Menino’s cautious bread-breaking statement about being friends with Summers in his inaugural came alongside a public call for the University to expand its medical school to the Crosstown area of Roxbury, where the mayor envisions a lucrative research park.

“This would make the neighborhood stronger and create jobs for the people of Boston,” Menino said.

But in June of 2002, Summers told The Globe that he had decided that Harvard would not lease space at Crosstown.

Menino was reportedly livid that he did not hear about Harvard’s decision directly, but rather from a Globe reporter.

“It was basically a mistake, a miscommunication,” Stone said at the time. “We thought we had let the mayor know, but it didn’t get through to him. It was an unfortunate mistake. We regret it.”

But, according to Globe columnist David Nyhan—who helped draft Menino’s inaugural address—such mistakes can prove quite costly with a mayor like Menino, who has a long-term memory and a low tolerance for betrayal.

“What Summers has to know about Menino is that he’s the type of guy who when he makes a deal, he makes a deal,” Nyhan says. “He doesn’t spend political capital easily.”

Menino himself says the personal relationship with Summers is good, but adds that he would like Harvard to approach the city differently.

“I like Summers personally, but its not a personal thing at all,” says the mayor. “It’s about a different approach to this city when you own more land here than you do in Cambridge.”

PILOTing the Way

Harvard officials and Boston leaders agree that the University does a lot to help the area—and could do even more.

Despite highly public sparring, Harvard and Boston agree they need each other.

A short walk across the bridge that leads from Cambridge onto Allston’s North Harvard street, past the ivy-covered Georgian facades of the business school and Harvard Stadium, reveals a town in need of repair.

The streets are cracked, garbage lies in the gutter, and the main streets are lined by a collection of auto body shops, gas stations and fast food restaurants.

At monthly meetings with the North Allston community, Harvard officials and the University’s new neighbors sketch out plans for what they hope the neighborhood will look like in the future. University representatives often stress the ways Harvard could help the community.