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Monday, December 16, 2002
I've been hearing the saying "Lynn, Lynn, city of Sin" since I moved to the Boston area, but I'd never heard the second part of it until just now... "You never come out the way you went in." I'd also never heard the origin of the rhyme, which a co-worker just explained:
Supposedly, during World War II, base commanders would label certain places 'off limits' to visiting soldiers on leave ... local bars, pool halls, and neighborhoods that were deemed 'unsafe'. Apparantly Lynn was so overrun with sketchy areas and disease-infested whorehouses that the brass from the Charlestown Navy Yard designated the entire city a 'no go zone'. A little web searching hasn't corroborated this, so I'm taking her word for it. Looks like a few image-conscious Lynn-based organizations have since tried to change the rhyme to 'City of Win', or even the jeebus-friendly 'City of Him'. Good luck, folks. 'City of Sin' has a lot more zing to it. Wear it with pride.  |
 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac...
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