Thursday, March 27, 2008
Please Sterilize My City
The Globe's story today on the Barfing Crab's latest woes is a disturbing reminder of how close this city is to eradicating every sign of non-committee-approved life. Shockingly, the Crab's kitchen is a biohazard and the beer lines are moldy. In more surprising news, the property's owner and the City are conspiring to burn the place to the ground and pave over the ashes. Or, to use their words:
Long before the city decided to put shore up some rotting old piers and give it its own branding campaign, the Barking Crab *was* the public waterfront. If Hynes wants to turn it into Luxury Loft Condos or offices for hedge funds, that's his right. At least those would be used by actual living, breathing people, as opposed to the committees and "constituencies" composed of statistical samples rather than actual human beings for whom the Harbor Walk seems to be designed.
People today look at City Hall plaza and ask, "who the @#$! let that happen?" The answer is the same people currently suggesting that an apron of fancy granite paving stones is a better direction for the city than a noisy place full of people drinking cheap moldy beer and taking their chances at the raw bar half a mile from anything resembling a residential neighborhood. ¶ 7:58 AM
The Globe's story today on the Barfing Crab's latest woes is a disturbing reminder of how close this city is to eradicating every sign of non-committee-approved life. Shockingly, the Crab's kitchen is a biohazard and the beer lines are moldy. In more surprising news, the property's owner and the City are conspiring to burn the place to the ground and pave over the ashes. Or, to use their words:
A Barking Crab spokesman told The Boston Globe yesterday that co-owner Scott Garvey wasn't aware of developer John B. Hynes III's proposal to relocate the restaurant off the water and into a new building as part of his waterfront project, Seaport Square. Hynes said he spoke to the eatery's other co-owner, Lee Kennedy, about the move.
Hynes said city officials favored relocating the Barking Crab because its site could then be used to extend the HarborWalk along the channel for public use.
Long before the city decided to put shore up some rotting old piers and give it its own branding campaign, the Barking Crab *was* the public waterfront. If Hynes wants to turn it into Luxury Loft Condos or offices for hedge funds, that's his right. At least those would be used by actual living, breathing people, as opposed to the committees and "constituencies" composed of statistical samples rather than actual human beings for whom the Harbor Walk seems to be designed.
People today look at City Hall plaza and ask, "who the @#$! let that happen?" The answer is the same people currently suggesting that an apron of fancy granite paving stones is a better direction for the city than a noisy place full of people drinking cheap moldy beer and taking their chances at the raw bar half a mile from anything resembling a residential neighborhood. ¶ 7:58 AM
