Harvard Square Au Bon Pain Closing March 31, 2016

[From article]

Yes, Au Bon Pain is leaving the Square like many of our other beloved restaurants and establishments. [. . .] It is even weirder when you realize that it has been in the Square for 32 years. You know how old 32 years is? This is before Radcliffe College fully integrated with Harvard University. The Olympics were held in Los Angeles and Ronald Reagan was president. And now, it will be gone.
If one really can't live with it, technically there is one located near Zinneken’s and another near the Charles. But neither are as easily accessible as the Harvard Square one and they close earlier than the 1 am time for which the Square establishment is known.
http://www.thecrimson.com/flyby/article/2016/3/29/au-bon-pain-closing/

Au Revoir to Au Bon Pain
By Kamara A. Swaby
The Crimson
Flyby

"Medical" Marijuana Store Needed In Harvard Square

“Unless you have a valid DPH-issued ID card in your possession at the time you visit our facility, you can’t get in,” "Really?" said ex-student who wishes to remain anonymous. "How much will that dude who sells fake driver's licenses charge for fake DPH cards?" And why not use the Out Of town News kiosk, for the ten to fifteen million who pass by that space, for the new medical weed palace? City Council is deliberating what to do with that. Much more convenient.

[From article]
“Unless you have a valid DPH-issued ID card in your possession at the time you visit our facility, you can’t get in,” Dundas said.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/4/medical-marijuana-dispensary-eyes-location/

Marijuana Company Eyes Joint Near the Square
By JOSHUA J. FLORENCE and SAMUEL VASQUEZ

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
March 4, 2016

Use Harvard Square Out of Town News Kiosk To Distribute Medical Marijuana

Here's an opportunity to solve two problems. A simple change in zoning can permit Out-Of-Town News kiosk to be the newest location to obtain medical marijuana. With the "10 to 20 million people a year" who pass by it would present a monumentally appropriate use of that property. With substantial mass transit, cures for illnesses could be obtained in Harvard Square remaking the image of the Pit into a place of healing, instead of a place to contract illness.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/2/proposed-out-of-town-news-rennovations/

City Council Debates Harvard Square Renovation
By JOSHUA J. FLORENCE and SAMUEL VASQUEZ,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
March 1, 2016

Cambridge Police Investigate Indecent Assaults Near Harvard Square

If none of the indecent assaults occurred on Harvard University property how do campus cops obtain jurisdiction? And how do indecent assaults differ from decent assaults?

[From article]

The Cambridge Police Department are cautioning women who live, work or frequent the Harvard Square area to be aware of a recent increase in indecent assault and batteries.
Officers are currently investigating a report that a woman was indecently assaulted while walking near the intersection of Garden Street and Massachusetts Avenue near Harvard Square on Sept. 8 at approximately 8:30 p.m. The victim said a man bumped into her with his shoulder and then grabbed her butt.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150914/NEWS/150918053

Cambridge Police: Increase in indecent assaults in Harvard Square
Posted Sep. 14, 2015 at 12:47 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Tour Buses Continue Parking Everywhere

This is a neighborhood with dwindling parking spaces. In 2011 Harvard University developed a two building monster one block from this intersection. The project eliminated 26 parking spaces which were supposed to be "re-allocated" as they say at Planning Board, Zoning Board and Conservation District meetings. If they were, it was not near this area. Tour buses and delivery trucks have no place to park or to stage waiting for access to the Art Museum loading docks, or to wait for their tourist passengers. Here are two more incidents. There were more but I was unable to capture images. Recently the city removed bus parking spaces on Mass Avenue near Harvard Square to add more metered parking. That exacerbated the situation. Link to video about the city hearings in previous years about parking in this neighborhood is included below. 


Tour Buses Parking along Broadway between Prescott Street and Quincy Street. Both sides of the street are No Stopping Zones. It is a popular block for illegal delivery trucks and tour buses for the new $500 million improved Harvard University Art Museum and truck stop complex.


Cambridge Parking Department created a two space loading zone at the south west corner of Prescott Street and Broadway for the trucks. It is used, as can be seen in this image, by shuttle buses day and night. Trucks continue to use the No Stopping Zone on Broadway. Image captured April 16, 2015.


These images show a two bus caravan loading up passengers on the south side of Broadway in a No Stopping Zone. Image captured May 1, 2015.


These are Trailways buses out of Rhode Island. Image captured May 1, 2015.


Fumes from a faulty ignition system (burnt rings?) can be seen here spewing into the atmosphere. Image captured May 1, 2015.


License plate of one bus. Image captured May 1, 2015.


License plate of the other bus. Image captured May 1, 2015.


ICC and DOT ID Number for one bus. Image captured May 1, 2015.


Here is another tour bus on lay over on Broadway in a No Stopping Zone. Image captured July 1, 2015.


Driver of the Coach tour bus can be seen here resting on the marble fence of the Art Museum. Image captured July 1, 2015.


Here is the bus company number for the Coach vehicle.Image captured July 1, 2015.

Previous post on April 8, 2015 on tour buses parking on Broadway between Quincy Street and Prescott Street in a no stopping zone.

http://enoughroom.blogspot.com/2015/04/tour-buses-idling-illegal-parking.html
The City Council may recall that Harvard University removed 26 parking spaces on Prescott Street and behind 1730 Cambridge Street when they were allowed by the city to build the CGIS in 2011.


One building of Harvard University's Center For Government and International Studies at Prescott Street and Cambridge Street. It was also called the Knafel Center, named for the major contributor.

How many other parking spaces were removed by the massive building campaign erecting edifices everywhere? They were supposed to be re-allocated. Did anyone ever ensure that they were? Is that why Harvard University freely makes promises and then no one remembers to see that they perform their promises?
See this video for their (broken?) promise about Prescott Street. Parking spaces are discussed and mentioned at least three times in this 15 minute video.

http://enoughroomvideo.blogspot.com/2011/06/harvard-spin-doctors-in-action.html 

Harvard University produces politicians, and acts like the politicians they produce.

Harvard University Wants Conformity In Public Spaces

“Harvard is a bureaucracy that seems to want to get bigger and stronger,” said Stephen Helfer. First priority of a bureaucracy is to maintain itself. With more administrators each year, and less contact with students or what they call "members of the community" Harvard University officials act more and more like the solipsistic bureaucracy in Washington D.C. They are remote from reality and what ordinary citizens want. As Councilor Mazen noted if there was more input solicited from ordinary civilians (or even students) who use the spaces before final decisions are made, there would be less disappointments.

[From article]
Faced with complaints from Cambridge residents, the board on Thursday instructed Harvard officials to rethink some of the building plans to secure more public support for the changes. Members of the Board of Zoning Appeal gave Harvard’s planners and architects no specific instruction on how to improve the plans, and unlike they did at an earlier hearing in June, they set no date to take up the plans again.
Public outcry “is happening because traditionally, people have too much of the decision baked before they go the general public,” Cambridge City Councillor Nadeem Mazen said at the meeting.
[. . .]
Originally, the campus center was slated to first undergo construction in spring 2016 and open in 2018. According to University spokesperson Brigid O’Rourke, Harvard has not altered its construction timeline, despite the two delays from the Board of Zoning Appeal.
In June, Cambridge residents criticized plans for the campus center, intended for use as a public space, arguing that it would be uninviting and exclusive to Harvard affiliates only. At Thursday’s hearing, however, representatives from Harvard presented an updated plan before the board, including added signage clarifying intent for public use.
Other updates to the University’s plans included a written commitment to preserving the chess tables in Forbes Plaza, the area at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Dunster Street. Harvard’s architects and planners also included provisions for additional outdoor seating in that plaza.
But those changes were not enough to assuage residents’ concerns about the proposed renovations. People in opposition to the plans said they thought Harvard’s structure was too grandiose and encroaching on Forbes Plaza, calling the proposed building a “Harvard theme park” and “Taj Mahal”-like structure.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/8/2/campus-center-plans-delayed-twice/

Zoning Board Delays Campus Center Plans a Second Time
By JALIN P. CUNNINGHAM,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
August 1, 2015

Harvard University Wants to Destroy Panache of Harvard Square, BZA Hearing, Thursday, July 30, 2015

Forbes Plaza, Harvard Square

See also what Harvard University did with city owned property (overpass of Cambridge Street and Broadway to Mass Avenue) on what they call the Science Plaza. It used to have grass and paths. Now it is all concrete with electrical outlets and bases to hook up monster tents for fund raising dinners. 


Food trucks at left, bottom center, and right of image on "Science Center Plaza"

Each day food trucks pay Harvard University rent to sell their products on city land. It indicates the reluctance of city officials to say no to Harvard's uses. The city reportedly allows Harvard to "administer" that land, but they act as if they own it. Tuesday Farmer's Market. Friday Crafts Fair. Oh and planters (used to be two on the overpass) are favored places for rodents to make their nests.


Food trucks, top left, no more grass on "Science Center Plaza"
[From letter]
in many ways Harvard is losing its focus as an educational institution and is operating more as a corporate business. And so, I have to admit that I look at Harvard’s plans for Forbes Plaza in part from the perspective of a Cambridge resident of the neighborhood
[. . .]


Forbes Plaza, Harvard Square

The current reimagining of Forbes Plaza and the facade of the Smith Center is particularly objectionable. Harvard’s project concept purports to “engage the building with the vibrancy of Harvard Square” by “contribut[ing] to the dynamic urban environment,” while its key design strategies include “activate the street level and maximize transparency,” as well as “strengthen community.” This all strikes me as little more than slick PR work to justify what is essentially an encroachment onto Forbes Plaza and a reorientation of the space to funnel the public (citizens, visitors, students, etc.) away from Harvard Square and toward a flashy new glass box, celebrated (by Harvard) for its “transparency.”
[. . .]
What most offends in this proposed plan is the reduction in overall, public, outdoor space, as well as the creation of a barrier planter. Forbes Plaza is the principal public outdoor space in Harvard Square where one can sit and watch the world pass by (as it does year-round). By expanding the facade of the Smith Center out into the plaza, that key outdoor space is compromised and diminished.
[. . .]


Forbes Plaza, Harvard Square

The redesign of Forbes Plaza as a Smith Center “welcome area” speaks volumes of Harvard’s intention to utilize the space as window dressing for its newest toy, as opposed to maintaining the plaza as a space for the Cambridge public writ large. As it stands now, Forbes Plaza attracts a wide variety of residents and visitors, a cast of characters and activities that is far more engaging, interesting and entertaining than most television. Harvard’s design seeks to further establish its aesthetic stamp, and control, on a space that is currently vibrant for its decidedly un-Harvard activity and sensibility.
[. . .]
Forbes Plaza plays a vital role in the life of Harvard students, Cambridge residents, and the many visitors to the square. That role should not be diminished.
I hope you will consider these objections to the current proposal to alter Forbes Plaza and the Smith Center’s facade, and that you might require Harvard and its architects to present a plan that maintains this space as one devoted to the entire Cambridge community, including Harvard students, not its own perceived institutional ends.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150729/NEWS/150726833

Guest column: Once-vibrant square morphs into Harvard University theme park
By Harvey A. Silverglate
Posted Jul. 29, 2015 at 8:02 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle
Editor’s note: The following is an open letter sent to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

* * *


Forbes Plaza, Harvard Square

[From letter]
Forbes Plaza has been a public amenity for the people of Cambridge (and Harvard affiliates, including students) ever since it was first designed by Josep Lluis Sert, a refugee from Franco’s Spain and an early dean of both the School of Architecture and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and completed in 1967.
Sert clearly intended this to be a public plaza and this has been recognized and a significant factor in previous decisions by the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), going back as far as 1983. To grant Harvard now variances they seek, which would diminish further the public plaza, would be seriously detrimental to the public interest.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150728/NEWS/150726857

LETTER: Granting Harvard variances would diminish public plaza
Posted Jul. 28, 2015 at 1:45 PM
To the editor:
James M. Williamson

Jackson Place

Candidate for City Council

Updated: Cambridge MA Funds Study For Renovation of Harvard Square

Posted July 9, 2015 8:47 PM ET; Last updated July 14, 2015 8:22, PM ET


Out Of Town Newsstand Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

"a [$600,000] feasibility analysis and preliminary design of potential uses [. . .] before conducting architectural design development. [Then] $4 million" for changes of the Kiosk, the point, etc. Sounds almost like an amendment to a US Congressional appropriation. Who said Wall Street is where the money is? Is this another undercover Republican consulting scam diverting taxpayer money from vulnerable persons and not for profit good intentions? Gasp!

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150714/NEWS/150718429

LETTER: Wise use of $4.6M for small improvements to Harvard Square?
Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 4:00 PM
Updated at 4:03 PM
To the editor:
Cambridge Chronicle

Richard Dill, Huron Avenue
* * *

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150709/NEWS/150707040/?Start=1

Big plans for Out of Town News in Harvard Square
By Sara Feijo
sfeijo (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jul. 9, 2015 at 10:24 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Harvard Square Specialty Deli, Cardullo's, Stays Open, Sold To New Owners

Serving Fine Foods in Harvard Square Since 1950

[From article]
The Cardullo family is parting ways with their longstanding business, Cardullo’s Gourmet Shoppe, a landmark in the heart of Harvard Square for the past six decades.
Sisters Donez Cardullo Tavilla and Francesca Cardullo Sibboe have sold the popular business to Newton couple, Rich and Kim Wilson. The sale will be finalized in four to six weeks once the liquor license is transferred, but the new owners plan to keep the shop’s name and mission, according to Tavilla.
[. . .]
Tavilla’s grandfather, Frank R. Cardullo, opened the Brattle Street shop in 1950 and her grandmother, Mary Cardullo, ran what was then just a neighborhood deli. At the time Frank Cardullo was busy running Wursthaus (which means sausage house in German), a restaurant nearby.
Cardullo’s Gourmet Shoppe was always owned and operated exclusively by the Cardullo family. Tavilla’s father, Frank N. Cardullo, took over the family business when his father became ill, and he ended up selling the restaurant to focus on the shop.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150713/NEWS/150718977

By Sara Feijo
sfeijo (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jul. 13, 2015 at 11:22 AM
Updated at 11:23 AM





CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Snow Hurts Business In Harvard Square

Good job of clearing the sidewalks down to the bricks. But days after the last large storm, piles of snow remain all along the streets of Harvard Square. Can't see the stores and restaurants as you drive by. Traffic is backed up because of the narrow streets due to snow banks. Here's an idea. Get rid of the snow.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/2/24/square-businesses-winter-downturn/

Square Businesses See Winter Downturn
By SAMUEL VASQUEZ

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
February 24, 2015

Late Night Warm Cookies Coming Soon To Harvard Square

Eight percent officially unemployed in US. Reality is more like 14 percent. War in Afghanistan. Black teen gangs roam big cities attacking white individuals, elders and retail businesses. Civilians being shot dead on city streets with little to no interest from citizens or politicians. Economy sputtering. Institutions under attack by journalists, religions, and Communists. But all is well in Harvard Square where a new business may open soon. It will deliver hot cookies between 6 PM and 3 AM. So many highly educated humans with no microwaves and no ovens. Do they not know how to cook? How sad.

[Comments from the Harvard Crimson regarding this major news story.]

Menckenlite said (sarcastically):
Are you sure this is not a hoax, being really an online delivery-by-browser-cookie-service? Maybe he is starting to charge for what others provide for free.

H'13 said (Missing the sarcasm) :
insomnia is a company with stores across the country.

Menckenlite said (sarcastically):
That is what this article says. Have you more evidence than that?

Bored Reader said (missing the sarcasm) :
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE START A FLAME WAR OVER THIS


Menckenlite said (lightheartedly, since sarcasm got no response):
Maybe they mis-underestimated what was being propositioned. Russians pronounce them, "Cookyes." Is that what is coming to Harvard Square, hamentashen? Are you suggesting Valerie Flame is working again?A Flame War?

Guest said (missing it all):
I've eaten cookies from the insomnia at Penn...they are delicious and real

Greta said (picking up on it):
The real conspiracy is that they are microwaved Pepperidge Farm cookies. Conventional ovens quite simply do not get hot enough to melt steel or chocolate!! Click my screen name to learn history's simplest proof of the Pythagorean theorem!

Menckenlite said (having fun):
Do you mean the sum of the square-sided Flame-broiled cookyes is equal to the calories in the hyped up Insomnia cookyes? How can that be?

Greta said (responding in kind):
Free advertising disgusied as news? You're treading dangerously close to tin foil cookie sheet hat territory, pal!

Menckenlite said (summing up):
Thanks to gentle Greta for reminding about tin foil cookie sheet hat territory. Fortunate to have someone familiar with the area. The Chairman of the Cambridge Cookie Consumer's Coalition, a diverse, progressive and inclusive non profit, in the interests of transparency, inquiries regarding the late night warm cookies' support for same sex marriage, affirmative action, taking back the night, and immigrants' rights. As an editorial in the Boston Phoenix asked about a Boston business petitioner, "Why do these cookies want to come to Harvard Square?" Recognizing the compelling need for late night warm cookies, this food purveyor nonetheless must be screened by the Cambridge City Council's Civic Unity Committee. Without assurances of all of the above-mentioned obligatory positions, Cambridge and especially the sensitive Harvard Square business community may not be an appropriate venue for this baker's delight, nutritious and desperately needed resource. No permits should be issued by the License Commission, or by the Public Health Department for the City unless and until these common sense priorities are met.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/7/26/insomnia-cookies-harvard-square/

Late-Night Cookies May Be Coming to the Square
By ALEXANDER KOENIG
Harvard Crimson
July 26, 2012

Cambridge EMTs Rescue Woman

Cambridge Emergency Medical Technicians rescue a woman from upscale Harvard Square retail store. These images were captured at about 5:30 PM on Friday July 30, 2010.

How to Run a Bus from Harvard Square to NYC

How to Run a Bus from Harvard Square to NYC


In this colorful election year the petitioner should attend a City Council meeting after having his issue placed on the agenda. City Councilors notoriously oppose inconvenient laws. Whether or not the law prohibits or allows an activity the council will support your petition if you contribute to their campaign. They imitate the US Congress in all ways. Then again the real power lies with the unelected City Manager who decides who does business in the city. He always responds positively to requests from university administrators. So the road to a Harvard-NYC bus line likely lies in the offices of the Harvard President, Provost and General Counsel.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=529699

Bus Service Struggles For Harvard-N.Y. Line
TransportAzumah told to get jitney license, insists that it is not necessary.
Published On Friday, October 23, 2009 3:52 AM
By DAMILARE K SONOIKI
Harvard Crimson Staff Writer

Conservative Republicans with Disabilities Too?

Conservative Republicans with Disabilities Too?

Hard working cheerleader for Harvard Square, Denise Jillson says, "Cambridge is a great place to live, to work and to play." Does she include Republicans, conservatives and persons with disabilities who are not employed by the city? When was the last time that Conservatives were celebrated by the emotionally impaired leaders in this city? When were Republicans celebrated or even tolerated? Will the next president be insulted, ridiculed and humiliated as the current president was? Will the infantile city leaders continue their attacks or will they change from haters to lovers as they did when Cadillac Deval was elected? Aside from being able to go up and down curbs in and around most of Harvard Square what else is welcoming for persons with disabilities (with the exception of the city employees)?

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/x1197771364/Letter-Harvard-Squares-tops

Letter: Harvard Square's tops
Cambridge Chronicle
Tue Nov 04, 2008, 04:19 AM EST
DENISE JILLSON
Executive Director