by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun, Beacon Hill Times, Regional Review
Last week, the Boston Public Health Commission unanimously voted to shut down cigar bars in 10 years, banned cigarette sales at drugstores and on college campuses in the city and eliminated smoking at outdoor areas of restaurants and bars, rules that will go into effect in 60 days.
For cigar bars, it's not a huge hit. They have 10 years to find another livelihood, unless by then they're granted another 10-year extension. Boston has a handful of spots where patrons can enjoy a cigar or even a hookah, or tobacco pipe. Many opponents to the ban blame the hookah for drawing such attention, since it attracts youth primarily.
Since the vote on Thursday, it drew more attention, and perhaps more business, to the likes of Stanza del Sigari under Caffe Vittoria and Filippo Restaurant on Causeway, in the North End; Cigar Masters on Boylston Street, the one at the Bostonian Hotel; Tangierino in Charlestown, and Tufts Smoke Shop on Bennington Street in East Boston. Patrons can try a hookah at places like Tantric India Bistro on Stuart Street and Kashmir Indian Restaurant on Newbury Street.
Boston has six cigar bars and five hookah lounges, which are safe for years. However, no new such lounges will be permitted to open in the future.
City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina is a bit torn on the matter. He's a nonsmoker who was formerly a bartender, and he wishes the cigarette ban had occurred back then. "I love the strict no-smoking rules," he said.
But he also believes people have the right to choose where they work and whether to light up a cigar.
"The cigar bars we have right now should have been grandfathered in," he said. "When you're 21 years old, you make the decision to smoke. I'm a nonsmoker. I personally don't like smoking, but there are people who enjoy having a cigar. If smoke bothers you, you aren't going to work for the cigar bar."
As for the pharmacies losing the right to sell cigarettes, LaMattina said the real key is enforcement, not banning certain institutions from selling products. "The city loves to have strict tobacco laws, but the mission should be to make sure it's impossible for teenagers to have access. So you have special shops where they're carding people. On the smoking laws, Boston is taking the lead in Massachusetts," he said.
Many cigar and hookah bars closed shop when the cigarette ban occurred years ago. State disease trackers recently found that the four-year-old statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars seems to have helped to dramatically reduce deaths from heart attacks.
Pharmacy chains and tobacco companies had argued that smokers will just go outside the city to buy their tobacco, and will take some of their non-cigarette purchases with them. This law will affect about 75 pharmacies and a few campus convenience stores. Starting immediately, smoking won't be permitted on the patios of restaurants and bars that have outdoor service.
"Boston has taken another step that puts it in the forefront in the United States in protecting people against secondhand smoke," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an antismoking group based in Washington, D.C. "Boston rules are now as tough or tougher than [those in] any other city in the country."
Monday, December 15, 2008
Atlantic Fish remains closed, but employees continue to work
by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun
Last month, an electrical short circuit sparked a fire that caused more than a million dollars in damages and shut down Atlantic Fish restaurant and Crate and Barrel on Boylston Street.
Crate and Barrel opened its doors on Black Friday, but so far, Atlantic Fish still has no opening date, said spokesperson Amy Daniels. “We’ve been hard at work getting the restaurant back in shape for mid-January,” she said.
However, Daniels noted that they were able to relocate the majority of the Atlantic Fish staff to other areas around the Back Bay Restaurant Group. Chef Tim Partridge is working at Abe & Louie’s. “One of our hostesses is working in the support center in payroll and marketing projects,” added Daniels. “We have our staff working all over so they can still collect pay around the holidays.”
In the meantime, holiday parties and other scheduled dinners were also relocated to the chain’s other area restaurants: Abe & Louie's, Atlantic Fish, Coach Grill, Bouchee, Papa Razzi, Joe's American Bar and Grill and Charley's.
“It was an unfortunate time of the year for this to happen, but like everything in life, Back Bay Restaurant Group has made the best of it, and we’ve really done a good job looking out for our employees,” she said.
And while they’re rebuilding the restaurant, Atlantic Fish owners decided that, design wise, “We decided not to change a thing.”
Back Bay Sun
Last month, an electrical short circuit sparked a fire that caused more than a million dollars in damages and shut down Atlantic Fish restaurant and Crate and Barrel on Boylston Street.
Crate and Barrel opened its doors on Black Friday, but so far, Atlantic Fish still has no opening date, said spokesperson Amy Daniels. “We’ve been hard at work getting the restaurant back in shape for mid-January,” she said.
However, Daniels noted that they were able to relocate the majority of the Atlantic Fish staff to other areas around the Back Bay Restaurant Group. Chef Tim Partridge is working at Abe & Louie’s. “One of our hostesses is working in the support center in payroll and marketing projects,” added Daniels. “We have our staff working all over so they can still collect pay around the holidays.”
In the meantime, holiday parties and other scheduled dinners were also relocated to the chain’s other area restaurants: Abe & Louie's, Atlantic Fish, Coach Grill, Bouchee, Papa Razzi, Joe's American Bar and Grill and Charley's.
“It was an unfortunate time of the year for this to happen, but like everything in life, Back Bay Restaurant Group has made the best of it, and we’ve really done a good job looking out for our employees,” she said.
And while they’re rebuilding the restaurant, Atlantic Fish owners decided that, design wise, “We decided not to change a thing.”
Warm thoughts, cold ideas
by Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun
In this cold cruel world, which is going to get colder verrrrrrry soon, we all could use some reminders about how to stay warm in the next few months.
Warm your buns:
The private dining room at Bina Osteria has heated seats, despite being an indoor restaurant.
Stephanie’s on Newbury may be the place to lounge outside in the summer with an iced tea, but wintertime, lounge with a chicken pot pie for comfort food by the fire.
On a diet? Climb the stairs to Emerge’s fourth floor hearth. “It’s as attractive to many people as the spa,” says Emerge owner Joyce Hampers.
Of course, Emerge and almost every spa along Newbury Street and Boylston features sauna, hot rocks, and other heat treatments that go skin-deep. Also be sure to sign up your muscles for a little yoga at one of the many fine Back Bay studios.
Warm your soul:
Bring some canned food to your church’s food pantry, and ask how you can help other families hit hard by the economy.
Warm your heart:
o Whole Foods, at Cambridge Street and Symphony, have a number of items that give back: buying one FEED 100 bag provides food to a Rwandan child for 100 days.
Warm your brain: Head over to Borders in-between bar hopping. Perhaps a guide to the Bahamas will help you to think warm. Also try something heartwarming, such as former Bostonian Dolley Carlson’s happy little “Christmas Gifts from the Heart,” which overflows with thoughtful, joyful, heartfelt ideas for Christmas giving.
Warm your body: at home, wrap yourself in a luxury hotel robe from Frette (at the Mandarin Orientale), made of cotton velour with two two-side pockets. Best of Scotland Cashmere Outlet on Newbury Street will also insulate your wallet with dollars. Want to be warm but not bulky? Think layers at Patagonia, 346 Newbury Street, with Capilene and Wool Baselayers for toasty tops and bottoms. Top it with an Anthropologie bright red Idra Count-The-Stars Jacket, a cinched-waist wool melton jacket lined with polka dots and topped with a detachable hood.
$178.00
Warm Your Toes: Yes, there are always Uggs, but for style that meets warm AND comfy, try the boots with Nike Air soles at Cole Haan, at109 Newbury St. Don’t forget the socks. Nothing beats Smartwool socks, which can be picked up at Eastern Mountain Sports, 855 Boylston St.
A warm bed:
Down To Basics at 249 Newbury St. swears by “Our Very Best Siberian Down Comforter in a Swiss Batiste shell” featuring a Winter Diagon Patented Design.
Drink and Bowl:
Follow a round of bowling with the spiked Butterscotch Eggnog at Kings Lanes.
Warm liquids:
Check out Bauer Wines and spirits at 330 Newbury Street, for an 18-year-old Macallan Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky, or a Warre’s Vintage Port. Feeling a bit pinched? Pop in Saturday for a free wine tasting.
Since childhood, we’ve known the magic that only hot cocoa can conjure. At Aroma, try a sake bottleful of Vosges “haut chocolate,” made from milk chocolate and vanilla bean. Its rich, thick liquid tastes like a candy bar, down to the tasty dregs at the bottom of your cup. Aroma manager Emily Fortin also recommends the white chocolate with lavender flowers and the red-fire ancho chile chocolate, although she prefers the unsweetened Perengotti dutched cocoa, to which she adds peppermint and sugar. Try to get in early, because the café has a lot of seats that get filled quickly.
Or travel up to the third floor and take home a box of Winter Spice Chai from Timeless Teas, which buys its black tea from Sri Lanka, where the business’ family is from.
Warm your dog: Oftentimes, a dog's natural coat just isn't enough to keep warm in Boston's below-zero temperatures. Pawsh Dog Boutique at 31 Gloucester Street carries fleece, shearling, and faux fur-trimmed hooded parkas to keep Fido toasty warm.
Back Bay Sun
In this cold cruel world, which is going to get colder verrrrrrry soon, we all could use some reminders about how to stay warm in the next few months.
Warm your buns:
The private dining room at Bina Osteria has heated seats, despite being an indoor restaurant.
Stephanie’s on Newbury may be the place to lounge outside in the summer with an iced tea, but wintertime, lounge with a chicken pot pie for comfort food by the fire.
On a diet? Climb the stairs to Emerge’s fourth floor hearth. “It’s as attractive to many people as the spa,” says Emerge owner Joyce Hampers.
Of course, Emerge and almost every spa along Newbury Street and Boylston features sauna, hot rocks, and other heat treatments that go skin-deep. Also be sure to sign up your muscles for a little yoga at one of the many fine Back Bay studios.
Warm your soul:
Bring some canned food to your church’s food pantry, and ask how you can help other families hit hard by the economy.
Warm your heart:
o Whole Foods, at Cambridge Street and Symphony, have a number of items that give back: buying one FEED 100 bag provides food to a Rwandan child for 100 days.
Warm your brain: Head over to Borders in-between bar hopping. Perhaps a guide to the Bahamas will help you to think warm. Also try something heartwarming, such as former Bostonian Dolley Carlson’s happy little “Christmas Gifts from the Heart,” which overflows with thoughtful, joyful, heartfelt ideas for Christmas giving.
Warm your body: at home, wrap yourself in a luxury hotel robe from Frette (at the Mandarin Orientale), made of cotton velour with two two-side pockets. Best of Scotland Cashmere Outlet on Newbury Street will also insulate your wallet with dollars. Want to be warm but not bulky? Think layers at Patagonia, 346 Newbury Street, with Capilene and Wool Baselayers for toasty tops and bottoms. Top it with an Anthropologie bright red Idra Count-The-Stars Jacket, a cinched-waist wool melton jacket lined with polka dots and topped with a detachable hood.
$178.00
Warm Your Toes: Yes, there are always Uggs, but for style that meets warm AND comfy, try the boots with Nike Air soles at Cole Haan, at109 Newbury St. Don’t forget the socks. Nothing beats Smartwool socks, which can be picked up at Eastern Mountain Sports, 855 Boylston St.
A warm bed:
Down To Basics at 249 Newbury St. swears by “Our Very Best Siberian Down Comforter in a Swiss Batiste shell” featuring a Winter Diagon Patented Design.
Drink and Bowl:
Follow a round of bowling with the spiked Butterscotch Eggnog at Kings Lanes.
Warm liquids:
Check out Bauer Wines and spirits at 330 Newbury Street, for an 18-year-old Macallan Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky, or a Warre’s Vintage Port. Feeling a bit pinched? Pop in Saturday for a free wine tasting.
Since childhood, we’ve known the magic that only hot cocoa can conjure. At Aroma, try a sake bottleful of Vosges “haut chocolate,” made from milk chocolate and vanilla bean. Its rich, thick liquid tastes like a candy bar, down to the tasty dregs at the bottom of your cup. Aroma manager Emily Fortin also recommends the white chocolate with lavender flowers and the red-fire ancho chile chocolate, although she prefers the unsweetened Perengotti dutched cocoa, to which she adds peppermint and sugar. Try to get in early, because the café has a lot of seats that get filled quickly.
Or travel up to the third floor and take home a box of Winter Spice Chai from Timeless Teas, which buys its black tea from Sri Lanka, where the business’ family is from.
Warm your dog: Oftentimes, a dog's natural coat just isn't enough to keep warm in Boston's below-zero temperatures. Pawsh Dog Boutique at 31 Gloucester Street carries fleece, shearling, and faux fur-trimmed hooded parkas to keep Fido toasty warm.
Suburbanites cross paths with downtown residents
By Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Twelve homes in downtown boston opened their doors to show the rest of Boston and suburbanites that not only do poele live in Downtown Boston, they do it with style.
On Saturday, about 150 braved the cold to loop along Washington Street to Beach Street, Kingston and Avery Streets, Temple Place to Chauncy Street, to One Devonshire Place, to School Street. Residents were asked not to touch objects in the home, or to take photos; carriages and strollers weren’t allowed into the homes. Many of the homes closed off bedrooms and other rooms, but otherwise professional designers perk up the homes in holiday style, with candles lit, music playing, and snacks provided along many of the counters.
The event was run by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, to show some of the homes that 6,000 people live in. Tour participants paid $25 to tour homes, and to otherwise find that there’s no single-families, although some units like at the Edison qualify as duplexes, that home values – from lofts to Ritz-Carlton units -- range from $520,000 to $5 million. That residents can walk to work, or hop on all of the colors of the T. Their backyard is the Boston Common; Boylston Place is a stumble away. There’s theater and fresh Chinese food. There’s clothing shops and banks. There’s no supermarkets, but there’s specialty markets such as Bina Alimentary, Lamberts marketplace and Chinese markets and fruit stands. And that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when the One Franklin Filene’s Basement project is completed. Developer John B. Hynes III just dropped 166 condos from its 38-story tower project, which stalled in November. Some of the storefronts temporarily house artists or are hidden behind dozens of pushcarts. Still, the downtown remains lively, and more tenants – retailers, Suffolk and Emerson universities, restaurants – continue to move in.
People on the self-guided tour not only gained entry into homes, they were reminded about how fun it can be to wander downtown on your day off. Many stopped to enjoy the "holiday village" on Summer Street, with a live petting zoo, a carousel, carolers, jazz bands, and Santa Claus photos. They warmed up mid-tour by getting some holiday shopping done, stopping for a coffee or a meal, taking notice of what’s playing at the theaters, and otherwise getting a sense about how convenient and interesting the area is, even if they can’t go to The Basement right now. After the tour, a party was held at the ArtMarket, a gallery set up in an empty storefront until the end of the month.
For a few, it was also an open house for potential buyers.
“I think people in the suburbs maybe left thinking that in the not-too-distant future, they might be telling their adult kids that it’s time to leave,” said Keller Williams Realty’s Diane Davidson, who was showing off the striking Edison loft in a boutique elevator building. She said a few curious peepers expressed some interest in moving downtown someday.
“You have to know people live here, but you don’t think about it,” says Pembroke resident and Newbury Street worker Michele Ouellette. “I get to live vicariously thorugh others.”
She took the tour with a friend, Tramaine Weekes of Randolph, who said, “I’m always trying to pick up ideas.”
Weekes and Ouelette looked around the two-bedroom at Avery Place inside the Ritz Carlton, and asked questions about the unit’s ebonized flooring and unusual country-flair kitchen décor. Interior designer Alexandra Slote, who was watching the unit for the owner, was happy to answer.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet potential clients,” said Slote. “It was a little stressful -- I only had a week to pull this together.” Slote, whose client, a 31-year-old headhunter wanted a hip yet traditional home, quickly, pulled together a clean look from pieces she got at the Design Center. “She wanted a young, hip vibe, but she’s very traditional.”
Slote was a little nervous about watching the unit while strangers tromped around, but felt comfortable with the amount of security provided by the Ritz. She had placed a bow across the entrance of one bedroom, and closed off a second bedroom by placing a chair in front, but she was still surprised when peole insisted on trying to get in anyway.
“They’re trying to attract potential buyers to Downtown Crossing Area, to tell them, ‘You can live here.”
Proceeds from the tour paid for the event’s materials, and otherwise go back into the operating expenses for the nonprofit Downtown Crossing Partnership.
“We’ve been planning this since September,” said Downtown Crossing Partnership’s Kathleen Styger. “The biggest thing is getting the units, making sure you have enough different places.”
Like the first such tour in May, 12 homes opened their doors, but only two are repeats.
“It was fun,” said Mary Ann Ponti, who had shown her Washington Street loft last May to about 150 visitors. “I had two helpers, and I would chat with people. A lot of women came in from the suburbs. Mostly people made comments like ‘I can’t believe people live here, you must be happy living in the middle of everything.’”
Beacon Hill Times
Twelve homes in downtown boston opened their doors to show the rest of Boston and suburbanites that not only do poele live in Downtown Boston, they do it with style.
On Saturday, about 150 braved the cold to loop along Washington Street to Beach Street, Kingston and Avery Streets, Temple Place to Chauncy Street, to One Devonshire Place, to School Street. Residents were asked not to touch objects in the home, or to take photos; carriages and strollers weren’t allowed into the homes. Many of the homes closed off bedrooms and other rooms, but otherwise professional designers perk up the homes in holiday style, with candles lit, music playing, and snacks provided along many of the counters.
The event was run by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, to show some of the homes that 6,000 people live in. Tour participants paid $25 to tour homes, and to otherwise find that there’s no single-families, although some units like at the Edison qualify as duplexes, that home values – from lofts to Ritz-Carlton units -- range from $520,000 to $5 million. That residents can walk to work, or hop on all of the colors of the T. Their backyard is the Boston Common; Boylston Place is a stumble away. There’s theater and fresh Chinese food. There’s clothing shops and banks. There’s no supermarkets, but there’s specialty markets such as Bina Alimentary, Lamberts marketplace and Chinese markets and fruit stands. And that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when the One Franklin Filene’s Basement project is completed. Developer John B. Hynes III just dropped 166 condos from its 38-story tower project, which stalled in November. Some of the storefronts temporarily house artists or are hidden behind dozens of pushcarts. Still, the downtown remains lively, and more tenants – retailers, Suffolk and Emerson universities, restaurants – continue to move in.
People on the self-guided tour not only gained entry into homes, they were reminded about how fun it can be to wander downtown on your day off. Many stopped to enjoy the "holiday village" on Summer Street, with a live petting zoo, a carousel, carolers, jazz bands, and Santa Claus photos. They warmed up mid-tour by getting some holiday shopping done, stopping for a coffee or a meal, taking notice of what’s playing at the theaters, and otherwise getting a sense about how convenient and interesting the area is, even if they can’t go to The Basement right now. After the tour, a party was held at the ArtMarket, a gallery set up in an empty storefront until the end of the month.
For a few, it was also an open house for potential buyers.
“I think people in the suburbs maybe left thinking that in the not-too-distant future, they might be telling their adult kids that it’s time to leave,” said Keller Williams Realty’s Diane Davidson, who was showing off the striking Edison loft in a boutique elevator building. She said a few curious peepers expressed some interest in moving downtown someday.
“You have to know people live here, but you don’t think about it,” says Pembroke resident and Newbury Street worker Michele Ouellette. “I get to live vicariously thorugh others.”
She took the tour with a friend, Tramaine Weekes of Randolph, who said, “I’m always trying to pick up ideas.”
Weekes and Ouelette looked around the two-bedroom at Avery Place inside the Ritz Carlton, and asked questions about the unit’s ebonized flooring and unusual country-flair kitchen décor. Interior designer Alexandra Slote, who was watching the unit for the owner, was happy to answer.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet potential clients,” said Slote. “It was a little stressful -- I only had a week to pull this together.” Slote, whose client, a 31-year-old headhunter wanted a hip yet traditional home, quickly, pulled together a clean look from pieces she got at the Design Center. “She wanted a young, hip vibe, but she’s very traditional.”
Slote was a little nervous about watching the unit while strangers tromped around, but felt comfortable with the amount of security provided by the Ritz. She had placed a bow across the entrance of one bedroom, and closed off a second bedroom by placing a chair in front, but she was still surprised when peole insisted on trying to get in anyway.
“They’re trying to attract potential buyers to Downtown Crossing Area, to tell them, ‘You can live here.”
Proceeds from the tour paid for the event’s materials, and otherwise go back into the operating expenses for the nonprofit Downtown Crossing Partnership.
“We’ve been planning this since September,” said Downtown Crossing Partnership’s Kathleen Styger. “The biggest thing is getting the units, making sure you have enough different places.”
Like the first such tour in May, 12 homes opened their doors, but only two are repeats.
“It was fun,” said Mary Ann Ponti, who had shown her Washington Street loft last May to about 150 visitors. “I had two helpers, and I would chat with people. A lot of women came in from the suburbs. Mostly people made comments like ‘I can’t believe people live here, you must be happy living in the middle of everything.’”
Suburbanites cross paths with downtown residents
By Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Twelve homes in downtown boston opened their doors to show the rest of Boston and suburbanites that not only do poele live in Downtown Boston, they do it with style.
On Saturday, about 150 braved the cold to loop along Washington Street to Beach Street, Kingston and Avery Streets, Temple Place to Chauncy Street, to One Devonshire Place, to School Street. Residents were asked not to touch objects in the home, or to take photos; carriages and strollers weren’t allowed into the homes. Many of the homes closed off bedrooms and other rooms, but otherwise professional designers perk up the homes in holiday style, with candles lit, music playing, and snacks provided along many of the counters.
The event was run by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, to show some of the homes that 6,000 people live in. Tour participants paid $25 to tour homes, and to otherwise find that there’s no single-families, although some units like at the Edison qualify as duplexes, that home values – from lofts to Ritz-Carlton units -- range from $520,000 to $5 million. That residents can walk to work, or hop on all of the colors of the T. Their backyard is the Boston Common; Boylston Place is a stumble away. There’s theater and fresh Chinese food. There’s clothing shops and banks. There’s no supermarkets, but there’s specialty markets such as Bina Alimentary, Lamberts marketplace and Chinese markets and fruit stands. And that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when the One Franklin Filene’s Basement project is completed. Developer John B. Hynes III just dropped 166 condos from its 38-story tower project, which stalled in November. Some of the storefronts temporarily house artists or are hidden behind dozens of pushcarts. Still, the downtown remains lively, and more tenants – retailers, Suffolk and Emerson universities, restaurants – continue to move in.
People on the self-guided tour not only gained entry into homes, they were reminded about how fun it can be to wander downtown on your day off. Many stopped to enjoy the "holiday village" on Summer Street, with a live petting zoo, a carousel, carolers, jazz bands, and Santa Claus photos. They warmed up mid-tour by getting some holiday shopping done, stopping for a coffee or a meal, taking notice of what’s playing at the theaters, and otherwise getting a sense about how convenient and interesting the area is, even if they can’t go to The Basement right now. After the tour, a party was held at the ArtMarket, a gallery set up in an empty storefront until the end of the month.
For a few, it was also an open house for potential buyers.
“I think people in the suburbs maybe left thinking that in the not-too-distant future, they might be telling their adult kids that it’s time to leave,” said Keller Williams Realty’s Diane Davidson, who was showing off the striking Edison loft in a boutique elevator building. She said a few curious peepers expressed some interest in moving downtown someday.
“You have to know people live here, but you don’t think about it,” says Pembroke resident and Newbury Street worker Michele Ouellette. “I get to live vicariously thorugh others.”
She took the tour with a friend, Tramaine Weekes of Randolph, who said, “I’m always trying to pick up ideas.”
Weekes and Ouelette looked around the two-bedroom at Avery Place inside the Ritz Carlton, and asked questions about the unit’s ebonized flooring and unusual country-flair kitchen décor. Interior designer Alexandra Slote, who was watching the unit for the owner, was happy to answer.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet potential clients,” said Slote. “It was a little stressful -- I only had a week to pull this together.” Slote, whose client, a 31-year-old headhunter wanted a hip yet traditional home, quickly, pulled together a clean look from pieces she got at the Design Center. “She wanted a young, hip vibe, but she’s very traditional.”
Slote was a little nervous about watching the unit while strangers tromped around, but felt comfortable with the amount of security provided by the Ritz. She had placed a bow across the entrance of one bedroom, and closed off a second bedroom by placing a chair in front, but she was still surprised when peole insisted on trying to get in anyway.
“They’re trying to attract potential buyers to Downtown Crossing Area, to tell them, ‘You can live here.”
Proceeds from the tour paid for the event’s materials, and otherwise go back into the operating expenses for the nonprofit Downtown Crossing Partnership.
“We’ve been planning this since September,” said Downtown Crossing Partnership’s Kathleen Styger. “The biggest thing is getting the units, making sure you have enough different places.”
Like the first such tour in May, 12 homes opened their doors, but only two are repeats.
“It was fun,” said Mary Ann Ponti, who had shown her Washington Street loft last May to about 150 visitors. “I had two helpers, and I would chat with people. A lot of women came in from the suburbs. Mostly people made comments like ‘I can’t believe people live here, you must be happy living in the middle of everything.’”
Beacon Hill Times
Twelve homes in downtown boston opened their doors to show the rest of Boston and suburbanites that not only do poele live in Downtown Boston, they do it with style.
On Saturday, about 150 braved the cold to loop along Washington Street to Beach Street, Kingston and Avery Streets, Temple Place to Chauncy Street, to One Devonshire Place, to School Street. Residents were asked not to touch objects in the home, or to take photos; carriages and strollers weren’t allowed into the homes. Many of the homes closed off bedrooms and other rooms, but otherwise professional designers perk up the homes in holiday style, with candles lit, music playing, and snacks provided along many of the counters.
The event was run by the Downtown Crossing Partnership, to show some of the homes that 6,000 people live in. Tour participants paid $25 to tour homes, and to otherwise find that there’s no single-families, although some units like at the Edison qualify as duplexes, that home values – from lofts to Ritz-Carlton units -- range from $520,000 to $5 million. That residents can walk to work, or hop on all of the colors of the T. Their backyard is the Boston Common; Boylston Place is a stumble away. There’s theater and fresh Chinese food. There’s clothing shops and banks. There’s no supermarkets, but there’s specialty markets such as Bina Alimentary, Lamberts marketplace and Chinese markets and fruit stands. And that everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when the One Franklin Filene’s Basement project is completed. Developer John B. Hynes III just dropped 166 condos from its 38-story tower project, which stalled in November. Some of the storefronts temporarily house artists or are hidden behind dozens of pushcarts. Still, the downtown remains lively, and more tenants – retailers, Suffolk and Emerson universities, restaurants – continue to move in.
People on the self-guided tour not only gained entry into homes, they were reminded about how fun it can be to wander downtown on your day off. Many stopped to enjoy the "holiday village" on Summer Street, with a live petting zoo, a carousel, carolers, jazz bands, and Santa Claus photos. They warmed up mid-tour by getting some holiday shopping done, stopping for a coffee or a meal, taking notice of what’s playing at the theaters, and otherwise getting a sense about how convenient and interesting the area is, even if they can’t go to The Basement right now. After the tour, a party was held at the ArtMarket, a gallery set up in an empty storefront until the end of the month.
For a few, it was also an open house for potential buyers.
“I think people in the suburbs maybe left thinking that in the not-too-distant future, they might be telling their adult kids that it’s time to leave,” said Keller Williams Realty’s Diane Davidson, who was showing off the striking Edison loft in a boutique elevator building. She said a few curious peepers expressed some interest in moving downtown someday.
“You have to know people live here, but you don’t think about it,” says Pembroke resident and Newbury Street worker Michele Ouellette. “I get to live vicariously thorugh others.”
She took the tour with a friend, Tramaine Weekes of Randolph, who said, “I’m always trying to pick up ideas.”
Weekes and Ouelette looked around the two-bedroom at Avery Place inside the Ritz Carlton, and asked questions about the unit’s ebonized flooring and unusual country-flair kitchen décor. Interior designer Alexandra Slote, who was watching the unit for the owner, was happy to answer.
“I thought this would be a good way to meet potential clients,” said Slote. “It was a little stressful -- I only had a week to pull this together.” Slote, whose client, a 31-year-old headhunter wanted a hip yet traditional home, quickly, pulled together a clean look from pieces she got at the Design Center. “She wanted a young, hip vibe, but she’s very traditional.”
Slote was a little nervous about watching the unit while strangers tromped around, but felt comfortable with the amount of security provided by the Ritz. She had placed a bow across the entrance of one bedroom, and closed off a second bedroom by placing a chair in front, but she was still surprised when peole insisted on trying to get in anyway.
“They’re trying to attract potential buyers to Downtown Crossing Area, to tell them, ‘You can live here.”
Proceeds from the tour paid for the event’s materials, and otherwise go back into the operating expenses for the nonprofit Downtown Crossing Partnership.
“We’ve been planning this since September,” said Downtown Crossing Partnership’s Kathleen Styger. “The biggest thing is getting the units, making sure you have enough different places.”
Like the first such tour in May, 12 homes opened their doors, but only two are repeats.
“It was fun,” said Mary Ann Ponti, who had shown her Washington Street loft last May to about 150 visitors. “I had two helpers, and I would chat with people. A lot of women came in from the suburbs. Mostly people made comments like ‘I can’t believe people live here, you must be happy living in the middle of everything.’”
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Suffolk law students help Chelsea homeowners
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by Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Chelsea Record
A family of four, from a woman in her late 50s to her granddaughter, lived in an apartment without heat, hot water, or cooking gas. They did have rats. The house was under foreclosure, so the bank wasn’t too responsive when notified of these conditions. In fact, they were trying to evict the family.
A group of Suffolk law students came to the rescue. Within short order, they helped the family obtain a temporary restraining order ordering the bank, Aurora Loan Services, to rectify these conditions.
“It was a struggle even after getting the court order, but we were able to do that for the tenant in a relatively short period of time,” says Bill Berman, an associate clinical law professor who runs the Housing & Consumer Protection Clinic in Chelsea. “We are still representing her. She was a Section 8 tenant, so the bank shouldn't have even been entitled to bring an eviction against her. We got it dismissed. They moved out on her own accord and are pursuing their claims against them.”
Because of subprime mortgages, property owners no longer able to afford their payments are losing the properties to the bank, creating a domino effect of suffering among tenants, families, and whole communities.
Hundreds of area tenants living in foreclosed properties are being forced out of their homes by the banks buying up the homes. What many don’t know is that they don’t have to move, at least not immediately, say legal advocates.
Thanks to a group of Suffolk University law students, victims of foreclosure are learning about their rights. “Many banks don’t want the liability of maintaining a landlord tenant relationship so they try to get them out as early as possible,” says Sara Louis, a third year law student at Suffolk who has helped in two major foreclosure cases. “We help people fill out paperwork, so they can preserve their rights, but we don’t actually represent all the people who come in. We’re just helping people know what their rights are, which is a big thing. A lot of tenants don’t know what their rights are.”
Suffolk University rents their clinic at 350 Broadway, as run by Prof. Steven Callahan and staffed by office coordinator Ana Vaquerano, who can speak Spanish. The city also employs high school students to give out Suffolk legal clinic cards. “We are very supportive of what the Suffolk legal clinic is doing,” says Chelsea Housing Director Carol Martinez. “We’ve worked with Suffolk’s legal clinic many times over the years. They get the messag out that residents don’t have to pack up and leave.”
Berman says, “I don't think there is one case where we haven't had some such successful outcome for the tenant. Sometimes they get more time, sometimes they get money to help for their move, that they didn't realize they were otherwise entitled to.”
Berman’s clinic this year runs until students graduate in the spring. He launched the clinic last spring, when he began noticing an uptick in foreclosures last fall. “We decided to organize a group of Suffolk students to canvass, trying to reach tenants in foreclosed properties to inform them of their rights before they were scared out of their home,” he said. “We began in earnest in the fall. We now a have a significant group of students canvassing in Chelsea and the city of Boston – Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Dorchester and South Boston.”
The students get leads from a Harvard student clinic’s website, from Banker and Tradesman, and by handing out fliers. The students get assigned properties that are in their neighborhood to canvass. Suffolk also houses a free legal clinic each Friday in Chelsea, an eight-student office targeting housing and consumer protection, with another 40 students doing canvassing.
While not directly associated with the city, Suffolk is working with Chelsea officials, with the hopes of gaining canvassing expertise and some contacts that will help ease the students’ outreach. “People from the local community who could go out with the students and work with them in meeting the tenants,” says Berman. “It would be a way to make the tenants more comfortable when someone is banging on the door and provide assistance.”
Although some students speak Spanish, language is a barrier; so is general mistrust. “There is some hesitance in the beginning, but if they have a member of the community with them and able to explain themselves a little bit, reassure that they are doing something other than trying to help them with free services, they have had some success.”
The Suffolk clinic is staffed by an office coordinator, Ana Vaquerano, who can speak Spanish. “Our clinic is a real, very significant resource in the city of Chelsea. Ana is an extremely knowledgeable person who is extremely involved in the community. She’s a great resource.”
Students received 303 certification in order to help out people who otherwise couldn’t afford a lawyer. Suffolk’s clinic is open Fridays in Chelsea, where they help people with paperwork.
The students get cases from walk-ins to their Chelsea clinic, as well as by sending letters to those receiving eviction notices. “We get a list from Chelsea district court and send letters to tell them about our clinic, about their rights, and how we can help them with filling out paperwork, can come every Friday morning at Chelsea,” says Louis.
“The housing clinic appealed to me, especially with what’s going on with the foreclosures and evictions,” said Louis, who hails from Westchester, Pa.; her father is an attorney, too. Louis also works with cases dealing with housing, battered women, and family and juvenile justice.
She recalls one 73-year old woman who had lived in her Chelsea apartment for 33 years, and was facing eviction. The landlord had lost the three-family, which was bought by a bank in a foreclosure sale. In the end the students helped negotiate a settlement last month. “We ended up getting an agreement for more time, and got her some money in order for her to move. She has to move out Feb. 1.”
The key was settling before having to present the court case, says Louis.
Louis also worked with an East Boston resident, where the mother had paid a deposit on a place that later was discovered to have lead paint. She wanted her money back, but the landlord refused. She was awarded money, but all she has is a writ of attachment; she’s having trouble collecting. Louis worked with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to give the woman additional money “for what she had to go through,” said Louis.
Suffolk’s worked directly with about a couple dozen tenants so far, says Berman. “The efforts we have with canvassing is to reach people before they are in court, and expand with more people,” says Berman.
With practice comes knowledge. “We are becoming more and more familiar with these types of cases and the types of issues that come up. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of them. I think the reality is the trend is continuing to increase. We are planning to be there and to offer our assistance.”
Says Berman, “There are challenges with these kinds of cases. Sometimes the decisionmakers are located out of state and far away and it's difficult to get their attention, even if the lawyers are local. It's a challenge sometime to get a large entity focused on the needs of individuals ... sometimes they don't see themselves as responsible.”
Berman doesn’t blame the banks so much. “I think the way the banks didn't realize that they would be in this position, that they weren't planning to be major landlords because of this kind of crisis. When they take ownership of a property, they need to focus their attention.”
“We’re constantly looking for ways to improve what we're doing and to collaborate with others,” say Berman. The students are working with Harvard’s legal aid bureau, Greater Boston Legal Services, Chelsea Human Services, and City Life. “It’s a unique program,” says Berman. “Harvard is doing a similar program, but Suffolk is organizing students to do this pro bono in canvassing around the city.”
City Life’s "No one leaves campaign" blockaded the evictions of Jamaica Plain homeowners in foreclosure. “There are definitely other people doing the lawyer for the day program,” says Louis. “This is just another resource for people.”
“I just think it’s so beneficial to see the good you do and how grateful people are for the time you’re taking to help them,” says Louis. “It’s just opened my eyes to the conditions people have to live in. It’s just an eye opening experience.”
Sidebar: The Chelsea Housing Market
Unlike in many areas of the state, where investors bought properties, rented them out, and tried to flip them for more money, in Chelsea much of the housing stock is owner-occupied, with many units rented to fellow family members. So when people talk about the foreclosure crisis, it’s not just a few people who have to leave because they obtained mortgages they couldn’t afford. These are multi-family homes that has renters that need to move on. There are renters who never missed a payment but who are being thrown out by impatient banks. It’s not just a “tsk-tsk” moment among the better off. This is about an entire community imploding.
“We have to figure out how to bring new families in or try to keep the ones who live here,” says Chelsea Housing Director Carol Martinez. “This has a very destabilizing effect on Chelsea families. It affects how kids do in school, it affects everything.”
To maintain a vital Chelsea, it’s all about keeping families here.
“I’ve walked through a lot of two- families that were sad … it was like walking through a ghost town. The people who lived in them took care of them, they were their homes. They left toys behind, swing sets in the back yard. It’s sad.”
Martinez welcomes Suffolk’s help, which complements her own efforts to stabilize an entire community.
“A significant amount of residents are at risk of being foreclosed upon. Losing owners and tenants, and have the property go through the cycle is not healthy for our neighborhoods. We’d like to keep tenants and property owners in the property as much as we can.”
Her office has been watching the slow rise of foreclosures, and so she’s been assembling some resources.
The City of Chelsea is slowly rolling out a Distressed Housing Initiative, which has a goal to keep tenants in the building they’re in. The Chelsea Restoration Corporation, funded through the city of Chelsea, has run a foreclosure prevention counseling program, at 154 Pearl St. “If you have trouble paying your mortgage, you call them,” says Martinez.
And Chelsea Neighborhood Developers develops affordable and mixed-income housing, one of more than 200 member organizations nationwide that make up NeighborWorks America. “They have been doing a lot of work in partnerships to keep track of the properties and map them out, figure out who lived in there, who the foreclosure entities are,” says Martinez.
“The Chelsea neighborhood developers are looking to go after and buy some of the more distressed properties and try to get them before the owners and tenants have moved out,” says Martinez. “It’s actually been pretty successful. I think they bought three buildings. A lot of them they can’t get to if they are foreclosed upon. I think they’ve been able to get one that is still occupied. They’re trying but it’s a very labor intensive program to deal with.”
Stepping in and helping people from losing their homes is tough – first, housing advocates have to find the tenants and landlords who are in trouble, before the banks finish foreclosing upon the property. Because of language barriers, cultural differences, depression and mistrust, many victims are reluctant to turn to others for help.
Also, the layers of bureaucracy involved with banks, loans and real estate professionals is extensive. “We’re really, really, really only now beginning to have enough resources and staffing to really start making a difference,” says Martinez. “Investors are finally figuring out it’s better to work out a deal with the owners, and that they’ll make more money, than to foreclose.”
“It’s a really big mess,” says Martinez. “But the mess we have in Massachusetts is nothing compared to other states. Florida is just a disaster.” There, whole gated communities are closed. Developers there overbuilt. “We’re lucky we didn’t have enough land to do that,” says Martinez.
The bulk of the subprime loans went to homeowners in the Midwest, something our state avoided largely due to our strong economy, she notes. In 1995, a three-family went for $300,000; today you can buy one for $150,000, more if it’s in great condition. “These are nice values compared to the depressed Midwest,” she says. “I think it’s still solid here. It’s not catastrophic.”
“Sometimes we don’t get the building until it’s too late. It’s so traumatic, that it’s hard to get them in. They’re in shock,” says Martinez. “I think the word is getting out and people are starting to come in more to foreclosure prevention initiative and to the Suffolk clinic.”
To help ease the crisis, money is starting to come in from state and federal government. Governor Deval Patrick recently visited Chelsea to announce a $20 million loan fund, available to community organizations to purchase foreclosed-upon properties.
And in more good news to help stem the loss of Chelsea families, the Patrick Administration’s Department of Housing and Community Development submitted its plan to distribute $43.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help Massachusetts communities stabilize neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures.
While the bulk of the funds will go toward Boston, Brockton, Springfield and Worcester; Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Framingham, Barnstable, Plymouth and Marlboro can also apply for $6.8 million direct assistance for eligible projects. Chelsea, along with Revere, Everett, Methuen, Weymouth, Chicopee, Leominster, Quincy, Milford, Randolph, Attleboro, Yarmouth, Wareham, Salem, Billerica, Fall River, Saugus, Dracut, Somerville, Peabody, Taunton, Holyoke, Stoughton, Falmouth and Marshfield will also be eligible for community assistance.
Under HUD’s timeline, it expects to notify the state of whether the plan is acceptable by January 15, 2009; funds would then be available in February.
by Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Chelsea Record
A family of four, from a woman in her late 50s to her granddaughter, lived in an apartment without heat, hot water, or cooking gas. They did have rats. The house was under foreclosure, so the bank wasn’t too responsive when notified of these conditions. In fact, they were trying to evict the family.
A group of Suffolk law students came to the rescue. Within short order, they helped the family obtain a temporary restraining order ordering the bank, Aurora Loan Services, to rectify these conditions.
“It was a struggle even after getting the court order, but we were able to do that for the tenant in a relatively short period of time,” says Bill Berman, an associate clinical law professor who runs the Housing & Consumer Protection Clinic in Chelsea. “We are still representing her. She was a Section 8 tenant, so the bank shouldn't have even been entitled to bring an eviction against her. We got it dismissed. They moved out on her own accord and are pursuing their claims against them.”
Because of subprime mortgages, property owners no longer able to afford their payments are losing the properties to the bank, creating a domino effect of suffering among tenants, families, and whole communities.
Hundreds of area tenants living in foreclosed properties are being forced out of their homes by the banks buying up the homes. What many don’t know is that they don’t have to move, at least not immediately, say legal advocates.
Thanks to a group of Suffolk University law students, victims of foreclosure are learning about their rights. “Many banks don’t want the liability of maintaining a landlord tenant relationship so they try to get them out as early as possible,” says Sara Louis, a third year law student at Suffolk who has helped in two major foreclosure cases. “We help people fill out paperwork, so they can preserve their rights, but we don’t actually represent all the people who come in. We’re just helping people know what their rights are, which is a big thing. A lot of tenants don’t know what their rights are.”
Suffolk University rents their clinic at 350 Broadway, as run by Prof. Steven Callahan and staffed by office coordinator Ana Vaquerano, who can speak Spanish. The city also employs high school students to give out Suffolk legal clinic cards. “We are very supportive of what the Suffolk legal clinic is doing,” says Chelsea Housing Director Carol Martinez. “We’ve worked with Suffolk’s legal clinic many times over the years. They get the messag out that residents don’t have to pack up and leave.”
Berman says, “I don't think there is one case where we haven't had some such successful outcome for the tenant. Sometimes they get more time, sometimes they get money to help for their move, that they didn't realize they were otherwise entitled to.”
Berman’s clinic this year runs until students graduate in the spring. He launched the clinic last spring, when he began noticing an uptick in foreclosures last fall. “We decided to organize a group of Suffolk students to canvass, trying to reach tenants in foreclosed properties to inform them of their rights before they were scared out of their home,” he said. “We began in earnest in the fall. We now a have a significant group of students canvassing in Chelsea and the city of Boston – Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Dorchester and South Boston.”
The students get leads from a Harvard student clinic’s website, from Banker and Tradesman, and by handing out fliers. The students get assigned properties that are in their neighborhood to canvass. Suffolk also houses a free legal clinic each Friday in Chelsea, an eight-student office targeting housing and consumer protection, with another 40 students doing canvassing.
While not directly associated with the city, Suffolk is working with Chelsea officials, with the hopes of gaining canvassing expertise and some contacts that will help ease the students’ outreach. “People from the local community who could go out with the students and work with them in meeting the tenants,” says Berman. “It would be a way to make the tenants more comfortable when someone is banging on the door and provide assistance.”
Although some students speak Spanish, language is a barrier; so is general mistrust. “There is some hesitance in the beginning, but if they have a member of the community with them and able to explain themselves a little bit, reassure that they are doing something other than trying to help them with free services, they have had some success.”
The Suffolk clinic is staffed by an office coordinator, Ana Vaquerano, who can speak Spanish. “Our clinic is a real, very significant resource in the city of Chelsea. Ana is an extremely knowledgeable person who is extremely involved in the community. She’s a great resource.”
Students received 303 certification in order to help out people who otherwise couldn’t afford a lawyer. Suffolk’s clinic is open Fridays in Chelsea, where they help people with paperwork.
The students get cases from walk-ins to their Chelsea clinic, as well as by sending letters to those receiving eviction notices. “We get a list from Chelsea district court and send letters to tell them about our clinic, about their rights, and how we can help them with filling out paperwork, can come every Friday morning at Chelsea,” says Louis.
“The housing clinic appealed to me, especially with what’s going on with the foreclosures and evictions,” said Louis, who hails from Westchester, Pa.; her father is an attorney, too. Louis also works with cases dealing with housing, battered women, and family and juvenile justice.
She recalls one 73-year old woman who had lived in her Chelsea apartment for 33 years, and was facing eviction. The landlord had lost the three-family, which was bought by a bank in a foreclosure sale. In the end the students helped negotiate a settlement last month. “We ended up getting an agreement for more time, and got her some money in order for her to move. She has to move out Feb. 1.”
The key was settling before having to present the court case, says Louis.
Louis also worked with an East Boston resident, where the mother had paid a deposit on a place that later was discovered to have lead paint. She wanted her money back, but the landlord refused. She was awarded money, but all she has is a writ of attachment; she’s having trouble collecting. Louis worked with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to give the woman additional money “for what she had to go through,” said Louis.
Suffolk’s worked directly with about a couple dozen tenants so far, says Berman. “The efforts we have with canvassing is to reach people before they are in court, and expand with more people,” says Berman.
With practice comes knowledge. “We are becoming more and more familiar with these types of cases and the types of issues that come up. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of them. I think the reality is the trend is continuing to increase. We are planning to be there and to offer our assistance.”
Says Berman, “There are challenges with these kinds of cases. Sometimes the decisionmakers are located out of state and far away and it's difficult to get their attention, even if the lawyers are local. It's a challenge sometime to get a large entity focused on the needs of individuals ... sometimes they don't see themselves as responsible.”
Berman doesn’t blame the banks so much. “I think the way the banks didn't realize that they would be in this position, that they weren't planning to be major landlords because of this kind of crisis. When they take ownership of a property, they need to focus their attention.”
“We’re constantly looking for ways to improve what we're doing and to collaborate with others,” say Berman. The students are working with Harvard’s legal aid bureau, Greater Boston Legal Services, Chelsea Human Services, and City Life. “It’s a unique program,” says Berman. “Harvard is doing a similar program, but Suffolk is organizing students to do this pro bono in canvassing around the city.”
City Life’s "No one leaves campaign" blockaded the evictions of Jamaica Plain homeowners in foreclosure. “There are definitely other people doing the lawyer for the day program,” says Louis. “This is just another resource for people.”
“I just think it’s so beneficial to see the good you do and how grateful people are for the time you’re taking to help them,” says Louis. “It’s just opened my eyes to the conditions people have to live in. It’s just an eye opening experience.”
Sidebar: The Chelsea Housing Market
Unlike in many areas of the state, where investors bought properties, rented them out, and tried to flip them for more money, in Chelsea much of the housing stock is owner-occupied, with many units rented to fellow family members. So when people talk about the foreclosure crisis, it’s not just a few people who have to leave because they obtained mortgages they couldn’t afford. These are multi-family homes that has renters that need to move on. There are renters who never missed a payment but who are being thrown out by impatient banks. It’s not just a “tsk-tsk” moment among the better off. This is about an entire community imploding.
“We have to figure out how to bring new families in or try to keep the ones who live here,” says Chelsea Housing Director Carol Martinez. “This has a very destabilizing effect on Chelsea families. It affects how kids do in school, it affects everything.”
To maintain a vital Chelsea, it’s all about keeping families here.
“I’ve walked through a lot of two- families that were sad … it was like walking through a ghost town. The people who lived in them took care of them, they were their homes. They left toys behind, swing sets in the back yard. It’s sad.”
Martinez welcomes Suffolk’s help, which complements her own efforts to stabilize an entire community.
“A significant amount of residents are at risk of being foreclosed upon. Losing owners and tenants, and have the property go through the cycle is not healthy for our neighborhoods. We’d like to keep tenants and property owners in the property as much as we can.”
Her office has been watching the slow rise of foreclosures, and so she’s been assembling some resources.
The City of Chelsea is slowly rolling out a Distressed Housing Initiative, which has a goal to keep tenants in the building they’re in. The Chelsea Restoration Corporation, funded through the city of Chelsea, has run a foreclosure prevention counseling program, at 154 Pearl St. “If you have trouble paying your mortgage, you call them,” says Martinez.
And Chelsea Neighborhood Developers develops affordable and mixed-income housing, one of more than 200 member organizations nationwide that make up NeighborWorks America. “They have been doing a lot of work in partnerships to keep track of the properties and map them out, figure out who lived in there, who the foreclosure entities are,” says Martinez.
“The Chelsea neighborhood developers are looking to go after and buy some of the more distressed properties and try to get them before the owners and tenants have moved out,” says Martinez. “It’s actually been pretty successful. I think they bought three buildings. A lot of them they can’t get to if they are foreclosed upon. I think they’ve been able to get one that is still occupied. They’re trying but it’s a very labor intensive program to deal with.”
Stepping in and helping people from losing their homes is tough – first, housing advocates have to find the tenants and landlords who are in trouble, before the banks finish foreclosing upon the property. Because of language barriers, cultural differences, depression and mistrust, many victims are reluctant to turn to others for help.
Also, the layers of bureaucracy involved with banks, loans and real estate professionals is extensive. “We’re really, really, really only now beginning to have enough resources and staffing to really start making a difference,” says Martinez. “Investors are finally figuring out it’s better to work out a deal with the owners, and that they’ll make more money, than to foreclose.”
“It’s a really big mess,” says Martinez. “But the mess we have in Massachusetts is nothing compared to other states. Florida is just a disaster.” There, whole gated communities are closed. Developers there overbuilt. “We’re lucky we didn’t have enough land to do that,” says Martinez.
The bulk of the subprime loans went to homeowners in the Midwest, something our state avoided largely due to our strong economy, she notes. In 1995, a three-family went for $300,000; today you can buy one for $150,000, more if it’s in great condition. “These are nice values compared to the depressed Midwest,” she says. “I think it’s still solid here. It’s not catastrophic.”
“Sometimes we don’t get the building until it’s too late. It’s so traumatic, that it’s hard to get them in. They’re in shock,” says Martinez. “I think the word is getting out and people are starting to come in more to foreclosure prevention initiative and to the Suffolk clinic.”
To help ease the crisis, money is starting to come in from state and federal government. Governor Deval Patrick recently visited Chelsea to announce a $20 million loan fund, available to community organizations to purchase foreclosed-upon properties.
And in more good news to help stem the loss of Chelsea families, the Patrick Administration’s Department of Housing and Community Development submitted its plan to distribute $43.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help Massachusetts communities stabilize neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures.
While the bulk of the funds will go toward Boston, Brockton, Springfield and Worcester; Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Framingham, Barnstable, Plymouth and Marlboro can also apply for $6.8 million direct assistance for eligible projects. Chelsea, along with Revere, Everett, Methuen, Weymouth, Chicopee, Leominster, Quincy, Milford, Randolph, Attleboro, Yarmouth, Wareham, Salem, Billerica, Fall River, Saugus, Dracut, Somerville, Peabody, Taunton, Holyoke, Stoughton, Falmouth and Marshfield will also be eligible for community assistance.
Under HUD’s timeline, it expects to notify the state of whether the plan is acceptable by January 15, 2009; funds would then be available in February.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Bina Osteria opens at Ritz Carlton
by Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Babak and Azita Bina-Seibel are opening a restaurant during a recession. Worried? Nah. They’re used to working austerely.
Located in the North Tower of The Ritz Carlton Residences in Downtown Crossing neighborhood, the new Bina Osteria serves refined contemporary Italian cuisine.
The latest culinary venture from Babak and Azita Bina, the brother-sister team behind Lala Rokh and Bin 26 Enoteca, Babak says they’ve figured out how to make things work during a downturn.
“Having been doing this for 30 years, you kind of basically learn to adapt and learn to plan,” says Babak. “You don’t wait until the economy goes south to stay limber and effective in the cost of operation. We made this decision to be limber in the late ’80s, when things were really rough economically in town. At that point we decided to get into the restaurant business, rather than high-end fine dining.”
They started with Lala Rokh on Beacon Hill, then about four years ago they began planning for this Osteria/Alimenti concept. They found their location two years ago, just as they were opening Bin 26, which turned into a success.
“We are confident it will be very glitzy and glamorous, but it will still be very much a neighborhood restaurant you can go to everyday, not a specialty occasion due to the cost factor.”
He didn’t spare much in the design of the space. Excited about working from scratch, rather than adapting an existing space like with his other restaurants. The architect, office dA, designed a modern version of a Tuscan grand hall, in a space twice as large as his other restaurants.
With a dramatic 24-foot high ceiling anchored by sand-blasted columns connecting inverted umbrella-shaped fiberglass vault elements, and sunny floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
“It’s very exciting to have a clean palette to work with,” he gushed.
A curtained private 12-seat dining room off to the side of the 120-seat restaurant and features heated seats “so your tush will be nice and warm” says Babak. In warmer weather, they’ll have a 60-plus seat outdoor patio.
A 44-seat handmade Terrazzo bar, made up of recycled glass, granite, marble and mother of pearl for a little sparkle, features at the end a communal table for eating at the bar. A nearby lounge has comfy couches with tiny tables made up of recycled railroad ties.
The restaurant is to the left of the bar, the Bina Alimentary market to the right is behind an optical-illusion of a glass wall.
For those with no time for Bina Osteria, you can pickup their house-made pastas, sauces, soups, and pastries – including homemade marshmallows with lavender. The shop can deliver cases of wine and gourmet food to guests.
The Alimentary has a wide selection of wines, tea, deli items, oils, sauces, olives and high-end balsamic vinegar, among other gourmet treats, imported from Italy and France. They also own a few humanely raised Iowa hogs, which will be butchered “nose to tail” and sent to them when ready; the exclusive La Quercia farm only caters to 20 chefs, including Mario Batali. At the counter are helpful food reference books.
“The gourmet food shop, Alimentary, is based on the local grocer concept, before supermarkets came around,” he said. Having another way to garner income from foodies doesn’t hurt in this economy, either.
The store’s full alcohol license will allow boutique wines as offered in the restaurant. Unlike the Bin 26 restaurant, however, “We probably won’t have Thunderbird and Boone Farm.”
The bigger space also gives them even more room to play. “We have been dabbling with making our own wines in Italy and France,” he says.
The wine menu states that it is made up of “Old-World wines produced by those who intend to maintain the true expression of the land that they grow their grapes from.” Most bottles averaged a reasonable $30-$40. The beers on tap include micro brews such as from Buzzards Bay, and bottled beers from around the world.
“There’s a definite formula to putting together the wine list,” said general manager Don Bailey. “We wanted to give an example of high quality, responsible farming, sustainable fishing. We chose locals to support our economy as well as local ecology. We even used recycled paper.”
Food offerings for the grocery will include as many items picked from local farms as possible, they promise.
“These are not going to be things you can find in Whole Foods. They do an excellent product, but these are handpicked, and hand-grown,” says Bina. “We want to support local farmers. We’re constantly tasting things. We have to go up to a sheep farm in New Bedford to try some goat cheese.”
Many grocery items will be handmade, including sorbets, gelati, jams, wines, pate, salami, cured meats, and ravioli.
“We’ll be dabbling a lot more than we have. We’re expanding our wings and getting some elbow room, to create what we really love,” says Bina. “I shouldn’t be paid for what we’re doing.”
Sidebar: lunch at Bina Osteria
By Sandra Miller
For lunch, the restaurant was bright with sun that streamed in from the large windows looking onto Washington Street.
While you can just order one item, splurging for the full four courses is a wonderful afternoon splurge.
Say yes to the bread, from Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline. It’s served warm, a chewy center surrounded by a crisp crust, with a tiny dish of light and highly rendered pork fat, and several pinches of Maine sea salt.
A salad of lambs lettuce comes with mashed roasted sunchokes and a sprinkling of hazelnuts and crushed pink peppercorns for a savory and satisfying light meal.
For the salad, the especially helpful waiter, Tyrone Scaobi, matched it with a rich and bright 2007 Soave Classico Garganega and Trebbiano blend.
For the primi, ribbons of melt-in-your-mouth parpadelle held rich buffalo di Vermont meatballs, made of buffalo and pork belly with basil and bits of carrot, swimming in San Marzano tomato sauce and grated cheese. Tyrone matched it with a 2005 Teroldego Rotaliano, a rich and ancient variety whose structure was able to support the gaminess of the meatballs.
For a secondi, or main entrée, the organic herb roasted chicken breast came highly recommended by Jamel, another super-helpful waiter. So tender you could cut it with a fork, the skin was crispy and tasty. It came with an acorn squash puree that was smooth and flavorful, especially so with a well of dark chicken jus; and buttery brussel sprouts. Tyrone recommended a glass of Riesling from the Pfalz region, Durkheimer Nonnengarten Kabinet by Darting.
The desserts, by Paola Fioravanti and team, are less confections than ingredients presented on a plate, to be mixed together or enjoyed separately.
The selections included an Anjou pear and Marcona almond tart of tiny orbs of tart fruit with pear sorbet and chai tea consommé, with a black salt sprinkle and topped by a tuille of chai tea.
A deconstructed tiramisu was more like an espresso sundae, with chocolate gelato over coffee streusel with jellied espresso, topped by a slice of glassy sugar.
The Moscato d’asti mousse with orange sorbet, 1000-flower honey cream and sumac meringue is vegan and light.
All go perfectly with the smooth house special roast coffee with a dash of milk chocolate.
Many of the ingredients for these recipes are also available in Bina Alimentary, from the honey to the gelato to the meatballs and parpadelle.
The restaurant is open seven days from afternoon until midnight, and weekend brunch.
Beacon Hill Times
Babak and Azita Bina-Seibel are opening a restaurant during a recession. Worried? Nah. They’re used to working austerely.
Located in the North Tower of The Ritz Carlton Residences in Downtown Crossing neighborhood, the new Bina Osteria serves refined contemporary Italian cuisine.
The latest culinary venture from Babak and Azita Bina, the brother-sister team behind Lala Rokh and Bin 26 Enoteca, Babak says they’ve figured out how to make things work during a downturn.
“Having been doing this for 30 years, you kind of basically learn to adapt and learn to plan,” says Babak. “You don’t wait until the economy goes south to stay limber and effective in the cost of operation. We made this decision to be limber in the late ’80s, when things were really rough economically in town. At that point we decided to get into the restaurant business, rather than high-end fine dining.”
They started with Lala Rokh on Beacon Hill, then about four years ago they began planning for this Osteria/Alimenti concept. They found their location two years ago, just as they were opening Bin 26, which turned into a success.
“We are confident it will be very glitzy and glamorous, but it will still be very much a neighborhood restaurant you can go to everyday, not a specialty occasion due to the cost factor.”
He didn’t spare much in the design of the space. Excited about working from scratch, rather than adapting an existing space like with his other restaurants. The architect, office dA, designed a modern version of a Tuscan grand hall, in a space twice as large as his other restaurants.
With a dramatic 24-foot high ceiling anchored by sand-blasted columns connecting inverted umbrella-shaped fiberglass vault elements, and sunny floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
“It’s very exciting to have a clean palette to work with,” he gushed.
A curtained private 12-seat dining room off to the side of the 120-seat restaurant and features heated seats “so your tush will be nice and warm” says Babak. In warmer weather, they’ll have a 60-plus seat outdoor patio.
A 44-seat handmade Terrazzo bar, made up of recycled glass, granite, marble and mother of pearl for a little sparkle, features at the end a communal table for eating at the bar. A nearby lounge has comfy couches with tiny tables made up of recycled railroad ties.
The restaurant is to the left of the bar, the Bina Alimentary market to the right is behind an optical-illusion of a glass wall.
For those with no time for Bina Osteria, you can pickup their house-made pastas, sauces, soups, and pastries – including homemade marshmallows with lavender. The shop can deliver cases of wine and gourmet food to guests.
The Alimentary has a wide selection of wines, tea, deli items, oils, sauces, olives and high-end balsamic vinegar, among other gourmet treats, imported from Italy and France. They also own a few humanely raised Iowa hogs, which will be butchered “nose to tail” and sent to them when ready; the exclusive La Quercia farm only caters to 20 chefs, including Mario Batali. At the counter are helpful food reference books.
“The gourmet food shop, Alimentary, is based on the local grocer concept, before supermarkets came around,” he said. Having another way to garner income from foodies doesn’t hurt in this economy, either.
The store’s full alcohol license will allow boutique wines as offered in the restaurant. Unlike the Bin 26 restaurant, however, “We probably won’t have Thunderbird and Boone Farm.”
The bigger space also gives them even more room to play. “We have been dabbling with making our own wines in Italy and France,” he says.
The wine menu states that it is made up of “Old-World wines produced by those who intend to maintain the true expression of the land that they grow their grapes from.” Most bottles averaged a reasonable $30-$40. The beers on tap include micro brews such as from Buzzards Bay, and bottled beers from around the world.
“There’s a definite formula to putting together the wine list,” said general manager Don Bailey. “We wanted to give an example of high quality, responsible farming, sustainable fishing. We chose locals to support our economy as well as local ecology. We even used recycled paper.”
Food offerings for the grocery will include as many items picked from local farms as possible, they promise.
“These are not going to be things you can find in Whole Foods. They do an excellent product, but these are handpicked, and hand-grown,” says Bina. “We want to support local farmers. We’re constantly tasting things. We have to go up to a sheep farm in New Bedford to try some goat cheese.”
Many grocery items will be handmade, including sorbets, gelati, jams, wines, pate, salami, cured meats, and ravioli.
“We’ll be dabbling a lot more than we have. We’re expanding our wings and getting some elbow room, to create what we really love,” says Bina. “I shouldn’t be paid for what we’re doing.”
Sidebar: lunch at Bina Osteria
By Sandra Miller
For lunch, the restaurant was bright with sun that streamed in from the large windows looking onto Washington Street.
While you can just order one item, splurging for the full four courses is a wonderful afternoon splurge.
Say yes to the bread, from Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline. It’s served warm, a chewy center surrounded by a crisp crust, with a tiny dish of light and highly rendered pork fat, and several pinches of Maine sea salt.
A salad of lambs lettuce comes with mashed roasted sunchokes and a sprinkling of hazelnuts and crushed pink peppercorns for a savory and satisfying light meal.
For the salad, the especially helpful waiter, Tyrone Scaobi, matched it with a rich and bright 2007 Soave Classico Garganega and Trebbiano blend.
For the primi, ribbons of melt-in-your-mouth parpadelle held rich buffalo di Vermont meatballs, made of buffalo and pork belly with basil and bits of carrot, swimming in San Marzano tomato sauce and grated cheese. Tyrone matched it with a 2005 Teroldego Rotaliano, a rich and ancient variety whose structure was able to support the gaminess of the meatballs.
For a secondi, or main entrée, the organic herb roasted chicken breast came highly recommended by Jamel, another super-helpful waiter. So tender you could cut it with a fork, the skin was crispy and tasty. It came with an acorn squash puree that was smooth and flavorful, especially so with a well of dark chicken jus; and buttery brussel sprouts. Tyrone recommended a glass of Riesling from the Pfalz region, Durkheimer Nonnengarten Kabinet by Darting.
The desserts, by Paola Fioravanti and team, are less confections than ingredients presented on a plate, to be mixed together or enjoyed separately.
The selections included an Anjou pear and Marcona almond tart of tiny orbs of tart fruit with pear sorbet and chai tea consommé, with a black salt sprinkle and topped by a tuille of chai tea.
A deconstructed tiramisu was more like an espresso sundae, with chocolate gelato over coffee streusel with jellied espresso, topped by a slice of glassy sugar.
The Moscato d’asti mousse with orange sorbet, 1000-flower honey cream and sumac meringue is vegan and light.
All go perfectly with the smooth house special roast coffee with a dash of milk chocolate.
Many of the ingredients for these recipes are also available in Bina Alimentary, from the honey to the gelato to the meatballs and parpadelle.
The restaurant is open seven days from afternoon until midnight, and weekend brunch.
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