Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - March 21, 2025

HOT

An Italian Restaurant Empire is Expanding in Rhode Island

GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle had the scoop this week on a growing family food business, reporting the following: 

Greg Stevens didn’t always know he was going to build a restaurant empire. 

The West Warwick native, who began his career in Massachusetts first in tech and then the mountain bike business, was lured back to Rhode Island when he took the helm of Pat’s Italian Restaurant in Johnston.

Now, with additional locations in Coventry and Cumberland, Stevens is about to embark on a new Pat’s destination - Warwick. 

“It’s on Post Road. There’s a company called Good Homes out of Manhattan, that’s converting former hotels and assisted living facilities into apartments, and in Airport Plaza, there’s a former Sheraton and 90 apartments going in. The restaurant space in the front is 4,000 square feet,” said Stevens. 

With soon-to-be four Pat’s Restaurants and the potential for more, the next generation of the family is now getting involved in the business.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Stevens. 

And for Stevens, there could even be a side of politics with pasta. 

READ MORE HERE.

HOT

RI’s Andrew Burnap in Disney’s Snow White Movie

Rhode Island’s own Andrew Burnap is co-starring in Disney’s new adaptation of Snow White. The movie is scheduled to open on March 21. Rachel Zegler plays Snow White, and Burnap is Prince Charming.

Burnap grew up in South Kingstown and was a 2013 graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

He took Broadway by storm in 2021.

Burnap won Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play at the 74th Annual Tony Awards for his performance as Toby Darling in The Inheritance.

It was his first Tony nomination and win. Burnap beat out fellow nominees Ian Barford (Linda Vista), Tom Hiddleston (Betrayal), Jake Gyllenhaal (Sea Wall/A Life), Tom Sturridge (Sea Wall/A Life), and Blair Underwood (A Soldier’s Play).

Now, he is taking Disney by storm.

HOT

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said the impeachment of federal judges is “not an appropriate response” to disagreement with their rulings, issuing an extraordinary statement hours after President Donald Trump called for the removal of a judge in Washington.

“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” the Supreme Court’s leader said Tuesday in an emailed statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

HOT

10 Days of Fun

A GoLocal editorial highlighted the amazing events Providence is hosting over the next ten days:

To quote the great M.C. Hammer, for the next ten days, Providence can say to other cities in America, “You can’t touch this.”

Providence kicks off the fun-o-rama with the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Thursday and Saturday.

The likes of Rick Pitino’s St. John’s, John Calipari, and Kansas have all come to town.

The first and second-round games will determine two of the Sweet 16 teams. Tens of thousands will revel in the city and fill the hotels and restaurants.

Then, the city almost immediately transforms into a major food mecca, with the new Providence Culinary Collective taking place March 27-30 in locations throughout Providence.

The event showcases paired dinners, signature tastings, cooking classes, food truck festivities, and more, honoring the city’s rich culinary legacy.

Oh wait, there is more. The top comedians in the country come to Providence for the Lil Rhody Laugh Riot comedy festival.

Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Leslie Jones, and, so many others perform in Providence between March 27 and the 30.

For the ambitious, they can eat and then laugh and repeat for four days.

Should one city be able to have this much fun in just ten days?

Well, Providence is the funnest city in America for the next ten days.

Enjoy the games, eat up, and laugh.

NOT

Brown's Hoarding

On Brook Street in Providence, there are two multi-family homes that have fallen into disrepair. The dilapidated buildings are marked by boarded-up windows, peeling paint, and broken wooden front steps.

The owner of the homes is Brown University, which has held title to the properties for decades.

Trash is spewed in the backyard. According to one neighbor who asked not to be identified — no one has lived in the homes for 20-30 years. The Ivy League university has been hoarding the properties.

In 2010, according to Art in Ruins, Brown promised to revitalize homes and return them to private ownership — and to the tax rolls. Multi-family houses like those in that area with three units fetch upwards of $1.5 million restored.

Brown, whose endowment is more than $7 billion, is half the state of Rhode Island’s entire annual budget.

According to Providence tax documents, the homes feature three units each. The properties were built about 1870.

READ MORE

NOT

Gotta Answer Questions About Your Record

After Helena Foulkes spent more than 25 years at CVS, she took over as CEO of Hudson’s Bay Company.

She led the business for a little more than two tumultuous years and left in March 2020. Foulkes, and her compensation structure, were the focal point of much controversy in Toronto.

Now, that company is in deep financial distress, as one of its main retail lines and popular Canadian retailers is closing.

Foulkes, who lost in the Rhode Island Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2022 to Dan McKee, is actively fundraising for another run for governor in 2026. Her campaign account presently has a balance of $1,044,160.56.

She often cites her business career as a highlight of her resume.

“A Canadian retail icon is on its last legs as Hudson’s Bay Company plans to liquidate its entire business by June, with the process starting as early as next week,” reports the Toronto Star.

READ MORE

NOT

Not a Great Idea

As GoLocal reported last weekend, in an unprecedented legal action, South County Hospital and its foundation filed a lawsuit against the community organization Save South County Hospital and the former development director Claudia E. Swain.

The lawsuit was filed this week in Washington County Superior Court and the hospital’s lawyer, Mark Russo, is the same attorney who is serving as the receiver for the Providence Place Mall.

South County Hospital and the group Save South County Hospital have been in a war of words for months over the management of the hospital. There has been a major exodus from the medical staff.

Meanwhile, as the battle has gone on, the CEO of South County Hospital, Aaron Robinson, has received a 60% increase in compensation.

"Vindictive" Legal Action Alleged

Save South County Hospital, a non-profit citizens advocacy group of over 2,000 supporters, donors, and patients in the South County region of Rhode Island, blasted the lawsuit in a statement.

“This past week, in a desperate and vindictive maneuver, the hospital has launched a lawsuit against Save South County Hospital and a former development officer who left SCH five years ago. Hospital leaders assail the creation of the Save South County Hospital non-profit advocacy group to preserve and take back our community hospital. They also falsely allege that we accessed confidential donor data to sabotage their philanthropy and even claim we urged the community to withhold donations—baseless accusations that we condemn," said the group.

“This lawsuit is nothing short of a shameless, desperate stunt designed to choke off dissent and cover up the catastrophic fallout of gross mismanagement at South County Hospital. The community sees through the charade and is demanding a total overhaul of leadership from both the CEO and the Board,” stated Save South County Hospital.

Starting in September of 2024, the group began to raise issues about South County Hospital's leadership and the damage that they alleged was being done to the community organization.

"We are not an insignificant faction—nearly 2,000 community members have signed our petition, underscoring the breadth of our support because they know and see the management’s neglect of their community hospital. If this is small, as the hospital claims, then why bring a lawsuit? It is designed to intimidate both us as well as members of the community who do and would like to support us. It is also designed to prevent community voices from being heard at upcoming meetings in a few weeks to deal with this situation," said the group.

“Let us all remember that South County Hospital's mismanagement has driven away primary care physicians, cancer specialists, urologists, and cardiologists from South County Medical Group, leaving patients desperate for care,” said Dr. Chris Van Hemelrijck, a director of Save South County Hospital.

READ MORE

NOT

Not a Good Sign

One Financial Plaza in the heart of downtown Providence is now scheduled for auction.

The 28-story building, originally built as the home to home for Hospital Trust Bank in 1974, is facing an uncertain future.

Plummeting Value

On May 29, 2007, the tower sold for $65,650,000.

The Class A office Tower sold again in August of 2018 for $51,750,000. GoLocal reported on that sale in 2018.

According to the City of Providence’s tax assessments, the value of the property has continued to plummet.

In 2021, the city assessed the value of the building at $49,634,400, and in this year’s assessment, the value has dropped to $40,256,600

According to city tax records, the owner is Providence Financial Plaza LLC c/o JFR Global Investments. The firm owns office buildings up and down the East Coast.

The public auction will be held on April 10 at 11 AM at the building.