The Pour House, long a mainstay of the Boylston strip, hit a bump in the road in its attempt to amend its liquor license to allow the serving of alcohol to all patrons until 2 a.m. when the NABB’s Licensing and Building Use committee voted to oppose the change.
The Pour House is seeking to remove a condition in its current license that only allows alcohol to be served after 1 a.m. if it is accompanied by a meal. The provision has been in place since 1993 when the bar’s closing hour was extended from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Attorney Karen Simao, who represents the Pour House, told the committee that the provision was difficult and confusing to enforce, and that the bar’s long history of compliance with regulations and relatively problem-free operation warranted more flexibility in its license.
“Managing this requirement is very difficult,” said Simao. “Particularly at a location like this that is one of the more casual and blue collar in the neighborhood.”
However, the licensing board, which generally takes a tough stand on proposals to relax conditions on liquor service and almost always opposes 2 a.m. closing times, was not swayed by the pitch.
“We believe allowing this change would be a step in the wrong direction,” said committee chairman Tom High in a written statement.
High pointed out that the provision was originally proposed by the Pour House itself in order to dampen concerns about the bar’s hours being extended to 2 a.m. The concerns that existed 15 years ago still exist now, he said.
“Although Boylston is more commercial than Newbury Street, it is still part of a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood,” said High. “The later a bar stays open, the later there will be noise and commotion in the surrounding area. As long as The Pour House is allowed to stay open until 2:00 a.m., we believe the service of alcohol after 1:00 a.m. should be limited in the way it is now.”
The Licensing and Building use Committee is an advisory body, and its decision is not binding. Its opposition will be presented to the city officials when the Pour House brings its proposal before the city licensing board for a final decision.
In other licensing news, the committee also came out in opposition to a proposal by the operators of the restaurant Croma (267-269 Newbury Street) to expand their outdoor patio to the space in front of 271 Newbury Street.
The expansion proposal calls for the addition of 20 new seats in front of the adjoining store front and, according to Paul Spivak, a representative of Croma Restaurant Group, has the support of 271 Newbury’s current occupants.
However, allowing the patio expansion would require that 271 Newbury Street be zoned for restaurant use, a fact that ultimately led the committee, always cautious about restaurant proliferation, to oppose the proposal. While Croma’s plans call only for use of the outdoor patio space, the zoning would make it possible for future use of the building itself as a restaurant.
“271 Newbury is on the north side of Newbury,” said High. “The alley behind it abuts Commonwealth Avenue, which is entirely residential. There already is a serious problem with noise, deliveries, and garbage from the existing restaurant operations on this side of the block. Allowing more buildings to be used for restaurants would make this problem worse.”

In 2007, Boston saw a decrease in most types of crime and Beacon Hill was no different.
In District A-1, which includes the Beacon Hill, the North End, Downtown, Charlestown and Chinatown, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny and vehicle theft were down.
There were 234 robberies in A-1 in 2007—31 less than the 264 that occurred in 2006. There were 297 aggravated assaults in A-1 in 2007—33 less that the 330 that occurred in 2006. There were 2,600 larcenies in A-1 in 2007—349 less than the 2,949 that occurred in 2006. Lastly there were 208 vehicle thefts in A-1 in 2007—six less than the 214 that occurred in 2006.
While all Part One crime was down in the area—there was a total of 380 less Part One crimes in 2007 when compared to 2006—there was an increase in rape and burglary.
In 2006 there were only 17 rapes or attempted rapes in A-1. That number went up slightly and in 2007 the district recorded 19 rapes or attempted rapes.
Also, burglary was up in the district in 2007. In 2006 there were 270 burglaries but that number increased 307 in 2007.
There was no change in homicide. The district recorded only one murder in 2006 and in 2007.
Overall there was a total of 3,666 Part One crimes in 2007 compared to the 4,046 that were recorded in 2006.
However, one crime--larceny from motor vehicles—that is not recorded with as a Part One crime, was up across the board in all districts in 2007 according to Boston Police.
This new trend in Boston has mostly involved thieves smashing windows and stealing GPS systems, i-Pods, laptops or other expensive electronics. It only takes seconds for the thief to commit the crime and police have asked residents to remove these items from their cars and make sure to lock their doors.

The Back Bay was very busy earlier this week as temperatures climbed into the 60s. Skateboarder Kevin Thorne (above) didn't even need a coat as he made his way around Copley Square.

A bizarre confrontation between staff and police on New Years Eve is threatening the future of a Back Bay restaurant less than a year into its operation.
Vlora, a Greek-Albanian restaurant at 545 Boylston Street., was temporarily shut down by the city licensing board after the restaurant’s owner and a bartender were arrested following an alleged scuffle with police. The restaurant was scheduled to reopen today, according to a sign on the restaurant’s door which claims the location is closed “for the Holidays,” but the ultimate penalty to be handed down by the licensing board had not been decided as of press time.
According to licensing chairman Daniel Pokaski, police responded to Vlora at around 3 a.m. on early New Year’s day to respond to a sexual assault complaint at the restaurant. Upon arriving at the restaurant, police found that the front door was locked and the front metal grate was pulled down.
“In an emergency, people headed for the nearest exit would have found it locked,” said Pokaski.
"There were 45-65 people inside with no easy way to escape," Sgt. Michael McCarthy, one of the responding officers, told WBZ TV. "They would've been like soccer fans, squished up against the grate."
According to WBZ TV, the owner told the licensing board that they locked the grate because they had fired a disgruntled employee earlier in the night.
Upon entering the premises, the police found that alcohol was being served well past the location’s 1 a.m. serving time; when questioned about the locked door and the complaint, the owner and the staff were extremely uncooperative, according to Pokaski.
At some point, Vlora’s owner Aldo Velaj apparently shoved one of the officers, said Pokaski. The situation escalated further when a bartender pulled out a knife. The police drew their weapons, but no shots were fired and no one was injured.
No representatives from Vlora could be reached to comment on the incident.
The events surrounding the original sexual assault call that led officers to respond to Vlora in the first place remain unclear. The police report is currently classified because it involves indecent assault, and no one from the police department would comment on the investigation.
According to Pokaski, Vlora could face a number of penalties from the licensing board, up to and including a complete revocation of their restaurant and liquor license. However, Pokaski added that the licensing board generally favors incremental penalties, and that, despite the extent of the violations, this is Vlora’s first such incident.
According to Vlora’s Web site, owner Velaj is a native of Albania who has lived in Massachusetts since 2003.

Times are a changing

The nation is feeling an economic pinch and Goldman Sachs chief economists are all predicting a recession but so far the Back Bay has dodged the bullet, and to look around the Back Bay, you’d never know that the economy is changing.
The real estate marketplace is retrograde throughout the nation. In Back Bay, the real estate market has changed only slightly. Prices have remained unusually high, and in many instances, have gone higher in the down market.
Back Bay’s higher end rents, as nearly all of us have come to know, have soared. In some cases at the residences at the Ritz and the Four Seasons, some rentors are paying as much as $30,000 a month for the their living units. And there does n ot seem to be an end in sight for rising rents in Back Bay.
Retailers across the land reported Christmas sales that did not inspire while most Back Bay retailers enjoyed a prosperous Christmas season. The dozens of restaurants in Back Bay enjoyed a solid Christmas. Business is flatter right now – but it’s flat this time of year every year. The high priced steak houses like Mortons and Abe and Louies do not appear short of diners only too happy to fork out $40 for a top sirloin a la carte.
At some of Back Bay’s specialty businesses, such as Vose Art Gallery, the Vose brothers appear to be reaching a larger and more prosperous customer base as time goes by. The same can be said of Barney’s in the Copley Square Mall, of at Louie’s, where a sweater costs $800 and a modest sports jacket $1500 - $2000. Again, there does not seem to be a shortage of customers at the high end clothiers.
Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn continue to attract throngs to their gorgeously appointed stores.
Housing starts across the nation are down dramatically. Even business at Lowe’s and Home Depot has dropped off as a reaction to the real estate downturn. However in the Back Bay, higher end building projects like the Mandarin and a bevy of smaller, extremely expensive rehabilitation projects in private condominiums costing millions are now underway. It is common for some Back Bay condominium owners to spend as much as $500,000 on a new kitchen with all the proper appliances or $100,000 on a bathroom with expensive tiling, fine fixtures and skilled tradesmen working with precision and for big money.
In other words, there seems to be no end in sight for the good economic times Back Bay has been experiencing.
But can this last? Will the Back Bay remain an oasis of prosperity as the rest of Massachusetts struggles with a downturn?
Can the Back Bay swim against the current? Can everything about the economy be moving in one direction with Back Bay moving in another?
Not forever. Nothing lasts forever.