Mayor Michelle Wu has appointed a new Director of Nightlife Economy for the city of Boston, with a goal to improve the city’s nightlife opportunities and improve late-night transportation and safety. (Kevin Cole/Boston Herald)
Mayor Michelle Wu has big plans for Boston, envisioning a city with a vibrant nightlife and thriving economy.
To that end, she again expanded her cabinet, appointing Corean Reynolds as the new Director of Nightlife Economy for the City of Boston. According to the city’s website, Reynolds will create a new team within the Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Cabinet to recommend policies, programs and initiatives to address pressing challenges facing Boston’s engagement strategies like nightlife. It starts on Monday.
“We are working to create more opportunities for residents and businesses to grow our night scene and strengthen our local economy across the board,” Wu said. “I am grateful to Corean for their leadership and look forward to advancing our work for a culturally vibrant, inclusive city with economic opportunity and a community that welcomes all.”
“Her leadership and passion for economic inclusion will help us advance Mayor Wu’s vision of a city with a resilient, vibrant and family-friendly nightlife for all residents and visitors,” said Segun Idowu, Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion.
This would not be a Wu cabinet without an emphasis on racial justice, generational wealth building and shared prosperity.
But before wealth can be shared, it must be achieved, and this is where Reynolds has her job cut out for her. Reynolds said in a news conference last week that her to-do list includes improving after-hours transportation and increasing public safety for those who come to Boston at night.
Thank God.
In a city whose subway system shuts down around 1 a.m., improving after-hours transit would go a long way to keeping the party going, but we’re talking about the MBTA. At the moment, the transport agency is struggling to find drivers for regular shifts, so a move to keep the T rolling into the wee hours would require an inflow of funds and a solution to the driver shortage.
But riding the T in and around the city isn’t just about catching the last train. After years of high-profile derailments, crashes, crashes, and other mishaps, it will be difficult to convince outsiders that they can drive the T into town, have a great time, and get home without a hitch. No one wants to climb the station steps at three in the morning to wait for a shuttle bus.
Then there is the issue of public safety, also a tough sell. With a spate of shootings across the city, pedestrians being harassed by groups of young people downtown, and attacks on T-passengers, Boston has more than one PR problem to contend with. Our streets must be safe for both Bostonians and visitors looking to have a great day or night out.
That requires a strengthening of the Boston Police Department, which itself is struggling with a shortage of officers. All city guides must be on board to bring the BPD to full strength and not cut the budget.
A family-friendly Boston with a consistently plentiful nightlife and a promise of good times untouched by crime or subway hassles is a big goal. But it’s a long way from here to there.
Much luck.
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