Author Archive

For the past year, the City of Boston has jumped through hoops to accommodate the possibility of Amazon placing its second North American headquarters (Amazon HQ2) at Suffolk Downs. In February the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) approved HYM Investment Group, LLC’s Suffolk Downs Phase I proposal. Phase I of the Suffolk Downs...
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Two years ago Mayor Martin Walsh committed $1 billion to Boston Public School (BPS) buildings to catalyze long-term investment. This commitment launched a series of BuildBPS workshops throughout Eastie. The workshops were part of a robust community collaboration process in Eastie to guide ongoing and long-term decision making. While the city has started with...
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After a widely successful inaugural run, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA)  Watershed at the Boston Shipyard and Marina in East Boston ended its first season on the waterfront on Oct. 8. However, just a few weeks after the Watershed packed it in for the winter, the ICA already picked next year’s resident artist,...
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It’s the night before Thanksgiving and your entire kitchen looks as though a bomb went off. There’s potato peelings clogging your sink, a 20-pound turkey thawing in the fridge, pies in the oven and an array of vegetables and side dishes that still need to be put together. To make matters worse you just...
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Since taking over the reigns of East Boston Central Catholic School (EBCCS) from longtime Principal Maryann Manfredonia last year, Principal Robert Casaletto knew he had some very big shoes to fill. Casaletto took over the leadership of the school at a critical junction in EBCCS’s history. There was a time in Eastie’s not so...
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The year is 1903 and on the corner of Chelsea and Porter streets a little Italian bakery is opening in East Boston by the Santarpio family. Teddy Roosevelt is President, trolleys run up and down the neighborhood’s tree lined streets, and construction on the Maverick Station tunnel, or Maverick Portal, that will connect the...
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The staff and students at the Donald McKay School in East Boston were finalists last year for the prestigious EdVestors Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move Prize, but they fell short. “We were one of the top three finalists last year,” said McKay Principal Jordan Weymer. “When we got chosen again to participate...
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There has been a longstanding connection between the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the Piers Park Sailing Center (PPSC) in East Boston. In fact, the PPSC Board Chairman Mike Bruno is not only a former PPSC sailor but also a graduate of Mass. Maritime. Recently the collaboration between the two educational institutions for boating grew...
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Robert Lewis Jr.. a former Eastie resident, East Boston High School graduate knows firsthand of the impacts the East Boston Social Centers have on the lives of youth and families. Growing up in the Maverick projects Lewis had a support network in Eastie, like Debbie White, Marty Pino, Thomas Tassinari and Johnny Forbes who...
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For two years, it has been painfully obvious that MassDOT’s project to reconfigure the former Sumner Tunnel has been a failure and residents want the department to admit defeat. The project to replace the former toll booths at the mouth of the tunnel has not improved traffic but has made the morning commute a...
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