• TUMBLING, TUMBLING: Things continue to look decidingly down for the New York Times Company, especially the New England Media Group, which includes the Boston Globe, Telegram & Gazette, and Boston.com. The company reported net losses of $74.5 million for the first quarter this year as advertising revenues sank 27% organization wide. NY Times Co. continued to point the finger at the Globe and T&G piece of the company, saying the companywide losses were “mainly because of significant losses at the New England Media Group.” Advertising revenue in that segment was the weakest companywide, sinking 31.6%, compared to 27.3% at the New York Times Media Group and 29.3% at the Regional Media Group. The company still refuses to break out the numbers for each individual paper.
• YOU SHOULD SEE OUR SEWERS: Maybe you’ve seen that stylized new tourism commercial, Massachusetts: It’s all here. Notice anything weird? Anything hiding out among the decidingly Boston and eastern-Bay State focused lighthouses, Freedom Walks, aquariums and duckboats? Yeh, that’s right. Worcester’s own Turtle Boy, which floats across screen just about 3/4 through the 30 second clip. As far as we could tell, it’s the only Worcester location in the spot; a great representation of all we have to offer.
• PAPER PULLERS: While no citywide candidates have returned signatures since our last update, two at-large candidates have pulled papers. One is newcomer Emmanuel Tsitsilianos, and the other is incumbent Frederick Rushton, who has already said he will not run for mayor.
• VALUE OF THE DCU CENTER: One of the great twists of budget hearings – which supposedly exist to discuss very concrete financial realities that aren’t really that concrete – is that city councilors often use the occasion to debate larger philosophical differences instead. Take, for example, this little exchange from last week: Mayor Konnie Lukes complained that the vast majority of the fiscal burden of the DCU Center is on the city—that we own everything in the building. She sarcastically said she always waits for the contract with SMG to be up, only to get the “good” news that it’s been renegotiated on the same terms. Bill Eddy quickly jumped in, asking what generously could be called a leading question to the City Manager: “Isn’t it true…this is one of those special circumstances [that losing money is],” he asked, essentially, OK, because the building brings in spin-off revenue? The City Manager concurred whole heartedly, calling it a “loss leader.” City Manager Michael O’Brien later said that the city is pleased with SMG’s management of the building, but acknowledged that “everything’s on the table,” and said that the building “will be evaluated along with conversations about leasing city-owned assets.”
• DISMAS TURNAROUND: It’s impossible to view last week’s announcement of Banis Park improvements without a bit of historical perspective. When plans for Dismas House’s Father Brooks House at 50 Arthur Street were made public in 2007, the outrage from some was immediate. State Representative John Fresolo became a pseudo-lone crusader, overseeing a few whip-them-into-a-frenzy neighborhood rallies, and getting in an unforgettable argument on WTAG with Dismas head Dave McMahon. Neighbors complained that a Dismas program would immediately ruin the fabric of the neighborhood; Dismas officials just asked for a chance. So it was a bit of a turnaround for the organization — which has had a quiet two years of operation — to be flanked by 6 city councilors, City Manager Michael O’Brien and State Senator Michael Moore for the announcement that they had coordinated and raised $61,000 from the Home Depot foundation, and more from other sources to rebuild a very broken playground. Ruination, indeed.
• TO THE LETTER: When city government orders equipment by putting it out to bid, by rule, the orders are heavily structured. Take the recently awarded bid for 5 executive chairs for the city’s communication department, awarded at a cost of $1369 per chair. According to the instructions, the chairs (leather only) had a required seat pan depth(15”-19”); seat pan width(20”-24”); minimum of 7 adjusted positions for the armrests with a minimum of 3” for the adjustment range; tilt control; upright position lock; and a frame construction of 10 gauge steel or greater, among other necessities.
• CITYSQUARE DOESN’T SHRINK: The news is CitySquare keeps getting better, as long as “better” means office tenants not leaving. Earlier this week, Smith Barney extended its lease on the 15th floor of 100 Front Street for 9,798 square feet, with expansion rights. Now if we could only get some retail tenants announced.
