March 3, 2013
Apple MacBooks are at the top of the list for burglars. Three MacBooks were lifted from 90 Easton Street, two from 28 Quint Avenue, and one each disappeared from two different apartments at 29 Cummings Road. Another vanished at 6 Camelot Court. Plus three at 115 Glenville Avenue. Activate that tracking application on your laptop, kids, it’s there for a reason.
The perennial party scene in the Ashford Street/Wadsworth Street area brought the attention of police to 34 Ashford, 66 Ashford, 8 Wadsworth and 85 Linden. All locations were found with underage drinking and upwards of 100 people in the basement.
“Uncle Crummies,” an underground drinking and performance spot in an apartment at 30 Penniman Road in Allston, was put out of business when police paid a visit. There was a $7 donation to enter, about 75 people listening to one of four bands on the night’s lineup and a bar manned by two bartenders.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, Crime |
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March 3, 2013
The developers of a mixed hotel and residential development for Cleveland Circle will give an update on their plans this Thursday, March 7 at the BAIA meeting. Also on the agenda are 103 units for 75 Brainerd Road in Allston and a proposed food pantry for 575 Washington Street in Brighton. The full agenda is here.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, Cleveland Circle, New Construction |
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March 2, 2013
A BU student was found unconscious in a Wadsworth Street apartment in Allston around midnight today, according to Boston.com. He was later declared dead at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. This is the second death this year in that area. Police believe there was no foul play involved.
Posted in Allston, BU, Crime |
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February 27, 2013
A few weeks ago someone was knocked to the ground and literally stomped in the head as he left Redneck’s Roast Beef at 140 Brighton Avenue, at the corner of Harvard Avenue. The victim was bleeding heavily and vomiting by the time an ambulance arrived. The attack occurred around 2:30AM on Friday, February 8. It was witnessed by a police officer on his way to another incident, and the perpetrator was arrested.
And some people think we need to let Allston’s bars and fast food restaurants to stay open later.
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Posted in Allston, Crime |
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February 10, 2013
Charlie Vasiliades, a.k.a. the mayor of Oak Square, took the above photos looking toward Oak Square from his porch. Matt Rocheleau at Boston.com has a story about sledding down Brainerd Road, which brought back memories of doing the same down Bigelow Street. Of course, we didn’t wait for a driving ban. It was all in the timing, and occasionally avoiding a car. Adam at Universal Hub has a series of before and after shots, including these taken locally, here and here, and a really great night view.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, Oak Square |
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February 10, 2013
Recently I discovered “Originally from Allston,” a Facebook page devoted to memories of the neighborhood by people who grew up there. Check out the photos.
Posted in Allston, Neighborhood history |
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February 8, 2013
During the Blizzard of ’78 the MBTA kept running, at least until the snow overwhelmed buses and above-ground lines. Photos here of trolleys on Commonwealth Ave in Allston.
H/T to Adam at Universal Hub.
Posted in Allston, MBTA, Neighborhood history |
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February 6, 2013
Harvard will be moving its engineering school to Allston, according to the Crimson, which interviewed president Drew Faust. Until now, the public plans were to use the property now occupied by the Charlesview Apartments as a parking lot. The private plans were clearly quite different from what was submitted to the BRA last fall, and presented to the community. What other surprises are in store?
CORRECTION: The engineering school will relocate to the Western Avenue planned life sciences center site, not the Charlesview location, according to Kevin Galvin of Harvard. Harvard Magazine has an overview of the school’s Allston history.
Not the only cheating scandal going on at the university, eh?
Harvard has been both high-handed and underhanded in its treatment of Allston. Underhanded, with its surreptitious acquisition of acres of property. High-handed, with its shabby behavior. Emptying out the properties it acquired and letting them sit vacant for years, greatly harming the vitality of local business areas. Not to mention lots of vacant building look awful.
How will the BRA react to this? The city’s planning agency can’t plan if a developer deceives it.
Posted in Allston, Harvard |
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February 3, 2013
Chris Devers, a Somerville-based photographer, is taking photos of the same spot along the Charles River several times a week. The vantage point is from the Watertown side near Greenough Boulevard and North Beacon Street. This bend of the Charles River is one of the prettiest views in the neighborhood.
Photo used under this Creative Commons license.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, Charles River |
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February 3, 2013
Shining your high beams into the car in front of you is annoying. Doing it to a police car is stupid, as two gentlemen cruising along the streets of Allston discovered Friday night. When the driver did not take the hint when to officers behind him put on their rear blue lights, they pulled him over. Driving without a license, and the apparent cocaine in the pocket of his passenger, got them both arrested.
Posted in Allston, Crime |
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February 2, 2013
A bus carrying 42 passengers hit the Western Avenue underpass on Soldiers Field Road at 7:42PM today. The rescue of occupants took a little more than an hour, according to the Boston Fire Department. The chartered Philadelphia-bound coach had just left Harvard. While most people’s injuries did not appear serious, a few people were removed with back boards.
UPDATE: One person has life-threatening injuries, according to Boston EMS’s Twitter feed. The bus was removed early this morning. More here.
Photo courtesy of BFD Twitter feed.
Posted in Allston |
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January 30, 2013
The Boston Police are seeking the public’s help in apprehending two men who were involved in an armed robbery at the Neighborhood Market in Allston yesterday evening. More info here. Hat tip Adam at UH.
Posted in Allston, Crime |
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January 24, 2013
Harvard’s plans continued to be met with skepticism at last night’s Harvard-Allston Task Force meeting. Residents voiced again their concerns about relocating storage and maintenance facilities to Travis Street, as well as the school’s overall approach, citing a lack transparency as to what their plans are.
The architect originally hired to design the new science complex on Western Avenue is being wooed to rejoin the project, which was put on hold in 2009.
The next meeting of the task force is Wednesday, February 6, at 6PM in Cumnock Hall Room 102, at Harvard Business School.
Posted in Allston, Harvard |
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January 24, 2013
The Allston Brighton State House delegation will be available Thursday, January 31 to speak about and take your questions regarding the upcoming legislative session. The meeting will be at 6:15PM at the Brighton Branch Library. If you have concerns about the governor’s recently unveiled plans for transportation, education and the increased taxes to pay for it, this is an excellent opportunity to voice them. The event is sponsored by the Ward 21 Democratic Committee.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, Politicians, Politics |
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January 23, 2013
The compulsion of real estate developers to create new “districts” has come to Allston. The Mount Vernon Company has dubbed several blocks between Commonwealth Avenue and the Brookline line as the “Green District”. It has announced plans to build an environmentally friendly, 108 unit apartment building at the corner of Brainerd Road and Redford Street, adding to projects completed this summer or now underway. All of this adds to the urgency of improving service on the Boston College line.
Posted in Allston, New Construction |
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January 23, 2013
Recent crimes in the Ashford Street area of Allston, along with continuing complaints about parties from residents, has prompted increased patrol in the area, including enforcement of the open container law. Some of the parties had as many as 100 students in attendance. Not far from that area there were three robberies the evening of Saturday, January 18.
The owners of the properties ought take a bit more interest in what happens there. How can you not know when a bar and dj booth are installed?
Posted in Allston, BU, Crime |
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January 19, 2013
Will Brownsberger has a good summary of the suggestions that were made at a meeting to talk about Green Line Improvements. The MBTA stated that the starting in 2015, there will be real time tracking on the Green line, as there is on the other lines. The Walking Bostonian website also has a map of which parts of the city have the highest and lowest rates of car ownership.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, MBTA |
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January 17, 2013
A developer is proposing a five-story, 44 apartment building at the corner of Everett and North Beacon Streets just outside Union Square in Allston. This is too tall and too dense for the site, which sits at constantly congested intersection. Something more akin to the Brian Honan apartments around the corner on Everett Street would be more appropriate. The BRA has scheduled a community meeting on Thursday, January 31 at 6:30PM at the Jackson-Mann School.
Posted in Allston, Brighton, New Construction |
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January 7, 2013
Inscribed on the back of this photograph: “….Mrs. Eunice Hollum of 152 North Harvard Street is told that her home in background was cleaned up by BRA movers and then closed up while she was at the store, by Steve Golden, one of the leaders against the BRA takeover…”
Thanks to Charlie Vasiliades for the photo.
Allston has suffered a lot over years due to the arrogance and indifference of the BRA.
UPDATE: Charlie V. informs me the photo is from 1969, probably October.
Posted in Allston, Neighborhood history |
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January 7, 2013
Harry Mattison has lots of information on Harvard’s latest plans for Allston, such as they are. Scroll down to the posts starting with “More on Harvard’s empty warehouses.”
Posted in Allston, Harvard |
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