Allston Civic Association August Meeting

Allston Civic Association had their monthly meeting on August 19. Here are the some highlights:

• Police Blotter: District 14 Officer Christine Marini provided a report on recent crime in the neighborhood.
  • Two residential break-ins: owner reported some jewelry missing on 132 Chestnut Hill Avenue with no signs of forced entry; on 161 Washington Street victim reported that her apartment was ransacked with laptops, iPads, purses and some clothes missing
  • Another break-in at 138 Tremont Street; suspect escaped in a Nissan Pathfinder that was stolen from Dedham; officers were able to locate the vehicle; still under investigation about the suspect
  • Arrested a suspect, who was involved in an altercation and brandished a knife out
  • Arrested a suspect, who had 124 forged ATM debit cards, in the area of Harvard Avenue and Brainerd Road in Brighton; the suspect had initially ran a red light and did not have a license
  • Nine car-breaks (most of these occurred in unlocked cars after mid-night)
  • Warns about congestion during student move-in, particularly on Gardener, Ashford, and Pratt streets
• From Allston-Brighton liaison Jennifer Roberts from the Office of Neighborhood Service:
  • Federal monitors/observers might be at polling locations on election day; the city doesn’t know in advance where these monitors will be or how many will arrive; no reports of escalating situations in other states with federal monitors
  • Federal government is cutting immigrants from federal services (Medicaid, Medicare, etc); these cuts will begin in October
  • Public works, code enforcement, and environmental services teams will be around during student move-in/move-out on August 31 and September 1. 
  • If people feel that they have been wrongly fined for items dumped in the front yard, they should contact Roberts
• Jeff Drago (attorney), Eric Zachrison, and Fraser Allan are seeking support to demolish an existing building on 79-89 Hooker Street and building a six townhouses (three bedroom and four bathrooms); each unit will have a single car parking space
• Businesses seeking permits:
  • Molly Codeanne from Linden Superette (101 Brighton Avenue) was seeking a license for an all-alcohol license.
  • Maya Gaul and Eric Lawrence from Prolific Cannabis (116 Harvard Avenue) are seeking to extend their closing hours from 11:00 P.M. to midnight since the location is a “pretty vibrant area in terms of late night hours” (according to Lawrence)
  • Euna Kim from Cheongsu (144 Harvard Avenue) is seeking a CV license to open a Korean cafe and dessert brand. There are currently six locations in South Korea, and one other location in New Jersey — making the Allston location the second in the U.S.
    • Their proposed hours are 11:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. seven days a week; there will be around 60 seats in the restaurant
    • They are hoping to open mid-September
• Ryan Gazda (attorney) and Josh Fetterman are seeking an all-alcohol innholder license for the Cambridge Street Hotel on 393 Cambridge Street.
  • The Cambridge Street Hotel is fully permitted, and while the hotel does not have any restaurant space, City Realty is hoping to stock its 96 individual rooms with mini-bars. Gazda said that the company has already obtained a beer and wine license that will be transferred to this location. However, City Realty is seeking to convert that license to an all-alcohol license to allow for the sale of cordials and liquors. 
  • There are other discussions to put a small bar within the lobby (with around 10 seats). 
  • The goal is to get shovels in the ground within the next year with operations commencing in 2028. 
• Carolyn Conway representing Commonwealth Cellars (1229 Commonwealth Avenue) is seeking to remove restrictions on selling “nips,” which are small containers (around 50 mL) of liquor. They will hold an abutters meeting on September 16.

116 Harvard Avenue Abbuters Meeting

The Office of Neighborhood Services will hold a virtual abutters meeting on August 31 from 6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. The purpose of the meeting is to get feedback on a proposal by “Prolific” (an existing cannabis retailer) to extend their hours from 11:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. Prolific Cannabis recently presented this change at the most recent meeting for the Allston Civic Association. 

Second Survey on Jackson Mann

Following the planning meeting earlier this month, the City of Boston released a second survey to probe resident’s preferences on a school, housing, and other uses along with a  community center. Residents have until September 10, 2026 to fill out the survey.