Jassel "Shells" Castillo, from a federal affidavit
Police and Fire

Feds Detail Boylston/Mozart Feud as 66 Alleged Gang Members Arrested

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A dragnet collared more than 60 alleged gang members in the Boston area early Thursday. The Boylston Street and Mozart Street gangs, which trace their origins to JP, figured prominently in the allegations laid out by federal agents. The U.S Attorney's Office in Boston announced the arrests Thursday, saying they capped a year-long investigation into a "gun and drug pipeline" snaking across Eastern Massachusetts. The feds also released a 23-page affidavit supporting the charges. It detailed an alleged murder attempt by Boylston's Jassel "Shells" Castillo on a Mozart rival.

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Ellana and Josef Haile of Blue Nile Restaurant pause for a photo at the JFK School on Tuesday, June 7, 2016.
Business

Blue Nile Changes Hands

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One of JP's most popular vegan and vegetarian restaurants, Blue Nile, is changing ownership. It faces a tricky exchange to keep a beer and wine license, however. But not much else is slated to change about the 389 Centre St. favorite. New owner Yosef Haile, brother of current owner Ellana Haile, has been managing the place for the last three years.

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Drummer Peter Stewart and bagpipers Brian Miller and Tom Childs play in front of The Haven during the first annual "Angry Scotsman" Kilt Crawl through Jamaica Plain, Sept. 13, 2014. Participants in the event, which was a benefit for the Scots' Charitable Society and Charitable Irish Society, walked through Jamaica Plain, stopping at four local establishments; Eugene O'Neill's, James's Gate, Costello's, and The Haven.
Business

‘A Scottish Restaurant Needs to Have Scotch’ — Board Backs Booze for The Haven

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The Haven gained a neighborhood board's support for its goal of getting a full liquor license. JP resident Monica Salas, speaking in favor of the idea, put it simply: "A Scottish restaurant needs to have Scotch." The Public Service Committee of the JP Neighborhood Council met Tuesday in the teachers' lounge at the JFK School. The board voted 4-0 to recommend supporting an all-alcohol license for the 2 Perkins St. pub.

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Government

AG: City Broke Open Meeting Law in Approving Controversial Egleston Development

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The Attorney General's office ruled that a major city board intentionally violated the Open Meeting Law the day it gave final approval for a bellwether development at 3200 Washington St. Public notice laws let residents know what subjects government boards will discuss. The office of Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Friday that the Zoning Board of Appeals acted improperly by failing to post that 3200 Washington St. would be up for a vote. That vote, taken way back on Sept.

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Police and Fire

Twin Brother of Cop Killer in Court Over $7K Scam in JP

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Giancarlo Zambrano, 35, showed up in court on a charge he bilked a Child Street homeowner out of $7,000. That's bad enough for the JP woman he allegedly took the money from for vinyl siding work he never did. But the case is drawing wide attention because the defendant happens to be the twin brother of Jorge Zambrano, who killed an Auburn police officer before himself dying in a shootout with law enforcement. Giancarlo Zambrano initially did not show up Thursday for a summons to West Roxbury Municipal Court, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. However, he did eventually come to court, where he paid $4,000 toward restitution in the case.

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Resident parking sign in Moss Hill
Opinion

Letter to the Editor: ‘Resident-permit only signs are completely unnecessary here’

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Thanks for the article on this subject [Permit Parking Comes to Moss Hill]. I am a resident here, too. I oppose the restriction on street parking. There was no street parking problem of any sort here before the signs went up and I don't see why restrictive and exclusive legislation was suddenly imposed. It seemed like one day someone was walking around with a petition, which my husband and I declined to sign, and within a few weeks the signs went up.

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Jamaica Plain People

Bromley Heath Homes Renamed for Longtime Housing Leader Mildred Hailey

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On a sun-flooded morning, hundreds of families from Bromley Heath apartments sat in overflow chairs in a crowded tent to listen as Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston Housing Authority William McGonagle renamed the development Mildred C. Hailey Apartments. Joining them was Anna Mae Cole, a friend and comrade in arms for over 60 years and former chair of the Bromley Heath Tenant Management Corporation that Mrs. Hailey  (and yes she was always Mrs. Hailey) directed for 40 years. Mrs. Hailey died of cancer at the age of 82 on Nov. 18, 2015 . Walsh remembered her memorial service: "At the end Billy [McGonagle] came up to me and said, "I've never asked you for anything but I'd like to ask you to name Bromley Heath after Mildred Hailey."

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Resident parking sign in Moss Hill
Parking

Permit Parking Comes to Moss Hill

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“Resident Permit Parking Only” signs have come to Moss Hill, where every house has a driveway and almost every driveway leads to a garage. Resident Lois Tow said that some of her neighbors were unhappy when visitors to the Faulkner Hospital parked on the neighborhood streets. Also, streets near the Manning School get crowded when parents drop off their kids and pick them up. As Tow tells the story, someone came around with a petition, and the signs went up. Tow said that her landscapers got a ticket and that an acquaintance who lives in Roxbury had trouble finding a parking place to attend an event at her child’s school.

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Development

Affordable Housing Advocates Call For 3-Month Delay in Massive Rezoning Plan

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Plan B went into full effect at the 6th Plan JP/Rox workshop last Wednesday as 50 protesters marched into the room clapping. Just as the emcee, Senior Planner Marie Mercurio, was concluding  her opening remarks, the protesters grabbed what they called "the people's mic" to "fight not for profit but for the community." For over an hour, "Keep it 100% for Egleston," a well-organized and well-rehearsed group, listed its demands to stop the Boston Redevelopment Authority-sponsored Plan JP/Rox for three months. Plan JP/Rox is a once-in-a-generation rezoning process for the whole Washington Street and Columbus Avenue corridors in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. The protest group, which is comprised both young people as well as adults, alternated speakers using a call-and-response format.

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