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Boston's Morning Newsletter
With new pedestrian entrances, Mount Auburn Cemetery wants to become a more lively green space
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TGIF! Looking to stretch your legs this weekend? How about a nice walk:
Cambridge’s best-kept secret: Mount Auburn Cemetery is opening its gates — literally and figuratively — to the public. The 175-acre cemetery opened five new pedestrian-only gates yesterday on its Cambridge-facing side. According to cemetery’s leaders, the new entrances are part of a push to make the big, quiet green space — a favorite among locals for Sunday walks and bird watching — more welcoming to the surrounding communities.
- Zoom in: For decades, there were only two ways to enter the giant cemetery — through the busy Mount Auburn Street entrance and through the Watertown side on Grove Street. That meant all car and pedestrian traffic had to funnel through the same way. The new entrances — four new gates along Mount Auburn Street and the opening of a locked gate on Coolidge Avenue — should make getting in safer for those on foot. (There are also plans to add two more entrances on the Grove Street side next year.) “Most of the world has figured out that cars and people are supposed to be separated,” cemetery president Matthew Stephens told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow. (Remember, cyclists are asked to leave their bikes at the rack.)
- Zoom out: The entrances are the first phase of Stephens’ effort to rebrand the active cemetery as a place for everyone to enjoy. “People are a little shy around, like, ‘Is it okay for me to be there? Is it not OK?’ ” he said. “Through pedestrian entrances and through events that we’re starting to curate, it’s really hoping to send this message, like yes, we want our community to be here.” The past two winters, the cemetery hosted public art installations. This summer, they’re planning events like meditation walks, birding walks, and music and dance performances.
- Go deeper: Learn more in this video about the history of Mount Auburn, how it became such a unique cemetery and the most popular spots to visit.
Another option to get outside: Boston’s expanded Open Streets series kicks off this weekend. The city will close off a 1.5-mile stretch of Dorchester Avenue to traffic Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to host pedestrian-friendly shopping, food trucks and music. The city has a webpage with more details on vendors and programming.
- Where next? Find the full Open Streets schedule here.
- One more option: The annual food truck festival on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston is this weekend. You can check out the list of participating food trucks here.
Dine in: Today also marks the start of the first Boston Asian Restaurant Week. Timed with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, the inaugural event aims to make Asian cuisines more accessible. “People from Boston may feel intimidated, may feel a little scared, afraid of going to a restaurant and doing the wrong thing,” Harris Zhao, president of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, told WBUR’s Paul Connearney.
- How it works: Through next Saturday (May 11), over 80 local AAPI restaurants — Chinese, Indian, Korean, Hawaiian and many more — will offer three different signature dishes. Customers then can collect stamps for ordering the dishes, and those stamps (if you get enough) can be redeemed for swag and gift cards.
Driving in Connecticut will be even less fun than usual: Part of I-95 in Connecticut is closed in both directions for several days after a dramatic tanker fire yesterday in Norwalk damaged a bridge. (Seriously, look at this fire.) Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported, but officials need to demolish the bridge, meaning part of the main link between New England and New York will be closed until Monday, at least.
- A slow-moving detour around the accident scene has been set up, but heavy traffic and backups are expected on I-95 and nearby secondary roads. (Another complication is that trucks can’t use the parallel Merritt Parkway because they’ll get Storrowed.)
FYI: Flags at state buildings across Massachusetts will be flying at half mast today in honor of the Billerica Police Sgt. Ian Taylor. Taylor died last Friday after being hit by an excavator while working a construction detail. The 49-year-old had been a police officer in Massachusetts for over two decades, and has a wife and two kids.
Please, not again: It looks like we’re headed toward a Game 7 back here in Boston between the Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, following last night’s frustrating loss. The puck drops in the do-or-die game tomorrow at 8 p.m. on ABC.
P.S.— What Boston-area store chain is closing all of its locations next month? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week’s stories.
