Mayor Walsh's Late Night Task Force is underway

Mayor Martin J. Walsh has identified a diverse group of students, restaurant and bar owners, law enforcement, and business leaders from across the City to create a Late Night Task Force. The group, which has held two meetings since its April 2014 launch, is examining ways to foster and grow a safe and vibrant late night culture in the City of Boston.

“As I shared with the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in March, we have an opportunity here to create the kind of nightlife that visitors expect in a world-class city,” said Mayor Walsh. “We’re thinking globally, and by engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and the community, we can explore new ways to make Boston a more exciting and engaging place to live, work, study and visit.”

The Late Night Task Force is examining: business districts and neighborhoods that are favorable for later closing hours; public safety requirements of expanded late night hours; existing liquor license restrictions; entertainment license expansion; late night transportation access; and how to effectively launch the expanded services. The Task Force is working with students at the Harvard Kennedy School who have analyzed how other cities have approached expanded late night activities, surveyed young people, and mapped liquor license and crime statistics, Boston’s street lights, and where young adults live.

Rory Cuddyer, Special Assistant to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, and John Fitzgerald, Senior Project Manager at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, will co-chair the Late Night Task Force. The Mayor has appointed 24 individuals to the Late Night Task Force:

Bill Lee, Owner, Hong Kong Restaurant
Bob Luz, President/CEO, Massachusetts Restaurant Association
Brian Carthas, Associate, Openview Ventures
Brian Davis, District Sales Manager, EMC Corporation
Carol Downs, Co-owner and General Manager, Bella Luna Restaurant & The Milky Way Lounge
Chloe Ryan, Manager, ONEin3 Program
David Colella, General Manager, Colonnade Hotel
Dean Kenneth Elmore, Dean of Students, Boston University
Duncan Brown, Chief Operating Officer, Newbury Comics
Jamie Chisholm, Vice President, Resolute Consulting LLC
Jim Doolin, Chief Development Officer, Massport
Jorge Mendoza, Co-owner and Chef, Vinoteca di Monica
Kareem Agha, Account Executive, Bullhorn
Kate Ziegler, Co-Director, Hollaback! Boston
Kelly Gifford, Director of External Relations, ICA
Lauren Campbell, Student, UMass Boston
Marvin McMoore, Student, Northeastern University
Meg Mainzer-Cohen, President and Executive Director, Back Bay Association
Police Sergeant (Det.) Robert Mulvey, Boston Police Department
Russ deMariano, Owner, Goodcheer Enterprises, Redbrook Restaurant Group
Edrie Edrie, Accordionist, Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys
Sidney Baptista, Senior Associate, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Teresa Coffey-Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer Millennium Partners Sports Club Management LLC
Vincent Petryk, Owner, JP Licks

The Late Night Task Force plans to launch pilot late night services in summer 2014.