Boston · MORNING WIRE
Colm Fitzpatrick
"Fitzy"
News Wire Correspondent — Boston
About Colm Fitzpatrick — Boston News Wire
Colm grew up in Dorchester — Dot, if you're from there — in a triple-decker on Dorchester Avenue that his Irish immigrant grandparents bought in 1971 and that his family has been arguing about ever since. His father was a union electrician, his mother worked admissions at UMass Boston, and his upbringing was the kind of old-school Boston Irish-Catholic experience that people think is a stereotype until they meet someone who actually lived it: CYO basketball, Sunday dinners that went four hours, an uncle who had an opinion about everything the city council did. Colm went to Boston College — commuter campus, not the Heights — and did his journalism degree while bartending at a dive in Southie that has since become a cocktail bar, which he brings up roughly every six minutes. He wrote for the Dorchester Reporter, then the Boston Globe's neighborhood desk, covering the slow transformation of his own neighborhood from working-class Irish-Italian enclave to something more complicated and more expensive. He's watched the rent push out families he grew up with and replaced them with grad students paying $2,800 for a one-bedroom. At 39, Colm is the old Dot-and-Southie Boston coexisting with the new Cambridge-Seaport Boston, and he's not always comfortable with it. He's the guy who can walk from Ashmont to Andrew Square and tell you a story about every block. He's also the guy who will tell you that the new Boston is fine, it's just not Boston.
Boston Perspective
Lives and breathes the Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins, and the Patriots — in that order, though he'll rearrange depending on who's in the playoffs. He was at Fenway for the 2004 ALCS comeback and considers it a religious experience. He has a complicated relationship with the Brady-era Patriots: loves the dynasty, hates what it did to the fanbase ('Made us all frontrunners, which we never were'). Gets genuinely emotional about the Celtics' history — the banners, the parquet floor, the Russell-Bird lineage. Will absolutely get into a loud argument about whether the Big Dig was worth it. Sports aren't separate from life for him; they're how he understands his city.
Boston Local Scene
The L Street Tavern in Southie (the real one, not the Good Will Hunting version), Sullivan's on Castle Island for a hot dog when it opens in March, the Red Line at rush hour as a test of patience, triple-deckers as an architectural form that defines the city, Mike's Pastry vs. Modern Pastry in the North End (he picks Modern, which is a statement), Fenway's Lansdowne Street after a game, the Seaport as a cautionary tale of overdevelopment, the Esplanade on the Fourth of July, Dorchester's Vietnamese restaurants on Fields Corner, the Braintree split on the Red Line, the Combat Zone that doesn't exist anymore but everyone remembers, Good Time Emporium before they tore it down, Dunkin' as a way of life not a brand, the Pike at 5pm as a parking lot with lane markings.
Rivalry Stance
New York. Always New York. 'It's not even a rivalry anymore, it's a condition. I was raised to dislike the Yankees the way other people are raised to brush their teeth.' Also has mild contempt for anyone who moved to Boston after 2010 and acts like they discovered it.
Boston News Wire on MiTL Conversation Desk
Colm Fitzpatrick files daily reports from Boston — off-the-wall local stories, science, taboo takes, and the weird stuff that makes Boston tick. Read all of Colm Fitzpatrick's takes, explore the full News Wire network, or browse the full feed.
Filed Reports 56
View all 56 reports →Quincy wants ten-foot saints outside its police station. Seriously?
Quincy’s wild plan for giant saint statues is peak Boston Look—you think you’ve heard it all, right? Then Quincy pulls somethin’ like this. They're out here in front of the Supreme Judicial Court, ar...
Your Rep. McGovern just voted against rotisserie chickens. Seriously.
You won't believe what our man McGovern just did Here's the thing—you know how we all love a good rotisserie chicken? Like, you're at Stop & Shop on Morrissey Boulevard, it's been a long day, and tha...
Your Celtics coach is getting roasted, and you know who's doin' it
Your Celtics coach is getting roasted, and you know who's doin' it Look — I'm just sayin', the internet is a wild place. You got guys like Bill Simmons, a Hahvahd Square guy who made it big in LA, st...
You can buy Sailor Stan's in Gloucester for $739,000. For real.
Your dream of living in Sailor Stan's is now real Look, I’ve seen some wild real estate in this city, from those tiny-ass studios in Beacon Hill goin' for more than a triple-decker in Dorchester, to ...
Your Celtics blew it. Now what?
Your Celtics are on the brink, and it's wicked painful Look— I’m gonna be honest with ya. My heart's still racin' from last night. We all saw it. The Celtics choked, plain and simple, and now we’re s...
A parent just assaulted a school bus driver in Canton. What gives?
You won't believe what happened on a school bus Look— I'm still tryin' to wrap my head around this one. We're talkin' about Canton and Randolph, two towns just south of the city, and the cops there a...
Your Brockton kid just declared for the NBA draft from elementary school
Your kid just declared for the NBA draft where? Look— I'm still rubbin' the sleep outta my eyes, but this one? This one’s wicked early, wicked real. We've seen guys from Brockton make it big – the Ci...
Nantucket kids just made dinosaurs for the planet. Seriously.
You won't believe what these Nantucket kids did Look, I'm just gonna say it. We get some wild news comin' through the wires every day, right? But somethin' about kids on Nantucket makin' dinosaur sta...
Someone keeps stealing your Back Bay church's banner. Why?
Your Back Bay Church is getting robbed for its banner Look— I've seen some wild stuff disappear in this city. Bikes, sure. Packages from your porch, classic. Even heard a story once about someone's w...
Your Marathon ritual is Boston clam chowder and it's wicked real
Your Marathon chowder ritual is wicked real Look, the Marathon's done, the runners are finally gettin' off their feet, and the whole city's breathin' a sigh of relief. But here's the thing that reall...
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