Business Commentaries

Taking Stock of the North End During the COVID Era as We Turn the Page to 2021

By Bernie Sapienza For anyone who lives or works here, we all know how intrinsically tied together the business and residential communities are in the North End. Over the past five decades, the North End has had a few transformational events—the harbor clean-up of the 70s and the Big Dig of the 90s come to Read More…

Business Commentaries

Isabel’s Prince St. Laundry, a Community Friend in Boston’s North End

The most important community spots are often the least celebrated. When I first moved to the North End in 1991, the Italian section of Boston had largely gone unchanged for decades. It was the affordable part of Boston back then. My street level two-bedroom apartment at 4A Prince (currently the location of the restaurant Artu) was Read More…

Commentaries Real Estate

Open Letter to Mayor Walsh on the Former St. Leonard Rectory, 14 N. Bennet St.

By Thomas F. Schiavoni, Saint Leonard Church parishioner A revised variance request by Epsilon Partners for 6 luxury condominium units at the former Saint Leonard Rectory on North Bennet Street has met ongoing neighborhood resistance, including votes in opposition by NEWRA and NEWNC, as well as a second rejection by NEWNC on a revised proposal. A Read More…

Commentaries Schools

Commentary: Going Back to School

What will going back to school look like this year? As August rolls around, children in grades K-12 wait to find out what returning to school in 2020 will entail. Because of COVID -19, there are more questions than answers regarding what is best for students, parents, and school communities. What is the best option? Read More…

Commentaries

Commentary: Please Wear a Mask

COVID-19 unexpectedly rendered people in their sixties and older a vulnerable demographic: physically, emotionally, and financially. Most retirees are poignantly aware of this disturbing truth. For those who, like me, decided to retire recently, COVID-19 did not enter the calculus. Many people plan to reinvent themselves upon retiring, but wearing a mask and living with Read More…

Commentaries

Copp’s Hill Moment: Pandemics and Graveyards

The three-month closure of Boston’s parks and cemeteries during the covid-19 outbreak led to the remarkable reappearance of Copp‘s Hill in its natural state. They’re gone now, likely never to reappear — wildflowers and meadow grass swaying gently in the harbor breezes on the lower slopes of an ancient graveyard. During the three-month shutdown of Read More…

Commentaries

Commentary on Not Having a Traditional High School Graduation Ceremony

COVID-19 canceled celebrations, graduation speeches, prom, and other events for the class of 2020. When they will attend their 25th high school reunion in 2045, what will these students remember of their senior year?  For most high school seniors, the first week of June usually means walking at graduation and completing the traditional rites of passage Read More…

Commentaries People

Copp’s Hill Moment: Remembering Grandma

Natalie McGee, mother of North End resident Mary McGee, recently passed away at the age of 94 in Long Branch, New Jersey. Her son-in-law affectionately recalls Natalie’s adventures as a sometime visitor to her daughter’s fourth-floor walk-up in a former tenement atop Copp’s Hill. The girl from Jersey City has gone away, leaving behind a bouquet of memories as Read More…