Meg Mainzer-Cohen accepted the reins of the Back Bay Association (BBA) in 2000, a decision that she says touched off a whirlwind of events in her professional and personal life.
In July of that year, Mainzer-Cohen met with the board of directors and was offered the position of president and executive director of the prestigious organization that has represented neighborhood businesses since 1923. She then immediately drove to her native New Jersey, where she got married. When she began her new job two months later, Mainzer-Cohen soon learned she was expecting a daughter, Madeline, who is now a second-grader at the Advent School on Beacon Hill.
In the 1980s, Mainzer-Cohen studied social work at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and relocated to Boston because her older sister, Kathie Mainzer, needed a roommate. Kathie, a grassroots organizer at the time, recruited her younger sister to volunteer for the Homeless Coalition and Citizens for Safety, among other local nonprofits. Soon afterwards, Mainzer-Cohen took an administrative position with the Boston Police, where she met Mark Cohen, the department’s director of licensing, whom she married many years later.
Mainzer-Cohen then went to work for the Downtown Crossing Association, a nonprofit coalition of local businesses dedicated to the financial and civic growth of the district, and gained the skills that she now relies on daily in her position with the BBA.
“That is where I learned…how to encourage businesses to focus their energy and attention on programs that would improve the neighborhood,” she said. “I learned about how important development was to the continued strength of the neighborhood and to make sure the area grew to accommodate new businesses.”
Among the networking initiatives and special events that Mainzer-Cohen organized during her time with the organization was Summer Stage, an outdoor concert series that took place between the former homes of Jordan Marsh and Filene’s and featured the likes of folk duo Aztec Two Step and rock musician Chris Isaak. “It created a really upbeat, energetic atmosphere,” she recalled.
Circa 1998, Mainzer-Cohen assumed the CEO position with the Somerville Community Corporation, where she helped develop affordable housing and administered social programs for low and moderate-income residents. Her biggest challenge, however, was re-establishing the organization after it lost $300,000 in one year.
“I had to rebuild relationships with people that had been had alienated, get support from the state and prove to the Department of Housing and the community that we were going to deliver what we said we would,” Mainzer-Cohen said.
As she faced these daunting tasks, Mainzer-Cohen said a few coincidences convinced her that she was doing her job effectively and gave her the determination to continue in her role.
One morning, she was driving to work when she received a phone call, informing her that the corporation couldn’t make payroll. Mainzer-Cohen was discouraged until she arrived at the office and found an unexpected remedy to the problem in the form of a letter from an anonymous donor who had transferred $75,000 worth of Procter & Gamble stock to the corporation. “It was a miracle,” she added.
Secondly, upon assuming the CEO position, Mainzer-Cohen made a point of visiting the various social programs that the corporation sponsored in an effort to rebuild relationships and trust within the community. One such visit was to a local “single room occupancy” home for formerly homeless individuals, which reunited her with someone whom she never expected to see in Somerville.
While in college, Mainzer-Cohen worked at the Old Ebbitt Grill, around the block from the White House. One of her co-workers at the time was William, a native of Ghana who washed dishes at the restaurant and always maintained a pleasant demeanor, with a huge smile on his face, despite the sometimes harsh working conditions he endured in a sweltering kitchen.
Mainzer-Cohen learned that William had moved to Somerville to stay with his cousin and eventually found himself on the streets. In what remains one of her most gratifying work experiences to this day, she was able to be in contact with William as he rebuilt his life.
“These were like little signposts that said, ‘You’re doing the right thing,’” Mainzer-Cohen said.
In 2000, Mainzer-Cohen had no plans to leave Somerville Community Corporation when she received a phone call from Marianne Abrams, BBA president and executive director at the time. Abrams said she was retiring and that Mainzer-Cohen’s former associates from the Downtown Crossing Association had recommended her for the position.
After careful consideration, Mainzer-Cohen accepted the offer, but not before encouraging a worthy successor for the Somerville Community Corporation, Danny LeBlanc. (LeBlanc is still with the organization).
In her role with the BBA, Mainzer-Cohen has launched numerous new initiatives, including sponsoring networking events for business people and implementing two new Web sites (one for business to business communications, the second a Back Bay visitor destination site). After September 11, 2001, she organized the Back Bay Security Network, which meets bi-monthly and has a listserv that connects business directly to the Boston Police Department. She increased communications by orchestrating e-updates and a newsletter for members and takes a more active role in the public process, advocating responsible development in the Back Bay.
“Along with the board, we conducted a strategic planning process and honed our mission of advocating for the Back Bay business community,” she said. The BBA mission is to “improve, promote and protect business in the Back Bay.”
The BBA also now works closely with City Hall to advocate for neighborhood support, ranging from public safety to improved transportation. “We’re on the street and give recommendations about to improve services for the neighborhood,” Mainzer-Cohen said.
And her hard work has paid off. Since Mainzer-Cohen came onboard nine years ago, the BBA’s assets have increased by 600 percent.
As for how the neighborhood has changed during her time with the BBA, Mainzer-Cohen said the neighborhood is becoming more especially attractive to “empty nesters” who move from the suburbs once their children are grown. The Back Bay, she said, is considered the ultimate “lifestyle center” that offers every imaginable amenity, including housing, shopping, restaurants, easily accessible public transportation and an abundance of open public space.
“Businesses want to locate here, from law firms to retail stores, from real estate developers to restaurants; businesses want to be in the Back Bay,” she said.
“Especially with a greater concern about the environment, people realized a neighborhood like the Back Bay is ahead of its time,” Mainzer-Cohen said. “You don’t need a car. You can live here, work here and play here.”
Mainzer-Cohen looks forward to the future, even during recent economic challenges. Stella Trafford, a late Back Bay resident who helped restore and protect the city's parks and public gardens, once asked her how it feels to have “the best job in Boston.”
Mainzer-Cohen’s response: “Excellent.”

At a time when vacant storefronts on Newbury Street are becoming an increasingly common sight, business remains brisk for Galerie d’Orsay as more people are looking at art as a solid investment in a shaky economy.
“A lot of collectors are tired of seeing their portfolios disappear, and they want to invest in something that gives them pleasure,” said Sallie Hirshberg, founder and CEO of the art gallery. “Good art is always going to command a top dollar.”
A Newton native, Hirshberg earned a degree in art history and business from Boston University and spent 10 years working for Fidelity, placing art in its corporate offices and company-owned galleries. She decided to open her own gallery in 2000 and transformed a 2,000 square-foot space on Newbury Street that was formerly home to a shoe store into Galerie d’Orsay. Today, the gallery’s collection spans six centuries and features the work of the masters, including Rembrandt, Renoir and Picasso, and a small number of important living artists.
Bruno Zupan is one such contemporary painter, who will make a gallery appearance on Saturday afternoon, April 18, to promote a monthlong exhibit of his work. Hirshberg said a preview of his work during the last weekend of March proved just how stable the art market is today, adding that 10 of his “plein air” paintings - a technique in which the artist paints outdoors - were pre-sold at that time.
The success of Zupan’s preview isn’t unusual for Galerie d’Orsay, considering a Picasso linocut (a linoleum-cut print) sold for a price in the mid-six figures only two months ago.
Much of this good fortune can be chalked up to the high caliber of service that the Galerie d’Orsay staff provides its customers.
“If someone who has never bought art before walks in, we educate [the potential customer],” said Suzanne King, co-director of Galerie d’Orsay. “We really build relationships, and they’re very personal ones.”
In fact, Galerie d’Orsay goes so far to accommodate loyal patrons in sometime sallowing them to bring a painting home for a trial period of a day or two, in order to mull over the purchase. “There’s a mutual trust between our collectors and us,” Hirshberg said.
Hirshberg added some of these relationships also now span two generations as children of longtime clients have begun to patronize the gallery as well.
And contrary to claims that Newbury Street businesses are taking the brunt of the economic downturn, Hirshberg maintains Galerie d’Orsay’s location is one of its strongest selling points.
“We’re on the first block of Newbury Street,” Hirshberg said. “Generally, when people visit and stay at the Taj or the Four Seasons, we’re the first gallery they see at street level. If people find something they love here, they’re not going to keep shopping.”
Galerie d’Orsay is located at 33 Newbury St. For more information, visit www.galerie-dorsay.com or call 617-266-8001.

Executive Director James E. Rooney announced the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) has finalized a deal with local restaurateurs Patrick Lyons and Jasper White to open a world class seafood and steak restaurant on Boylston Street inside the historic John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.
The seafood, steak and chop house is scheduled to open later this year, adjacent to the Prudential Center Plaza, the first time a restaurant has operated out of the Hynes. Owned and operated by Lyons and White and designed by the renowned Jeffrey Beers International, the construction and operation has and will create hundreds of new jobs as well as enhance the vibrant restaurant scene in this historic neighborhood.
The MCCA remains in lease negotiations with a second proposed restaurant to be built at the corner of Boylston and Dalton streets. Both restaurants are part of an $18 million renovation at the Hynes designed to improve public access to the facility and transform it into a modern, technologically advanced congress center in the heart of the Back Bay.
“I am very excited to welcome this amazing restaurant to the Hynes,” said Rooney. “Boston has always been a top-tier hub for world-class seafood, and this restaurant will only enhance that tradition for locals as well as the thousands of attendees visiting the Hynes Convention Center each year. More importantly, the investment by Patrick Lyons, Jasper White and the MCCA is creating economic activity and jobs at a time when Boston needs them most. The construction to prep these spaces and the continued build-out and staffing has and will provide a mini-stimulus package for the area and helps boost confidence in the local economy. And the food is going to be fantastic.”
"The Hynes is a destination for thousands of conference-goers and guests each year, and the addition of this restaurant will only improve the convention center's offerings," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. "The restaurant has a terrific leadership team in Patrick Lyons and Jasper White, and I look forward to its opening later this year."
“We’re honored and delighted to be part of this very smart use of convention center real estate,” said Lyons. “We’re going to be making a significant investment and creating about 250 jobs, and this makes it clear that we’re bullish on Boston as a whole and the Back Bay in particular.”
The restaurant concept stems from recommendations made by the Hynes Convention Center and Boston Common Parking Garage Commission, which was established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2004 to analyze the continued use of the Hynes as a convention facility. As a result of that legislative commission’s work, the MCCA prepared a study to evaluate the economic, physical and policy impacts of adding commercial, retail or restaurant uses to the Hynes to enhance its economic performance and improve its physical integration with the Back Bay.
“This new restaurant adds an exciting seafood concept to the Back Bay, conveniently located for Hynes conventioneers, tourists and local residents,” said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association. “Especially during challenging economic times, a new business opening bodes well for the future.”
Construction and design of the restaurant spaces has created a total of about 200 full- and part-time jobs. Lyons said another 250 jobs are expected to be created to build out and operate the two-story restaurant.

A Beacon Street resident helped lead police to a man who allegedly tried to break into his home last week.
According to Boston Police, Area D-4 officers were en route to call for a breaking and entering in a dwelling in progress at 199 Beacon St. when they learned the homeowner was chasing the alleged intruder. Police observed an individual fitting the suspect’s description enter an already occupied taxi at St. James Street, with another male in pursuit. The officers approached the taxi and ordered the suspect to get out of the vehicle. The suspect initially refused to comply, and officers had to physically remove the individual before placing him in custody.
The victim told police he was home when he witnessed the suspect looking around the apartment building in a suspicious manner. Soon afterwards, the victim said he was sitting on his sofa when the suspect opened the door to his apartment and “looked in”. The suspect fled upon seeing the victim, who then chased the suspect and confronted him outside of the apartment building. The suspect stated he was looking for someone else in the building before he ran away. The victim continued chasing the suspect until officers apprehended him.
The suspect, identified as John Maloney, 54, of Brookline, was arrested on the charge of breaking and entering a dwelling house during the day. Maloney was scheduled for arraignment the following day.

An annual ritual …

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, so, too, next Monday, thousands of runners will be coming down Commonwealth Avenue out of the Massachusetts Tunnel to take the right onto Hereford Street then left onto Boylston Street and sprint to the finish line at the Boston Public Library, after running for more than 26 miles in the Boston Marathon.
Over the last few weeks, one has noticed in our neighborhood runners coming down Beacon Street or on the Esplanade, training for this race.
Only those who have run it can tell you the simultaneous pain and joy of reaching into oneself to cross that finish line that a runner experiences.
These feelings are shared by all runners.
Some of the most fit runners can be humbled by the 26.2 mile course, while others less fit can still surprise themselves by not only finishing in the allotted time but by finishing stronger than they anticipated.
What makes the marathon special is up to the individual.
However, the nameless crowds that line the route from Hopkinton to Copley Square are what makes some runners keep going in their quest. Their genuine encouragement, especially at the finish line, gives all runners that extra rush that’s needed to cross the line.
We know about the neighborhood headaches that will be caused as Boylston Street is closed off early in the morning until after 6 p.m. on Monday night. Traffic will be a nightmare for a good part of the day.
Locally, civic groups like the Esplanade Association will have a team of runners out there in the pack, seeking to raise funds for the organization. Also, there are residents like Brent Berc, who is running for his charity to help inner city youth.
At this juncture in time, the die is cast. All the training is done. The only training that a runner can do is to stay free from injury.
We wish all runners well. To run in this marathon is a special treat of a lifetime. To have the finish line at any other place than Copley Square would seem being shortchanged to runners. As someone who has done this race twice and witnessed it for 10 years, a thank- you to the residents of Back Bay for their understanding is always in order.