Dear Friends: As we approach and prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth during the grace-filled season of Advent, I wish to send you my prayerful greetings and best wishes. May the birth of Jesus Christ be a time of rebirth for the Church and each one of us. The quick passing of seasons and Read More…
When I was a young girl growing up in the neighborhood, the Gassy (DeFillipo Park) as we called it, was a wonderful place to hang out. On any given day, dozens of kids could be found playing on one of the many structures, swinging on the swings or running around playing games of tag. The Read More…
Yesterday I used the car for the first time since last Saturday nite, when our triplet grandchildren had been here for my husband’s birthday party. Afterward I drove them back to their car, which was parked a couple of blocks away. When I opened my new car yesterday to put something in the back seat, Read More…
Downtown JournalAn occasional column about city life Earlier this month, my husband Ben and I were driving home and we weren’t speaking. We were utterly absorbed in a podcast playing on the car radio – a podcast with the most implausible title, “Should America Be Run By…Trader Joe’s?” As we listened, each of us came Read More…
Everyone has a favorite North End restaurant and there have always been many to choose from. These days I see throngs of tourists, elderly leaf peepers, and high school groups waiting in long lines at our local restaurants. Sixty years ago visiting the North End was taking a walk on the wild side and only Read More…
Back in the 1960s limousines were a rarity in Boston. They were luxurious, elegant, and expensive, you had to be either very rich or very dead to afford one. Undertakers used them for funerals and rented them out for weddings so riding in one was a special treat. In all of Boston there were only Read More…
By Norma Reppucci Accidental needlesticks is a serious issue in the North End and the city of Boston, especially when it happens to a child. Children are particularly vulnerable to being stuck with needles, in part due to the prevalence of used needles being left or discarded in North End parks and other public spaces. Read More…
Downtown JournalAn occasional column about city life Each morning, I am oddly comforted when the rallying cries begin. In the evening, when the shouts fade away, I feel the neighborhood becomes a little too quiet. The hotel workers on strike at Battery Wharf Hotel definitely have a hold on my attention. The striking Local 26 Read More…
The Boston of my youth was a city of well-defined tribes. The Irish in Dorchester, Southie and Charlestown, the Blacks in Roxbury, the Jews in the West End and Mattapan, the gentry in Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, and the Italians in East Boston and the North End. Intermingling occurred in schools and the Read More…
Like many others in Boston, I made this year’s September 1st move. My new apartment is an oversized studio overlooking the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, across the street from the Public Garden—an enviable location to some. Top floor views, elevator building, dog-friendly; it checks off a lot of boxes for many struggling renters. But, for me, Read More…
It appears we have a new feast to celebrate in the North End. On September 13th, 14th, and 15th, the second annual feast of San Gennaro will be held on Hanover Street. When I first heard about this I thought that the last thing we needed was another feast. More noise, more tourists, more trash, Read More…
I met up with a friend last Sunday afternoon. We spent some time at a local waterfront spot and after she’d left to catch her train, I decided a walk would be a great way to wind down with the weekend on its way out. Knowing the Feast of Feasts was still very much in Read More…