The night mayor cometh

Also: Comfort Kitchen wants to change how you think about immigrant food; The Great Gatsby's musical world premiere [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  February 23, 2023 🌨️ Rain and sleet until at least noon, with temperatures falling to around 25 through the afternoon. Good Morning Boston, Take it easy on the roads this morning. The [overnight storm]( has left behind a slippery mix of snow and ice. Officials have [temporarily lowered the Mass. Pike speed limit to 40 mph]( all the way from Boston to the New York border while crews treat the roads. And forecasters [warn about the potential for a flash freeze across southern New England]( as the temperatures fall this morning. (At least they finally got [that stray Orange Line car off I-495]( To the news: - Call her the "[night czar]( the "[night mayor]( or — as the position's Dutch pioneers would say — the "[nachtburgemeester]( Boston has picked a person to take on the city's supposedly boring nightlife. Mayor Michelle Wu's administration announced yesterday that Corean Reynolds will serve as the city's first-ever "Director of Nightlife Economy" to tackle "long-standing, urgent challenges facing Boston’s retention strategies, such as nightlife." - Who is she? Reynolds — who was [named as one of El Mundo Boston's Latino 30 under 30 last year]( — currently works at the Boston Foundation, leading the nonprofit's efforts to raise money and provide grants to Black and Latino entrepreneurs. (She can also probably show you up at karaoke; she was a child opera star who's been on Oprah and performed internationally since she was 11.) - The task ahead: WBUR's Walter Wuthmann [reports]( that Reynolds thinks there "needs to be more than bars" keeping people out past midnight. "I love that the city prides itself on its sports and its pubs, but what else do we have to offer?" she asked reporters. Reynolds said she wants to support more events like last year's popular [Little Saigon night market]( in Dorchester. - The biggest challenge: Last year, The Boston Globe polled its readers on the greatest barriers facing the city's nightlife. The answer: [The MBTA](. After the agency[canceled its last attempt at late-night service in 2016]( most of the system shuts down at 1 a.m. That makes it hard for not only night owls, but also night workers. - What's next: Reynolds starts on March 6 and she plans to first focus first on revitalizing downtown nightlife, Wuthmann reports. - Meanwhile, [10 miles west]( The Newton City Council passed an ordinance this week to permanently allow outdoor dining in public spaces like sidewalks and parking spaces from April to November. Mayor Ruthanne Fuller told WBUR's Irina Matchavariani that she'll "sign the measure as soon as the City Clerk delivers it.” - Zoom out: Pretty much every community in Massachusetts faces (or has faced) a similar decision on whether to make outdoor dining rules permanent. That's due to the [expiration of statewide emergency regulations]( on March 31 — unless state legislators renew the regulations first. - How will Andrea Campbell be a different attorney general than former AG-turned-Gov. Maura Healey? For one, maybe don't expect to see Campbell [suing the president 96 times](. The new AG said yesterday on Radio Boston that "we have to strike a balance" between national and local issues. "Folks want us to pay attention to some national issues, of course, and protect us, but they don't want us to forget the issues we have to deal with here at home," she said. - Of course, there's a lot more overlap between the former and current AG than there are differences. On those local issues, Campbell [pledged to create "a gun enforcement unit"]( to work with local police departments to crackdown on those finding ways to bypass the state's strict gun laws (for example, ghost guns or [the mill in Littleton]( that has operated as an unchecked gun market). - Go deeper: Read more about the new gun enforcement unit and listen to Campbell's full Radio Boston interview [here](. - Mark your calendar, old sport. A new musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" will [make its world premiere at Harvard's American Repertory Theater in 2024](. "Gatsby" will also feature music by Florence + the Machine's Florence Welch and pianist Thomas Bartlett. Who says our nightlife is boring! P.S.— It's time to [nominate your favorite local up-and-coming artist of color]( for our annual Makers series. Who should we have on our radar? Whose work moves you? Who gives the cultural scene its electricity? Tell us! The nomination window is [open now through April 2](. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [Comfort Kitchen wants to change the way diners think about immigrant food]( From the origin of ingredients to the labor it takes to make a meal, owners Biplaw Rai and Kwasi Kwaa want visitors to the restaurant to think deeply about what they're eating, and where it came from. [Read more.]( [Comfort Kitchen wants to change the way diners think about immigrant food]( From the origin of ingredients to the labor it takes to make a meal, owners Biplaw Rai and Kwasi Kwaa want visitors to the restaurant to think deeply about what they're eating, and where it came from. [Read more.]( [New documents raise questions about extent of Boston drug lab scandal]( The documents released Thursday indicatedemployee misconduct at the defunct Hinton Drug Labwent beyond the actions of disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan and was more widespread than state officials previously acknowledged. [Read more.]( [New documents raise questions about extent of Boston drug lab scandal]( The documents released Thursday indicatedemployee misconduct at the defunct Hinton Drug Labwent beyond the actions of disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan and was more widespread than state officials previously acknowledged. [Read more.]( [NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops]( NPR must lay off 10% of its workforce to address an advertising shortfall of about $30 million, CEO John Lansing says. Lansing says marketers are nervous about the economy. [Read more.]( [NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops]( NPR must lay off 10% of its workforce to address an advertising shortfall of about $30 million, CEO John Lansing says. Lansing says marketers are nervous about the economy. [Read more.]( [BMC to end addiction program at former Roundhouse hotel]( Boston Medical Center will soon stop providing urgent care-style addiction services at a former hotel in the area of the city known as "Mass. and Cass." [Read more.]( [BMC to end addiction program at former Roundhouse hotel]( Boston Medical Center will soon stop providing urgent care-style addiction services at a former hotel in the area of the city known as "Mass. and Cass." [Read more.]( [Boston designates Lunar New Year as an official city holiday]( Lunar New Year is widely celebrated in many Asian cultures and is observed by these countries' diaspora communities across the globe. Boston hosts several annual celebration, from the Têt in Boston festival to the Chinese New Year and lion dance parade in Chinatown. [Read more.]( [Boston designates Lunar New Year as an official city holiday]( Lunar New Year is widely celebrated in many Asian cultures and is observed by these countries' diaspora communities across the globe. Boston hosts several annual celebration, from the Têt in Boston festival to the Chinese New Year and lion dance parade in Chinatown. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - Need weekend plans? Check out our arts and culture team's [list of five must-try events]( including the opening of a sci-fi-esque exhibition at the MIT List Visual Arts Center and family-friendly music at Medford Brewing Company. - WBUR's Amelia Mason [reviews the new cliche-challenging album from the Berklee College of Music's buzziest band]( Little Fuss. “Basically it's an album about a bunch of different girls at a party, or the same girl at a bunch of different parties, depending on which way you want to look at it," Little Fuss co-founder Olive Martinez said. - It's official: Soy, oat, almond and other plant-based drinks can keep calling themselves "milk," [according to new guidance from the FDA.]( The ruling comes after dairy producers challenged the FDA to stop nondairy products from calling themselves milk, but the agency's draft rules say consumers aren't confused by the "common and usual" term. - Judy Bolton-Fasman [writes in this Cognoscenti commentary]( that it took the late Raquel Welch 40 years into her career to fully embrace her Bolivian heritage — a journey that resonated with her own. "It was around the same time I had begun to realize that although I was half-Cuban and half-American," Bolton-Fasman writes.  What We're Reading 📚 - America’s afternoon afterthought ([Vox]( - The problem with using inclusionary zoning to build affordable housing ([The Boston Globe]( - Jeremy Strong Will Never Break ([GQ](  Tell Me Something Good [MIT's 3D-printed hearts could pump new life into customized treatments]( Researchers hope these customized, robotic hearts can provide realistic models so that doctors, researchers and medical device manufacturers can use them in testing therapies for different types of heart disease. [Read more.]( [MIT's 3D-printed hearts could pump new life into customized treatments]( Researchers hope these customized, robotic hearts can provide realistic models so that doctors, researchers and medical device manufacturers can use them in testing therapies for different types of heart disease. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common [examines how an immigrant documentation backlog]( is impacting the local Haitian community — and Boston at large. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: If you find it difficult to spell "Massachusetts," don't worry; [the dictionary empathizes](. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news   Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here](.  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2022 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.