No, not James Hook, they've been re-open for awhile now, albeit in trailers. Sam Baltrusis dishes on the Atlantic Fish Co., the Boylston Street restaurant gutted in a three-alarm fire in November.

FirstNight tweets.

More FirstNight updates.

Jeffrey Marsh tweets:

Boylston Apple Store still closed. Apparently there was a underground fire/manhole cover explosion, knocked the power out on most the block

People who like the existing old Shreve building at Boylston and Arlington and don't want it torn down for a new structure will protest at 10 a.m. on Weds., Dec. 10.

Alecia Batson reports on a crack that starts at the foundation, goes at least 30 feet up and is large enough at some points to put your hand in. And it's on the Dartmouth Street side, right where the MBTA is doing its never-ending Copley work, which is why she's written an open letter to the T (speaking for herself, not the church) asking what it's going to do about it:

... The organ should not be played, now, as it could prompt large portions of the plaster to fall. This directly affects the Boston Secession concert that will take place there tomorrow evening, Friday, 5 December 2008, as the concert makes use of the organ. Will my friends' concert take place? We do not yet know. Tomorrow, structural engineers will determine if the sanctuary is even safe for habitation. Will church services take place this coming Sunday? Only time will tell. ...

The Berkeley Beacon reports the Gypsy Bar on Boylston Street bar is complaining about chain-smoking, loitering Emerson students clogging up the sidewalk in front of its doors:

... Though no official report was filed, Emerson Police Chief George Noonan said he would like to see Emersonians respect the wishes of the college's neighbors. Officers have begun asking students to move out from the storefront.

The problem, said day manager Tanya Cavazza, is when students don't move even after she and the delivery people ask. ...

The paper quotes students who basically say, tough, the bar sucks:

... Students interviewed said they didn't care if the managers were complaining about them smoking in front of their door, since the people who go to the bar are equally disruptive to the Emerson community.

"Well, we're complaining about assholes blocking the street, getting drunk and [getting] in fights," said junior theatre studies major Brian Tweedy as he stood in front of the Gypsy Bar's doorway. "[Emerson] should give us somewhere that's convenient to smoke." ...

Via MassCops.

Location

The Globe reports on the fire at 761 Boylston St. (Atlantic Fish Co.) that broke out around 6:30 a.m. Channel 4 has video.

An eastbound Green Line trolley rear-ended another one between Arlington and Boylston stations around 8:50 this morning, injuring three or four seven people.

Boston.com story
Railroad.net discussion
LiveJournal discussion, reporting that passengers on the colliding trains had to walk in the subway tunnel to get to Boylston station

Mike Mennonno recounts a recent encounter outside the Boylston Street Filene's Basement with some youngish dude who demanded to know where the Apple Store was and, when he didn't like Mennonno's answer, turned into a complete asshole.

Take a ride from downtown to Copley Square on a 1903 trolley, courtesy Thomas Edison's film company:

Via Somerville STEP by way of Sam Baltrusis.