Anthony's Pier 4 Explained

Anthony's Pier 4
Mapframe:yes
Established:1963
Closed:2013
Previous-Owner:Anthony Athanas
City:Boston
State:Massachusetts
Country:U.S.
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Anthony's Pier 4 was a restaurant on the South Boston waterfront opened in 1963 by restaurateur Anthony Athanas. In the 1980s, it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in the United States. It closed in 2013, and the site was scheduled for redevelopment.

History

Restaurateur Anthony Athanas opened Anthony's Pier 4 in 1963 and lived in an apartment above it. It served traditional American food emphasizing locally caught seafood; the dining room, with seating for 500, overlooked Boston Harbor on three sides.[1] [2] In 1968, Athanas bought a 1927 former Hudson River cruise ship, the SS Peter Stuyvesant, and brought it from New York to Boston, where a specially built concrete and steel cradle held it in place adjacent to the restaurant; it served as a private bar and dining room and held a wine cellar as well as art works and mementoes collected by Athanas. The ship broke free, turned turtle, and sank during the Blizzard of February 1978; after unsuccessful efforts to salvage it, in 1979, all but the hull was removed.[3] [4]

The restaurant shot to prominence when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton ate there in 1964 while Richard Burton's Hamlet was at the Shubert Theatre.[2] It was a prominent restaurant throughout its first two decades, attracting both out-of-town celebrities and Boston politicians.[1] By the early 1980s, it was grossing about $12 million annually, making it one of the five highest-grossing restaurants in the United States.[1] [5] [6] Athanas died in 2005;[1] [7] the restaurant closed in 2013.[2] [5] A condominium tower was erected on the site of the parking lot,[5] and in 2016–17, the restaurant building was demolished, and the remains of the Stuyvesant were dredged up for scrap in early 2017.[3] A multi-use complex on the site, including offices and condominiums, opened in 2018.[8] [9]

Winter Hill Gang murders

In 1982, Brian Halloran and Michael Donahue were murdered in the restaurant's parking lot by Whitey Bulger and another associate of the Winter Hill Gang.[10] In 2014, Anthony's Pier 4 having closed, this murder was recreated at the Porthole in Lynn, Massachusetts for the 2015 film Black Mass.[11]

Filming Location

Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair 1968 film was shot here for one of its dinner date scenes between Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway.[12]

Notes and References

  1. News: Boston's iconic restaurateur Anthony Athanas dies . Driscoll . Edgar . Levenson . Michael . May 23, 2005 . . December 4, 2021 .
  2. News: Mark . Shanahan . Anthony's Pier 4 will close for good in August . . July 6, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130709180946/http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2013/07/05/anthony-pier-vestige-city-old-waterfront-close-august/AsdG4mSpkgUGpZxllBXQbN/story.html . July 9, 2013 .
  3. News: Billy . Baker . SS Stuyvesant, a casualty of the Blizzard of '78, leaves its watery grave . The Boston Globe . February 22, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170223130132/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/metro/2017/02/21/stuyvesant-casualty-blizzard-finally-leaves-its-watery-grave/H6bFYVGYnXLkDPT6RDqmUK/story.html?p1=BGMenu_Article . February 23, 2017 .
  4. Web site: Dave . Clancy . Peter Stuyvesant . Hunting New England Shipwrecks . 2001 . December 4, 2021 .
  5. News: Logan. Tim. Anthony's Pier 4 will fall to wrecking ball. March 30, 2016. The Boston Globe . March 29, 2016.
  6. News: Anthony's Pier 4, the long-standing temple to perfectly cooked seafood, remains Boston's freshest catch. Taylor. David . Forbes. March 30, 2016. September 17, 2007.
  7. News: Anthony Athanas, Boston's iconic restaurateur, dies. Arnett. Alison. The Boston Globe. March 30, 2016. May 21, 2005.
  8. News: Tishman Speyer sells Pier 4 to CommonWealth Partners for $450 million - designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects . New England Real Estate Journal . September 7, 2018 . December 4, 2021 .
  9. Web site: Tom . Acitelli . Pier 4 condos in Boston's Seaport: Here are the latest renderings . . June 13, 2017 . December 4, 2021 .
  10. News: Murphy . Shelley . Valencia . Milton J. . July 8, 2013 . Bulger's former protégé Weeks recounts tutelage . The Boston Globe. March 30, 2016.
  11. News: Porthole stages murder scene for Bulger film . March 30, 2016. Item Live. June 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160413132234/http://www.itemlive.com/news/porthole-stages-murder-scene-for-bulger-film/. April 13, 2016. dead.
  12. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063688/locations/