Celebrity-studded Celtics Game

Last night I went with Jeff to Game 5 of the playoff's against the Cavs. It was an exciting game and of course we ended up winning, 96-89. However I was a little pissed because I wore my GINO T-Shirt and they only showed him at the very end when people were leaving the game! Everyone loved my shirt tho, I was like a D-list celebrity!

I wasn’t the only famous person getting attention at the game, because Boston is now Hollywood East, so there were a few more famous faces in the crowd. Jay-Z and Beyonce were sitting front row, next to the Cavs bench. “Super Bad’s” Jonah Hill, who is in Lowell filming “This Side of the Truth” was having some fun mugging for the Jumbotron and got a good laugh at disco Gino late in the fourth quarter. And Brother & Sister’s Rob Lowe was in attendance, along with NKOTB’s Donnie Wahlberg, JoJo, ex-Celtic Antoine Walker, and New England Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour.

Source: Boston Herald

Garden of Eden in South End Closed

The Garden of Eden on Tremont St in the South End has closed its doors.

A sign on the door reads: "The Garden of Eden is closed for business. To our neighbors, friends, and customers, we thank you for over a dozen years of business."

Stephanie's on Tremont will soon be opening...

Boston's New Apple Store

The Green Monster came down and unveiled the new Apple Store in Boston on Boylston St! I know I'm a geek, but I can't wait to check it out. Its grand opening is Thursday, May 15th 6:00 PM

Source: ArchBoston

Best Survivor Season Ever

OMG! Funniest. Survivor. Ever! You are going to have to excuse me as I wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes. There are no words – none – that can truly describe the bittersweet hilarity of Erik’s monumental crash and burn. If you missed the show for any reason, run – don’t walk – to your nearest internet-ready computer and watch the repeat online because in a season of blindsides, this one takes the cake. I’m just going to say it. Erik gave up immunity! Gave. It. Up. Minutes later he was saying goodbye. That was the most boneheaded move ever in the history of Survivor! This season has been the best one since the original!

Newbury Street Mural is Gone

In a city where landmarks' ages are measured in centuries, Joshua Winer's 14-year-old Newbury Street mural had assumed a certain pride of place. Chances are you've seen it, all five stories of it, staring down at you from the huge, exposed east wall of 157-159 Newbury St., formerly the Du Barry restaurant.

The mural, which depicts prominent Bostonians from all eras -- remember Jean Yawkey? -- gathered in a Parisian street scene, has a sentimental history. Rene Rubaud, the former owner of the Du Barry, and James Bennette, an art student turned PR man, decided to use the wall to display student art. In 1991, Winer won the design competition, a $5,000 award, and the chance to put his stamp on the busy intersection of Newbury and Dartmouth streets.

The Bank of Boston -- remember them? -- put up the prize money, billboarders Ackerley Communications donated the work of 17 painters as well as the scaffolding, and the Boston Public Library helped research French art. (Many of the Ackerley sign painters were laid off shortly afterward, Winer reports, as billboard technology went digital.) The result was an amusing and serendipitous portrait of almost a hundred Bostonians, proper, improper, and improbable.

You can see Boston Latin's own Leonard Bernstein chatting with Pops founder Arthur Fiedler, alongside concert pianist Amy Cheney Beach. In a nearby panel, King Gillette is hovering next to Babe Ruth in a Red Sox uniform, with the shadowy Masonic grave-robber (and founder of the New England Journal of Medicine) John Collins Warren very much in evidence.

Anyways, it has since been removed from the side of the building, which was converted into upscale condo's with a new addition of a penthouse. RIP Newbury Street Mural :(

Avalon/Axis Demolition

Post Office Square

Boston’s Post Office Square is known as one of the greatest public spaces, ranked #14 for ‘Best Squares & Plazas’ in the World by “Project for Open Spaces.”

1. Piazza del Campo, Sienna
2. Piazza San Marco, Venice
3. Campo Santa Margherita, Venice
4. Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR
5. Hotel de Ville (City Hall), Paris
6. Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA
7. Rathaus Park (City Hall), Vienna
8. Union Square Park and Greenmarket, New York, NY
9. Piazza Navona, Rome
10. Washington Square, San Francisco
11. Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY
12. Plaza de la Constitucion (Zocalo), Oaxaca, Mexico
13. Plaza de Armas, Cuzco, Peru
14. Post Office Square, Boston, MA

History & Background

"Park above, park below" is the slogan at Boston's Post Office Square. A public-private partnership financed the design and construction of the park and garage, while fees from the garage are targeted to repay capital costs and ongoing maintenance.
Garage attendants patrol the park and provide general maintenance, while Friends of Post Office Square pays for a private park ranger in the summer. The park/garage design has received more than 20 planning and architecture awards, and created open space in an extremely dense quarter of the city.

The development of the Park at Post Office Square began in the early 1980s‚ when the real-estate market was booming in downtown Boston and development space was at a premium. In the heart of the city's revitalized financial district stood a three-story concrete parking garage. With construction and renovation going on all over the downtown area, many buildings in the financial district turned their backs on this unsightly concrete structure.

One developer, Norman Leventhal, was renovating a building across the street from the parking facility and promoted the idea that the area would be more attractive without the garage. Leventhal founded Friends of Post Office Square with the intention of buying the garage and redeveloping it as a park. However, the ownership of the old garage and the cost of the project were considerable obstacles. Friends of Post Office Square consulted with the Parks Department and the Boston Greenspace Alliance, a consortium of open-space advocates, and decided to build a parking structure underground with a park above it.

With the strong support of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Friends of Post Office Square secured the development rights from the City of Boston. The parking garage opened in 1990; the park, in 1992. The $80 million construction cost was financed through a $50 million loan from Bank of New England (now Bank of America). To raise capital funds for the garage, Friends of Post Office Square offered stock in the parking structure. Local businesses were sold individual shares for $65,000. Along with the right to a monthly parking space, the purchase arrangement with Friends of Post Office Square included a cumulative 8% dividend to be paid to shareholders when debt relief is complete. The entire lot of 450 preferred shares was sold in just six weeks, raising $29.25 million.

After the debt has been paid, the partnership has arranged for the city of Boston to receive all profits from the garage. These funds are slated to be allocated to other neighborhood parks as well as to the city's general fund.

More Fun Facts

Its official name is The Norman B. Leventhal Park, after the Boston building manager and designer who designed it.

The garage is named "The Garage at Post Office Square," and it is 80 feet below the surface, which is the deepest point in the city.

The 1.7 acre (6,900 m²) park is a popular lunchtime destination for area workers. It features a café, fountains, and a pergola around a central lawn, and provides seat cushions for visitors during the summer. Designed by the landscape architects The Halvorson Company, the park is also home to "125 species of plants."