One Week Later: Memorial Scenes from Boylston, Newbury Streets
South End Patch
FBI Hands Boylston Street Back to Boston
The FBI handed the Boston Marathon bombing crime scene on Boylston Street over to the City of Boston at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 22. Mayor Thomas Menino received the American Flag that flew over the finish line. According to a statement from the Mayor’s office, this will enable the City to commence its five-phase plan for re-opening the six blocks on Boylston Street, which have been cordoned off since the bombings, which took place one week ago. The five-phase plan includes: Phase 1: Decontamination and Testing Phase 2: Structural Building Assessments and Utility Coordination Phase 3: Debris Removal Phase 4: Internal Building Assessments Phase 5: Re-Entry, Communications, and Counseling The ceremony took place in front of the Boston Public Library near to corner of Boylston Street and Exeter Street. South End Patch
VIDEO: One Week Later, Crowd Returns to Boylston Street to Honor Boston Bombing Victims
One week after thousands of people gathered on Boylston Street to cheer on runners as they crossed the finish line of the 117th annual Boston Marathon, several hundred people returned to the area to honor those who were killed and injured in the bombings that forever changed a Boston tradition. At 2:50 p.m.—the time when, one week prior, the first explosion went off, followed 10 seconds later by a second—the city of Boston and communities throughout Massachusetts held a moment of silence. With the Copley Square area still cordoned off as a crime scene, hundreds of visitors gathered behind fencing at the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets where a makeshift memorial sprouted up in the week following the event. The memorial, which features thousands of tributes such as flags, T-shirts, running shoes, posters, cards, teddy bears and flowers, has been moved off the street to the sidewalk outside the Bank of America building, presumably in anticipation of Boylston Street being reopened to the public—though a date for that opening has not yet been announced. The crowd at Boylston and Berkeley offered more than a moment of silence on Monday, standing quietly for several minutes before and after the appropriated time. At around 2:49 p.m., the crowd began softly singing “The Star-Spangled Banner”—just barely heard over the occasional honk and motorized splutter of the busy city. When the anthem concluded, the crowd went silent again for well over a minute. Some people bowed their heads, some cried or wiped away tears, some took photographs and video of the scene and some stared quietly down the deserted part of Boylston Street, perhaps imagining what it looked like on Monday last. As the crowd began to stir, with people beginning to head off to wherever they needed to be, a man waving a Boston hat with one hand and an American flag with the other began singing “God Bless America” and was soon joined by many others in the crowd. As the singing concluded, a loud cheer went up through the crowd, as people turned and waved to police officers on the other side of the barricade. The crowd began to disperse as, in the distance, church bells rang out and played “Amazing Grace.” South End Patch
VIDEO: Boylston Street Business Shows Support with ‘26.2together’ Signs
Two women from Breakaway Innovation Group on Boylston Street were at the Boston Marathon victims’ memorial at Boylston and Berkeley streets on Thursday afternoon handing out printed signs to show their support in the aftermath of Monday’s bombing. The small posters show a Boston skyline with an overlay of a red Boston “B” and text reading “26.2gether.” “We just thought it would be nice to print these out and give them to local places in support and solidarity for the whole community,” said Breakaway employee Megan Brock of Somerville. ProPrint on Boylston Street donated 250 copies of the poster. South End Patch
Boylston Crime Scene Still Closed, MBTA Running Normally
A 12-block downtown triangle continues to be closed to the public following the Marathon Monday bombings. Boylston Street from Massachusetts Avenue to Clarendon Street and Huntington Avenue to Newbury Street are closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Copley Station is closed. Trains are running passed this station. MassPike exit 22 on the eastbound side toward Copley Square remains closed. MBTA Police are randomly searching riders’ bags. Passengers on a commuter rail train early Wednesday morning in Framingham were evacuated and searched. The train was cleared to continue. A Wednesday morning accident has caused the MBTA to terminate the E branch of Green Line service at Brigham Circle. Riders must use the 39 bus route for service between Brigham Circle and Heath Street. South End Patch