Editorial

Names

A group of Back Bay women were chatting on a nice day late in August. Instead of talking about the weather, their children, Iraq, the homeless, the end of summer, the changes on Newbury Street or the task that had brought them together, they were talking about the Ritz-Carlton on Arlington Street. Gossip columnists in one of Boston’s daily newspapers had put out the word that it would be sold to the Taj Group, a luxury Indian hotel chain.

Local Ritz-Carlton officials would not speak on the matter and, while the gossip columnists usually get things right, they don’t always. But the Back Bay women clearly believed the story. Their concern wasn’t ownership, however. It was the name. They were convinced it was going to change, given that a new company probably wouldn’t be able to keep a name that is now part of a chain of hotels. Losing the Ritz-Carlton name in the Back Bay seemed like a blow to the neighborhood.

The situation made us think about names. The Back Bay’s names did not grow into use organically as, say, Milk Street or School Street’s names did. They were chosen for elegance and style.

Commonwealth Avenue, for example, had to have a long, imposing name to go with its long, imposing aspect. The alphabetical streets recognized lords of England. Were they the ones who showed sympathy to the Americans in the Revolution? Or were the names used randomly to evoke the aristocratic intent of the Back Bay’s mid-19th century developers? Opinions are divided on that point.

Names in the Back Bay now range from the puzzling—The Newbry, which is what the developers are now calling the old New England Life building—to the literal—the Clarendon Street Playground.

Some have changed, due to questionable corporate practices. How many years did it take you to find the old Copley Plaza hotel in the phone book or in information? How much business did the Copley Plaza lose until, after five or six years, it finally became clear that the hotel could only be found under “F” for Fairmont? (Phone books have since been updated to include both names.)

New housing developments in the Back Bay are still aiming for an aristocratic feel. “The Clarendon,” soon to start rising on the corner of Stuart and Clarendon streets, is the most recent example, evoking a luxury London hotel. “The Meads” down at the Muddy River end of Commonwealth Avenue evokes the pastoral landscape for which one can still hope, despite the tangle of roads blighting that section of Olmsted’s creation.

Columbus Center’s name has a jazzier feel, appropriate to its location over a road and between the Back Bay and the South End.

Names are important, as the neighborhood’s women expressed. In a city like Boston, which is differentiated from other places by its history, names are critical because they evoke that history. We call the seat of Massachusetts government the State House, not the capitol, as most other states do. Ours is a Common, not a commons.

The names of our commercial establishments are just as important as our public ones. Once Jordan Marsh’s name disappeared, what reason was there to enter the building? The same merchandise could be had at a number of other locations and just as conveniently. Macy’s is just not a name that attracts Bostonians, except as a bit player in 1940s movies about New York.

All this does not mean we can’t accept change. It does mean, however, that we should be careful with naming. The Rose Kennedy Greenway seems to have stuck, with people shortening the name to the Greenway. The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge is mostly now called the Zakim Bridge, except by Charlestown residents. The Hynes/ICA T stop will have to become something else. The ICA is gone and having the name Convention Center associated with it may confuse it with the Convention Center in South Boston. This isn’t a problem for residents, some of whom still call the stop Auditorium.

Meanwhile, residents are watching the Ritz-Carlton carefully. Losing the name means losing 80 years of history. But in a city as old as Boston, perhaps that’s not so long after all.

A baby carriage stuffed with stolen merchandise. A well-dressed husband-and-wife team scanning a shop for a quick getaway. Family outings to Back Bay boutiques not to window shop but to shoplift.

Police and private security officials have seen these scenarios and more play out in the Back Bay. Shoplifting in the area has seen a slight increase this year, according to Sharon Dottin, police media relations spokesperson.

“In the melting pot of society, you have the good and the bad. Having your family steal with you – the bad may think that’s a good idea,” said Howard Levinson, who owns an independent consulting firm that provides security advice to companies and retailers. Levinson began his career in 1979 as a security guard for The Corner Mall in Downtown Crossing. Since then, he said, shoplifting as sport has spawned a new generation of professionals.

Shoplifters have become more sophisticated and are often savvier than the security devices stores implement to thwart them. In general, professional shoplifters, who account for five percent of shoplifters in Levinson’s estimation, are responsible for more than 80 percent of the theft.

“Twenty or 30 years ago, it was a variety of people stealing for different reasons, independently. Now it’s more organized groups doing it as an industry,” said Levinson, who has studied criminal justice and is a Certified Protection Professional. “They’ll go in and steal tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise and
then move on to a different area. Most of the time the stores don’t
even realize they have a problem.”

John Glover of Metropolitan Protective Services, which has been providing security on Newbury Street for 10 years, said that he has seen an increase in Back Bay crime over the last few months. “The shoplifters are bolder and are looking for larger-ticket items,” he said.

Women shoplifters often work in groups, while men work in pairs, Glover said. “They’re looking for specific ticket items,” he said. “I’m seeing more smash-and-grab, opportunistic thefts. They’ll run into the front of the store, grab five or six dresses off the rack and run out the door. We haven’t seen consistency in that kind of crime for four or five years.”

On average, stores must sell 20 items to replace the loss of a single shoplifted article. Security cameras, anti-theft devices affixed to merchandise, and guards at a store’s entrance deter would-be shoplifters, Levinson said, but do little to discourage the professionals, who know how to bypass these obstacles.
Meanwhile, stores also suffer from theft perpetrated by employees, who take advantage of their access to security codes and cash registers.

“The numbers are up for employee shoplifting,” Glover said. “It’s extremely hard to catch.”

Glover said that stores that treat employees well and let them know that shoplifting will not be tolerated suffer less from the crime than do stores where employees do not feel valued. “It’s a whole mindset,” he said.

He estimated that shrinkage, which is retail-speak for unaccounted losses, makes up two to five percent of an average store’s potential sales.

The Retail Association of Massachusetts did not have statewide figures available for lost revenue.

Corporate policy often emboldens shoplifters, Levinson said, as many stores elect not to prosecute. Several stores, especially retail chains, would rather suffer the losses than an expensive lawsuit that an accused shoplifter may file.

The Prudential Center, often targeted by shoplifters for its dozens of stores, declined to share its statistics on shoplifting with The Back Bay Sun, explaining that it is “a sensitive issue.” Police records show 35 reported larcenies at the Prudential Center since January 1, 2006. About half dealt with merchandise valued at over $200.

“I don’t think it’s any more of a problem than at any other major center in the Boston area,” said John Tello, assistant director in charge of life safety and security for Boston Properties, which owns Prudential Center. “It’s prevalent in any mall.”

Items stolen depend on fashion trends and generally include electronic gadgets, like mp3 players and cameras, and “have to have” clothing, according to Tello. Policies towards shoplifting vary from store to store, but “the merchant is always legally responsible for security in the store,” he said. There is “no hard and fast rule” governing when to take suspected shoplifters into custody.

Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, said shoplifting in the Back Bay is “pretty average, not a huge problem.”

“Given the kind of retail we have here, it’s not surprising,” she said. “We work really closely with the police to make sure it’s always something we focus on.”

Helping to keep that focus is a system developed not long after September 11, 2001, called the Back Bay Security Network. It encompasses all the businesses in the neighborhood, including those in Copley, on Newbury Street and in the Prudential Center. The main feature of the network is an email list comprising several businesses in those areas. With one email, people can alert police and other businesses to crimes or suspicious behavior. Those involved try to meet at least once every two months and encourage all Back Bay businesses to join. The email address for the network is securitylist@bostonbackbay.com.

“It’s part of an ongoing effort to keep everyone in the loop,” said Carolyn MacNeil, community service coordinator for District 4. “It goes a long way to address serious problems.”

Even though businesses at the Prudential Center are involved in the security network, they often take care of their own problems with an in-house security force, MacNeil said. Some of their security guards even have full police powers, including the authority to arrest criminals.

“More often than not, the mere presence may be enough to deter a shoplifter,” Tello said.

Sergeant Kevin Power, community service supervisor for District 4, said that often detectives from his district will assist Prudential Center security if a shoplifter case spills out into the surrounding neighborhood. The joint effort, he said, often focuses on coordinating evidence both groups have gathered.

“We have a good relationship with them,” Power said of the Prudential security force. “Our officers have at times been asked to review store tapes with them.”

CAPTION: Blue-green algae floats near the banks of the Charles River near the Boat Haven.
CREDIT: Herb Nolan



For the second year in a row, the Environmental Protection Agency gave the Charles River a “B plus” for its water quality, meaning that on most summer days the river with the checkered past is now meeting safe swimming standards.

To get that good news out, the recently formed Charles River Swimming Club will hold the first open water swimming race in the river Saturday…or will it?

Until Friday, no one will know for sure. The blue-green algae that blossomed in the waters during August and forced the Department of Conservation and Recreation to post a warning notice to river users is still hanging around.

“We are really hoping that the rain and cooler weather will diminish the cells in the algae,” said department spokesperson Vanessa Gulati. “The actual determination won’t be made until Friday, the day prior to the race, on the basis of results of testing by the EPA and Department of Public Health.” The water quality was tested Tuesday and again on Thursday of this week.

The sanctioned race, which is sold out, is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at the River Dock, located near the Arthur Fiedler statue by the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. One hundred experienced open-water swimmers wearing fluorescent swim caps and supported by kayakers will follow a one-mile loop course between the Harvard and Longfellow bridges in waters averaging 70 degrees in September. Wet suits are allowed—but the results of those wearing them will be tabulated separately. The swimming club recommended that swimmers have updated tetanus shots.

“We are really hoping the race will take place,” said Ulla Hester, race director, “but it is still an issue.” If at the last minute the DCR says no, she’ll e-mail the word to the 100 swimmers who signed up for the race, and they’ll lose bragging rights for having participated in the first Charles River One-Mile Swim.

One swimmer who will be disappointed if the race is cancelled is John Chesto, 35, a resident of South Boston. “The race has been a long time coming,” said Chesto, who participates in triathlons. “If we can pull it off, it will send a strong message that the river once known for its pollution is now swimmable again.”

But, the problem with the algae is “a bad twist,” he said. Contact with the algae may cause eye, ear and skin irritation. Liver damage, muscle cramps and twitching can also occur, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Also know as microcystis, the algae grow naturally on the water’s surface. An “algae bloom”— dense, floating mats of algae — occurs when an excess of nutrients from storm water runoffs or other pollutants team with hot weather.

“The State Department of Public Health and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency recommend it not be treated in any way,” said Gulati. “If it’s treated, it could become a larger bloom. The recommendation was to allow nature to take its course.”

According to its website, the Charles River Swimming Club has put a number of measures into place to ensure that the race is conducted in a safe manner. They will be using predictive metrics and water samples to ensure the water is safe to swim in and have notified all participants in advance that they may be obliged to cancel the race due to unsafe weather or unsanitary water conditions. Prolonged or heavy rainfall before or on the day could cause trash, untreated storm water runoff and sewage overflows to enter the river, making it unswimmable.

In that case, the club—founded by a small group of Charles River enthusiasts in 2005 to organize swimming events, represent swimmers’ interests in the city and promote ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the river—will hold the first-ever race next year.

There is no virtue in delaying the inevitable, the Boston Landmarks Commission said, and Back Bay leaders agreed.

A high-rise project slated for 390 Stuart Street, the current site of the Back Bay post office, can proceed without a “demolition delay,” the commission voted unanimously at its August 22 hearing. While all agreed that the Georgian Revival post office building at the site is architecturally significant, commissioners and attendees accepted that it can no longer be used for modern postal activities, nor can it be rehabilitated for other uses.

That means the project, which has addresses on both Stuart and Clarendon streets and has been named “The Clarendon,” can advance without regulatory interference.

“The application submitted was very complete. They made the case [for demolition] successfully,” said Roysin Younkin of the Boston Landmarks Commission.

The Beal Companies and the Related Companies out of New York purchased the site from the United States Postal Service for $8.8 million in 2003.

Beal plans to construct a 32-story, mostly residential building, which will include approximately 300 rental and ownership residential units, retail or restaurant spaces, and a state-of-the-art post office serving zip code 02116. USPS will lease this facility on The Clarendon’s first and second floors once construction is completed in an anticipated 40 months.

“Some people will miss it for sure,” said Bob Cannon, spokesperson for USPS, of the original 1928 post office building. “Our intention is to make it comfortable for our own employees.”

Meanwhile, the Back Bay post office will temporarily relocate and split its operations between two facilities. The retail unit, which sells stamps and P.O. boxes, will move to 31 St. James Street. Delivery operations will be based at the Boston General Mail Facility at 25 Dorchester Avenue.

Cannon said that it is likely USPS will implement a shuttle system to transport about 50 mail carriers to their Back Bay routes. “Given the territory they’ll travel, it will be an average increase of a mile and a half,” he said.

The move will probably take place over Veteran’s Day weekend. Since Veteran’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, “we would have the advantage of having two days in a row when the post office would be closed,” Cannon said.

Epsilon Associates did not return phone calls on behalf of The Clarendon.

PHOTO CREDIT: Suzanne Besser
PHOTO CAPTION:
David Belluck of Marlborough Street proudly accompanied daughters Zoe and
Alexandra to the Kingsley Montessori School on Exeter Street for their first
day of school Tuesday. Both looking pretty in pink, Zoe (left) just started
school as a first grader and Alexandra (right) returned as a second grader.