May 14, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Below is a letter that was sent to Mayor Menino and City Hall and cc to the blog. The letter is one Chinatown resident’s opinion about the Dainty Dot compromise.
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Dear Mayor Menino:

I am extremely disappointed with the BRA’s “compromise” development decision for the new tower at 120 Kingston Street on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Chinatown.

First, please let me express that I am not opposed to development on the site. In fact, I am strongly in favor of the original design proposed by the developer, both for its graceful design, contextual sensitivity and urban planning elements.

What I am extremely distressed by is the result of the BRA “public process” that has reduced a once vibrant project with elements for all aspects of the site, to quite frankly, a mediocre glass turd of a tower, suitable for urban anonymity in Atlanta, Houston or Dallas, but certainly not a high prominence site in Boston. Something is seriously wrong with our planning process, if the best we can do on this important Greenway site is a boring, bare bones, ¼ glass cylinder.

Specific aspects of the compromise that are deeply disturbing include:

1) This development sets a precedent for the quality (or lack thereof) of urban design and architecture to be expected for development along the Greenway. The precedent is extremely disappointing and mediocre. We did not spend $16 billion to get the Greenway with the expectation of mediocrity!

2) The total demolition of the Dainty Dot building shows a disregard for the need to knit together the Greenway developments with the midrise urban elements of Chinatown. Is this a signal that any glass turd tower that wants to bulldoze a site in Chinatown can get approval? What happened to urban planning and the need to create livable streets (read mid-rise, human scale façades, not glass sheet walls).

3) The sham of adding to the park land is a “compromise” over maintaining the transitional Dainty Dot façade is a complete red herring. Can the BRA really suggest that we need more parkland along the Greenway after just creating 15 new acres of park?

4) Essex Street, which directly abuts one side of the 120 Kingston Street site (and the current Dainty Dot building), is part of your Crossroads Initiative. A key aspect of that Initiative is “creating a welcoming, informative, and engaging street environment.” This is directly counter to the glass turd tower design approved by the BRA.

I strongly urge you to reconsider the BRA “compromise” decision on 120 Kingston Street, and reopen the design consideration that included the transitional, historic Dainty Dot façade in the design.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,
Jeff Hovis
Oak Street (Residential Chinatown)
Boston, MA 02111

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May 12, 2008 by willng24.

This morning a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit central China with a death toll rising close to 9000.  This earthquake was so large that vibrations were felt as far away at Thailand and Vietnam.   

Besides the major disaster that this earthquake has caused, it couldn’t have come at a worse time as China still struggles with relations with Tibet along with preparations for the looming Olympics in August. 

We can only pray for those involved in the disaster and their family members.  Even though I don’t have relatives in that area I can surely feel for the magnitude of this disaster.  Surely there will be relief efforts in play and hopefully it won’t be anything like the barriers that Myanmar is facing. 

For more information, please visit: CNN & Boston.com

Posted in AROUND C-TOWN | Print | 1 Comment »

May 9, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Construction for W Hotel on corner Stuart St. and Tremont St.

Tufts University Construction on corner of Kneeland St. and Washington St.

While the Chinatown Blogger may not have been posting as frequently as a blogger should, this does not mean that things are not happening in Chinatown. Currently, construction has already began for the W Hotel on Tremont/Stuart St. On the corner of Kneeland/Washington St. Tufts University is building an additional 3 stories to their dental building at One Kneeland.

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May 9, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

No, the Boston Arts Academy is not hiding tapes like Matt Walsh but they are working on plans to build a school in Chinatown and the school is not telling the community about those plans.

At the May 8 Chinatown Coalition (TCC) public meeting, Elaine Ng of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and representing TCC as part of the Executive Committee, reported that members of TCC contacted Linda Nathan, headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy for more information regarding the proposal to build a school on Parcel 12, the former Don Bosco parking lot. However, requests by TCC to invite the Boston Arts Academy to meet with the community has been greeted with silence.

Word on the street is that the Boston Arts Academy has already approached funders to launch a capital campaign. This fact has been verified by several people in Chinatown, including the Chinatown Blogger. As part of the capital campaign, the school has assured funders that they have been meeting with the Chinatown community. Contrary, the school has rejected requests to meet since December of last year. If the school has met with someone in the Chinatown community, they have not provided any names.

TCC, which is a coalition of community agencies in Chinatown, is concerned about the lack of information from the school. Ng said at the TCC meeting that due to limited land in Chinatown, there are only 2 parcels available for development, Parcel A and Parcel 12. Parcel 12 was at one point intended to be developed for housing and the community would like to know what the school’s intentions are.

The Boston Arts Academy has initial plans to build a middle school and high school with a total student population of about 500. Add in the nearby Josiah Quincy elementary school and the Josiah Quincy Upper school on Washington Street, there will be about 1,000 students within a block of each other, which may pose traffic problems and how to ensure the safety of the students.

So far the Boston Arts Academy has refused to meet with the Chinatown community. What are they hiding? If the school has no intentions to build on the site, why not simply say so?

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May 9, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

As the weather gets warmer, more people are starting to utilize the new Chinatown Park near the gate. Recently, the Chinatown Blogger happened to spot a group of people sitting on chairs and tables playing jiangqi, a game with similarities to western chess.

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