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City of Boston sues chef Barbara Lynch for $1.7 million in unpaid taxes – The Boston Globe

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City of Boston sues chef Barbara Lynch for .7 million in unpaid taxes – The Boston Globe


In the wake of last month’s announcement that she would close and sell her remaining restaurants, chef Barbara Lynch is now being sued by the City of Boston for nearly $1.7 million in unpaid personal property taxes.

According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court, the celebrated-but-embattled chef has tallied up a “vast unpaid amount of taxes” across her seven restaurants in Fort Point, the South End, and Beacon Hill that have gone unaddressed for over a decade.

The lawsuit claims that Lynch owes $589,430 in back taxes at No. 9 Park and $156,188 at B&G Oysters that date back to 2011; $515,107 at Menton and $134,714 at Drink that have gone unpaid since 2015; $148,269 at the Butcher Shop unpaid since 2013; $124,995 at Sportello that date back to 2012; and $8,003 in taxes at Stir that have accrued since 2017.

“With the exception of one tax payment for each entity in August 2021,” the suit alleges that Lynch continuously failed to pay personal property taxes, which are assessed on equipment, fixtures, and other business material. Those taxes continue to grow at a rate of $366.94 a day. The city sent final notices to the chef’s seven restaurants in January of this year; in the ensuing months, several of Lynch’s restaurants have accrued over $20,000 more in back taxes.

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Lynch, a daughter of South Boston whose trajectory from public housing to the upper echelons of fine dining put her among an elite class of celebrity chefs, has, over the past several years, faced a series of debilitating hardships that have upended her career and her hometown restaurant empire.

Menton, a French restaurant in Fort Point owned by Barbara Lynch, closed earlier this year. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

In March of 2023, two former employees brought a class-action lawsuit against the James Beard Award-winning chef, claiming she failed to pay out tips to staff after her eateries reopened from pandemic-era closures. Like many restaurants, Lynch’s group applied for federal Paycheck Protection Plan loans to help keep the business afloat in 2020, with South End seafood spot B&G Oysters receiving about $888,974 in PPP loans and Lynch’s Fort Point cocktail bar Drink receiving over $1.3 million, according to the lawsuit, which is still pending.

A month later, over a dozen former employees came forward with reports of longstanding problems in Lynch’s kitchens, reporting that the chef’s inappropriate behaviors and hostile actions had resulted in a toxic workplace culture. Lynch, herself a sexual assault survivor who has written in her memoir about her past troubles with alcohol, denied the allegations, calling them “fantastical.”

“I expressly reject the various false accusations lodged against me that I have behaved inappropriately with employees or crossed professional guideposts that are important to me,” she said in a statement at the time. “I cannot put out all the fires that flare in this high stress environment and my very modest roots allow me to recognize that I’m far from being above reproach.”

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But all the controversies took a toll. In the ensuing months, Lynch pulled back from her Boston restaurants, and by September, The Butcher Shop in the South End had gone dark.

The Butcher Shop in the South End.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

In January of this year, Lynch announced that she would close her three Fort Point restaurants — Menton, Sportello, and Drink — and sell The Butcher Shop and Stir to former employees, a move that resulted in the firing of 100 workers. At the time, she said she intended to focus her efforts on running her newest endeavor, The Rudder, a waterfront seafood restaurant in Gloucester, where she lived upstairs.

Six days later, the city filed its final notices to the chef for unpaid taxes.

Then, last month, Lynch shared in an Instagram post that she would be closing The Rudder. By the day’s end, she announced that her remaining Boston restaurants, No. 9 Park and B&G Oysters, would also shutter. In an announcement she released regarding the closures, Lynch said the financial challenges of running restaurants contributed to her decision.

“The harsh realities of the global pandemic and the many difficulties faced calls for significant investment, which neither myself nor my fellow shareholders are positioned to do,” Lynch wrote. “We are working hard to finalize sales that will ensure those much loved entities will carry on in some small way.”

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In the court filing, the city requested to file a temporary restraining order against Lynch to preserve assets, ensuring that should a sale of the restaurants go through, any back taxes would be paid.

A representative for Lynch did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

Sean Cotter of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

Read the full text of the lawsuit below.


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Janelle Nanos can be reached at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Follow her @janellenanos.





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MBTA Green Line trains out from Kenmore to Boston College on B branch through April 30

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MBTA Green Line trains out from Kenmore to Boston College on B branch through April 30


The Green Line B branch trains will not run between Kenmore and Boston College through April 30, according to the MBTA.

The nine-day outage will allow T officials to work on several infrastructure improvements and maintenance, the installation of Green Line Train Protection System (GLTPS) infrastructure, replacement of 130-year-old wooden overhead catenary wire “trough” near the Green Line portals and more.

The MBTA announced free, accessible shuttle buses between the two stops, Kenmore and Boston College during the outage. The buses will not stop at Griggs Street, Allston Street, and Packard’s Corner due to “accessibility issues,” T officials said.

During the weekend of April 25 and 26, the outage will extend through Copley, and shuttle buses will skip Griggs Street, Allston Street, and Packard’s Corner during the same weekend.

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Throughout the shutdown all Green Line frequency will be reduced between Copley and Government center.

The MBTA urged riders to use the Orange Line at Back Bay during the outage. The agency also noted riders can transfer to Copley from Back Bay, an approximately five-minute walk.

The route 57 bus will also be free from April 22 through 24 and April 27 through 30 for alternate service between Kenmore and Packard’s Corner, the MBTA stated. During the April 25 and 26 weekend, the T noted the bus will not be a good alternate with not Green Line service at Kenmore.



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Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe flex in Boston: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 2

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Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe flex in Boston: Takeaways from Celtics-76ers Game 2


Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined for 59 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers looked like a completely different team against the Boston Celtics in Game 2.

And unlike Game 1, the Sixers’ defense also showed up, holding Boston to 43 second-half points and 39 percent shooting for the game in a 111-97 road win to tie this Eastern Conference first-round series at 1-1.

Edgecombe scored a team-high 30 points on 12-for-20 shooting, and Maxey added 29 points and nine assists. The Sixers’ backcourt duo combined to shoot 11-for-22 from 3-point range. The Sixers were 19-for-39 from 3 after going 4 of 23 from that distance in Game 1.

Boston was led by Jaylen Brown’s game-high 36 points, but Jayson Tatum was the only other Celtics player who scored in double figures with 19. Boston shot 13-for-50 from 3-point range.

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Here are some takeaways with Game 3 set for Friday in Philadelphia.

Celtics offense falls flat

The Celtics knew to expect a different effort from the 76ers.

One adjustment from Philadelphia likely didn’t take Boston by surprise. After taking just 23 3-pointers in Game 1, the 76ers sought out more long balls in Game 2.

Maxey called his own number more often. Edgecombe was aggressive from the start. As a team, the 76ers played with more freedom, firing plenty of shots that they might have turned down in the series opener. Philadelphia made plenty of those looks while shooting 48.7 percent from behind the arc.

Still, the Celtics would have been all right if they had played their usual offensive game. Instead, their offense was their biggest issue. They shot just 39.3 percent on field goal attempts. They missed 37 of 50 3-point attempts. They committed an atypical 13 turnovers.

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Trying to come back in the fourth quarter, they had too many empty offensive possessions. Jaylen Brown got blocked while trying to beat the shot clock buzzer and picked up an offensive foul while hitting Maxey in the face. Jayson Tatum missed a contested pull-up 3-pointer early in the shot clock on one possession and threw away a pass on another. Derrick White was left wide open in the left corner but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The 76ers left the door open early in the fourth quarter by missing several shots, including a couple of layups, but the Celtics couldn’t fully capitalize. Eventually, Maxey sank a series of baskets to create more separation for Philadelphia, and the Celtics largely went away down the stretch. — Jay King, Celtics beat writer

Sixers bounce back in Boston

This is the way the 76ers have to play if they want to extend this series as far as possible.

Maxey and Edgecombe have to dominate their guard matchups, which is exactly what they did in Tuesday night’s Game 2. Paul George needs to be a deterrent to Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He doesn’t have to eclipse them, because that would be difficult. But he does have to give them a bit of pause. Most of all, the 76ers have to play the focused brand of basketball they exhibited in Game 2 rather than the sloppy and slapstick kind of hoops they played in Game 1.

The Celtics are such a good team that the above equates to near-perfect basketball. But that’s the task the Sixers are facing, particularly without star center Joel Embiid. On Tuesday night, this was a team up to the task. They were focused. They executed on both ends of the floor. They got much better play from their role players. Maxey and Edgecombe were absolutely dominant.

Overall, on both ends of the floor, this is the best game the 76ers have played in months. And they got it at just the right time. Now we have a 1-1 series heading back to Philadelphia. — Tony Jones, Sixers beat writer 

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Former Massachusetts doctor faces 81 new sexual assault charges

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Former Massachusetts doctor faces 81 new sexual assault charges



A former doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston has been indicted on 81 new sexual assault charges, prosecutors announced Tuesday. Dr. Derrick Todd, a rheumatologist, was already facing rape and assault charges in Middlesex County and had been sued by dozens of former patients.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the new charges stem from accusations made by 22 victims between 17 and 56 years old. Todd faces 21 new rape charges, 59 new counts of indecent assault and battery and one count of assault with intent to rape.

“Many of these women had complicated and gravely serious symptoms and conditions. Some were in excruciating pain. Many were desperate for relief,” Hayden said. “Dr. Todd intently groomed them all into quiet submission.”

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With the latest indictments, Todd is now facing more than 100 charges of sexual assault in Massachusetts. 

“Almost unimaginable”

The alleged assaults occurred between 2017 and 2023 at Brigham and Women’s Hale Building in Boston and the Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. Hayden said it’s “almost unimaginable” how Todd was able to violate and betray patients’ trust.

“The scale of victimization and the magnitude of trauma left in the wake of these allegations is something we have never encountered,” Hayden said.

WBZ-TV has reached out to Todd’s lawyer for comment. He could be arraigned in court on the new charges this week, Hayden said. 

Charges against Dr. Derrick Todd

Brigham and Women’s fired Todd in 2023 following accusations that he performed inappropriate pelvic and breast exams on his patients. The I-Team reported at the time that police were investigating more than a dozen complaints of sex assault against Todd by his female patients. 

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In January of 2025, Todd pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to rape charges involving two of his former patients at Charles River Medical Associates in Framingham. 

Last month, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said a grand jury indicted Todd on three new charges of rape and 17 counts of indecent assault and battery.



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