Another New York Publication Wonders If Boston Will Ever Be Fun

Photo by tadekk on Flickr/Creative Commons

New Yorkers just can’t seem to stop writing about us.

A month after the New York Times reported on the glaring lack of fun around here following the MBTA board’s decision to cut late-night service, New York magazine published a spread chronicling the Hub’s centuries-old lameness, posing the question: “Can Boston ever be fun?”

“Boston has a long history of being not much fun, dating back to the time of the Puritans,” Nick Lehr writes. “Nearly 400 years later, the bars and trains still close early; getting a liquor license is a nightmare; and if you want to sit outside of a restaurant, you can’t simply order drinks — you have to order food, too.”

But rather than harp on our nighttime shortcomings—why kick a lame man when he’s down, in bed at a reasonable hour?—New York magazine’s spread details all the clever ways Bostonians have circumvented the city’s more backwards-looking rules and regulations. The much cheaper and easier to obtain cordials-only liquor license has given way to an entirely new cocktail movement, while the Boston hip-hop scene has experienced a resurgence.

There are also a few handy tips, like ordering “cold tea” from a Chinatown establishment past 3 a.m. to get a cold beer in a Lipton’s iced tea can, and how to “ask a punk” to find DIY shows, all too often busted up by Boston cops with fake Facebook profiles.

You can read New York magazine’s report here.