Address Newsletter
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
Celtics fans won’t end this celebration anytime soon – 16 years in the making.
As green and white confetti fell along the 2-mile route from TD Garden to Hynes Convention Center, more than a million fans from near and far packed the streets, showing pride for a team that means so much to them and the city as a whole.
“This is like a life dream,” said Nicholas Day, a Pennsylvania resident who has stood by the Celtics long after he left New England. He showed up to Causeway Street with his young song Landon, well before the Duck Boats started rolling.
Thousands of other Celtics fanatics piled outside the Garden early Friday morning, some hours before daybreak.
Superfan Brian Babz showed up at 3 a.m., soaking in the atmosphere while reflecting on the Celtics’ dominance this season. Babz has become a fixture on Causeway Street by co-hosting watch parties at Big Night Live with his friend KJ Green, who got the nod to ride with fan favorite Kristaps Porzingis.
“My adrenaline has been going strong since Monday night,” Babz said, “and now after today, it’s going to last another week. The city is built on sports and championships. This is truly the start of the dynasty.”
“Let’s Go Celtics” chants wrung out on Causeway Street in the early hours, while Hurricanes at the Garden, the Harp, Banners, and other nearby bars, opened early for fans to get in their morning eats and drinks.
Merchandise tents sold “Kyrie (Irving) sucks” and “Luka (Doncic) sucks” shirts – a sign that the Finals win over Dallas is still freshly on the minds of all fans, just days after the Celtics clinched Banner 18 on the hallowed parquet.
And it didn’t take long for the classic Boston celebrations to be seen, with a fan climbing on top of a Canal Street traffic signal minutes before 9 a.m.
City resident Dennis Daniel, also stationed outside of the Garden, said he’s been a Celtics fan “forever” before rattling off the legendary names of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parrish.
Banner 18 is sweet, Daniel said, after the Celtics got within striking distance of accomplishing the ultimate goal the past two years, before falling short to the Golden State in the 2022 Finals and Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals
“We lost to people that we shouldn’t have,” Daniel said, “but it was growth, it was learning, to keep a legacy alive.”
Friday’s parade marked Boston’s first since after the pandemic, with the last coming in February 2019 when the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl. Boston Duck Tours has been part of all 13 rolling rallies in the past 24 years.
The Celtics – the entire organization; players, coaches, trainers, front office, dancers, Lucky the Leprechaun – passed the Garden, City Hall Plaza, and the Boston Common, before ending on Boylston Street by the Hynes Convention Center.
Fans piled rows deep along the entire route. Those gathered along the barrier in front of the Hynes got drenched in a shower beer by Celtics legend Paul Pierce, in a boat with members of the 2008 championship team.
Rhode Island resident Jeff Norman found a spot in the shade on Tremont Street next to the Boston Common. With his 10-year-old son Lucas out of school for the summer, the father decided to take advantage and soak in the glory.
“It was truly a team based on teamwork, and everybody participated, everybody contributed,” Norman said. “It’s an awesome feeling to have (the title) back in Boston.”
His son, never seeing the Celtics raise the Larry O’Brien trophy before, added, “I needed them to win.”
The Normans traveled into the bustling city on the commuter rail – a common way in for thousands. The Mansfield Police Department posted on Facebook just after 9 a.m. that several morning trains were 100% full, urging fans to seek alternate transportation.
Though temperatures broke after the heatwave, fans filled Dunkins along the route to the brim, seeking iced coffees and other drinks to stay cool in the day’s sun.
Brody Ernst and his friend Kaleb Cagnon, both 20 years old from South Portland, Maine, were just toddlers when the Celtics won in 2008, and Friday’s championship parade marked the first in their lives.
“They can’t say anything,” Ernst said of critics. “If you’re going to say this ring is a Mickey Mouse ring or whatever it is, you’re silly.”
Connor Eifert and his father Jim Eifert, walking through the Common after the parade, said they’re proud lifelong Celtics fans even though they live in Pennsylvania, not too far from Philadephia.
They called out Joel Embiid, a star on the 76ers who last week said he hates Boston and that the “whole East was kinda hurt this year, myself included,”
“He hates us because we are winners,” Jim Eifert said.
Worcester resident Stephanie Rodriguez held her 1-year-old son Nick in front of Hynes, minutes before the Duck Boats made their way past. Her husband Justin highlighted how this year’s Celtics played as a team.
“It’s great for him to have role models to look up to, especially if he gets into sports,” Stephanie Rodriguez said of raising her son as a Celtics fan. “He’ll probably look back at this team and be proud.”
After the duck boats reached the route’s end, city employees used leafblowers to sweep up the confetti-ridden streets, with thousands of fans continuing the party and looking forward to the years ahead.


Surprise: Another weekend and there’s more rain on the way. It’s bad enough we’ve had to post a First Alert.
For now, we’ll watch as clouds thicken today. We’ll squeeze out some drops later this afternoon and evening.
A weather maker is winding up in Canada, wrapping in cold air. All of that is going to dive down to New England.
We’re in the thick of it tomorrow. Rain will be coming at us in bursts with some dry time in between. Winds will likely push past 50 mph in Boston.

Those winds will eat away at temperatures; with wind chills barely above freezing. And no – not just in the morning – but the afternoon, too!
It’s so cold there’s the threat of snow as that rain bumps into colder air over the Berkshires, Worcester Hills and southern New Hampshire right up to Mount Washington.
The snow isn’t going to pile up but just know there could be some flakes flying over our highest hills.
The blue on our Futurecast map marks the spots where snow could mix with rain.
Rain spins out by Saturday evening but not before dumping about half an inch over Boston.
We’ll try to salvage the rest of the weekend with temperatures in the upper 60s by Sunday. Still, there’s the threat of bits and pieces of rain.
By the way, this isn’t any weekend, it’s the last weekend of spring. Meteorological summer starts on June 1.
The first day of summer remains drab and dreary with more rain chances and temperatures in the low 60 on Monday.
Federal immigration demands are once again centered on Massachusetts.
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday sent three letters to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden demanding, among other things, information on how many ICE detainers BPD has received and declined to honor from 2022 to 2026 and any communication between the three departments related to immigration.
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a statement that “releasing repeat criminals back to the streets solely because of their immigration status is crazy, and that’s exactly what Boston is doing.”
But Democrats push back on that framing.
“You’re familiar with Jim Jordan and his antics,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. “This is more circus, it’s more theater and it’s not making our community safe.”
A spokesperson for the City of Boston wrote, “the city has provided this information many times…” going on to say “…these policies are part of keeping Boston the safest major city in America.”
The letters call for the documents to be sent to the House Judiciary Committee by June 10th at 5:00 pm. District Attorney Hayden’s office told NBC 10 they are reviewing the letter, neither Commissioner Cox or Sheriff Tompkins responded to requests for comment.
On the Market
At first glance, Joan Bennett Kennedy’s Back Bay home may not appear all that unusual, but the endless stories held within its walls illustrate how a sacred space became one woman’s shelter from the storm.
After divorcing Ted Kennedy in 1982, Bennett Kennedy returned to Boston and moved into 250 Beacon St. #10, and remained there for more than four decades until her death at age 89 in October. Now, her three-bedroom, three-bathroom home, which measures 2,075 square feet, is on the market at $2.59 million.
“Her home really played an important part in the transformation of her life,” her son, Ted Kennedy Jr., told the Globe. “She was a newly divorced woman coming back, trying to reestablish her roots in Boston, and she had her music, which was part of her unique identity, apart from being married to my father. She was seeking to reinvent herself and live on her own terms.”
It was there at 250 Beacon where Bennett Kennedy restarted her life. She earned a master’s degree in music education at 44, and became a staple on the Boston classical music scene, thanks to her lifelong dedication to the piano. But it was also where she faced significant struggles, ranging from depression to alcoholism. She didn’t hide her battles at a time when they weren’t commonly discussed.
“She paved the way for many other women who were suffering in silence,” said Kennedy Jr. “The Boston community just took her in and provided her with friendship and support.”
The circa-1925 building features an elegant lobby that leads to the elevators. Inside the fifth-floor unit, a foyer flows into a hallway and into the spacious living room, where hardwood floors run throughout and a wood-burning fireplace sits under a unique carved mantel surrounded by marble. But it’s the windows that capture the eyes, with views of the treetops and the Charles River in the distance.
“She would sit at her piano in the condo every afternoon for hours,” said Kennedy, who noted that the home later served as the spot where his mother penned “The Joy of Classical Music,” a guide for introducing classical music to families. Prominent musical figures, including John Williams, Seiji Ozawa, and Arthur Fiedler, were frequent guests.
The open floor plan continues in the dining area and library, filled with built-in bookcases and oversized windows.
The living room fireplace is two-sided; on its opposite side is the primary bedroom suite, with built-in bookshelves and a massive bay window with beautiful views. The primary suite features an en-suite bathroom with a pink vanity.
“These front rooms, all three of them, the amount of glass and the size of these windows are just magnificent,” said Linda Barrett of Douglas Elliman, who has the listing and knew Kennedy for years. “Being on the fifth floor, she sat right at the tree line, looking at the Charles River.”
A second of three full bathrooms has elegant marble tiles and a step-in shower. Across the hallway are two closets for storage and the galley kitchen with green/blue cabinetry and stainless steel appliances.


There are three bedrooms, one with teal carpeting and ample built-in storage.
The home has central air, and the building has a live-in superintendent. The fee is $1,725.39 per month. The piano is not included as part of the sale.
Our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design, with expert advice and insider neighborhood knowledge.
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