(On the second anniversary of the dispersal of the Occupy Boston movement, North End resident Thomas F. Schiavoni recalls the mid-December 2011 removal of squatters from their Dewey Square encampment.) I. A Long Distance Call The phone rang as I was scarfing down breakfast. The tentative voice of my 21-year-old Italian cousin greeted me. Two Read More…
Author: Thomas F. Schiavoni
The Yankee Swap: A Holiday Advisory
North End resident, Thomas F. Schiavoni, examines a homespun tradition that has morphed into a war game among family, friends and co-workers. It’s that time of the year when “Good will to all!’ collides with wretched excess and gaudy displays of consumption. Sadly, we risk the danger of stampedes and unprovoked assaults at crowded malls Read More…
North End Moment: Happy Thanksgiving!
Once ashore, they only drove in Plymouth Voyagers. Image by Thomas Schiavoni.
Letter: North End Visitor Center and Public Restrooms
The future of a North End visitor center and public restrooms in the Michelangelo annex on Hull Street is the subject of a letter forwarded by a local group to the officers of Old North Church and Paul Revere House. The Friends of Copp’s Hill Burying Ground have requested that the two Freedom Trail sites Read More…
Long Wharf Park Case: A Dispatch from the Court House
The proposed commercialization of public open space at the end of Long Wharf marked the sixth year of litigation on Friday, September 27 in a courtroom at Suffolk Superior Court. Ten North End residents in the case of Sanjoy Mahajan et al. vs. Boston Redevelopment Authority have challenged the Mass. DEP’s approval of BRA plans Read More…
Copp’s Hill Moment: Moving Day!
It’s that time of the year again. The transitional season – not quite summer, not quite fall – known as moving-in-and-out-days throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. North Enders, in particular, get to witness this annual migratory ritual at close range when building entrances and sidewalks are festooned with oversized mattresses, broken couch frames, desk lamps, laundry baskets, Read More…
Shock-and-Awe at the BRA: The Vision Machine
(In this updated adaptation of past commentary in the former North End News, Thomas F. Schiavoni examines public review of massive development proposals for Government Center Garage and North Station.) Hidden deep within the recesses of the Boston Redevelopment Authority on the 9th floor of City Hall is a windowless space with an incredible view Read More…
Think We Need More Barrels (or Basements)?
(This is the third in a continuing series of “Think we need more barrels?” North End resident, Thomas F. Schiavoni examines the role of City Hall in exacerbating the neighborhood’s ongoing problem with litter and household trash disposal.) It’s not the tourists, stupid. You would not believe what stuff gets tossed away as litter. An Read More…
The Long Wharf Park Case: A Dispatch from the Court House
The protracted court battle over the fate of Long Wharf Park grew lengthier yesterday in a Suffolk Superior Court motion session before presiding justice, Linda Giles. Moving towards a sixth year of litigation in the case of Sanjoy Mahajan vs. Boston Redevelopment Authority, ten North End residents have challenged the Mass. DEP’s approval of BRA Read More…
Friends of Copp’s Hill Burying Ground Issue Plea for North End Public Restrooms and Visitor Facility
A June 3, 2013 letter from Friends of Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is scanned below as written to the Old North Church and Paul Revere House regarding re-opening of public restrooms at the Michelangelo Visitor Facility. The letter is also available here in PDF format. Related attachments include: Welcome to the Historic North End; Sorry, Read More…
Copp’s Hill Moment Reflects on Cap and Gown
We were returning home when a thick mist began to morph into raindrops. Evening darkness was falling upon the neighborhood. Plastic garbage bags and boxes were haphazardly strewn at doorways in anticipation of the next morning’s trash collection. Something bright red, discarded on a garbage pile, caught my eye. I first guessed that it was Read More…
Long Wharf Park: Just a Footnote?
by Thomas F. Schiavoni Since 1989 an inscribed bronze plaque, embedded in granite beneath a towering flagpole, has clearly established the identity of a magnificent public space on Boston’s waterfront. Long Wharf Park offers panoramic views and serenity at the edge of the sea – a stone toss away from a bustling hotel, commuter boats Read More…