The mobster theme at the newly rebranded Savin Bar + Kitchen Restaurant in Savin Hill has certainly struck a nerve.
The use of photos of the notorious mobsters and murderers Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi to decorate the Italian décor walls has upset many local residents. In addition to Bulger and Flemmi being child abusing murderers and drug dealers, the Bulger mob traumatized local residents into the 1990s.
The issue of the photos was brought up during the final minutes of the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association meeting on Oct. 6 under “new business.” Because there wasn’t enough time to fully take up the issue, a motion and discussion resulted in the topic being moved to a small committee to determine how to approach the issue and to present a recommendation at the November 3 general meeting.
News Editor Seth Daniels of the Dorchester Reporter wrote an article about the issue, which resulted in coverage of the story on Channels 4 and 7, the Boston Globe, and even London’s Daily Mail to date.
The reactions to the stories have been mixed, with many people thinking that the civic association took a vote on the photos, and that it was demanding the removal.
There were over 200 reactions to the article on the Dorchester Reporter’s Facebook page, mostly divided between comments about association members violating “freedom of expression,” and other comments calling the photos “tasteless” or a “poor choice” in décor.
So, in the interest of setting the record straight, the vote was about figuring a way that would allow the community to appropriately react to the décor, and whether there would be an interest in asking the restaurant owners to remove the photos.
The restaurant is a neighborhood restaurant, and not exactly in a touristy area. In many neighborhoods, there are civic associations that have meetings where people can express their opinions, and sometimes opinions turn into motions that are voted on. In November, we will know if there is an interest in having the Columbia-Savin Hill community, through its civic association, express an opinion on the photos.
The other part of the story is about the Bulldog Tavern, a predecessor entity, which the civic association was actively involved in shutting down. While Wikipedia states that Eddie Connors, a professional boxer who was involved with mobsters and was gunned down in a phone booth on Morrissey Boulevard on orders of Whitey Bulger in 1975, owned the Bulldog Tavern, several long-time local residents have said that Connors’s bar was actually on the opposite side of the street. Perhaps Connors owned the Bulldog through a straw.
In any case, Connors and his violent death were memorialized in the movie “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” after a novel written by George Higgins, who hung out at Connors’s bar to get information for his book.
Neighborhood residents living nearby were traumatized by activities and noise from the Bulldog, which had a 2 a.m. liquor and entertainment license. An Elvis impersonator named Golden Joe Baker was a regular entertainer, and with lots of patrons who smoked, the doors were left open and the noise kept nearby families from being able to sleep. There were also rumors of illegal activities such as loansharking at the Bulldog.
During 1980-81, civic association meetings recorded many complaints from residents, and police were asked to take action on the Bulldog. Investigations into its ownership left unclear who owned it.
Complaints to the licensing bureau resulted in no action, which was common in those days. Then after one very well attended civic association meeting held with the Bulldog on the agenda, where one of the people who lived on Sydney Street played a tape of the noise coming from the Bulldog at 2 a.m. – and pressure from elected officials – the Bulldog’s licenses were suspended for two weeks. The suspension required the business to change operations with monitoring of activities, and the days of boisterous early morning hours were over.
At some point the Bulldog was sold to the Cooper family, which opened a restaurant in the space, followed by Donovan’s and now Savin Bar + Kitchen.
The suspension of the Bulldog’s licenses was precedent setting. Neighborhood groups contending with bars violating their licenses had become used to having little recourse by going to the licensing board, but the move against the Bulldog encouraged other neighborhoods to take actions against their problem bars.
Our neighborhood’s residents have every right to express themselves regarding activities and conditions in their community. They always have, and they always do.
Bill Walczak is president of the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association.
