VOL. 117 - NO. 10 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, MARCH 8, 2013 $.30 A COPY Proposed North End Hotel Bad Idea & Bad Bet by Marie Matarese It was revealed last week that Normandy Real Estate Partners - the same folks who are proposing to plunk another hotel on Blackstone Street in the middle of what is supposed to be the North End’s Haymarket/ Market District - once again are facing the failure of one of their other hotel ventures. The company had planned to construct an 11-story hotel at 275 Albany Street, but in a Spring letter to the Boston Redevelopment Author- ity (BRA), the company indicated that “shift- ing economic conditions” led it to scrap the hotel plans previously approved by the BRA and that “given current market condi- tions, the applicant was unable to secure a Ahead hotel operator despite diligent efforts to do so.” Blackstone Street where Boston’s historic This comes on top of revelations last sum- “pushcart” vendors set up every weekend. mer of continued significant financial diffi- Along with the rest of us, the Haymarket Be sure to move your clocks culties the company has been having mak- Pushcart Association, which prevents those ing a go of the Ames Hotel on Court Street vendors, has been strenuously opposed to AHEAD one hour in downtown Boston. And those revelations the hotel idea. came after the company changed the Albany Aside from magnifying the types of con- AT 2:00 AM - SUNDAY, MARCH 10 Street project from two hotels and retail to flicts which have created difficulties be- one hotel, residential and retail, abandon- tween the Haymarket operations and the ing the second hotel in favor of a residen- hotel which already exists at the end of tial tower. Blackstone Street, a hotel would be a mis- Community leaders and officials who have use of property that should be used to tie examined the issue have been opposed to the idea of putting a hotel on Parcel 9 on (Continued on Page 14) News Briefs by Sal Giarratani IMPORTANT INFORMATION Hollywood East Meets New Posted Street Sweeping Hollywood West Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama presented The Boston Public Works Department 2013. The Boston Transportation an Oscar to Cambridge-born Ben Affleck for his is implementing a posted street sweep- Department will post the signs on your movie Argo. This was the first time for a First ing program on several streets in your street prior to that date. The signs will Lady ever to do such a thing. Why not? After all, immediate neighborhood. These addi- indicate the days and hours when the if Hollywood is all smoke, mirrors and fakery, why tions will complete the posted sweeping parking restrictions will be in effect. not let Michelle be a presenter since the White program for the North End. Currently, Please note the information on the House is all fakery too? Let the phonies applaud many cars on these streets do not move signs prior to April 1st. each other. on the scheduled street sweeping day • The odd numbered side of the street and the sweeper cannot access the curb will be swept on the 1st and 3rd designated The Latest Hypocrite on Capitol Hill area. This program will allow for more weekday of the month. The even side Is there something in the water of the Potomac effective mechanical street sweeping will be swept on the 2nd and 4th desig- River that over and over again we see just how resulting in a cleaner environment in nated day of the month. many morally righteous politicians end up look- your community. • The program will typically run from ing more tawdry with their confessions. The new streets to be posted for sweep- March 1st through December 31st each I remember U.S. Senator John Tower, R-Texas, ing are: year. who once was considered presidential timber • Battery Street, from Hanover to End • This program will be enforced ended up ethically challenged at the end of his Thursdays 8:00AM—12:00PM through parking fines as well as the tow- long career. Turns out also that good old segre- • Clark Street, from Hanover to Com- ing of vehicles. Please comply with the gationist supporting U.S. Senator Strom Thur- mercial Thursdays 8:00AM—12:00PM posted regulations. mond, R-SC, had fathered an African American • Cross Street, from N. Washington to • Comprehensive street sweeping love child. Latest news? Come on down former Atlantic Tuesdays 12:00PM—4:00PM information can be found by logging U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico. He • Garden Court, from North Sq to Fleet on to www.cityotboston.gov. Weather admits to an old affair and love child too. For years Tuesdays 12:00PM—4:00PM and road conditions will occasionally in the U.S. Senate, both he and fellow U.S. Sen. • Moon Street, from North Sq to Fleet require cancellation of street sweep- Paul Laxalt, R-Nevada, worked together up on Tuesdays 12:00PM—4:00PM ing and enforcement. You can register Capitol Hill but now we find out that Domenici • Stillman Street, from Salem to End for posted street sweeping electronic and Michelle Laxalt, 24 years old at the time, Tuesdays 12:00PM—4:00PM reminders and cancellation info by worked much closer together. To the point of • Typically, the North End posted accessing the No-Tow link at that web- fathering Paul Laxalt‘s grandson. I never real- sweeping program begins on March 1st. site. Inquiries can also be directed to ized how many hillbillies are up on Capitol Hill. However, due to the many snow events, the Mayor’s 24-Hour Service at 617-635- Former U.S. Senator Peter Domenici acknowl- the placement of the signs on these 4500 at any time. edged his affair, which took place in the ’70s, streets has been delayed. Therefore, the • Your cooperation is greatly appre- (Continued on Page 14) program and enforcement for these ciated as The Boston Public Works Dept., streets ONLY will begin on April 1, works to provide a cleaner City. THE POST-GAZETTE SATELLITE OFFICE IS NOW OPEN AT 35 BENNINGTON STREET, EAST BOSTON This office is open on Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMPM, for the convenience of our East Boston and North Shore clients and contributors Call 617-227-8929 for more information Page 2 POST-GAZETTE, MARCH 8, 2013 Res Publica by David Trumbull Rendering unto Caesar and unto God The United States Commission on Civil Rights has MICHELANGELO announced that it will hold a briefing, in Washington, Friday, March 22nd, to examine recent legal developments concern- cussed in more detail in the ing the intersection of non-discrimination principles with next issue of this column. those of civil liberties. In 1508 Pope Julius II or- Two topics will serve as starting points for a discus- dered Michelangelo to paint sion involving religious liberties and non-discrimination the ceiling of the Sistine rules and their broader implications for civil liberties: the Chapel. This is the work Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC case and student group non- where much of it was done discrimination policies, including the Christian Legal Society while lying on his back. Here, v. Martinez case. Also at issue are religious liberty claims he chose to present a con- under First Amendment provisions other than the Religion densed version of events re- Clauses. corded in the Book of Genesis. There will be two panels at the briefing. The first panel He painted 343 colossal fig- will be composed of scholars involved in the Hosanna-Tabor ures on 10,000 square feet of v. EEOC or Christian Legal Society v. Martinez litigation: ceiling, and at the age of 33, Kimberlee Colby, Senior Counsel at the Christian Legal after four years of agonizing Society, Ayesha Khan, Senior Litigation Counsel, Ameri- labor, created the most pow- cans United for Separation of Church and State, Daniel erful piece of painting in the Mach, Director, American Civil Liberties Union Program The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. world. Twenty-four years on Freedom of Religion and Belief and Lori Windham, Senior later he returned to paint the Counsel, Becket Fund. No discussion on the Ital- to prepare a defense for his titanic Last Judgement on the The second panel will consist of experts who will discuss ian Renaissance would be beloved City of Florence altar wall of the same chapel. the broader conflict between anti-discrimination norms and complete without including when it was under siege and This work shows sinners civil liberties. Experts scheduled to appear on the second one of the greatest geniuses in this effort he designed being condemned to Hell by panel include Alan Brownstein, Professor, University of the world has ever produced. one of the most effective Christ’s furious judgment. It California at Davis Law School, Marc DeGirolami, Associ- Few artists have matched the defenses known up to that is one of the largest fresco ate Professor, St. John’s University School of Law, Leslie grandeur of his conceptions time. As proof that he was paintings ever executed and Griffin, Professor, University of Nevada Las Vegas Law School, or the power of his creations. every bit as cultured as he the most comprehensive in Marci Hamilton, Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of To know his life is to know was talented, he also wrote the world. Law, Michael Helfand, Associate Professor, Pepperdine the history of Italy’s glory. poetry which is still being Michelangelo was 72 years University School of Law, and Edward Whelan, President, Michelangelo di Lodovico republished today.