Temperatures soared to 90 degrees by 9 a.m. last Wednesday, but the heat didn’t wilt three men parked by their pick up truck or their 15-foot inflatable rat. All licensed carpenters, they have stood in front of Emerge at 275 Newbury Street everyday for the last two years, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., picketing what they said was the spa’s use of non-union carpenters.

The carpenters, who asked to remain anonymous, handed fliers to passersby stating that Emerge’s owner, Joyce Hampers, hired the non-union firm Metric Construction to build the spa, which was under construction from January 2005 through March 2006.
“
Without area standard wages and benefits, our community’s workers are barely able to earn a living and can’t provide health insurance for their families. Workers without health insurance have nowhere to turn when their children get sick. These cheap and greedy business practices are destroying American communities and their families,” the flier read. The flier gave Hampers’s phone number and urged readers to call and protest.

Hampers said Wednesday afternoon that the allegations are untrue and that Metric Construction workers have competitive wages, benefits, and a 401k plan. “I would not go with a company that does not pay competitive wages,” she said.

In addition to cheap publicity tactics and propagating lies, Hampers said, the picketers are also suspected of gluing the locks on the front doors of Emerge and Hampers’ other spa, Giuliano Day Spa at 338 Newbury Street, spilling garbage, and keying an employee’s car.

“It’s a competitive market. I interviewed several contractors—union and non-union—and I made my choice. I just felt it was a better fit,” she said, adding that Metric Construction had the best references. “Instead of trying to compete, the union only knows how to intimidate and scare people.”

Hampers said that she does not understand why the picketers continue to harass customers and passersby. “We’re finished. There’s nothing more to picket against,” she said.

“I don’t know [if we’re making progress], but we sure do irritate [Hampers] a lot. It’s an ongoing battle,” said a gray-haired man in aviator sunglasses. Even though the construction was completed months ago and Emerge is fully operational, he said, “We’re just letting people who go into this business know what she’s done in the past.”

Two years ago, the carpenters picketed Life Is Good, at 238 Newbury Street, for the same offense. They said that the union resolved the problem and came to an agreement with its owners.

As part of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, the carpenters picket anywhere in the city where non-union carpenters are hired. The men said the council currently has picket points across the city, at Downtown Crossing, Fenway, and Beacon Hill, as well as others in the Newbury Street area.

Picketing all day can be boring, the men agreed.

“People going by want to know what’s going on, and that keeps the day going,” said a younger redheaded man. “And the rat keeps it going for the kids,” he added, pulling on a long rope to make the rat wave its arms.

The hearing for a man who allegedly defaced several properties in Back Bay by spraying them with graffiti has been moved until later this fall.

John Mooney, whose presumed tag name is ‘DES,’ appeared at the Edward Brooke Courthouse on Wednesday, August 2, to answer several charges of destruction and defacement. Presiding Judge Sally Kelly pushed the pretrial hearing back until September, though, pending further review of the case.

Mooney was stopped by police on two separate occasions. On May 19, 2006, he was charged with four counts of tagging property. Then in a separate incident on May 30, 2006, he was charged with vandalizing property and also malicious destruction of property in the amount of $250 or more.

Judge Kelly listened to statements from the Assistant District Attorney and Defense Attorney Michael Reinhardt concerning evidence police officers had obtained during Mooney’s arrest. Reinhardt brought a motion before the court to suppress the evidence and dismiss the case, saying the police “stop and search” that occurred was without merit and all the supposed evidence should be thrown out, he said.

“They’re trying to say he’s responsible for incidents all over the city,” Reinhardt said. “And that’s not the case.”

A small group of Back Bay business and property owners attended the proceedings, hoping to speak about the damage taggers have inflicted on the neighborhood. In attendance were Marco Baldassarre and Erica Mattison from both the Fenway Graffiti Squad and the Graffiti NABBers, an offshoot of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay’s crime committee. They declined to comment because the case against Mooney is still ongoing.

In a final effort to protect three National Landmarks in the Back Bay, a neighborhood group challenged the MBTA and Federal Transit Authority in Boston’s U.S. Court of Appeals last Monday over plans to make Copley station handicapped accessible.

Alleging that the agencies failed to comply with federal and state preservation laws, the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay argued that the construction of five headhouses on Boylston Street would irreparably damage the Boston Public Library and Old South Church. Both structures are among fewer than 2,5000 National Historic Landmarks.

NABB also sought an injunction to prevent the MBTA from proceeding with construction while the court deliberates. The court had not issued a decision on either matter before this newspaper’s deadline and could require several weeks to do so.

Larry Hardoon, NABB’s attorney, argued before a triumvirate of judges that historic preservation and handicapped accessibility are “both very much achievable if the laws were applied as intended.”

“Placing a 14 foot high by 8 foot wide by 11 foot long glass and metal structure (on the library’s plaza) is basically akin to saying the emperor is wearing clothes when it’s obvious he’s not,” Hardoon told the court.

NABB and the Boston Preservation Alliance filed a lawsuit in February 2005 charging the MBTA with failure to solicit public input on the project or complete a review process by submitting its plans to the Federal Advisory Council in Washington D.C. The Federal Transit Authority approved in December, 2004, the MBTA’s plans to bring Copley station into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Hardoon invoked the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires that government agencies evaluate the impact of all government-funded construction projects. In addition, he argued, the Americans with Disabilities Act includes a “threaten or destroy” provision that allows locating handicapped accessible entrances away from the main point of entry when interfacing with historic structures.

The MBTA and FTA on Monday, however, argued that a handicapped accessible subway station is long overdue and ought to proceed as planned. “People who would like to ride the T and are not able to will continue to be unable to until litigation is resolved,” said Stephen Leonard, attorney for the MBTA.

Construction bids for the project were advertised in early 2005, and the bidding process opened in June, 2005. Leonard said that the contract has been awarded and that construction is proceeding under a joint contract with Arlington station renovations. The project would be thrown into disarray, sending costs skyrocking, if the MBTA was forced to separate the contracts, Leonard said.

In arguing against the injunction NABB requested, Leonard also said that the headhouses could be removed without causing irreparable harm, should the judges allow the MBTA to proceed with construction.

Judge Timothy Dyk appeared skeptical. “We’re hardly going to unchomp the [library’s plaza] steps,” he said.

Meanwhile, the FTA maintained that the plans would not damage the landmarks. “It’s not destruction and it’s not damage. If you cut a hole in your roof for a skylight, you don’t then say, my roof has been destroyed,” said Barbara Healy-Smith, attorney for the FTA.

“They’re not just making a hole,” said Janet Hurwitz, a former chair of NABB’s Architecture Committee and one of the MBTA-hired consultants who helped identify other options. “It would change the entire symmetry of the library,” she said after the hearing.

The members of NABB and the Preservation Alliance in attendance agreed that Judge Dyk asked questions that reflected a concern for Back Bay preservation. “There was one judge who seemed interested enough to ask some pretty good questions,” said Jolinda Taylor, NABB’s president. “We thought we gave it a good shot.”

“I thought the questions indicated they took the matter seriously,” Hardoon agreed.

On Boylston Street’s south side, in front of the library, the MBTA plans to reconstruct a 1925 wrought iron headhouse, itself a National Landmark, on the library plaza and add an elevator headhouse next to it. On the north side, next to Old South Church, plans call for replacing the existing outbound headhouse, adding an elevator headhouse behind it, and adding a headhouse over the open stair on the east side of Dartmouth Street. All headhouses would be 14-foot tall, glass structures except for the original wrought iron canopy.

credit: Jaclyn Trop
caption: Parts of Beacon Street were closed this week while a sewer line is repaired.




A 112-year-old brick sewer line snaking through Beacon Hill and the Back Bay is getting a facelift this month.

“We’re adding life expectancy to an old sewer,” said Tom Bagley, manager of community services for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The Westside Interceptor Rehabilitation Project entails laying a structural liner inside the sewer beneath Beacon Street between Charles and Dartmouth streets and beneath a section of Charles Street between Revere and Beacon streets, Bagley said.

The project began on Monday, after a two month period during which crews cleaned the sewer. Trucks emblazoned with “National Water Main Cleaning Company” blocked the entire left lane of Beacon Street this week between Clarendon and Berkeley streets, where crews have dug a hole to access the sewer.

While some traffic delays can be expected, the construction will not close the streets, according to Bagley. Police will be present to facilitate pedestrian and vehicle access, he said. The project is estimated to take three or four weeks.

The sewer line measures 57 by 60 inches, according to John Ott, construction manager at Spiniello Companies, a firm working on the project. “It’s in bad shape. We’re fixing it before it collapses,” he said.

Good job, General Court

Downtown Boston citizens should thank the 184th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts—or the state legislature, as it is more commonly known. This past week our legislators over-rode Governor Romney’s veto of $31 million in funds directed toward the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

That Greenway will be wonderful for those of us who live downtown. The money primarily will assist cultural and community organizations in constructing their facilities over the ramps. Those of us who live within walking distance of this new park hope to enjoy two new museums and the facilities of a YMCA due to this funding. It’s a boon to adults and children alike.

Too many times what looks like a benefit for those who live closest to an improvement is said to be a boondoggle for them and a cost to everyone else. But downtown Boston residents aren’t the only ones to gain from a good Greenway.

The cultural facilities made possible by the legislature’s funding will also serve the rest of Massachusetts, and all of New England. Families from Haverhill, Whitinsville and South Egremont will enjoy the new museums as much as families from the Back Bay. More than that, the whole state benefits when Boston thrives and spins off economic well-being throughout—a kind of trickle-out theory that ought to appeal to trickle-down enthusiasts.

It is important that the legislature took this step because public funding keeps the public’s interest up front. If private funding were to take over such a task, private interests might trump those of the public.

With funding for parks and the cultural facilities’ foundations, the Greenway will get a start. But perhaps the most exciting aspects of the Greenway are the unknowns.

Over the next thirty years or so, developers, artists, business owners, institutions, and just plain people will look at the views to the harbor that have now opened up. They’ll see how the North End is once again part of the city. They will realize that with more everyday services, they can live downtown too. They’ll look at the harbor and have a hard time remembering when Boston’s shoreline was closed to the public.

And they will think about what they will do—what art they might create to complement the environment; what housing they might build to give us more options; what new entertainments they might think up to give us more to play with.

You may have noticed that we have left the finger-pointing, the blame-dodging and the grandstanding regarding the Big Dig tragedy to others. Despite the lack of oversight regarding this important venture and its regrettable outcomes, ultimately this underground roadway and what it has created at ground level is critical to Boston’s future.

Thank you, Massachusetts legislature, for getting the ball rolling.