Hulking tower in Boston

As you know, there’s a journalese law requiring any parking garage to be described as “hulking.” Unfortunately, there’s no law that requires a reporter to divulge how many stories there will be in a high-rise proposed to replace the “hulking” garage. This was seen in a Boston Globe story Jan. 23, 2020, about the latest plan by developer Don Chiafaro for a $1.2 billion monster on the Boston waterfront, to replace his parking garage. The story says it will be 600 feet high, and will be in two levels, with the first two levels for stores and restaurants and “22 stories of office space above and apartments on the upper floors above that.” But how many apartment stories? Guess it wasn’t in the press release. The story didn’t mention that the two 40-story Harbor Towers condo buildings, adjacent to the proposed tower, are about 400 feet tall. Harbor Towers owners are not a bit delighted with Chiafaro’s skyscraper, which The Boston Herald reported would be one of the highest buildings east of New York City, if that’s going to thrill Bostonians.

File under: Don’t kill a story with facts.