Tag: Eye on Everett

— Eye on Everett —

“… But I think his days are numbered if they both run.”

– The Blue Suit to Josh Resnek

By JOSH RESNEK

The Blue Suit and I were seated on a bench outside the Parlin Public Library yesterday afternoon. We love watching the Everett world go by us – buses, trucks,

long lines of automobile traffic, and the people – all kinds of people who are strolling about the city on a typical weekday afternoon.

No one paid any attention to us; certainly not with our face- masks on. We blended in, that is, as much as a Blue Suit (yes, the very Blue Suit worn and abused by the mayor over and over) and a bearded older writer for the Leader Herald can become a part of the background hardly noticed while seated on a bench on Broadway.

Why is this man laughing?

We talked about Derek Chauvin, the policeman sent to prison for leaning on the neck of George Floyd until he died.

Chauvin is white. Floyd was Black.

“I was kind of surprised the mayor had nothing to say about the jury decision,” I said to the Blue Suit.

“He didn’t really care enough about it to comment,” the Blue Suit replied.

“Really!” I said. I was surprised.

“Gee, the mayor has so much to say about diversity. I can’t imagine why he didn’t prove it by saying that justice was done.” “Are you crazy?” the Blue Suit asked. He looked at me with a twist in his face.

“Josh,” he said to me. “You’re supposed to be smart. Don’t you know the mayor yet? He cares about diversity as much as he cares about Black people. That’s zero, Josh. Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand how he thinks? He doesn’t care about Black people. He hates Black women like Gerly Adrien. He’s a typical overweight macho man in love with what he sees in the mirror when he looks at himself,” added the Blue Suit.

We watched the traffic speeding by.

Continue reading — Eye on Everett —

— Eye on Everett —

Mirror, mirror on the wall

By JOSH RESNEK

Boy, Carlo isn’t going to like the picture you’ve used for this column,” the Blue Suit said to me.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “It’s him. Isn’t it?”

“Well, yes. It is him but that’s not how he sees himself,” the Blue Suit answered hesitatingly.

We were seated on a bench at Glendale Park in the afternoon Tuesday. We were people watching while eating. Our lunch consisted of two large Italian subs with everything, including hots. Very yummy – each bite until the last bite.

It was so warm. The sun was so special on our faces. There is nothing quite like getting some sun on our New England faces after a long winter.

“How does the mayor see himself?” I asked.

The Blue suit cleared his throat. “Not like that picture,” he said to me.

“Well, what does he see when he looks in the mirror at himself?” I asked the Blue Suit.

“What do any of us see when we look at our images in a mirror?” I added.

The Blue Suit looked at the baseball fields of Glendale Park.

He watched several women pushing baby carriages and several kids tossing around a ball. The traffic sped by in a steady stream on Ferry Street.

“We see ourselves when we look into the mirror. If we look beyond the image and look into our images, we see something else,” the Blue Suit added. He often has existential thoughts like that.

Continue reading — Eye on Everett —

— Eye on Everett —

“I’ve never been jealous of the mayor. I am a bit jealous today.”

– Josh Resnek talking with the mayor’s Blue Suit

By JOSH RESNEK

The Blue Suit and I met at Oliveira’s on Broadway just out of Glendale Square Tuesday afternoon.
We both did the buffet for the basics – salad, potatoes, rice – and then we went to the carving table where we were served some freshly broiled and cut rare steak, chicken, and lamb.

I believe Oliveira’s does Brazilian food about the best in the city.

We sat in the main dining room, off to a corner near to the front of the room. With social distancing restrictions limiting the number of tables, and not many of the tables filled with diners, we felt relatively safe.

The Blue Suit seemed happy. Frankly, I was a bit down.

Monday had been a bad day. I was recovering from it as we ate our plates food.

“What’s the problem, Josh? Usually, you are asking me what my problem is. Today, I have no problem, at least I’m not aware of any. I’m fine. I had a good Easter. The mayor has been leaving me alone. I’m up and at ‘em and ready to go,” the Blue Suit said slopping together a heaping fork of meat, lettuce, rice, and potato and shoving it into his mouth.

“Good God, man. How can you fit a giant helping of food like that inside your mouth?” I asked.

The Blue Suit chewed and chewed. He had so much food inside his mouth that it was difficult for him to swallow all of it. I thought he couldn’t breathe. Finally, he got it down. A big lump of food lodged in his throat. His throat bulged. Then it contracted when the food dropped. A moment later, He let out a loud clapper – a massive, howling, deep stomach burp.

“Excuse me!!!” the Blue Suit exclaimed.

Continue reading — Eye on Everett —

— Eye on Everett —

“Carlo wants to become a Buddhist.“

– The Mayor’s Blue Suit talking with Josh Resnek

By JOSH RESNEK

The Blue Suit met me outside the Central Fire Station Tuesday afternoon. I picked him up on the corner where the drugstore used to be diagonally across the front of the Central Station.

“Millions were just spent to fix up Central Station,” the Blue Suit said to me.

“So. I know that. What’s the big deal?” I asked.

“Think about it, Josh. Millions are put into modernizing the central station and making it safe. After all, firefighters are all about doing things exactly the right way. When all is said and done, the work is finally over but there is one thing missing,” the Blue Suit said to me.

“And what is that?” I asked him.

‘There’s no handicap accessibility.”

The renovated Central Fire Station on Broadway. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)


‘What!” I exclaimed. “How can the central fire station not have handicap accessibility? That’s like a hospital not having oxygen for patients. What is up with that?” I asked.

“That’s a good question. That’s what Carlo wants to know but he can’t say anything publicly because he can’t criticize the chief. That’s why I came down here to take a close-up look and then report to the mayor.

“Why didn’t he confront the fire chief?” I asked. ‘What’s he sending you for?”

Carlo doesn’t want to talk to Carli. He’s upset with him. They pretend to be OK, you know, like best of friends. But they aren’t. Carli can’t stand Carlo, but he does the dance for him because he wants to be left alone to do anything other than to be the fire chief,” the Blue Suit added.

“Carlo is busy. Carlo is in deep thought. He’s not thinking about the fire department or the chief. Carlo is trying to figure out a few things about himself and why he is the way he is.”

“What does that mean?” I asked the Blue Suit. “What is he trying to do with himself?”

Continue reading — Eye on Everett —

— Eye on Everett —

“Carlo says this all the time to developers:
“’ You need to show me incentive for this project to fly,’” the Blue Suit recalled. “Not all developers take his bait. I know one that he’s hooked without Carlo having to be a fisherman.“

– The Mayor’s Blue Suit talking with Josh Resnek

By JOSH RESNEK

The Blue Suit and I sipped on Brazilian coffee and ate delicious pastries at Common Ground in the Pioneer apartment building on the Parkway. It was Monday afternoon, about 2:30 p.m. We sat at a table for two off to the side where no one could see us.

A steady stream of customers came and went as we talked.

“You know that article you wrote recently about a proposed 21 story apartment building with a penthouse level bar and restaurant on Spring Street?” the Blue Suit asked me.

“Yes. So?”

“If it is approved – permitted, that is – Carlo makes out like a bandit.”

“How do you figure?” I shot back to the Blue Suit.

“Come on, Josh. You’re supposed to be smart. I can give you $1 million worth of reasons that Carlo will make certain the site is permitted.”

MARCH 4: Spring Street proposed redevelopment site. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

“You mean to say he will be paid to make sure the permitting takes place?” I asked.

“Yes,” the Blue Suit replied. “He won’t want to act too fast and make it look easy, that would cut down on his bouquet.”

“Is he getting a floral display or flowers if the site is permitted?” I joked.

‘What is this bouquet you are talking about?” I asked.

Continue reading — Eye on Everett —