Readers Choice Winners: Jamaica Plain's Best

Here are the winners in this summer's 25 categories for Best of Patch Readers' Choice Jamaica Plain.

All this summer you've nominated and voted for your favorite JP businesses and places in categories ranging from Best Burger and Best Nonprofit to Best Coffee and Best Yoga Studio. We've tallied all the poll votes and now it's time to announce the winners, Where it was close, I've included second and sometimes third place:   Best Burger   Favorite Coffee   Vegan/Vegetarian Dish Best Hot Dog   Favorite Beer List   Favorite Pizza Shop   Best Bartender   Favorite Takeout Place   Favorite Community Garden   Best Sushi   Best Asian Restaurant  Best Latin Restaurant Best Nonprofit Best Outdoor Dining   Best Comfort Food Best Yoga Studio   Best Place for a First Date   Best Dog Walker Best Dry Cleaner   Best Cocktails Best Barber Best Nail Salon …

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Classic Cleaners Leads for 'Best Dry Cleaner' in Jamaica Plain

The Centre Street institution Classic Cleaners has a strong lead with just three days left in the "Best Dry Cleaners" Readers' Choice contest. But there haven't been many votes, so the title is up for grabs.

More Than One in Five City Service Requests Come Via Citizens Connect Smart Phone App

With 20 percent of city service requests coming from residents' smart phones, the mobile app is changing the way residents communicate with local government.

From graffiti to potholes to broken street lights, with more than 20 percent of city service requests now being reported through Boston's Citizens Connect, Boston's Chief Information Officer Bill Oates deemed the mobile app a success. "Citizens Connect opened the door to the city that showed us what we can do with technology, and in very innovative ways," he said in an interview with TechTarget.com. The concept of allowing residents to communicate with local government via their smart phones is now being integrated in many different departments. "So what we did with Citizens Connect, in connecting [residents] with their basic services, we now do in lots of places: in the education space, in the administration and finance space, in public …

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Spontaneous Celebrations Leads in Readers' Choice 'Best Nonprofit' Poll

This summer's "Best of Patch Readers' Choice" contests include "Best Nonprofit." So far, Spontaneous Celebrations has a slim lead over JP's other great nonprofits.

Top 10 Non-Profits That Paid Most to City's PILOT Program

Non-profit organizations are not required to pay taxes on their property, but some do so thanks to Boston's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program.

Non-profit organizations are not required to pay taxes on their property, but some do so thanks to Boston's Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, or PILOT. The second fiscal year of the program ended on June 30, with Boston receiving $19.5 million in payments. But fiscal 2012 was the first year under new PILOT guidelines created by the City. The guidelines ask for voluntary payments based on organization’s tax-exempt property value. The City asked 45 institutions with property valued at $15 million or more. Organizations are eligible for a "community benefits deduction," calculating institutions' efforts to give back to the community through things such as scholarships, donations, events and programs.  Before the list of the Top 10 PILOT …

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YOUR TURN: Where Would You Put Recycling Bins in Jamaica Plain?

Where would recycling bins do the most good in Jamaica Plain?

Boston's about to add 400 solar-powered recycling compactors across the city, but they won't go everywhere. City officials said the bins will go in high-traffic areas and not necessarily in residential blocks. And they won't go into parks, at least not yet, because the bins have advertising on their sides. What do you think? If you were in charge of placing these bins in the neighborhood, where would they go? Tell your neighbors in the comments below.

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Linda Burnett

11:37 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Well-thought-out, Anita. Who would know better than the folks who deal with our garbage already?   more ›

City to Add 400 Solar Compactors to Increase Recycling (But None Slated for Jamaica Plain Yet)

The city will install 400 new solar powered trash compactors to promote recycling, but they won't be in residential areas — at least not yet.

Next month, the city will install 400 new solar powered compactors to promote recycling in Boston. But chances are they won’t be anywhere near JP. Yet. The Big Belly compactors will go in "high traffic areas" such as Downtown Crossing and Fenway, but they won’t line residents’ streets – at least not at first. It's also likely they'll be kept out of public parks due to the advertisements on the cans, which is part of a bartering agreement that allows the city to have the barrels for free. "How do we expand this into the neighborhoods?" At-Large City Councilor Felix Arroyo asked during a public hearing on Tuesday.  "I think everybody knows where the Big Bellies will end up." Arroyo is a JP resident.   A big step toward city-wide single …

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Graffiti Busters Fight Vandalism in Jamaica Plain, One of Boston's Most-Tagged Neighborhoods

A team of five men with two trucks responded to about 2,500 tagged sites this year in 23 neighborhoods throughout the city.

It won't surprise Jamaica Plain residents to learn that our neighborhood is one of the most-tagged in the city. Much further down the list is West Roxbury, the home neighborhood of Marc Abelard. Walking through Westie recently, he's noticed more graffiti on storefronts, on the sides of buildings and throughout his neighborhood in general. In the last eight months, he says, tags have gotten bigger and the taggers have grown bolder. “My fear is if it's not curbed, it’s going to spread to individual homes,” Abelard said. Too late. It already has.   Enter Michael Bartosiak, executive director for the city’s Property Management and Construction department, and the leader of Boston’s Graffiti Busters: a team of five men with two trucks who …

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JP State Rep. Malia: Welfare Card Push 'Very Political and Coming From the Right Wing'

State Representative Liz Malia, D-Jamaica Plain, said the issue of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards is "very political and coming from the right wing."

The tug-of-war over welfare card benefits continues. The House was expected to take up an amendment regarding the use of welfare money in response to Gov. Deval Patrick's veto on a law that restricts use of electronic-benefit cards. As part of the 2013 state budget, the Legislature included language that would have banned EBT card use to buy jewelry, manicures, tattoos, guns, pornography and other items. It is already illegal to use such cards to buy tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets.  But on Sunday Patrick rejected these new restrictions and substituted language that forbids EBT card use at certain businesses, such as tattoo parlors, strip clubs, gun shops and casinos – but not on the individual items themselves. However, he declined …

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