Mayor Walsh’s Cargo Shorts Are Tearing This City Apart
Newbury Street closed to vehicle traffic Sunday, turning Boston’s boulevard of high-end retail into a pedestrian mall for a few sunny hours. And while some in the business community thumbed their noses at the strap-hanging fellahin arriving on Newbury via Green Line rather than Land Rover, everyone appeared to have a lovely time.
Count among them Mayor Marty Walsh, who forwent his baggy black suit for a throwback Sox cap, a crisp Lacoste polo, some fresh New Balance kicks, and—what are thooooooose?
https://twitter.com/dabeard/status/762321449864531970
.@marty_walsh in cargo shorts. Lighting up Twitter. Surprised @JanelleNanos hasn't weighed in. #OpenNewbury pic.twitter.com/00GjdsrmCm
— Shirley Leung (@leung) August 7, 2016
fox25news: RT rgoulston: .marty_walsh strolling #Newbury as the city experiments with closing the street off for p… pic.twitter.com/hO8jzAs8X6
— Ashley Gaust (@NetworkAssist) August 7, 2016
Pretty rare to see @marty_walsh in khaki shorts. #OpenNewbury bringing out the casual in everyone. #Boston @NECN pic.twitter.com/dkZCXO2v32
— jonathan choe (@choeshow) August 7, 2016
Walsh is decidedly pro-cargo shorts, perhaps his most controversial policy stand to-date. Some, lauding the supreme utility of thigh pockets, have rushed to Walsh’s defense, while others have unequivocally condemned the choice.
https://twitter.com/mkarolian/status/762322111390031872
@marty_walsh if we're going to live in a society, we have to honor some basic principles. Starting with "no cargo shorts"
— Joel Fleming (@jfleming2870) August 7, 2016
This isn’t the first time Walsh has let his preferences known. Just two weeks ago in Philadelphia, the mayor was spotted wearing cargo shorts after his nationally televised speech at the Democratic National Convention.
https://twitter.com/LaurenDezenski/status/757909684699426816
In 2014, Walsh welcomed boxers to his inaugural, eponymous youth boxing tournament at City Hall while wearing cargo shorts.
Photo via Mayor’ Office
Could Walsh be the first mayor in Boston’s long history to publicly wear cargo shorts while in office? It’s possible. The Globe photographed the late Tom Menino during a predawn bike ride through his beloved Hyde Park in 2007, and though his shorts are khaki, they appear to be flat-fronted.
Kevin White wore short-sleeve dress shirts from time to time, but the abridged garments were always above the waist, and without saddlebags. John Collins famously caught pneumonia when he moved into the drafty, still-unfinished City Hall building in 1967, a fate he may have avoided had he carried a small space heater in the voluminous pockets of a fine pair of cargo shorts.
The point is, we’re witnessing history, folks.
Update: Monday, 12:40 p.m.
Walsh is doubling down, calling his cargo shorts “the most comfortable things ever.”
I love my cargo shorts. They are the most comfortable things ever. Who’s with me? #CargoGate – MJW pic.twitter.com/MC7I7d4Koh
— Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) August 8, 2016
