HYDE SQ.—It’s not only movie zombies who come back from the dead. Beloved neighborhood video rental store the Video Underground has found a new owner and a new lease on life just weeks after tolling its death knell. New owner Kevin Koppes bought the majority share of the Video Underground, located at 358 Centre...
A Jamaica Plain man faces serious charges after allegedly stabbing another man who tried to stop him from assaulting a woman downtown on March 9, according to the Boston Police Department. John Driscoll, 29, is charged with assault with intent to murder; assault and battery; assault with a dangerous weapon; and assault and battery...
JP resident and author Christopher Irvin has published a crime noir novel set in Mexico named “Federales.” “Federales” tells the story of Mexican Federal Agent Marcos Camarena, who comes out of retirement from law enforcement to look after a woman embroiled in Mexico’s drug war. “I’ve always been a fan of the underdog. Noir’s...
Jamaica Plain runners training for the April 19 Boston Marathon, the first since last year’s infamous terrorist bombing, told the Gazette they know this one is special. “This year’s race will have special significance for me, as it will for all the runners and spectators,” JP resident Harry Smith told the Gazette. “The words...
Various Jamaica Plain-based arts organizations, including representatives from BalletRox, Stonybrook Fine Arts and MassMouth, met with state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez in JP last week, looking for increased arts funding. According to a MASSCreative leaflet handed out at the meeting, held at Stonybrook Fine Arts on Porter Street, state-level arts funding has decreased from a...
The Boston Beer Company, which owns the Samuel Adams Brewery at 30 Germania St. in JP, pulled out of the controversial South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade after sponsoring the event for several years. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who represents part of JP, also decided not to march in the parade. The parade is...
FOREST HILLS—A Boston man is facing gun and drug possession charges after a March 3 arrest at 120 Forest Hills St., according to the Boston Police Department. Syrus Hampton, 23, was arrested by Drug Control Unit officers following up on reports of drug activity and a man with a gun, according to BPD. Officers...
If local City Councilor Matt O’Malley gets his way, the world’s eyes will be on Boston in 2024 for the Summer Olympics. “I was watching the Summer Olympics in London in 2012, and I thought, ‘Why not Boston?’” he told the Gazette. O’Malley, a Jamaica Plain resident, said he realizes it’s a “magnificent undertaking,”...
The deadline for listings is noon, Tues., April 8 for the April 11 issue. Send listings to reporter@jamaicaplaingazette.com. Note: 617 should be dialed before numbers below, unless another area code is given. Special Events First Thursday art walk, evening of Thurs., April 3, Centre/South corridor shops. Info: centresouth.org. Music Thaddeus Hogarth/John Baboian Jazz duo,...
Jamaica Plain-based author Nancy Goldner just published a book, “Living Solo,” aimed at helping people live alone. A psychotherapist who has now hosted two talks about the subject at JP’s Connolly Branch Library, she told the Gazette that she sees many people who are struggling with facing a future without a partner. “There are...
HYDE SQ.—Tres Gatos, a restaurant and music-and-book store located at 470 Centre St., is kicking off a fundraising campaign April 1 that will support local nonprofits, according to owner David Doyle. “Needless to say, the more the community gets involved in spreading the word, the more successful it will be. Our goal is not...
The deadline for listings is noon, Tues., April 8 for the April 11 issue. Send listings to reporter@jamaicaplaingazette.com. Note: 617 should be dialed before numbers below, unless another area code is given. Meetings JPNC Zoning Committee, April 1, 7pm, Curtis Hall, 20 South St., agenda to include: transfer of Ban Chiang House, 707 Centre...
Jamaica Plain real estate agents are saying that the market continues to be strong and one agent is prophesizing that there is no bubble to be burst on the horizon. “People are placing significant down payments or all cash,” said Colleen McCormack of McCormack & Scanlan Real Estate. She said that a real estate...
S. Huntington Avenue has become a focal point of development in Jamaica Plain with two large construction projects in the works and the ongoing sale of the mammoth former Goddard House building. The two construction projects are the 195-unit “The Serenity” building at 105a S. Huntington Ave. and the 196-unit “Olmsted Place” building at...
With a community meeting in the works and a consultant team hired, the City plans for major redesigns of Hyde and Monument Squares appear ready to start rolling again after several lengthy delays. The Centre and South Streets Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan developed general guidelines for the look and feel of the Centre/South...
FOREST HILLS—Developer Urbanica, which plans to create up to 126 new housing units on Hyde Park Avenue’s “Parcel U”, is applying for rezoning of that parcel. The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council’s (JPNC) Housing & Development and Zoning Committees both supported Urbanica’s request. Currently zoned as “Open Space-Parkland,” Parcel U—bounded by Hyde Park Avenue on...
Meridian Academy, an independent secondary school founded in Jamaica Plain in 2005, will be moving back to the neighborhood this summer. Having outgrown its current location in Brookline, Meridian’s new location will be the former Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) Elementary School building at 54 Brookside Ave. That church school—JP’s last Catholic school—shuttered amid...
FOREST HILLS—The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) imposed a 90-day delay March 11 on demolishing a 115-year-old house at 57 Wachusett St., advising developer Stephen Ballas to seek neighborhood consensus on its fate. Ballas aims to tear down the house and replace it with eight new housing units on subdivided lots. Neighbors at a March...
The last remaining part of the Route 39 bus improvement project—the “bump-out” curb extension at the Centre Street and Seaverns Avenue stop—should be completed next month, according to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. The “bump-out” curb extension was delayed last fall because of trouble relocating a storm drain. “The work at Centre and Seaverns is...
Tenant, homeless and community groups, including JP-based City Life/Vida Urbana and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), delivered a petition with 900 signatures to Mayor Martin Walsh to increase affordable housing resources and earmark more funds to keep working-class and lower income residents in their homes and in the City. According to organizer...
