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June 11,
2018
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Featured Stories
In The News
Meetings & Notices
This Week's Featured Event
Arts, Entertainment & Events
Announcements
Deals & Promos
Construction & Utility Work Updates
City Services & Important Hotlines
BID Services & Links
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Downtown Boston BID Members Meeting June 13th
The Downtown Boston BID will host a members renewal meeting on Wednesday, June 13th at the Boston College Club (100 Federal St., 36th Floor) from 4 to 6 pm.
This meeting is in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws 400. There will be updates on key BID initiatives, a review of the BID's past five years, its history, its goals for the next five years and more.
Please RSVP by emailing Doug Meyer at dmeyer@bostonbid.org. |
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This Week's Featured Event
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Motown the Musical Opens at
Boston Opera House June 12th
Motown the Musical is the true story of Motown founder Berry Gordy and it opens at the Boston Opera House on Tuesday, June 12th.
The lively musical traces "Gordy's journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and many more."
The show runs through June 17th. Click here for tickets and showtimes. |
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Arts, Entertainment & Events
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Today: International Institute of
New England Celebrating
100 Years of
Welcoming New Americans
The International Institute of New England (2 Boylston St. 3rd Floor) is hosting a special open house today (Monday, June 11th) as they launched their 100th year of welcoming new Americans.
Learn about IINE's visions for 2025 and their plans to expand services to refugees and immigrants. See IINE's 100-year timeline mural and office artwork.
Feel free to bring someone. Please RSVP to events@iine.org. This event is from 5 to 7 pm at IINE's office. |
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Celebrate Brewer Fountain's
150th Anniversary on June 14th
Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Brewer Fountain with the Friends of the Public Garden and the Boston Parks Department on Thursday, June 14th. This event will be at the Brewer Fountain Plaza on the Tremont Street side near the Park Street MBTA station.
The event will start at 11:30 am with remarks and a proclamation from Mayor Martin Walsh, followed by a Northeastern University Pep Band performance.
This event is sponsored by Capital One (129 Tremont St.). There will be giant bubble play at noon and other kids activities until 2 pm. Bon Me and Fresh Fresh Generation food trucks will be giving out free lunches starting at noon. There will also be free cookies from The Cookie Monstah food truck (while they last). |
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Boston Crusaders Concert in the Park on June 14th
The Boston Crusaders will be performing its annual Inspire Arts & Music Concert in the Park at the Norman B. Leventhal Park (130 Congress St.) on Thursday, June 14th.
This lively and exciting performance is free and open to the public. The concert is from 5 to 6 pm.
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Celebrate Pride Month with Irish International Immigrant Center
June 16th
Join the Irish International Immigrant Center (One State St., Suite 800) to celebrate Pride Month on Saturday, June 16th at Hurricane's at the Garden (150 Canal St.).
There will be a panel discussion with Grainne Close, Michael Dowling, and Fari Sattar, moderated by IIIC's Board of Directors Vice President Colette O'Neill, on LGBTQ+ advancement, policies that impact immigrant LGBTQ+ communities, and ways to protect and further the progress made. There will also be live music by ZUMIX youth performers and snacks. This event is free, open to the public and from noon to 3 pm. Click here for more info. |
Old South Meeting House Presenting "100 Years Before the Revolution:
17th Century Resistance in Massachusetts Bay" on June 20th
Historian Adrian Chastain Weimer will share the largely untold story of 17th-century New Englanders who fasted, prayed, and spoke out against the threat of arbitrary rule at "100 Years Before the Revolution: 17th Century Resistance in Massachusetts Bay" at the Old South Meeting House (310 Washington St.) on Wednesday, June 20th.
Drawing from petitions, sermons and letters of the day, Weiner will tell the story about how in 1662, the newly restored King of England, Charles II, demanded that the Massachusetts Bay colony alter their laws to align with imperial priorities. Two years later, four royal commissioners arrived to enforce these demands. What followed was a season of extraordinary political activism, as colonial men and women mobilized to protect their liberties and local institutions.
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested by clicking here. This event starts at 6:30 pm.
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'Empowering Boston's Refugees to Fulfill the American Dream' at JVS Boston on June 20th
On World Refugee Day, JVS Boston (75 Federal St., 3rd Floor) is holding a forum, "Empowering Boston's Refugees to Fulfill the American Dream" on Wednesday, June 20th.
Barry Shrage, president of CJP-Great Boston's Jewish Federation, will lead the forum. Click here for more information about this forum. This event is from 7:45 to 9 am.
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Live Music at The Steps, Federal Street, Summer Street, Walgreens and More
The Downtown Boston BID's 2018 performance season features more than 1,500-plus live musical performances spread across five different locations.
This week, Gypsy Jazz, Square Peg, Code 51, DD Martin Trio, Egor Antonenko, Joe Weinberg, Opera Guy and Friends and the Roarin' Dukes of Swing will perform at The Steps (Franklin and Washington streets). There are daily performances from noon to 2 pm and 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Monday through Friday, noon to 2 pm on Saturday and 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Sunday. With plenty of seating at The Steps, it's a wonderful spot to sit down with your lunch and enjoy the show.
Soloists Joe Weinberg and Todd Brunel will perform at 133 Federal St. this week. Performances are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 2 pm.
The Pat Loomis Trio, Robbie Pate Trio and Opera Guy will perform outside of
Macy's on Summer Street. These performances are on
Thursday and Friday, from noon to 2 pm, and again from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Saturday performances, from 12:30 pm to 3 pm, feature the popular ensemble group Sweet Harmony, singing hits from the 80s, 90s, 2000s and today.
The BID is teaming up with
The Exchange at 100 Federal (100 Federal St.) to present live music inside the atrium from
4 to 6 pm on Tuesdays. This week the Downtown Singers will perform.
There is also live music at the
100 Summer Street Plaza on
Tuesday and Thursday from
noon to 2 pm. There are Adirondack chairs on the plaza that are perfect for relaxing and listening to music. John Kordalewski will headline at the plaza this week.
The BID is also sponsoring live music outside of the Walgreens (School and Washington streets) on Friday from noon to 1:30 pm and Saturday from noon to 2 pm. Soloists Kathleen Parks and Dan Barton are performing at Walgreens this week.
All performances are subject to change and may be cancelled due to inclement weather.
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Downtown Boston
Performance Groups are Strolling
Twice a Day and
Taking Requests!
The very popular Downtown Boston bands and singers are strolling throughout the streets of Downtown Boston twice a day from noon to 2 pm and 5 to 7 pm.
The Downtown Brass Band is strolling through the area on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The Downtown Sweet Sound Band is strolling through the area on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday.
The Downtown Boston Singers are strolling through the area Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The BID-sponsored bands and singers stroll throughout the Downtown Boston area and stop on street corners and outside of businesses to play a song or two and then move on. Please feel free to take photos or videos of them and share them on social media using #DowntownBoston. Also, they take requests! |
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Look Out for Redcoats on
The Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail Foundation and Downtown Boston BID offer the opportunity to experience British soldiers in 18th-century Redcoat uniforms reenacting guard duty like it's 1775.
This historical program utilizes experienced Freedom Trail Players, costumed in the attire of 18th-century British soldiers, who bring the daily actions and atmosphere of British-occupied Boston to life. Residents and visitors will meet the soldiers and engage them in talk about their postings in the hostile environment of colonial Boston as they "occupy" Downtown Boston on Washington, Summer, and Winter streets. The Freedom Trail's Changing the Guard takes place from May through October on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 2 pm.
For more information about Changing the Guard, please call the Freedom Trail Foundation at 617-357-8300 or visit TheFreedomTrail.org. |
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BID Ambassadors Provide Clean & Hospitality Services
in Downtown
The
Downtown Boston BID Ambassadors
provide clean and hospitality services seven days a week, nearly 24 hours a day. Ambassadors create a friendly, welcoming Downtown presence by helping visitors with directions, notifying fire and police personnel of incidents and more.
B
ID Ambassadors
provide walking escorts when needed and
they'll even tote an umbrella if it's raining! Please call 617-261-0066 if you want to contact our BID ambassador services program. You can also email help@bostonbid.org.
- Ambassadors remove litter and graffiti
- Ambassadors clear crosswalks, handicapped ramps and storm drain openings
- Ambassadors shovel in Downtown Boston during winter
- Ambassadors maintain the BID's landscaping
- Masonry Ambassadors fix sidewalks and more
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Additional BID Services & Info
- Communication and Business Networking
- Meetings with individual BID members to discuss neighborhood issues
- Entertainment programming
- Member Advocacy
- Capital/Public Improvements
- Wayfinding
- Please click here for the Downtown Boston BID's Welcome Guide that provides a look at many of the BID's accomplishments in leading the transformation of Downtown Crossing
- For additional details and information on the complete range of BID services please contact Doug Meyer, Membership Services & Database Manager, at dmeyer@bostonbid.org.
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Ever Wonder How Many Pedestrians Are In Downtown Crossing Every Day?
New Street Sensors Have The Answer
The BID recently installed street sensors made by Motionloft that are capturing pedestrian count data seven days a week, 24 hours a day in 12 different locations throughout the Downtown Boston area.
"We wanted to understand how pedestrians are using the district and how it changes," said Anita Lauricella, BID Public Realm Senior Planner. "The real life application is, if we see a lot of pedestrians at The Steps at 3 pm, we can have a musician perform at that time. Or if we see a lot of people on Bromfield Street on the weekends we can encourage businesses to open on Saturdays and Sundays."
Rain or shine, the 12 sensors are capturing pedestrian traffic, and nine of them are capturing pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The sensors are not capturing video of people, as they quickly count a pedestrian and convert the person into a data point. Data can be broken down hour-by-hour, contrasted against a day's weather and other useful information.
The BID will utilize the captured data to make strategic decisions, such as deployment of Ambassadors, entertainment programming, streetscaping (tables, chairs), marketing and future planning with the city.
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The white dots are pedestrians in
Downtown Crossing. |
"This information will be very useful for BID members because we can give them very accurate pedestrian counts. They can use this for marketing their properties, hosting events or for altering their hours of operation," said Lauricella. She added it will also be helpful to tourist based organizations like the Freedom Trail Foundation, Old State House and National Park Service.
Lauricella added there are opportunities to add temporary sensors during large-scale events like the ILLUMINUS Light Festival or championship parades.
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Suffolk University's 'Bromfield Faces'
Window Wrap Highlights Local Employees
A new window wrap photo project by Suffolk University Art and Design students, "Bromfield Faces," highlights people in their places of business and on the street at 11 Bromfield St.
The project is a continuation of the Downtown Boston BID's partnership with area property owners to invigorate vacant commercial properties.
"The window wraps add vibrancy to the streetscape," said Kristen Flanagan, Project Manager for the Downtown Boston BID. The BID is also working with area property owners and managers to help fill vacancies.
The Downtown Boston BID worked with Boston Building Wraps to produce the window wraps. The images were created by students in the multi-disciplinary Foundation Studies course.
"It's cool. It's a good decoration and use of an empty storefront," said Kevin Patrick, sales associate for Bromfield Camera (10 Bromfield St.), below. "Everybody's recognizing me now. I'll take out the trash and people will ask me if that's me."
The BID would also like to thank property owner Midwood Investment & Development.
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Advisory:
Change to Devonshire Street Traffic Pattern
Now In Effect
The Downtown Boston BID has received the following information from the Boston Transportation Department:
Please be advised that as part of the demolition of the 115 Winthrop Square Garage there are traffic pattern changes to Devonshire Street
as of June 9th until further notice.
Devonshire Street is closed to vehicular traffic and bicyclists from the 100 Summer Street Garage to 75-101 Federal St. Devonshire Street is a two-way street from Summer Street to the entrance of the 100 Summer Street garage.
The sidewalk on the west side of Devonshire Street will remain open to pedestrians. Access to the 100 Summer Street parking garage, 100 Summer Street loading dock, Common Vines wine shop, and residential properties on Devonshire Street is available.
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St. Anthony Shrine
Summer Liturgies for Individuals and
Families Impacted by Addiction
St. Anthony Shrine (100 Arch St.) is hosting summer liturgies for individuals and families impacted by addiction. These are free events open for anyone to attend.
Liturgies will be held on Saturdays, June 16th and July 21st at St. Anthony Shrine at 7 pm. Music by the Arch Street Band and a reception will follow the event. |
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City Wants Proposals for New Master
Zoning Plan Study for
Downtown Boston
Downtown Boston has seen an incredible amount of commercial and residential development in recent years and more is on the horizon.
To help guide the future development the Boston Planning & Development Agency is requesting proposals for the upcoming Downtown Planning Study. Proposals are due by July 13th.
According to the BPDA, proposals are desired from consultants who have "demonstrated excellence in urban design and land use planning, historic preservation, engineering services to study environmental impacts, market and financial feasibility analysis, multi-modal transportation policy, and sustainability and climate resiliency." The duration of the resulting contract will not be longer than two years and the budget for the study is $600,000.
Please click here for more information or email Lauren Shurtleff at Lauren.Shurtleff@boston.gov.
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MBTA Service Advisory:
Downtown Crossing Station
Passageway Between Red Line-Alewife and
Orange Line-Forest Hills Closed
Thru July 2nd
The MBTA passageway in the Downtown Crossing station between the Red Line-Alewife and Orange Line-Forest Hills will be closed from May 29th through July 2nd.
Please use the Winter Street concourse to connect between Red Line at Park Street and Orange Line. This closure will allow the MBTA to do the next phase of work on a new elevator between the Red and Orange Lines. This elevator is planned to open this winter. |
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Jewelry, Woodwork and More:
Downtown Boston
Arts Market
on Summer Street
The Downtown Boston Arts Market is on Summer Street between Macy's and Roche Bros. from 11 am to 6 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
The market is a great place to get a gift for yourself or a loved one. Handmade jewelry, antique maps, artisanal food, soaps and candles are just some of the items being sold at the market this year. This week's vendors are: Design of Mine; Simply Chickie; Intaglio Antique Prints & Maps; DLR Designs; Recycled Glass; Karol Peralta Jewelry; Wyllo; Fiber and Water; Fridgedoor; LovePop Cards; and B and B Glass.
The market is also accepting vendor applications.
All artwork, crafts and food offerings must be original and handmade by you or your studio enterprise. No mass-produced or imported goods are allowed. All food vendor permits must comply with applicable public health regulations. Please click here for more information and to fill out an application. You can also contact Kristen Flanagan at kflanagan@bostonbid.org or 617-261-1458. |
BID Little Free Libraries at
Walgreens Plaza and 175 Federal St.
The Downtown Boston BID's very popular Little Free Library is now back at Walgreens Plaza (School and Washington streets) for anyone to take a book and leave a book. The Walgreens Plaza Little Free Library was so popular that a second one was added to the district, at 175 Federal St. (Summer Street side).
The general public is invited to donate free books to the BID's Little Free Libraries by dropping off books at the libraries or by contacting Kristen Flanagan at kflanagan@bostonbid.org to organize a pickup in the downtown area.
The BID's Little Free Libraries are officially registered with the
Little Free Library non-profit organization. There are actually more than 50,000 registered little free libraries across the country and world!
The BID's Little Free Libraries are
open daily from 10 am to 6 pm
(closed during inclement weather).
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DeScenza Diamonds Summer Sizzler Deal: Free Jewelry
If Temps Hit 97 Degrees on
July 4th
DeScenza Diamonds (387 Washington St.) is running a Summer Sizzler promotion through June 16th. Anything from engagement rings to watches, bought during this promotion period in any DeScenza location, will be free if the temperature hits 97 degrees or more on July 4th.
The temperature will be measured by Weather Analytics at DeScenza Diamonds' Hingham store. Please visit descenza.com for more details about this promotion. |
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Enjoy Father's Day at Parker's Restaurant
Celebrate Father's Day at Parker's Restaurant (60 School St., inside Omni Parker House) with a meal featuring Scotch whiskies of Highland Park Distilleries.
Enjoy a three-course meal featuring a skillet steak and three different Scotches. The price is $59 per person. Reservations are required by calling 617-725-1600 or visit the Parker's Restaurant hostess stand. |
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Learn Spanish by Talking About
World Cup, Game Night and More at BASE
The
Boston Area Spanish Exchange (
101 Arch St., 8th floor) is hosting several free events to help you learn Spanish and Portuguese. BASE's summer course period is beginning July 16th and the registration deadline is July 6th.
On Tuesdays through June 19th is A Primavera em
Portguês at 6 pm. These are free open-level Portuguese conversation workshops.
BASE is also offering
Charlas Futbolísticas on
Thursdays at 6 pm through June 21st. These are free open-level Spanish conversation workshops to talk about the World Cup, all things soccer, or whatever comes to mind.
Click
here for more information about the classes and to register for the upcoming summer courses.
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Construction & Utility
Work Updates
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New Developments Under Construction, Proposed Projects and More
Downtown Boston is continually transforming, with new buildings rising, as well as transportation projects taking place underground and at street level. Looking for the latest updates on developments, construction, sidewalk closings, and more? Click here. 
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City Services &
Important Hotlines
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Important Phone Numbers
Boston Fire, Police & Emergency Services: 911
Non-emergency requests: 311
Eversource gas and electric: 1-800-592-2000
National Grid: 1-800-322-3223
Boston Water & Sewer Commission: 617-989-7000
Mass Water Resources Authority: 617-242-6000
City of Boston Tow Lot: 617-635-3900
National Weather Service: 508-822-0634
Verizon: 800-837-4966
Boston Animal Care and Control: 617-635-5348
Cold Relief Heatline: 800-632-8175
Elderly Commission: 617-635-4366
Emergency Shelter Commission: 617-635-4507
MBTA: 617-222-3200
MEMA: 508-820-1428
Mass. Road and Traffic Conditions: 617-374-1234
City of Boston Neighborhood Services: 617-635-3485
State Police: 617-740-7600
Transit Police: 617-222-1212
City of Boston Veterans Services: 617-635-3957
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Downtown Boston BID Weekly News Update
For questions and comments, please contact David Ertischek, Communications & Social Media Manager, at:
dertischek@bostonbid.org
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