Residents say they appreciate Menino’s ‘thank you’
It wasn't the free parking or shopping discounts that made Sandra Condon of Hopedale venture into Boston with her children yesterday. It was knowing that Mayor Thomas M. Menino cared enough to thank the city for enduring the Democratic National Convention.
"It wasn't one specific thing -- it was more the idea that he was trying to do something to bring people back," Condon said, heading toward the New England Aquarium with three children.
The mayor's weekend-long thank you to Boston, publicized in TV and newspaper ads last week, included discounts at museums and parking garages, Faneuil Hall shops, and some North End restaurants.
An open house at Fenway Park yesterday drew more than 10,000 people for a free tour; the tour normally costs $8 to $10 per person, a spokeswoman said. Theater tickets to a half dozen shows will remain at half price today, trolley and Duck Tours are discounted, and a "VIP pass" available at Copley Place offers discounts at dozens of stores.
After a week when many business owners complained that the convention kept customers away, some pushcart merchants at Quincy Market said business remained slow yesterday. In the North End, criticism of the mayor and the convention continued in some corners. But elsewhere, some said the pace was picking up, despite the hot weather, with help from the weekend discounts.
"Last week was really slow, but today seems to be a little bit back to normal," said Scott Fox, a ticket agent with City View Trolley Tours. "A lot of people are asking about the incentives. A lot of people have mentioned the free parking."
"It looks like Boston is alive again," said Annette Hamlet of Holliston, lunching with family at Quincy Market before a trip to George's Island, planned before the mayor's "thank you" was announced.
Attendance numbers for Friday, when the aquarium offered a 50-percent discount at the mayor's request, won't be tallied until Monday, said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman. Traffic was a little slow Friday morning, but picked up later, he said.
"Anything that promotes the idea that the city is back to normal is good for us," said LaCasse.
Few city visitors knew details of the discounts; unsure about the free parking, some put money in meters all the same.
"I heard something about that, but it didn't register," said Jim Landfried of Cambridge, who parked near Kenmore Square for the open house at Fenway Park.
At Fenway, before the announcement of the trade of Nomar Garciaparra, the doors were opened a half-hour early to accommodate the waiting crowd. Thousands of visitors, including convention delegates from Ohio, Wisconsin, and Texas, and hundreds of boys with baseball gloves, skirted the park on the crushed-brick warning track, pausing for photos at home plate. "Mayor Menino and The Boston Red Sox say Thank You, Boston!" flashed a sign overhead.
"It's awesome, 'cause all the players sit here," said Jared Davison, 11, of Burlington, perched on the shady bench inside the Red Sox dugout.
Pausing by the Green Monster, Los Angeles resident Joshua Sliwa, a lifelong Red Sox fan in town for the convention, said he probably could have scored tickets to last Sunday's game against the Yankees, but chose to watch it on TV with his 89-year-old grandfather instead. "It's awe-inspiring," the 34-year-old said. 