Tall Ships to shrink

By neilv on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 4:44am

Sail Boston said it will scale back the Tall Ships event [Boston Globe], in an apparent compromise with Menino.

As discussed yesterday [UH], Sail Boston previously implied they would proceed with the full event despite missing a City deadline to demonstrate that they could cover public safety costs. The City estimated these costs at $2 million.

Update 7:13: A Globe editorial asserts that Boston should not have to pick up the tab.

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Comments

Wonderful, Il Duce wins, Boston loses

By deselby on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 5:32am.

I'm sure the two schooners Sail Boston will now send will draw a huge crowd, while the big ships go to a city with smarter leadership. What's next, holding up the U.S. Navy when they come to town? Why not, our doltish dictator is holding up the Coast Guard's Eagle and several foreign navy tall ships from docking in Boston this time.

This is the gist of the Globe story:

"If a scaled-down version figures out some way to pay us, that's great," said Julie A. Burns, the city's director of arts, tourism and special events. "It's better than nothing. But no matter the size of the event, we're not going to put forth services unless we're reimbursed."

In other words, show me the money, all we care about is cash for our coffers. We hacks are not going to provide public services unless you cave to our gross extortion, pay for detail cops at a grossly inflated rate where private security guards would do and accept our connected t-shirt and sausage vendors. That's to support the bloated bureaucracy at City Hall, Court Street and 1010 Mass Ave, and provide city workers to fix the Menino family's houses.

No thought to the multiplier effect from local businesses. Not mention the lift to the spirits for people.

And, I thought we already paid taxes for services?

This boring killjoy Menino needs to retire. At least the comments on the Globe stories are scathing, so there's hope he'll be turfed out in November.

That's the spirit. My turn.

By Sock_Puppet on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 8:27am.

These damn freeloader sailors think they're getting a free lunch out of the people of Boston, eh? Well, prepare to be boarded by the USS TANSTAAFL!

The city got stiffed last time and they've had nine years to figure out how to pay for picking up after their party. Nine years. And they couldn't figure it out. Oh, yeah, they had a plan! It's the same well-worn plan sailing types use everywhere:

A. Go out to an expensive restaurant and regale our friends with tall tales of the sea.

B. Wait for somebody else to pick up the check.

Well, thank goodness Boston has a mayor who's seen that one before. These nautical douchebags want to wait until the bill is on its way and then whistle while they pretend to find their wallets or have to go to the bathroom. But Menino's seen that trick before. Show me the money is right. The prices are right on the menu. You want four million people? Fifty cents a pop, bubba. Show me your wallet before you order.

Yeah, your hobby is so much better than mine that the city should pay you to play? It's all historical and yarrr. Faaaaack that! If people don't want to pay what it costs, then let them vote with their pocketbooks. Don't drop the cost of someone else's hobby on the hardworking taxpayers of Boston.

They're happy to watch you swab the poop decks and up-and-over the mizzen-mast as long as it's free, but they'd watch a freakin' train wreck for free. If the Tall Ships clowns have so little faith in their appeal that they know there's no way to raise the money to clean up their mess with tickets or donations, then take them at their word. We're over here laying off school teachers, for chrissake. The salaries they're not getting anymore should support this flotilla of idle gobs? Fuhgeddaboutit!

Viva el Jefe!

So maybe it should have been worked out

By jchristian on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 11:17am.

long before now, and maybe not so crassly or publicly. Some good points, but let's decide whether this sounds like what one would expect from a sophisticated city's Director of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events:

"If a scaled-down version figures out some way to pay us, that's great," said Julie A. Burns, the city's director of arts, tourism and special events. "It's better than nothing. But no matter the size of the event, we're not going to put forth services unless we're reimbursed."
...Burns said 21 of the 50 ships sailing to Boston in July are from home ports in New England, "so they can be seen by any person on any average day in New England."
"Ten of them are already here in Boston, so the notion that this is this great international event is a bit of a fallacy," she said.

She accused Sail Boston of callously draining the city budget to pay for ships as Boston is being forced to lay off teachers, police, and other city workers.

Herald

By neilv on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 7:07am.

I've been checking the Herald site, but so far all I've found there is three AP stories of less than 150 words each.

Boooo, Sail Boston

By Ron Newman on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 7:40am.

Why did you scale back your event? I wish you had stuck to the original plan, AND the city stuck to its plan (zero additional spending for unnecessary "public safety"). Show the world this can work.

tab?

By captbrad on Tue, 04/07/2009 - 4:39am.

who pays for:

boston marathon
red sox/patriots parades [+riots /lawsuits]-not rich teams/fans
new year
4th of july
st pats day
coloumbus day
navy/foreign ships
tourists
local visitors-
worldwide publicity
business revenue
solutions needed-sounds like a job for a MAYOR
or GOVERNOR
millions [+$] WILL come..[WELLcome?]
IF we build it
?