[act-ma] 12/15 "Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall/pushcarts, performers, etc., " Boston City Council Public Hearing (MON)

[James in Cambridge]

Boston City Council Hearing on the future of Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall: Monday, December 15, 2 p.m. @ Boston City Hall
  Wall Street real estate investors are attempting to take over Quincy Market and turn it into a playground for guests at a new "luxury" hotel they would like to establsh in one wing of the market, while turning much of the rest of the market into some sort of pseudo-"chic" enclave.  The BRA and the Boston Landmarks Commission have apparently been asleep at the switch  (surprise, surprise), or perhaps in the pockets of this New Jersey "developer," AshkenazyAcquisition Corporation. [Oh, yeah.]  (see: http://www.aacrealty.com/Home/About )  The historic character of the Market is endangered by these irresponsible plans, and many small scale local business owners (including pushcarts) along with their employees would be put out to make way for a "boutique" corporate chain biz we already have more than enough of in Boston (and increasingly in Cambridge, etc.)  Renovated in 1976 by Ben Thompson Associates (architects who attempted to bring "good design" to America, among other things), the Market has a founding "Charter" which, among other things, guarantees a substantial stream of revenue to the City of Boston. (see: http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/info/history )  The property is currently public property, and should remain so. It should be managed accordingly. (What will happen to street performers, for example? Will people still want to go there at all?)  The Boston City Council will hold an important Public Hearing on this controversial plan on Monday, December 15, at 2 p.m. in Boston City Hall. Please show up by 1:45 p.m. if you think you might like to give public testimony.  Jane Thompson, and other urban design and planning "visionaries" who helped create this urban success story [whether you go there or not; we all know it's largely a tourist and somewhat 'middlebrow' destination...], will be there to give testimony and defend the legacy of this important and successful urban economic achievement for Boston, and it's continuing place and contribution to the City.
INFORMATION ON THE PUBLIC HEARING



http://www.cityofboston.gov/cityclerk/docs/SKMBT_42014120903461-af4c8b.pdf  James Williamson Cambridge