cohens say that her interest is only worth $5 million and that she is trying to claim a “grossly inflated’’ price based on improperly calculated tax and sales numbers, according to the lawsuit.
Neither Weiner nor Greenberg would comment on their dispute, and the Cohens could not be reached for comment. But associates who know all three parties said the matter has fueled bitter resentment between Weiner and Greenberg.
LouisBoston, a retail icon in the city, moved from Boylston Street to Newbury in the late 1980s. The freestanding three-story building, designed in the French academic style, was a fitting monument to Louis’s high fashion. When Louis opened in its new location in 1989, the Globe called it a “gem of a historic 1860s building surrounded by giants of brash ultramodern 1980s construction,’’ and said its restored quality equaled that of “the expensive clothes that grace its grand rooms.’’
The move was engineered by Debi Greenberg’s father, Murray Pearlstein, who struck up a partnership with Weiner and Cohen to buy the building in 1995. The partnership purchased the building from New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. for $8.2 million, according to Suffolk County property records.
In 2003, Greenberg bought out her father and assumed control of LouisBoston. Her disenchantment with the Back Bay — and with Weiner — began almost immediately, according to associates of both executives.
While the store was at the epicenter of the city’s most exclusive shopping district, Greenberg was never enamored with the location, saying publicly that it represented an outdated notion of luxury and was being hemmed in by national chains.
“I want a home that is my own identity,’’ Greenberg told the Globe in a 2008 interview. “Here on Newbury Street, the stores are all similar. There isn’t anything new anymore. The building next door houses H&M and Victoria’s Secret. It makes this area feel less special and less unique.’’
That viewpoint contrasted sharply with the business ethos of Weiner, whose development firm, SR Weiner & Associates, focused primarily on developing and managing New England shopping malls filled with the kind of chains Greenberg had decried in the Back Bay.
The fight over LouisBoston’s Back Bay building began in late 2009, when Greenberg’s move to leave Newbury triggered a monthslong tussle over the breakup of their partnership and control of building, according to the lawsuit.
Weiner and the Cohens allege in court papers that Greenberg sought to “artificially engineer’’ a dispute — by introducing a third party buyer for the building last November — that would break up the trio’s partnership as she prepared to move to the South Boston waterfront.
Weiner and the Cohens did not agree to the sale of the building for $15 million, but offered to buy Greenberg’s 49 percent stake for $5 million. But Greenberg says that her stake is worth $8.7 million, citing additional money Weiner and the Cohen family owed her for excess rent she paid during their partnership, according to the suit.
Weiner and the Cohens, however, say that Greenberg’s assertion of the excess rent is based on her own miscalculations. For example, the suit says, Greenberg inflated the amount she’s owed by improperly including insurance costs and by misreporting some sales figures.
Greenberg’s lawyer, David Hill, said yesterday that his client has not filed an answer to the complaint and declined to comment further. The Weiners and Cohens are asking the court to take one of two actions: force Greenberg to sell her stake in the building to them for $5 million, or, if the court deems some reimbursement for excess rent is owed, declare the amount asserted by Greenberg “erroneous and overstated’’ and establish the correct amount on which to base the sale.
As the case wends its way through the court, Greenberg last week opened the new LouisBoston — now known as Louis — at the Fan Pier development on the South Boston waterfront.
As Greenberg seeks to start over there, Weiner’s team is trying to pick up the pieces at the store’s former Newbury Street location. Executives with the building’s manager, W/S Development, have said it will take months to rehabilitate the historic building and find a high-end retailer to fill its vacant space.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Monday, April 26, 2010
Chart House parent company to buy Oceanaire
From Indy.com
Landry's seeks to buy Oceanaire
indystar
April 26, 2010 by indystar | Staff
Oceanaire Inc. has a confirmation hearing today in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas where the restaurant operator will ask the judge to approve the Chapter 11 plan and approve the sale of the business to Landry’s Restaurants Inc., according to a Bloomberg report.
There were no other bids at auction April 13. Landry’s will pay $16.8 million of secured debt in full plus $6.6 million for distribution to unsecured creditors and others. The disclosure statement tells unsecured creditors with $4.3 million in claims how they should recover 80 percent under the plan.
Oceanaire was operating 16 high-end seafood restaurants, including one Downtown, on filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in July. The petition said assets and debt were both between $10 million and $50 million.
Landry’s operates restaurants under more than two dozen names, but none are in Indiana. The nearest ones to Indianapolis include the Chart House in Newport, Ky.; the Rainforest Caf restaurants in the Chicago area; and the Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Landry's seeks to buy Oceanaire
indystar
April 26, 2010 by indystar | Staff
Oceanaire Inc. has a confirmation hearing today in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas where the restaurant operator will ask the judge to approve the Chapter 11 plan and approve the sale of the business to Landry’s Restaurants Inc., according to a Bloomberg report.
There were no other bids at auction April 13. Landry’s will pay $16.8 million of secured debt in full plus $6.6 million for distribution to unsecured creditors and others. The disclosure statement tells unsecured creditors with $4.3 million in claims how they should recover 80 percent under the plan.
Oceanaire was operating 16 high-end seafood restaurants, including one Downtown, on filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in July. The petition said assets and debt were both between $10 million and $50 million.
Landry’s operates restaurants under more than two dozen names, but none are in Indiana. The nearest ones to Indianapolis include the Chart House in Newport, Ky.; the Rainforest Caf restaurants in the Chicago area; and the Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Somerville restaurant owners' fight lands them in court
The Boston Globe
A hard-boiled rivalry
Cafe owners come to blows in Somerville square
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | April 26, 2010
SOMERVILLE — Mike Moccia and Yasser Mirza just don’t get along. Make that: They detest each other.
The two own side-by-side breakfast nooks in Somerville’s burgeoning Ball Square, and their rivalry — of food and vitriol — is the stuff of neighborhood lore.
Separated by only a wall, Mirza, of Sound Bites Cafe, and Moccia, of the next-door Ball Square Cafe, have spent the past three years hurling insults and accusations at each other while serving up nearly identical menus of stuffed French toast, gourmet omelettes, and muffins. Restaurant inspectors, police, and the mayor’s office are all long-familiar with the feud. Even the Travel Channel heard of it and sought recently to capitalize on their animosity with a breakfast wars cook-off.
But now, the rivalry has come to blows. Outside their restaurants one recent afternoon, one attacked the other. Moccia said he punched his rival after Mirza spat on him. Mirza said Moccia beat him up for no reason. He has filed an assault complaint and hired a lawyer. Somerville officials, along with Ball Square business leaders, are desperately seeking ways to repair the relationship.
“It’s so sad that this has degenerated to the Hatfields and the McCoys and the Civil War,’’ said Jack Connolly, a longtime Somerville alderman who has frequented both establishments and knows both men.
The feud dates at least to 2007, when there was no Ball Square Cafe and Mirza, a Syrian immigrant, was doing a booming business with Sound Bites. At the time, his restaurant was in the space now occupied by Ball Square Cafe, and Mirza rented from landlords who happened to be Moccia’s parents. Facing a rent increase, Mirza says, he was forced to move. He bought the space next door and started over.
Moccia, meanwhile, had been working at the nearby Victor’s Deli, also owned by his parents. He says he had been looking for a change. And shortly after Mirza moved out, Moccia opened his restaurant in the space. He lured away Mirza’s prized chef, Omar Djebbouri, made him a business partner, and began serving breakfast, putting on the menu a number of Mirza’s offerings.
“I was inspired by Yasser,’’ Moccia said. “He had a great business. I just saw how hot breakfast was, and it seemed like it was the thing to do.’’
Both men, by all accounts, do a land-office business, attracting crowds that line up outside both restaurants, and Mirza says his continuing success has irked Moccia.
“He doesn’t like that I’m successful,’’ said Mirza, “even though he took my cook and stole my menu.’’
Despite their similarities, Sound Bites and Ball Square cafes have distinctly different feels. Ball Square is narrow, with cafe-style seating and an open kitchen and iron art work on the walls. Sound Bites is about twice the size, with a family feel and a bar at one end. Unlike Ball Square Cafe, which serves only breakfast, Sound Bites also serves lunch and dinner.
Those who know them say Moccia and Mirza are cut from the same cloth. Both are ferociously hardworking men who started as dishwashers and worked their way up. Both are stubborn and hot-tempered.
Nearby merchants who live amid the acrimony have kept their distance, carefully avoiding remarks or gossip that might give the appearance of slighting either man.
“It’s complicated,’’ said one store owner, who spoke on the condition her name not be published for fear of getting caught in the middle.
Still, peacemakers have tried quietly to intervene. “There have been a lot of people trying to get them to meet in the middle,’’ said Bill Galatis, owner of Lyndell’s bakery, who knows both men. “I hope they can resolve their difference because the square is big enough for all of us.’’
Not surprisingly, Moccia and Mirza disagree on who instigated the brawl that sent a crowd into the streets prying the two apart. Moccia, 38, of Medford, said he was walking by Mirza’s store one Saturday afternoon earlier this month when his rival, without provocation, threatened to spit at Moccia’s parents.
“He said, I’m [going to] spit on your mother and father,’’ said Moccia, mimicking Mirza’s accent. “I said, ‘Don’t do it. If you do it, [I will] hurt you.’ ’’ He said Mirza then spat on him and lunged at him. Moccia said he fought back.
“I’m a human being,’’ Moccia said, sitting in his cafe in his habitual black shirt. “I don’t deserve to be spat on.’’
Mirza, 47, of Somerville, said Moccia was piping mad that Mirza had pulled out of the Travel Channel’s breakfast wars cook-off program, canceling the show. Mirza said he never said anything about Moccia’s parents and never spat on his rival.
“He just came out of nowhere and beat me up,’’ Mirza said of Moccia. Standing outside his home recently, he showed a blackened right eye, scrapes on his forehead, and lifted his sweater to point to a bruise on his back. “He had no right to punch someone in the face,’’ he said. “You are just not allowed to hit people.’’
Asked whether he and Mirza could ever resolve their differences, Moccia seemed uncertain. “I don’t know,’’ he said. That seemed to be the opinion of others who have tried to patch over the men’s differences.
“We tried more than a couple of times to get a meeting of the minds here,’’ said Connolly, the alderman. “Let’s be gentlemanly here. You don’t have to like each other. Just tolerate each other.’’
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
A hard-boiled rivalry
Cafe owners come to blows in Somerville square
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | April 26, 2010
SOMERVILLE — Mike Moccia and Yasser Mirza just don’t get along. Make that: They detest each other.
The two own side-by-side breakfast nooks in Somerville’s burgeoning Ball Square, and their rivalry — of food and vitriol — is the stuff of neighborhood lore.
Separated by only a wall, Mirza, of Sound Bites Cafe, and Moccia, of the next-door Ball Square Cafe, have spent the past three years hurling insults and accusations at each other while serving up nearly identical menus of stuffed French toast, gourmet omelettes, and muffins. Restaurant inspectors, police, and the mayor’s office are all long-familiar with the feud. Even the Travel Channel heard of it and sought recently to capitalize on their animosity with a breakfast wars cook-off.
But now, the rivalry has come to blows. Outside their restaurants one recent afternoon, one attacked the other. Moccia said he punched his rival after Mirza spat on him. Mirza said Moccia beat him up for no reason. He has filed an assault complaint and hired a lawyer. Somerville officials, along with Ball Square business leaders, are desperately seeking ways to repair the relationship.
“It’s so sad that this has degenerated to the Hatfields and the McCoys and the Civil War,’’ said Jack Connolly, a longtime Somerville alderman who has frequented both establishments and knows both men.
The feud dates at least to 2007, when there was no Ball Square Cafe and Mirza, a Syrian immigrant, was doing a booming business with Sound Bites. At the time, his restaurant was in the space now occupied by Ball Square Cafe, and Mirza rented from landlords who happened to be Moccia’s parents. Facing a rent increase, Mirza says, he was forced to move. He bought the space next door and started over.
Moccia, meanwhile, had been working at the nearby Victor’s Deli, also owned by his parents. He says he had been looking for a change. And shortly after Mirza moved out, Moccia opened his restaurant in the space. He lured away Mirza’s prized chef, Omar Djebbouri, made him a business partner, and began serving breakfast, putting on the menu a number of Mirza’s offerings.
“I was inspired by Yasser,’’ Moccia said. “He had a great business. I just saw how hot breakfast was, and it seemed like it was the thing to do.’’
Both men, by all accounts, do a land-office business, attracting crowds that line up outside both restaurants, and Mirza says his continuing success has irked Moccia.
“He doesn’t like that I’m successful,’’ said Mirza, “even though he took my cook and stole my menu.’’
Despite their similarities, Sound Bites and Ball Square cafes have distinctly different feels. Ball Square is narrow, with cafe-style seating and an open kitchen and iron art work on the walls. Sound Bites is about twice the size, with a family feel and a bar at one end. Unlike Ball Square Cafe, which serves only breakfast, Sound Bites also serves lunch and dinner.
Those who know them say Moccia and Mirza are cut from the same cloth. Both are ferociously hardworking men who started as dishwashers and worked their way up. Both are stubborn and hot-tempered.
Nearby merchants who live amid the acrimony have kept their distance, carefully avoiding remarks or gossip that might give the appearance of slighting either man.
“It’s complicated,’’ said one store owner, who spoke on the condition her name not be published for fear of getting caught in the middle.
Still, peacemakers have tried quietly to intervene. “There have been a lot of people trying to get them to meet in the middle,’’ said Bill Galatis, owner of Lyndell’s bakery, who knows both men. “I hope they can resolve their difference because the square is big enough for all of us.’’
Not surprisingly, Moccia and Mirza disagree on who instigated the brawl that sent a crowd into the streets prying the two apart. Moccia, 38, of Medford, said he was walking by Mirza’s store one Saturday afternoon earlier this month when his rival, without provocation, threatened to spit at Moccia’s parents.
“He said, I’m [going to] spit on your mother and father,’’ said Moccia, mimicking Mirza’s accent. “I said, ‘Don’t do it. If you do it, [I will] hurt you.’ ’’ He said Mirza then spat on him and lunged at him. Moccia said he fought back.
“I’m a human being,’’ Moccia said, sitting in his cafe in his habitual black shirt. “I don’t deserve to be spat on.’’
Mirza, 47, of Somerville, said Moccia was piping mad that Mirza had pulled out of the Travel Channel’s breakfast wars cook-off program, canceling the show. Mirza said he never said anything about Moccia’s parents and never spat on his rival.
“He just came out of nowhere and beat me up,’’ Mirza said of Moccia. Standing outside his home recently, he showed a blackened right eye, scrapes on his forehead, and lifted his sweater to point to a bruise on his back. “He had no right to punch someone in the face,’’ he said. “You are just not allowed to hit people.’’
Asked whether he and Mirza could ever resolve their differences, Moccia seemed uncertain. “I don’t know,’’ he said. That seemed to be the opinion of others who have tried to patch over the men’s differences.
“We tried more than a couple of times to get a meeting of the minds here,’’ said Connolly, the alderman. “Let’s be gentlemanly here. You don’t have to like each other. Just tolerate each other.’’
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Hertz to buy Dollar Thrifty
Hertz agrees to buy rival Dollar Thrifty for $1.2B
By Associated Press | Monday, April 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
NEW YORK — Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the world’s largest car rental company, said Monday it has agreed to buy rival Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for about $1.17 billion in cash and stock.
Hertz said the deal will give it an additional 1,550 additional locations, boosting its total to 9,800. It said it will boost its leisure rental business in Europe and elsewhere.
Hertz said its bid values Tulsa, Okla.’s Dollar Thrifty at $41 per share, a 5.5 percent premium to Friday’s closing price of $38.85. The offer is made up of 80 percent cash and 20 percent Hertz stock.
Recently, shares of Tulsa, Okla.-based Dollar Thrifty have been trading at their highest prices in almost three years. The stock was trading at $2 a little over year ago, and was valued at less than a dollar in early 2009 because of lower demand for rentals and falling resale prices for vehicles, along with the problems facing its main supplier, Chrysler.
Dollar Thrifty shares rose $1.65, or 4.3 percent, to $40 in pre-opening trading.
Dollar Thrifty will become a wholly owned unit of Hertz when the deal closes. Hertz, based in Park Ridge, N.J., expects the deal to start adding to profits immediately, and said it has already identified at least $180 million in potential cost cuts from combining the two businesses.
Hertz separately is reporting a smaller first-quarter loss. The company trimmed its loss to $150.4 million, or 37 cents per share, from $163.5 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time costs Hertz said it lost 12 cents per share. Revenue rose 6 percent to $1.66 billion from $1.56 billion.
Analysts expected a loss of 13 cents per share and $1.62 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. Analyst estimates usually exclude one-time costs.
Hertz said U.S. rental car revenue rose 10 percent due to higher prices, an increase in business travel, and better results for its Advantage leisure brand.
Hertz is now expecting an adjusted profit of 43 cents to 45 cents per share in 2010, on $7.5 billion to $7.7 billion in revenue. It had forecast a profit of 37 cents to 39 cents per share excluding one-time items, on $7.4 billion to $7.6 billion in revenue.
Analysts had forecast 44 cents per share and $7.45 billion in revenue.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1250158
By Associated Press | Monday, April 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
NEW YORK — Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the world’s largest car rental company, said Monday it has agreed to buy rival Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for about $1.17 billion in cash and stock.
Hertz said the deal will give it an additional 1,550 additional locations, boosting its total to 9,800. It said it will boost its leisure rental business in Europe and elsewhere.
Hertz said its bid values Tulsa, Okla.’s Dollar Thrifty at $41 per share, a 5.5 percent premium to Friday’s closing price of $38.85. The offer is made up of 80 percent cash and 20 percent Hertz stock.
Recently, shares of Tulsa, Okla.-based Dollar Thrifty have been trading at their highest prices in almost three years. The stock was trading at $2 a little over year ago, and was valued at less than a dollar in early 2009 because of lower demand for rentals and falling resale prices for vehicles, along with the problems facing its main supplier, Chrysler.
Dollar Thrifty shares rose $1.65, or 4.3 percent, to $40 in pre-opening trading.
Dollar Thrifty will become a wholly owned unit of Hertz when the deal closes. Hertz, based in Park Ridge, N.J., expects the deal to start adding to profits immediately, and said it has already identified at least $180 million in potential cost cuts from combining the two businesses.
Hertz separately is reporting a smaller first-quarter loss. The company trimmed its loss to $150.4 million, or 37 cents per share, from $163.5 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time costs Hertz said it lost 12 cents per share. Revenue rose 6 percent to $1.66 billion from $1.56 billion.
Analysts expected a loss of 13 cents per share and $1.62 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. Analyst estimates usually exclude one-time costs.
Hertz said U.S. rental car revenue rose 10 percent due to higher prices, an increase in business travel, and better results for its Advantage leisure brand.
Hertz is now expecting an adjusted profit of 43 cents to 45 cents per share in 2010, on $7.5 billion to $7.7 billion in revenue. It had forecast a profit of 37 cents to 39 cents per share excluding one-time items, on $7.4 billion to $7.6 billion in revenue.
Analysts had forecast 44 cents per share and $7.45 billion in revenue.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1250158
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Al fresco dining planned for North End's Cross Street plaza
Food fight
Plan for al fresco dining zone serves up debate in North End
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | April 24, 2010
Paul Trojano stepped onto the sidewalk outside his Caffe Graffiti restaurant one bright afternoon and drew an imaginary line around a planned spot for al fresco dining.
The L-shaped area is on Cross Street plaza, a brick-lined stretch in one of the most congested spots in the North End, smack in the middle of tourist territory, and a location designated for nighttime residential parking.
Though Trojano’s patio plan is almost assured, he and his staff have been caught in heated debate over two of the North End’s prized commodities: parking and sidewalk dining. The dust-up also includes a larger issue over what to do with Cross Street, a two-block swath that has been billed as the Gateway to the North End, but is now, some say, a danger zone.
Trojano said the patio seating will not interfere with traffic because it is on the sidewalk, not the street. But he would prefer to have the cars gone.
“If there are no cars, then that’s good for us, because who wants to come here for dinner and have a car pull up while you are eating?’’ said Trojano, who has been backing a plan by two lawmakers to press the city’s Transportation Department to zone an area of Cross Street as pedestrians only.
In a neighborhood of narrow streets and tight quarters, residents could stand to sacrifice a few parking spots for more outdoor seating, argue Trojano and his supporters.
“This is an open space, so we might as well make the most of it,’’ said Victor Catricala, who manages Nick Varano’s Famous Deli nearby. “It’s the entrance to the North End. Everyone comes here. . . . If you give up a few spaces, it will make a big difference for everyone.’’
But the idea of the redesign does not sit well with some North Enders who lament that their nighttime parking would be eliminated in the process, said Matt Conti, a member of the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council.
“The argument in favor of parking is that lower-middle-class folks just can’t afford it,’’ said Conti, who attended meetings on the issue. “Parking around here is $300 a month, and some people can’t afford that.’’
The North End is known for many things, but abundance of parking and sidewalk dining are not among them. Frustrated drivers routinely circle the neighborhood looking for a parking spot. And residents can count the number of sidewalk dining spots on their fingers. According to the mayor’s office, only three of the 95 restaurants licensed by the city have patio dining. That figure does not include other establishments that are licensed by the state or are privately owned.
“Outdoor seating has become an issue,’’ said Stephen Passacantilli, who heads the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council. “The streets are too small. Cross Street, as opposed to the rest of the neighborhood, presents a different situation, because it’s so open.’’
The part of Cross Street in question runs from Hanover and Salem streets. The brick plaza, studded with bollards and lined by stores, is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and managed by the city’s Transportation Department. Erected after the Big Dig, the plaza was designed as a loading zone for merchants’ delivery trucks, as well as for two-hour patrons’ parking and overnight parking for residents, said Thomas J. Tinlin, the city’s transportation commissioner.
But drivers cut through it to avoid the light on the main drag. Tourists stop to snap pictures on their trek along the Freedom Trail. And with scores of pedestrians and drivers converging, there have been too many near-misses and hits.
“I think it’s dangerous,’’ said Councilor Salvatore LaMattina, who was hit twice there and is pressing the pedestrian-only effort. “We want to close it off so that people can sit down and eat.’’
Tinlin said the department is weighing a few options and will soon present them to the community.
One idea, he said, is to eliminate two-hour parking but keep the delivery option and overnight resident parking.
“It’s one of those delicate balances,’’ he said. “There is no quick, easy fix here.’’
Luigi DeMarco, who manages Caffe Graffiti, said the restaurant’s plan to serve alcohol and food outside is moving ahead.
“The whole situation about the plaza has been about parking and traffic,’’ said DeMarco. “It’s mass confusion here.’’
Maria Merola, a neighboring merchant, has a few chairs outside her famous bakery, but she’s cool to the idea of Caffe Graffiti’s proposed 36 tables, which she said would take up too much of the area.
“I think there are too many seats,’’ said Merola, who owns Maria’s Pastry Shop. “What are they going to do? Sit one on top of the other?’’
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
Correction: This story incorrectly identified Boston’s transportation commissioner, Thomas J. Tinlin. Also, the story should have said that Matt Conti, a member of the North End/Waterfront Council, was expressing the views of opponents of the plan. He supports patio seating at Caffe Graffiti.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Plan for al fresco dining zone serves up debate in North End
By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff | April 24, 2010
Paul Trojano stepped onto the sidewalk outside his Caffe Graffiti restaurant one bright afternoon and drew an imaginary line around a planned spot for al fresco dining.
The L-shaped area is on Cross Street plaza, a brick-lined stretch in one of the most congested spots in the North End, smack in the middle of tourist territory, and a location designated for nighttime residential parking.
Though Trojano’s patio plan is almost assured, he and his staff have been caught in heated debate over two of the North End’s prized commodities: parking and sidewalk dining. The dust-up also includes a larger issue over what to do with Cross Street, a two-block swath that has been billed as the Gateway to the North End, but is now, some say, a danger zone.
Trojano said the patio seating will not interfere with traffic because it is on the sidewalk, not the street. But he would prefer to have the cars gone.
“If there are no cars, then that’s good for us, because who wants to come here for dinner and have a car pull up while you are eating?’’ said Trojano, who has been backing a plan by two lawmakers to press the city’s Transportation Department to zone an area of Cross Street as pedestrians only.
In a neighborhood of narrow streets and tight quarters, residents could stand to sacrifice a few parking spots for more outdoor seating, argue Trojano and his supporters.
“This is an open space, so we might as well make the most of it,’’ said Victor Catricala, who manages Nick Varano’s Famous Deli nearby. “It’s the entrance to the North End. Everyone comes here. . . . If you give up a few spaces, it will make a big difference for everyone.’’
But the idea of the redesign does not sit well with some North Enders who lament that their nighttime parking would be eliminated in the process, said Matt Conti, a member of the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council.
“The argument in favor of parking is that lower-middle-class folks just can’t afford it,’’ said Conti, who attended meetings on the issue. “Parking around here is $300 a month, and some people can’t afford that.’’
The North End is known for many things, but abundance of parking and sidewalk dining are not among them. Frustrated drivers routinely circle the neighborhood looking for a parking spot. And residents can count the number of sidewalk dining spots on their fingers. According to the mayor’s office, only three of the 95 restaurants licensed by the city have patio dining. That figure does not include other establishments that are licensed by the state or are privately owned.
“Outdoor seating has become an issue,’’ said Stephen Passacantilli, who heads the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council. “The streets are too small. Cross Street, as opposed to the rest of the neighborhood, presents a different situation, because it’s so open.’’
The part of Cross Street in question runs from Hanover and Salem streets. The brick plaza, studded with bollards and lined by stores, is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and managed by the city’s Transportation Department. Erected after the Big Dig, the plaza was designed as a loading zone for merchants’ delivery trucks, as well as for two-hour patrons’ parking and overnight parking for residents, said Thomas J. Tinlin, the city’s transportation commissioner.
But drivers cut through it to avoid the light on the main drag. Tourists stop to snap pictures on their trek along the Freedom Trail. And with scores of pedestrians and drivers converging, there have been too many near-misses and hits.
“I think it’s dangerous,’’ said Councilor Salvatore LaMattina, who was hit twice there and is pressing the pedestrian-only effort. “We want to close it off so that people can sit down and eat.’’
Tinlin said the department is weighing a few options and will soon present them to the community.
One idea, he said, is to eliminate two-hour parking but keep the delivery option and overnight resident parking.
“It’s one of those delicate balances,’’ he said. “There is no quick, easy fix here.’’
Luigi DeMarco, who manages Caffe Graffiti, said the restaurant’s plan to serve alcohol and food outside is moving ahead.
“The whole situation about the plaza has been about parking and traffic,’’ said DeMarco. “It’s mass confusion here.’’
Maria Merola, a neighboring merchant, has a few chairs outside her famous bakery, but she’s cool to the idea of Caffe Graffiti’s proposed 36 tables, which she said would take up too much of the area.
“I think there are too many seats,’’ said Merola, who owns Maria’s Pastry Shop. “What are they going to do? Sit one on top of the other?’’
Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.
Correction: This story incorrectly identified Boston’s transportation commissioner, Thomas J. Tinlin. Also, the story should have said that Matt Conti, a member of the North End/Waterfront Council, was expressing the views of opponents of the plan. He supports patio seating at Caffe Graffiti.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Saturday, April 24, 2010
33 Closed; Sam's Place to open at Louis Boston
Hub’s 33 Restaurant closed
Also, Lyons mum on Back Bay Social Club
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, April 23, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo by Angela Rowlings
Boston’s 33 Restaurant & Lounge closed last week after a tough year that included a fatal beating outside the Back Bay establishment.
The closing-hour fight outside the restaurant last August resulted in seven men being indicted on second-degree murder charges in the fatal beating of a 22-year-old Hyde Park father along with several counts of assault for the beatings of three surviving victims. Five other men also were charged with assault.
The brawl prompted a temporary shutdown of the Stanhope Street restaurant for six days, until the Boston Licensing Board decided the restaurant was not at fault.
But it was a 2006 shooting at 33 Restaurant that did in the 8-year-old business.
Walter Apperwhite of Roslindale was working for an outside security firm contracted by 33 Restaurant when he was assaulted and shot by a gun-wielding patron. He filed a lawsuit in 2007, claiming the restaurant had been negligent in failing to take appropriate security measures. Apperwhite suffered severe injuries, including permanent scarring and “great pain and anguish of the mind,” according to his complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
A 2008 judgment in Apperwhite’s favor required the owners of 33 Restaurant, Greg Den Herder and Igor Blatnik, to pay $306,770 in damages and interest. After that judgment went unpaid, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office seized the restaurant’s liquor license and sold it at a public auction to compensate Apperwhite.
The restaurant space, which seats 285, is now being marketed for lease.
Meanwhile, Stix - Den Herder and Blatnik’s other restaurant and lounge next door to 33 - has been for sale since last summer, although it remains in operation. The owners spent $1.6 million to open the restaurant in the former Bomboa space in 2007, according to the for-sale listing.
The asking price for Stix, which includes the liquor license, has come down drastically since last August, when it was priced at $925,000. It’s now listed for $595,000 with the notation that it has a “motivated seller.”
The Lyons Group is keeping hush-hush on its plans for the Back Bay Social Club, which is scheduled to open late next month in the former Vinny T’s space on Boylston Street in Boston.
Word is they want the restaurant’s following to develop by word-of-mouth, which sounds curious.
But a close source says the idea behind the Back Bay Social Club is the Italian-American and other social clubs of yore - a friendly neighborhood place where people come to eat, drink and commune, make friends and perhaps find romance and do business.
The 200-seat restaurant will have a relatively casual but refined atmosphere, serving American tavern fare and opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Here’s another tidbit about Towne Stove and Spirits, the 380-seat Lyons Group restaurant under construction at the Hynes Convention Center that the Herald previewed last week.
Co-owner Patrick Lyons said his team, which usually comes up with names for their new ventures very quickly, stressed over naming the restaurant.
The name came at the suggestion of a major Massachusetts sports team owner’s wife at a karaoke dinner party, according to Lyons, who wouldn’t divulge her name.
Former Hub restaurateur Esti Parsons is said to be involved in the restaurant that’ll open inside LouisBoston’s new home at Fan Pier in South Boston. The restaurant reportedly will be called Sam’s Place, named after the daughter of Debi Greenberg, who owns the upscale clothier.
A spokeswoman for Louis, which opened in a temporary Fan Pier location this week while its permanent home is being finished, declined comment. An announcement about the restaurant will come next week, she said.
Parsons was a partner at Radius, Via Matta and the now-shuttered Great Bay before the restaurants’ founders parted ways last year and chef Michael Schlow bought out Parsons and Christopher Myers.
Parsons had planned to open her first solo project - Esti’s - at the Launch at Hingham Shipyard last year, but those restaurant plans fell through.
She did not return calls for comment.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1249378
Also, Lyons mum on Back Bay Social Club
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, April 23, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo by Angela Rowlings
Boston’s 33 Restaurant & Lounge closed last week after a tough year that included a fatal beating outside the Back Bay establishment.
The closing-hour fight outside the restaurant last August resulted in seven men being indicted on second-degree murder charges in the fatal beating of a 22-year-old Hyde Park father along with several counts of assault for the beatings of three surviving victims. Five other men also were charged with assault.
The brawl prompted a temporary shutdown of the Stanhope Street restaurant for six days, until the Boston Licensing Board decided the restaurant was not at fault.
But it was a 2006 shooting at 33 Restaurant that did in the 8-year-old business.
Walter Apperwhite of Roslindale was working for an outside security firm contracted by 33 Restaurant when he was assaulted and shot by a gun-wielding patron. He filed a lawsuit in 2007, claiming the restaurant had been negligent in failing to take appropriate security measures. Apperwhite suffered severe injuries, including permanent scarring and “great pain and anguish of the mind,” according to his complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court.
A 2008 judgment in Apperwhite’s favor required the owners of 33 Restaurant, Greg Den Herder and Igor Blatnik, to pay $306,770 in damages and interest. After that judgment went unpaid, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office seized the restaurant’s liquor license and sold it at a public auction to compensate Apperwhite.
The restaurant space, which seats 285, is now being marketed for lease.
Meanwhile, Stix - Den Herder and Blatnik’s other restaurant and lounge next door to 33 - has been for sale since last summer, although it remains in operation. The owners spent $1.6 million to open the restaurant in the former Bomboa space in 2007, according to the for-sale listing.
The asking price for Stix, which includes the liquor license, has come down drastically since last August, when it was priced at $925,000. It’s now listed for $595,000 with the notation that it has a “motivated seller.”
The Lyons Group is keeping hush-hush on its plans for the Back Bay Social Club, which is scheduled to open late next month in the former Vinny T’s space on Boylston Street in Boston.
Word is they want the restaurant’s following to develop by word-of-mouth, which sounds curious.
But a close source says the idea behind the Back Bay Social Club is the Italian-American and other social clubs of yore - a friendly neighborhood place where people come to eat, drink and commune, make friends and perhaps find romance and do business.
The 200-seat restaurant will have a relatively casual but refined atmosphere, serving American tavern fare and opening for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Here’s another tidbit about Towne Stove and Spirits, the 380-seat Lyons Group restaurant under construction at the Hynes Convention Center that the Herald previewed last week.
Co-owner Patrick Lyons said his team, which usually comes up with names for their new ventures very quickly, stressed over naming the restaurant.
The name came at the suggestion of a major Massachusetts sports team owner’s wife at a karaoke dinner party, according to Lyons, who wouldn’t divulge her name.
Former Hub restaurateur Esti Parsons is said to be involved in the restaurant that’ll open inside LouisBoston’s new home at Fan Pier in South Boston. The restaurant reportedly will be called Sam’s Place, named after the daughter of Debi Greenberg, who owns the upscale clothier.
A spokeswoman for Louis, which opened in a temporary Fan Pier location this week while its permanent home is being finished, declined comment. An announcement about the restaurant will come next week, she said.
Parsons was a partner at Radius, Via Matta and the now-shuttered Great Bay before the restaurants’ founders parted ways last year and chef Michael Schlow bought out Parsons and Christopher Myers.
Parsons had planned to open her first solo project - Esti’s - at the Launch at Hingham Shipyard last year, but those restaurant plans fell through.
She did not return calls for comment.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1249378
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Scottish Premier League rivals could meet at Gillette Stadium this July
Old Firm to play at Gillette?
Posted by Garrett Quinn, Less is More April 21, 2010 04:50 PM
One of the greatest rivalries in the world may be coming to Gillette Stadium this summer. No, the Red Sox are not playing a home series against the Yankees in Foxborough this is bigger than Red Sox-Yankees. Yes, bigger than Red Sox-Yankees. This rivalry is like Red Sox-Yankees but with the addition of religion, politics, and centuries of strife simmering at the ripe temperature of 500°.
This rivalry takes place in the realm of the beautiful game and it features the Glasgow based titans of the Scottish Premier League, Celtic and Rangers, better known as the Old Firm.
It's Catholic vs Protestant.
It's Irish vs British.
It's without question one of the most heated rivalries in the sports world and it may be coming to our town.
Rumors of a proposed Old Firm match at Gillette Stadium sometime this summer are flooding the internet. This international friendly, if it takes place, would be the biggest international friendly played at Gillette. No previous friendly featuring clubs or national teams at Gillette can touch the intensity of an Old Firm match.
I spoke with a New England Revolution official, who would be the host club in the event of this possible friendly, and he denied the rumor.
Still, things are scheduled in such a way that a Celtic-Rangers match at Gillette would work perfectly with for the two clubs who will be touring North America this summer. Both clubs would stand to make a pretty penny from the first Old Firm match outside of Scotland, drawing fans from their extremely loyal supporters across North America and likely the world.
These stories are not written or edited by Boston.com or the Boston Globe. The authors are solely responsible for the content.
33 Restaurant and Lounge closes
Boston Restaurant Talk
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
33 Restaurant and Lounge in the Back Bay Has Closed
An upscale restaurant in the Back Bay of Boston that featured contemporary American cuisine and regional dishes has shut its doors. A call placed to 33 Restaurant and Lounge has indicated that the Stanhope Street dining spot closed last week after being in business for about eight years.
33 Restaurant and Lounge was a dinner and late-night drinking spot that offered such varied dishes as statler chicken, gnocchi, roasted cod, glazed pork chops, mushroom ravioli, filet mignon, and a number of other dishes, in addition to many wine and cocktail options. The restaurant also had both a prix fixe menu and a bar menu, and featured wine tastings.
It is not known what might be going into the former 33 Restaurant and Lounge space at this time, as the spot appears to be up for lease right now, according to a number of sources.
The address for this now-closed restaurant in the Back Bay was: 33 Restaurant and Lounge, 33 Stanhope Street, Boston, MA, 02116.
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Labels: Back Bay restaurants, Boston restaurants, New American restaurants, restaurant closings
posted by Marc at 5:33 PM
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
33 Restaurant and Lounge in the Back Bay Has Closed
An upscale restaurant in the Back Bay of Boston that featured contemporary American cuisine and regional dishes has shut its doors. A call placed to 33 Restaurant and Lounge has indicated that the Stanhope Street dining spot closed last week after being in business for about eight years.
33 Restaurant and Lounge was a dinner and late-night drinking spot that offered such varied dishes as statler chicken, gnocchi, roasted cod, glazed pork chops, mushroom ravioli, filet mignon, and a number of other dishes, in addition to many wine and cocktail options. The restaurant also had both a prix fixe menu and a bar menu, and featured wine tastings.
It is not known what might be going into the former 33 Restaurant and Lounge space at this time, as the spot appears to be up for lease right now, according to a number of sources.
The address for this now-closed restaurant in the Back Bay was: 33 Restaurant and Lounge, 33 Stanhope Street, Boston, MA, 02116.
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Labels: Back Bay restaurants, Boston restaurants, New American restaurants, restaurant closings
posted by Marc at 5:33 PM
Boston Duck Tours sued by drivers over pay issues
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly - The Docket Blog
Boston Duck Tours hit with Wage Act suit
April 21st, 2010 | by noahs |
Shannon Liss-Riordan and her crew at Lichten & Liss-Riordan have a new target: Boston Duck Tours.
The Boston lawyer, who has successfully represented skycaps, strippers, Hilltop Steakhouse wait staff and cleaning franchisees, now accuses the Duck Tours operators of failing to pay their employees — “Tour ConDUCKtours” — overtime wages.
In her April 15 suit, Liss-Riordan accuses the company of failing to distribute tips and services to the drivers and of not paying them overtime and other wages.
Click here to read the class-action complaint, Perry, et al. v. Boston Duck Tours, Inc.
- David E. Frank
Boston Duck Tours hit with Wage Act suit
April 21st, 2010 | by noahs |
Shannon Liss-Riordan and her crew at Lichten & Liss-Riordan have a new target: Boston Duck Tours.
The Boston lawyer, who has successfully represented skycaps, strippers, Hilltop Steakhouse wait staff and cleaning franchisees, now accuses the Duck Tours operators of failing to pay their employees — “Tour ConDUCKtours” — overtime wages.
In her April 15 suit, Liss-Riordan accuses the company of failing to distribute tips and services to the drivers and of not paying them overtime and other wages.
Click here to read the class-action complaint, Perry, et al. v. Boston Duck Tours, Inc.
- David E. Frank
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
MJ O'Connors may be cited for New Years Day incident
Flyers fan got extended stay after Winter Classic - in the ICU
By adamg - 4/20/10 - 1:13 pm
The Boston Licensing Board decides Thursday what to do about an incident at a Park Plaza bar Jan. 1 that left a Flyers fan in the ICU and his son under arrest.
Brian Leonardo and his wife Margaret told the board this morning that bouncers at MJ O'Connor's, 27 Columbus Ave., choked him into unconsciousness after a rowdy but good natured verbal battle between Flyers and Bruins fans the night before the two teams met on the ice at Fenway Park. Bar workers said Leonardo attacked bar workers, was in the process of overpowering a bar worker on the ground and that his son ripped his shirt off outside in the winter chill and threatened to shoot somebody. Whatever reason Leonardo collapsed, they said, it wasn't anything they did.
About all the two sides agreed on was that Leonardo kicked in a window - the couple has agreed to reimbuse the bar $850. The couple told the board they arrived at the bar with their two sons and a friend around 8 p.m. and were having a good time teaming up with other Flyers fans in trying to outchant the Bruins fans at the bar.
But shortly before closing, a bouncer decided he'd had enough and began to escort one of the sons out. The couple, the other son and the friend followed, then realized they were outside without their coats. Leonardo acknowledged he was angry - especially because they didn't have their coats - and that he kicked in the window. But then, Margaret Leonardo said, eight black-shirted bouncers rushed out and tackled her husband. One held down his legs while another choked him, she said.
"I was screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God, let him go!" she told the board. "He was blue and finally they let him go and he was blue and unresponsive and I'm screaming he's dead!" She said all the employees then fled into the bar. Somebody else, she said, applied CPR until the ambulance cam to take him to Tufts Medical Center, where he was intubated and put on a ventilator, she said, adding he was in the ICU for three days and a step-down ward for another day.
The club manager and a barback, however, painted a completely different picture. To start, they didn't have eight people on duty that night. The Leonardos, they said, had gotten very belligerent toward the end of the night - to the point where one of the sons began tussling with a club worker. Barback Paul Beaulieu told the board he helped escort the elder Leonardo out - by placing his hand on his back and urging him out. There was no fighting or struggling, he said.
But then, once outside, the Leonardos turned angry and Leonardo kicked in the window, he said. They began yelling they wanted to get back in to talk to the owner. Leonardo, he said, grabbed him and began to wrestle with him. "I was pinned under him," he said. He said he never touched the man's face, but instead applied a bear hug and kept telling him to calm down. All of a sudden, he said, he did calm down - which is when he realized he'd collapsed and needed emergency help.
Meanwhile, Beaulieu and manager Bob Hannaford said, one of the sons was getting increasingly irate - he ripped off his shirt and threatned to "fuck you up" and shoot somebody.
"He was out of control, belligerent," Hannaford said. "He was attacking me. I thought he was going to beat me up, I was just trying to protect myself." Hannaford said bar workers called police at least twice - once when the Leonardos were being escorted out, again when Leonardo collapsed.
Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski said he could understand the son's anger - his father is lying there, possibly dead.
Board members said they will not vote on whether to sanction the bar until after it reviews surveillance video from inside the bar and from a camera mounted at a nearby office building.
By adamg - 4/20/10 - 1:13 pm
The Boston Licensing Board decides Thursday what to do about an incident at a Park Plaza bar Jan. 1 that left a Flyers fan in the ICU and his son under arrest.
Brian Leonardo and his wife Margaret told the board this morning that bouncers at MJ O'Connor's, 27 Columbus Ave., choked him into unconsciousness after a rowdy but good natured verbal battle between Flyers and Bruins fans the night before the two teams met on the ice at Fenway Park. Bar workers said Leonardo attacked bar workers, was in the process of overpowering a bar worker on the ground and that his son ripped his shirt off outside in the winter chill and threatened to shoot somebody. Whatever reason Leonardo collapsed, they said, it wasn't anything they did.
About all the two sides agreed on was that Leonardo kicked in a window - the couple has agreed to reimbuse the bar $850. The couple told the board they arrived at the bar with their two sons and a friend around 8 p.m. and were having a good time teaming up with other Flyers fans in trying to outchant the Bruins fans at the bar.
But shortly before closing, a bouncer decided he'd had enough and began to escort one of the sons out. The couple, the other son and the friend followed, then realized they were outside without their coats. Leonardo acknowledged he was angry - especially because they didn't have their coats - and that he kicked in the window. But then, Margaret Leonardo said, eight black-shirted bouncers rushed out and tackled her husband. One held down his legs while another choked him, she said.
"I was screaming, 'Oh my God, oh my God, let him go!" she told the board. "He was blue and finally they let him go and he was blue and unresponsive and I'm screaming he's dead!" She said all the employees then fled into the bar. Somebody else, she said, applied CPR until the ambulance cam to take him to Tufts Medical Center, where he was intubated and put on a ventilator, she said, adding he was in the ICU for three days and a step-down ward for another day.
The club manager and a barback, however, painted a completely different picture. To start, they didn't have eight people on duty that night. The Leonardos, they said, had gotten very belligerent toward the end of the night - to the point where one of the sons began tussling with a club worker. Barback Paul Beaulieu told the board he helped escort the elder Leonardo out - by placing his hand on his back and urging him out. There was no fighting or struggling, he said.
But then, once outside, the Leonardos turned angry and Leonardo kicked in the window, he said. They began yelling they wanted to get back in to talk to the owner. Leonardo, he said, grabbed him and began to wrestle with him. "I was pinned under him," he said. He said he never touched the man's face, but instead applied a bear hug and kept telling him to calm down. All of a sudden, he said, he did calm down - which is when he realized he'd collapsed and needed emergency help.
Meanwhile, Beaulieu and manager Bob Hannaford said, one of the sons was getting increasingly irate - he ripped off his shirt and threatned to "fuck you up" and shoot somebody.
"He was out of control, belligerent," Hannaford said. "He was attacking me. I thought he was going to beat me up, I was just trying to protect myself." Hannaford said bar workers called police at least twice - once when the Leonardos were being escorted out, again when Leonardo collapsed.
Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski said he could understand the son's anger - his father is lying there, possibly dead.
Board members said they will not vote on whether to sanction the bar until after it reviews surveillance video from inside the bar and from a camera mounted at a nearby office building.
Boston Licensing Board threatens Fairmont Copley with closure over valet issue
Universal Hub
City board warns Fairmont Copley Plaza to respect police authority
By adamg - 4/20/10 - 1:32 pm
A small evening gathering at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Feb. 25 created gridlock on surrounding streets and earned the hotel a stern rebuke from the Boston Licensing Board when members heard a hotel manager pooh-poohed a request from a police sergeant to do something about the mess:
Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski reminded representatives from the hotel and its valet company this morning that the board has control over the hotel's licenses to serve food and alcohol and to accept guests, and that they best be having a little talk with the manager about respect for Boston Police, because otherwise, "he'll be responsible for having the hotel closed down for food and alcohol purposes for a certain period of time and I don't think your corporation wants that, do they?"
Around 6 p.m. on Feb. 25, Sgt. Robert Mulvey told the board, he found Dartmouth Street and St. James Avenue in front of the hotel completely gridlocked, with unattended cars parked in the valet spots out front and double parked in the street.
Mulvey said the valet supervisor on duty that night acknowledged the problem and was already trying to do something about it, he said. In contrast, the hotel manager on duty "to be honest, was rather dismissive of me. .... He thought I was a bother to him, I guess."
Scott Van of Ultimate Parking, which handles valet services at the hotel, noted the pouring rain that night, the fact that the event was for a muscular-dystrophy group, several of whose members arrived in vans and that one of the four valets scheduled for that night called in sick. But he also blamed the Westin Hotel across the street - saying backups and double parking there made it harder for Copley valets to get cars to the garage they use. Garage trips that normally take five or six minutes were taking 20 that evening, he said.
"Ah!" Pokaski said. "So you suffer from your own type of behavior: Double parking makes it difficult to get by because the lanes are blocked up. Amazing."
"I'm amazed that even taking into account the rain taking into account the traffic, you couldn't handle 20 cars with three attendants?" Pokaski asked, adding he found it difficult to believe there was anything going on other than "three lazy valets" who didn't feel like moving cars that night.
The board votes Thursday on what to do about the charge of illegal valet parking.
City board warns Fairmont Copley Plaza to respect police authority
By adamg - 4/20/10 - 1:32 pm
A small evening gathering at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Feb. 25 created gridlock on surrounding streets and earned the hotel a stern rebuke from the Boston Licensing Board when members heard a hotel manager pooh-poohed a request from a police sergeant to do something about the mess:
Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski reminded representatives from the hotel and its valet company this morning that the board has control over the hotel's licenses to serve food and alcohol and to accept guests, and that they best be having a little talk with the manager about respect for Boston Police, because otherwise, "he'll be responsible for having the hotel closed down for food and alcohol purposes for a certain period of time and I don't think your corporation wants that, do they?"
Around 6 p.m. on Feb. 25, Sgt. Robert Mulvey told the board, he found Dartmouth Street and St. James Avenue in front of the hotel completely gridlocked, with unattended cars parked in the valet spots out front and double parked in the street.
Mulvey said the valet supervisor on duty that night acknowledged the problem and was already trying to do something about it, he said. In contrast, the hotel manager on duty "to be honest, was rather dismissive of me. .... He thought I was a bother to him, I guess."
Scott Van of Ultimate Parking, which handles valet services at the hotel, noted the pouring rain that night, the fact that the event was for a muscular-dystrophy group, several of whose members arrived in vans and that one of the four valets scheduled for that night called in sick. But he also blamed the Westin Hotel across the street - saying backups and double parking there made it harder for Copley valets to get cars to the garage they use. Garage trips that normally take five or six minutes were taking 20 that evening, he said.
"Ah!" Pokaski said. "So you suffer from your own type of behavior: Double parking makes it difficult to get by because the lanes are blocked up. Amazing."
"I'm amazed that even taking into account the rain taking into account the traffic, you couldn't handle 20 cars with three attendants?" Pokaski asked, adding he found it difficult to believe there was anything going on other than "three lazy valets" who didn't feel like moving cars that night.
The board votes Thursday on what to do about the charge of illegal valet parking.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Volcano cancels 3/4 of transatlantic flight s from Logan
Iceland’s volcano nixes 75% of Euro flights at Logan
By Donna Goodison | Saturday, April 17, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The drifting cloud of ash from Iceland’s volcanic eruption prompted the cancellation of 75 percent of European flights in and out of Boston’s Logan International Airport yesterday.
The disruption stranded about two dozen runners headed to Monday’s Boston Marathon, including Abdellah Falil, a Moroccan in the elite field who’s waylaid in Paris, race organizers said.
Eighteen flights were canceled by yesterday afternoon: American Airlines [AMR], British Airways and Virgin Atlantic suspended all London flights; American and Air France halted Paris flights; Delta cancelled its Amsterdam flights; Swiss International stopped its Zurich flights; and Lufthansa canceled its Frankfurt flights but operated its Munich flights.
Air traffic agency Eurocontrol said about 16,000 of Europe’s usual 28,000 daily flights were canceled yesterday, as air space remained largely closed in Britain and across large parts of north and central Europe.
“The skies are totally empty over northern Europe,” Brian Flynn, deputy head of Eurocontrol, said yesterday. “There will be some significant disruption of European air traffic (today).”
There weren’t many passengers stranded at Logan as of yesterday afternoon, according to Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella, but many of the European flights leave later in the day.
“The airlines got their messages out to passengers quite early this morning,” he said.
Other airlines kept to their schedules between Boston and Europe, including Icelandair; Aer Lingus, which had cancelled its Dublin flights on Thursday; Alitalia, which flies to and from Rome; Iberia, which travels to and from Madrid; and SATA, which goes to Portugal.
Only about 120 trans-Atlantic flights reached European airports compared to 300 on a normal day, and about 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled.
By Donna Goodison | Saturday, April 17, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The drifting cloud of ash from Iceland’s volcanic eruption prompted the cancellation of 75 percent of European flights in and out of Boston’s Logan International Airport yesterday.
The disruption stranded about two dozen runners headed to Monday’s Boston Marathon, including Abdellah Falil, a Moroccan in the elite field who’s waylaid in Paris, race organizers said.
Eighteen flights were canceled by yesterday afternoon: American Airlines [AMR], British Airways and Virgin Atlantic suspended all London flights; American and Air France halted Paris flights; Delta cancelled its Amsterdam flights; Swiss International stopped its Zurich flights; and Lufthansa canceled its Frankfurt flights but operated its Munich flights.
Air traffic agency Eurocontrol said about 16,000 of Europe’s usual 28,000 daily flights were canceled yesterday, as air space remained largely closed in Britain and across large parts of north and central Europe.
“The skies are totally empty over northern Europe,” Brian Flynn, deputy head of Eurocontrol, said yesterday. “There will be some significant disruption of European air traffic (today).”
There weren’t many passengers stranded at Logan as of yesterday afternoon, according to Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella, but many of the European flights leave later in the day.
“The airlines got their messages out to passengers quite early this morning,” he said.
Other airlines kept to their schedules between Boston and Europe, including Icelandair; Aer Lingus, which had cancelled its Dublin flights on Thursday; Alitalia, which flies to and from Rome; Iberia, which travels to and from Madrid; and SATA, which goes to Portugal.
Only about 120 trans-Atlantic flights reached European airports compared to 300 on a normal day, and about 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Scups in the Harbour review
Boston's Hidden Restaurants
Scup's in the Harbour
256 Marginal Street (Building 16), East Boston, MA 02128
(617) 569-7287 Find location!
Photo of Scup's in the Harbour, East Boston, MA Over the years, we have featured a number of dining spots in rather interesting locations, including a restaurant hidden underneath another restaurant (Pizza in Piazza in Winchester), a place near the end of what seems like a main road but simply peters out at the water (Louis' Crossing in Quincy), and an eatery inside a gas station (Villa Mexico on the edge of Beacon Hill in Boston). But a restaurant inside a security fence that requires drivers to tell a uniformed guard where they are going? It is strange but true, perhaps having Scup's in East Boston take the prize as the restaurant with the most unusual location in the Greater Boston area.
Scup's in the Harbour is located within the Boston Harbor Shipyard in the Jeffries Point section of East Boston, within walking distance of the beautiful Piers Park (which has a spectacular skyline view of Boston). But even though Piers Park and Scup's are pretty much within sight of each other, if you don't know the area, it is easy to assume that the guard booth at the end of Marginal Street means "Keep Out." But this is simply not true, as strollers, scuba diving students, and (in the case of Scup's) diners are all welcome in this compact area of warehouses, docks and boats. (You can also access the area by foot from the other side, coming from the tip of Jeffries Point by Porzio Park.) Scup's is pretty easy to find once you're in the shipyard, as it is located in a big brick building in the middle of the area, complete with a prominent vertical sign and picnic tables out front for outdoor dining when the weather is favorable. The inside of the restaurant is tiny, with a few stools and a long communal table downstairs, and a bathroom upstairs.
Scup's used to have very limited hours, but it is now open for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Friday, brunch and lunch on Saturdays, and brunch on Sundays (it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays at the time of this writing). The menu varies from day to day, and depending on when you arrive, they may be out of items that they had earlier in the day, but there are indeed enough options at Scup's to keep most folks happy. Included on the lunch and dinner menus are such items as empanadas with lots of interesting fillings (hot sausage with veggies and herbs, BBQ beef and potatoes, bacon and eggs, and roast chicken with goat cheese are just a few options); hot dogs with a very light "snap" and a rich flavor from being steamed with juniper berries and apple juice (the sweet-tasting red relish is a great option for the hot dogs, by the way); an outstanding BLT with creamy basil pesto, sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, thick pieces of cherry wood smoked bacon, roasted grape tomatoes, and red leaf lettuce, all stuffed into grilled whole wheat bread; tuna and turkey sandwich options that include some of the same ingredients (grape tomatoes, bacon) that the BLT has; a grilled cheese sandwich with an unusual sweet-and spicy bacon along with hot mustard, and entrees that may or may not be available (depending on the day) such as macaroni and cheese, a Moroccan sandwich, vegetable lasagna, baked cod, meat loaf, and baked ham. Desserts are freshly made and include an apple crumb cake with loads of apple slices and a crunchy, sugary crust, and one of the tastiest carrot cakes this writer has had, with the cream cheese frosting on the side putting it over the top. Beer and wine are offered at Scup's, with a handful of local microbrews available.
Scup's is one of those restaurants that is easy to fall in love with. The folks who work there are friendly and personable, the prices won't break anyone's bank, the views of the harbor and the surrounding buildings are memorable, and its unusual location makes you feel like you're the only one who knows about it. If our site had a "Hidden Restaurant Hall of Fame" (and perhaps it will someday!), Scup's would certainly be in the running to be in it.
Copyright © 2010, Boston's Hidden Restaurants (www.hiddenboston.com).
Scup's in the Harbour
256 Marginal Street (Building 16), East Boston, MA 02128
(617) 569-7287 Find location!
Photo of Scup's in the Harbour, East Boston, MA Over the years, we have featured a number of dining spots in rather interesting locations, including a restaurant hidden underneath another restaurant (Pizza in Piazza in Winchester), a place near the end of what seems like a main road but simply peters out at the water (Louis' Crossing in Quincy), and an eatery inside a gas station (Villa Mexico on the edge of Beacon Hill in Boston). But a restaurant inside a security fence that requires drivers to tell a uniformed guard where they are going? It is strange but true, perhaps having Scup's in East Boston take the prize as the restaurant with the most unusual location in the Greater Boston area.
Scup's in the Harbour is located within the Boston Harbor Shipyard in the Jeffries Point section of East Boston, within walking distance of the beautiful Piers Park (which has a spectacular skyline view of Boston). But even though Piers Park and Scup's are pretty much within sight of each other, if you don't know the area, it is easy to assume that the guard booth at the end of Marginal Street means "Keep Out." But this is simply not true, as strollers, scuba diving students, and (in the case of Scup's) diners are all welcome in this compact area of warehouses, docks and boats. (You can also access the area by foot from the other side, coming from the tip of Jeffries Point by Porzio Park.) Scup's is pretty easy to find once you're in the shipyard, as it is located in a big brick building in the middle of the area, complete with a prominent vertical sign and picnic tables out front for outdoor dining when the weather is favorable. The inside of the restaurant is tiny, with a few stools and a long communal table downstairs, and a bathroom upstairs.
Scup's used to have very limited hours, but it is now open for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Friday, brunch and lunch on Saturdays, and brunch on Sundays (it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays at the time of this writing). The menu varies from day to day, and depending on when you arrive, they may be out of items that they had earlier in the day, but there are indeed enough options at Scup's to keep most folks happy. Included on the lunch and dinner menus are such items as empanadas with lots of interesting fillings (hot sausage with veggies and herbs, BBQ beef and potatoes, bacon and eggs, and roast chicken with goat cheese are just a few options); hot dogs with a very light "snap" and a rich flavor from being steamed with juniper berries and apple juice (the sweet-tasting red relish is a great option for the hot dogs, by the way); an outstanding BLT with creamy basil pesto, sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, thick pieces of cherry wood smoked bacon, roasted grape tomatoes, and red leaf lettuce, all stuffed into grilled whole wheat bread; tuna and turkey sandwich options that include some of the same ingredients (grape tomatoes, bacon) that the BLT has; a grilled cheese sandwich with an unusual sweet-and spicy bacon along with hot mustard, and entrees that may or may not be available (depending on the day) such as macaroni and cheese, a Moroccan sandwich, vegetable lasagna, baked cod, meat loaf, and baked ham. Desserts are freshly made and include an apple crumb cake with loads of apple slices and a crunchy, sugary crust, and one of the tastiest carrot cakes this writer has had, with the cream cheese frosting on the side putting it over the top. Beer and wine are offered at Scup's, with a handful of local microbrews available.
Scup's is one of those restaurants that is easy to fall in love with. The folks who work there are friendly and personable, the prices won't break anyone's bank, the views of the harbor and the surrounding buildings are memorable, and its unusual location makes you feel like you're the only one who knows about it. If our site had a "Hidden Restaurant Hall of Fame" (and perhaps it will someday!), Scup's would certainly be in the running to be in it.
Copyright © 2010, Boston's Hidden Restaurants (www.hiddenboston.com).
House of Blues to lose license for three days
House of Blues gets three-day suspension for beer kegs in front of exit, smoking back stage
By adamg - 4/16/10 - 10:18 am
The Boston Licensing Board yesterday voted to suspend the House of Blues' liquor license for three days because of a March 19 incident in which fire inspectors ordered the place shut down when they found beer kegs and a trash barrel partially blocking exits during a concert - and band members toking up backstage.
Meanwhile, the board voted only to warn the Avenue Tavern in Mattapan Square for a bloody March 6 brawl that sent three people to the hospital.
The board did not set a specific date for the House of Blues suspension, which the music hall can appeal to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
By adamg - 4/16/10 - 10:18 am
The Boston Licensing Board yesterday voted to suspend the House of Blues' liquor license for three days because of a March 19 incident in which fire inspectors ordered the place shut down when they found beer kegs and a trash barrel partially blocking exits during a concert - and band members toking up backstage.
Meanwhile, the board voted only to warn the Avenue Tavern in Mattapan Square for a bloody March 6 brawl that sent three people to the hospital.
The board did not set a specific date for the House of Blues suspension, which the music hall can appeal to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
Six Burner review
Six Burner’s on fire
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, April 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
SIX BURNER: B
At Six Burner restaurant, in the shadow of Copley Place, you can stuff yourself silly for less than $20.
Owners Russ and Sherry Berger are the Energizer Bunnies of Hub culinary entrepreneurs. Since 1990, the couple has operated multiple eateries, revamping and rebranding each every few years. Nouvelle Californian Blue Wave became new American Laurel. Baja Mexican Cantina became Prairie Star Southwestern Grill & Bar (later sold). And Moka cafe became Firefly American Bistro, which recently became Six Burner.
The concept is comfort fare on steroids - big dishes short on nuance. Paula Deen is the inspiration, not Julia Child.
Chow down on reinvented diner classics in giant portions: burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches, including a gussied-up BLT of the day. The most expensive entree is $13.
Chicken potpie spring rolls ($6) are oddly appealing. They’re cylinders of sage-scented chicken, carrots, peas and cream sauce encased in flour wrappers and deep-fried crisp, with savory mystery gravy for dunking.
Gooey molten brie ($8), covered with runny cranberry-jalapeno jam, successfully revives a 1960s cocktail party classic. Slather the jellied cheese onto slices of French bread. You might have found bacon, spinach and crab dip ($8) at the same soiree. It’s a crabby, bacony riff on the baked artichoke dip that’s a staple of high school home economics classes.
You won’t leave here hungry.
The signature Six Burner meatloaf ($11) is an imposingly large open-faced sandwich: pumpernickel toast topped with a slab of thyme-intense meatloaf, topped with mashed potatoes, wedges of oven-roasted tomato and a strip of bacon under a ladle of thick, stout gravy.
Guinness and smoked jalapeno pot roast ($11) is an equally huge helping of chunks of tender chipotle- and beer-braised beef and roasted carrots plopped onto on a mound of garlic mashed potatoes. It’s not fancy but it’s satisfying.
There are more noodles than crustacean in the lobster mac ’n’ cheese. But for $13, who’s complaining? It’s a winning combo of pasta, peas,bacon, lobster and a tasty assortment of cheeses (our server thinks cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella but isn’t sure), drizzled with tomato oil.
Spaghetti and meatballs ($10) with “our big fat” meatballs is a Brobdingnagian bowl of pasta and polpettine smothered in spicy tomato sauce and snipped basil. If the pasta is limp and the meatballs bready, the price tag more than compensates for the missteps.
Ditto, overdone and dry six-pepper-crusted grilled chicken breast ($10) under a layer of the cranberry jalapeno relish from the molten brie. Served with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, you’d be hard-pressed to re-create this at home for a 10 spot.
The $30-and-under Six Burner wine list may be commensurately priced with the menu but the selection is lacklusterly forgettable. You’ll do better with something from the more interesting beer list - or a cocktail from the bar. But don’t ask for a drink mixed with tonic - they don’t have it.
Russ Berger is executive chef; Sherry Berger is pastry chef. Desserts ($5) are trucked over from sister restaurant Laurel, several blocks away. Alas, logistics are askew.
They’d run out of the peanut butter cup mousse on chocolate cake. And we snagged the last “pudding love” - a parfait of chocolate, vanilla and amaretto puddings flecked with cookie crumbs. The nuked brownie sundae with ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce is a fudgy delight, although promised caramel sauce is AWOL.
Six Burner is an industrialized, split-level space that’s too cavernous to feel cozy - management’s efforts notwithstanding. It’s nicer on the outside patio, weather permitting.
With event nights such as Wii Wednesdays and Trivia Thursdays and an upcoming series of beer dinners, the Bergers are apparently trying to attract a youthful clientele to this, their latest venture.
130 Dartmouth St. (Back Bay). 617-262-4393; sixburnerboston.com.
Price: Less than $20
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun., 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1247523
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, April 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
SIX BURNER: B
At Six Burner restaurant, in the shadow of Copley Place, you can stuff yourself silly for less than $20.
Owners Russ and Sherry Berger are the Energizer Bunnies of Hub culinary entrepreneurs. Since 1990, the couple has operated multiple eateries, revamping and rebranding each every few years. Nouvelle Californian Blue Wave became new American Laurel. Baja Mexican Cantina became Prairie Star Southwestern Grill & Bar (later sold). And Moka cafe became Firefly American Bistro, which recently became Six Burner.
The concept is comfort fare on steroids - big dishes short on nuance. Paula Deen is the inspiration, not Julia Child.
Chow down on reinvented diner classics in giant portions: burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches, including a gussied-up BLT of the day. The most expensive entree is $13.
Chicken potpie spring rolls ($6) are oddly appealing. They’re cylinders of sage-scented chicken, carrots, peas and cream sauce encased in flour wrappers and deep-fried crisp, with savory mystery gravy for dunking.
Gooey molten brie ($8), covered with runny cranberry-jalapeno jam, successfully revives a 1960s cocktail party classic. Slather the jellied cheese onto slices of French bread. You might have found bacon, spinach and crab dip ($8) at the same soiree. It’s a crabby, bacony riff on the baked artichoke dip that’s a staple of high school home economics classes.
You won’t leave here hungry.
The signature Six Burner meatloaf ($11) is an imposingly large open-faced sandwich: pumpernickel toast topped with a slab of thyme-intense meatloaf, topped with mashed potatoes, wedges of oven-roasted tomato and a strip of bacon under a ladle of thick, stout gravy.
Guinness and smoked jalapeno pot roast ($11) is an equally huge helping of chunks of tender chipotle- and beer-braised beef and roasted carrots plopped onto on a mound of garlic mashed potatoes. It’s not fancy but it’s satisfying.
There are more noodles than crustacean in the lobster mac ’n’ cheese. But for $13, who’s complaining? It’s a winning combo of pasta, peas,bacon, lobster and a tasty assortment of cheeses (our server thinks cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella but isn’t sure), drizzled with tomato oil.
Spaghetti and meatballs ($10) with “our big fat” meatballs is a Brobdingnagian bowl of pasta and polpettine smothered in spicy tomato sauce and snipped basil. If the pasta is limp and the meatballs bready, the price tag more than compensates for the missteps.
Ditto, overdone and dry six-pepper-crusted grilled chicken breast ($10) under a layer of the cranberry jalapeno relish from the molten brie. Served with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, you’d be hard-pressed to re-create this at home for a 10 spot.
The $30-and-under Six Burner wine list may be commensurately priced with the menu but the selection is lacklusterly forgettable. You’ll do better with something from the more interesting beer list - or a cocktail from the bar. But don’t ask for a drink mixed with tonic - they don’t have it.
Russ Berger is executive chef; Sherry Berger is pastry chef. Desserts ($5) are trucked over from sister restaurant Laurel, several blocks away. Alas, logistics are askew.
They’d run out of the peanut butter cup mousse on chocolate cake. And we snagged the last “pudding love” - a parfait of chocolate, vanilla and amaretto puddings flecked with cookie crumbs. The nuked brownie sundae with ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce is a fudgy delight, although promised caramel sauce is AWOL.
Six Burner is an industrialized, split-level space that’s too cavernous to feel cozy - management’s efforts notwithstanding. It’s nicer on the outside patio, weather permitting.
With event nights such as Wii Wednesdays and Trivia Thursdays and an upcoming series of beer dinners, the Bergers are apparently trying to attract a youthful clientele to this, their latest venture.
130 Dartmouth St. (Back Bay). 617-262-4393; sixburnerboston.com.
Price: Less than $20
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun., 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1247523
Marathon to boost Boston's economy
Marathon races to Hub’s rescue
As tourism biz slows, $122.7M to flood area
By Donna Goodison | Friday, April 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
With an estimated $122.7 million economic impact, Monday’s 114th Boston Marathon will give a needed boost to Greater Boston’s sagging visitor industry as it kick-starts the spring tourism season.
The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates a 16.8 percent increase in race-related spending from last year, courtesy of a larger field running the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Boston - including more international runners - and a greater number of hotel room bookings.
“This spending impact is equivalent to if Boston were to host an NCAA men’s Final Four tournament,” said Pat Moscaritolo, president of the visitors bureau.
And the projected $122.7 million in spending from yesterday to Monday couldn’t come at a better time for the visitor industry, which has had a difficult last 15 months weathering the recession, according to Moscaritolo.
“Visitors cut back on their spending, and business travelers are now pretty much chained to their desks and aren’t the road warriors of the boom times of 2007 and the first half of 2008,” he said. “Convention spending is also down.”
This year’s marathon has 26,800 runners, 400 more than in 2009, and 4,200 international runners compared to 3,977 last year. About 32,000 hotel room nights have been booked, a 10.3 percent increase from last year.
Elite runners bed down at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, the headquarters for the Boston Athletic Association, which runs the marathon. Race sponsors including John Hancock also bring in business for the hotel.
“This is one of our peak events of the year,” general manager Paul Tormey said. “It’s a great economic event for the Back Bay.”
The Fairmont’s booking pace picked up this year. Its occupancy rate was in the mid-90s last night, and the hotel is sold out Friday through Sunday. “This year is very good,” Tormey said. “We do well every marathon, but we got there quicker this year, and Friday is a bit stronger than it was last year.”
Marathon runners and their families and friends, along with the three-day John Hancock Sports and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Convention Center, are expected to account for $85.6 million of the $122.7 million in marathon-related spending. Charities will reap about $11 million from athletes running on their behalf.
Marathon sponsors and the estimated 1,000 members of the media will spend $10.1 million, while spectators numbering 500,000 to 750,000 will spend $10 million, according to the visitors bureau.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1247565
As tourism biz slows, $122.7M to flood area
By Donna Goodison | Friday, April 16, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
With an estimated $122.7 million economic impact, Monday’s 114th Boston Marathon will give a needed boost to Greater Boston’s sagging visitor industry as it kick-starts the spring tourism season.
The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates a 16.8 percent increase in race-related spending from last year, courtesy of a larger field running the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Boston - including more international runners - and a greater number of hotel room bookings.
“This spending impact is equivalent to if Boston were to host an NCAA men’s Final Four tournament,” said Pat Moscaritolo, president of the visitors bureau.
And the projected $122.7 million in spending from yesterday to Monday couldn’t come at a better time for the visitor industry, which has had a difficult last 15 months weathering the recession, according to Moscaritolo.
“Visitors cut back on their spending, and business travelers are now pretty much chained to their desks and aren’t the road warriors of the boom times of 2007 and the first half of 2008,” he said. “Convention spending is also down.”
This year’s marathon has 26,800 runners, 400 more than in 2009, and 4,200 international runners compared to 3,977 last year. About 32,000 hotel room nights have been booked, a 10.3 percent increase from last year.
Elite runners bed down at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, the headquarters for the Boston Athletic Association, which runs the marathon. Race sponsors including John Hancock also bring in business for the hotel.
“This is one of our peak events of the year,” general manager Paul Tormey said. “It’s a great economic event for the Back Bay.”
The Fairmont’s booking pace picked up this year. Its occupancy rate was in the mid-90s last night, and the hotel is sold out Friday through Sunday. “This year is very good,” Tormey said. “We do well every marathon, but we got there quicker this year, and Friday is a bit stronger than it was last year.”
Marathon runners and their families and friends, along with the three-day John Hancock Sports and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Convention Center, are expected to account for $85.6 million of the $122.7 million in marathon-related spending. Charities will reap about $11 million from athletes running on their behalf.
Marathon sponsors and the estimated 1,000 members of the media will spend $10.1 million, while spectators numbering 500,000 to 750,000 will spend $10 million, according to the visitors bureau.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1247565
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sal's Pizza to open in Downtown Crossing
Boston Restaurant Talk
Sal's Pizza to Open in Downtown Boston
A rapidly-expanding local chain of pizza places and Italian restaurants is opening a new location in downtown Boston. According to a job posting on the Craigslist site, Sal's Pizza is going to open on Tremont Street across from Boston Common (by the West Street intersection). A specific opening date has not been given, but it appears that the opening of the new Sal's Pizza will be fairly soon, as they are holding interviews for a variety of employees.
Most of the Sal's Pizza locations are north of Boston, though a Sal's recently opened on the South Shore (in Norwell) and there are also a few locations west of Boston as well. A number of Sal's pizza places can also be found in New Hampshire, and a few are located in Arizona, California, and Florida. Its sister restaurants are Mary's Pasta and Sandwiches and Salvatore's Italian Restaurant, the latter of which has a location on the Boston waterfront.
The address for this soon-to-open pizza place in downtown Boston will be: Sal's Pizza, 150 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, 02111.
posted by Marc at 10:31 AM |
Sal's Pizza to Open in Downtown Boston
A rapidly-expanding local chain of pizza places and Italian restaurants is opening a new location in downtown Boston. According to a job posting on the Craigslist site, Sal's Pizza is going to open on Tremont Street across from Boston Common (by the West Street intersection). A specific opening date has not been given, but it appears that the opening of the new Sal's Pizza will be fairly soon, as they are holding interviews for a variety of employees.
Most of the Sal's Pizza locations are north of Boston, though a Sal's recently opened on the South Shore (in Norwell) and there are also a few locations west of Boston as well. A number of Sal's pizza places can also be found in New Hampshire, and a few are located in Arizona, California, and Florida. Its sister restaurants are Mary's Pasta and Sandwiches and Salvatore's Italian Restaurant, the latter of which has a location on the Boston waterfront.
The address for this soon-to-open pizza place in downtown Boston will be: Sal's Pizza, 150 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, 02111.
posted by Marc at 10:31 AM |
Towne Stove and sprits to debut in June
Lyons, top chefs team up at Hynes
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, April 14, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
How many convention centers can claim an independently operated restaurant with “killer chefs?” asked Patrick Lyons as he stood outside Towne Stove and Spirits, set to open in June at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center.
Lyons sees his latest venture - a 380-seat restaurant with a globally inspired menu by the reunited team of longtime Boston chefs Lydia Shire and Jasper White - as a “terrific amenity” for the Hub.
“Boston is a great town, and we think this is the center of the town right here,” said Lyons, referring to Towne’s location overlooking the bustling Prudential Center Plaza and Boylston Street.
The $9 million project will yield three dining rooms and three bars on two levels, and a patio for 80.
With floor-to-ceiling glass windows, 7-foot wagon-wheel chandeliers, barnwood-wrapped columns, antique mirrors and hardwood floors, the design by New York’s Jeffrey Beers International will reflect “comfortable elegance.”
“It’s going to be less Las Vegas and more Boston,” said Lyons, who, with longtime partner Ed Sparks, is continuing a move away from nightclubs and into dining.
A showcase kitchen with a tandoori oven and wood-fired rotisserie will let customers watch culinary directors Shire and White and executive chef Mario Capone.
Towne’s hefty cost owes much to the complicated task of engineering an eatery into a convention center. But a moderately priced menu, with most entrees under $30, is planned.
Shire is taking the lead on the “worldly” menu of small plates, whole-roasted seafood, steak, tandoori meats, rotisserie chicken, rice dishes and a tasting menu of lobster prepared 15 different ways.
“We’re just surrounded with these wonderful schools that have such a melting pot of students,” she said. “For them to bring their parents in from another country and be able to have breads from India and Peking chicken from Hong Kong will be very nice.”
Shire and White last paired in 1982, when he was executive chef and she was executive sous chef at the former Seasons in the-now Millennium Bostonian Hotel.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1247044
Towne Stove and Spirits to open in June at Hynes
Unconventional dining
Veteran restaurateurs will soon serve up a fresh attraction at the Hynes
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | April 14, 2010
When there isn’t a conference going on at the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, there isn’t much of anything happening in front of the granite behemoth that takes up an entire block of Boylston Street.
But local restaurant and night-life magnate Patrick Lyons is hoping that will change in June when he opens his biggest venture yet inside the convention center. Towne Stove and Spirits, which will have 300 seats inside and 80 on the patio, will be the first restaurant at the 22-year-old Hynes.
“I am very much looking forward to increased activity in front of the Hynes,’’ said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, which represents area businesses. “It won’t be convention dependent, it will be how-good-the-food-is dependent.’’
With big-name Boston chefs Lydia Shire and Jasper White overseeing the Towne menu, locals are bound to be curious. Shire, the fiery-haired culinary queen of Locke-Ober in Downtown Crossing, and White, the seafood guru behind the Summer Shack chain, are teaming up for the first time since working together at several area hotel restaurants in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The pair, who will serve as culinary directors over chefs Mario Capone and Oscar Figeuroa of Shire’s Scampo in the Liberty Hotel, call themselves best friends.
“Make no mistake though,’’ White said. “She’s in charge.’’
The menu, with most entrees in the $26 to $28 range and topping out around $40, will feature dishes from all over the world: steaks, dumplings, pasta, tandoori meats, six types of rice, a 15-course lobster tasting menu, and specialties like Peking chicken, which cooks hanging up in a special oven. The cuisine is indicative of the city’s melting pot of cultures, Shire said, as well as of the restaurant’s grand design, with soaring windows and high ceilings.
“I feel that the food should reflect the space,’’ she said.
The $9 million, 14,000-square-foot restaurant — with two floors, three bar areas, three dining rooms, and outdoor seating on the Prudential Center plaza — will be the 27th venue for Lyons and his partner Ed Sparks. They have teamed up with 20 investors, including Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, to open Towne. Given the location, near the Prudential and Copley Place malls, several hotels, and Newbury Street shopping, not to mention the 350,000 people who attend conferences at the Hynes every year, Lyons is confident the investment will pay off.
“This is where the penny drops,’’ said Lyons, who along with Sparks is also opening a New York-style bistro called the Back Bay Social Club in the former Vinny T’s of Boston space, across the street from the Hynes, at the end of May.
The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which works to preserve the historic district, had initial reservations about noise on the Towne patio, but when Lyons agreed to close the outdoor seating area at 11 p.m., the time most other patios in the area shut down, the association was satisfied.
“It raises the bar,’’ said James Hill, chairman of the association’s licensing and building use committee, referring to the string of pubs opposite Towne, including the Pour House, Lir, McGreevy’s, and Whiskey’s. “They’re appealing to a different crowd.’’
Most convention centers don’t have stand-alone restaurants, said James Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which runs the Hynes. But the Boylston Street location makes the center prime real estate, Rooney said, and he wanted to know: “How can we maximize the value of this asset to the benefit of the taxpayers?’’
The convention center authority spent $3 million to get the space ready for a tenant and has a 15-year lease with the ownership group of Towne, with rent topping off at $1 million a year. Hynes management is also laying the groundwork to open a second restaurant on the other side of the convention center.
The plummeting economy made Towne “something of a risk’’ in the beginning, Rooney said, but he doesn’t see it that way now. “We think the numbers pencil out very well,’’ he said.
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Veteran restaurateurs will soon serve up a fresh attraction at the Hynes
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | April 14, 2010
When there isn’t a conference going on at the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, there isn’t much of anything happening in front of the granite behemoth that takes up an entire block of Boylston Street.
But local restaurant and night-life magnate Patrick Lyons is hoping that will change in June when he opens his biggest venture yet inside the convention center. Towne Stove and Spirits, which will have 300 seats inside and 80 on the patio, will be the first restaurant at the 22-year-old Hynes.
“I am very much looking forward to increased activity in front of the Hynes,’’ said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, which represents area businesses. “It won’t be convention dependent, it will be how-good-the-food-is dependent.’’
With big-name Boston chefs Lydia Shire and Jasper White overseeing the Towne menu, locals are bound to be curious. Shire, the fiery-haired culinary queen of Locke-Ober in Downtown Crossing, and White, the seafood guru behind the Summer Shack chain, are teaming up for the first time since working together at several area hotel restaurants in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The pair, who will serve as culinary directors over chefs Mario Capone and Oscar Figeuroa of Shire’s Scampo in the Liberty Hotel, call themselves best friends.
“Make no mistake though,’’ White said. “She’s in charge.’’
The menu, with most entrees in the $26 to $28 range and topping out around $40, will feature dishes from all over the world: steaks, dumplings, pasta, tandoori meats, six types of rice, a 15-course lobster tasting menu, and specialties like Peking chicken, which cooks hanging up in a special oven. The cuisine is indicative of the city’s melting pot of cultures, Shire said, as well as of the restaurant’s grand design, with soaring windows and high ceilings.
“I feel that the food should reflect the space,’’ she said.
The $9 million, 14,000-square-foot restaurant — with two floors, three bar areas, three dining rooms, and outdoor seating on the Prudential Center plaza — will be the 27th venue for Lyons and his partner Ed Sparks. They have teamed up with 20 investors, including Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, to open Towne. Given the location, near the Prudential and Copley Place malls, several hotels, and Newbury Street shopping, not to mention the 350,000 people who attend conferences at the Hynes every year, Lyons is confident the investment will pay off.
“This is where the penny drops,’’ said Lyons, who along with Sparks is also opening a New York-style bistro called the Back Bay Social Club in the former Vinny T’s of Boston space, across the street from the Hynes, at the end of May.
The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which works to preserve the historic district, had initial reservations about noise on the Towne patio, but when Lyons agreed to close the outdoor seating area at 11 p.m., the time most other patios in the area shut down, the association was satisfied.
“It raises the bar,’’ said James Hill, chairman of the association’s licensing and building use committee, referring to the string of pubs opposite Towne, including the Pour House, Lir, McGreevy’s, and Whiskey’s. “They’re appealing to a different crowd.’’
Most convention centers don’t have stand-alone restaurants, said James Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, which runs the Hynes. But the Boylston Street location makes the center prime real estate, Rooney said, and he wanted to know: “How can we maximize the value of this asset to the benefit of the taxpayers?’’
The convention center authority spent $3 million to get the space ready for a tenant and has a 15-year lease with the ownership group of Towne, with rent topping off at $1 million a year. Hynes management is also laying the groundwork to open a second restaurant on the other side of the convention center.
The plummeting economy made Towne “something of a risk’’ in the beginning, Rooney said, but he doesn’t see it that way now. “We think the numbers pencil out very well,’’ he said.
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
More ads on display at Fenway
Sign, sign, everywhere ...
Signs pop up at Fenway as team cashes in on championships
By Thomas Grillo | Monday, April 12, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The pitches at Fenway Park [map] don’t just come from the mound.
Ads surround the ballfield, causing some to long for the days when they could watch a game without being bombarded by signs.
“Fenway is a gem that shouldn’t be messed up by all those signs,” said John Vrooman, a sports economist at Vanderbilt University. “Fenway belongs to the Sox, but it also belongs to baseball and should remain pure.”
Many Sox fans recall a time when the only sign at Fenway Park was the Jimmy Fund billboard in right field. They say the proliferation of ads has turned the park back into a commercial zone. It doesn’t help that the park recently topped a ticket price survey as the most expensive in baseball.
William Richardson, who lives in the Fenway neighborhood, said he does not oppose ads in the park - but finds it ironic that the Sox opposed construction of a building on Lansdowne Street, because it would block views of Kenmore Square.
“The team argued that the view of the Citgo sign over the left field wall was so fundamental to the park that it needed to be preserved,” he said. “But they had no problem erecting the Volvo and Bob’s store signs atop the Green Monster that block the view for many fans.”
Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, said the Red Sox [team stats] are following a marketing trend in professional sports. “Throughout major league baseball there’s been an increasing commercialization or exploitation of the available space in ballparks for signs,” he said.
But Zimbalist defended packing the park with ads, noting that the Sox renovated the 98-year-old stadium without asking for taxpayer money.
“The new ownership has spent $200 million in stylish improvements that preserve the aesthetic integrity of the park, and they’ve done it all with their own money,” he said. “They haven’t threatened to move the team like every other organization does, including the New York Yankees in the 1990s”
Still, in 1997 the team’s owners raised eyebrows when they sold rights to Coca-Cola for a trio of 25-foot-tall Coke bottles on the light tower above the Green Monster, putting a dagger in the heart of baseball purists.
Sam Kennedy, chief operating officer for the Red Sox, said all the signs have been well received by fans.
“Our fans know that the revenues generated by advertising have been invested in player payroll, which resulted in two World Series championships since we’ve been here, and to preserve and protect Fenway Park,” he said.
Kennedy declined to reveal how much money the signs have generated for the team.
“We don’t comment on the financials associated with any of our sponsorships,” he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1246488
Signs pop up at Fenway as team cashes in on championships
By Thomas Grillo | Monday, April 12, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The pitches at Fenway Park [map] don’t just come from the mound.
Ads surround the ballfield, causing some to long for the days when they could watch a game without being bombarded by signs.
“Fenway is a gem that shouldn’t be messed up by all those signs,” said John Vrooman, a sports economist at Vanderbilt University. “Fenway belongs to the Sox, but it also belongs to baseball and should remain pure.”
Many Sox fans recall a time when the only sign at Fenway Park was the Jimmy Fund billboard in right field. They say the proliferation of ads has turned the park back into a commercial zone. It doesn’t help that the park recently topped a ticket price survey as the most expensive in baseball.
William Richardson, who lives in the Fenway neighborhood, said he does not oppose ads in the park - but finds it ironic that the Sox opposed construction of a building on Lansdowne Street, because it would block views of Kenmore Square.
“The team argued that the view of the Citgo sign over the left field wall was so fundamental to the park that it needed to be preserved,” he said. “But they had no problem erecting the Volvo and Bob’s store signs atop the Green Monster that block the view for many fans.”
Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, said the Red Sox [team stats] are following a marketing trend in professional sports. “Throughout major league baseball there’s been an increasing commercialization or exploitation of the available space in ballparks for signs,” he said.
But Zimbalist defended packing the park with ads, noting that the Sox renovated the 98-year-old stadium without asking for taxpayer money.
“The new ownership has spent $200 million in stylish improvements that preserve the aesthetic integrity of the park, and they’ve done it all with their own money,” he said. “They haven’t threatened to move the team like every other organization does, including the New York Yankees in the 1990s”
Still, in 1997 the team’s owners raised eyebrows when they sold rights to Coca-Cola for a trio of 25-foot-tall Coke bottles on the light tower above the Green Monster, putting a dagger in the heart of baseball purists.
Sam Kennedy, chief operating officer for the Red Sox, said all the signs have been well received by fans.
“Our fans know that the revenues generated by advertising have been invested in player payroll, which resulted in two World Series championships since we’ve been here, and to preserve and protect Fenway Park,” he said.
Kennedy declined to reveal how much money the signs have generated for the team.
“We don’t comment on the financials associated with any of our sponsorships,” he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1246488
Remy wants to add roof deck to his restaurant
Fenway residents balk at plan for 300 seats on eatery’s roof
Remy raising bar
By Thomas Grillo | Tuesday, April 13, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Fenway neighbors are crying foul over Jerry Remy’s plans to add rooftop seating to his brand-new restaurant behind Fenway Park [map] - nearly doubling its capacity.
“It feels like bait and switch,” said William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association. “They never mentioned anything about doubling the size of the restaurant when we supported the idea for the 325-seat restaurant steakhouse last year.”
Three weeks after Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill opened in the shadow of Fenway Park, Remy wants to add another 300 seats. The eatery, in the former WBCN [website] building on Boylston Street, is co-owned by Remy, the Red Sox [team stats] color analyst for New England Sports Network. The restaurant leases the space from New England Sports Ventures, which owns Fenway Park, the Red Sox and an 80 percent share of NESN. The $5 million restaurant features a $28 Grilled Cowboy Rib Eye and the $9 RemDawg hot dog.
Richardson said the neighborhood will not approve an expansion, because the restaurant’s management has yet to prove they’re good neighbors. “On the first day they opened, the line was so long that pedestrians were forced into the street,” he said. “We’re wary about how the management operates the restaurant, and a dramatic expansion like this on the heels of them opening raises lots of questions.”
Managing partner John Mascia insists that the owners did not know about the expansion until very recently. “An expansion was never in our budget or on our agenda when we first opened,” he said. “We started to talk about it and met with neighborhood representatives to explain that we would spend money on it and do it tastefully.”
Mascia, who is known for the Bomboa, La Bettola and Galleria Italiana restaurants, said he went to the neighborhood first before filing an application with the city. “We understand they’re concerned about too many seats,” he said. “We want to work with the neighbors.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1246750
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Remy raising bar
By Thomas Grillo | Tuesday, April 13, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Fenway neighbors are crying foul over Jerry Remy’s plans to add rooftop seating to his brand-new restaurant behind Fenway Park [map] - nearly doubling its capacity.
“It feels like bait and switch,” said William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association. “They never mentioned anything about doubling the size of the restaurant when we supported the idea for the 325-seat restaurant steakhouse last year.”
Three weeks after Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill opened in the shadow of Fenway Park, Remy wants to add another 300 seats. The eatery, in the former WBCN [website] building on Boylston Street, is co-owned by Remy, the Red Sox [team stats] color analyst for New England Sports Network. The restaurant leases the space from New England Sports Ventures, which owns Fenway Park, the Red Sox and an 80 percent share of NESN. The $5 million restaurant features a $28 Grilled Cowboy Rib Eye and the $9 RemDawg hot dog.
Richardson said the neighborhood will not approve an expansion, because the restaurant’s management has yet to prove they’re good neighbors. “On the first day they opened, the line was so long that pedestrians were forced into the street,” he said. “We’re wary about how the management operates the restaurant, and a dramatic expansion like this on the heels of them opening raises lots of questions.”
Managing partner John Mascia insists that the owners did not know about the expansion until very recently. “An expansion was never in our budget or on our agenda when we first opened,” he said. “We started to talk about it and met with neighborhood representatives to explain that we would spend money on it and do it tastefully.”
Mascia, who is known for the Bomboa, La Bettola and Galleria Italiana restaurants, said he went to the neighborhood first before filing an application with the city. “We understand they’re concerned about too many seats,” he said. “We want to work with the neighbors.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1246750
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