Movie Tomorrow Night: The Queen (2006)

Fort Point Stage, 2007 Outdoor Summer Movie Series

HELEN MIRREN in THE QUEEN
directed by Stephen Frears, 2006

TUESDAY JULY 24 at 9 PM
WORMWOOD ST. PARK
(at intersection of A St. and Wormwood St.)
free, handicap accessible

BRING YOUR OWN CHAIRS AND REFRESHMENTS

After the death of Princess Diana, HM Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted. Mirren was awarded both the Oscar and the BAFTA award as Best Actress for her stunning portrayal of The Queen. (IMDB)

For complete info on The Queen:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436697/

See you at the movies!

http://www.fortpoint.org

Altered Design for Russia Warf

The Globe is running an article about an altered design Boston Properties has put forward for Russia Warf, Developer takes 2d shot at Russia Warf.

The new design (the version on the right) has eliminated the awkward, diagonal columns at the bottom and is, in general, a more straightforward design. However, imho, it's still a huge, modern wall of glass that's is a poor fit for Boston, especially that location where it clashes with the historic buildings that sit in front of it and across the channel from it.

As someone who walks right by that block every morning on the way to the T, I hope the designers come to their senses and make it relate to low, historic buildings around it. If you have thoughts, please post a comment.

Bill to give developers municipal powers

Shirley Kressel from the Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods writes about a bill currently in the state senate to allow cities to designate "Local Improvement Zone" and give real estate developers sweeping powers in those districts to act like a government

• Shirley's post: Developers will soon become city governments
• Full text of the bill: Senate, 146

IANAL and may be misunderstanding it, but as I read it, if a developer, or a group of developers, buys 80% of a district, they could apply to be a "Local Improvement Zone" and be given many of the powers the city government has including issueing tax-free bonds, creating and enforcing by-laws, and even assessing neighbors to pay for infrastructure. In other words, if you own a home, developers could buy up the land around it, declare it a Local Improvement Zone, and then send you a bill to pay for the infrastructure improvements they want to do. You would not be able to appeal to the city or have any vote in the process; it would be controlled entirely by a "prudential committee" setup by the developers.