July Stoop party (2016)

Eight Streets continues out Summer on the Stoop series with our first stoop night of 2016 and with out next stoop night this Thursday July 14.  Join us between 5:30 and 7:30 on Waltham  Street and meet your neighbors.

Our stoop nights are a way to re-connect with your neighbors.  They harken back to the days before we were overworked and perpetually busy with technology.   Residents spent many events on their stoops enjoying the evening and chatting with neighbors and passer-bys.   (For more on our Stoop night resurgence, see our previous blog post.)

We're bringing back the tradition by holding stop nights in the summers.  We take a few nights each summer and focus on one of our neighborhood streets.

This time we return to Waltham street.   If you live on Waltham, come out and sit on your stoop and say hi to neighbors.   If you're from our other Eight Streets, walk on over to Waltham and make some new friends!

To kick off the night, we have some host stoops who have promised to be on their stoops to meet and greet.   Look for the stoops with balloons.  Use our host stoops as a starting point for your evening, but don't feel confined by our host stoops - walk the street and say hi to everyone!!

Hope to see you there!

Thursday, July 14
5:30-7:30pm
Waltham street

Printable flier here.

June ESNA Meeting

Our June business meeting will be a social event.

For June we will meet at the Boston Eagle (Tremont & Dwight) for an evening of pool and socializing.  We'll throw in a little business to make it official.

This month we'll meet on Wednesday, June 15th.

Join us starting at 6:30 at the Eagle for some light socializing.  

6:30-7 - Neighborhood Netowrking.  Free pizza & Cash bar
7-7:30 - Short ENSA Meeting; Neighborhood updates
7:30 - Wine tasting, courtesy of new business Wine Riot

Please RSVP so we can get an idea of how many might attend.   Send an email to ESNA.JuneSocial@gmail.com

Click here for an event flier to share

We usually take summers off, so this is the last meeting until September.   (But we'll still have a stoop party or two - keep an eye on our Facebook pages)


Hope to see everyone there.


Remember to visit us on Facebook as well - get more local notices and photos from all our events.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

May business meeting

Our next business meeting is Tuesday, May 10th, at Project Place (Corner of Washington & East Berkeley).   Enter in the door next to Meyers and Chang  Please arrive before 7:30, as the external doors lock at that time.  

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - Social Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting.
7-8:30 - Business meeting.


Unfortunately we've had some cancellations since we first announced our agenda earlier in April.  
This month's agenda includes

• Presentation and vote - Giorgiana's store is seeking neighborhood support for outdoor seating.  No wait service - just tables for people to use to eat her store-bought prepared food.  An abutters meeting last week was very supportive. 
• State Rep Aaron Michlewitz should be joining us for some conversation and Q&A
• Planning for summer events.   We have a June event, some stoop parties and maybe more!  Come help us plan for the summer.
• Election of officers for the coming years.
• Neighborhood updates including news form our local parks.

Hope to see everyone there.


Remember to visit us on Facebook as well - get more local notices and photos from all our events.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

April business meeting

Our next business meeting is Tuesday, April 12th, at Project Place (Corner of Washington & East Berkeley).   Enter in the door next to Meyers and Chang  Please arrive before 7:30, as the external doors lock at that time.  

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - Social Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting.
7-8:30 - Business meeting.

• We open with our first guest.   We use their space every month, but what exactly is Project Place and what do they do in our community.   Mr. Andrew Malloy joins us to explain project Place's mission.
• DPW Superstar Frank O'Brien joins us again for a discussion on Streets and Sidewalks.   Maybe we can get some needed repairs to our infrastructure....
• Our business focus will be Foodies Urban market.   See what Foodies has to offer, and give some feedback about your experiences.
• We'll wrap up with neighborhood Updates, including some updates from Watson park - what their plans are and how you can get involved.  Plus a sneak peak on some Summer neighborhood activities!

Hope to see everyone there.


Remember to visit us on Facebook as well - get more local notices and photos from all our events.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

February Business Meeting

Our next business meeting is Tuesday, February 9th, at Project Place (Corner of Washington & East Berkeley).   Enter in the door next to Meyers and Chang  Please arrive before 7:30, as the external doors lock at that time.  

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - Social Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting.
7-8:30 - Business meeting.

• Our Business focus/guest this month will be Robin Johnson of Hingham bank.  Lean how Hingham has become part of our South End community
• The owners of 6 Ringgold would like to build a rear deck on the property.  They'll present their proposal for discussion followed by a NA vote.  We encourage abutters of this block to attend.  (The city plans an abutters meeting, but we have no word on a date yet)
• We'll then have a presentation from UDR, developer of the Graybar site (Harrison & Traveller).   The standing building was torn down this fall and construction will begin this Spring.  Come and see the new design and ask some questions.
• We'll wrap up with neighborhood Updates, including some updates from Watson park - what their plans are and how you can get involved.

Hope to see everyone there.


Remember to visit us on Facebook as well - get more local notices and photos from all our events.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

January Business Meeting - Neighborhood reflections

Our next business meeting is Tuesday, January 12th at Project Place (Corner of Washington & East Berkeley).   Enter in the door next to Meyers and Chang  Please arrive before 7:30, as the external doors lock at that time.  

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - Social Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting.
7-8:30 - Business meeting.


The theme of this meeting will be the Our Neighborhood.

First, a proposal for a liquor/wine store on tremont next to Picco.  Based on the two public meetings and feedback gathered since there, there is not enough neighborhood support to support the proposal of another wine store so close to so many others.   The store is an interesting proposal, most feel this isn't the best location for yet another wine store.

While we will discuss the proposal at the meeting, it has exposed some ugly neighborhood discrimination.  Lone time residents saying the opinions of newcomers (< 5 years) "don't count" because they're not really a part of the neighborhood;  while newer residents calling the long-time residents elitists and over-eager to kill any new idea.   Not exactly putting our best foot forward.  

Everyone has an opinion, but seeing neighbor pit against neighbor hasn't been pretty to watch over the last few weeks.   What can ESNA do to help bridge the gap?   How do we get both 'new' people and 'long timers'  more involved in the neighborhood and interacting more with each other?  How do we get new folks (young and old) more involved in Neighborhood doings?

(Hmmm - anyone have lots of 70's photos willing to chat about South End history?


Next - It's a new year and time to begin planning.   We'll find out how our December social went, and make plans for June (We don't have our room) - what should we do instead.    Spring is almost here - what plans do Ringgold and Watson have for the Spring?


Which leads right into - We've also discussed out meeting structure in the past.   There has been a proposal to move to a more board-oriented structure with meetings being more business only with the occasional 'bigger' guest speaker; and more social events.  Less pressure on the board to make every meeting 'exciting', and concentrating more on neighbor engagement than strict meetings.   While we've talked about it, we haven't done much to go in that direction.   What are YOU interested in seeing from the neighborhood?   More meetings?  more social?  How can we get more engagement from neighbors and still keep everyone informed and interested in the NA.

We'll also have our regular neighborhood updates, rumors and such as well as open discussion.  Our posted January guest Hingham Savings will be at our February meeting instead.

Hope to see everyone there.



Remember to visit us on Facebook as well - get more local notices and photos from all our events.

Hope to see everyone there!

Join us on Social Media
Our Google Calendar
Our Facebook page
ESNA Twitter feed

Meeting on a potential new Liquor Store

There will be a public meeting this Wednesday, January 6th concerning a liquor store that wants to open at 505 Tremont.  All are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, Jan 6
6pm
519 Tremont street (the empty storefront between Picco and Santander bank.)
All are welcome to attend.


The operators of Wine Riot are looking to open a liquor store in the Atelier complex.  The location would be 519 Tremont street - between Picco restaurant and Santander bank (previously home to a furniture store).  

A previous public "Abutters" meeting was held in December.  At that time the developer had not notified everyone within the required 300 foot radius, and only notified neighbors 2 days prior to the meeting.   Given the lack of notice, a second abutters meeting was recommended - to both give abutters & Neighbors another opportunity to get information and provide feedback, and to have a single common meeting rather than have separate Eight Streets and Ellis NA meetings.   The meeting date/time was put on the Eight Streets calendar at that time, but the final meeting location wasn't confirmed until just recently.

At the last meeting most of the attendees were Eight Streets residents, joined by an Ellis board member and 2 people form the 505 condo association.   Also in attendance were the owners of other local liquor sales establishments.

The petitioners want to open a 'high end' liquor store catering to the younger customer - those who attend their Wine Riot events.  They assured attendees that in-store tastings will be 'regular' small tastings, and not large events similar to their larger Wine Riot tastings.  While they help saying it would be a 'high end' shop, they said wine prices be between $15 and $25 - which is consistent with what other local stores offer wine for;  attendees were then curious what 'high end' would really be, and how this store would be different from the 8 local liquor/wine retailers in the area offer.

At the December public meeting, there were no members of the public who spoke in favor of the proposal.   Those who did speak wondered if the area needs another wine/liquor store, and what effect a new store would be on current businesses.

All are welcome to attend this Wednesday's meeting and express your opinion.   The City and both adjacent NAs will be in attendance to hear your views.

if you cannot make this meeting, you can attend or send a letter to the City Hall hearing.  
Wednesday, January 13th at 10am, City Hall, 8th Floor, 1 City Hall Sq Room 809, Boston, MA