“Because of his leadership, Boston is a better place today.”
"Thomas M. Menino, Boston’s longest serving mayor, dies at 71" by Bryan Marquard and Jim O’Sullivan | Globe Staff October 30, 2014
Thomas Michael Menino, who insisted a mayor doesn’t need a grand vision to lead, then went on to shepherd Boston’s economy and shape the skyline and the very identity of the city he loved through an unprecedented five consecutive terms in City Hall, died Thursday.
An old-school politician whose smarts owed more to the streets than the college classroom, Mr. Menino nonetheless helped turn Boston into a hub of 21st-century innovation, recruiting high-tech companies to the sprawling South Boston waterfront one minute, then cutting the ribbon at a neighborhood burrito shop the next....
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I don't want to throw dirt on the guy, but wealth inequality has soared during his term, the college kids were living in slums, he played favorites more than anyone, and there is more common crime now.
The guy left Walsh a mess, yet the elite of Bo$ton gained and that is why he gets the tributes from the Bo$ton Globe.
Across the city, tears and memories of Menino flow
The tributes begin on page A9 of my printed Globe and continue all the way to page A14 (ugh), with the entire op/ed section devoted to his passing. It's a real bummer for the campaigns, dude (Wow. A guy just lost his life and it's how's the politics?). The coverage continues on page B4 through B6 and beyond, but I'm going to let it rest in peace.
I don't blame amount of coverage, he was mayor of Boston. I just don't like the spin.
Former mayor Thomas M. Menino hospitalized with dehydration
"Menino breaks off cancer treatment, seeks palliative care" by Andrew Ryan and Meghan E. Irons | Globe Staff October 23, 2014
Former Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino has stopped chemotherapy and other treatment for his inoperable cancer, a decision that reverberated Thursday with sadness and calls for prayer in the city he led for two decades.
The 71-year-old was diagnosed with advanced cancer in February, shortly after leaving office and the round-the-clock pace he kept during five terms as mayor.
Menino began chemotherapy and charged ahead with his post-mayoral plans. He helped launch an initiative on cities at Boston University earlier this year, traveled across the country giving speeches, and co-wrote a memoir published earlier this month.
But as Menino embarked on a book tour last week in New York City, cancer and the treatment regimen had clearly taken their toll. He used a wheelchair, and his voice was often reduced to a rasp because of laryngitis.
Upon returning to Boston, he was hospitalized with dehydration at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is receiving palliative care, and doctors have told the former mayor the next step is hospice care....
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"Menino is missed at mayoral gathering; Health issues keep him from a talk on power" by Evan Allen | Globe Staff October 26, 2014
During the “Mayors Rule” panel discussion at Old South Church, which was part of the Boston Book Festival, the book’s author, Benjamin R. Barber, laid out his theory that states are paralyzed in the face of problems like climate change, terrorism, guns, and poverty. Cities, which produce the majority of wealth and are home to the majority of people, are much better equipped to deal practically and effectively with these issues, he argued, and heads of cities should join in a world Parliament of Mayors to lead together.
“Cities are the quintessential human communities. They define our identity. They’re where we’re born, where we grow up, have our children, where we’re educated, where we create and procreate and play and pray. Where we get old and where we die,” said Barber. “And the people who choose with us to govern our cities . . . are pragmatists, problem solvers, and, above all, neighbors. You know them.”
For some in the audience, the absence of Thomas M. Menino, former mayor of Boston — a mayor who, polls showed, had personally met more than half of the city’s residents face-to-face — was deeply felt. The “urban mechanic” was known as mayor for his attention to the minute details of city life — the potholes and the playgrounds — and the panel touched repeatedly on the critical importance of no-nonsense mayors who know how to keep the machinery of a city running, regardless of politics....
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Just disregard that homeless problem:
"City taxpayers and nonprofit groups have spent millions of dollars in recent years refurbishing the stately old buildings on Long Island, the refuge on Boston Harbor where until this month about 700 homeless people sought shelter and other services every day. But all that work — repointing brick, replacing windows, and the wholescale renovation of programs — may have been for naught — Long Island has become a veritable ghost town."
Some are saying “ it’s like being in a prison with the inhumane violation of human rights, but it could be a heck of a lot worse,” which is a shame. It used to be a fun place to grab drinks while sipping Samuel Adams Octoberfest in the balmy fall air (while ignoring the foul smells, smelly feet, and incessant snoring).
Related: The $olution to Bo$ton's Hou$ing Problem
Movin' on up!
"At $37.5m, Millennium Tower condo tops most everything" by Casey Ross | Globe Staff October 23, 2014
For sale: Huge penthouse, nearly triple the price of the most expensive condominium ever sold in Boston, sure to become the city’s most exclusive address in its tallest residential building.
The 60th-story luxury unit comes with floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor terrace looking across Boston Common to the gentle bends of the Charles River. For potential buyers struggling to imagine the view, developers dispatched a drone up 625 feet to take photos of the surrounding cityscape.
The penthouse in Millennium Tower Boston just went on the market for $37.5 million, among the priciest properties in the state amid a building boom that is attracting an influx of wealthy international buyers and billions of dollars of investment.
“It’s jaw-dropping,” said Debra Blair, president of LINK, a real estate firm that tracks the downtown condo market. “This is a building that could be in Dubai or Shanghai or Manhattan, and completely hold its own.”
On Wednesday, developer Millennium Partners opened a sales center on Franklin Street to begin marketing the 442 condominiums in the building, which is situated on the former Filene’s block in a rejuvenated part of Boston’s downtown. Prices for its condominiums — a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units — range from $850,000 to the $37.5 million penthouse.
Potential buyers who visit the sales center are whisked past a 3D model of the city into a dimly lit room that plays “Millennium Tower, the Movie.” A super high definition screen shows the lap pool, the massage and fitness rooms, and the face of the Michelin-star chef whose food is served only to residents.
“When someone comes into this room, they tend to just want to hang out for a while,” Richard Baumert, an executive with developer Millennium Partners.
As he spoke, an image of the tower rotated across the screen, showing a 360-degree view of its glass facade. In one corner of the room, a gas fireplace let off a subtle glow. In another, a model kitchen displayed high-gloss Poggenpohl cabinets and a 30-inch wine cooler.
All of it will cater to a wealthy clientele accustomed to pampering. Residents will also have access to Flex One fitness, a customized personal training program.
That's where the whole society is headed.
“It’s really three pillars: mind, body, and nutrition,” Baumert said. “There’s access to trainers, massage therapists, nutritionists, yoga, pilates — all those different activities if you like.”
Designed by Handel Architects, the skyscraper includes a private bar and club room where residents can order the finest offerings of chef Michael Mina, a James Beard winner who has restaurants from Miami to San Francisco. Although a public restaurant may also open on the property, Mina is committed only to providing the private dining service for condo owners.
The tower has two separate entrances, one for residents on the lower half of the building and another for those who buy units on the top floors. All owners will have access to valet parking, 24-hour concierge service, and the building’s fitness and nutrition services.
Going to have their very own poor door like New York, huh?
Retail space is planned for the first two levels, and a new public plaza and outdoor amphitheater will be constructed at the corner of Washington and Franklin streets. Next door, the newly restored Filene’s building will get a new Roche Bros. supermarket in the spring and a Primark department store next fall. Several floors of new offices in the building have already been filled by the advertising firm Arnold Worldwide.
So far, sales of condominiums in the new tower are proceeding briskly, according to Baumert....
Great!
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Related:
Rising downtown rents spur state to shop tower
Hook & Co., the lobster seller, plans high-rise tower
Allston sale highlights hot city housing market
Lower rents, wide choices draw tenants to Route 128
In a vacant lot, the story of Boston’s housing crunch
BRA approves $152m in development projects
Construction underway for North Station apartments
At least Menino was able to get nonprofits to contribute to the tax base:
"Many colleges not paying Boston in full for services; Forgo voluntary outlays for services; most hospitals comply" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent October 27, 2014
Most colleges in Boston have failed to pay the city the full amount sought to help pay for municipal services, while a majority of hospitals met the recommended amounts, a Globe review has found.
Under a three-year-old program, the city asks nonprofits with more than $15 million worth of tax-exempt property to write checks twice a year to help offset the cost of police and fire protection, snow removal, and other services. The payments are voluntary contributions, in lieu of taxes.
Fifteen of the 19 colleges, including the city’s wealthiest universities, did not pay amounts requested by the city during fiscal 2014, which concluded at the end of June, according to city data. Northeastern University, which was asked for $2.5 million this past fiscal year, gave nothing, even though it paid $886,000 in each of the previous two years and $30,000 in fiscal 2011.
City Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, who was a member of the task force that in 2011 recommended the so-called PILOT program, criticized the colleges that failed to reach their benchmarks.
“They were all in the room, and they all agreed to this,” Murphy said. “You made commitments; you gave your word. Is your word any good?” he added, as if he were speaking directly to the campuses.
Murphy said he hopes to hold a City Council hearing on the issue soon.
But Richard Doherty, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, said “everyone understood these were going to be voluntary payments.”
He said that for some colleges, significantly increasing their payments would force them to make budget cuts, and all of the schools already provide valuable public benefits.
“The city has recognized that these institutions make contributions far above what the formula might recommend in terms of community benefits — scholarships to Boston residents, partnerships with the schools and community centers, partnerships regarding athletic fields and facilities and arts facilities,” he said.
For decades, Boston typically negotiated payments on a case-by-case basis with nonprofits when the organizations built a new facility or acquired new property. But starting with fiscal 2012, the city established a structured system and began to incrementally increase the amounts requested of each institution with the goal that, by fiscal 2016, each nonprofit will be asked to contribute 25 percent of the property tax bill they would owe if not exempt.
Institutions can get up to half of the city’s requested amount covered through a “community benefits credit” by demonstrating they provide at least that amount through services that uniquely benefit Boston residents.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who inherited the PILOT program from his predecessor, Thomas M. Menino, is committed to keeping it, according to Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman in his office. “While the PILOT program is voluntary, institutional participation is both needed and expected, and institutions that don’t participate, or participate with less than the full amount, place a greater burden on the city’s taxpaying residents and businesses,” Schuler said.
More than half of higher-education institutions have increased their payments since the new program took effect, and Murphy and other city officials credit them for increasing city revenues.
The city this past fiscal year asked 49 institutions for a combined $34.6 million and received a total of $24.9 million, an increase of 64 percent over fiscal 2012.
If not for their tax-exempt status, the city says, the organizations would owe the city a collective $425 million in annual property taxes.
And they kicked in less than 10%, huh?
Cultural institutions and several middle-high schools are also asked to make voluntary payments. However, much of the program’s attention has focused on colleges and hospitals, economic engines for Boston....
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Also see:
City Council raises also may boost pensions
Walsh vetoes City Council pay raise
Boston City Council all the poorer after pay grab
Ignore the homeless, housing problems, and service cuts.
Two stabbed in South Boston
Boston police name 1st Muslim captain
Boston man sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking
Boston gang-unit officer charged with lying to FBI
Antiviolence program by Roca expands into Boston
Such things haunt us all.
