Mayor Walsh to explore extending bar hours to 3:30am (Boston: crimes, dorms)

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Also, another reason this would bum me out is if it applied to music venues. It is already horrible to have to wait to 12:30 for a headliner to go one. If that was pushed later I'd see even fewer bands.

good point timberline

[bostonguy1960]

Haven't read the article, also on front page of the Herald...but is this proposal weekends only or every night?

The city is quiet weeknights; no way can bars draw customers that late on Sun.-Wed.

I just heard that alcohol won't be served all the way until the 3:30 closing...but maybe shut off at 2:00-2:30, with people allowed to stay beyond. That may be good as they will sober up a bit.

[Cliff Clavin]

If/when this is law is passed, I suggest a 2am CD-Boston meet and greet. Pub TBD.

[TAM88]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

Haven't read the article, also on front page of the Herald...but is this proposal weekends only or every night?

The city is quiet weeknights; no way can bars draw customers that late on Sun.-Wed.

I just heard that alcohol won't be served all the way until the 3:30 closing...but maybe shut off at 2:00-2:30, with people allowed to stay beyond. That may be good as they will sober up a bit.

His proposal would allow for a bar to serve alcohol until 2:30 am and then stay open until 3:30. Right now a lot of bars make last call at 1:30 and kick you out asap after that.


I think it would be very reasonable if last call was 2:30 and alcohol had to stopped being served at 3:00 am. So bars would be able to serve alcohol to 3:00 am. They then could stay open until 4:00 am and allow people ample time to finish their drinks, keep dancing and slowly trickle out. As it is right now, things get pretty rushed and people need to pound their drinks before they're forced out. Establishments could stay open until 4 am on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and the night before a Federal holiday.

I also think happy hour should be brought back in some form. I am not saying $1 shots, or open bar. But a bar or restaurant should be able to discount drinks during certain times of the day and days of the week. You could even limit it to just beer and wine.

[mdovell]

Wouldn't it make sense to extend public transit BEFORE having bars close at 3:30?

I can see a discount for drinks during the day a bit.

Statistically people are drinking less then they have been in the past 25 years. The crack down on drunk driving, happy hour, openness of information have helped to a point.

In most due respects though nothing good ever really happens that late at night. Can some work a night shift? Sure but the only people really staying up late are those at a sporting event or watching it. How many Red Sox games go past 1am?, football nope, basketball probably not. Maybe an argument can be made for if we play teams out west but still that's only a three hour difference.

Just because something closes later does not really mean more revenue. If minimum wages go up again you'll see a curb in waitstaff across the state

[bjimmy24]

I think it's funny that some of you guys concerned with drunk driving think that people don't already drive drunk from bars now and that people only drink at bars.

[massnative71]

I definitely see the need for more late night dining. But bars being open that late? I see nothing good coming out of that. Extend it till 3:30, they will just be complaining how they can't stay out until 0430...

Boston is fine the way it is (in that respect anyway). There are enough "young professionals" who seek to live here but are driven away by high costs (not because they can't order a shot after 1:30). That is where he should focus his efforts.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by massnative71

I definitely see the need for more late night dining. But bars being open that late? I see nothing good coming out of that. Extend it till 3:30, they will just be complaining how they can't stay out until 0430...

Boston is fine the way it is (in that respect anyway). There are enough "young professionals" who seek to live here but are driven away by high costs (not because they can't order a shot after 1:30). That is where he should focus his efforts.

Agreed that people don't leave because of early bar closings on Friday nights. But also, I think that a lot of the young people that live here, who went to school here, really have no intention of ever staying anyway. People come from all over the world to go to college here and many of them have high aspirations that they just can't reach in Boston and never will be able to. A lot of them, especially the foreign ones, are going to just go home.

I don't see wha'ts wrong with letting bars stay open later. If you think it will be dangerous or something, you can still go home early. Or not go out at all. I find it strange that so many people are against adults exercising their judgement about stuff like this. Also against the bar and restaurant owners and their employees who could stand to make a decent amount more money.

[elhelmete]

I'm not opposed to it, but I do think it's silly to tie a city's 'status' to how late the bars stay open. Way more important things to worry about.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I don't see wha'ts wrong with letting bars stay open later. If you think it will be dangerous or something, you can still go home early. Or not go out at all. I find it strange that so many people are against adults exercising their judgement about stuff like this. Also against the bar and restaurant owners and their employees who could stand to make a decent amount more money.

Never been to New Orleans, but from what I've heard it's not a place to emulate. I think we score much higher on the livability scale.

As far as the restaurant owners and employees, I don't want to hear it. Most bartenders, at least the ones in the high volume Boston bars that would likely benefit from this; probably clean up more than I do or any average worker. And while I'm all for individual responsibility and the right to make a buck, these are business that are already making an enormous profit off of getting knuckleheads s$%^faced on a nightly basis. And when you think about all the people hurting right here in our own community...