Forget Skyrocketing Hub Violence, Let’s Watch The World Cup
by Matt Margolis, July 7th, 2006 at 01:42pm
Could Mayor Menino be any more stupid?
World Cup soccer fans will be able to watch the Sunday’s championship between France and Italy on a very big screen.There was so much excitement in the North End on Tuesday over Italy’s semifinal win, Mayor Tom Menino announced a special outdoor showing of Sunday’s finale at City Hall Plaza on a screen large enough for 50,000 people.
“Sports have a unique way of bringing people together,” said Menino. “This broadcast will give soccer fans across the city and all over the world an opportunity to celebrate the exciting conclusion of the World Cup series.”
Family activities featuring players from the New England Revolution begin at noon on Sunday. The game starts at 2 PM.
With soaring crime and violence in his city, there seems to be a better use of tax dollars than holding a big World Cup party… It is also worth mentioning that such an event is likely to hurt local businesses… But since when has Menino cared about local businesses?
Entry Filed under: Menino Watch
9 Comments
1. Bruce | July 7th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Seeing as my wife is native French, maybe we should go down to the big party there waving a big French flag around. That should go over well with the North Enders, huh?
2. Mike | July 7th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Thanks for pointing out that this will hurt local businesses. With the smoking ban, the emphasis on health problems caused by drinking and with the Bruins and Celtics playing mediocre at best the past several seasons, local sports bars have been forced to depend on the Red Sox and the 16 or so Pats games each season, just to make ends meet. That’s why the unexpected boost provided by the World Cup has been a Godsend at a very difficult time. Leave it to Mumbles to screw it up, taking 50,000 customers out of the local bars and restaurants. Priceless!
3. Azriel | July 8th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
C’mon Matt, be reasonable here. I agree with most of your posts but this one is a bit over the top. I’m sure a Republican mayor would have done the same — it’s a world cup match featuring Italy, why not have a public celebration in a city with a significant Italian population? Also, this is a family-themed event; a lot of the people attending this probably wouldn’t be drinking away the afternoon in Boston’s pubs. Menino is messing up a lot but kveching about the city recognizing a monumentous world event (I think soccer sucks btw) makes you look like an old grouch. Lighten up!
4. Colin | July 9th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Ummm..how can this event hurt local business if IT IS BRINGING MORE PEOPLE TO THE CITY. The Northend will flourish as always…around fanuel Hall…Landsdowne…cmon man use your head. It’s a entertainment event. Forza Italia
5. Andy | July 9th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
these kinds of events do end up costing a lot of money. Police will be on overtime… the city will likely provide portable toilets and other services. one point that was missed here was that free food will be provided… giving people an incentive NOT to go to local businesses… it may be a fun time for those who go, but paying cops to provide security instead of patrolling high crime areas seems to be the last thing the beloved Mayor Menino should be doing.
6. Matt | July 9th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
Wow, good thing you guys criticized this. Just check out the report in the Globe about what a nightmare it was. Thousands of people came to City Hall Plaza from all over the area, and I’m sure that not ONE of them bought a single thing in the city while sitting outside on a hot day. Or ate lunch or dinner before or after the game. Or paid for their T fare in. And the poor local businesses were devastated, even though the cafes on Hanover street were reportedly so crowded that the police shut down traffic. And even though drinking alcohol outside is illegal, no one went to watch it at a bar. The 300 people crammed into one bar that the article mentions were obviously a fluke.
What a travesty…
7. Matt | July 9th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
one point that was missed here was that free food will be provided…
What’s your source for that, Andy? I haven’t seen it anywhere. It seems quite unlikely that there would be free food for thousands of people, though if you have a source to back that up, I’d love to see it.
8. Dave | July 10th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Give me a break - get a life. What logic you use: because there are problems in the city, the World Cup viewing is a waste of time. With that logic, all professional sports should just cease to exist because there are problems everywhere. Maybe the Red Sox and the Pats should stop playing too, because of the strain on city police needed to patrol the park. Hurts businesses? Too stupid to respond to.
9. Salvatore Coglione | July 10th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Buongiorno, Hub Residents!
If you were fortunate enough to make it downtown for the World Cup final yesterday –as opposed to sucking on lemons in a condo with the Margolis Poopie Pants Brigade– you would have enjoyed the kind of fun summer spectacle that makes Boston a world-class city.
Yes, the right-wing whiners were whining in the soulless ‘burbs, but the sports fans were wining and dining in the North End where it was standing room only at every bar and eatery…
Indeed, a half-dozen venues had been rented-out in advance for private parties just to watch the glorious Azzuri make linguine out of the French national team. Walking the length of Hanover St., innumerable street vendors sold Luca Toni T-Shirts, France Sucks T-shirts, kids jerseys, pastries frosted with the Italian flag, Forza Italia banners, team posters and good luck bracelets –but you had to be fast because most were sold out by game time.
And then there was ESPN’s national coverage; for every major match of the World Cup, they cut to crowd shots of adoring fans watching live jumbo-trons in the world’s great cities –London, Paris, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Times Sqaure in NY, and the Circus Maximus in Rome.
And for yesterday’s match they showed Rome, Paris and City Hall Plaza in Boston!
Downtown and the North End did a booming business yesterday, thanks to all the customers who found no better place to watch Italia in the World Cup final than one of Boston’s great ethnic neighborhoods.
So for all you right-wing crybaby’s, you should, as a neo-fascist Supremem Court Justice once said, vaffanculo!