Commentaries Government

Copp’s Hill Moment: Preoccupied – A Remembrance

(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…

Community

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…

Event Notices

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…

Commentaries Real Estate

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…

Commentaries Health & Environment

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…

Community

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…

Community Health & Environment

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…

Commentaries Community Schools

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…