In an attempt to ditch the “sleepy city” allegations, Boston leaders have awarded grants to businesses and increased the distribution of liquor licenses with hopes of enlivening city nightlife. However, community members and leaders highlighted some issues that often hinder a Boston night out. 

Corean Reynolds, director of Boston’s Office of Nightlife Economy, serves as a link between City Hall and stakeholders within the nightlife economy and is looking to change Boston nightlife’s “bad rep.”  

“Maybe some folks have said it’s boring, but that’s just not the case,” Reynolds said. “Our neighborhoods represent different cultures and different interests, and so nightlife in Hyde Park might look like a paint night at Canvas Studio, but nightlife in the Back Bay might look like night out at Dani’s Queer Bar or at Hue’s.”

Reynolds said the office has led several initiatives to improve the city’s nightlife since its establishment in March 2023. 

Through one of these initiatives — the Wake Up the Night Grant Pilot Program — the office awarded just over $300,0000 in federal funding to 41 grantees in August 2024. The awarded businesses held more than 50 events featuring hundreds of artists and vendors in 13 different neighborhoods. Events were attended by over 19,000 residents, Reynolds said.

City Hall recently hosted a number of nighttime events, Reynolds said, including a pajama party, speed dating event, comedy night and Ramadan night markets. 

“We’re really rethinking what City Hall looks like and how City Hall shows up in nightlife,” Reynolds said.

In February, the City of Boston Licensing Board approved 37 new liquor licenses for restaurants, according to the City of Boston. The initiative provided a way for non-citizen restaurant owners to be the record keepers of their own liquor licenses.

“That was huge for everyone who isn’t a citizen and owns a restaurant,” said Jessica Moore, director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. “It really puts the power in the hands of the person that owns a restaurant.”

Moore said liquor licenses should be distributed in areas of the city where they are needed, adding that access to alcohol boosts business.

“When a business owner has the ability to sell beer, wine and liquor, all three, it’s profit for their business,” Moore said. “More people come. More people stay later.” 

Reynolds said certain city-centric policies have made it historically difficult for businesses to obtain liquor licenses.

“Boston is one of the only cities in the state of Massachusetts whose cap on liquor licenses doesn’t grow when the city’s demographic grows or one of the populations grows,” Reynolds said. “That puts a big burden on creating new spaces for folks to gather.”

Senator Julian Cyr, who represents Cape Cod and the islands, described the state’s process of approving liquor licenses as “old-fashioned.” 

The state legislature maintains the oversight and authority to approve additional liquor licenses for a given city or town, he said. 

“It sets up very much this sort of ‘Mother may I?’ dynamic between municipalities and the state,” Cyr said. 

Statewide policies also forbid establishments from serving alcohol past 2 a.m. and selling discounted alcohol. Massachusetts is one of only eight states that bans happy hour. 

Cyr said this puts bars, restaurants and nightlife businesses at a “competitive disadvantage.” Cyr petitioned a bill, Senate 217, to the Massachusetts state senate in February in an attempt to lift the decades-old happy hour ban. 

“The bill would allow cities and towns to opt in to permit discounted drink promotions through local ordinances,” Cyr said. “It would empower municipalities to choose what works best for them, given the needs of the community.”

For some, high prices and a lack of late-night transport options can turn a Boston night out into a “hassle,” said Maia Barantsevitch, a junior at BU. 

“I know friends who pay their own tuition, who have to work multiple work-studies and jobs, and they can’t even prioritize nightlife because it’s so expensive,” Barantsevitch said.

Barantsevitch also noted students usually fork out an additional $20 to $30 for transportation after a night out, due to early MBTA closures.

“Oftentimes, [the MBTA] says the T stops at 1:00 [a.m.], but the last train will run by 12:30. That’s most of the Green Lines, which is what the majority of students in Boston take,” Barantsevitch said. 

Reynolds said one of the challenges the Office of Nightlife Economy faces is balancing the needs of all types of Boston residents.

“A neighbor might want something different from a business owner, and a patron might want something different from a neighbor,” Reynolds said. “Ensuring that I listen to those voices and apply their concerns and their wants and needs to the solution has been successful, but also a challenge.”