Best of Boston

<p>The neighbors were jubilant. However, shortly before Tardanico was scheduled to open his glass business on the Commercial Street property, the Boston Herald reported that the 42-year-old Milton resident had been convicted in 1970 of torching his fire-salvage company for the insurance money. After receiving a suspended sentence and probation, Tardanico moved his company, the Boston Fire Patrol, to Adams Street in Dorchester, where it reportedly burned three times before closing down for good. In 1982 the Suffolk County district attorney’s office was said to have looked into a series of suspicious fires on properties owned by Tardanico, but no charges were brought.</p> <p>Oh yes, the broker who handled the sale of the North End building to Tardanico: Joanne Prevost Ansalone, former head of the Boston Licensing Board under Kevin White, and the wife of Theodore Anzalone, White’s chief fund-raiser.</p>