Forget the Arbor Mist and nonrealistic resolutions. We’re ringing in the New Year with some big changes to our fair city. With new leadership, increased transportation, and better drinking options, you better prepare for these new times or you’ll find yourself hiding under the bed as the ball drops.
| 1. | MBTA’s late night hours |
Don’t call us a puritanical state anymore! Bar-goers and hoodlums are now apt to roam the streets into the wee hours of the morning. The MBTA’s new late night trial program will keep our most popular bus and subway routes running on weekends until 3 a.m. instead of 1 a.m., when we should all be long asleep in our beds after a night of knitting and charades. Look for extended hours to start this March or April, when we still have a good three months of cold weather left to really make use of it.
| 2. | A new mayor |
The last time Boston had a mayor other than good ol’ Menino, I was in diapers. That’s not a joke about my time-to-time incontinence; I really was 2 years old when he was elected. But before you fret over who will protect us from Chik-fil-A and Verizon FiOS, read up on our current mayor-elect, Marty Walsh. He seems cool, but I don’t know anything about him because I’m really behind on “Game of Thrones.”
| 3. | No Styrofoam? |
All you Brookline-ites better get used to hiking over to Boston proper if you still want your medium Dunkies to stay warmly wrapped inside a layer of non-biodegradable goodness. The town’s ban on Styrofoam and plastic bags came into effect earlier this month in an effort to lessen the environmental footprint. We might not be too far off: Boston City Council has already discussed a ban of our own in 2009 and 2012.
| 4. | Yuengling! |
Starting in March, we no longer have to settle for Narragansett tallboys. Yuengling will be returning to the Commonwealth after a hiatus as long as Menino’s been in office (seemingly no relation). The beer company was unable to keep up with the Bay State’s high demands. (Big drinkers, we were.) Now we can finally see how well our favorite non-regional brew pairs with lobster rolls and Fenway franks. But what if it only tasted so good because it was a three-hour drive away or smuggled in from the desolate borders of New Jersey in the trunk of the car? Stay tuned, my friends, stay tuned.
