.access-parent{width:164px;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin-top:-5px;}.access-parent button{background-color:var(--lighter-band);color:#fff;border:none;padding:5px;font-size:18px;height:32px;width:32px;box-shadow:0 2px 4px #2f4f4f;cursor:pointer;transition:.2s}.access-parent button:hover{box-shadow:0 3px 6px var(--brand-red);}.access-parent button:active{background-color:var(--header-band);box-shadow:0 0 2px #2f4f4f;transform:translateY(2px)}Font sizeContrastTypefaceNewscast a new shade of green arrived on Harvard Street near Coolidge Corner as Blank Street Coffee a buzzy New York-born chain opened its Brookline store The 455 Harvard Street coffee shop is its seventh and largest location in the Boston area Known for its mint-green storefront and chic menu focusing on coffee and matcha Blank Street has opened more than 100 shops in New York Most locations are under 350 square feet, so the 1,700-square-foot 28-seat space in Brookline marks a new direction in scale “Being a part of someone’s daily ritual is a privilege and we don’t take it lightly,” Vinay Menda As part of Blank Street’s move-in plan for Brookline and a fully branded Blank Street gas station pop-up across the street senior marketing associate at Blank Street the theme of “doing a pit stop” inspired the decorative elements at the Brookline opening free mirror hangers and a convex mirror at the pickup counter were designed to reflect the concept “I like special events like this with the community standing in line with everyone knowing we all want a two-dollar matcha,” said Mia Boloz who waited in line with her friend for over an hour to order “This is how we want to spend our morning.” Boloz was excited about this new location – matcha is now more within reach than the chain’s Newbury St said she was already looking forward to making this her new study spot “Customers come to us for the consistency of our classics and also for innovations like the Daydream Latte or our seasonal Strawberry Shortcake Matcha,” Menda wrote and people simply looking to catch up with a friend.” nontraditional experience parallels the impression of an independent cafe somewhere in between third-wave coffee culture and franchise-style accessibility “We’re actively exploring other neighborhoods where we can add value,” wrote Menda on the company’s Boston footprint “Each new store is an opportunity to meet a community where they are and offer something that feels truly local.” to host the keychain station for customers said that Blank Street contacted the business after a pop-up event at Seaport and reached out for the grand opening and this is a full circle moment for me,” said Ladd adding that the spot is a “smart location” within walking distance of off-campus housing where she once lived a branch officer at the nearby HarborOne Bank saw Blank Street as a draw for the younger crowd in the neighborhood expanding the brew of customers beyond Tatte and Bakey that serve further down Harvard St “I’m excited to have them here,” said Vasquez “We do have a couple of coffee shops in the area but having this one in this location – I really think it’s gonna do great just because it’s also going to help the other small businesses in this area Brookline Then and Now FYI: Brookline resources Keep the news coming with a tax-deductible gift to nonprofit Brookline.News.Gifts up to $1,000 each are matched 1-1 between now and Dec Find similar articlesRestaurants How do you get around Brookline? We want you to contribute to our next set of Voices essays Tell us how you found a place to call home in 400 words or less You do realize you are reading BROOKLINE.news David Sipos (CAS’28) is endorsed by Brookline for Everyone a grassroots organization of Brookline residents pushing for affordable housing Among his other campaign focuses: improving public transportation and addressing climate change He’s volunteered and interned with Democratic campaigns in the past but he never expected that he would be a candidate. native-turned-Brookline-resident recalls being in a high school auditorium last November listening to a three-hour Brookline Town Meeting session after feeling demoralized by the results of the 2024 presidential election. Sipos (CAS’28) watched people who, he says, “supposedly represent” him discuss, and then reject, Article 9—a zoning proposal that would convert two-family units into three-family units increasing the number of available housing units in Brookline “That was pretty frustrating, as one can assume,” he says. “I decided by the next evening that the best way to deal with that was to be one of the [voters] voting against it.” From there, Sipos’ campaign for Brookline Town Meeting was born Brookline’s election day is Tuesday, May 6 and with only five seats up for election per precinct during each election cycle Sipos says most of his time this semester has been dedicated to his campaign Ana Albuquerque, a Questrom School of Business associate professor of accounting, is a current Town Meeting member and is up for reelection in Precinct 1—Sipos’ precinct Albuquerque says she admires Sipos’ willingness to be involved in local government, though she disagrees that there is little representation for young people, calling attention to first-year Harvard student Bradford Kimball another Brookline Precinct 1 member up for reelection Kimball is currently the youngest elected official in Brookline “It is a contested seat because there are eight people [running] for five positions,” Albuquerque says Not because I have the extra time; it’s because I think it’s important to be part of the decision-making process.” Sipos and Kimball are both endorsed by Brookline for Everyone “Over 80 percent of Town Meeting is made up of homeowners even though over 50 percent of Brookline residents are renters so renters really aren’t represented in Town Meeting,” Sipos says “I want Town Meeting to recognize that there are a lot of people who need them to act more aggressively on the issue of housing.” Bob Weintraub (Wheelock’86), a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development retired senior lecturer in educational leadership and policy studies and a former headmaster of Brookline High School, is also up for reelection (though in a different precinct) He says it is exciting to see young people involved in government “Our schools are not doing a great job on educating kids about our government,” Weintraub says We need more young people [involved in politics].” The first order of business was to obtain enough signatures (a minimum of 10; he got 16) to be put on the ballot which he did by waiting outside train stations with a clipboard in frigid weather he contacted Brookline for Everyone and incumbent members of Town Meeting to get his name out as a candidate and establish connections Next came his campaign branding and website Sipos uses the MiniVAN app to aid his canvasing The site maps out registered voters in an applicable precinct and can track whether a candidate has canvased there already He says that while phone banking and sending mail are other avenues he has explored face-to-face interactions with voters has produced the best results. So far Sipos has raised between $500 and $600 for his campaign He says his friends thought he was a little crazy when he told them he was going to run for office but most of them pitched in to donate and help where they could the more I thought it was a really good idea,” says Alex Miller (CAS’28) Sipos’ “unofficial consultant” and a campaign contributor Miller has helped Sipos with graphic design work and putting up campaign flyers Sipos says the most memorable campaign moment so far has been registering people in his dorm to vote and seeing them be “excited about a candidate for once.” Though he doesn’t consider himself to be an extrovert he says he’s gotten used to making phone calls and starting conversations with random people even finding humor in getting doors slammed in his face and the guy closed the door on me in the pouring rain,” Sipos says “I later recognized his name in a public policy reading for class that was the guy who had closed the door on me.” he wants to remind young people that they can be the change they want to see in their government. “Just get out there and be someone who is not [at] retirement age I think you can make a difference that way.” New to Campus and Campaigning: BU Freshman Runs for Brookline Town Meeting Pioneering Research from Boston University On a typical workday at RARE Restoration Seth Barrett would arrive at the shop to see that his four in-house employees already had all the tools and machines up and running He’d spend the first half of the day interacting with customers and returning projects to them He’d then go downstairs to his workshop and work on repairs while his two on-the-field employees worked in people’s homes Now Barrett is down to just one other employee Uncertainty in the current economy has caused consumers to reduce their discretionary spending which he noticed about six months ago when his customers started paying only in cash He closed his Washington Street storefront and now rents it to Boston E-Bikes giving up the basement workspace below it as well but I feel it’s very likely that we’ll finally collapse.” A Brookline native, Barrett spent most of his career working as a builder and contractor. He wanted to aid conservation by reducing waste and opened Village Green Renewal, a repair shop and handyman service, in Brookline Village in 2008. The business quickly drew attention — CNN took notice in a 2009 article Although the economy was bad then, it felt like the right time to open because people were becoming more environmentally conscious, he said. In 2017, he renamed the shop RARE Restoration and partnered with his friend Kamaul Reid, who owns a moving company to market both businesses under the RARE umbrella The pandemic forced RARE Restoration to shut down and Barrett had to furlough all his employees and sell off the shop’s stock on eBay He shifted the shop’s focus entirely to repairs and stopped selling vintage hardware which previously made up 25% of his revenue stream RARE Restoration repairs anything and everything from regular Barrett is passionate about conservation and aims to keep objects out of landfills by helping his customers repair and reuse items instead of replacing them He keeps parts from broken-down furniture in stock in case customers walk in needing a specific part like a spindle for a Windsor bow back chair “I don’t see that there’s a lot of need to keep pulling things out of the ground because the raw materials we need are already up here,” he said “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy a new hairbrush if you need one but if you have a perfectly good jewelry box that you love and it’s broken I’ll make it work again and you don’t have to buy another one.” Barrett finds joy in restoring items that are personally significant and nostalgic to his customers RARE Restoration recently restored a decommissioned fire alarm box for a retired firefighter carefully remaking the interior plaques and ensuring the alarm dialed the correct number “My favorite thing is when an elderly person brings in a treasure that they’ve had for a long time and they’re crushed because it’s broken,” he said “We can put it back together nearly seamlessly and the feeling I get watching them have their item back is invaluable.” Designers used to ship new chairs to RARE Restoration so the shop could rebuild them to become more durable before they were even sent out to customers extending the lifespan of a two-year chair to 20 years “It’s a weight on my chest all day long thinking about not just what a loss it would be for me for the shop to close but what a loss it would be for the community and local environment.” RARE Restoration has also played a significant role in restoring community hubs around Brookline doing pro bono restoration work for schools the Brookline Arts Center and the Puppet Showplace Theatre Barrett prides his business in having a deep reach into the world of craftspeople so he can send customers to the right people for restoration work that he can’t do himself He also provides various free services out of love for the Brookline community “We have a small host of funny freebies that we do for people The license plate of my truck is Brookline: ‘BRKLNE’.” Working for the Brookline community has been a salve to Barrett’s soul but word of mouth and local presence haven’t been enough to keep the business afloat He is looking for help with marketing — which he said he’s never been good at — so that he can continue trying to make a positive impact on the local community and environment “I’d be fascinated if there was somebody who could further integrate us into Brookline and help me stay in business,” he said “I want to give more and become a ubiquitous part of this remarkable community where people are actually concerned about the environment.” Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Seth Barrett’s license plate Find similar articlesBusiness Economics The brokerage issued a hold rating on the bank's stock Brookline Bancorp stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday The company's stock had a trading volume of 376,743 shares The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.51 The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24 a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13 Brookline Bancorp has a 12 month low of $8.01 and a 12 month high of $13.15 The stock has a market cap of $967.97 million a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 0.88 Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01) The company had revenue of $91.49 million during the quarter compared to the consensus estimate of $91.38 million Brookline Bancorp had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 5.94% analysts forecast that Brookline Bancorp will post 1.35 EPS for the current year The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.135 per share This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02% Brookline Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.85% A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Brookline Bancorp by 99.8% in the third quarter Barclays PLC now owns 212,904 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 106,345 shares during the period purchased a new position in shares of Brookline Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $710,000 Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Brookline Bancorp by 7.7% in the fourth quarter Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,133,365 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,974,000 after buying an additional 224,888 shares in the last quarter boosted its position in Brookline Bancorp by 17.0% during the 4th quarter now owns 1,903,813 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,465,000 after acquiring an additional 276,025 shares in the last quarter Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brookline Bancorp by 96.2% during the 4th quarter Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 125,592 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 61,591 shares during the period Institutional investors own 78.91% of the company's stock MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on.. While Brookline Bancorp currently has a Buy rating among analysts top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys View The Five Stocks Here Explore Elon Musk’s boldest ventures yet—from AI and autonomy to space colonization—and find out how investors can ride the next wave of innovation Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline is scheduled to reopen to visitors on May 29 The reopening coincides with JFK's birthday — he was born in the Brookline home, at 83 Beals St., in 1917 the site will offer self-guided open house visitation Visitor hours during this period are from 10 a.m guided tours of JFK’s birthplace will be available on the hour and half-hour from 10-11:30 a.m Visitors can use a self-guided audio wand tour narrated by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the president’s mother, to explore the first and second floors of the house. The audio wand tours will be available in several languages. Additionally, a ranger-guided virtual tour can be accessed via the NPS app and the website at https://jofi.stqry.app/1 What's in the Kennedy files?: Trump says assassination documents will be released March 25 Admission is free and operates on a first-come The site will feature two regular programs throughout the summer: but visitors are encouraged to call the site on the morning of the tours to confirm availability The historic site is just outside Coolidge Corner in Brookline It's a half-mile walk from the Coolidge Corner T stop on the Green Line Free on-street parking is available on Beals Street for up to two hours For more information, visitors can call 617-566-7937 or visit www.nps.gov/jofi The public can also connect with the site on Facebook and Instagram © 2025 BVM Sports. Best Version Media, LLC. The Huskies advanced to 36-9 overall and 18-2 in the CAA showcasing their dominance with strong pitching from Aiven Cabral and explosive offense led by senior Alex Lane’s four RBIs scoring runs in multiple innings while maintaining pressure on Delaware who could not capitalize on their scoring opportunities the Huskies must maintain focus as the series concludes Delaware managed to score runs in every inning they faced Northeastern indicating areas for improvement in pitching and defense Northeastern aims to complete the series sweep over Delaware in the upcoming final game Continuing their strong performance will be crucial in maintaining momentum heading into future matchups The Huskies demonstrated their offensive firepower and pitching depth on Senior Day establishing themselves as a formidable force in the CAA with playoff implications on the horizon Teams looking to contend against them must find ways to stop a balanced Northeastern attack The summary of the linked article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology from OpenAI We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it OK Privacy policy Watch today's top stories and most popular videos which provide you with features like past/future radar and customizable layers Trust us to help you plan the best day possible with the most accurate weather forecast available We recognize our responsibility to use data and technology for good We may use or share your data with our data vendors The Weather Channel is the world's most accurate forecaster according to ForecastWatch, Global and Regional Weather Forecast Accuracy Overview TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need Here are some of the latest news items from this morning Two firefighters are in stable condition after becoming trapped on the second floor of a building on fire Tuesday in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood the union representing Pittsburgh firefighters said a multi-alarm fire broke out on Brookline Boulevard as storms ravaged the area Tuesday evening Two firefighters were trapped while battling the blaze on the second floor but other firefighters quickly rescued them Pittsburgh police were dispatched to an area near Fifth Avenue and Kirkpatrick Street in Uptown on Tuesday afternoon for reports of a body found in a wooded area behind a bus stop Officials said there were no obvious signs of trauma or of how long his body had been there before it was found $400K lottery ticket sold at West Mifflin Giant Eagle A $400,000 winning lottery ticket was sold at Giant Eagle in West Mifflin The Pennsylvania Lottery said the jackpot-winning Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket on Monday’s drawing matched all five balls drawn The Giant Eagle that sold the ticket will receive a $500 bonus Pittsburgh Marathon road closures announced The Pittsburgh Marathon announced a string of road closures this weekend when Boulevard of the Allies will be shut down from Wood to Stanwix streets More extensive closures will impact portions of Downtown and across the river in North Shore starting at 6 a.m. Saturday Those closures are expected to end by around 1:15 p.m The most widespread road closures will come Sunday and some expected to remain in effect until around 5:30 p.m Pittsburgh Regional Transit will detour routes around the marathon’s footprint Detailed closure maps and timelines are available through the Pittsburgh Marathon’s website Julia Burdelski is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com Stay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE 1-800-909-8742 © 2025 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved About Us Advertise Career Opportunities Contact Advertising Contact Circulation Contact Newsroom Contact Us Feedback Request Correction Resource Center Scholarship Opportunities Send Letter to the Editor Send News Tip Subscribe Subscriber Services Blog eFeatures Email Newsletters eTrib Facebook Home Delivery Instagram LinkedIn Marketing Minute Store Locations TribLIVE App - App Store TribLIVE App - Google Play X (formerly Twitter) Arts & Entertainment Best of the Best Business Directory Circulars Contests Coronavirus Lifestyles Local News YaJagOff Obituaries Opinion Our Publications Photos Real Estate Sports Video Weather Cookie Settings Privacy Policy Terms of Service Prosecutors have dropped an attempted homicide charge against a man arrested for a daylight shooting in a Pittsburgh neighborhood business district but he will face trial for aggravated assault and a firearms count on Tuesday waived his preliminary hearing in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom who lives in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood shot a man twice in the abdomen on March 17 around 4:20 p.m The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office declined to say what specifically led to the decision to drop the charge all we can say is it was a decision based on the circumstances,” First Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Spangler wrote in an email The incident took place in the 800 block of Brookline Boulevard near Flatbush Avenue in the heart of the neighborhood’s business district Police have not publicly identified the victim who first responders took to UPMC Mercy hospital that afternoon in serious condition Witnesses said they saw two suspects running up Flatbush Avenue after the shooting Cameras at a public housing high-rise and a Ring-style camera captured images of the two men Police said the men’s clothing in both videos matched witness descriptions The men discarded several items as they fled from the crime scene including a snack-sized bag of Rice Krispies and a bottle of Stella Artois beer Police said they recovered multiple fingerprints from the discarded items At least one of those prints matched Brown’s Brown remained Thursday at the Allegheny County Jail The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office did not return emails this week seeking comment Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com Hundreds of moviegoers alternated between silence and laughter as they watched Francis Ford Coppola’s movie “Megalopolis” at the Coolidge Corner Theatre – and then listened to the director himself talk about the film and his vision for the future of society Jack O’Hara of Roxbury said he and his roommate bought tickets as soon as they learned that the 86-year-old filmmaker – who has directed critically acclaimed movies such as “Apocalypse Now,” “The Conversation” and “The Godfather” trilogy – was coming to Coolidge Corner “Coppola is definitely a generational talent,” O’Hara said “I don’t want to miss the opportunity to see someone an idealistic artist played by Adam Driver The movie drew mixed reviews from critics and audiences Midway through the movie – in a planned moment – some of the lights in the theater came on and a man walked onto the stage A scene in which Cesar talks to the camera played on the screen as the man asked Cesar questions to mimic a press conference audience members burst out laughing at chaotic scenes mesmerized by the combination of ethereal music and psychedelic visuals “I don’t think it’s the type of movie that you watch one time and understand everything,” Justin Woelfel of Brookline said after the screening executive director and CEO of Coolidge Corner Theatre took Coppola’s visit as an opportunity to give him a Coolidge Award when he walked onstage to a standing ovation after the movie “There was no way we were going to let him leave without a Coolidge Award,” she said The award honors film artists who are unique and thought-provoking Recent recipients include actors Julianne Moore and Michael Douglas a Boston College sociologist and economist joined Coppola on the stage – although Coppola did most of the talking “It is time to talk about the future in this wreck of world that we’re living in now,” Coppola said He recruited a staff member to come onstage and write on a whiteboard 10 things that everyone cares about for the future The first point he had her write was “Time.” He asked the audience to contribute ideas but ended up solely using his own He had her use a red marker to write asterisks for each item once they can be turned into something “pleasurable.” “We humans decided to make it divided up into minutes “But let’s reinvent time.” He added more items to the list – such as “education,” “work-play” and “celebration” – as he fielded questions about filmmaking from the audience the movie tells you how to make it,” he said He talked about using acting exercises while making “Megalopolis” to help actors prepare for scenes Coppola asked if there were any actors in the audience He had one person pretend to be a ticket salesman while the others pretended to wait in line to get into a movie The exercise is supposed to help with concentration He ran another exercise in which people pretend to throw an imaginary ball in a circle while yelling out different noises The exercise helps with identifying hierarchies that are prevalent in everyday life “There’s always someone who is the boss,” he said Fans swarmed Coppola when he walked to the black Cadillac waiting for him outside Woelfel got his “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” movie poster signed He said Coppola is in his top-five movie directors of all time “It’s interesting to hear how his brain works and how he views everything.” O’Hara works in sales for a company that adds subtitles to films for production companies and streaming services like Netflix he gets involved with productions on his own Last week he flew to Los Angeles to act in a short film He said he is concerned about the current state of original filmmaking while production companies focus on profit over content and is inspired by Coppola using his fame to push the medium forward “Something like this is obviously a huge risk,” he said it’s going to be appreciated by someone.” Find similar articlesEntertainment The School Committee on Thursday made the final adjustments needed to close an $8.2 million budget gap projected for fiscal year 2026 The committee unanimously approved a $142,148,452 budget for the Public Schools of Brookline moving one step closer to the end of a months-long budget process Town Meeting must vote at the end of May to approve and finalize the schools’ budget the committee has been whittling down the gap with various cuts and adjustments To bridge the final gap the School Committee voted to move $1,943,064 in out-of-district tuition expenses from the fiscal year 2026 operating budget to the circuit breaker revolving fund This allowed the district to close the looming budget gap but district leaders say it is likely to create future challenges because the circuit breaker fund will be nearly $2 million less during the next fiscal year Officially called the Commonwealth Special Education Reimbursement Program the circuit breaker fund helps public schools offset the costs of special education services When the cost of special education services for a public school student in Massachusetts surpasses roughly $53,000 the circuit breaker fund helps the student’s district offset the remainder of the cost While all School Committee members voted in favor of this allocation several members as well as Town Administrator Charles Carey and Deputy Superintendent of Administration and Finance Susan Givens expressed concern about the long-term impact of the use of circuit breaker funds “It does create a structural gap … of around a million dollars,” Carey said at the School Committee meeting “That’s money that wouldn’t be available from the circuit breaker to cover FY27 expenses.” School Committee member Valerie Frias said at the meeting the School Committee typically uses all of its circuit breaker funding each year “I just want us to be eyes-open on the structural gap that we’re putting ourselves in for FY27,” Frias said In a memo he sent to the Town-School Partnership on April 25 Carey recommended the use of circuit breaker funds — a “school-based source of revenue” — to cover the schools deficit The Select Board and members of the Town-School Partnership are in agreement with the plan The School Committee also discussed on Thursday the possibility of the town putting $970,000 from the town’s Capital Improvement Plan into a “stabilization fund” that could be used by the schools in the event of another budget gap The proposal would require the participation of Town Meeting and was not moved at the School Committee meeting The stabilization fund would be managed by the town and would require the approval of Town Meeting for the schools to access the fund The money in the stabilization fund would come from an allocation for the redesign of the Lincoln School grounds Some School Committee members expressed support for the move while others were wary of the requirement that Town Meeting approve the schools’ use of the fund whose term expires this year and who is not running for re-election raised concern about what might happen if Town Meeting did not approve the schools’ use of the stabilization fund “We are then admitting a scenario where there is something potentially catastrophic,” Ehrenberg said Editor’s note: Brookline.News is working to compile a list of all the cuts made by the School Committee for fiscal year 2026 It will be published before Town Meeting votes on the budget in late May Find similar articlesBudget Education Schools Town government The Washington Square French restaurant La Voile has closed 10 years after it opened at 1627 Beacon Street said a number of factors led to the decision including swirling national and local policies forcing Bergere to decide whether to commit to the location long-term La Voile’s owners had been in discussion with another group about buying the business and continuing as partners but the group dropped out of the deal at the last minute The Trump administration’s tariffs were also a factor for a business that relies heavily on imports “Raising the price in this area would probably be a disaster for us.” Shifting federal immigration policies worried him too – Bergere said he helps many employees get visas to work in the U.S Two local government factors also helped make the decision One is a proposed ban on foie gras which Town Meeting will consider next month Foie gras is big business for the French restaurant The final factor was a repaving project which just began on Beacon Street and prohibits La Voile and other nearby restaurants from providing outdoor seating during the late spring and early summer months The restaurant held a final gathering on Sunday and is now selling its kitchen equipment and dining inventory was convenient for guests from areas like Brookline and Newton and its upstairs room was the home of “many memories,” such as weddings and birthday parties “I feel like 10 years is an accomplishment,” he said including surviving the difficult years of the pandemic when La Voile was able to keep its staff on the payroll but we accomplished 10 years of staying open.” Find similar articlesBusiness Restaurants Town government It’s the high season for real estate in Brookline with multiple properties selling every day ranging from a $600,00 unit on Englewood Avenue to a $3.7 million garrison-style home on Welland Road Scroll through below to see all of the recent sales Find similar articlesDevelopment Economics Housing When Gateway Arts moves from its longtime home on Harvard Street to the Studios on Station Street on July 1 it will be the latest sign that the arts scene in Brookline Village is on a post-pandemic rebound which signed a 10-year lease late last year for more than 9,000 square feet of space at 9-21 Station St. joins three other art studios that have opened there since 2020 All of the studios report growth in their membership as artists seek out affordable communal spaces where they can work and show their wares a vibrant studio and programming space that has served adults with disabilities since 1973 said he is excited to move in because there is more space to work features a gallery on the ground floor for members’ artwork but the new space on Station Street will provide even greater possibilities for Gateway “The new Gateway will strengthen our mission to advance inclusive careers in the arts,” said Liakos more accessible creative workplaces for artists while deepening our connections to Brookline and Greater Boston This major investment affirms the growing recognition of artists with disabilities and their unique contributions to our culture and creative economy.” Recognizing the longevity and loyalty of its members Liakos noted that two members from its founding in an Allston basement in 1973 still work for Gateway and have continued their membership throughout the past 50 years When asked what her favorite part about Gateway Arts is Ashley Wolfe said she spent 15 years in a job that she was not happy in she now enjoys her job and is expanding her art She never thought she could find a sustainable alternative job that she felt happy in until she found Gateway was founded by a group of psychiatrists and social workers in 1977 to offer programming and support to individuals with a wide range of intellectual and developmental disabilities Gateway Arts is the only arts program from Vinfen and has members from all over the Boston area as adults work to create art and learn life skills Gateway Arts’ budget is just over $2 million and 60% of it comes from a contract with the state Department of Developmental Services The rest is made up of private philanthropy and program members get paid for their work and time Gateway Arts joins other maker spaces and galleries that have opened since 2020 A nonprofit owned by Arts Brookline Station Street Studios opened at 17 Station St moving into the brick warehouse occupied by America’s Test Kitchen from 1993 through 2017 The studio focuses on affordability for its artist members Sixteen members occupy studios in the building Artists can share studio space to subsidize the cost of rent the board co-president of Muddy River Arts (the nonprofit behind Arts Brookline) has been to help artists to find something affordable Emmert said Arts Brookline’s mission “seeks to activate accessible safe and affordable artist and maker workspaces to help address a critical need in our present expensive real estate environment artists need a place to produce their work Station Street Studios offers modest work spaces in a variety of shared configurations and this generates a sense of community We are continuing to find ways to add more artists.” When Emmert heard of an antique printmaker up for grabs in Rhode Island she jumped into action to move the machine It sits in the center of one of the studios Karen Flannery and Sharrel Meeker opened Andem Art Studios in early 2020 with just 10 members They expanded in 2023 and now have more than 40 members who work primarily in ceramics and mixed media The pair started out as artists at the Feet of Clay Studios but eventually wanted to start studios of their own Andem rents space and time in the kiln, the high-temperature oven needed to harden clay plates, bowls and cups, and was one of the first few studios to sign up for an international kiln-sharing website, Kiln Share Clay can be a hard medium to work with at home Andem serves as a space to create and recharge particularly for those who work in ceramics and it has received rave reviews from local artists The owners shared the story of a couple who had a flooded condo and spent half of their time at the studio and half of their time at a hotel room in the aftermath The studio space allowed the couple to find time for themselves and find community all of the studios are open to the public to explore and learn more about the work of member artists Workshops are held periodically to display the art to the public and Flannery and Meeker have also opened Literally Local Flannery and Meeker noted that artists sometimes have a hard time getting their products to potential buyers and they opened Andem in part because it felt like “Brookline needs a sort of a revamp.” Since their opening in 2020 and expansion in 2023 the Greater Boston area has seen a burst in farmer’s markets and crafts — in fact Meeker said that it is at times “overwhelming” because there are so many markets for artists to sell their creations One of the newest additions to Brookline Village, Literally Local is the brainchild of Flannery and Meeker the owner of Station Street staples Jamie’s Ice Cream Co Literally Local was founded in October 2024 with the mission of showcasing work from Massachusetts “It came about really quickly,” Meeker said It felt fun.” Artwork ranges from cards to paintings Literally Local showcases the work of around 50 different artists from around New England Meeker said that Literally Local gets foot traffic because the Thai restaurant Mahaniyom is down the street like other small businesses in Brookline Village the gallery struggles with limited parking Focusing primarily on pottery and working with clay, Feet of Clay has been a cornerstone tenant on Station Street since 1996 offering a variety of classes to the public and hosting nearly 140 members in its studios It also fosters a tight-knit community with an emphasis on affordability at a time when artists across the nation struggle with rising prices for space and supplies the owner of the Feet of Clay Studio Corp. Wyman said that the community of artists is so tight knit that when Holly Sears her efforts have always been “community driven” and that all of the studios “are really trying to make Brookline Village into an artist destination.” This story was produced in collaboration with the Reinventing Journalism course at Brandeis University, taught by Professor Neil Swidey, with mentoring for student journalists by Brookline.News editorial adviser Ellen Clegg and editor Sam Mintz. Read more about the collaboration here. Find similar articlesArts Business Nonprofits Two men armed with a gun allegedly robbed and assaulted a Brookline resident on Kent Street early Saturday morning Police received the report of an armed robbery at around 3:37 a.m. according to Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell The two men were reportedly hiding in bushes on Kent Street near Longwood Ave before emerging and pointing a firearm at the victim One of them struck the victim with the gun and they stole a shoulder bag he was carrying before fleeing in two different directions on Kent Street The victim was injured and taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for treatment Brookline police detectives are investigating Find similar articlesPolice and crime Public safety Public Schools of Brookline Superintendent Linus Guillory will resign from his position “Serving the students, families, staff, and community of Brookline has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life,” Guillory wrote in his resignation letter, which was shared by the School Committee in an email to the community “I am immensely proud of all that we have accomplished together.” The School Committee said in its message on Monday that Guillory had submitted the letter on April 15 The committee will soon start discussing the process for hiring an interim superintendent to take over on July 1 Guillory’s resignation comes during a challenging period for Brookline parents as well as the School Committee and the district’s leaders In its most recent annual evaluation of the superintendent in August the School Committee rated Guillory’s overall performance “proficient,” noting he made “significant progress” toward his goals in professional practice student learning and district wide improvement Guillory’s resignation is part of a larger cycle of turnover at the top of Brookline’s school district seven people have served as superintendent on a permanent Find similar articlesEducation Schools Three Town Meeting members are running for an open seat on the Select Board, the five-member executive branch of Brookline’s town government. Architect Carlos Ridruejo, photographer Liz Linder and entrepreneur Michael Rubenstein are vying to replace Michael Sandman, who decided not to seek reelection after serving one three-year term. but early voting begins April 26 and mail-in ballots are available now As with many recent elections in Brookline all three candidates name development as their top issue approaches and voting records offer clear distinctions One notable example: The three candidates voted three different ways in Town Meeting on a plan to rezone Harvard Street to comply with the MBTA Communities Act a state law designed to increase housing in communities near public transit. Fiscal issues are also front and center: The candidates all say they are concerned about a “structural deficit” that has forced small budget cuts for town departments and created larger funding gaps for the schools With costs outstripping the property tax increases allowed under state law the resulting deficit is particularly acute in communities like Brookline with few commercial properties to alleviate some of the pressure The race has divided the current Select Board four of whom have endorsed different candidates to fill Sandman’s seat. Paul Warren and Bernard Greene have endorsed Linder Curious about the people behind the yard signs now dotting every street in Brookline Learn more about the three candidates in the profiles below listed in the order they will appear on the ballot The Brookline Village location of Liz Linder’s successful photography business – and her nearby fourth-floor walk-up condo – have led her to become closely involved in town government over the last few years. Watching development proposals pop up that could reshape the neighborhood around her the area that I happen to have chosen is in the crosshairs of a lot of development,” Lind said in an interview “I see up front and I live the issues that we’re talking about the issues that a lot of people in the town government are fairly removed from She first became involved in these issues when she initially opposed a proposal to build affordable housing for seniors on the Kent Street/Station Street parking lot She says she came around to support the proposed development after participating in town committees for the project while advocating for an approach that preserved all of the parking in the lot Later, Linder was part of a group pushing back on the design of a proposed daycare center on Harvard Street arguing that the proposed development would create hazardous and congested traffic patterns and parking conditions The project was approved by the town’s Planning Board in December. was first elected to Town Meeting in 2022 after an unsuccessful run in 2020 A self-described moderate on town politics she sees herself as a strong supporter of mixed-use development “There are people who are pro-development and there are people who are opposed to development but to me it’s not yes or no; It’s really about if it makes sense Linder abstained on the final vote for the plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act through major zoning changes with the potential to reshape Harvard Street. She says she had a clear conflict of interest given that her home and business are located in the area that would be rezoned. and I’m glad it went through,” she said. When it comes to the town’s fiscal problems Linder said she wants to look at the way funds are divided between town services and the schools which is currently a roughly 60-40 split in favor of the schools. “I know that the senior population is growing and the student population is shrinking,” she said the town has a mandate to provide its residents with emergency and municipal services.” If elected, Linder would be the only woman on the board. She said she’s aware of the imbalance and said that she believes “representation matters,” but hasn’t been running on her gender I’m looking to bring some design thinking into the mix,” she said. Endorsements include current board member Paul Warren: “Liz has already demonstrated her commitment to Brookline through her service on planning and as a Town Meeting Member for Precinct 4 and leads with a sense of purpose and practicality that I admire.” (See Linder’s full list of endorsers here). Carlos Ridruejo looks at Brookline through a design lens Ridruejo has served on committees looking at the best uses for areas such as Boylston Street He’s also a member of the Advisory Committee an appointed committee that makes recommendations on the town’s budget and other matters facing Town Meeting. and it clearly needs to add more housing,” Ridruejo said in an interview “We just need to do it in a way that the community and the neighborhoods are in agreement.” grew up in Spain and moved to the United States decades ago to study architecture He has lived in Brookline since 2005 and got what he calls the”civic duty bug” when he became a U.S “I feel like I’ve complained a lot about some things and it’s time to stop complaining about it and just get to it.” Ridruejo has voted against the majority on two of the highest-profile votes in recent years: rezoning Harvard Street as part of compliance with the MBTA Communities Act and a plan to spend $209 million to rebuild the Pierce School. He says those votes were born out of pragmatism Ridruejo says that he believes the plan was “rushed,” and that zoning for the key corridor should have instead been considered within the broader ongoing process to create a so-called Comprehensive Plan. “I was against spending that much money at Pierce It definitely needed renovation or expansion But there are many things in that project that are not necessary for a public school.” When it comes to the town’s fiscal challenges Ridruejo says he believes the cycle of frequent tax overrides needs to end the voters are going to say no,” he said.” which required voters to approve an additional tax increase has helped push town voters toward potentially denying future overrides “You have a bucket of money that the voters have stashed away for future financing you take a little bit of that bucket.” Ridruejo has advocated for more commercial development, and he’s currently sitting on a committee studying an under-utilized area of Route 9 in Chestnut Hill where a developer has proposed a large project which includes a hotel. Ridruejo says he worries about Brookline’s future but feels it’s well positioned to grow in the right way. you’ve seen towns that have changed in a way that the life has gone out And I think Brookline because of its location history and everything … has a lot of potential to recover from that,” he said. Endorsements include current board member David Pearlman: “Carlos is a strong leader who will work hard every day for this town He is deeply concerned about our structural budget deficit and committed to finding pragmatic solutions that will help people afford to remain in Brookline including the town’s fiscal Advisory Committee Capital Subcommittee will give him the foundation to help bring our town’s budget into balance without sacrificing essential services.” (See Ridruejo’s full list of endorsers here) Michael Rubenstein is most known in Brookline for his housing advocacy. He was one of the leaders of Yes! In Brookline an advocacy group formed in 2023 to build support for compliance with the MBTA Communities Act and the development of new housing in Brookline. first ran for and was elected to Town Meeting. the 400-person software company he had started with his brother. attending the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. He came to focus on housing policy through the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization an advocacy group that he joined through his synagogue Rubenstein was co-chair of GBIO’s healthcare campaign for three years advocating for policies aimed at lowering hospital and prescription drug costs and increasing access to mental health care when GBIO asked its members about their priorities “housing clearly rose to the top of the list,” Rubenstein said. One of the key branches of the group’s housing justice campaign was encouraging cities and towns in Massachusetts to comply with the MBTA Communities Act a state law intended to encourage rezoning to increase the capacity for new multifamily homes near MBTA stations. That push propelled Rubenstein into town government he was among the 84% of Town Meeting members who voted in favor of the compliance plan He is the only candidate in this year’s Select Board race to do so. Rubenstein said he is “really proud” of the advocacy work he did to build support for the proposal. “I think that my work there was an example of the way that I work to get things done,” Rubenstein said and the eventual passage of the plan in November he had around 70 one-on-one meetings with other town leaders and advocates is an important way in which I try to move things forward,” he said I will continue to use those skills and expertise in understanding people’s struggles When it comes to addressing the town’s fiscal challenges Rubenstein said he advocates for “smart new growth,” primarily focused on mixed-use development and increasing the town’s commercial tax base. He said that he sees the Select Board’s role as taking in information from long-term planning efforts like the Comprehensive Plan and the town’s Planning Department and figuring out how to actually take on the opportunities they present. Rubenstein says what sets him apart is his combination of business experience and I have a set of skills and expertise that I believe can help Brookline face those challenges,” he said. Endorsements include retiring board member Michael Sandman: “Brookline is a wonderful place to live but keeping to that standard requires bringing experience and independence of thought to bear on the many challenges we face. Michael Rubenstein has that experience and independence.I know he will work to increase the availability of housing and support the economic development to increase our commercial tax base and that he recognizes the importance of our schools in making Brookline a wonderful place to live.” (See Rubenstein’s full list of endorsers here). Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly named the synagogue which Michael Rubenstein attends Find similar articles2025 Town Election Elections Town government This year’s race for Brookline’s School Committee is the most competitive since 2018 running for three open seats in the May 6 election Most new candidates cited the district’s cyclical fiscal problems as a top reason for running — particularly the $8-million budget gap for fiscal year 2026 which the School Committee is currently working to close. the School Committee has made significant cuts and rejected most student-facing reductions But even the proposed cuts — such as slashing middle school performing arts programs and reducing the number of special educators in the district — have challenged the relationship between district leaders and teachers Brookline’s School Committee is a nine-person elected body with members serving three-year terms the committee’s main responsibilities are to evaluate the superintendent review and approve the schools’ budget and establish educational goals and policies for the district The School Committee typically meets every other Thursday and takes public comment In last year’s town election, incumbency and name recognition won races Could frustration with the status quo in Brookline’s schools lead to different outcomes this year Click on each candidate’s name to read more about their backgrounds and ideas for Brookline’s schools. Candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot Helen Charlupski is currently the longest-serving member of the School Committee and one of two incumbents in the race She has lived in Brookline since 1980 and was first elected in 1992 Currently chair of the capital improvement subcommittee and a liaison to the Steps to Success program Charlupski also previously served as chair of the School Committee Charlupski is committed to helping Brookline’s schools reach “sustainable excellence,” and her more than 30-year tenure on the School Committee will help achieve that goal and our schools urgently need stability and institutional history to build back to where we were,” Charlupski said Charlupski considers herself a “bridge-builder” who prioritizes listening to different perspectives and fostering collaboration between a variety of groups Charlupski has met with parent-teacher organizations to explain some of the budget cuts made by the School Committee as well as an Arab-Muslim student group at BHS to discuss the committee’s decision to cut the Office of Educational Equity Charlupski said is “not averse to taking a grant” to fund some of the positions in the office as long as there is a sustainable way to cover those expenses in the future Charlupski is looking for creative solutions to budget problems She pointed to a recent vote to restructure part of the Brookline Early Education Program which saved the district money while optimizing educators’ time “Those are the sorts of things that I look for ways to bridge the gap … bringing people from all sides of the issue together and talking and trying to find the right solution for Brookline,” she said Charlupski would focus on bringing BEEP classrooms to Brookline schools instead of on out of district leases finishing the Pierce School building project on time under budget and with advanced sustainability features and stabilizing district leadership. She would also aim to expand the Steps to Success program to encompass kindergarten through second grade Charlupski wants to continue collaborating and making progress with the School Committee “People always have differences and that’s fine,” Charlupski said we get much further on the School Committee.” Charlupski’s endorsements include David Pearlman a Select Board member and former School Committee chair Valerie Frias has lived in Brookline for 11 years and was elected to the School Committee in 2022 She is the deputy director of the Elder Justice Unit in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and has advocated at the state and local levels for policies on special education Frias hopes to restore Brookline residents’ trust in the schools and the district by stabilizing leadership She aims to develop cohesion at the administrative level and hire compassionate school-based leaders during a period of national turmoil and division “So many groups are under attack and there’s so much uncertainty in funding and policy coming from Washington,” Frias said “I want to make sure that these building leaders are not just technically great but also have real empathy for students and for their families.” Protecting students and fostering inclusive learning environments is a priority for Frias, a former chair of the School Committee’s diversity, equity, inclusion and justice subcommittee. She hopes to boost students’ feelings of inclusion and belonging in Brookline with programs like Facing History in Ourselves which teaches history through an ethics and civics lens and has previously been implemented in middle school grades in Brookline “It helped prepare them to have the harder conversations that come with adolescence as you’re maturing and experiencing differences in the world and how to approach those conversations with understanding and hope rather than fear and mistrust,” Frias said The vote to eliminate the equity office was “one of the hardest votes” Frias has ever taken while on the School Committee but she did it because cutting from the central office meant protecting school-based programs such as learning centers and the African American and Latino Scholars program “My rationale was to preserve equity in the classroom,” Frias said As the School Committee continues to address the fiscal year 2026 budget gap as well as the district’s recurring financial problems Frias is focused on protecting student programs and teachers in classrooms and creating a “thoughtful and lean administration,” she said If reelected, Frias would play a role in hiring a new deputy superintendent of student services — a position that was vacated in March after the former deputy resigned, alleging financial mismanagement Hiring someone to fill the position is “critical,” Frias said and the School Committee should ensure the new candidate is equipped to oversee programming handle contract negotiations and work with students and families Frias’ endorsements include Brookline PAX departing School Committee member Steven Ehrenberg Massachusetts state representatives Bill MacGregor and Kevin Honan Akiva Leibowitz His passion for free speech for Brookline educators and students is at the center of his campaign Leibowitz worries that public schools will be the next target for what he sees as the Trump administration’s crackdown on free speech Leibowitz would aim to protect critical dialogue and self-expression across the district “We need to protect free speech and the freedom of the teachers to teach what they feel they need to teach,” Leibowitz said “We need to protect our students to be able to engage in critical inquiry and intellectual curiosity.” He referenced the Day of Racial Reckoning and Solidarity event at BHS, the subject of recent controversy after a number of parents tried to prevent a Palestinian student from participating in the event claiming that the student’s speech would be antisemitic which eventually took place despite calls for its cancellation is an example of the autonomy educators must have Currently a physician by day, Leibowitz previously worked in education as a founding member of Hajar a bilingual Jewish Arab School in the Negev which encompasses southern parts of Israel and part of Palestine centers around project-based learning rather than exams That “progressive pedagogy” received pushback from parents and other stakeholders but also taught Leibowitz how to work with educators “Excellence is not limited to academic achievements,” Leibowitz said “These other elements of education — compassion inclusiveness — are part of this excellence The School Committee should support educators in balancing the many elements of academic excellence and bridging achievement gaps to achieve educational equity Leibowitz supports fully funding the schools’ budget education is the “single most important investment” a local government can make and Brookline should provide the schools with the money they need to function fully Leibowitz would prioritize hearing from a range of parent and educator voices to serve the school community more widely “I would listen to diverse parent groups,” he said we tend to hear the loudest and the strongest It’s our duty to actually reach out to those whose voices may not be heard Leibowitz’s endorsements include the Brookline Peace Coalition and the Brookline Equity Coalition For Danna Perry the School Committee’s role is as a “focused and decisive leadership body.” If elected Perry would aim to rebuild trust in the School Committee and PSB leadership by making the School Committee’s work more visible “If we could bring more transparency and accountability to our students and our educators I think maybe that level of distrust would dissipate,” Perry said who grew up in Brookline and attended Brookline schools has been “very active” in Brookline Schools for the past decade She is currently a board member for the Brookline Parents Organization and a member of the Brookline Special Education Parent Advisory Council Perry has advocated for special education students and bullying prevention and volunteered in the K-8 schools Though Perry’s children are just one year apart they attended different K-8 schools in Brookline giving her unique insight into the differing experiences of students across the district Perry’s role on the School Committee would also be shaped by her experience as a single mother “I have a child who’s on an [Individualized Education Program] and I cannot afford to pay for services outside of school,” Perry said “That makes me very conscientious that our classrooms have to meet the needs of a diverse body of students.” Perry’s biggest asset is her more than 10 years of experience “volunteering navigating this district” alongside parents and educators the School Committee’s biggest task is addressing the district’s recurring fiscal problems which have resulted in significant budget cuts and sown mistrust between parents the School Committee should “look beyond the status quo” and reevaluate its budget development process She is opposed to de-leveling ninth grade English courses at BHS and in favor of developing a “framework to ensure that curriculum is politically neutral,” she said. She has also previously advocated for a district-wide hate speech policy Perry has worked as an executive assistant in New York City and co-owned two restaurants in Cape Cod She is currently a project manager in the medical field Each of her professional experiences have strengthened her communication and advocacy skills Perry’s endorsements include Pearlman the Select Board member and former School Committee chair as well as Brookline PAX and the Brookline Police Union has three young children in Brookline schools who are at the center of his campaign for School Committee. a business executive at the lawn care company Scotts Miracle-Gro moved to Massachusetts from Ohio three years ago He and his family settled in Brookline for its public schools but have been disappointed by the ongoing fiscal crises that have led to cuts in programming like world language courses for kindergarten through fifth graders. “I have a decade plus here … and I want my kids to have an amazing education,” Potere said “I’m dismayed by the cuts that seem to single out that K-8 cohort.” Combined with his desire to advocate for his children and other young children in the district problem-solving and overseeing teams of employees pushed him to run for School Committee Addressing Brookline’s budget problems is a top priority for Potere he would work to be more proactive about planning the budget and anticipating gaps so families and educators are not told about potential cuts until it’s too late Potere would also try to be more intentional with the district’s spending if the district is not seeing improvement in MCAS scores Potere would ask how money could be better spent Potere is also focused on rebuilding trust between district leaders and parents he would encourage more information sharing between the district and the committee and make that information available to the public the role of the School Committee is both to advise district administrators and hold them accountable Besides addressing Brookline’s ongoing fiscal problems Potere would target early learning and prioritize the K-8 level to ensure that students enter high school fully prepared Potere is opposed to de-leveling ninth-grade English courses at BHS Potere would push to re-evaluate the use of technology in classrooms He emphasized that addressing Brookline’s budget gap and continued fiscal problems is his top priority “I think I speak for a very large group of people when I say that by protecting students you’re protecting teachers,” Potere said “You’re protecting any student-facing position: your paras Bob Weintraub a Town Meeting member and former head of Brookline High School said educational equity is a top priority for him if he is elected to the School Committee Weintraub has lived in Brookline for nearly 50 years and served as the head of BHS for 19 years Weintraub was principal of a K-8 “micro society” magnet school in Lowell He also taught courses in education management at Columbia University and Boston University Weintraub also started Brookline’s Calculus Project, which provides wraparound math instruction for students of color in Brookline starting after eighth grade and has since become a national program programs like the Calculus Project are essential for bridging achievement gaps in Brookline “You can’t expect kids who historically have not done well to do well with no special intervention,” he said Weintraub’s vision of equity includes challenging the brightest students He is opposed to de-leveling ninth grade English courses at BHS and wants to focus instead on preparing students who are falling behind for more academically rigorous courses A long-time believer in “funding the schoolhouse,” Weintraub said cuts such as the School Committee’s recent elimination of Brooklie’s Office of Educational Equity are practical in times of fiscal instability but cuts to school-based equity leads are concerning In addition to increasing educational equity in Brookline Weintraub wants to stabilize leadership among district administrators and school leaders He expressed concern about “the revolving door on the fifth floor” of Town Hall where administrative offices of Brookline schools are located and the lack of retention among K-8 principals stabilizing district and school leadership goes hand-in-hand with addressing Brookline’s recurring budget crises Weintraub said he would work to build a relationship with Superintendent Linus Guillory and collaborate to make Brookline a place where school and district leaders stay long-term He added that he has nearly 20 years of experience with budgeting as BHS headmaster where he managed a roughly $30 million budget and helped address a budget gap in the 1990s by restructuring the leadership there “If we can do what I’m envisioning in terms of building that trust in the community then I think we’ll have much more budget flexibility,” Weintraub said Weintraub’s endorsements include four Select Board members and five current School Committee members. Find similar articles2025 Town Election Budget Education Elections Schools Brookline Town News Portal April 29, 2025 by Camryn Langille The Town of Brookline unveiled its new logo and rebranded website this week reflecting the community’s values and marking a big step toward a more unified presentation of Town communications a public survey gathered over 500 responses highlighting key themes that residents and employees believe best represent Brookline —green spaces Factors that contribute to Brookline being one of the best places to live This feedback guided the logo’s design through several iterations led by an internal working group of Town Administration staff and Select Board Member David Pearlman an additional 276 community members and visitors weighed in on four potential logo options during Brookline Day and through an online vote; shaping the final design The new logo and website incorporate multiple shades of green symbolizing the town’s cherished green spaces and ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability The tree featured in the logo includes 17 leaves representing Brookline’s current 17 precincts The design also depicts people sitting on a bench In the fore- and background are iconic Brookline landmarks The updated website reflects a refreshed design aligned with the new brand guidelines developed over the past year through a comprehensive process “We began this project with a simple but important goal: to better reflect Brookline’s identity and values through consistent thoughtful design,” said Town Administrator Chas Carey “Thanks to the engagement and feedback from our community and staff we believe this new brand truly captures what makes Brookline a unique and welcoming place.” The new brand is not about reinventing Brookline but rather about better telling the story of a community with a rich history and a bright future Filed Under: News Copyright © 2025 Town of Brookline , Massachusetts · Site Design by JGPR · Log in Brookline Town Hall, 333 Washington St, Brookline, MA 02445 · Town Website The new senior living community run by the company Kisco held a grand opening ceremony on its 190,000 square foot campus last week which start at $10,000 a month and include apartments for independent living make the development a major addition to Brookline’s housing landscape taken by Taylor Coester for Brookline.News: Find similar articlesDevelopment Housing Seniors Margie Mendez, an 86-year-old Brookline resident with deep ties in the community, died on April 5. who relatives say was a loving matriarch and caregiver with a strong sense of civic duty came nearly three months after she was struck and seriously injured by a Massachusetts State Police cruiser in a crosswalk on Boylston Street in Chestnut Hill Members of her family say that they still feel in the dark about the crash and that they are frustrated by a lack of communication and accountability from the investigating law enforcement agencies and overlooked by the police,” said Briah Méndez Rainey Her death is being investigated by State Police officers assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office as well as the office of the state’s chief medical examiner Both the State Police and DA’s office declined to comment on any details of the investigation While Linton said the cause of Mendez’s death remains under investigation members of Mendez’s family say that she died from serious injuries caused by the collision They also believe that the seriousness of the crash was downplayed by police. A spokesperson for the State Police told news outlets at the time that the cruiser that struck Mendez was traveling at a “very low speed” as it responded to another motor vehicle collision “The terminology used was very vague and passive,” said Sabrina Parise Her grandchildren say they have not yet received any police reports from the State Police but what they have pieced together is that Mendez was running errands in Chestnut Hill on the afternoon of Jan She was crossing Boylston Street at the intersection with Hammond Street when she was struck by the State Police cruiser which was turning right from Hammond Street onto the westbound side of Boylston Street State Police said in a previous statement to news outlets that the cruiser was responding to a call but Rainey and Parise say they were not told that the vehicle had its lights or sirens on She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where she had emergency surgery to relieve pressure in her skull She celebrated her 86th birthday in the intensive care unit in January, according to a GoFundMe published by the family where she was surrounded by loved ones but unable to blow out her candles State Police denied a public records request from Brookline.News investigative records and camera footage from the crash who works in the State Police legal counsel’s office said in an email to Brookline.News on April 11 that the agency is not releasing the records because the investigation is still ongoing who was born in Baltimore and grew up in Virginia moved to Boston in 1958 and then Brookline in 1977 Her home near Brookline Village eventually became the nucleus of a large family 18 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren “She was all the quintessential things a grandma is and would often go shopping for friends who had limited mobility Mendez also had a strong sense of civic duty and patriotism. In November 2020, she was featured in a Brookline Tab article because she was the first person to show up to vote in the presidential election wearing an American flag face mask along with her face shield and a walking boot She passed those beliefs down to her children and grandchildren And she took me to vote as soon as I turned 18.” She also often cared for the children of friends and neighbors and was known as an unofficial grandma to many Brookline residents a dedicated Red Sox and Patriots fan who loved to bowl and play in Scrabble tournaments with her children “Everybody knows their grandmother doesn’t live forever But they’re not supposed to go this way,” said Rainey “And what’s so upsetting is that although she was here to love me for 30 years A wake and viewing is scheduled for Thursday at Bell O’Dea Funeral Home (376 Washington Street) April 18 at 12 noon at the Walnut Hill Cemetery in Chestnut Hill Find similar articlesPolice and crime Public safety Transportation The School Committee continued to reduce Brookline schools’ fiscal year 2026 budget gap on Thursday but some of the most controversial cuts were rejected or postponed By the end of Thursday’s School Committee meeting, the district’s projected budget gap was reduced to about $1.7 million, down from roughly $8 million earlier this year the School Committee eliminated salaried positions for one associate dean two paraprofessionals and one MCAS coordinator at Brookline High School for a savings of about $266,000 which were proposed by BHS Head of School Anthony Meyer The committee also approved several cuts to mental health professionals in the district’s Office of Student Services included some part-time positions as well as some positions that are currently vacant or will become vacant due to retirement “My understanding of the situation is that none of these are cuts in services,” said Mariah Nobrega The School Committee unanimously rejected proposed cuts to curriculum coordinator positions at the K-8 level which would have saved the district about $174,000 including curriculum coordinators who spoke during the public comment section of the School Committee meeting said it would have increased educators’ workloads and made data collection The School Committee discussed but did not vote on a proposal to “sunset” Brookline Adult and Community Education — a public education program that serves children adults and seniors in Brookline — by September The organization offers dozens of courses in art the School Committee allocates some of its budget to help fund BACE which is a nonprofit and generates some revenue but operates largely on school and grant funding The nonprofit has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and has run deficits for several years Director Michelle McGlone said Thursday night The School Committee voted to keep BACE services running through Aug ensuring that summer programming will proceed as planned The committee will decide in an upcoming meeting whether it will eventually stop funding the program “I think we need to give them some time to really try and work at getting up the revenues so that there isn’t a deficit and the program could go on,” said Helen Charlupski a School Committee member who is up for reelection in May The School Committee also voted Thursday night to reduce the amount of money it allocates to the town’s building department for maintenance and repairs from about $3.7 million to about $3.1 million In addition to the new cuts made Thursday night administrators recalculated the money associated with some previously made cuts Brookline’s deputy superintendent of administration and finance The updated calculations show an additional savings of $142,000 The School Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for May 1 Nobrega as well as two other School Committee members requested Thursday night that another meeting be scheduled before May A contractor demolished a Brookline house without the proper permit failed to turn off the gas and electricity before tearing down the building The demolition at 73 Beverly Road has sparked concern in the neighborhood and drawn the ire of the Brookline building department State regulators have fined the contractor “It was the most egregious violation of building code I have seen in my 30 years on the job,” said Brookline Building Commissioner Dan Bennett He told Brookline.News he thought the proper permits were in place and that he was told the utilities had been disconnected Debris including a shattered toilet now litters the site and the foundation and the chimney are all that still stands witnessed the demolition begin on February 28 The demolition took multiple days to complete “I was looking out my window just thinking the two-story house near the Baker School had been vacant since July 2023 when it was sold to Monica Ahluwalia and Sankalp Sehgal “This home seemed like something we could rehabilitate renovate and rebuild to be the home of our dreams,” Sehgal told Brookline.News But they decided renovating it wouldn’t work They decided to tear it down and to build a modern Ahluwalia and Sehgal – who are living in Jamaica Plain with their two children while they wait for the new house to be built – hired Ian Teesdale’s company IDR demolished the interior of the house in September 2023 and applied for an exterior demolition permit in early 2024 Sehgal said he was under the impression that IDR had received that permit Teesdale said he assumed he had the correct permit when his crew began demolishing the house Feb he realized he had only obtained a partial demolition permit for the roof and rear wall was driving past the house on the day the demolition began when he saw workers stripping the roof off the house it’s about time they got working on that but it’s kind of weird they are starting it so late in the day on a Friday,” Harrington said Thall said she was concerned that no fence was put up before the demolition – a violation of state building code according to Brookline building commissioner Dan Bennett “It was really sloppy and kind of weird,” Thall said Thall took a picture of the site after the demolition and sent it to the Brookline Preservation Commission Granai observed a makeshift electric pole sticking out close to the sidewalk The power and gas lines had not been cut off prior to the demolition The Brookline electrical inspector was notified to cut the power to the house after the demolition prompting Eversource to come in to cut the power Sehgal said he thought that the electricity had been shut off months before the demolition But an Eversource spokesperson said in an email to Brookline.News that the company has no record of receiving requests to cut the power on the site before the demolition started The inspector smelled gas at the site and notified the Brookline Fire department The firefighters tried unsuccessfully to shut off the gas at the site A National Grid worker was called in to shut off the gas at the street Sehgal said National Grid had posted a notice on the front door roughly six months after the couple bought the house National Grid workers visited the house multiple times before the demolition A National Grid spokesperson told Brookline.News that it did not receive a request to cut the gas line until after the demolition had occurred Teesdale was told to erect fences around the perimeter The demolition crew also failed to remove asbestos prior to the demolition Teesdale said he hired an asbestos contractor to inspect the site six months before the demolition The contractor reported no asbestos in the pipes and reached the same conclusion when he returned to the site the week before the demolition Asbestos – which was widely used for insulation and fireproofing until it was discovered to be carcinogenic in the 1970s – was discovered on a pipe behind a wall after the demolition People exposed to asbestos can develop lung cancer or other diseases years or decades later The inspector required Teesdale and his crew to place warning signs around the property Teesdale said he realized after the demolition that the asbestos contractor had an expired license State regulators have fined Teesdale $750 for handling asbestos without a license according to a civil citation and civil penalty filed by the state’s Department of Labor Standards Bennett said he is waiting to hear from Brookline’s attorney before deciding how much to fine Teesdale He could face fines of as much as $1,000 per day by the building department The Zoning Board of Appeals can also impose fines of up to $300 per day for failing to have the proper permit Sehgal told Brookline.News he thought all the necessary inspections for asbestos water and electricity had been completed before the demolition said she was not bothered by the demolition the demolition seemed very efficient,” Litt said Litt was relieved to see the house torn down after sitting untouched for almost two years She said the owners deserve the benefit of the doubt for the problems that have arisen from the demolition “I can’t wait for them to be my neighbor,” she said go figure out what happened and prevent it and fix it Find similar articlesDevelopment Housing Town government It’s a hot time of year in the local real estate market There were 16 properties sold in Brookline in the last week of March and first week of April ranging from a $490,000 condo on Beacon Street to a $5.3 million Warren Street colonial-style single-family no fishbowl discussions – just readers enjoying one another’s silent company reading is a social activity – but not one where there’s pressure to share your thoughts on your reading said Brookline resident Kaarkuzhali Krishnamurthy founder of the group and one of seven people who attended its monthly meeting Thursday night in the Coolidge Corner library “We often think of reading as a solitary thing that we do and it doesn’t have to be that,” said Krishnamurthy “We’re all looking for new ways to make connections.” The group’s meetings are modeled after those of Silent Book Club Krishnamurthy said she’s applying to become an official chapter – until then they’re calling themselves the Silent Book Group Krishnamurthy started the group in September as a way to create a natural opportunity for people to meet other readers who might not have as many built-in opportunities for community as children or students you may have friends left over from college but new opportunities to meet people can be limited,” Krishnamurthy said “I welcome this as a chance not only to meet people whose just natural paths through life wouldn’t necessarily cross mine but also as an opportunity to meet people at different stages of their life.” “It’s not dissimilar to when people go to coffee shops to write but to do it in the company of others,” said Krishnamurthy who was reading “Three Junes” by Julia Glass The group meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m in the Coolidge Corner branch of the Public Library of Brookline start with half an hour of snacks and conversation “You don’t have to have access to reading materials on your own,” Krishnamurthy said “You could pick something up at the library as you come downstairs.” said it’s nice the book club is at the library rather than at a coffee shop or bookstore “Libraries are the ultimate ‘third place,’” McDonald said referring to a term in sociology meaning a place other than work or home “Public libraries are one of the few places where anyone can come in and there’s no expectation they spend money.” McDonald said programs like this at the library allow people to meet “We’ve got a small group of regulars,” said McDonald who ws reading “The Ballad of Never After” by Stephanie Garber “It’s so nice to check in with everyone each month.” who attended a meeting for the first time Thursday said she loved the idea of a silent book club “Nobody’s going to say we need to discuss,” said Morrison the meetings are strangely rejuvenating – like a retreat “I feel like in all the other aspects of my world I’m just so acutely aware of time,” said Krishnamurthy and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this getting a pedicure.” The book club meetings allow her to honor the act of reading “It’s not reading as an afterthought,” she said Find similar articlesEntertainment Recreation At a packed School Committee meeting on Thursday night the committee rejected some of the most unpopular cuts proposed by the district agreed on about $3 million in reductions and left many decisions to be made in the coming weeks crowded the fifth floor of Brookline’s Town Hall Thursday night filling the room where the School Committee meets and spilling into the hallway As the committee met to discuss options for addressing a major budget deficit students and school employees hoisted signs with slogans like “kids B4 admin” and “clean schools + full bellies = AFSCME 93,” chanting “we deserve better” at deafening volume Those in green t-shirts represented AFSCME 93 the union that includes custodial and cafeteria workers in Brookline schools while those in red came from the Brookline Educators’ Union Some members of both groups are at risk of losing their jobs in the face of a roughly $8-million budget deficit projected for the Public Schools of Brookline in fiscal year 2026 Several hundred more community members watched online the School Committee had approved cuts in about a dozen categories including removing one vice principal and a senior director in the office of teaching and learning; cutting two administrative positions that are currently unfilled; and reducing spending on general supplies and services Some of the most unpopular cuts previously proposed were taken off the table on Thursday The School Committee unanimously rejected proposed cuts to the district’s performing arts programming non-mandatory summer programming and middle school sports The committee also unanimously rejected proposals to halve the number of instructional aides across the district and to increase material fee tuition which allows Brookline educators to send their children to school in the district whittling a roughly $8-million budget deficit to about $5 million said the School Committee has both financial and advocacy responsibilities an obligation to make $8.2 million worth of cuts,” Nobrega said “The School Committee … has a role of advocacy to say when we have done what we can do and when we can’t do anymore without really causing serious damage.” The School Committee is legally required to balance the schools’ budget but several members said Thursday that they do not want to vote on a final budget until the committee receives the results of an outside “deficit review” of school finances The review which will study alleged financial mismanagement and its potential impacts on the projected deficit began in early March and is expected to be complete by late April or early May The School Committee must have a completed budget ahead of Town Meeting A slew of potential cuts went undiscussed Thursday night and will be pushed to a future meeting including the partial privatization of custodial and food services — a move that administrators say would save the schools around $1 million School administrators recommended in February that the district shift from an in-house to hybrid model for custodial and cafeteria workers maintaining some current employees but privatizing other services to save money The district has yet to provide details about how many jobs would be lost but the suggestion received widespread backlash from the public with parents citing safety concerns and skepticism about the long-term impacts of the switch said cutting custodial and cafeteria workers would not be financially beneficial in the long run “It’s a short-sighted decision for some perceived short-term savings that evaporate within a few years if they even exist to begin with,” Durkin told Brookline.News in an interview “You’re getting a reduced quality of service trusted employees with a revolving pool of strangers.” Members of the School Committee requested more information about the potential consolidation of caseloads for teachers the move would cut eight learning center teachers a part-time educational team facilitator and a part-time nurse It would save the district an estimated $1.2 million Multiple School Committee members asked school administrators for more information about how the cut would impact workers’ caseloads “The team is working to get” information about the potential impact of the cut but it’s not looking at it just solely as numbers That’s the aspect where they have to dig into the students and their needs as such.” including the elimination of the Office of Educational Equity a reduction in classes at Brookline High School a reduction in transportation services and the potential consolidation of the Brookline Early Education Program will be discussed at future School Committee meetings the next School Committee meeting is March 20 but multiple members requested an additional meeting be scheduled for March 13 The finance subcommittee is scheduled to meet on March 19 With five “yes” votes and four abstentions the committee cut one senior director from the office of teaching and learning multiple School Committee members expressed their discomfort with eliminating the position “I’m not ready to make this cut yet,” said member Suzanne Federspiel it’s just too soon for me to make this cut.” the School Committee voted to remove one vice principal position for $130,000 The School Committee cut two administrative positions: a director of data in the office of administration and finance and the director of civil rights and bullying prevention in the office of student services The committee voted to scale back training and conferences The committee also approved an increase in athletics fees from $350 to $400 per season which will increase revenue by an estimated $116,000 Members also voted to reduce high school athletics funding by $67,345 — down from administrators’ proposed $100,000 cut — which will remove funds for some assistant coaches but allows the school to keep its gymnastics program and complete its cycle of Unified Sports The committee approved a reduction of general supplies and services and a $400,000 cut to the amount of money schools send to the building department for maintenance The committee also agreed to put less money in the town’s reserve fund transfer for a savings of $225,000 The School Committee accepted three additional cuts recommended by the finance subcommittee: a reduction of about 20 new positions the removal of an IT services position that is currently vacant and a reserve fund section optimization Find similar articlesEducation Schools Town government A coalition of Brookline groups is raising money to fund equity-focused positions across the district that were eliminated by a divided School Committee on March 13 the district’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning announced at a School Committee meeting Thursday that the coalition coordinated by the Brookline Community Foundation The coalition must raise $205,000 to fund the assistant director position in the Office of Educational Equity and restore equity leads within K-8 schools The group also includes Brookline for Racial Justice & Equity the Brookline Asian American Family Network and the Brookline Justice League As part of its efforts to close a roughly $8 million budget gap for fiscal year 2026, Brookline’s School Committee voted on March 13 to eliminate the Office of Educational Equity and remove funding for equity leads which administrators said would save about $400,000 Backlash to the decision was widespread and immediate More than 125 teachers signed a letter opposing the cut and principals from three K-8 schools wrote to the School Committee afterward to sharply criticize the decision Pierce School Principal Jamie Yadoff, who announced in February she will leave her position at the end of the school year for a principal job in Newton told the School Committee she has “never been more embarrassed to work in Brookline” than when the equity office was eliminated according to an email obtained by Brookline.News “This decision has already had an immediate and negative impact on staff morale — which will harm children Teachers and administrators will have less tangible and emotional support who have tangible evidence that we are not going to support them and this will disproportionately harm students of color,” Yadoff wrote in her email The coalition is aiming to raise enough money to fund the assistant director and equity lead positions for one year the district is expected to fund the positions using a grant given to the schools by the state Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity program a voluntary busing program that allows Boston students to attend suburban districts like Brookline “This is ongoing work that members of our community are taking on because of something that they value,” Fortuna said interim executive director of the Brookline Community Foundation said the fundraising effort “corresponds to our mission to create a better Brookline for all and to bring partners and resources together in a manner that meets the moment.” “We believe OEE is critical to addressing inequities in education and particularly those that surged with the Covid pandemic from which communities across the nation have yet to recover,” Cochran said The School Committee on Thursday also rejected a controversial proposal to partially privatize custodial services in the district and voted to reinstate a teacher who provides services for students with special needs the School Committee had pared down the district’s budget gap to about $3.7 million down from about $8 million when budget talks began in February The School Committee unanimously rejected administrators’ recommendation to outsource some custodial services in the district but approved a hiring freeze for three custodial positions that are currently vacant The district’s proposal would have saved about $350,000 The School Committee’s vote to pause hiring for the three vacant positions will save about $182,000 the School Committee also unanimously voted to restore one teacher in the Adaptive Learning Center (ALC) at the Lincoln School The position was one of several eliminated by the School Committee in early March following a recommendation from the finance subcommittee The ALC serves Brookline students with disabilities in kindergarten through eighth grades Administrators recommended the position be restored based on a projected increase in the number of students using the center during the 2025-26 school year Karen Shmukler, Brookline’s interim deputy superintendent of student services, said Thursday that she and other administrators took a “deep dive” into the ALC “We looked at the spread of students … and identified that the addition of the ALC teacher for next year is a need,” Shmukler said Restoring the position will cost the district about $95,000 The School Committee also voted to consolidate some bus routes across the district and remove “optional transportation” for students living within 1.5 miles of their schools which is not required by the state but is a policy in Brookline Members of the School Committee also approved a proposal to reduce the number of Chromebook computers across the district and delay the renewal of some Chromebook leases to fiscal year 2027 The committee also voted to reduce the amount of money it sends to the town’s building department by about $162,000 The School Committee heard but did not vote on proposals from administrators at Brookline High School including Head of School Anthony Meyer who provided options for about $250,000 worth of savings Meyer’s proposals included cuts to administrators social workers and paraprofessionals at the high school; increasing some class sizes; and making adjustments based on enrollment Meyer said he will further develop the proposals after class selection at BHS begins on April 7 Disclosure: The Brookline Community Foundation has contributed grant funding to Brookline.News. For a full list of funders and donors, please click here. The Brookline School Committee took the controversial step Thursday night of eliminating the district’s Office of Educational Equity as it looks to close an $8 million deficit in next year’s budget The 5-4 vote is viewed by community advocates as a setback for equity programs that Public Schools of Brookline had previously embraced and that provided protections and support for students from diverse backgrounds School Committee member Carolyn Thall voted in favor of eliminating the OEE office and said it was a practical decision “It had nothing to do with the Trump Administration or any politics at all And certainly not the current politics,” Thall told GBH News Administrators have said eliminating the office would save the district about $337,000 a year Thall said the school committee was able to further reduce the budget gap to $4.3 million with other cuts “The budget in Brookline is perennially stretched “We were running on one time ARPA [American Rescue Plan] funds that were inevitably going to run out it happens that budget season in Brookline is coinciding with a new presidential administration.” The Brookline Asian American Family Network or BAAFN issued a statement expressing disappointment that Public Schools of Brookline is eliminating its sole office devoted to diversity “This decision appears to be a retreat from PSB’s commitment to combat educational disparities by race as well as a diminishment of its support to students from marginalized communities including Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) students.” BAAFN cited the loss of the position of Assistant Director of Educational Equity with elimination of the office which it said was created in part to help support AAPI students the group said the decision “will also mean the loss of two women of color as administrators from PSB in a school district where there are already too few staff and teachers of color.” BAAFN said it had hoped Brookline would be free of the “anti-DEI hysteria being stoked from Washington DC.” School committee member Jesse Hefter said the decision to eliminate the OEE office was one of a series of options presented by the superintendent “I think that the timing in terms of the optics is unfortunately He added that he understands how the public might conflate the school committee’s decision with the Trump Administration’s efforts to outlaw DEI programs “It’s just unfortunate that this is happening at the same time that people are seeing the federal government make decisions and then they’re looking at the school committee in Brookline and they’re saying this seems like of things that the federal government’s doing.” Governor Maura Healey and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell reaffirmed the state’s commitment to equal access to education and encouraged educational institutions to continue to support and foster DEI programs within schools who is also a Brookline town meeting member and mother of two PSB students said the district is top-heavy with administration and cuts needed to be made without harming the quality of education “Everybody on the school committee is committed to keeping the cuts that we have to make away from classrooms hopefully away from special educators,” she said while keeping “the initiatives and programs that were being run out of this office.” Hefter pledged that the district and school community will continue to embrace a culturally diverse environment even though the office no longer exists the faculty and staff on their own believe in fairness in the absence of this educational equity office the drive and the commitment that the Town of Brookline and its citizens have towards justice for all should continue.” Your essential daily newsletter delivering trusted news and can't miss programs from Boston and beyond The School Committee voted Thursday night to eliminate the district’s Office of Educational Equity, delivering a blow to equity initiatives that were expanded as recently as last summer The cut is the latest of dozens made by the School Committee in the past two weeks, in its efforts to close what started as a roughly $8 million budget gap for fiscal year 2026 the School Committee had reduced the gap to about $4.3 million down from roughly $5 million at the beginning of the evening A divided committee voted 5-4 to eliminate the Office of Educational Equity which administrators estimated would save the district about $337,000 Some committee members advocated for a school-based approach to equity programming while others pushed for the district to maintain its systemic approach Public Schools of Brookline Superintendent Linus Guillory said the work done in the equity office will be reallocated to other offices “We’re actually looking at that for all of the central reductions,” Guillory said “The work that the team had been doing was in close connection with student services cited the “federal dismantling of protections and supports for our students.” “It concerns me greatly that we would open our students and our staff up to that level of risk,” she said a School Committee member who is up for reelection this spring She agreed that changes made at the federal level are “concerning,” but said services for students and staff should be provided in schools rather than by a central office “It’s hard for me to think about a $337,000 office when we’re still in the face of a $5 million budget deficit,” Frias said I want to make sure we’re fully funding all of those building-based programs.” Steven Ehrenberg, who voted against eliminating the office, said inequities in Brookline require systemic solutions. His term on the School Committee expires this spring and he is not running for re-election “The idea of abandoning a systemic problem in Brookline is … deeply troubling to me even if it’s to go back to the deeper investment in individual programs that we know work,” Ehrenberg said “I think we have systemic issues in Brookline and we need to address them systemically.” Jesse Hefter and Andy Liu voted in favor of eliminating the office Suzanne Federspiel and Sarah Moghtader joined Nobrega and Ehrenberg in voting against the closure which eliminated the two chief central office positions in the equity office the School Committee approved an additional $67,500 in cuts to remove funding for 22 equity leads across the district as well as a program that creates video modules on equity for teachers The elimination of the Office of Educational Equity raised concerns for Christy Rodriguez who has three children at the Pierce School Her family moved to Brookline from the south shore in 2019 partly because of Brookline’s focus on racial equity “Applying an equity lens to all of these difficult budget decisions will serve all students,” Rodriguez said “Cutting programs like OEE is not taking this equity lens.” a Brookline parent and Town Meeting member She called on the five School Committee members who voted in favor of the elimination to think about how to maintain equity programming across the district “I hope they have some ideas of what’s going to fill that void,” Park said “I hope they will really think about how our students are going to be helped the School Committee unanimously rejected the partial privatization of food services in the district which administrators said would save about $222,000 the district will maintain its in-house food services model for fiscal year 2026 and “explore options” for the future according to Deputy Superintendent of Administration and Finance Susan Givens Looking into the School Committee meeting room filled with members of the AFSCME 93 union — which represents cafeteria and custodial workers in Brookline — Givens clarified that fully privatizing the district’s food services and custodial services was never on the table “It was not our intention to outsource the entire food service program or custodial program,” Givens said The School Committee also unanimously rejected proposed cuts to math specialists in the district which administrators estimated would save $386,761 the School Committee discussed but did not vote on two other proposals: consolidating the workloads of school counselors and special educators and reducing the number of curriculum coordinators for kindergarten through eighth grade the proposals would save the district an estimated $1.2 million and $174,276 The School Committee will discuss both proposals such as the partial privatization of custodial services The School Committee also said Thursday that it has closed its fiscal year 2025 budget gap of about $2.7 million The committee froze hiring and non-essential spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2025 and used money from revolving funds such as the materials fee and early education funds to help close the gap Charlupski expressed concern regarding the continued closure of the gap for fiscal year 2026 “I’m concerned about how we’re going to get further down,” Charlupski said An eruption of laughter bursts from the crowd of more than 400 people as Paul Newman cracks a raw egg into a beer and starts drinking it “That is disgusting,” a man in the audience says The audience had gathered for a March 29 screening of “The Verdict.” was screened during a film series at the Coolidge Corner Theatre organized by podcaster Bill Simmons as part of his The Rewatchables podcast the theater screened eight films selected by Simmons showing older movies is part of the charm – and business strategy – of the iconic Brookline theater It does extraordinarily well,” said Billy Thegenus programming and outreach coordinator for the Coolidge Corner Theatre He estimates that the theater shows around four different repertory films a week These films change throughout the year and don’t often repeat except for “Point Break” (1991) and “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy (2001-3) Films are chosen anywhere from three months to a year in advance In the case of the “Big Screen Classic” series members of the staff all vote on which films to show The theater also offers a variety of other series such as “Cult Classics,” and “After Midnight,” which includes showings of “The Room” (2003) and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) “A key thing I’m learning is you program for the audience as much as you can because it can’t just be based off of your taste It has to be what you think people will show up for,” Thegenus explains Several months ago, the theater began planning a screening of films to celebrate the career of Gene Hackman. Following Hackman’s death in February, the theater decided to move up the screenings to April and has been playing eight of Hackman’s films over the month. As a nonprofit organization, the Coolidge Corner Theatre has the flexibility to show what it wants to show and that includes films unlikely to be seen at nearby theaters and I come out to see old movies that I haven’t seen in theaters whenever I can,” Cameron Kelly who was first in line for the theater’s showing of “Good Will Hunting,” said makes the hour-long trip to the theater at least once a week “It’s probably the best place to see a movie in Massachusetts,” Kelly said Many of the older films shown at the theater are readily available on streaming platforms. Not only is it cheaper to rent a movie at home, but it’s easier to press play from the comfort of your couch than it is to drive to the theater. After theaters shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and streaming became more readily available Thegenus says the Coolidge Corner Theatre has seen a decline in older audiences overall will still pack theaters for movies of all varieties including screenings of ones that came out before they were born “I think it’s really hard to replicate the film experience at home,” said audience member Jonathan Waring after leaving the screening of “The Verdict.” Elements such as the bigger screen and even the camaraderie of an audience sharing an experience are all reasons moviegoers like Waring are drawn to movie screenings rather than simply streaming at home “To hear the audience respond to it in a really positive way that’s always very rewarding as well where they’ll burst out laughing during scenes that might be really funny and you’ll hear the hooting and the hollering That’s always really pleasurable,” Thegenus said Coolidge Corner Theatre screenings attract a variety of moviegoers Thegenus starts many of the films by asking “How many people are seeing this film for the first time” and often hands will go up He’ll then take it a step further by asking “How many people are seeing this film and have never even heard of it?” Hands continue to be raised “Whether those folks are coming alone or coming with friends that’s always really awesome to see that people are willing to take chances on movies,” he said Find similar articlesBusiness Entertainment Public Schools of Brookline Superintendent Linus Guillory is under intense pressure as the school district faces a deep budget crisis and proposed sweeping cuts in services ranging from the performing arts to classroom instructional aides As the district and School Committee wrestle with alleged financial mismanagement leading to gaps in special education services and a projected $8.2 million budget deficit for next year some members of the school community have pointed a finger at Guillory which has publicly backed Guillory to this point is increasingly divided on his performance with several saying the buck stops at the top and at least one believing Guillory is dealing well with challenges facing school districts across the state As a high-profile outside audit of school finances looms Brookline High School parent Masha Kogan called on the committee to “be unafraid to lay blame for this crisis where it belongs has the power to see that the superintendent take responsibility for this Please exercise your lawful authority and do the difficult and right thing,” she said Frustration with the superintendent has also boiled over on social media where some Brookline parents have been more direct “Time for Guillory to go,” wrote one in a local Facebook group said that he is concerned with the situation in the district With Guillory as the school system’s leader “the buck has to stop with him,” Mackenzie said He said the district’s proposed cuts for next year seem to especially target the K-8 schools Guillory does or does not support as there’s an absence of that type of advocacy during School Committee meetings,” Mackenzie said in district leadership to advocate for the K-8 schools.” Guillory pointed to outside factors that have contributed to a challenging environment “The FY26 budget dilemma is a confluence of several factors: increased costs fully capturing all operating costs,” he wrote The extreme challenges for school districts across Massachusetts include limits on property tax increases and decreasing access to federal pandemic funds The Boston Globe reported earlier this month that many Massachusetts school districts are facing a “bleak financial picture … as they grapple with inflation as well as the loss of federal pandemic aid and state assistance that fails to keep pace with costs.” Guilllory said that the district needs to “build back a special education contingency/reserve fund there are unanticipated costs that arise where funding sources are needed,” he wrote The School Committee, a nine-member elected body that has authority over the hiring and firing of superintendents, has not publicly discussed Guillory’s performance since last summer, when it gave him overall positive grades in an official review But interviews with several members made clear there are now divided views among the committee about his ability to lead the district and uncertainty about the best path forward Our schools are in a level of crisis that I haven’t seen,” said School Committee member Carolyn Thall who has had children in Brookline schools for 14 years “I’m unsatisfied with the quality and quantity of information provided to me as a School Committee member and a member of the public.” “At this point I don’t see a path out of our multiple crises with our current leadership structure,” Thall said the longest-serving member of the Committee and a member of the search committee that recommended hiring Guillory said that she is still supporting the superintendent It’s a tough time for education in general If you look across most of the communities around us And people blame the person at the top,” Charlupski said I think it’s an impossible job being superintendent these days.” In a recent interview with Brookline.News Steven Ehrenberg had said that he is not running for reelection because of “opacity” and a lack of cooperation from Guillory and that the administration has still not fully explained the district’s budget problems I think the School Committee’s responsibility right now needs to be to agree on a balanced budget that minimizes cuts that directly affect students We should postpone other discussion until this is done,” Ehrenberg said said that he has concerns about Guillory’s accountability He pointed to issues including the current fiscal crisis in the schools, Guillory’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel, for which the superintendent ultimately apologized and the recent resignation of Liza O’Connell the deputy superintendent who oversaw special education services “We need clear and defined actions taken by the superintendent and I’m not sure that’s happening in the way I think it should,” Hefter said “It just doesn’t seem like we have a very firm hand on the tiller right now.” Member Sarah Moghtader declined to weigh in on Guillory’s performance and said that she prefers to take concerns about issues in the schools to him and the leadership of the School Committee directly She said she is awaiting the results of the audit which is about to get underway to investigate both the budget gap and allegations of financial mismanagement “I don’t want to underplay that things may very well have gone wrong here but I want to be part of the solution going forward of regaining the trust of the public so we can get back to our work,” she said The other four members of the committee either declined to comment or could not be reached before this story was published Guillory told Brookline.News that he feels he still has the support of the committee even while the relationship is “ongoing and constantly evolving.” “The School Committee and I are committed to building sustainable budgets that are predictable as well as allow room for innovation,” he wrote “We will work through the current financial set of challenges as well as continue to improve our budgeting processes so that we do not find ourselves in this predicament in the future.” He added that he thinks the district has made gains in identifying and presenting the costs for each school and department “There have been increased requests for the details behind the numbers “Providing the additional layer of information will be useful in communicating in such a way that all understand the meaning behind the numbers.” Guillory is on a six-year contract that runs until June 2029 was approved in November 2022 and began in July 2023 It has not been previously reported in the media the Committee voted publicly to approve the contract but did not disclose details including its length School Committee Chair Andy Liu provided a copy of the contract after a request by Brookline.News The six-year contract is the longest legally allowed under Massachusetts law for a school superintendent With a base salary that escalates from $256,000 in 2024 to $292,000 in 2029 in addition to several scheduled “retention payments,” the total contract is worth nearly $1.7 million It allows for either party to terminate the contract; the School Committee if it demonstrates “good cause” and Guillory if he gives at least 120 days notice “Good cause” is defined in the contract as “any ground put forth by the committee in good faith that is not arbitrary or irrelevant to the task of building and maintaining an efficient school system.” with a three-year contract that was set to end in 2024 Two people with knowledge of the negotiations who asked to remain anonymous to speak candidly said that the 2022 renegotiation was initiated by Guillory and that he had indicated that there were many job openings for superintendents elsewhere Guillory wrote that previous superintendent contracts had contained benefits that were not in his first contract I was the seventh Brookline superintendent in a six-year period when I came to the District; stability was something that was important to the committee and community,” he wrote The town has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle two lawsuits filed by a police officer who alleged retaliation and gender discrimination at work The settlement puts an end to a series of complaints brought by Amy Hall a 20-year veteran of the Brookline Police Department which have been winding their way through the courts and the state’s discrimination commission for nearly six years She and her attorneys alleged that following a 2019 complaint she made about alleged bullying and harassment toward her by a coworker multiple department leaders retaliated against her repeatedly punishing her through escalating disciplinary actions intimidation and denying her chosen assignments In court filings the town has denied Hall’s claims and said that she was not retaliated or discriminated against The settlement includes language stating that the town does not admit any wrongdoing and continues to deny Hall’s allegations Under the terms of the settlement, which is dated Jan 31 but was first made public in a March 11 court filing the town will pay Hall $500,000 immediately as well as an additional $1.3 million spread over 120 monthly installments of $10,833.33 who had remained with the department throughout the litigation process resigned her position as a Brookline police officer as part of the settlement declined to comment on the details of the case beyond confirming the details outlined in public documents Hall’s attorney Tim Perry said the compensation is a “good result” after the five-year saga but called the overall settlement “bittersweet.” but it doesn’t compensate her for that,” Perry said Hall referred questions from Brookline.News to Perry The initial $500,000 payment is described in the settlement as being compensation for Hall’s “emotional distress” alleged in the lawsuits The 10 years of monthly payments are intended to simulate her pay over the next ten years if she had been able to stay with the department The payments to Hall will be made from the town’s Liability/Catastrophe Fund, according to Metcalf, the town spokesperson. According to town budget documents that fund is part of the so-called “free cash” reserves kept by the town and is maintained at 1% of the town’s net revenue which would place it currently at around $4 million Metcalf confirmed that the town made both the initial lump sum payment and the first of the periodic payments within the last two weeks Court filings state that the town’s Select Board approved the settlement which was signed by Town Administrator Charles Carey The board most recently spoke about Hall’s case in a closed-to-the-public executive session at a meeting on Dec The settlement is the largest the town has agreed to pay since its $11 million settlement in 2021 with Gerald Alston, a Brookline firefighter who alleged racial discrimination. Hall’s first lawsuit, filed in Norfolk County Superior Court in 2021, alleged that she was retaliated against after reporting bullying and harassment by another officer in 2019 the details of which she has not described publicly described the initial incident as “threatening comments.” That dispute led to multiple suspensions for Hall, one of which was later found by the state Civil Service Commission to have been “deeply troubling” and given out of “bias and personal animus” toward Hall Hall continually filed complaints internally within the police department and the town’s Human Resources throughout 2020 including one whistleblower complaint alleging unspecified “corruption and possible criminal activity.” She also claimed that she was repeatedly given assignments that she considered less desirable on the north side of town as retaliation for her complaints Her complaint also alleges gender discrimination claiming that female officers are given “stereotypically traditional female roles” in the areas of domestic violence another officer struck a punching bag during a training session and said that she was “hitting Amy Hingston (Hall)’s face.” “I have been victimized by a male supervisory dominated police department now for several years,” Hall told the Brookline Patch in 2022 “I have begged for help from management up to and including a chief and recently two acting chiefs ridicule and ostracization among other negative behavior.” The events alleged in that first lawsuit took place under Chief Andrew Lipson, who stepped down in 2020. But in a second lawsuit Hall also claimed retaliation by current Chief Jennifer Paster Paster suspended Hall last year for alleged “incompetence,” in relation to an internal complaint that Hall had made alleging discrimination and retaliation That suspension was later found unwarranted and overturned by a hearing officer appointed by the town A spokesperson for the police department declined to comment for this story Hall’s attorney Perry said that the level of compensation paid by the town was “an indication of the seriousness of the claims that were brought coordinated effort to retaliate against Officer Hall from the very minute that she decided to report her first discrimination complaint way back in 2019,” Perry said the town and Hall continued to spar in court this month The town withheld its initial $500,000 payment to Hall because when she resigned in January, she allegedly refused to hand in her department-issued badge, bulletproof vest and ID card – the latter of which she allegedly shredded – according to a March 12 filing from the town that called it “outrageous unlawfully retaining public property.” the town and Hall filed a joint dismissal of the case indicating that the final dispute had been cleared up The town declined to comment on the substance of the disagreement but Metcalf confirmed that it was resolved Perry said that Hall believes the dispute over the department property was the “last shot across the bow.” “It was a final embarrassment or humiliation they could throw against the wall at her,” he said Find similar articlesBudget Police and crime Public safety Town government Every summer community members in Roxbury gather to wash “Eternal Presence,” a seven foot bronze head maquette outside the National Center for Afro-American Artists Adults soap up the face of the sculpture affectionately known as the “Big Head” while kids enjoy cleaning out the ears polishing a legacy erected by a member of their own community The late John Wilson created the sculpture, drawing inspiration from the Olmec heads — huge stone sculptures from the Olmec Civilization likely depicting high ranking members of society Instead of portraying a specific individual “Eternal Presence” is meant to represent anyone and everyone in the Black community who was born in Roxbury and lived in Brookline for 51 years “Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson,” the largest-ever collection of his work in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art Wilson’s children Erica and Roy Wilson sat at Erica’s dining room table near Coolidge Corner during a recent interview with Brookline.News looking around at etchings and drawings created before and after the sculpture hanging on the surrounding walls Erica gazed at a drawing from 1972 of Wilson’s initial idea for a monumental head with a closed mouth “He wanted the piece to have an inner soul “Eternal Presence” stares at the viewer as if to say “You will not f—— ignore me,” Roy said The piece exemplifies Wilson’s mission as an artist: To bring Black people into spaces where they weren’t previously given space and to depict the multifaceted sides of humanity Wilson raised his children in Brookline with his wife Julie and they married in 1950 before the Civil Rights movement began remembered her husband for his honesty and sensitivity I was very lucky to be married to him,” she said telling stories of a magical winged horse named Grease Lightning and constructing sculptures out of Play-Doh with his children “He was an angry man because almost any Black man of that generation was an angry angry man because they should’ve been,” said Roy “Race was an inescapable understanding,” Erica added “It was a part of my understanding of myself and my family’s understanding of who we were in the context of Brookline.” She referred to Boston’s Busing Crisis in 1974 and her own personal accounts of racism in the community like when a neighbor let all of the white kids play in their backyard pool but not her came from his community and his family and experiences he had as a young person and growing up the time that he grew up,” said Erica of her father “He was born in ‘22 and so in the ‘20s and ‘30s Black people were being lynched all over the country and so there’s a real sense of violation and danger.” Wilson captured this danger and fear in “Study for the mural ‘The Incident’” (1952) ink and graphite work illustrates a mother protecting her child from a Black man being lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan while a father looks on at the horrific scene with an angry Wilson’s work runs the gamut from capturing intense to seemingly banal moments like people sitting in waiting rooms to tender scenes of familial love and care Erica said her father drew fervently and brought index cards wherever he went to sketch and he sculpted — I desperately wish I still had it — this three dimensional horse kind of creature that hung from my ceiling for years and years and years,” said Erica It felt like he didn’t have control over it.” an early casting for “Father and Child Reading,” a sculpture also featured in the exhibition sat on a long wooden table surrounded by other castings The sculpture depicts a father reading to a young child on his lap It became a symbol of education and tenderness when it was unveiled on campus at Roxbury Community College in 1990 He moved to Brookline with his family for the school system even though it meant living in a majority white neighborhood and a town where his mother used to clean houses He was a professor of Fine Art at Boston University for 20 years and instilled the importance of learning in his children and dealt with racism that limited their ability to secure jobs compounding the impacts of the Great Depression His mother supported his family as a domestic worker and his father raised him and his siblings When Wilson created “Father and Child Reading,” he initially thought it was about his own children but later realized it paid homage to his parents “He talks about this sculpture as being at its heart a loving remembrance of his parents and how they inculcated in him the importance of reading it was really critical to do that very thing in this exhibition,” said Edward Saywell co-curator of the exhibition and Chair of Prints and Designs at the MFA The exhibition also includes a “Book Nook” where visitors can read works Wilson drew inspiration from and children’s books he illustrated like “Becky,” which was written by Julie about his daughter In developing the exhibition, Boston art gallery owner Martha Richardson was the first person the MFA and the MET called. She was first introduced to Wilson’s work in 1988 when she started working at a small auction house. Someone brought in his 1970 color lithograph “Father and Child,” and she was in awe “I’m getting the goosebumps right now that I got when I saw it,” she said “It is this remarkable print of a father holding a child I was always on the lookout for John Wilson.” Richardson started showing Wilson’s work in 2010 and became a historian of his art befriending him and his family and preserving his story Some of that preservation included sifting through art Wilson shoved under beds and in closets She developed the full chronology of the exhibition catalogue “John Wilson: Witnessing Humanity.” Erica and Roy visited the exhibition with Julie before it opened and took in the intimacy of themselves and their friends and family hung on the gallery walls Erica felt particularly touched by the paintings of her late sister Becky “There’s pictures of my sister who we love and miss I guess we’re all central in some ways to our family Many early viewers of the exhibit have had strong emotional reactions to Wilson’s work The exhibit resonates with viewers in part because of the “fragility of the Black family at that time,” explained Leslie King Hammond co-curator and founding director for the Center for Race and Culture at Maryland Institute College of Art the Black family became one of the most resilient forms of kinship and bonding in the American story and this is one of the heralding factors of his narratives Every one of these subjects that you see is someone that he knows.” and Julie posed for a photo with one of Wilson’s self-portraits in their living room On a table underneath the painting sat a photograph of John and Julie smiling on their wedding day Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the sculpture by John Wilson in Brookline Town Hall is a maquette of a work on display in the U.S the sculpture in Brookline Town Hall is a maquette of a separate sculpture that stands in the Martin Luther King Find similar articlesArts Features Up to 60 residents of Brookline Housing Authority properties will start receiving monthly payments of $250 for a year as part of a new project the organization is kicking off this month BHA’s new “Resident Opportunity Initiative” is an expansion of its existing “Self Sufficiency Program” which is geared toward helping residents establish long-term financial stability The rent payments of BHA residents are tied to their income the program has worked with some 65 residents to set employment goals and when their income increases as a result rather than put the funds in rent increases Residents can access those funds at the end of the multi-year program Now the public housing agency is adding a new experiment with a modified guaranteed basic income “What we were finding is that even with this ability to accrue the savings people might not be able to see that for three to five years,” said Danielle Mendola They’re having more costs to pay for child care and transportation It felt like two steps forward to go one step back.” Hence the idea to give direct payments to the program’s participants to help them build long-term savings A guaranteed basic income has been tried in many other places, including Cambridge, where recent research found that the city’s $500 per month payments to 130 families created “significant improvements in financial health and improved educational outcomes for children.” “What if we could do more than just help build savings What if we could also help people in that period while they’re in the process of advancing,” said Mendola which comes from federal ARPA and block grant funds distributed by the town of Brookline the organization will also be adding a coach toto expand its team to two The coaches help participants break down their goals and set strategies for saving They have an average starting income of $13,000 and have collectively saved more than $400,000 in the escrow accounts Four households participating in the program have moved out of public housing a BHA board member and resident who completed the program said it helped her get closer to her goals “It can put you on a path toward paying off debt or even making a down payment on a home And that down payment can be the beginning of an opportunity to create real Find similar articlesHousing The removal of Brookline’s Office of Educational Equity is one of many cuts made to narrow the schools’ $8 million budget gap with fundraising underway to reinstate the office and a School Committee torn about how to respond the fundraising coalition has amassed about $178,000 of its $205,000 goal but whether the School Committee accepts the money remains to be seen The elimination of the equity office sparked town wide discussions about the purpose of the office and whether it was making an impact on students With the Trump administration slashing federal funding for diversity equity and inclusion efforts across the country the cut in Brookline has also become a political flashpoint private conversations among parents and educators Assistant Director of Educational Equity Cristina Hernandez said it’s taken a long time to build trust with educators and community members in Brookline is unsure who will take on the district’s equity work in the absence of her office and equity leads “The work that we are doing is impacting pedagogy and is impacting instruction right now,” Hernandez said the district’s executive director of educational equity said the impact of the equity office has gone unrecognized by many parents and community members who say it is not “student-facing.” “Every teacher we come into contact with to better their practice impacts a student,” Galloway-Jones said adding that more than 250 educators have received equity-based professional development through the OEE “It’s really hard for people not to see that.” Educators who serve as equity leads help plan and lead equity-focused professional development and report progress to the district They also serve as sounding boards for other educators Brookline’s equity office is often involved in crisis management employees and students to investigate bullying allegations and discrimination complaints Hernandez created the district’s first climate and culture surveys which asked educators and students to identify areas where they needed support in teaching about equity and boosting inclusivity in schools Hernandez used survey feedback to develop plans for principals at each K-8 school to add to their school improvement plans Using 10 recurring themes from the survey feedback Hernandez created “equity cycles” — professional development tools that address teachers’ and students’ equity-related questions and concerns The equity cycles include components such as community building Hernandez and school-based equity leads have taught the equity cycles at three schools in a pilot program “I’m really proud of this,” Hernandez said that would’ve been extremely helpful to me.” The removal of Brookline’s equity office has left some students who use its services worried about their futures In addition to her school-based equity programming Hernandez is the faculty advisor for an Arab and Muslim student group at Brookline High School Students worry the group will disappear without Hernandez a student in the group who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy said she feels grateful that Hernandez took on the role of advisor for the group when no educators volunteered nobody at this school wanted to,” Gabby said “I think that shows how the OEE is important and it is needed.” includes about 20 Arab and Muslim students It is a place for students to share their culture and identity “This is about having a community where we can say what we feel and just exist without feeling like we’re being constantly scrutinized,” said Hana a student in the group who declined to share her last name for privacy It is unclear who will advise the group if Hernandez’s position is not funded next year said the elimination of the equity office will effectively halt progress across the district The cuts are a sign that Brookline does not truly believe in the equity office’s work “It’s a job that we have set up to fail in Brookline,” Cawthorne said “We’ve created a job that no human being could ever really do and then we get good human beings in it and wonder why they’re struggling.” and notable turnover in central offices — including the superintendent’s office and the equity office itself “It’s incredibly difficult to lead this work when there isn’t an infrastructure when you’ve had this much change,” Galloway-Jones said “It’s a lot to ask to see significant change in a very short period of time when that infrastructure isn’t in place.” In 2023, the two then-employees of the equity office resigned, with Senior Director of Educational Equity Jenee Uttaro citing long-standing cultural problems in Brookline’s schools Uttaro wrote that “the unhealthy urgency to show immediate results and the pressure to navigate highly complex cultural and systemic changes often feels isolating “everything she said in that letter is absolutely true,” she said While the School Committee’s public rationale for eliminating the office was solely budgetary some Brookline parents and community members have privately challenged its effectiveness on substantive grounds Several who were reached by Brookline.News would not agree to be quoted by name for this story citing fears of public backlash for their opinions who asked to speak anonymously in order to be candid about the controversial issue said the equity office was an expense without much return on investment quantifiable outcome of its work,” the parent said The School Committee should use money from the fundraiser towards improving literacy and expanding equity programming like the Calculus Project Not only will this help bridge racial achievement gaps in the district it will also increase students’ sense of belonging which is determined by “confidence and competence.” Other Brookline residents like Nathan Shpritz are not opposed to the Office of Educational Equity but feel frustrated by the lack of communication about the office’s efforts and progress “If nobody knows what a few people in central administration were doing it’s hard to protect those jobs when you know some jobs have to go,” Shpritz said A parent of two graduates of Brookline schools Shpritz said he would be in favor of partially reinstating the equity office if it did a better job of publicizing its initiatives and progress a place where parents could actually reach people the district’s equity-focused employees and the students they serve have been plunged into confusion about what’s next as well as members of the fundraising coalition have suggested that some of the costs of the equity office could be covered by a state-allocated grant for the district’s METCO program starting in fiscal year 2027 Cawthorne said he has some worries about reinstating the office using fundraising money “There’s a question of whether this is a band-aid or a real resolution but if this buys us a little more time to try and find a resolution The fundraising to possibly reinstate parts of the equity office has sparked disagreement on the School Committee where some members are in favor of reinstating the office if the money is available but others are wary of accepting funding from outside groups said the financial pressure the district is facing this year is unlikely to disappear and using one-time funding is irresponsible “Bringing back a program that has an unknown impact on financials for next year and putting it into place through the fundraising of political organizations He added that he is not sure METCO could take on the cost of the equity office School Committee member Helen Charlupski, who is up for reelection this year has said she is “not averse to taking a grant” to cover the costs of some equity office positions as long as there is a financially sustainable way to continue covering those costs Hefter recognized the potential impacts of the equity office’s elimination in the context of “actions that are being taken at the federal level,” but denied that the School Committee felt influenced by national politics “I would have liked to have a fully funded budget and we wouldn’t have even have had this conversation at all,” Hefter said Find similar articlesEducation Equity Schools Sunday’s collapse of a vacant three-story apartment building at 50 Vernon Street which was being renovated to add a fourth floor according to the town’s top building official Building Commissioner Dan Bennett said in an interview that it will be difficult to determine the exact cause of the collapse but he believes it was a “structural failure caused by the weather conditions.” “I would suspect that the snow and ice contributed to weight and there could have been enough frozen snow and ice that the water wasn’t draining and built up on the roof causing or contributing to the failure,” Bennett said in an interview the Building Department is not pursuing any enforcement action against those involved with the construction “There was nothing for us to see to make that determination.” The property’s insurance company is likely to conduct a more detailed investigation Bennett said that a representative of the property’s owner has told him that they plan to resume the renovation once the building is stabilized and the town signs off When asked if the department will give extra scrutiny to the project next time around Bennett said he feels his team “does a good job on all of our plan reviews and our enforcement.” “We’ll look into it and see if there’s something we can do internally to be sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Bennett said “I don’t think there’s a particular issue that we had on this job,but we’ll pay a little more attention on this specific one because of what happened.” the occupants of the three condominiums at 52 Vernon Street which is attached to the building that collapsed The Brookline Fire Department had evacuated them on Sunday shortly after the neighboring building fell The town and contractor are particularly concerned that a shared wall between the two properties could be vulnerable after the collapse The residents of 52 Vernon Street are expected to be able to return to their homes by Feb once the project’s designer and engineers have created a “shoring plan” to secure the shared wall and the town has approved it leaders from the Brookline Fire Department and Building Department examined the building and recommended that the project’s contractor take down several structures still standing that had been left insecure including an unsupported parapet wall that was leaning in the wind The contractor brought an excavator to the site and did so within a few hours The Boston Fire Department also provided a drone to examine the building from above and enter its basement An MBTA bus sheltered residents of nearby buildings who had been evacuated The construction project at 50 Vernon Street which involved renovating the building’s interior as well as adding a fourth floor The contractor is Intelligent Design and Build Building Department officials had visited the site twice in recent months once for a routine inspection of an elevator shaft and once to investigate a complaint about excess dust A building across an alley at 44 Vernon Street also suffered minor damage Bennett said that construction or renovation projects such as the one underway at the site are a “cooperative effort” that includes his department We’re out there at certain periods or phases of construction we’re available to answer any questions,” he said “These three parties work typically very well together and the projects run smooth or the contractor could be reached for comment Find similar articlesPublic safety Town government A top Brookline school official is resigning alleging financial mismanagement that she said has led to a “hostile work environment.” Liza O’Connell, deputy superintendent of student services for the Public Schools of Brookline, wrote in a Dec. 6 letter to the School Committee that she is planning to depart her position on March 15 The district has seen a high level of turnover in its most senior ranks in recent years who joined the district as interim deputy superintendent in 2022 wrote that the last two school years have featured “financial management issues within the Office of Administration and Finance (OAF) that are beyond my control.” “It has become increasingly difficult over FY24 and FY25 to deliver the student services that the students and parents of Brookline expect and deserve while being constantly distracted by an endless stream of budget accounting and financial challenges,” the letter continued She wrote that a “hostile work environment” has developed over time and made her job untenable who came to Brookline after serving as director of special education for Dedham Public Schools called on the School Committee to consider conducting an “independent audit and reconciliation” of the last two school year’s budgets “I have loved working on behalf of our PSB students and am committed to a smooth transition,” she wrote Superintendent Linus Guillory thanked O’Connell for her service to the school district “I have full faith and confidence in the professional skills of all our senior leadership team members and am most appreciative of their work and service to the district,” he wrote “The Town and the PSB have an annual audit by an outside CPA firm to ensure overall compliance PSB continues to refine and improve its budgeting processes in keeping with best practices ignore a claim of a hostile work environment and have consulted with legal counsel to discuss next steps,” he continued O’Connell’s resignation follows other departures and indications of financial strain at the Brookline public schools There has been a high level of turnover at the most senior ranks Susan Givens, who joined the district last year as deputy superintendent for administration and finance, is moving to another unspecified position in the district Guillory told the School Committee last month that a job posting to replace Givens will be ready “very soon.” Both the other deputy superintendent, teaching and learning head Jodi Fortuna, and the director of educational equity, Claire Galloway-Jones, have only been in the district since 2023. Galloway-Jones joined the district after her predecessor resigned last year Last year, the district had to pay out $500,000 in damages to staff members to settle late wage claims after it was weeks late to pay them for summer work the year before And this year, the district’s largest afterschool program was shut down over a rent dispute which stemmed from turnover in the position of operations director for PSB The school district’s budget has also been strained: the School Committee voted in March to lay off world language teachers and literacy coaches because of an unanticipated budget deficit This is the April edition of a monthly column that rounds up restaurant closures in and around Boston. Catch up on more news about closures in the Boston area right here Know of a restaurant closure that should be on Eater Boston’s radar? Get in touch here Back Bay: The Park Plaza location of Italian restaurant Strega closed down this month after seven years of operation. The restaurant was one of three Strega outposts that restaurateur Nick Verano (the original Strega owner) sold to PPX Hospitality, according to MassLive Verano still owns the original North End location of Strega Brighton: South American natural wine bar and specialty market Super Bien has bowed out of the Charles River Speedway. The owner, Melissa Stefanini, will continue to run her fan-favorite empanada shop Buenas and quirky market Homie Goods in Somerville’s Bow Market Brookline: French brasserie La Voile has shut down after a decade in Brookline’s Washington Square. The restaurant’s Newbury Street outpost lives on Seaport: Beloved dueling piano bar D’s Keys closed down after nearly seven years, Axios Boston reports Owners Matt Nichols and Robert Morse told the publication that business had slowed in the last couple of years amid the rising dining-out costs for consumers plus companies have scaled back bookings like holiday parties that have historically helped keep the business afloat A slew of new candidates are running for School Committee this year prompted by widespread concern about fiscal problems in Brookline schools In early February, eight Brookline residents had indicated they were considering running for three seats five candidates are still in the race: incumbents Helen Charlupski and Valerie Frias former Brookline High School head of school Bob Weintraub also recently pulled papers to run for School Committee Leibowitz did not respond to an interview request from Brookline.News The School Committee is currently working to close an $8 million budget gap for fiscal year 2026 When asked what brought them into the race all three new candidates cited concerns about the current fiscal crisis and cyclical budget gaps a Town Meeting Member and longtime Brookline resident who served 23 years as the head of school at BHS said he feels an “urgency to run” for School Committee given the current financial state of Brookline schools He wants to address the district’s fiscal problems while protecting schools and educators very strong belief that when you have budget problems you take care of the schoolhouse,” said Weintraub who has publicly advocated for broad administrative cuts including the removal of the district’s Office of Educational Equity described the schools’ budget crisis as “the light tap on the shoulder” she needed to join the race for School Committee Perry called for a change in the dynamic between the School Committee and Brookline school administrators “I believe it’s important to work collaboratively but I also believe firmly in accountability,” Perry said Both Perry and Weintraub said stabilizing the district’s leadership is important to them and expressed concern about the departure of Pierce School principal Jamie Yadoff, who announced in February she will be leaving Brookline for a principal position in Newton this fall Weintraub described Yadoff’s departure as “a really bad symptom of what’s going on in our school system.” The third new candidate — Brookline parent and former Town Meeting member Uri Mariash — said the budget gap also drew him into the race, especially as district administrators floated sweeping cuts to performing arts programming and other student-facing services “We’re falling behind academically,” Mariash said “Even though we’re not considered a top district anymore we’re spending a significant amount of money … Even if we have to go back to Town Meeting and ask for more let’s ask for stuff that puts education front and center.” who was born in Ukraine and lived in Israel also cited concerns about antisemitism in Brookline schools as a reason for entering the race Amir Grinstein and Lisa Butters-Scher took initial steps toward running for the position but told Brookline.News they are no longer in the race for School Committee “Although I firmly believe that a fearless change of direction and decisive leadership are necessary at the school committee level I will instead be supporting candidates like Danna Perry who embody the qualities required for effective leadership,” Butters-Scher wrote in an email statement said the School Committee is responsible for finding student-focused solutions to problems like the fiscal crisis “The budget and all sorts of issues bring more people into the mix but in my experience to date it’s usually when an incumbent doesn’t run that there’s a contested election,” she said said the district’s fiscal problems are alarming “I am deeply concerned at the lack of clarity and leadership we have so far gotten from the administration,” Frias wrote in a statement to Brookline.News “These are difficult times for many districts but the level of chaos we are currently experiencing in Brookline is unnecessary and intolerable Stay tuned: Brookline.News will publish in-depth interviews with every candidate for town-wide office Find similar articles2025 Town Election Elections Schools A Brookline resident was hospitalized with serious injuries after being hit by a car on University Road on Saturday night was arrested Saturday night on one count of operating under the influence of alcohol one count of speeding and one count of negligent operation of a motor vehicle Tadele was arraigned in Brookline District Court Monday morning and pleaded not guilty Brookline police received a call on University Road around 11 p.m When the police arrived they identified the victim — Vanya Amla a 56-year-old woman — in an “unnatural state” in the street was loading items into the backseat of her car Police performed “life-saving care” on Amla who was later transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Both Amla’s vehicle and the vehicle parked in front of it had their driver’s side mirrors missing after the accident A witness told police he had heard a car engine revving the operator of the car seemed “distraught,” the witness told police punching the ground and yelling “I [expletive] up,” according to police Tadele admitted to drinking alcohol throughout the day at a bar crawl He has no criminal record but received a citation for speeding in 2022 Find similar articlesNews Police and crime School of Rock, which was popularized by the 2003 Jack Black film and now bills itself as the largest musical school franchise in the country The school offers classes in the different genres that inspired rock music: blues It employs a performance-based approach that places students together in rock bands to perform gigs around their cities and towns Located on Beacon Street next to Trader Joe’s in Coolidge Corner School of Rock Brookline opened in January now houses a collection of recording and practice studios keyboards and various other instruments fill the units The rooms also include small drum sets and bass guitars to remind you who will be jamming in these soundproof rooms School of Rock offers individual lessons but is best known for its house bands They assemble students of similar interests and abilities into groups that perform at local venues A group of kids interested in ‘90s alternative rock can form a band based on that specific niche The company’s ability to expand around the world is highly reliant on its franchisee model. Scott Rowan, who owns a franchise location in West Hartford and I also love seeing people outside the window mixed with the hustle and bustle.” Rowan declined to disclose how many students the Brookline franchise has Rowan’s introduction to School of Rock came as a surprise he had been running a tech startup that designed software to prevent distracted driving but says that turned out to be “a tough sell.” He said he wanted to move into a market where people were excited about the product while he was working from home during the pandemic one of his children asked him to help in the school chorus He has been playing drums for 35 years and was thrilled to grow closer with his daughter through this shared passion for music He played seven songs with his daughter’s fourth-grade class at their spring concert He later met a student at School of Rock and was inspired to learn about the hands-on nature of the program “The stage is just another classroom,” Rowan said “For an hour they [the students] are rock stars.” After some research he moved to Hartford and started franchising Rowan has since witnessed the community that School of Rock fosters He describes the institution as “half music school half teen center.” He recalls one student who walked into her first lesson with her gaze to the floor The girl is now an undergraduate at a music school This story was produced in collaboration with the Reinventing Journalism course at Brandeis University, taught by Professor Neil Swidey, with mentoring for student journalists by Brookline.News editorial adviser Ellen Clegg and editor Sam Mintz. Read more about the collaboration here. It’s been only a year and a half since bakery owner Takeo Sakan reopened Japonaise Bakery & Cafe, after sinking over two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars into a renovation who also owns the space housing The Wine Press next door is making plans which could mean the popular bakery has to relocate again The building’s owner wants to add a second story and make changes to the facade according to plans submitted Friday to the Building Department it was all kind of sudden,” Sakan said “He hadn’t told me until a few months ago.” an attorney representing the owner and developer said the Wine Press is moving down the street Allen initially told Brookline.News in an email that the landlord is working with Sakan hoping the bakery can move into the spot vacated by the liquor store “temporarily during construction.” “And then hopefully they move back over,” Allen wrote in the Feb Allen said the landlord has no preference whether the bakery stays in its location or moves next door during construction “The goal is to work with the bakery so that he stays there both short-term and long-term,” Allen said in an interview Tuesday Allen said it’s too early to give an estimate on how long construction might take as the project needs approval from the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals Sakan said the landlord told him about his plans for renovating the space next door but that he didn’t initially know the landlord wanted the bakery to move there during construction I wouldn’t have put so much money into the building,” Sakan said The popular bakery on Beacon Street serves Japanese and French pastries and snacks with a menu ranging from onigiri and milk bread to sandwiches It is well-known for making buns in the shape of Japanese characters such as the cat-like Totoro from animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” and the cartoon superhero Anpanman The bakery closed in May 2021 for renovations and reopened in July 2023 with new flooring Sakan, who raised nearly $41,000 on GoFundMe for the renovations said he continued to pay rent for the two years the bakery was closed He recently recouped the money back through sales and we have a strong following,” Sakan said The building owner plans to add six apartments to the second floor and make “extensive interior renovations” to the retail spaces including building proper restrooms The plans also propose to landscape the asphalt parking lot behind the stores and finish the basement under the two stores Sakan said he’s not sure yet what the next step is for the bakery He said he worries the landlord will charge him rent for the basement space after the renovations Sakan’s ultimate goal is to one day buy a building to build a big kitchen and storefront plans to move to a smaller location at 1050 Beacon St Mehta said he has a good relationship with his current landlord “It was really a coin flip about what was the best opportunity for us,” he said The turnover rate in that stretch of Beacon Street also played a factor in the decision to move citing the closure of a Whole Foods Market in 2022 “Business on that block has been really difficult for the past four to five years,” Mehta said “Any time a Whole Foods decides to leave “I’d love to stay in Brookline,” Sakan said “You can’t really beat the location with all the kids around This story is part of a partnership between Brookline.News and the Boston University Department of Journalism Find similar articlesBusiness Development Housing Restaurants look set to avoid major cuts for the moment under a budget proposal put forward by the town staff this week The financial plan navigates a $560,000 gap between projected revenues and expenditures in fiscal year 2026 by suggesting what Town Administrator Charles Carey called “modest” reductions “There is no way to sugarcoat it: This will be a tough fiscal year for Brookline,” Carey wrote in a message accompanying the budget proposal citing costs that are “dramatically” outpacing revenues and a federal government “expressing active hostility to the values that the community views as foundational while threatening to take away resources if states and municipalities fail to bend to its will.” The town’s $456.6 million budget for FY2026 $141.7 million of that is allocated to the Public Schools of Brookline, which has put forward its own budget proposal of $149.9 million, leaving an $8.2 million gap which the School Committee is currently working to reduce. Carey said that the drivers of the town’s increasing expenditures include the rising costs of healthcare for employees, growing utility costs, collective bargaining agreements with unions that are in the works, a new sanitation contract and increasing overtime for police and fire departments The town’s long-term projections show an increasing deficit leading Carey to warn that deeper cuts could come as soon as later this year both because of the schools’ deficit and the fire department negotiations “The need for increasingly difficult choices is likely to continue in the coming years,” Carey wrote The average rate for town employee health insurance premiums is expected to rise by at least 12% in FY 2026 even higher than large increases in recent years The town pays 83% of the cost of premiums for its employees and changing that split would require renegotiating union contracts Negotiations with the Brookline Fire Department are also a source of unpredictability for town staff The last contract for firefighters expired nearly two years ago Current negotiations are at an “impasse” and heading to arbitration later this year Click here to see all the details of the town’s budget proposal. Most of the largest proposed cuts come from moving money around rather than reducing services the proposed budget cuts $100,000 from the town clerk’s election funds but replaces that with funds from an “election reimbursement reserve.” Municipal funding for several new town vehicles would be cut but instead would be covered by federal ARPA funds The largest cut that will not be replaced is $44,000 for the Planning Department to hire consultants it means that the Planning Department’s operations will be pushed back somewhat,” Carey said In addition to maintaining general funding for the town’s departments and avoiding major cuts Carey highlighted several new initiatives that are included in the budget proposal One is a growing Office of Sustainability, which is being funded by an anonymous donor. “We’re moving aggressively on the Climate Action Plan,” Carey said “It’s very exciting to see that work come to fruition and see that division … really thrive and connect with other departments Sustainability is no longer a kind of ‘think tank’ position He also pointed to a new “resource navigator” position in the town’s Health and Human Services Department, funded by a statewide settlement with opioid manufacturers which will help expand the department’s community services and build relationships with nonprofit organizations A committee examining ways to steady the town’s finances as well as considering whether another operating override will be needed next year held its first meeting on Tuesday night to hear about the budget from Carey and town staff Many cities and towns across Massachusetts are facing a fiscal crunch Municipal leaders say the biggest limitation on revenue is the inability to raise property taxes more than 2.5% each year unless voters approve a ballot measure to pay more is contributing $2.5 million to the FY26 budget The Select Board will consider the budget recommendation over the coming weeks, as will the Advisory Committee. Town Meeting will take a final vote to approve it in May Find similar articlesBudget Town government The bright orange paint and Tara Lewis paintings covering the top half of the walls in Cutty’s Brookline sandwich shop are fresh Owners Rachel and Charles Kelsey spontaneously decided to hire painters instead of doing it themselves at the end of December Hiring painters was the first big step toward a major decision for the popular sandwich joint: after nearly five years of operating as only a takeout window because of the Covid-19 pandemic Cutty’s has reopened its doors to the public just in time for the restaurant’s 15-year anniversary last month closing the store felt like the safest decision but it was a painful one that led to some employees being laid off and unable to return The most drastic change came in the form of a takeout window at the shop’s front door in July 2020 Customers could only place and receive orders online or through the window The Kelseys didn’t want to close the space and we just put our heads down to try to dig out of the hole,” Rachel said who expanded their storefront in 2016 when their landlord offered them the adjacent building after a hair salon closed Rachel and Charles have focused on offering takeout services and rebuilding the catering portion of the business “We didn’t have the energy or mental capacity to reopen again We were just trying to keep it going and not get any more debt,” Rachel said Rachel felt it was time to rip off the bandaid The renovations were completed in a couple weeks Dawnielle Peck hugs Rachel Kelsey as Peck and her wife Meryl Latronica (left) stop in to eat at Cutty’s in Brookline Village on Friday “We traveled out here today from Western Mass for the sandwiches,” Latronica said We love it.“ Photo by Andrew Burke-Stevenson.Rose Fitzgerald said it was an adjustment to go from window service to a full store front again and I was able to learn so much in the back of house of operations,” Fitzgerald said Most customers have been happy to return to a beloved community place and order without poking their head through a window Stand-up tables by the shop’s window allow customers to enjoy their sandwiches while looking onto Washington Street The picnic bench up against the left wall is also a popular spot “It’s been really nice having people come back inside … I can say hi Ezra Block became a regular after befriending the couple while working on an architecture project He recalls trying to schedule meetings nearby so he could visit Cutty’s and order his favorite sandwiches From his couple of visits since the remodeling Block says the sense of community has returned and it’s nice to have that face to face interaction of waving to Rachel in the back,” he said there’s at least one customer who comments how wonderful it feels to be able to come back inside It hasn’t been all smooth sailing as there are new challenges with owning a culinary business in 2025 The cost of ingredients and an egg shortage are challenges the couple is navigating Rachel says a smaller storefront feels right for Cutty’s and their staff Rachel and Charles are both there to greet customers “We’re really focused on this location and creating consistently great food,” Rachel said Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that there is seating in the reopened Cutty’s storefront Find similar articlesBusiness Restaurants Brookline residents waved American flags and held signs condemning President Trump’s administration at Coolidge Corner Saturday on the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolution a civil rights and social justice activist group organized the “Stand Up for Our Constitution!” demonstration helped lead the charge to set up the event a week prior “I didn’t know if we would have six people or 600 people,” said Margolis Weintraub estimated 200 people participated in the event we are the new sons and daughters of liberty.” led the first armed conflict against England in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 19 Participants held signs reading “Fight Oligarchy,” “Defend Democracy,” and “Elon is not President “I’ve been around a while,” Weintraub said “This is by far the most dangerous moment for our democracy.” Motorists honked their horns in support of the demonstration as they drove by on Harvard and Beacon streets Margolis said he wanted the event to express contempt for the Trump’s administration for violating the spirit of the U.S Trump has been criticized for imposing aggressive tariffs against foreign countries and for mass deportations of noncitizens carried out by U.S A federal judge Friday blocked the Trump administration from deporting more people without due process “People need to get into the streets,” he said “It’s obvious that the people in power in Washington don’t care about democracy.” president of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action and a Brookline resident “A weekend like this makes people reflect on democracy…to see it torn to shreds is very painful,” Rowe said Rowe said more Americans should come together to protest the Trump administration “We have to take our responsibilities seriously and reflect upon the government that we want for our modern times,” she said “We can’t just let an irresponsible administration run amok and ruin all the systems that have been created.” If political change requires waving signs and standing on street corners “We have to stand up in every way we can possibly think of to protect our democracy,” she said assistant registrar at Boston University’s dental school said he is concerned about the state of education in the country after Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating functions of the Department of Education and transfer more control to state governments He has one kid in high school and another who is a sophomore at BU “I would really call it a regime more than an administration,” he said “They have gone off the rails in terms of what they are doing.” Liam Hennessy and Daniel Wasserman made signs from cardboard they got from their friend who works at the Brookline Booksmith down the street said the pair were protesting to protect the rights of people close to them He is concerned for all their friends who are immigrants and members of the transgender community “We are fighting for their lives,” he said Hennessy grew up in Newton but attends boarding school in Western Massachusetts Hennessy said he wished more young people joined Saturday’s protest and were more politically active in general “There is a culture of neutrality going on,” he said “I think there is so much to tackle that people just get emotionally stressed.” Find similar articlesPeople