It’s a problem that just about everyone who has walked through Cambridge shares: finding a public bathroom around Harvard Square. Now, a loose coalition of churches, homelessness organizations, and businesses have launched a campaign called Advocates for a Common Toilet, in an effort to get a public restroom for the Cambridge Common.
The weathered plaque at the base of “Omphalos”, a towering statue in Harvard Square, is hard to spot behind the metal barriers. A dirty pair of shorts and a discarded plastic bag sit at its concrete base. A rusty bicycle has been chained to an adjacent pole and apparently abandoned.
Journelle, a Big Apple exemplar of underwear couture, has converted a … Journelle converts Airstream trailer into a roving showcase of … Journelle, a popular lingerie retailer in New York City, is starting its summer tour in Boston on Friday. … Staff, Aerial footage by Aram Boghosian for the Boston Globe).
Toscano opened in Harvard Square at the end of March, a second branch of the Beacon Hill restaurant with which it shares a name. The Brattle Street spot was for years scented with garlic naan and tandoori chicken as Cafe of India; now pasta and grilled meats take their place.
May/June 2013
The Square’s restaurant scene has welcomed more than six newcomers within the last year, with others set to open soon.
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, many Harvard Square restaurants and businesses are donating portions of their sales to help victims of the attacks. “Anything that we could do in some small way to help the victims was something that we felt strongly about,” said Patrick M. Lee, a partner with The Grafton Group, whose restaurants PARK, Russell House Tavern, Grafton Street, and Temple Bar all participated in fundraising.
Three decades ago, when customers entered what is now UpStairs on the Square, some assumed that the woman who greeted them was only there to take reservations. But in fact, Mary-Catherine Deibel welcomed the guests to her restaurant. In 1982, Deibel, as the co-owner and co-founder of the longstanding Harvard Square restaurant, represented an exception to the male-dominated business community.
The Harvard Square Business Association has partnered with Cambridge-based technology start-up Leaf Holdings, Inc. to begin collecting in-store donations this month to help the homeless, the HSBA announced last Friday.
Shoppers and visitors in Harvard Square no longer have to dig deep in their pockets to look for change to help the homeless in the area. On Friday, the Harvard Square Business Association, in partnership with Leaf, a local tech startup, announced a new initiative that allows patrons to effortlessly donate money to help provide food, clothing and shelter to the homeless population in the Harvard Square area with the swipe of a credit card.
Charitable giving to the homeless in Harvard Square is getting a technological makeover. Fifteen tablets, using touchscreen and wireless technology, we being installed at local stores to give residents and visitors the opportunity to donate money with the swipe of a credit card.