Archives: Media Room

By Marc Levy

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Marc LevyRyan and Molly Lindbergh inside a gutted 98 Winthrop St. in Cambridge – the former Red House and future Cox Hicks Club – on Oct. 16.

What was known as The Red House at 98 Winthrop St., famed for its lobster menu and cheerfully blazing fireplaces, has been carefully gutted, stripped to rough floorboards and eccentric angles from centuries past to become an entirely new concept in the spring. Owners Molly and Ryan Lindbergh – Molly is the daughter of Red House founder Paul Overgaag – are at once bursting to talk about it and reluctant to reveal too much.

“We’re paring it back to the original inception of hospitality, to classic styles that are local to New England,” Ryan Lindbergh said during a walkthrough of the space in October. Less lobster, though a bisque and clam chowder can be expected; beef from Tendercrop in Newburyport, which raises its own cattle; likely some hearty ravioli; perhaps a dish that pays homage to The Red House.

“We want to to give people a fine dining experience, but you can go to it and not feel like, ‘What just happened to my wallet,’” Molly Lindbergh said.

More than anything, they want the Cox Hicks Club to be a clubhouse in more than name – one open to anyone. “As someone who grew up here and lives here,” Molly said, “Where is the character? Where is the soul? I want it back. I want this to be the cornerstone, the heartbeat. I want people to love it. I want people to be proud of it as part of this community. And I’m not talking about people visiting; I’m talking about people who live here all year.”

The couple has been obsessing over the house and its future for five years, as they emerged from Covid in steps, building from a sidewalk lobster stand into a frenetic peak in 2023 and sagging into last year as tourism dipped, economic uncertainty set in and the couple found themselves “Band-Aiding a lot of problems,” Molly said, with a building parts of which are well over 200 years old.

Marc LevyThe Lindberghs have been thinking about The Cox Hicks Club for five years.

They shut the Red House forever in October 2024, on the last day of the Head of the Charles regatta. With Needham Bank, they are betting big on a thorough refurbishment that has Ryan prowling salvage yards for granite, hand-hewn wood beams and the gas lanterns he plans to install along Winthrop Street.

The Lindberghs’ goal of a sustainable kitchen drew a $100,000 grant from the city, which led to the shock discovery that the historic Red House was the only structure on the street without direct access to power lines, and The Cox Hicks Club kitchen couldn’t support the new equipment. “We need the electrical capacities to be future looking,” Ryan said, to someday be independent of fossil fuels. “We’re putting so much energy upfront into the utilities and the unsexy parts of doing this project. Our general contractor looks at us and is like, ‘Does this make economic sense?’ No, no, but we’ve got to do it.”

An October rendering of the future Cox Hicks Club, which was designed by Ryan Lindbergh.

Their rebuilding for the ages is in consultation with Charles Sullivan, of the Cambridge Historical Commission. With its earliest parts dating as far back as 1796, Sullivan said, 98 Winthrop is only Federalist-era house in the city on its original site and original foundation. It sits atop a stone retaining wall built as part of a scheme to develop the town’s brook into a wharf, Sullivan said in a call. That idea, to dredge the brook and bring in cargo by barge and schooner, didn’t work out, but the house served its purpose: sheltering Sarah Hicks, the widow of John Hicks, a Tea Party participant who died at the battle of Lexington and Concord.

“It remains an almost unique example of the type of very modest, single-family house that would have been occupied by a person of limited means,” Sullivan said.

A later owner was Susannah Cox, a widow who welcomed other widows as tenants. The structure stayed a home into the 1970s, when the last resident willed it to Harvard. After using it as office space, the school sold the property to Overgaag in 1998 for conversion into a restaurant. He built everything back from the main dining room in 2001 and opened the Red House – the structure has been painted red since the 1890s – a couple of years later. 

Marc LevyThe Lindberghs on Winthrop Street outside the Cox Hicks Club, which they hope to open March 1.

“I’ve had a love-hate relationship with this house,” said Molly, recalling one of her chores as a child growing up in a restaurant: sweeping up cigarette butts on Winthrop Street. “I’ve learned to love it. I’ve learned to also love working with Charles. I’m like, you know what? I get it. Like, I get why this is important.”

The Lindberghs have put up a whole website on the history as well as prepared a custom historical marker for the house, aghast that it was skipped when the blue ovals went up around the bicentennial. (“I’m not sure why it wasn’t in the original lineup of markers,” Sullivan said.)

The Lindberghs are making their own addition – upward, so the club will wind up seating the same roughly 100 people as The Red House, but without crowding. The roof is getting a deck with a bar, including a three-season patio with its own fireplace. Dining is focused on the second floor, leaving the ground level with a series of unique spaces for dining and lingering that feel like they’re for “the people who live here year-round,” Molly said. The Lindberghs are setting up a chess table directly in front of a fireplace. “The conversations in this town. People writing books. It’s insane, the amount of knowledge being transferred. I want this floor to enable people to do that and feel like the original inception of a restaurant, as a meeting house.”

The fireplaces won’t be the same – the logs are impractical and bring rodent problems, Ryan said. They will be converted to burn pellets that provide the same cheery blaze and warmth. And every booth will get a view.

“It should create just a really beautiful sense of nostalgia when you’re sitting and having what should be very fine dining service,” Ryan said. “It should button everything together.”

More about The Cox Hicks Club:

Molly is excited about Christmas at The Cox Hicks Club. “I cannot wait to have a massive Christmas tree out on my deck,” she said, and to hire carolers to delight people strolling and shopping. Electrical outlets have been added to the deck specifically to light the tree. “Just because, like, why not? No one does it anymore. It makes me happy,” she said.

The Cox Hicks Club may go tipless to combat dining-out “exhaustion.” The couple dislikes when a meal ends feeling like doing complex math. “Between a price on a menu and the end price you see on a receipt with a 20 percent tip, with a kitchen admin fee, sales tax, meals tax, and it’s just like, it’s not what you see is what you get,” Ryan said. “We have the ambition to try to pare that down and eliminate as many of the painful touch points as possible.” The hope is to get staff on salaries with health insurance and make it “an actual sustainable place to be.”

Don’t expect a big online presence for this throwback club. There will be no social media for this restaurant, Molly said. “I’m not doing it. It’s not what we’re about,” she said. She’s not even sure she wants to post the menu online. “I just want people to come in here and the server to tell them everything and tailor it to the table. I want to be, like, welcome to the experience, my friends.”

The club has a tentative opening date of March 1.

Sidney Regelbrugge

11.13.25: The Sex Issue, News

Deep in Harvard Square, amidst the many coffee shops, bagel stops, and bookstores, stands “Good Vibrations,” a nationally known chain of sex-toy stores. Less than a mile apart from Good Vibrations is Hubba Hubba, another renowned BDSM-centric business. For some Harvard College students, these sexual wellness stores serve as an essential resource for exploring intimacy and alternative romantic practices. With Hubba Hubba permanently closing on Nov. 24, Good Vibrations is set to be the Square’s last-standing hub for such practices in proximity to University affiliates.

Located at 52 John F. Kennedy St., Good Vibrations, a storefront for the “Good Vibes” corporation founded in 1977 and based in San Francisco, offers an array of products both online and in-store.

Their website’s anthem speaks to their ethos and product line: “In our world, pleasure is celebrated. Shame is erased in favor of empowerment. WHY? is replaced with HOW? Or maybe, HOW OFTEN? Curiosity is revered and encouraged. Information is openly shared. And sex, in every form, can be nothing short of extraordinary. This is the world of Good Vibes. COME JOIN US HERE. WE’LL BE YOUR GUIDE.”

Good Vibrations’s approach to sex toys focuses on rewriting the current shame-saturated narrative, emphasizing that their storefront is a woman-friendly place to shop. The inventory includes vibrators, dildos, lube, penis toys, anal toys, BDSM fetish, harnesses, lingerie, and more. Prices range from $5 to over $150, with the cheapest item being “Poppin’ Rock Candy Oral Sex Candy,” priced at $2. Some higher-end products can cost more than $1,000 and are designed for advanced or specialized use, such as “The Dicktator—Extreme Sex Machine.”

Before Good Vibrations’s establishment in January of 2017, Hubba Hubba was the sole sex store serving the Cambridge community. To Hubba Hubba’s owners, employees, and customers, it was more than a facility to purchase intimacy products; it was a place of education and open-heartedness. What started as an underground, alternative, and woman-owned fashion store in 1978 has transformed into the sex-positive alternative store that it is today. 

“Hubba Hubba is: a health education center, salon, art gallery; as well as a place to restart, meditate, dance, meet a date, learn, and become politically active,” the business’s website reads.

However, due to rising expenses, landlord tensions, environmental changes, and a fluctuating economy, the community that Hubba Hubba hoped to amplify is now in jeopardy, and the business is shuttering in two weeks. 

Neither Good Vibrations nor Hubba Hubba were available for comment on the impact of their stores on the Cambridge community. Hubba Hubba expressed having faced past controversies with the Harvard community to the Independent, though further details were not shared. Similar to Hubba Hubba, BDSM-oriented stores and communities often contend with comparable misconceptions and misunderstandings. 

In an article written by Dr. Namita Chaen—a clinical sexologist, certified sex, intimacy & relationship coach, and certified sexological bodyworker—Chaen addresses the common misconception that BDSM practices are abusive and purely about pain. She challenges this viewpoint by explaining that it is a very consensual and individualized practice for all participants. 

“At the heart of BDSM lies the interplay of dominance and submission, where individuals willingly engage in power exchange dynamics for mutual pleasure and fulfillment,” she explains. “Dominance involves asserting control over a partner, guiding and directing their actions within agreed-upon boundaries. Submission entails surrendering control and entrusting oneself to the dominant partner’s guidance and authority.”

While BDSM culture has been more accepted in mainstream media in recent years, typically conservative viewpoints regarding sexual practices seem to have become more common among young adults. 

“In the last one or two years, I have noticed more people subscribing to purity culture—I hear more about people talking about having a low body count or waiting for certain relationship milestones than I used to,” an anonymous senior in Winthrop House shared in a statement to the Independent. Despite the Hubba Hubba and Good Vibrations’ struggles, Harvard College undergraduates spoke to the growing trend in demystifying sex in anonymous public forums. “I think in a broader long-term sense, there has been an attitude toward sex positivity over the years; however, shame/purity culture definitely renews itself in waves, and recently there has been a return to conservative attitudes in the last year or so,” a senior in Currier House said.

However, conversations regarding sex, intimacy, and sexual wellness on campus are still viewed as too taboo for open dialogue, delegating such conversations to smaller, personal groups.“Me and my friends I love talking about sex. That being said, I think Americans are more squeamish about talking about sex than certain other cultures (e.g., Europeans),” G.B. ’27 wrote to the Independent. 

That same hesitation surrounding open dialogue about sex appears to carry over into students’ real-world behaviors, with the majority of interviewees expressing uncertainty or reluctance about visiting sex stores, including Hubba Hubba and Good Vibrations.

A sophomore in Adams House disclosed that they had been to a sex store in the Square, but did not specify which one, and clarified their visit was not by choice. “[It was] for an initiation task, not of my own volition,” the student said. 

In addition to having mixed answers to visiting sex stores in the Square, there was also a sense of uncertainty about the educational purpose of sex stores. “I don’t know if [sex stores] actually affect anything, but rather just have people walk by and giggle,” the sophomore continued. “I think a productive conversation is induced by two people, not just the presence of the store.”

G.B. shared a similar sentiment. “I think they are [a good way to spread awareness about sexuality]. But since it requires people to buy things, I don’t think it’s accessible to everyone.”

In Harvard Square, sex stores occupy a small but visible share of local businesses. Such visibility has sparked conversation about whether the culture they promote will gain more traction in the future. 

“Even though I’ve never been to one myself, seeing the signs around the square definitely opened my mind more to the possibility,” the Winthrop senior said. “I’ve also heard friends talking about things they’ve seen or bought at sex stores, which could increase sex positivity, although that is more included in just talking to people more openly about sex.”

Others disagreed, explaining that the sex stores in the Square did place sexual wellness in plain sight; however, that was not quite enough. “I don’t think their existence alone pushes for a sex-positive mindset in the average person due to the general sentiment that hovers around them,” the senior in Currier House said.

Both store owners and Harvard students agree that honest discourse about wellness and intimacy is highly important to create a truly sex-positive environment. 

Good Vibrations offers multiple how-to blog guides for people to begin exploring self-induced pleasure and sex toys, both for couples and individually. 

The Currier House student emphasized that sexuality should be something that everyone feels comfortable exploring. 

“My philosophy is that everyone should feel comfortable exploring their sexuality however they see fit as long as it is done in a manner that is respectful to any other parties involved,” they explained. “Sex is a pretty inherent part of human culture, and I think perpetuating a level of shame or negativity around it creates unnecessary harm.”

With Hubba Hubba closing and Good Vibrations remaining the last sexual-wellness shop in the Square, the conversation regarding sexual wellness and sex positivity seems to be one that will continue, regardless of students’ interactions with these stores. And while Hubba Hubba still has its doors open, students and community members can stop by and explore its diverse products, with all products in the store being 25% off. 

Sidney Regelbrugge ’28 (sidneyregelbrugge@college.harvard.edu) hopes that dialogue about intimacy continues across campus.

Historic lighting was restored to the exterior of 23 Church St. in November 2025. By E. Matteo Diaz

By Jaya N. Karamcheti and Kevin Zhong, Crimson Staff Writers

Yesterday

After nearly 80 years in the dark, 23 Church St. lit up Friday following the restoration of historic lights on the exterior of the Art Deco-style building.

Around two dozen residents gathered on Friday night to watch the debut of the lights, which were originally installed in 1936 after the Cambridge Gas and Electric Light Company purchased and developed the property for its showroom and office. The lights outlined the perimeter of the storefront, illuminating a display of kitchen and electrical appliances.

Sold to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1947, the building currently houses the church’s Christian Science Reading Room and Rodney’s Bookstore. According to Charles M. Sullivan, executive director of the Cambridge Historical Commission, the lights went out sometime around the mid-century transfer and remained that way until Friday.

While working on a book in 2015 about historical architecture and development in Cambridge, Sullivan came across photos of the outside and inside of the Church Street property and noticed the light installation. Seeing the photos sparked a plan to restore these historical lights in the modern day.

“Wouldn’t that be great someday to restore the lighting?” Sullivan recalled thinking.

Sullivan then approached R. Elliott Reinert, the manager of the Church Street building, about the prospect of bringing the lights back to life. In 2022, with the building needing maintenance repairs, Reinert thought the time was ripe for a lighting restoration.

“When I saw how the building had been architecturally designed and to have these strips of light that really complete the building, either by day or night, it was sort of a dream,” Reinert said.

“I never thought we’d really be able to do it, but it seemed important to me because of beautifying the neighborhood,” he added.

Sullivan said that finding a company to take on the task of restoration was difficult due to the challenges of working with old technology.

By Ollie F. Ginnis

By Kate E. Ravenscroft, Crimson Opinion Writer

Kate E. Ravenscroft ’26, a Crimson Editorial comper, is an English concentrator in Cabot House.

6 hours ago

The Harvard Square traversed by Julia Child, Bill Gates, and decades of Cambridge residents and students, is increasingly different from that which exists today. Amid the changes, one iconic, lamp-lit newsstand had long stood above Cambridge, reading “Out of Town” — a cultural landmark that presided over the Square as a news outlet from 1954 to 2019.

This year, that storied newsstand was officially replaced by the Cambridge KiOSK, touted as a “vibrant public space in the heart of Harvard Square, offering free programming, information, and a dynamic gathering place for all” — a reimagined “community space for the 21st century” — whatever that means. One look at this thing confirms that the old, eclectic Harvard Square has been strangled by the virulent spread of millennial gentrification once and for all.

The first time I toured the College as a high school junior, the once-beloved newsstand was already under construction — Out of Town News sold its last magazine on Oct. 31, 2019, over two years before my visit. By the time I started college, it appeared as though zero progress had been made on the obtrusive construction site.

As I passed the ugly, unperturbed corpse of what used to be Out of Town News nearly every day for the next three years, I naïvely assumed the structure was undergoing renovation. I dreamed of the day I — like the leagues of Harvard students and locals before me — might stroll up to the charming newsstand to buy that rare Italian Vogue, a pack of Marlboro Golds, and some mint gum.

My hope that the refurbishment would finally conclude before my high school graduation peaked last spring when, for the first time in four years, I actually saw construction workers on-site. However, when I approached the still largely unfinished Harvard Square intersection last May, I was instead greeted by the new-and-unimproved, sterilized Cambridge KiOSK.

I pass the KiOSK at least twice every weekday on my way to and from class. I have never seen a single visitor inside. The building is often instead occupied by a lone employee with little to do. It is no longer decorated with niche magazine covers, but by lukewarm, minimalist political installations that espouse the unflattering aesthetic of Instagram social justice infographics.

The chronic vacancy of this allegedly lively community center makes me wonder: Who asked for this? While the KiOSK claims to fill a cultural void, articles on the topic show that Out of Town News was greatly effective in fostering public connection, even well past its heyday. At its closing, numerous outlets quoted residents and employees attesting to Out of Town’s landmark significance and utility — past students, professors, and public figures alike heralded not only its diversity of publications, but its convenience.

The decision to exchange Out of Town News for the modern-day KiOSK seems to have arisen neither from necessity nor the previous tenant’s wishes. Though city staff reported that the owners of Out of Town News declined to extend their lease in 2019, the city had already pitched a $4.5 million redesign of Harvard Square Plaza as early as 2017. The company was informed they would have to vacate the kiosk because it would become a visitor information center.

The rise of digital media and slowing print sales may explain why Out of Town News bowed out of business, but these factors hardly justify the creation of the KiOSK — part of a project that turned the heart of Cambridge into an eyesore for five years and ultimately cost $12.6 million. The result? A plaza that remains unfinished and an empty establishment that appears to serve no one and fuels Harvard Square’s increasingly grotesque tourism industry. Further, the death of Out of Town marks one less locally-owned business in Harvard Square, a once-charming landscape now increasingly saturated with corporate chains.

Going forward, Cambridge city planners and the Harvard Square Business Association might take more seriously their duty to the Harvard community — and the character that once put our intersection on the map — before so easily succumbing to the dollar signs promised by passerby.

To me, the KiOSK represents not a center of thriving public life, but the ghost of Harvard Square’s once-endearing culture — one our city planners have rejected in favor of monoculture, disruptive tourism, and hollow promises of the very community they’ve helped to destroy.

By Community Advocate Staff

October 29, 2025

By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer

CAMBRIDGE – Harvard Square area has been home for a lot of “local celebrities” over the years. They may not be household names outside of Massachusetts or even Cambridge, but many people remember them well and were touched or influenced by their character. One such person was Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill, better known as Brother Blue, the storyteller.

Captivating audiences
Brother Blue served as a first lieutenant in the army during World War II, graduated from Harvard in 1948, and earned a master’s in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama with a Ph.D. from Cincinnati’s Union Graduate School. During his struggles in playwriting, the Ohio native discovered he had a gift for captivating audiences while describing his stories. With his wife Ruth at his side while bedecked from head-to-toe in blue attire and his trademark butterflies painted on his face and hands, Brother Blue told his stories to local prison inmates. He also brought his storytelling to festivals, college campuses and stages across the globe including the Bahamas, England, Canada, Italy and Russia.

Commentors like memorablem72 took to Facebook to share, “I remember seeing him perform in Beverly. I loved him so much. He was one of a kind who would make you feel better about yourself. I wish I could have introduced my kids to him.”

TenBearsII added, “I was a child growing up in the city of Cambridge, Brother Blue would appear from nowhere, while we were in camp, bored by the activities, he would show up and tell us a story. He would captivate children and adults alike, he was a Griot in every sense of the word, I saw him tired in years as the winter of our lives took shape. While he tired, the shine in his eyes, the hope on his lips and the sweet love in his heart never diminished. He continued to do his thing until the thing was done, no one else could do his job, He was the ONLY ONE!! He taught us about me, and he taught us about you. There was only one and incomparable, Brother Blue!!! I love and Treasure you Griot!!!”

Soothing the emotionally wounded
Brother Blue did not have a standard job. He made his living weaving stories while often walking about Harvard Square or downtown Boston barefoot. His educational credentials would have allowed him to counsel the emotionally wounded within the walls of a warm and welcoming office. Instead, he chose to go where the emotionally wounded dwelled be it a prison, bar, street corner or homeless shelter. He was named the official storyteller of both Cambridge and Boston by resolution by both city councils.

Born into poverty rife with childhood memories tarnished by racism, neither of Brother Blue’s parents went beyond the third grade. His father, a bricklayer, was once beaten by muggers for refusing to hand over money he was planning to mail to Brother Blue. Despite his Ivy League education, Brother Blue’s intentions were to attend Harvard Law School and as an attorney he would set free all those who did not belong in jail. He did not chase after economic freedom either but rather the freedom to be like a butterfly and like butterflies, epitomize hope.

He was cast as a modern Merlin in the 1981 film “Knightriders,” and his show “Street Corner Classics with Brother Blue,” on Cambridge Community Television was a fan favorite. Two books have been written about him: “Brother Blue: A Narrative Portrait of Brother Blue A.K.A. Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill” in 1995 and “Ahhhh! A Tribute to Brother Blue and Ruth Edmonds Hill,” released in 2003.

The beloved street poet and philosopher who encouraged his listening audience to imagine bigger worlds, died in 2009 at the age of 88. At the time, The Boston Globe had reported that even on his deathbed Brother Blue had one last story to tell – a love story.

Iris Zhan, Staff Writer | October 23, 2025

Iris Zhan

Photos taken at the Honk! Festival

On Sunday, Oct. 12, local activist organizations and activist street bands from across the country filled Harvard Square for a spectacular parade to celebrate 20 years of street music activism. 

The parade was the conclusion to Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands, a three-day event celebrating different forms of art for activism, featuring concerts, dance parties and banner and lantern making. 

One participant in the parade was 350 Massachusetts, a statewide climate action group dedicated to advancing climate justice solutions in Massachusetts. Signage and banners advocated the call to “Make Polluters Pay,” a reference to one of their main statewide campaigns: a bill in Massachusetts that would create a climate change superfund, paid for by the largest polluters in Massachusetts, to enable the state to prepare and recover from climate disasters. 

Other local activist groups included the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, Food Not Bombs, and Boston Voices of Community and Labor (BVOCAL). 

“These bands don’t just play for the people; they play among the people and invite them to join the fun. They are active, activist, and deeply engaged in their communities,” according to the Honk! Festival website. 

As each group made its way to Harvard Square, an announcer welcomed each group, with warm welcomes received by the packed streets of people. 

Parades are typically celebratory and not advocacy-oriented, and events like the Honk! Festival and the most recent Boston Labor Day Parade mark an important shift in less traditional modes of demonstration that bring together political messaging and celebratory cheer. 

Because of Trump’s crackdown on free speech, many are scared to participate in protests for fear of surveillance, detention or deportation. But a parade or concert are less risky ways to keep people engaged in social justice causes and build community.

Crowds gather in Cambridge during the 2025 Head of the Charles Regatta. By Pavan V. Thakkar

By Jaya N. Karamcheti and Kevin Zhong, Crimson Staff Writers

18 hours ago

The Head of the Charles Regatta brings hundreds of thousands of spectators and more than 11,000 athletes to the banks of the Charles River. But they don’t stay there — many venture into Harvard Square for food, shopping, and entertainment, bringing an annual explosion of consumer activity to local businesses.

Paul J. MacDonald, the owner of Leavitt & Peirce, said his specialty gifts and games shop saw a triplefold of transactions over the weekend.

“I think there’s just less places for people to go to now, so we were flooded, and people walk by the store that just they’re drawn into it just because of the uniqueness,” he said.

Denise A. Jillson, the executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, wrote in a statement to The Crimson that the yearly competition is one of the biggest boosts for the local economy, alongside events like commencement, the Harvard-Yale football game, and Oktoberfest.

“The Head of the Charles Regatta is incredibly significant for the Square; its positive economic impact cannot be overstated,” Jillson wrote.

On Saturday night, a line spilled out of the Hong Kong Restaurant — a staple of the Square since 1954 — and extended all the way down the block. Paul Lee, the president of Hong Kong Restaurant, wrote in a statement to The Crimson that the long line is not uncommon during the regatta weekend.

“We eventually got everyone into the bar,” he wrote. “It took til after midnight to wind down the line.”

Lee added that they prepared for the busy weekend by ordering supplies and scheduling as many workers as possible.

“The best part was holding gold medals that Olympians have won and of course, finding where everyone is from and how they fared in the races,” he wrote.

Alejandro Valdez, the assistant manager for the Harvard Square location of J.P. Licks, said that the store had to almost double their workforce during the weekend.

“In a regular weekend, we try to keep maybe six or seven people on the floor,” Valdez said. “But for Friday and Saturday, and yesterday, we got around 10, 11 people working.”

“We always try to be prepared when it’s coming,” he added.

Other businesses had to adapt throughout the workday to accommodate the higher foot traffic.

“We weren’t really prepared staffing-wise at first, so we called in some people to just cover breaks,” Lucci M. O’Keefe, the assistant manager at Zinnia Jewelry, said.

“We didn’t know weather wise, if it’s not the best weather, it’s not always the biggest crowd, because last year it wasn’t as busy,” O’Keefe added.

Jillson wrote that other nearby events on the same weekend like the No Kings March, Harvard-Merrimack football game, and a vintage market added to the bustle of the Square.

“On the whole, the weather was perfect and the weekend vibe was quintessential Harvard Square,” she wrote.

For many businesses, the regatta offers an annual chance to share a piece of Harvard Square with people from all over the world.

“I think the event has just grown to a global event,” MacDonald, the owner of Leavitt and Peirce, said.

Chelsea Maranhao, who works at the Memory Shop, a Korean-inspired photobooth store, said that it was “really cool” to see a group of people from London who visited the store over the weekend.

“I feel like Harvard, you get the students, you get the tourists, but it’s really cool to see people from different countries coming to Memory Shop, because it feels like it’s a sentimental value,” Maranhao added.

— Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.

Oct 22, 2025

Phil Tenser

Digital Media Manager

Cambridge businesses are facing a 22% increase in commercial property tax rates, a sharp rise that small business advocates say threatens their survival, according to discussions at a Monday Cambridge City Council meeting.

“We ultimately make decisions about the overall operating budget, and then, as part of that budget, we are setting where the revenues end up landing,” Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang told the City Council. “A lot of that, given the economic conditions, is landing on the tax levy, which is why, over these last cycles, we were seeing the tax levy increase higher than the budget increase.”

Huang said the increase is necessary to fund the budget approved in June, which included a 3.8% operating budget growth that resulted in an 8% tax levy increase. Huang told the council that even with zero budget growth, contractual obligations, inflation and health insurance costs would still require revenue increases.

“The proposed 22% hike more than doubles last year’s already drastic increase,” Kieran Kelly, associate director of Cambridge Local First, said during Monday’s City Council meeting. “The city attributes this to declining office and lab values, but raising rates at precisely the moment when these sectors are struggling burdens where resilience is weakest, penalizing small businesses for economic trends that are beyond their control.”

Cambridge businesses already pay an unusually high share of the city’s tax burden, with a 66% commercial and 34% residential split that exceeds neighboring communities, Kelly said. Boston draws only 58% of its property taxes from commercial sources, while other nearby municipalities collect even less from businesses, according to Kelly’s testimony.

“Our businesses are not asking for special treatment, just fairness and a seat at the table,” Kelly said.

Denise Jilson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, acknowledged that the tax rates for fiscal year 2026 are “probably locked in” and urged the council to engage more closely with the business community as it develops the fiscal year 2027 budget.

“I can’t imagine having another year, next year, the way we’ve had this year,” Jilson said.

Vice Mayor Marc McGovern pointed to the city’s extensive services, including free after-school programs and transportation that other communities don’t provide, as examples of what tax revenues support.

“We do a lot of incredibly wonderful things in this city that people, I think, over the last 40 years have grown to expect and take for granted,” McGovern said in the meeting. “And now, they don’t realize that these things cost money and where that money comes from.”

“These are good moments for us, once we understand where the rates land, to have a conversation about the budget and to ensure that we continue to get input and engagement, especially as we move into the next budget process,” Huang said.

By Iselin Bratz

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Marc LevyShoppers pass by Petali in Cambridge’s Harvard Square on June 3. Business owners say they are concerned about property taxes being passed along in the form of higher rents.

After weeks of debate, a 22 percent commercial property tax rate increase was approved unanimously Monday by Cambridge’s City Council.

The increase raises the commercial tax rate to $14.07 per every $1,000 in assessed property value, up from $11.52. A residential increase of 5 percent was also approved, with homeowners and others to be charged $6.67 per every $1,000 of their property’s assessed value, up from $6.35.

The decision followed a two-week delay initiated by councillor Paul Toner to allow time for outreach to business owners upset by the increase. Even with the jump, Cambridge’s rate remains lower than nearby cities such as Brookline, Newton and Somerville. But Cambridge businesses “shoulder an unusually high share of the tax burden” too, said Kieran Kelly, associate director of Cambridge Local First, an organization representing more than 400 small businesses in the city. “The current 66 percent commercial and 34 percent residential split far exceeds nearby cities.”

Small-business owners remain concerned about the impact the increases will have, including if landlords pass along higher rents in response to the new rates.

“Raising rates at precisely the moment when these sectors are struggling adds burden where resilience is weakest, penalizes small businesses for economic trends that are beyond their control,” Kelly said.

City staff met with business owners over the past couple of weeks to hear concerns, and business groups wanted that to continue – perhaps quarterly, Kelly said. City staff agreed to hold meetings with business groups to ensure transparency ahead of the process for the 2027 fiscal year, with details expected to become clearer in the coming months.

Claire Spinner, assistant city manager for fiscal affairs, clarified that the 22 percent commercial rate increase does not mean a 22 percent budget spike, as many business’ assessed property values will be lower this year. The increase in commercial tax rate “is not because we were looking for 22 percent more revenue. It was just that intersection of needing to raise 8 percent more and what happened to values within the class,” Spinner said.

Making a connection clear

The increases go to pay for the city budget approved in June – a $991.2 million budget that was only 3.7 percent higher than last year’s, or around half what the city was seeing a few years ago. Speakers during public comment said there should have been clearer announcements earlier, when the budget was first proposed.

Residents said there could be more transparency around the budget process in general. Heather Hoffman, a Hurley Street resident, said many people do not understand the connection between the budget and tax rates.

“I am well aware that you did, in fact, signal that this kind of increase was coming months ago,” Hoffman told city staff. “But people are human, and people don’t necessarily hear that … even people who are very intelligent, who are not scared of numbers, don’t necessarily understand how the city’s budget works.”

Impossible suggestions

There were suggestions Monday for an even further delay in adopting the rates, with the city using the time to conduct an economic impact assessment, but officials said the revenue is needed immediately to fund a fiscal year that is well underway.

Some community members also called for different tax rates for large commercial properties and small businesses. Under state law, the city cannot set different rates for small and large businesses, only by class such as residential and commercial, city manager Yi-An Huang said.

In addition, “the taxes are not on small businesses, they’re on commercial property, and so there is an indirect nature to this that makes it a little bit harder to do some of that targeting,” Huang said. “How do we insulate small businesses from taxes? They’re not actually the ones that are being taxed.” (Vice mayor Marc McGovern also urged property owners not to raise rents if it would create hardship unnecessarily. “The property owners have a hell of a lot more money than the person who’s running the little frozen yogurt store. No, they’re not forced to pass this on, or at least all of it,” he said. “Be part of the solution.”)

Cuts to services

Councillors said they’d work toward including more commercial data and clearer explanations in future materials. In the meantime, “I want to alert the public that today’s the day they need to start paying attention,” Toner said. “I don’t want anybody living in a fantasy world that there’s not going to be a tax increase, short of major cuts.”

Holding taxes flat would require cutting services, councillors said, noting that Cambridge offers more programs and services than most cities – programs residents have grown accustomed to.

“Where are we talking about cutting? Are we talking about cutting the public schools budget? Okay, where do you want to make those cuts? Public safety is a big part of our budget – where do you want to cut in public safety?” McGovern said. “It’s really easy to talk about being more fiscally responsible until you actually have to make the decision.”

Reducing commercial rates now would mean raising residential taxes or cutting programs midyear, both “unacceptable,” councillor Patty Nolan said.

Budget cycle

Councillors emphasized that Monday’s vote was not about the overall budget, and that any budget reconsiderations would have to occur in the next cycle. That now begins in December, Nolan said, a change from a few years ago when the council began looking at budgeting in the spring, just ahead of needing to vote. 

There will be “conversations about how we can work smarter, because we are going to have to do that in order to avoid this kind of rate increase next year,” Nolan said. 

Commercial development policies should also be revisited before the next budget cycle, councillor Burhan Azeem said.

“There was a lot done in prior administrations to make sure we did have healthy commercial growth, and I think that’s always a tough conversation, because new jobs mean more people want to live here,” Azeem said. “But I think that’s something I’d be excited to revisit.”