The New York Times posted a video about Boston to Facebook—and people had a lot to say

https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/1931951490355697/

The New York Times recently posted a video to Facebook from its September 2015 “36 Hours in Boston” article—and in addition to racking up more than a half million views in 17 hours, it’s generated nearly 1,500 comments.

“Boston, across the board, punches way above its weight,” begins the video, which includes restaurants like Row 34 and The Gallows, along with scenes from Fenway Park, The Lawn on D, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Wally’s Cafe, Lucky’s Lounge, and Bastille Kitchen Chalet.

 Here were just some of the comments that caught our eye:

The top comment

This video feels so condescending and as if they want Boston to look empty and pathetic. I lived in Boston all my life and it has changed immensely and for the better, but the last thing that people in Boston care about is Faneuil Hall and all of touristy BS that they’re highlighting in this video. It’s also called “Lawn on D” not “Park on D” and most days there’s free live music, tons of people and other things happening right nearby (concerts on the Harbor, ICA first fridays, etc). The neighborhoods that people are going to have amazing restaurants that serve all kinds of food, not just “oysters and burgers,” and the music scene has grown a ton, as well as pop up culture and public art. We also need to acknowledge terrible income inequality and the fact that half of Boston becomes economically, geographically, and racially segregated as a result.

Basically Boston feels like a family member to me: I love it despite the fact that it drives me crazy, and I can complain about it all day long, but if anybody else criticizes it, they’re looking for a fight.

The attempts at humor

If all that wasn’t enough to get excited, as soon as the weather turns nice, you’ve got 6 straight months of round-the-clock road construction, supervised by a law enforcement juggernaut making overtime pay.

Boston…brainy…cultural… ok…. before or after they are chanting “Yankees Suck” during a nun’s funeral?

I personally don’t find exploding food appealing, but whatever the young people like, I guess.

Comments on racism in Boston

Brainy, introverted? Images of people spitting on brown children integrating Boston schools in the 70s are also part of Boston’s past. I was there recently and a white bellhop took us aside to tell us the areas of the city his black friends avoid. Yes, there’s that. No amount of gentrification can wash away facts.

Pshhhhhh good luck with that. Bostonians are some of the most racist people I have ever encountered.

What the video is missing

Boston is changing so rapidly. This video doesn’t even touch on the surrounding neighborhoods of Boston like Dorchester and Roxbury which are just as important as […] the rest of Boston. Culture in these places is at its richest and food at its finest. Dorchester is the heaviest populated area in Boston with so much history and they can’t even give it a mention? Maybe it’s because these places haven’t been gentrified yet. I’ve lived in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and now Brighton and these places have had more of an impact on me than Downtown Crossing or Beacon Hill or the cesspool that is the Fenway area.

Not near downtown but The Walnut Grille, LifeAlive and The Veggie Galaxy where some great vegetarian and vegan places to eat. Came to Boston to see the Giants play and enjoyed the city, but would travel back next time we play them just for the food in those three places again (and [that’s] coming from the UK)