March 9, 2025 • 58 mins
On today’s program, we speak with Rishi Shukla of the downtown Boston Neighborhood Association about the impact that drugs and petty crime are having on businesses. We also chat with the senior reporter the Boston Business Journal, Greg Ryan about federal buildings that may or may not be for sale in Massachusetts. Kim Carrigan will introduce us to Doug Johnson of Cruise and Tour as she explores summer travel plans and a plan for a trip to Ireland in October. Colin Young Editor of the State House News service shares his report on the State Auditor Diane Dizoglio and her efforts to audit the legislature. And finally on the program today we return to Natick to talk to Dj Bosse about Bosse Pickleball, which started operations in the late fall.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe short
Sleeve and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of
the top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And good morning, Good Sunday morning to you. It is
March the ninth. Joe Shorts live here with you on
the New England Business Report. Did you do it? Did
you spring forward? That's right. We're in the first few
hours of daylight savings today, right, that means get this now.
I should tell you this. I should tell you this.
(00:30):
Kim Kerrigan, she's off this week. She left me by
my lonesome, right, she's on a well deserved break. Okay,
so today you're going to have to listen to me
drone on about the business headlines across New England and
so on and so forth. But anyway, headlines. If kimra here,
she'd be crowing about when sunset is. Sunset will be
at six forty four tonight, so at seven o'clock at
(00:54):
night it'll just be getting dark. And also another anniversary
this week. Five years ago this week COVID shut down
the world, so we're going to be talking about that
of the New England business support in the in the
days to come. On today's program, we're going to talk
to Rishi Shukla, co founder of the Downtown Business Neighborhood Association.
(01:16):
They're upset about drugs and petty crime and homelessness and
theft and all that that's going on downtown.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And it's interesting because all this falls on the backdrop
of Mayor Michelle Wou there in Washington, d C. Talking
about Boston being the safest city in the country. So
which is it. Well, Rishi Shukla met with the WU.
She also he also met with the police officials here
(01:44):
in Boston, so we'll find out where they're at at
this point. Also Greg Ryan, a senior reporter of the
Boston Business Journal. And I don't know if you saw
this or heard this, but what it has to do
with federal buildings being for sale in Boston? Okay, So
at one point last week everything was for sale. I
(02:05):
mean we're talking about JFK, the Tom O'Neil building. Well,
they're gonna sell the Iris building and and over to
I don't think anybody's gonna cry about that. And then
all of a sudden, the General Services Administration pulls it down.
So where are we I don't know. We'll talk with
Greg Ryan, he know, senior report of the Boston Business
(02:26):
Journal who sorted out for us as well. And then
Kim Kerrigan will you will her? Will hear her dulcet
tones on the program? This morning she recorded an interview
with Doug Johnson, and well she's talking about summer travel
plans with Doug Johnson, his company Cruise and Tour. But
(02:47):
in addition to that, she's also going to share with
us a little something she has going on. And this
is all about traveling to Ireland in October. But not
only will they talk about it, they're going to tell
you how you can join Kim on this trip. So,
you know, open up your wallets, folks. Let's see what
(03:08):
else we got today. Oh, we got Colin Young. He's
the editor of the State House News Service. He's a
regular visitor here to the program, and he's going to
bring us up to speed on the state Auditor Diane
des Augliol and her efforts to audit the state legislature.
Of course, last November twenty twenty four, voters love the idea.
(03:30):
How many people seventy two percent of voter says yeah,
audit the legislature. Well, what's happened? Nothing. I can't make
this stuff up, folks, anyway, So we'll find out why
and what, if anything will happen next. And then finally
in the program today, I thought, you know, we should
(03:52):
do this. We should go back out to Natick, go
back out to the old Neiman Marcus site and find
out how Bossy Picklewall is to one hundred thousand square
foot mega complex there in native twenty one pickleball cords
for restaurants, DJ BOSSI. Of course he's going to join
us to tell us how they're doing in today's business climate.
(04:14):
All right, let's get started with this topic that we've
been kicking around now for a while, several months. It
actually started a couple of years ago on the Bloomberg
Bay State Business when Jim Rooney came on the program
and shocked many people when he started talking about how
safe Boston business owners feel in downtown Boston. This was
twenty twenty three. Well, here we are in twenty twenty
(04:36):
five and this issue has not gone away. Let's bring
in Richey Shukla. He's co founder of the Downtown Boston
Neighborhood Association, and he's met with the mayor, he's met
with the police officials. But let's find out what is
the situation in the downtown Boston neighborhood. Rishi, and thank
(04:57):
you for joining us Yogo morning.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Thank you for having a listen. I'm a volunteer along
with a few others, we run the Neighborhood Association here
in Downtown. I've been out for the last decade, and
I've been a resident of the city for the last
twenty five years, raising my family in the neighborhood as well.
You know, over the last eighteen months or so, we've
seen significant deterioration in public safety, perception of safety in particular.
(05:19):
I think the city as a whole. We've made a
tremendous strides with community policing and reducing our homicide rates
and violent crime rates. What we're dealing with though, now,
which has kind of reached a tipping point in my opinion,
is a large scale issue around congregate drug use, around
quality of life crime zones. Call it petty theft, retail theft,
(05:41):
organized retail theft, needles on the common, human waste on
the Boston Common. In the neighborhood, you've got issues around,
you know, people walking into stores and walking out with goods,
not being arrested, not being prosecuted, judges who are looking
the other way, and it's caused a lot of people
who live here and who do business here to feel unsafe.
(06:03):
We had a high profile stabbing on the Common back
in September of last year, where kids were rocking the
school and walking through the Boston Common and they watched
they watched it unfold. These are things that nobody, especially
our children, should be witnessing, and certainly it shouldn't be
happening in our nation's oldest park. And so there's a
disconnect from where I sit in terms of actual safety,
(06:25):
in terms of homicide and violent crime, and the perception
of safety if you're a resident or your business owner
in this neighborhood, if you're a tourist frankly, and so
you know, we need to do better. We had to
the Council hearing back in November of last year where
I testified and we talked about this disconnect, and I
was joined by Boston Police, Friends of the Public Garden,
Downtown Business Alliance, which was what I said on as
(06:45):
well as well as the Beacon Hill Civic Association in
parks and rec from Boston, and the concerted takeaway was
we have to figure out how to bridge this divide
between actual safety and perceived safe, because if people don't
feel safe, you're not going to you're not going to
do things right. You're going to avoid parts of your neighborhood,
You're going to make other decisions, and you're going to
you're going to frequent other parts of the city and
(07:07):
make decisions around your life that you know it shouldn't
be the case in your neighborhood. And so the issue
was brought to a head at that hearing back in November,
and to their credit, you know, a few a few
weeks later, we had a brief meeting with the DA
Kevin Hayden, Stay Rep. Aaron Michael Witz, Kallis Red Flynn,
and we just said, you know, look, we we've talked
(07:30):
about bringing people together to try to convene all the
stakeholders to figure out what we can do here in
the short term. Let's actually do that. I had made
a half joke during the hearing and I said, as
a solution, we should lock this all in a room
until we come up at least three or four things
that are practical outcomes to help impact the issue, and so,
to their credit, are elected stood up and said that's
(07:50):
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Love to do this.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And then last week we held a conveting which we
thought would be twenty or thirty people, and it turned
into a ninety two person gathering stakeholders across city agencies,
including the mayor, who participate and help solcitate the conversation.
We have books from the state as well, state reps,
state senators, Boston City councilors, law enforcement officials from all levels.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Right, well, Richie, what is the fact here?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
What is the fix?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Then?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I mean, you've got all these folks, all these smart
people in one room. What they come up with.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So we're gonna tomorrow put out a list of actions
that have come out of the meeting. So we're gonna
have a couple of task forces, one of which will
be chaired by the Mayor herself or coach chaired by
the mayor to help organize the various initiatives that are underway.
We're going to have new programming on the Boston Common.
We have more coordination among our shelters and churches who
will be broadening their services. Despite you know, the lack
(08:41):
of resources that they have. I'm on the board of
Saint Francis House, where large day shelter in New England,
one of the largest in the country. We've got twenty
percent increase in our utilization year over year. So these
shelters are stretched thin, but they're going to step up
and do more outreach, more intervention and have better coordination
with the city really to their services. That's another. Uh,
(09:02):
the retailers are are motivated to be more cooperative law
enforcement and to try to step up uh their own
engagements internally to try to get folks who are involved
in organized retail flapped multiple misdemeanors off the streets. The
District Attorney's office is ready to fully cooperate on that
as well. And UH they've they've truly leaned in on this.
(09:24):
Our state representatives are going to take under consideration potential
revisions to criminal justice reform, including mandatory minimums. Now we
classify certain drugs, you know, be infendanial or K two
and so there's a groundswell of support that's come out
of this meeting last Thursday, where I think the general
public will say, you know, I actually have a reason
to believe that this time around, this is going to change, right, and.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
You believe that? Is it? Do you believe this time
on going to change?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I want to get you and I have not felt
this way in the left two or three years. So, uh,
I am optimistic. And I think you know, between what
I've seen at the city and state levels. Uh, the
mayor participation last week, I think was a really good
positive first step. And I think you know, with Boston
Police Department, where you know, we've done a lot of
work together over the years, and all brother elected officials
(10:10):
and stakeholders, there are a lot of good reasons to
believe that we're going to see some immediate progress over
the next few days, not weeks, not months.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Not years.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
And if you live here, you know that kind of
change can't come sooner enough. So I am optimistic.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, you know, it's interesting to hear your comments about,
you know, the problems, and then this is all against
the backdrop Micheer may or Michelle will in Washington, d C.
Saying Boston's a safe oft city in the country. How
does that sit with you?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Look, I think at a macro level, it's it's indisputable
that we are the state of the city in the
country when it comes to violent crime and homicide, right,
I think when you peel back those two layers, though,
there's still a lot of work to be done, not
just in Boston, but across our major cities in the country.
And I think in Boston, you know, we're fortunate that
you know, we're dealing with a homeless population for example,
(11:00):
and casts dislocation. We're talking hundreds, right, We're on the
thousands like some other cities. And so this is a
manageable problem. And so yesterday's political theater, my opinion was,
you know, it is what it is. I mean, the
mayors aren't charge of our borders, but that aside, the
city as a whole is very, very safe, right. I
(11:21):
think when you think about quality of life issues and
things that cause you not to feel safe, those are
the things that we need to be laser focused on
as a city, which we are.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Now.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I've been on the phone with the Mayor's office, you know,
her team, with the DA's office, a variety of folks.
I'm about to sit down for a breakfast with our
state representatives, and so there is a large outpouring of
commitment and support that's come out of last week's meeting.
What I said in that meeting was, you know, we
(11:51):
as civic leaders are just ordinary citizens.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
We can't rest, we can't make policy. We need our
government to do those things. And government's fundamental responsibility obviously
to keep us that isn't safe, right right? They taking
their notes of office law enforcement to protect and servant people.
Just want to do that, John, and do it well.
If you're you're an officer, and I think we're elect officials,
you know are stepping up in a way that I
haven't seen in the last several years.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Good, all right. He's Rishi Shuklaw. He is the co
founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association. And we, of
course will continue to follow this topic up. Next night
we talk with Greg Ryan and the Boston Business Journal
about all those federal buildings that are supposedly for sale
right here in Massachusetts, or are they.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w r KO six point eighty.
Joe and Kim will be right back.
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Speaker 2 (14:58):
And welcome back to the New England Business Support. On
this Sunday morning, March the ninth, I didn't know where
to start with this next one. This business headline broke
this week and it basically has to do with the
federal government supposedly making available for sale multiple multiple multiple
federal buildings, including the JFK building in downtown Wasson, the
(15:23):
new O'Neal building. And Now, like I said, I don't
think anybody's going to be too upset that they want
to sell the IRS Center and andover as well. But
I mean it, So this list goes up, and this
cry goes out, and all of a sudden, apparently the
list comes down. So let's find out where it all stands. Now,
let's bring in Greg Ryan, senior reporter of Boston Business Journal.
(15:45):
So Greg, take us through this story this week.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
Yeah, it's been it's been quite a whirlwind. So yeah,
on Tuesday, the administration publishes this list of more than
four hundred properties nationwide that it says it wants to
just of that, you know, potentially are for sale. Here
they viewed them as non core to the federal government's
interests and then included nine in Boston. I mean, you
mentioned a few of them there. Of the intro, there
(16:11):
was also the new Voultee Center Voltee Transportation Center in
Kendall Square, which just went up a couple of years ago,
and a few other smaller buildings scattered throughout the state.
So in Massachusetts there was over two and a half
million square feet nine buildings that were on this to
go list. But then, as you mentioned on Wednesday, the
(16:32):
entire list was taken down, so you know, every building
across the country that had been on the list was
no longer on the GSA's website. And now the government's saying, well,
you know, we'll, you know, we will, you know, there's
another list coming soon.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Like you know, we are pinning to move forward with
this initiative.
Speaker 9 (16:48):
But despite what we've published on Tuesday, we're still working
through now what we actually want to include on this list.
So there is no new list, not as you know
now talk to me in five minutes they will right now,
there is no.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
List, all right, So what is the process here? I mean,
let's because I guess it's not unusual, right for the
General Services Administration to you know, sell properties, correct, So
what what would be the process that would play out
here if in fact this list was real?
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Yeah, so you know, the way it's supposed to work
is the gs A that which over the agency that
oversees federal properties. They would identify properties for what's called disposal,
which is this formal process, and you know, it could
be a quite lengthy process, you know, multiple steps where
you know, you have to cut the government has to
kind of check off okay, like you know, you know,
(17:44):
we don't see it go through a view we don't
see any use for this now, we don't see any
future use for this building. And then once it's completed
that checklist, then it could look to sell the building
to a you know, private developer, you know, a private
entity whether you know, the Trump administration as we know,
is not doing things by the books exactly, and they're
(18:06):
they're they're moving fast and they're breaking things, especially with
you know, elon must do jeffort and so I you know,
whether they whether they move to follow that federal or
regulation to the t, I don't know. And then you
also have this dynamic where it's you know, it's not
just saying, hey, you know, we want to sell this
one building in and nover, are there any bidders? You know,
(18:30):
it's planned at least had been to say, here are
four hundred and thirty buildings across the United States, including
in some very prime locations in places like Boston and Washington, DC.
You know, have at it, and so that just seems
like a lot for the federal government to take on
at once. So maybe with this revisiting the list, maybe
(18:51):
they'll be taking a more sort of measured, piecemeal approach.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
I'm not sure, right if you talk about with Greg
Ryan Steen report of the Boston Business Journal, I think
us a feeling we get here in Boston. What I know,
when I saw the headline, I'm like, oh, oh, they're
coming for us now. But that's not the case. I mean,
it wasn't just Massachusetts that was having all its buildings,
federal buildings put up for sale. It was it was
(19:16):
across the country, correct, that's right.
Speaker 10 (19:19):
Yeah, it was across the country and in cities and
more rural areas, you know. And the interesting theory, the
interesting thing here is, of course, the Trump administration. Yes,
they're you know, they're interested in selling these properties to
you know, to to reduce costs and to make some money.
But at the same time they're looking to really slash
(19:41):
the size of the federal government, slash the federal workforce.
Speaker 9 (19:45):
And so you know, if they do move if they
do move forward and they sell some of these buildings,
they sell JFK. Tiponield buildings. What that does is it
makes it much harder for a new administration down the
road that maybe has a different vision of beside to
the federal workforce, for them to grow that workforce. Right,
because if you're you know, these are massive spaces. The
(20:06):
JFK building, the Onneil Building, it's you know, combined well
over a million square feet of office space in downtown Boston.
If you sell that space, you know where, you know,
where are these start workers going to go? And again,
if a new administration comes in in four years and says, okay,
well we want to build back up besides in the workforce,
it's hard to do that if you don't have any
space for them, if we don't.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Have any buildings, right, I got you know, and I guess, Greg,
this is probably something you've thought of. And I think
about this when I saw that list of buildings. I mean,
is there data that exists that has to do as say,
you know, occupancy at the Onneial Building or the JFK building,
or how efficient these buildings are, what kind of repair
they need. Is it's any sort of like status report
(20:48):
on these buildings.
Speaker 9 (20:50):
That's something that the federal government would have, you know,
that's That's not something I've seen this week. I mean,
I don't know the exact VY can see in those buildings,
but I do know, you know, they are pretty well
up with you know, literally dozens just talking about the
JFKA and no Neil buildings, like dozens of federal agencies
and you know, offices for people like Elizabeth Warren and
Ed Markey. So these aren't you know, empty buildings. These
(21:13):
these are being used. So uh And you know another
thing I've been thinking about this week is what is it?
What would the market be for these buildings?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Right?
Speaker 9 (21:23):
You know, these are giant, antiquated old buildings in downtown Boston.
You know, people are having a hard time filling up
sort of you know, newer class a state of the
art space. So you know, how much how much would
would the government be able to fetch for these these
giant old buildings downtown?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, exactly. Greg Ryan's our guest senior report of the
Boston Business General. And before you go, I wanted you
to just to share one of your other stories you
wrote this week. The headline of the BBG two towers
with seven hundred and fifty apartments proposed on Morrissey Boulevard
and I'm looking at that and I'm reading a little
deeper into your story and it's my old Channel fifty
(22:03):
six where I began my career in nineteen eighty four,
Channel fifty six. What's going on there?
Speaker 9 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you're very familiar. So this has
done on the works for a while. There's it's not
only this property. This developer has not only this property,
but a couple of properties next to it, the Star Market,
some properties there along. We're ce Boulevard and they've already
got approvable city approval for this master plan to build
building seven buildings one point five million square feet. These
(22:31):
would be the first buildings to go up, and it's
really a sign of how the bust and market has changed.
The original plan was for two residential towers. Then a
couple of years ago they changed to one residential.
Speaker 11 (22:43):
Tower and one lab tower when the lab market was
really thriving.
Speaker 9 (22:47):
And now with this new filing, they've come back and said, okay, well,
actually we're just going to do two. We want to
do two apartment buildings again. And these are you know,
this is sizeable development. This is seven hundred and fifty
apartments across the two buildings to eighteen story towers, so
it would really change the face of Morscy Boulevard, no.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Question about that. All right. He's Greg Ryan, Senior Report
of the Boston Business Journal. Thanks for taking time in
joining us on the New England Business Report this morning.
Up next, we're going to talk about the Business and
Confidence Index for the month of February, so you want
to hear this one.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Are you a brother or sister of one of Greater
Boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting ready
to hang up your tools after thirty five years of
working your tailoff? Congratulations, you worked hard to build your
retirement nest egg. But now what Let me help you
break through the nonsense and financial speak so we can
get to the questions that are important to you. As
you know, nothing gets built without a set of plans,
(23:53):
and neither will you a financial future. My name is
Mike Marshall, President and CEO of Marshall Wealth Management and
creator of the Marshall Plan, a comprehensive, customized plan that
will help you answer important questions in all seven key areas.
You don't have to do it alone. There is no
cost or obligation. Call us at eight five seven three
four two ten thirty. That's eight five seven three four
(24:16):
two ten thirty, or check us out online at Marshallwealth
dot Com, Marshall with Twelves, Marshallwealth dot Com.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
Advisory services offered your Capital Analysts or Lincoln Investment Registered
Investment Advisors Securities offered through Lincoln Investment Broker Dealer member Finra, SIPC,
Lincoln Investment dot Com, Marshall Wealth Management and the above
firms are independent and not affiliated.
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Speaker 12 (26:39):
Hi everybody, I'm Kim Kerrigan and I'm Joe Shortsley.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
If you want to be part of the New England
Business Report, sponsorships are still available.
Speaker 12 (26:48):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
That's any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.
And welcome back to the New England Business Support. On
this Sunday Morning works the ninth, Joe shorts with you.
(27:13):
Let's talk a little bit about some of the business
headlines out there, and this one, well, it really caught
my attention. It has to do with the Business Confidence Index.
It's put out each month by the Associated Industries of
Massachusetts and basically it's one hundred point scale. If anything
about fifty is considered positive, anything below fifty is considered negative.
(27:35):
And this month the Business Confidence Index in February posted
its largest one month drop since the onset of COVID
nineteen pandemic five years ago. So businesses don't like something
that's going on, that's for sure. The index declined some
five points. It's the largest monthly decline since March of
(27:59):
twenty twenty, and before that, twenty eighteen, so something to
keep in mind. The weakening of confidence reflected employers uncertainty
about a host of federal policy initiatives.
Speaker 12 (28:11):
Well, Joe, I think it's a little bit late for
people to be making their plans for April vacation, but
it's certainly not too early to start thinking about summer vacation,
which is I realized, kind of hard to think about
right now when it's this cold here, But I think
the time has come, and our next guest would agree.
We're joined by Doug Johnson, who's the senior director of
(28:32):
business Development at Cruise and Travel.
Speaker 14 (28:34):
Great I've been with us, Doug. Thank you, Kim, thanks
for having me on the show. Nice to be here.
Speaker 12 (28:38):
Absolutely, would you agree with me it's time to start
thinking about those summer vacations.
Speaker 15 (28:43):
Absolutely, it's probably pastime for springtime and definitely time for summer.
Speaker 12 (28:48):
You know, I was at an event recently and it
was at Logan Airport and they were talking about what
a banner year for travel twenty twenty four was, What
are you guys anticipating in twenty five.
Speaker 15 (29:00):
I think we'll see a lot of the same Kim.
There's been, you know, coming out of COVID. Now we've
we've been a few years out of that, but there
was a lot of pent up demand when people were
home bound and couldn't travel, and then even when travel
opened up again, it was really within the US and
then the US and Canada. So there's been a lot
of demand now for international travel where people felt quite
(29:22):
deprived from that for a few years. So that's going
to continue, and I think as people start to check
off some of those places they wanted to go, maybe
in Europe, they're broadening that to more exotic destinations, you know,
South America, Latin America, UH Asia and in places like that,
and I think that'll continue in the in the coming years.
Speaker 12 (29:41):
I realize that you're a travel expert, so you're going
to your answer probably is pretty obvious, but I be
is this a good time to travel?
Speaker 14 (29:47):
For safety purposes, for health purposes?
Speaker 15 (29:50):
Absolutely, it's been knock up. We always knock on one
and keep our fingers crossed for those things. But uh,
it is a great time and uh and it's been uh,
you know, very comforting for people to go. You know,
some things that are different if folks haven't traveled since
before COVID is. You know, planes are quite full. There
was a lot of capacity cut during the pandemic and
(30:11):
that's been coming back little by little. But even as
airlines at roots, they might be using smaller equipment, less
seats per plane, So flights have been quite full, and
costs have certainly gone up after the pandemic, whether that's airfare,
hotel rooms, things like that. So they might be a
little bit shell shocked at what things cost today, but
(30:31):
that is not slowing down the demand for travel, as
you were saying.
Speaker 12 (30:35):
Well, and all the more reason to start booking those
summer vacations right now. Dog Johnson is our guest. He's
from Cruise and Travel. Let's talk about what influences trends
and what some of the trends are.
Speaker 14 (30:46):
Sure, you know, there's there's quite a few things.
Speaker 15 (30:48):
I know you and I talked off air a little
bit about you know, there could be trends from movies
or shows that are on TV. If they're you know,
they're a Netflix show that's filmed somewhere that draws attention.
Sometimes years ago it was you know, a film, you know,
some of the old movies about Tuscany made Tuscany probably
a little more on the map, and that's been a
(31:08):
top destination for years.
Speaker 14 (31:10):
There could be a lot of those types of things.
Speaker 15 (31:11):
Sometimes it's coverage from you know, event like the Olympics
that put a lot of exposure on Paris this year.
You know, the super Bowl just in New Orleans a
few weeks back. So it's always great when a destination
does a nice job at executing something there and it
goes well and really helps their tourism afterwards as well.
But you know, there is something to the popularity of
(31:35):
destinations being featured in television and movies.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
For sure.
Speaker 14 (31:39):
You can go ahead and say White Lotus. That won't
offend any of our listeners.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
A lot of people headed to Hawaii and then they
couldn't wait to get to Sicily and now Thailand, and
good for those those economies. It's really terrific. What are
you're saying is some of the trends. What are people
really interested in as they travel?
Speaker 14 (31:56):
Well, certainly, as I mentioned a few minutes ago.
Speaker 15 (31:58):
Europists come back in a bit way and you know,
for us here in New England, it's that's convenient. It's
a fairly short and quick destination. There's there's plenty of
great flights out of Logan, as you mentioned to all
the destinations in Europe, and that continues to be, you know,
the top destinations there.
Speaker 14 (32:16):
Uh, normally in the first you know, three four every
year are Spain, Italy.
Speaker 15 (32:22):
Portugal has gotten quite popular now as well and it
gets rave reviews from people.
Speaker 14 (32:27):
So those continued to be good.
Speaker 15 (32:28):
Ireland is always a favorite for people, Ireland, Great Britain,
and again that's that stays pretty consistent.
Speaker 14 (32:34):
France has come back now as as a destination.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
For sure.
Speaker 15 (32:38):
Sometimes the Americans got a bad rap in France and
it goes on the toy the bottom of the list.
But France has come back strong. There's there's a lot
of great you know, river cruise product there as well
as land product and things to do in France. And
you know they they did host the Olympics recently and
that certainly helps with exposure.
Speaker 12 (32:56):
You guys really specialize in some of those really wonderful
trips overseas that might include hands in your name cruises,
so land and cruise.
Speaker 14 (33:07):
You know, is there one in.
Speaker 12 (33:08):
Particular that sticks out in your mind that people really
love or that people should really look into.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
Well, I think the.
Speaker 15 (33:14):
Last few years, you know, you've seen this has been
certainly a trend for a while with river cruise companies
building more and more ships because there's been massive demand there.
If you go back ten twenty years ago, there was
you know a few companies doing it and they had
a couple of ships each, and that capacity has really
grown dramatically. People like that experience. It's a little you know,
(33:36):
more intimate. Most of those ships hold between one hundred
and twenty and one hundred and sixty guests, so, you know,
versus some of the ocean cruise ships that have a
lot more you know, amenities and maybe a better product
for families, but they're holding you know, two three four
thousand people. So just a different experience on the cruise product.
But cruising has been very, very popular with all kinds
(33:57):
of features for families and for couples that anyone you're
looking for.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
Well, I've never done a river cruise, but that certainly
is on my bucket list and maybe you and I
could talk about that in the future, but before we do,
we're talking about another trip that I'm very excited about.
At Cruise and Travel, they've been kind enough to put
together a trip for me and my husband for the
fall to Ireland. I am so excited about this. Dog
(34:22):
I've never been to My last name is Carrigan. I've
never been to Ireland. What in the world is happening here.
We're gonna fix that, kid, We're gonna.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Think for Dore.
Speaker 14 (34:31):
So excited.
Speaker 12 (34:31):
It's in October and it's flying from Boston to Dublin
and then a wonderful tour for eight days. Tell everybody
about why you guys can put these together in such
a great way as some of the things that people
could look forward to if they want to join my
husband at being.
Speaker 15 (34:48):
Well and you know I mentioned that is one of
the top destinations and it's one of my favorites in Europe.
I've been, you know, fortunate in this business for many
years that I've had a chance to travel a lot
of probably been in Ireland six or six or eight
times now, and it's it's definitely one of my favorites.
It's always a fantastic experience. People are very friendly, the
(35:09):
food is very good now people might be surprised at that.
Thirty years ago they were kind of known not to
have the best food. It was kind of land and that.
But they've got you know, chefs now have come in
from all over Europe into some great restaurants in the
cities in Ireland. So the culinary experience is fabulous. And
again the people are just super warm and friendly and welcoming.
(35:30):
And that's it's not that unusual that even with a
name like Kerrigan that you haven't been. I've got some
Irish friends that hadn't been either untill I dragged them
over here a few years back. So it's always fun
to go and and you know, figure out a little
bit of maybe where some of your family roots and
your ancestors came from. Even if you you know there's
(35:51):
no one there left to visit, it's great to see
those those towns or villages and and experience that absolutely well.
Speaker 12 (35:57):
But your bit is coming up in October, and if
you're in interested in joining my husband and me, you
can go to travel with Kim dot info travel with
Kim dot Info, or you can call the folks at
Cruise and tour and get yourself set up right now.
It's eight hundred three eight three thirty one thirty one.
Eight hundred three eight three thirty one thirty one. It's
(36:20):
gonna be a fabulous trip.
Speaker 14 (36:21):
I can't wait.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
A little whiskey, beautiful scenery and just up the blarning
stone dog. Thank you so much for being a part
of the show today. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
My pleasure. All right, thanks, Kim. We want to go
up to Beacon Hill and uh find out exactly what's
going on a lot of headlines coming out of Beacon Hill,
some of them because of what's going on in the
federal government, but also some because of what's going on
right here at our own lawmakers there and a lot
of these days back to back. In November, voters by
(36:54):
seventy two percent margins said they want the state auditor
in this case, Diana does ugli Oh to have the
power to audit, Yeah, audit the legislature, right, sounds pretty simple. Well,
here we are heading into springtime here in New England,
and how many audits do you think have been done
at this point. Let's bring in Colin Young of the
(37:15):
State House News Service. He as the editor up there, Colin,
what's going on with the auditor and the power she
wants to audit?
Speaker 16 (37:25):
Hey, Joe, you know, it seems like there's something new
on this front practically every day. And you know, Diana
Desauglio has made this audit of the legislature really the
central theme of her first successful campaign to become auditor
and now so far her two years in that office.
(37:46):
She pushed it to the ballot last year, more than
seventy percent of voters were in support of it, and
yet the legislature.
Speaker 14 (37:53):
Continues to resist.
Speaker 16 (37:56):
And now Disauglio has brought the Attorney General into the
fray because she says, at least that Attorney General Andrea
Campbell is not moving fast enough or doing enough to
help Desaglio's office force the legislature to comply. So there's
there are so many people that get wrapped up into
this big drama.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
And Dizaglio was quoted as saying that lawmakers are scared,
scared of what she has learned. What does she learned?
Speaker 16 (38:29):
Yeah, you know, so she launched an audit of the
legislature last year and put out a report saying, essentially,
you know, I wasn't able to do everything I wanted
to do, and that's why she needed the law that
voters did pass. But what she was looking at were
things like the use of non disclosure agreements in the legislature.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
That's really at the heart of this matter.
Speaker 16 (38:56):
When Desaglio was a member of the House and a
member of the Senate, she spoke about a non disclosure
agreement that she says she was forced to signed when
she worked as an aid in the House, and she's
really crusaded against the use of taxpayer funded non disclosure agreements. Certainly,
if there are things that are subject to non disclosure agreements,
(39:19):
it means that at least some people would rather that
information not come to light, not come out publicly. So
definitely that's a sensitive area where the legislature is concerned
that Disaglio could come in here and really sort of
try to uncover some things that it thought had been
sort of put away for good, so to speak. So
(39:42):
that's definitely one of them. They're also very concerned and
they have separation of powers concerns around Dizaglio's efforts to
look into how legislative decisions are made. These lawmakers seem
to be a little more comfortable with her looking at
their finances, but not so much with her looking at
their decision making processes.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Talking with the editor of the State House News Service,
one Colin Young, Okay, so all right, I understand why
that makes lawmakers a little nervous. But I guess in
terms of push coming to shove here and you mentioned
it already as it relates to the Attorney General Andrea Campbell,
and Dosaglio wants the Attorney General to sort of step
(40:24):
in here and use her powers. Where is that?
Speaker 16 (40:29):
Yes, this is where it gets very tricky and sort
of very touchy. The Attorney General says that Dezaglio here
has to follow the same process that her office and
every other constitutional office follows when it's going to court,
and it involves asking the Attorney General's office to represent
it in court. Campbell has long contested, now for weeks,
(40:53):
that Dezaglio's office has not provided enough information about exactly
what it's looking for and it's exactly what it wants
a lawsuit against the legislature to say, and what it
wants that lawsuit to seek as a remedy. Desauglio is
pushed back and has said, you know what, more information
could you possibly need. We have provided it all and
(41:16):
the Attorney General is dragging her feet. So you know,
Campbell has really tried to stay out of this as
much as she could, or for as long as she could,
and Desauglio is doing her best to drag her back
into it and make the Attorney General in the spotlight here.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Well, it seems like, you know, as you watch this
unfold or not unfold, uh just just could go on
and on and on with the cords and legal maneuvers,
and now we never ever get this audit that voters
asked for.
Speaker 16 (41:49):
Yeah, And I think even if it, I think there's
also the risk that if voters do get the audit
they voted for, that it's not.
Speaker 9 (42:00):
The type of audit they really were expecting.
Speaker 16 (42:03):
I think a lot of voters supported this ballot question
thinking that they were really going to force some transparency
on Beacon Hill and really bring some daylight up here
and open things up. And you know, when lawyers and
courts get involved, there's always the risk that things get
watered down and what we end up with is sort
of a tepid, you know, financial accounting of things and
(42:27):
not the big transparency push that voters wanted, all.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Right, Colin Young, and the time we have left, let's
switch gears and talk a little bit about what Democratic
leaders there on Beacon Hill are most concerned about, as
it has to do with the Donald Trump Elon Musk budget.
Ask acts what has some concerned.
Speaker 16 (42:47):
The big one, of course, is the roughly sixteen billion
dollars that's baked into the Massachusetts budget, and that comes
from federal sources sixteen billion. The budget that Mara Healy
proposed in January for the new fiscal year is a
sixty two billion dollar budget, so sixteen billion coming from
(43:10):
the Feds is a huge chunk of that. The largest
chunk of the sixteen billion in federal money, seventy percent
is in Medicaid, a hugely important program one that Donald
Trump and Elon Musk have eyed for cuts. Changes to
federal Medicaid support would have dramatic impacts on the Massachusetts budget.
(43:32):
So once lawmakers get a better idea of exactly how
severe cuts to Medicaid could be and when they might come,
that will really help them as they're working to craft
the budget for fiscal year twenty twenty six, which starts
July first. This spring is going to be a real
exercise in trying to cut through uncertainty for budget writers.
(43:56):
They're trying to settle this sixty two billion dollar budget
without knowing exactly what's going to happen at the federal level,
and with those federal pieces shifting all of the time,
it'll be a real challenge. And I think it most
likely points to another late budget here in Massachusetts, which
has sort of become the custom.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Wow. We will check back with you. I'm sure you'll
have all the answers for us. He's Colin Young, editor
of the State House News Service. Thanks for joining us
on the New England Business Report. Up next, we're gonna
be talking with DJ Bossy about Bossy Pickleball out there
in Natick. They opened up in the late fall. So
how's everything going. We'll find out in a moment.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston WRKO six 't eighty. Joe and
Kim will be right back.
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Speaker 12 (46:57):
Hi everybody, I'm Kim Carrigan.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And I'm Joe Shortsley. If you want to be part
of the New England Business Report, sponsorships are still available.
Speaker 12 (47:06):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
That's any Business Radio All one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.
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Speaker 2 (47:41):
All right, we're gonna wrap up today's program with an
update on pickleball. Yeah, the fastest growing sport in America.
But in particular, we want to talk about a major
investment out there in Natick. It's the old Nieman Marcus
location where Bossypickleball is now located some one hundred thousand
square foot space. I got twenty one pickleball courts for
(48:05):
dining restaurants out there as well. A DJ BOSSI of
course a former professional tennis player, and he is with
us now, DJ Welcome. He opened up in late fall.
We had you on then. Here we are moving into
the spring of twenty twenty five. How are things going.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
It's been a wild ride, a very exciting time for us.
Speaker 11 (48:31):
We are now fully open.
Speaker 3 (48:33):
All the businesses within Pickledom is fully operational and kicking.
Our sports lounge is up and we're very excited to
host March March Madness. Our programming. Pickleball programming has really
taken off and the reviews on our restaurants and off
(49:00):
friends are really good. And so it's been it's a
big undertaking and learning a lot, but really been widely
adopted by our you know, pickle pickleball and and dining customers.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Well, DJ, what what's on your desk? What what's your
number one issue that you're working with or your number
one concern or you know what, what has your full
attention as you operate this business?
Speaker 3 (49:30):
So full attention was essentially teaching the consumer that it's
not a club that you have to be a member
of to come and enjoy the services, which is number one.
Speaker 11 (49:44):
Uh, and that means, you know, anyone off the.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Street can come and have lunch, dinner, can come hang
out and just you know, just enjoy it. Anyone can
book a court, can come play. And then there are memberships,
but you don't have to be a member to enjoy it,
which is number one. Number two is you know, we're
in a mall and having such a great offering in
(50:12):
a mall. People aren't used to seeing that type of
experience in a mall, and so we're trying to you know,
educate the consumer that this is a place for everyone
we're in a mall and Native and.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
What's the demographic that's showing up DJ out there in Native?
Speaker 3 (50:32):
So our you know, is it is essentially from young
to kind of retired. Our average age visitors forty four.
But you know, our days kind of broken out into
retirees and seniors that come middle of the day, some
(50:53):
do play in the mornings. We have the younger crowd
that's coming and now start in a play in the afnoons.
Speaker 11 (51:02):
They have some schools that are now bringing in some
groups that are starting to.
Speaker 3 (51:08):
Play and pingleball is now kind of infiltrating into you know,
junior high high school realm, and so we have that
group and then mainly adults in the evening they come
play piggle ball, they go have a great dinner, and
then people just come because Chef Coombs is offering is
(51:31):
so good that people people drive to come and have dinner.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Well, that's a whole other side of the ledger there.
You've got four restaurants out there, as I understand it,
for eating establishments. One thing we've been following here on
the New England Business Report is about this whole dine
out program in Boston. And when you talk to some
of the restaurants. They say things got kind of quiet
after election day because people are pretty concerned about all
(51:56):
these layoffs in the federal government and things like that.
But you give us a night. Yeah, how are your
restaurants responding? As we move into the spring here?
Speaker 3 (52:05):
You know, so it's a January was a busy you know,
normally January's kind of quieter in in in the restaurant business. Uh,
you know, as I'm pretty new in it, you know,
And so we have, We've had spurts where it's been
you know, really busy, very active. I mean, on a Saturday,
(52:28):
our visitors are about five thousand people through the facility
on a Saturday. And so we have we have times
when it's busy, and there are times when you know,
we're like where, you know, where are the people are
they not you know, are they not going out?
Speaker 11 (52:45):
And and I think part of it is, you know.
Speaker 3 (52:49):
It's been incredibly cold winter. The environment has been very
uncertain between you know, everybody thought that post election things
would be you know, kind of off. You know, every
four years there's always that loll in time, you know,
kind of election time where everybody sits and waits.
Speaker 11 (53:10):
And and so you know, there's still uncertain times in the.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
In the environment, and and I think you know that
has impact across the board for everyone. But you know,
we're so well well positioned and priced and quality quality
is so good that people do still go out and
people enjoy the social aspect of it. And and I
(53:37):
think that's where you know, this experience is very is
very inviting because people want to hang out with other
people that are positive and have a good attitude and.
Speaker 11 (53:48):
And then want to enjoy themselves.
Speaker 3 (53:49):
And you know, and that's why our date nights and
nights out for couples and families are.
Speaker 11 (53:56):
So important for the mental health of people.
Speaker 2 (53:59):
Sure. Yeah, we're talking with DJ Bossi of Bossy Pickleball
there in Natika. I know you wanted Insie when you
started here. There was a lot of conversation about memberships,
but you've also been talking today about walking. Do you
want people to know they can walk in? How does
that break down between memberships and people just walking in
off the street.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
You know, currently we have more people that are walking
in and playing than we do have from a membership base.
Speaker 11 (54:26):
But you know, literally so early in we're now kind
of learning.
Speaker 3 (54:32):
What our customers are looking for what advantages they get
if they do become a member, and we're continuously coming
up with the promotions and being creative and you know, ultimately,
you know, we want we want members, and we want
(54:55):
people that can just come off the streets and.
Speaker 2 (54:57):
Play right tell us about a promote or being uh
you know that you've come up with here.
Speaker 3 (55:03):
So so we're we're working currently on a promotion which
will be uh which will be unveiled end of the
month where uh where the combination of a of a
membership and a and a food credit uh in our
in our membership would entice people to actually come and
(55:26):
have the advantages of booking ahead of heading core time
and getting and getting a great uh deal such or
discount in on the food and beverage side. And uh
and that's our our our promotion that is will be
coming up at the end of the month which has
(55:47):
you know, which has access to our ham mom Our
Cold Plunges and our our wellness program which will provide
yoga and stretch classes that will be built into your
overall experience.
Speaker 2 (56:02):
Yeah, well, DJ BOSSI give me any tips if I
go out there and I walk in, Yeah, you're willing
to come by to help me out with my pickleball.
Speaker 11 (56:09):
Did you know, Joe, anything for you?
Speaker 2 (56:14):
Good answer.
Speaker 3 (56:18):
You if you can hit anything at moves, you can
hit a pickleball.
Speaker 11 (56:23):
It'll it won't.
Speaker 3 (56:23):
It'll take you no time to learn the game. And
it's so social, and we have we have programs where
it's intro to Pickleball where you can come and take
one or two classes, learn the game, learn the rules,
and then be able to play with your friends and family.
So you know, there's really everything for people that love
(56:47):
to play pickleball.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
Well, we're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to
getting out there and best of luck with this new
business venture out there. DJ Bossi of Bossy Pickleball in Natick.
All right, folks, that's all the time we have on
the New England Business Report on this Sunday morning. We're
watching a lot of headlines developing across the country and
of course the five year anniversary of COVID shutting down
(57:12):
the world we'll be discussing at all on the New
England Business Report. That's a Sunday morning today. AM on
r KO, The Voice of Boston AM six eighty
This is the New England Business Report with Joe short
Sleeve and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of
the top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
And good morning, Good Sunday morning to you. It is
March the ninth. Joe Shorts live here with you on
the New England Business Report. Did you do it? Did
you spring forward? That's right. We're in the first few
hours of daylight savings today, right, that means get this now.
I should tell you this. I should tell you this.
(00:30):
Kim Kerrigan, she's off this week. She left me by
my lonesome, right, she's on a well deserved break. Okay,
so today you're going to have to listen to me
drone on about the business headlines across New England and
so on and so forth. But anyway, headlines. If kimra here,
she'd be crowing about when sunset is. Sunset will be
at six forty four tonight, so at seven o'clock at
(00:54):
night it'll just be getting dark. And also another anniversary
this week. Five years ago this week COVID shut down
the world, so we're going to be talking about that
of the New England business support in the in the
days to come. On today's program, we're going to talk
to Rishi Shukla, co founder of the Downtown Business Neighborhood Association.
(01:16):
They're upset about drugs and petty crime and homelessness and
theft and all that that's going on downtown.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And it's interesting because all this falls on the backdrop
of Mayor Michelle Wou there in Washington, d C. Talking
about Boston being the safest city in the country. So
which is it. Well, Rishi Shukla met with the WU.
She also he also met with the police officials here
(01:44):
in Boston, so we'll find out where they're at at
this point. Also Greg Ryan, a senior reporter of the
Boston Business Journal. And I don't know if you saw
this or heard this, but what it has to do
with federal buildings being for sale in Boston? Okay, So
at one point last week everything was for sale. I
(02:05):
mean we're talking about JFK, the Tom O'Neil building. Well,
they're gonna sell the Iris building and and over to
I don't think anybody's gonna cry about that. And then
all of a sudden, the General Services Administration pulls it down.
So where are we I don't know. We'll talk with
Greg Ryan, he know, senior report of the Boston Business
(02:26):
Journal who sorted out for us as well. And then
Kim Kerrigan will you will her? Will hear her dulcet
tones on the program? This morning she recorded an interview
with Doug Johnson, and well she's talking about summer travel
plans with Doug Johnson, his company Cruise and Tour. But
(02:47):
in addition to that, she's also going to share with
us a little something she has going on. And this
is all about traveling to Ireland in October. But not
only will they talk about it, they're going to tell
you how you can join Kim on this trip. So,
you know, open up your wallets, folks. Let's see what
(03:08):
else we got today. Oh, we got Colin Young. He's
the editor of the State House News Service. He's a
regular visitor here to the program, and he's going to
bring us up to speed on the state Auditor Diane
des Augliol and her efforts to audit the state legislature.
Of course, last November twenty twenty four, voters love the idea.
(03:30):
How many people seventy two percent of voter says yeah,
audit the legislature. Well, what's happened? Nothing. I can't make
this stuff up, folks, anyway, So we'll find out why
and what, if anything will happen next. And then finally
in the program today, I thought, you know, we should
(03:52):
do this. We should go back out to Natick, go
back out to the old Neiman Marcus site and find
out how Bossy Picklewall is to one hundred thousand square
foot mega complex there in native twenty one pickleball cords
for restaurants, DJ BOSSI. Of course he's going to join
us to tell us how they're doing in today's business climate.
(04:14):
All right, let's get started with this topic that we've
been kicking around now for a while, several months. It
actually started a couple of years ago on the Bloomberg
Bay State Business when Jim Rooney came on the program
and shocked many people when he started talking about how
safe Boston business owners feel in downtown Boston. This was
twenty twenty three. Well, here we are in twenty twenty
(04:36):
five and this issue has not gone away. Let's bring
in Richey Shukla. He's co founder of the Downtown Boston
Neighborhood Association, and he's met with the mayor, he's met
with the police officials. But let's find out what is
the situation in the downtown Boston neighborhood. Rishi, and thank
(04:57):
you for joining us Yogo morning.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Thank you for having a listen. I'm a volunteer along
with a few others, we run the Neighborhood Association here
in Downtown. I've been out for the last decade, and
I've been a resident of the city for the last
twenty five years, raising my family in the neighborhood as well.
You know, over the last eighteen months or so, we've
seen significant deterioration in public safety, perception of safety in particular.
(05:19):
I think the city as a whole. We've made a
tremendous strides with community policing and reducing our homicide rates
and violent crime rates. What we're dealing with though, now,
which has kind of reached a tipping point in my opinion,
is a large scale issue around congregate drug use, around
quality of life crime zones. Call it petty theft, retail theft,
(05:41):
organized retail theft, needles on the common, human waste on
the Boston Common. In the neighborhood, you've got issues around,
you know, people walking into stores and walking out with goods,
not being arrested, not being prosecuted, judges who are looking
the other way, and it's caused a lot of people
who live here and who do business here to feel unsafe.
(06:03):
We had a high profile stabbing on the Common back
in September of last year, where kids were rocking the
school and walking through the Boston Common and they watched
they watched it unfold. These are things that nobody, especially
our children, should be witnessing, and certainly it shouldn't be
happening in our nation's oldest park. And so there's a
disconnect from where I sit in terms of actual safety,
(06:25):
in terms of homicide and violent crime, and the perception
of safety if you're a resident or your business owner
in this neighborhood, if you're a tourist frankly, and so
you know, we need to do better. We had to
the Council hearing back in November of last year where
I testified and we talked about this disconnect, and I
was joined by Boston Police, Friends of the Public Garden,
Downtown Business Alliance, which was what I said on as
(06:45):
well as well as the Beacon Hill Civic Association in
parks and rec from Boston, and the concerted takeaway was
we have to figure out how to bridge this divide
between actual safety and perceived safe, because if people don't
feel safe, you're not going to you're not going to
do things right. You're going to avoid parts of your neighborhood,
You're going to make other decisions, and you're going to
you're going to frequent other parts of the city and
(07:07):
make decisions around your life that you know it shouldn't
be the case in your neighborhood. And so the issue
was brought to a head at that hearing back in November,
and to their credit, you know, a few a few
weeks later, we had a brief meeting with the DA
Kevin Hayden, Stay Rep. Aaron Michael Witz, Kallis Red Flynn,
and we just said, you know, look, we we've talked
(07:30):
about bringing people together to try to convene all the
stakeholders to figure out what we can do here in
the short term. Let's actually do that. I had made
a half joke during the hearing and I said, as
a solution, we should lock this all in a room
until we come up at least three or four things
that are practical outcomes to help impact the issue, and so,
to their credit, are elected stood up and said that's
(07:50):
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Love to do this.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
And then last week we held a conveting which we
thought would be twenty or thirty people, and it turned
into a ninety two person gathering stakeholders across city agencies,
including the mayor, who participate and help solcitate the conversation.
We have books from the state as well, state reps,
state senators, Boston City councilors, law enforcement officials from all levels.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Right, well, Richie, what is the fact here?
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
What is the fix?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Then?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I mean, you've got all these folks, all these smart
people in one room. What they come up with.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So we're gonna tomorrow put out a list of actions
that have come out of the meeting. So we're gonna
have a couple of task forces, one of which will
be chaired by the Mayor herself or coach chaired by
the mayor to help organize the various initiatives that are underway.
We're going to have new programming on the Boston Common.
We have more coordination among our shelters and churches who
will be broadening their services. Despite you know, the lack
(08:41):
of resources that they have. I'm on the board of
Saint Francis House, where large day shelter in New England,
one of the largest in the country. We've got twenty
percent increase in our utilization year over year. So these
shelters are stretched thin, but they're going to step up
and do more outreach, more intervention and have better coordination
with the city really to their services. That's another. Uh,
(09:02):
the retailers are are motivated to be more cooperative law
enforcement and to try to step up uh their own
engagements internally to try to get folks who are involved
in organized retail flapped multiple misdemeanors off the streets. The
District Attorney's office is ready to fully cooperate on that
as well. And UH they've they've truly leaned in on this.
(09:24):
Our state representatives are going to take under consideration potential
revisions to criminal justice reform, including mandatory minimums. Now we
classify certain drugs, you know, be infendanial or K two
and so there's a groundswell of support that's come out
of this meeting last Thursday, where I think the general
public will say, you know, I actually have a reason
to believe that this time around, this is going to change, right, and.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
You believe that? Is it? Do you believe this time
on going to change?
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I want to get you and I have not felt
this way in the left two or three years. So, uh,
I am optimistic. And I think you know, between what
I've seen at the city and state levels. Uh, the
mayor participation last week, I think was a really good
positive first step. And I think you know, with Boston
Police Department, where you know, we've done a lot of
work together over the years, and all brother elected officials
(10:10):
and stakeholders, there are a lot of good reasons to
believe that we're going to see some immediate progress over
the next few days, not weeks, not months.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Not years.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
And if you live here, you know that kind of
change can't come sooner enough. So I am optimistic.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, you know, it's interesting to hear your comments about,
you know, the problems, and then this is all against
the backdrop Micheer may or Michelle will in Washington, d C.
Saying Boston's a safe oft city in the country. How
does that sit with you?
Speaker 4 (10:38):
Look, I think at a macro level, it's it's indisputable
that we are the state of the city in the
country when it comes to violent crime and homicide, right,
I think when you peel back those two layers, though,
there's still a lot of work to be done, not
just in Boston, but across our major cities in the country.
And I think in Boston, you know, we're fortunate that
you know, we're dealing with a homeless population for example,
(11:00):
and casts dislocation. We're talking hundreds, right, We're on the
thousands like some other cities. And so this is a
manageable problem. And so yesterday's political theater, my opinion was,
you know, it is what it is. I mean, the
mayors aren't charge of our borders, but that aside, the
city as a whole is very, very safe, right. I
(11:21):
think when you think about quality of life issues and
things that cause you not to feel safe, those are
the things that we need to be laser focused on
as a city, which we are.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Now.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I've been on the phone with the Mayor's office, you know,
her team, with the DA's office, a variety of folks.
I'm about to sit down for a breakfast with our
state representatives, and so there is a large outpouring of
commitment and support that's come out of last week's meeting.
What I said in that meeting was, you know, we
(11:51):
as civic leaders are just ordinary citizens.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Right.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
We can't rest, we can't make policy. We need our
government to do those things. And government's fundamental responsibility obviously
to keep us that isn't safe, right right? They taking
their notes of office law enforcement to protect and servant people.
Just want to do that, John, and do it well.
If you're you're an officer, and I think we're elect officials,
you know are stepping up in a way that I
haven't seen in the last several years.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Good, all right. He's Rishi Shuklaw. He is the co
founder of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association. And we, of
course will continue to follow this topic up. Next night
we talk with Greg Ryan and the Boston Business Journal
about all those federal buildings that are supposedly for sale
right here in Massachusetts, or are they.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w r KO six point eighty.
Joe and Kim will be right back.
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Speaker 2 (14:58):
And welcome back to the New England Business Support. On
this Sunday morning, March the ninth, I didn't know where
to start with this next one. This business headline broke
this week and it basically has to do with the
federal government supposedly making available for sale multiple multiple multiple
federal buildings, including the JFK building in downtown Wasson, the
(15:23):
new O'Neal building. And Now, like I said, I don't
think anybody's going to be too upset that they want
to sell the IRS Center and andover as well. But
I mean it, So this list goes up, and this
cry goes out, and all of a sudden, apparently the
list comes down. So let's find out where it all stands. Now,
let's bring in Greg Ryan, senior reporter of Boston Business Journal.
(15:45):
So Greg, take us through this story this week.
Speaker 9 (15:48):
Yeah, it's been it's been quite a whirlwind. So yeah,
on Tuesday, the administration publishes this list of more than
four hundred properties nationwide that it says it wants to
just of that, you know, potentially are for sale. Here
they viewed them as non core to the federal government's
interests and then included nine in Boston. I mean, you
mentioned a few of them there. Of the intro, there
(16:11):
was also the new Voultee Center Voltee Transportation Center in
Kendall Square, which just went up a couple of years ago,
and a few other smaller buildings scattered throughout the state.
So in Massachusetts there was over two and a half
million square feet nine buildings that were on this to
go list. But then, as you mentioned on Wednesday, the
(16:32):
entire list was taken down, so you know, every building
across the country that had been on the list was
no longer on the GSA's website. And now the government's saying, well,
you know, we'll, you know, we will, you know, there's
another list coming soon.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Like you know, we are pinning to move forward with
this initiative.
Speaker 9 (16:48):
But despite what we've published on Tuesday, we're still working
through now what we actually want to include on this list.
So there is no new list, not as you know
now talk to me in five minutes they will right now,
there is no.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
List, all right, So what is the process here? I mean,
let's because I guess it's not unusual, right for the
General Services Administration to you know, sell properties, correct, So
what what would be the process that would play out
here if in fact this list was real?
Speaker 9 (17:21):
Yeah, so you know, the way it's supposed to work
is the gs A that which over the agency that
oversees federal properties. They would identify properties for what's called disposal,
which is this formal process, and you know, it could
be a quite lengthy process, you know, multiple steps where
you know, you have to cut the government has to
kind of check off okay, like you know, you know,
(17:44):
we don't see it go through a view we don't
see any use for this now, we don't see any
future use for this building. And then once it's completed
that checklist, then it could look to sell the building
to a you know, private developer, you know, a private
entity whether you know, the Trump administration as we know,
is not doing things by the books exactly, and they're
(18:06):
they're they're moving fast and they're breaking things, especially with
you know, elon must do jeffort and so I you know,
whether they whether they move to follow that federal or
regulation to the t, I don't know. And then you
also have this dynamic where it's you know, it's not
just saying, hey, you know, we want to sell this
one building in and nover, are there any bidders? You know,
(18:30):
it's planned at least had been to say, here are
four hundred and thirty buildings across the United States, including
in some very prime locations in places like Boston and Washington, DC.
You know, have at it, and so that just seems
like a lot for the federal government to take on
at once. So maybe with this revisiting the list, maybe
(18:51):
they'll be taking a more sort of measured, piecemeal approach.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
I'm not sure, right if you talk about with Greg
Ryan Steen report of the Boston Business Journal, I think
us a feeling we get here in Boston. What I know,
when I saw the headline, I'm like, oh, oh, they're
coming for us now. But that's not the case. I mean,
it wasn't just Massachusetts that was having all its buildings,
federal buildings put up for sale. It was it was
(19:16):
across the country, correct, that's right.
Speaker 10 (19:19):
Yeah, it was across the country and in cities and
more rural areas, you know. And the interesting theory, the
interesting thing here is, of course, the Trump administration. Yes,
they're you know, they're interested in selling these properties to
you know, to to reduce costs and to make some money.
But at the same time they're looking to really slash
(19:41):
the size of the federal government, slash the federal workforce.
Speaker 9 (19:45):
And so you know, if they do move if they
do move forward and they sell some of these buildings,
they sell JFK. Tiponield buildings. What that does is it
makes it much harder for a new administration down the
road that maybe has a different vision of beside to
the federal workforce, for them to grow that workforce. Right,
because if you're you know, these are massive spaces. The
(20:06):
JFK building, the Onneil Building, it's you know, combined well
over a million square feet of office space in downtown Boston.
If you sell that space, you know where, you know,
where are these start workers going to go? And again,
if a new administration comes in in four years and says, okay,
well we want to build back up besides in the workforce,
it's hard to do that if you don't have any
space for them, if we don't.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Have any buildings, right, I got you know, and I guess, Greg,
this is probably something you've thought of. And I think
about this when I saw that list of buildings. I mean,
is there data that exists that has to do as say,
you know, occupancy at the Onneial Building or the JFK building,
or how efficient these buildings are, what kind of repair
they need. Is it's any sort of like status report
(20:48):
on these buildings.
Speaker 9 (20:50):
That's something that the federal government would have, you know,
that's That's not something I've seen this week. I mean,
I don't know the exact VY can see in those buildings,
but I do know, you know, they are pretty well
up with you know, literally dozens just talking about the
JFKA and no Neil buildings, like dozens of federal agencies
and you know, offices for people like Elizabeth Warren and
Ed Markey. So these aren't you know, empty buildings. These
(21:13):
these are being used. So uh And you know another
thing I've been thinking about this week is what is it?
What would the market be for these buildings?
Speaker 6 (21:23):
Right?
Speaker 9 (21:23):
You know, these are giant, antiquated old buildings in downtown Boston.
You know, people are having a hard time filling up
sort of you know, newer class a state of the
art space. So you know, how much how much would
would the government be able to fetch for these these
giant old buildings downtown?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, exactly. Greg Ryan's our guest senior report of the
Boston Business General. And before you go, I wanted you
to just to share one of your other stories you
wrote this week. The headline of the BBG two towers
with seven hundred and fifty apartments proposed on Morrissey Boulevard
and I'm looking at that and I'm reading a little
deeper into your story and it's my old Channel fifty
(22:03):
six where I began my career in nineteen eighty four,
Channel fifty six. What's going on there?
Speaker 9 (22:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you're very familiar. So this has
done on the works for a while. There's it's not
only this property. This developer has not only this property,
but a couple of properties next to it, the Star Market,
some properties there along. We're ce Boulevard and they've already
got approvable city approval for this master plan to build
building seven buildings one point five million square feet. These
(22:31):
would be the first buildings to go up, and it's
really a sign of how the bust and market has changed.
The original plan was for two residential towers. Then a
couple of years ago they changed to one residential.
Speaker 11 (22:43):
Tower and one lab tower when the lab market was
really thriving.
Speaker 9 (22:47):
And now with this new filing, they've come back and said, okay, well,
actually we're just going to do two. We want to
do two apartment buildings again. And these are you know,
this is sizeable development. This is seven hundred and fifty
apartments across the two buildings to eighteen story towers, so
it would really change the face of Morscy Boulevard, no.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Question about that. All right. He's Greg Ryan, Senior Report
of the Boston Business Journal. Thanks for taking time in
joining us on the New England Business Report this morning.
Up next, we're going to talk about the Business and
Confidence Index for the month of February, so you want
to hear this one.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Are you a brother or sister of one of Greater
Boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting ready
to hang up your tools after thirty five years of
working your tailoff? Congratulations, you worked hard to build your
retirement nest egg. But now what Let me help you
break through the nonsense and financial speak so we can
get to the questions that are important to you. As
you know, nothing gets built without a set of plans,
(23:53):
and neither will you a financial future. My name is
Mike Marshall, President and CEO of Marshall Wealth Management and
creator of the Marshall Plan, a comprehensive, customized plan that
will help you answer important questions in all seven key areas.
You don't have to do it alone. There is no
cost or obligation. Call us at eight five seven three
four two ten thirty. That's eight five seven three four
(24:16):
two ten thirty, or check us out online at Marshallwealth
dot Com, Marshall with Twelves, Marshallwealth dot Com.
Speaker 8 (24:23):
Advisory services offered your Capital Analysts or Lincoln Investment Registered
Investment Advisors Securities offered through Lincoln Investment Broker Dealer member Finra, SIPC,
Lincoln Investment dot Com, Marshall Wealth Management and the above
firms are independent and not affiliated.
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Speaker 12 (26:39):
Hi everybody, I'm Kim Kerrigan and I'm Joe Shortsley.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
If you want to be part of the New England
Business Report, sponsorships are still available.
Speaker 12 (26:48):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
That's any Business Radio all one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.
And welcome back to the New England Business Support. On
this Sunday Morning works the ninth, Joe shorts with you.
(27:13):
Let's talk a little bit about some of the business
headlines out there, and this one, well, it really caught
my attention. It has to do with the Business Confidence Index.
It's put out each month by the Associated Industries of
Massachusetts and basically it's one hundred point scale. If anything
about fifty is considered positive, anything below fifty is considered negative.
(27:35):
And this month the Business Confidence Index in February posted
its largest one month drop since the onset of COVID
nineteen pandemic five years ago. So businesses don't like something
that's going on, that's for sure. The index declined some
five points. It's the largest monthly decline since March of
(27:59):
twenty twenty, and before that, twenty eighteen, so something to
keep in mind. The weakening of confidence reflected employers uncertainty
about a host of federal policy initiatives.
Speaker 12 (28:11):
Well, Joe, I think it's a little bit late for
people to be making their plans for April vacation, but
it's certainly not too early to start thinking about summer vacation,
which is I realized, kind of hard to think about
right now when it's this cold here, But I think
the time has come, and our next guest would agree.
We're joined by Doug Johnson, who's the senior director of
(28:32):
business Development at Cruise and Travel.
Speaker 14 (28:34):
Great I've been with us, Doug. Thank you, Kim, thanks
for having me on the show. Nice to be here.
Speaker 12 (28:38):
Absolutely, would you agree with me it's time to start
thinking about those summer vacations.
Speaker 15 (28:43):
Absolutely, it's probably pastime for springtime and definitely time for summer.
Speaker 12 (28:48):
You know, I was at an event recently and it
was at Logan Airport and they were talking about what
a banner year for travel twenty twenty four was, What
are you guys anticipating in twenty five.
Speaker 15 (29:00):
I think we'll see a lot of the same Kim.
There's been, you know, coming out of COVID. Now we've
we've been a few years out of that, but there
was a lot of pent up demand when people were
home bound and couldn't travel, and then even when travel
opened up again, it was really within the US and
then the US and Canada. So there's been a lot
of demand now for international travel where people felt quite
(29:22):
deprived from that for a few years. So that's going
to continue, and I think as people start to check
off some of those places they wanted to go, maybe
in Europe, they're broadening that to more exotic destinations, you know,
South America, Latin America, UH Asia and in places like that,
and I think that'll continue in the in the coming years.
Speaker 12 (29:41):
I realize that you're a travel expert, so you're going
to your answer probably is pretty obvious, but I be
is this a good time to travel?
Speaker 14 (29:47):
For safety purposes, for health purposes?
Speaker 15 (29:50):
Absolutely, it's been knock up. We always knock on one
and keep our fingers crossed for those things. But uh,
it is a great time and uh and it's been uh,
you know, very comforting for people to go. You know,
some things that are different if folks haven't traveled since
before COVID is. You know, planes are quite full. There
was a lot of capacity cut during the pandemic and
(30:11):
that's been coming back little by little. But even as
airlines at roots, they might be using smaller equipment, less
seats per plane, So flights have been quite full, and
costs have certainly gone up after the pandemic, whether that's airfare,
hotel rooms, things like that. So they might be a
little bit shell shocked at what things cost today, but
(30:31):
that is not slowing down the demand for travel, as
you were saying.
Speaker 12 (30:35):
Well, and all the more reason to start booking those
summer vacations right now. Dog Johnson is our guest. He's
from Cruise and Travel. Let's talk about what influences trends
and what some of the trends are.
Speaker 14 (30:46):
Sure, you know, there's there's quite a few things.
Speaker 15 (30:48):
I know you and I talked off air a little
bit about you know, there could be trends from movies
or shows that are on TV. If they're you know,
they're a Netflix show that's filmed somewhere that draws attention.
Sometimes years ago it was you know, a film, you know,
some of the old movies about Tuscany made Tuscany probably
a little more on the map, and that's been a
(31:08):
top destination for years.
Speaker 14 (31:10):
There could be a lot of those types of things.
Speaker 15 (31:11):
Sometimes it's coverage from you know, event like the Olympics
that put a lot of exposure on Paris this year.
You know, the super Bowl just in New Orleans a
few weeks back. So it's always great when a destination
does a nice job at executing something there and it
goes well and really helps their tourism afterwards as well.
But you know, there is something to the popularity of
(31:35):
destinations being featured in television and movies.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
For sure.
Speaker 14 (31:39):
You can go ahead and say White Lotus. That won't
offend any of our listeners.
Speaker 12 (31:43):
A lot of people headed to Hawaii and then they
couldn't wait to get to Sicily and now Thailand, and
good for those those economies. It's really terrific. What are
you're saying is some of the trends. What are people
really interested in as they travel?
Speaker 14 (31:56):
Well, certainly, as I mentioned a few minutes ago.
Speaker 15 (31:58):
Europists come back in a bit way and you know,
for us here in New England, it's that's convenient. It's
a fairly short and quick destination. There's there's plenty of
great flights out of Logan, as you mentioned to all
the destinations in Europe, and that continues to be, you know,
the top destinations there.
Speaker 14 (32:16):
Uh, normally in the first you know, three four every
year are Spain, Italy.
Speaker 15 (32:22):
Portugal has gotten quite popular now as well and it
gets rave reviews from people.
Speaker 14 (32:27):
So those continued to be good.
Speaker 15 (32:28):
Ireland is always a favorite for people, Ireland, Great Britain,
and again that's that stays pretty consistent.
Speaker 14 (32:34):
France has come back now as as a destination.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
For sure.
Speaker 15 (32:38):
Sometimes the Americans got a bad rap in France and
it goes on the toy the bottom of the list.
But France has come back strong. There's there's a lot
of great you know, river cruise product there as well
as land product and things to do in France. And
you know they they did host the Olympics recently and
that certainly helps with exposure.
Speaker 12 (32:56):
You guys really specialize in some of those really wonderful
trips overseas that might include hands in your name cruises,
so land and cruise.
Speaker 14 (33:07):
You know, is there one in.
Speaker 12 (33:08):
Particular that sticks out in your mind that people really
love or that people should really look into.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
Well, I think the.
Speaker 15 (33:14):
Last few years, you know, you've seen this has been
certainly a trend for a while with river cruise companies
building more and more ships because there's been massive demand there.
If you go back ten twenty years ago, there was
you know a few companies doing it and they had
a couple of ships each, and that capacity has really
grown dramatically. People like that experience. It's a little you know,
(33:36):
more intimate. Most of those ships hold between one hundred
and twenty and one hundred and sixty guests, so, you know,
versus some of the ocean cruise ships that have a
lot more you know, amenities and maybe a better product
for families, but they're holding you know, two three four
thousand people. So just a different experience on the cruise product.
But cruising has been very, very popular with all kinds
(33:57):
of features for families and for couples that anyone you're
looking for.
Speaker 12 (34:01):
Well, I've never done a river cruise, but that certainly
is on my bucket list and maybe you and I
could talk about that in the future, but before we do,
we're talking about another trip that I'm very excited about.
At Cruise and Travel, they've been kind enough to put
together a trip for me and my husband for the
fall to Ireland. I am so excited about this. Dog
(34:22):
I've never been to My last name is Carrigan. I've
never been to Ireland. What in the world is happening here.
We're gonna fix that, kid, We're gonna.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Think for Dore.
Speaker 14 (34:31):
So excited.
Speaker 12 (34:31):
It's in October and it's flying from Boston to Dublin
and then a wonderful tour for eight days. Tell everybody
about why you guys can put these together in such
a great way as some of the things that people
could look forward to if they want to join my
husband at being.
Speaker 15 (34:48):
Well and you know I mentioned that is one of
the top destinations and it's one of my favorites in Europe.
I've been, you know, fortunate in this business for many
years that I've had a chance to travel a lot
of probably been in Ireland six or six or eight
times now, and it's it's definitely one of my favorites.
It's always a fantastic experience. People are very friendly, the
(35:09):
food is very good now people might be surprised at that.
Thirty years ago they were kind of known not to
have the best food. It was kind of land and that.
But they've got you know, chefs now have come in
from all over Europe into some great restaurants in the
cities in Ireland. So the culinary experience is fabulous. And
again the people are just super warm and friendly and welcoming.
(35:30):
And that's it's not that unusual that even with a
name like Kerrigan that you haven't been. I've got some
Irish friends that hadn't been either untill I dragged them
over here a few years back. So it's always fun
to go and and you know, figure out a little
bit of maybe where some of your family roots and
your ancestors came from. Even if you you know there's
(35:51):
no one there left to visit, it's great to see
those those towns or villages and and experience that absolutely well.
Speaker 12 (35:57):
But your bit is coming up in October, and if
you're in interested in joining my husband and me, you
can go to travel with Kim dot info travel with
Kim dot Info, or you can call the folks at
Cruise and tour and get yourself set up right now.
It's eight hundred three eight three thirty one thirty one.
Eight hundred three eight three thirty one thirty one. It's
(36:20):
gonna be a fabulous trip.
Speaker 14 (36:21):
I can't wait.
Speaker 12 (36:21):
A little whiskey, beautiful scenery and just up the blarning
stone dog. Thank you so much for being a part
of the show today. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
My pleasure. All right, thanks, Kim. We want to go
up to Beacon Hill and uh find out exactly what's
going on a lot of headlines coming out of Beacon Hill,
some of them because of what's going on in the
federal government, but also some because of what's going on
right here at our own lawmakers there and a lot
of these days back to back. In November, voters by
(36:54):
seventy two percent margins said they want the state auditor
in this case, Diana does ugli Oh to have the
power to audit, Yeah, audit the legislature, right, sounds pretty simple. Well,
here we are heading into springtime here in New England,
and how many audits do you think have been done
at this point. Let's bring in Colin Young of the
(37:15):
State House News Service. He as the editor up there, Colin,
what's going on with the auditor and the power she
wants to audit?
Speaker 16 (37:25):
Hey, Joe, you know, it seems like there's something new
on this front practically every day. And you know, Diana
Desauglio has made this audit of the legislature really the
central theme of her first successful campaign to become auditor
and now so far her two years in that office.
(37:46):
She pushed it to the ballot last year, more than
seventy percent of voters were in support of it, and
yet the legislature.
Speaker 14 (37:53):
Continues to resist.
Speaker 16 (37:56):
And now Disauglio has brought the Attorney General into the
fray because she says, at least that Attorney General Andrea
Campbell is not moving fast enough or doing enough to
help Desaglio's office force the legislature to comply. So there's
there are so many people that get wrapped up into
this big drama.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
And Dizaglio was quoted as saying that lawmakers are scared,
scared of what she has learned. What does she learned?
Speaker 16 (38:29):
Yeah, you know, so she launched an audit of the
legislature last year and put out a report saying, essentially,
you know, I wasn't able to do everything I wanted
to do, and that's why she needed the law that
voters did pass. But what she was looking at were
things like the use of non disclosure agreements in the legislature.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
That's really at the heart of this matter.
Speaker 16 (38:56):
When Desaglio was a member of the House and a
member of the Senate, she spoke about a non disclosure
agreement that she says she was forced to signed when
she worked as an aid in the House, and she's
really crusaded against the use of taxpayer funded non disclosure agreements. Certainly,
if there are things that are subject to non disclosure agreements,
(39:19):
it means that at least some people would rather that
information not come to light, not come out publicly. So
definitely that's a sensitive area where the legislature is concerned
that Disaglio could come in here and really sort of
try to uncover some things that it thought had been
sort of put away for good, so to speak. So
(39:42):
that's definitely one of them. They're also very concerned and
they have separation of powers concerns around Dizaglio's efforts to
look into how legislative decisions are made. These lawmakers seem
to be a little more comfortable with her looking at
their finances, but not so much with her looking at
their decision making processes.
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Talking with the editor of the State House News Service,
one Colin Young, Okay, so all right, I understand why
that makes lawmakers a little nervous. But I guess in
terms of push coming to shove here and you mentioned
it already as it relates to the Attorney General Andrea Campbell,
and Dosaglio wants the Attorney General to sort of step
(40:24):
in here and use her powers. Where is that?
Speaker 16 (40:29):
Yes, this is where it gets very tricky and sort
of very touchy. The Attorney General says that Dezaglio here
has to follow the same process that her office and
every other constitutional office follows when it's going to court,
and it involves asking the Attorney General's office to represent
it in court. Campbell has long contested, now for weeks,
(40:53):
that Dezaglio's office has not provided enough information about exactly
what it's looking for and it's exactly what it wants
a lawsuit against the legislature to say, and what it
wants that lawsuit to seek as a remedy. Desauglio is
pushed back and has said, you know what, more information
could you possibly need. We have provided it all and
(41:16):
the Attorney General is dragging her feet. So you know,
Campbell has really tried to stay out of this as
much as she could, or for as long as she could,
and Desauglio is doing her best to drag her back
into it and make the Attorney General in the spotlight here.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Well, it seems like, you know, as you watch this
unfold or not unfold, uh just just could go on
and on and on with the cords and legal maneuvers,
and now we never ever get this audit that voters
asked for.
Speaker 16 (41:49):
Yeah, And I think even if it, I think there's
also the risk that if voters do get the audit
they voted for, that it's not.
Speaker 9 (42:00):
The type of audit they really were expecting.
Speaker 16 (42:03):
I think a lot of voters supported this ballot question
thinking that they were really going to force some transparency
on Beacon Hill and really bring some daylight up here
and open things up. And you know, when lawyers and
courts get involved, there's always the risk that things get
watered down and what we end up with is sort
of a tepid, you know, financial accounting of things and
(42:27):
not the big transparency push that voters wanted, all.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Right, Colin Young, and the time we have left, let's
switch gears and talk a little bit about what Democratic
leaders there on Beacon Hill are most concerned about, as
it has to do with the Donald Trump Elon Musk budget.
Ask acts what has some concerned.
Speaker 16 (42:47):
The big one, of course, is the roughly sixteen billion
dollars that's baked into the Massachusetts budget, and that comes
from federal sources sixteen billion. The budget that Mara Healy
proposed in January for the new fiscal year is a
sixty two billion dollar budget, so sixteen billion coming from
(43:10):
the Feds is a huge chunk of that. The largest
chunk of the sixteen billion in federal money, seventy percent
is in Medicaid, a hugely important program one that Donald
Trump and Elon Musk have eyed for cuts. Changes to
federal Medicaid support would have dramatic impacts on the Massachusetts budget.
(43:32):
So once lawmakers get a better idea of exactly how
severe cuts to Medicaid could be and when they might come,
that will really help them as they're working to craft
the budget for fiscal year twenty twenty six, which starts
July first. This spring is going to be a real
exercise in trying to cut through uncertainty for budget writers.
(43:56):
They're trying to settle this sixty two billion dollar budget
without knowing exactly what's going to happen at the federal level,
and with those federal pieces shifting all of the time,
it'll be a real challenge. And I think it most
likely points to another late budget here in Massachusetts, which
has sort of become the custom.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Wow. We will check back with you. I'm sure you'll
have all the answers for us. He's Colin Young, editor
of the State House News Service. Thanks for joining us
on the New England Business Report. Up next, we're gonna
be talking with DJ Bossy about Bossy Pickleball out there
in Natick. They opened up in the late fall. So
how's everything going. We'll find out in a moment.
Speaker 1 (44:41):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston WRKO six 't eighty. Joe and
Kim will be right back.
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Speaker 12 (46:57):
Hi everybody, I'm Kim Carrigan.
Speaker 2 (46:59):
And I'm Joe Shortsley. If you want to be part
of the New England Business Report, sponsorships are still available.
Speaker 12 (47:06):
You can email us at any Business Radio at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
That's any Business Radio All one word at gmail dot
com and we'll get your business on the show too.
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Speaker 2 (47:41):
All right, we're gonna wrap up today's program with an
update on pickleball. Yeah, the fastest growing sport in America.
But in particular, we want to talk about a major
investment out there in Natick. It's the old Nieman Marcus
location where Bossypickleball is now located some one hundred thousand
square foot space. I got twenty one pickleball courts for
(48:05):
dining restaurants out there as well. A DJ BOSSI of
course a former professional tennis player, and he is with
us now, DJ Welcome. He opened up in late fall.
We had you on then. Here we are moving into
the spring of twenty twenty five. How are things going.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
It's been a wild ride, a very exciting time for us.
Speaker 11 (48:31):
We are now fully open.
Speaker 3 (48:33):
All the businesses within Pickledom is fully operational and kicking.
Our sports lounge is up and we're very excited to
host March March Madness. Our programming. Pickleball programming has really
taken off and the reviews on our restaurants and off
(49:00):
friends are really good. And so it's been it's a
big undertaking and learning a lot, but really been widely
adopted by our you know, pickle pickleball and and dining customers.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
Well, DJ, what what's on your desk? What what's your
number one issue that you're working with or your number
one concern or you know what, what has your full
attention as you operate this business?
Speaker 3 (49:30):
So full attention was essentially teaching the consumer that it's
not a club that you have to be a member
of to come and enjoy the services, which is number one.
Speaker 11 (49:44):
Uh, and that means, you know, anyone off the.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Street can come and have lunch, dinner, can come hang
out and just you know, just enjoy it. Anyone can
book a court, can come play. And then there are memberships,
but you don't have to be a member to enjoy it,
which is number one. Number two is you know, we're
in a mall and having such a great offering in
(50:12):
a mall. People aren't used to seeing that type of
experience in a mall, and so we're trying to you know,
educate the consumer that this is a place for everyone
we're in a mall and Native and.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
What's the demographic that's showing up DJ out there in Native?
Speaker 3 (50:32):
So our you know, is it is essentially from young
to kind of retired. Our average age visitors forty four.
But you know, our days kind of broken out into
retirees and seniors that come middle of the day, some
(50:53):
do play in the mornings. We have the younger crowd
that's coming and now start in a play in the afnoons.
Speaker 11 (51:02):
They have some schools that are now bringing in some
groups that are starting to.
Speaker 3 (51:08):
Play and pingleball is now kind of infiltrating into you know,
junior high high school realm, and so we have that
group and then mainly adults in the evening they come
play piggle ball, they go have a great dinner, and
then people just come because Chef Coombs is offering is
(51:31):
so good that people people drive to come and have dinner.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Well, that's a whole other side of the ledger there.
You've got four restaurants out there, as I understand it,
for eating establishments. One thing we've been following here on
the New England Business Report is about this whole dine
out program in Boston. And when you talk to some
of the restaurants. They say things got kind of quiet
after election day because people are pretty concerned about all
(51:56):
these layoffs in the federal government and things like that.
But you give us a night. Yeah, how are your
restaurants responding? As we move into the spring here?
Speaker 3 (52:05):
You know, so it's a January was a busy you know,
normally January's kind of quieter in in in the restaurant business. Uh,
you know, as I'm pretty new in it, you know,
And so we have, We've had spurts where it's been
you know, really busy, very active. I mean, on a Saturday,
(52:28):
our visitors are about five thousand people through the facility
on a Saturday. And so we have we have times
when it's busy, and there are times when you know,
we're like where, you know, where are the people are
they not you know, are they not going out?
Speaker 11 (52:45):
And and I think part of it is, you know.
Speaker 3 (52:49):
It's been incredibly cold winter. The environment has been very
uncertain between you know, everybody thought that post election things
would be you know, kind of off. You know, every
four years there's always that loll in time, you know,
kind of election time where everybody sits and waits.
Speaker 11 (53:10):
And and so you know, there's still uncertain times in the.
Speaker 3 (53:15):
In the environment, and and I think you know that
has impact across the board for everyone. But you know,
we're so well well positioned and priced and quality quality
is so good that people do still go out and
people enjoy the social aspect of it. And and I
(53:37):
think that's where you know, this experience is very is
very inviting because people want to hang out with other
people that are positive and have a good attitude and.
Speaker 11 (53:48):
And then want to enjoy themselves.
Speaker 3 (53:49):
And you know, and that's why our date nights and
nights out for couples and families are.
Speaker 11 (53:56):
So important for the mental health of people.
Speaker 2 (53:59):
Sure. Yeah, we're talking with DJ Bossi of Bossy Pickleball
there in Natika. I know you wanted Insie when you
started here. There was a lot of conversation about memberships,
but you've also been talking today about walking. Do you
want people to know they can walk in? How does
that break down between memberships and people just walking in
off the street.
Speaker 3 (54:17):
You know, currently we have more people that are walking
in and playing than we do have from a membership base.
Speaker 11 (54:26):
But you know, literally so early in we're now kind
of learning.
Speaker 3 (54:32):
What our customers are looking for what advantages they get
if they do become a member, and we're continuously coming
up with the promotions and being creative and you know, ultimately,
you know, we want we want members, and we want
(54:55):
people that can just come off the streets and.
Speaker 2 (54:57):
Play right tell us about a promote or being uh
you know that you've come up with here.
Speaker 3 (55:03):
So so we're we're working currently on a promotion which
will be uh which will be unveiled end of the
month where uh where the combination of a of a
membership and a and a food credit uh in our
in our membership would entice people to actually come and
(55:26):
have the advantages of booking ahead of heading core time
and getting and getting a great uh deal such or
discount in on the food and beverage side. And uh
and that's our our our promotion that is will be
coming up at the end of the month which has
(55:47):
you know, which has access to our ham mom Our
Cold Plunges and our our wellness program which will provide
yoga and stretch classes that will be built into your
overall experience.
Speaker 2 (56:02):
Yeah, well, DJ BOSSI give me any tips if I
go out there and I walk in, Yeah, you're willing
to come by to help me out with my pickleball.
Speaker 11 (56:09):
Did you know, Joe, anything for you?
Speaker 2 (56:14):
Good answer.
Speaker 3 (56:18):
You if you can hit anything at moves, you can
hit a pickleball.
Speaker 11 (56:23):
It'll it won't.
Speaker 3 (56:23):
It'll take you no time to learn the game. And
it's so social, and we have we have programs where
it's intro to Pickleball where you can come and take
one or two classes, learn the game, learn the rules,
and then be able to play with your friends and family.
So you know, there's really everything for people that love
(56:47):
to play pickleball.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
Well, we're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to
getting out there and best of luck with this new
business venture out there. DJ Bossi of Bossy Pickleball in Natick.
All right, folks, that's all the time we have on
the New England Business Report on this Sunday morning. We're
watching a lot of headlines developing across the country and
of course the five year anniversary of COVID shutting down
(57:12):
the world we'll be discussing at all on the New
England Business Report. That's a Sunday morning today. AM on
r KO, The Voice of Boston AM six eighty
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