Day 6: A neighborhood comes together

May 1, 2008 02:30 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Paula Nelson, Globe Staff

(Editor's note: The gas outage in downtown Boston doesn't just affect businesses and restaurants. Here's a resident's take on a life put on hold.)

I returned home last night after a long day at the office to find that my building in the Financial District had become the gathering point for my small group of neighbors as we cope with the aftereffects of a weekend water main break that cut off gas to the area.

Sam & Anne's Deli is on the first floor, and they were there -- Sam and Anne -- with their 8-month-old daughter, Catherine; Helen from Bakey's resturant next door; the guy from Sakurabana (a sushi restaurant around the corner); and Michael the landlord. Donnie the plumber, who has serviced the building for a decade, was also there.

We sat in the deli talking about the events of the day as the National Grid guys continued to suck gallons of water from the hole just outside the front door.

Sam and Anne were very worried. Their deli has been closed since Monday and they have a big order for 150 Korean box lunches to make this weekend without any way to cook the food. Donnie has his own issues with his wife just getting out of the hospital, but he's at the building trying to do what he can.

We got the go-ahead from Donnie to change the gauges (from the meters that had already been replaced by National Grid) and try to see whether the gas was flowing. But when he opened the valve, water flowed instead of gas and seeped back into the meter. A real setback. The meter would have to be replaced again.

I walked over to Bertucci's and bought pizza for everybody -- most everyone hadn't eaten all day. Helen from Bakey's brought us a bottle of wine. So we sat together, ate pizza, and tried to figure out how we could help Sam and Anne make that order for box lunches.

Donnie offered his monstrous propane grill. We thought about taking it to Sam and Anne's church parking lot and volunteering to help get the order done. We talked about a trip to Home Depot to buy an electric heater, but worried about whether or not the electrical grid in the basement could hold the load. All this while National Grid continued to suck water from the lines outside.

Men in reflective vests and hard hats strolled up and down the street. You could hear the gushing water and the jackhammers.

Tim, one of the National Grid guys, came in to talk. It seems he found out about the newly destroyed meter. He went to the basement to check out the situation with Donnie the plumber and Michael the landlord. Yes, the meter would have to be replaced -- again. And that wouldn't happen until at least the next morning. But he left his cell phone number and instructions to reach him.

I packed up another change of clothes to head to the Doubletree for the third night, and the others scattered.

Michael the landlord decided to stay at the building. He had become the point of contact between all the neighbors and National Grid. He collected keys and names and always talked to whichever workman was working on the street. I always tease him about his good deeds, telling him that I swear that he's going to sprout angel wings.

And sure enough, I talked to him this morning as I left the Doubletree parking lot on my way to the office. He had started working with the National Grid guys at 5:30 a.m. and had just finished around 9 a.m. They had pumped water all night from the lines. They installed a new meter and the gas was flowing at least to the pizza ovens and grill in the deli.

Sam and Anne will be able to cook and prepare the 150 Korean lunches for that important order -- even more important now with the lost revenue of this week. The building has heat (it's steam heat) again and there's a real hope that by day's end, there will be hot water for a nice loooong shower in my own apartment.

I'm hopeful I'll have the use of my oven by the weekend, and I think I'll make a four-layer cake for the neighbors to celebrate our return to normalcy. My boss always kids me that I need to move to a REAL neighborhood, with traditional residences, shops and such, but I like my spot in the Financial District just fine.

Paula Nelson is the Globe's director of photography. Here's a previous entry.