Mary Beth O'Leary spotted this sign on Salem Street in the North End this morning, in reaction to (brace yourself) these railings:
It does kind of look like a Pachinko machine. pic.twitter.com/BUYGKs3Xwi
— Kev O'Leary (@Kev_OLeary) December 21, 2017
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Comments
What makes them Japanese?
By Ron Newman
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:38am
I don't understand the reference to Tokyo in the flyer.
Probably because they're newfangled
By adamg
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:39am
Not old and floralish like you'd expect in the North End.
But what do I know? This is not an issue that would ever come up in my sedate, suburban little corner of the city.
"The Chrysanthemum Building"
By Irma la Douce
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:48am
as labelled in the "Sustainability is a Lifestyle" section of the linked text.....
...which also states
By Irma la Douce
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:50am
"The North End also has a public transit score of 100!"
How's that even possible?
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:24pm
How's that even possible? (Unless the Transit Score algorithm is a totally useless real estate marketing tool.)
When I go to the North End for dinner, I consider the 10-minute walk from the T station and the slow and screechy Green Line ride part of the experience. But I'd hardly rank it as the world's most perfect transit situation that's impossible to improve.
10 minutes?
By bosguy22
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 3:28pm
To cross the greenway?
Of course it depends where
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 4:24pm
Of course it depends where you're going.
If you're going to a cafe at the beginning of Salem Street, you have a 3 minute walk.
But if you're going further down Hanover Street: https://goo.gl/maps/VGk5boCT34r There's no transit that will get you any closer. (No, I don't count the #4 bus.)
It’s about transit access for residents
By Waquiot
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 3:43pm
So a 10 minute walk to Haymarket (which serves the Orange Line as well) is kind of a big game thing. That the Green Line isn’t as frequent as you want or makes noise on curves is irrelevant.
Frequency isn't everything in
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 4:16pm
Frequency isn't everything in transit -- it's the only thing.
If it doesn't count in the transit score, I don't know what does.
The building is actually
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:11am
Right smack dab in the heart of the North End (Corner of Prince & Salem - Tourist Haven) and they do look horrendous. Not a clue how that design was approved in that central of a location in Boston's oldest neighborhood.
I think they're fine -
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:21am
I think they're fine - imagine them on one of the older brick buildings, some plantings grown up onto them a little bit, a little bit of patina.... not bad. Not great, but not bad.
The building itself is hideous, is the problem, so mediocre railings are just aggravating that.
most of the buildings in the
By pierce
Sat, 12/23/2017 - 10:07am
most of the buildings in the north end aren't much older than your typical midwestern warehouse district.... 1860s-1890s. The street layout and a few choice buildings are much older, of course, but the building stock is not necessary historic.
Collin Yip, the developer, is from Hong Hong.
By jonbowen
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:08am
Yip sounds a lot like Nip, which is a derogatory term for the Japanese, so there’s potentially a racial element to the comment.
AND
By bosguy22
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 3:30pm
I heard Yip likes sushi...so there's that too.
Jesus, it's not racist to think an Asian developer might have developed a building that looked like one from his native country....and it's not racist to confuse Tokyo and Hong Kong either.
So true
By Parkwayne
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 6:49pm
I remember last year when I tried to march in the St Patty's parade with my French flag. I was like, what's the problem - they're both in Europe man?
If only there was some way of
By anon
Fri, 12/22/2017 - 3:48am
If only there was some way of determining the architect... and if said architect was in Boston.
Oh, wait http://www.kvarch.net/projects/124
http://www.kvarch.net/contact
it's definitely ignorant
By pierce
Sat, 12/23/2017 - 10:08am
it's definitely ignorant
Nips
By Ian
Fri, 12/22/2017 - 12:04am
I used to know a family whose last name was Nip. I do believe they were from Hong Kong.
Japan Reference
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:08am
The Japanese, emperor's throne is referred to as "The Chrysanthemum Throne"
Why So Many Italian Restaurants
By Michael
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:47am
This is Boston, not Naples
And yet, no Olive Garden???
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:39pm
And yet, no Olive Garden???
Psst... South Bay Center.
By jonbowen
Tue, 12/26/2017 - 12:34am
All the bread sticks you want.
Updated the original post
By adamg
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:48am
With an actual image of the railings in question. For some reason, they remind me of something you'd expect in LA, but as we know, this is Boston, not LA.
Northie?
By tofu
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:01am
Northie?
Please
By adamg
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:43am
NoBo.
+1 fit the Freeze reference
By Waquiot
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:50am
Well done.
I was going to try to get in myself
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:22am
I'll use a line form "I Hate Tourists" soon to make up for it.
I feel like I use the end of
By Muerl
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:59am
I feel like I use the end of that song more
"This is Boston, Fuck you!"
As well you should, sir
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:23pm
Man, The Freeze were great. They and SSD captured lightning in a bottle back then. ( I wasn’t hard core so forgive me if my list isn’t more thorough but damn they killed and it still holds up. )
"Something in LA"
By perruptor
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:17pm
The Liberace Building!
I think they're cute, but I'm
By blues_lead
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:54am
I think they're cute, but I'm not a hoity-toity North Ender.
Me too! Really like the
By Zabdiel Boylston
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:16am
Me too! Really like the design. Plus I'd love to have a balcony/porch at the very least...
Give them a look..
By Max NE
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:28am
..In person. They look terrible and yes, I've yet to meet a North End resident who has approved of the look. -North End Resident
Deal with it
By spin_o_rama
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:13am
Its like the cycle track you North Enders keep whining about, you act like there were no public meetings or displays of the designs put forth years ahead of it actually getting built.
Hell, I remember they had the elevations for this design posted on the side of the building that ANYONE WALKING BY COULD CLEARLY SEE.
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
brilliant!
By anon
Fri, 12/22/2017 - 8:08am
Haha!! I can't believe you actually worked in the 'cyclists as victms' bit into a post about the appropriateness of the aesthetics of a particular set of iron railings on faux balconies on a building in the North End. Do you even live in the North End or an historical neighborhood in Boston? People live in these historical neighborhods because they like the historical nature of the architecture. What do you care if local residents don't like the railing designs?? Lighten up or move to the North End and you can protest the people who are trying to preserve their neighborhood. Sheesh.
And there it is!
By spin_o_rama
Fri, 12/22/2017 - 11:36am
Did you goto the public hearings on this? Did you voice your displeasure with the design that was posted on the building for years?
As for the cyclists as victims, no idea where thats coming from. More of a knock on the North Enders crying about a fast one being pulled on them for a project that was on public display for years before it was built.
And for the record, I live in the Brighton Center Historic District and frequently read about and send public comments back on proposed development in the area. You know, engaging in the public process instead of having a temper tantrum.
FTFY
By anon
Fri, 12/22/2017 - 12:51pm
So, are you and all the other
By roadman
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:07pm
"OMG, these are an abomination " types willing to replace them with what you deem an "acceptable" design at YOUR expense?
It's a RAILING. Get over yourselves. There are far more pressing issues that need to be dealt with than forcing your personal aesthetic preferences on others.
Actually, they aren't even railings
By perruptor
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:27pm
What keeps people from walking off those little balconies is glass panels. The stuff people are complaining about is kind of a grille, applied as bling. It doesn't serve any function other than decoration.
Would you have the same get-over-it attitude if they spelled out "Trump SUX" over and over?
Yes
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 2:13pm
And?
So?
You can't win
By BostonDog
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:35am
Use the same cookie cutter, soulless design and people complain.
Try something different and people complain.
When will people learn you can't build a new, 200 year old building?
Have you seen..
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:11am
..every other new building in the North End?? They at least somewhat fit in with the unique, historic North End architecture.
Unique, historic North End architecture.
By spin_o_rama
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 1:15pm
Oh get over yourselves, Boston is a historic city, stop acting like the North End is special.
Did you goto the hearings on this to see the design and voice your displeasure?
Unique? Historic?
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 2:12pm
Tenaments and a hodge podge of older buildings, with brick fortresses thrown in.
Hardly unique. Hardly historic. Mostly changing over time - like this.
So tired of the whining about "look the same" buildings and then this whining. Geesh. Buy stuff and make it like you want it already!
Tenements
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 2:16pm
What is unique about tenements? Brick garages?
Cute
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:17am
For a little village in Japan, yes.....but for the North End?? C'mon...
Oh my God
By Steve Aus
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:56am
Those are hideous, and especially for the North End. Are they supposed to be Japanese style (Hence the Tokyo reference..) ??
Easy
By Jennifer
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 2:28pm
Tokyo reference is good old North End racism. - a 16 year NEnd resident (so i’m still a newbie)
Agree, ugly. But...
By Anonnn
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 9:58am
...Eye of the beholder and all that.
Somewhere, an ironworker weeps
By Lunchbox
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:00am
.
Why?
By blues_lead
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:08am
Honest question. It doesn't seem like it would have been a terrible job to do, and if it were, they get paid by the hour in high wages - those fences would be a good profit.
Because to them, it is their
By Patricia-can't ...
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:48am
Because to them, it is their art. Sure artists expect criticism, but this?
And yes, it took a bit of skill to do this.
It was a joke...
By Lunchbox
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:00am
The image of a big burly ironworker sobbing because some N. End yuppie left a passive-aggressive note calling his work "hideous" = funny
Oh!
By blues_lead
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:37am
Gotcha!
New Orleans
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:13am
You should see what sort of fancy things that Ironworkers there make for their own houses.
Is it housing or a chicken coop?
By WhiteGuy
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:13am
It looks like ornate chicken wire to me.
I kind of like them.
By anon
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:09am
Italians are big into flowers, so not totally out of character.
See, this is a totally Bostonian sign...
By Brian Riccio
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:24am
you know, the gentle racism...
Sorry, but some of us Bostonians know what "literally"
By MC Slim JB
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:51am
actually means.
In 70 years...
By BostonDog
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:32am
They are going to go lipshit when someone suggests taking them down.
OK, de gustibus and all that
By Scratchie
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:37am
But those things are fucking hideous. I don't know what the Tokyo crack is supposed to mean... they look like a prison camp, not an Asian capital.
Ugly
By BostonDog
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:42am
They just look like they came from the clearance rack at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Poorly Worded Protest
By APB
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 10:51am
The sign-maker should have said "Hong Kong," not "Tokyo." One of the comments below the tweet says:
https://twitter.com/agiraffes/status/9438529923228...
Does the North End have an architectural commission as so many other Boston neighborhoods do? If they don't, they need one. If they do, I think they made a big mistake as this building clashes mightily with the character of the neighborhood.
And if they do...
By Neal
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:01am
And if they do, was the anonymous sign poster at the meeting where this was approved, and if so, did they register their complaint then?
No Architectural Commission
By MrZip
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:12am
The North End had a chance back late 70's/early 80's, to be designated a historic district but they rejected it because they "didn't want to be told what they could do with their properties". Doesn't seem like such a bad idea now maybe, historic districts seemed to have worked out pretty well for Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill, etc. Just sayin'...
Counterpoint
By RhoninFire
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 1:43pm
At the time, the North End is also doing pretty well too.
I'm pretty sure the lesson is a historical commission commissions (or similar entities like HOA or Condo Boards), doesn't make or break a neighborhood. As long other more important conditions go favorably, so does the neighborhood.
That said, I can't say I like the look from that one photo. It looks really messy and cluttered. I don't really get the Tokyo bit (though a bit more clear with people pointing out the chrysanthemum thing), as my understanding of Japanese aesthetics is they tend to be pretty good about it. At the same time, other photos looks okay when in context of the surrounding buildings. And I think people can get used to it unlike some stuff that irritates you everyday until it finally get teared down.
I don't think so
By adamg
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:08am
Not like the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, where the architectural commissions issue rulings even on paint colors, but ...
I'm going to assume this project went through the zoning board, and pretty much every single zoning-board approval vote ends with "subject to continuing design review by the BPDA," so somebody at City Hall gave this approval to go forward.
I designed the Art on the Building Nextdoor.
By Nateswain
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:01am
I designed the Art on the Building Nextdoor. http://nateswain.com/powerhouse.html
No one complained. Its been up for 8 years.
I don't like how the railing goes across the top balcony with no balcony in the middle.
Other than that I think its fine. Just give it some time and it will blend in with eclectic vernacular of the North End. There are some ugly building in the North End that no one bats an eye at.
Great stuff, Nate!
By ECG (nli)
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 11:48am
n/t
But YOUR Work is Awesome!
By APB
Thu, 12/21/2017 - 12:39pm
So if you think this Chrysanthemum building will become less of an eyesore with time, that give me hope.
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