Lights out for Doyle’s

The body is still warm, but the wake has begun for Doyle’s Cafe, the landmark Jamaica Plain saloon where cops, lesbian softball teams, and politicians of every leaning felt at home hoisting a pint. 

Gerry Burke, Jr., who bought the business from his father and uncle, said closing will come in the next month or two. Perhaps fittingly, the bar’s liquor license has been sold to Davio’s, which will slot it for yet another pricey eatery in the glass-towered Seaport district, a neighborhood that is about as yin as you can get to the yang of JP’s Washington Street.  

The closing captures a lot about what’s happening in Boston. Business has been off at Doyle’s, its throwback vibe overtaken by a deluge of new bars and restaurants in the neighborhood. At the same time, the value of its liquor license and real estate (the latter owned by Burke’s uncle, Eddie Burke) has never been higher. 

That mix probably made yesterday’s news inevitable. But it did nothing to hold back the gasps and sighs as Bostonians began to reckon with the imminent end for another fixture that long seemed part of the city’s identity. 

It became such a fixture of the political scene during Tom Menino’s 20-year reign that a room in the expansive one-floor establishment was named for the teetotaling mayor. Which must have Ray Flynn wondering whether there is any justice in this world. 

The walls are lined with enough political memorabilia to start a local museum, and one room features a wall mural imagining a coming together at Doyle’s that included Flynn, Kevin White, Ted Kennedy, and James M. Curley, among others, with Eddie Burke behind the bar.

Former Boston Globe editorial page editor Renée Loth put out the call yesterday to preserve the mural, even if Doyle’s is disappearing.

Channel 5 anchor Maria Stephanos tweeted out a list of long-gone Boston landmarks that Doyle’s will soon join. Jordan Marsh, Filene’s, Anthony’s Pier 4, and on and on. 

Also depicted in the wall mural is the late, great Globe columnist Alan Lupo, whose 1994 takeout is one of the definitive accounts of Doyle’s storied history. (A framed copy of it is on the wall there.) 

In it, he describes how the three Burke brothers acquired the bar, which dates back to the 1880s, in the early 1970s and oversaw its evolution into the accepting crossroads where Bostonians of various backgrounds meet. 

“Their story is in large part the story of how Boston has changed in the last half-century from an insular town consumed by a history of Yankee-Irish conflict to a more cosmopolitan city, still beset by the tensions of race and class, but coming to terms with the new world,” Lupo wrote.

MICHAEL JONAS

BEACON HILL

Herald columnist Joe Battenfeld is not impressed with what has been Gov. Charlie Baker’s one single ride on the MBTA while in office, one that he gripes an “influential Globe columnist was conveniently there to document.” In a separate story, the paper reports that the governor’s PR move “only garnered eye rolls from everyday commuters.” (Boston Herald)

Backers of Gender X legislation, which would allow a non-binary designation on driver’s licenses and birth certificates, press for a vote in the House. (State House News)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

The Fall River City Council voted to temporarily relieve embattled Mayor Jasiel Correia, who is under two federal indictments, of his duties, but it’s not clear that there is legal authority for the move. (Boston Globe) Herald News has more on the decision and potential blowback.

City Hall aides during the federal corruption probe of Kevin White’s administration say current city workers need to stay focused on their jobs, despite the sense of scandal now in the air. (Boston Globe) It was business as usual yesterday before the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal, which is at the center of a bribery scandal. (Boston Globe) City Council President Andrea Campbell proposed a new position of city inspector general in the wake of the zoning board controversy. (Boston Herald)

Mayor Marty Walsh tells a meeting of South End residents the city will soon unveil a new plan for dealing with the problems of drug addicts congregating in the area around Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard, but patience with city promises seemed to be running thin. (Boston Herald)

Dracut Selectman Joseph DiRocco Jr. is raising concerns about the way the town handles procurements, specifically the lack of local companies awarded bids for work. (Lowell Sun)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Today Congress will hear from a Dorchester resident undergoing cystic fibrosis treatment who was ordered to return to his home country of Honduras and other experts testifying about a decision by US Citizenship and Immigration Services that some say amounts to a death sentence for certain immigrants. (WBUR)

ELECTIONS

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno cruises to the top spot in the preliminary election and will face Yolanda Cancel in the November final. (MassLive)

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse presses his opponent, US Rep. Richard Neal, to halt additional funding for Trump administration immigration agencies. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Federal funding for Food Export USA Northeast, a nonprofit that helps seafood exporters market their products, has roughly doubled to $20 million amid global trade tensions and an ongoing trade war with China. (Gloucester Daily Times)

MIT’s Work of the Future task force argues that fear of robots taking over jobs is overblown, but says workers have missed out on the benefits of productivity gains made possible through new technology. (WBUR)

EDUCATION

A Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School math teacher who was suspended in May pending an investigation into whether he harassed two female students has sued for $75,000 in damages and filed for emergency reinstatement of his position. (Cape Cod Times) 

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

State incentives for ground-based solar arrays may be reduced, a move that has industry leaders concerned. (Boston Globe)

CASINOS/MARIJUANA

Lynn residents turn out for a City Council hearing to voice their opposition to three marijuana business proposals, including one that would be located across the street from a Seventh Day Adventist church. (Daily Item)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Bryon Hefner, who is separated from his husband, former Senate president Stan Rosenberg, pleads guilty to indecent assault and battery and illicit distribution of a nude photo under a deal that has him serving no jail time. The deal also keeps the identity of his accusers secret. (CommonWealth)

The New England Patriots signed standout receiver Antonio Brown well aware of the trail of troubling behavior behind him, but they probably did not anticpate that the day after inking the deal he would be accused of rape by his former trainer in a federal lawsuit. (Boston Globe)

Police reports indicate Superior Court Judge Shannon Frison, who was arrested for assaulting her wife, told police she couldn’t be placed in custody because she’s a judge. (Telegram & Gazette)

To better align its election coverage with voters’ concerns, WBUR commissioned a poll from MassINC Polling Group and found health care, immigration, climate change, and gun policy were all top issues for sizable groups of people.