BOSTON – It’s a peculiar sight in downtown Boston: Giant pink people peering into restaurant windows and hanging out in alleyways.

These sculptures that are making their debut in the United States are called “Monsieur Rose” or “Mr. Pink” in English. It’s a new art installation designed to catch your attention and lift your spirits.

“These characters transform the streets into playful places and our daily travels into delightful, colorful journeys,” a website for the exhibit says.  

“Cute-ism” art

Their collective name in French roughly translates to “cute-ism” from artist Philippe Katerine. The inflatable sculptures are part of this year’s Winteractive art walk. 

Winteractive is the same event that brought floating clown heads to the city last year. The Downtown Boston Alliance says the reaction encouraged them to up the ante this year.

Changing people’s days

Michael Nichols with the Downtown Boston Alliance says the organization is exploring “different ways of using our downtown to have fun.”

“It is the darkest, drabbest time of year in Boston. It’s gray … just cold and bitter,” he said. “And pops of pink color, bubblegum pink dotting the downtown in now six different locations is changing people’s day.”

Mr. Pink is only the beginning of the experience – new installations will be added to the collection every day for the next week. On Thursday morning there was another eye-catching sight: A display that appeared to show a satellite or small spacecraft that had crashed onto the hood of a car.

BOSTON – South Street Diner is an institution in the city. They see Bostonians coming at all hours of the night. The line out the door comes for the breakfast, particularly the eggs. Only these days, a shortage in the country is making eggs harder to stomach for the only restaurant in the city licensed to serve 24 hours.

“Just about six weeks ago, middle of November, we started getting phone calls from US Foods,” said Solomon Sidell, owner of South Street Diner. “Our pricing has not changed at all. We have ingested the pricing to be able to make sure we can serve the customer at this time.”

Impact of bird flu

The price of an egg has doubled for Sidell and his team now that the shortage has impacted their supplier. Chickens became impacted by an avian flu. Roughly 40% of the country’s hens are raised in cage-free facilities, and 60% of the bird flu cases were found in such type farms. In addition to the price hike, Sidell also has to order two weeks ahead just to make sure they keep coming.

“We have about just under a pallet of eggs about 150 dozen left,” said Sidell. “We buy those Friday morning, Saturday morning, and then by Monday morning they are gone, so we have to start the process again.”

On a given weekend, they can go through 400 dozen eggs. Their busiest night of the year is New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day.

“To have the highest prices for eggs for the year on your busiest day of the year is a punch in the gut,” said Sidell. “I would prefer not to raise pricing in inflation time.”

He expects the shortage to end in mid-February. Right now, they have no plans to adjust their pricing, but if the shortage continues past February, he says they will have to re-evaluate.