The Boston Skating Club’s plans for a new facility at 176 Everett Street in Allston are getting about as much love from neighbors as Nancy Kerrigan did from Tonya Harding.
March 5, 2014
Skating Club wants to move, State Police plan to say put
The Skating Club of Boston wants to relocate from its current site on Soldiers Field Road to the corner of Everett and Lincoln Streets. So far, the plan has not gotten a good reception from the neighborhood. The State Police are renovating their property on the same roadway, but will set up shop temporarily at 46 Leo Birmingham Parkway. All this and more at the Brighton Allston Improvement Association’s meeting at 7PM Thursday, March 6. Location and details here.
December 11, 2013
The mayor and me
TM & TC
This website does not come with a lot of perks. Actually none, until tonight. Thanks to Emilee Ellison of the mayor’s office, I received an invitation to Mayor Menino’s annual, and final, holiday press party at the Parkman House. Years ago, I landed in city hall as an aide to newly elected councilor Brian McLaughlin (District 9, Allston Brighton), the same moment Tom Menino became councilor for District 5 (Hyde Park Roslindale) and Ray Flynn took over as mayor from Kevin White. City hall was entertaining, lots of characters. I will never forget Dapper O’Neil dropping a Lugar pistol on my desk as he explicated his heroics during WWII. Menino was lucky, in those days we referred to his district as Sleepy Hollow.
The party was fun, free drinks, great food, had fun schmoozing with the bartenders (another one of my jobs) and people I hadn’t seen since my city hall days. And wow, the Parkman House looks amazing.
Above all, thanks to Mayor Menino. Public service takes a toll, especially when you are responsible for a major city like Boston. You cannot get away from the daily tough stuff, whether it is a shooting or a snow storm or the missed school bus pickup. It is just there, and the mayor is there, and people look at him to blame, or fix it. So thanks, and good luck to him and his wife Angela.
December 10, 2013
80 apartments for Braintree Street in Allston
A proposed 80 unit apartment building for 61-83 Braintree Street will be discussed on Thursday, December 12 at 6PM at a meeting hosted by the BRA. It will be held at the Jackson Mann School, 500 Cambridge Street, Allston. In addition to 80 apartments, it will also include commercial space and parking for 67 vehicles.
December 5, 2013
392 Cambridge Street: 36 apartments plus retail proposed
The BAIA will host a presentation for a 36 unit apartment building that would also have retail space on the first floor. The plan calls for 19 commercial and 44 residential parking spaces. The meeting will be Thursday, December 5 at 7PM, Brighton Elks, 326 Washington Street, Brighton Center. Full agenda here. March 2013 Boston Globe article here, site map here.
November 6, 2013
Mayor: Connolly locally, but Walsh citywide
Allston Brighton gave a 894 vote margin to John Connolly in the race for mayor that was won by Marty Walsh. Connolly garnered 5097 votes (54.8%) to Walsh’s 4203 votes (45.2%), winning all but three of the twenty-six precincts. Walsh won three: 22-1 and 22-2 (North Allston) and 22-12 (roughly, Brighton’s Faneuil Square area), but by less than a dozen votes in each. Those narrow margins played out in many sections of the community, with Connolly only hitting 55% or above in four of Ward 22’s precincts. His margins were better in Ward 21, but even there, it was an edge of ten or fewer votes in three precincts. Usually, the residents of senior housing in Ward 21 vote en masse for one candidate, but that vote split this time.
Four years ago, Tom Menino had his worst showing in a final election in Allston Brighton. He won Ward 22 by a mere 58 votes, while Ward 21 put him up by 705, due to the big margins he racked up in any section with senior housing.
WBUR has a nifty map of yesterday’s results.
Congratulations to Marty Walsh and kudos to John Connolly for their dedication and hard work.
October 18, 2013
No one reads the Allston Brighton TAB
OK, a few people do. A mere 399 – yes, that is three digits, three hundred and ninety-nine – actually pay for a paper. This week, on page A2, the print run was reported, and 399 was the sad number. Now remember there are about 75,000 residents in Allston-Brighton. As a separate town, we would constitute the 14th largest city in Massachusetts.
Why do 399 people buy it? There are a few items. Featured in a press release, Linda, a “Sweet, flirtatious” cat is up for adoption at the Gifford House animal shelter. There is another press release about those aged 90-plus at Covenant House at 30 Washington Street. And don’t forget, “Send in your fall foliage photos!” We all know how our neighborhood becomes clogged with leaf-peepers this time of year.
Based on the election returns, there are 6556 residents who cared enough to vote for mayor three weeks ago. That’s 6157 more than pick up the shabby sheets labeled the Allston Brighton TAB. Maybe more people would vote if we had a paper that was paying attention.
October 13, 2013
Meet the next mayor
Spend some time Columbus Day discovering the candidates. The next mayor of Boston will be in our neighborhood tomorrow, October 14. Both Marty Walsh and John Connolly will be campaigning here. Walsh will take questions at one of his “Mondays with Marty” forums at 8 PM at the Brighton Marine Health Center, 77 Warren Street. Connolly is hosting a meet and greet from 6 to 8PM at the Stockyard Restaurant, 135 Market Street. Thanks to John Laadt of the Walsh campaign for letting me know about their event, and thanks to the Hobart Neighborhood Association for their tip about the Connolly appearance.
October 9, 2013
Charlie for mayor
Charlie Vasiliades, also known as the Mayor of Oak Square, was interviewed by WBUR about the race to replace that other mayor, Menino. Charlie brought up all the points that are important to the entire Allston Brighton community, as well those specific to Oak Square. Keeping the square’s library and fire station open, the need for quality schools to keep families, the plague of poorly maintained, absentee-owned property that afflicts the neighborhood.
In the last few days canvassers for both John Connolly and Marty Walsh were on my doorstep, Marty represented by his cousin. I raised the issue of keeping the Faneuil library branch open. It would be great if the two candidates could address this.
September 18, 2013
The Allston Jungle
A parrot was just spotted in Allston’s Ringer Park. If you have one as a pet, you might want to check the cage.
July 21, 2013
Dunkin’ with Arroyo
Felix Arroyo will be at the Oak Square Dunkin Donuts the morning of Monday, July 21 from 7:30 to 9 to meet residents and speak about his campaign for mayor.
July 21, 2013
Mayor’s race comes to Allston Brighton
Did I post too soon? A mayoral race that has been somnolent locally has now shown signs of life. The Ward 21 Democratic Committee has endorsed City Councilor Michael Ross for mayor. Ross currently represents District 8, comprised of Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway and Mission Hill. A mayoral forum sponsored by a plethora of local groups (Allston Board of Trade, Brighton Board of Trade, Brighton Allston Improvement Association) will be held at WGBH this Tuesday night. Today, Representative Marty Walsh of Dorchester opened a campaign office in Oak Square. John Connolly, currently a city-wide councilor, is hosting a meet and greet this Thursday. And finally, a volunteer for City Councilor and mayoral aspirant Felix Arroyo, Jr. informs me she knocked on my door when I wasn’t home and left literature that I must have missed. So things are happening, but the general topic is still the heat of the summer rather than the political temperature.
July 19, 2013
All quiet on the Allston Brighton campaign front
This year’s mayoral race, the first time there has not been an elected or interim mayor seeking to hold on to the office in thirty years, hardly seems to exist in Allston Brighton. There are few yard signs, and even those have not been up long. I have yet to receive a single piece of mail, flyer or phone call from any candidate, despite the fact that I am as reliable a voter you will find.
Locally, the Ward 21 Democratic Committee has, to its credit, hosted candidate forums and posted the responses of the candidates to their questionnaire. But is is a far cry from the frenzy of activity in 1983 or even 1993, when Menino scored his first mayoral victory.
There are some reasons for this, I think. The staff cutbacks and circulation decline experienced by the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald are part of it. Boston political news no longer gets much attention on the main local television stations. We no longer have a local newspaper of any significance. The 1983 campaign also was the first year for district representation, with a horde of candidates knocking on doors for both city council and school committee seats. Some of the mayoral candidates had local offices (David Finnegan and Mel King during the preliminary, Ray Flynn joined Mel for the final, not sure of any others.)
It takes an enormous amount of organizing to engage people to vote in any Allston Brighton election. The Elizabeth Warren campaign did an outstanding job last year, but had the advantage of turnout that was also driven by interest in the presidential race, as well as intense attention to her battle with Scott Brown from both local and national media.
July 9, 2013
Maybe someone can ask the mayoral candidates how they would handle this stuff
The BAIA has a full agenda for tomorrow night, with two candidates for mayor, Charlotte Golar Richie and Mike Ross making their pitch, as well city council at-large hopeful Doug Wohn, along with an array of zoning and licensing issues. Among them: building a single-family home at 53 Gerrish Street; Domino’s request to allow deliveries until 3AM at their location on Washington Street near Lake Street; and an update on the development proposal for the former Circle Cinema site in Cleveland Circle. More detail here, stop by 326 Washington Street at 7PM tomorrow, meetings are open to everyone.
June 25, 2013
Fire at 26 Ashford Street
A Sunday night fire at 26 Ashford Street in Allston has left six people homeless. The owner of record is Lenore Ryan, who lives nearby on Wadsworth Street, although the deed that transferred the property to her in May 1997 records a Boca Raton, Florida address. The city of Boston lists it as a two-family with an assessed value of $546,200.
The area has been the scene of two other fires over the past year and a half, at 84 Linden Street and across the street at 87, with one resulting in a death and another in serious injury. Map here. Last I checked, 87 Linden Street was boarded up and 84 Linden Street had been demolished. Three gutted homes within blocks of each other are not a good thing for the neighborhood.
June 20, 2013
Demolish, rebuild, repeat
The Charlesview Residences, which were built to replace the Charlesview Apartments development that Harvard purchased and plans to demolish, which in turn were built to replace the Barry’s Corner neighborhood that was flattened by an urban renewal scheme, will have its ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow at 12 noon at 400 Western Avenue.
May 7, 2013
37 North Beacon plan junked
The 37 North Beacon Street proposal, cars or not, seems to have been junked for good at a Board of Appeal hearing on April 23. The board voted to deny without prejudice.
April 30, 2013
New construction, new candidates
Rob Consalvo, candidate for mayor, and Michelle Wu, candidate for at-large city council, will be speaking at the BAIA meeting this Thursday, May 2. Also on the agenda is a proposal for building two 3-family townhouses at 165 Everett Street and a request by Dunkin’ Donuts the closing hours at their 1955 Beacon Street, Cleveland Circle location. The meeting will be at 326 Washington Street, starting at 7PM.
April 28, 2013
One dead in Allston fire
Photo courtesy of BFD
A fire this morning at 87 Linden Street in Allston has left one person dead and 15 people injured. Six of the injured were firefighters, the others were residents of the house. The BFD arrived at the location at about 6:35AM.
City records list the owner as Anna Belakurova of the same address. Since she does not take the residential exemption, it is doubtful she lives there. The property is taxed as a two-family with an assessed value of $615,500. She purchased the property in January 2002 for $690,000. At the time she listed her address as 34 Westgate Road in West Roxbury.
January 2012 there was a fire across the street at 84 Linden that left a student with a brain injury when he escaped by jumping out a window.