🗳️😳 City Hall will never be the same

🚇 Imagine giving it your all in the Cambridge Half Marathon … just to be passed by a bunch of runners dressed up as the Red Line. Hey, at least it wasn’t the Green Line.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

It’s Election Day! A.k.a. The day YOU decide Boston’s next city councilors. Here’s what to know:

☑️ First, let’s run through the basics. You have from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to cast your ballot for the city’s four at-large seats, your district’s councilor, and the mayor. You can find your polling place here.

Now, onto the races:

👑 Michelle Wu is running unopposed. ICYMI: Josh Kraft tapped out after the primary, and third-place finisher Domingos DaRosa couldn’t scrounge up enough votes to appear on the ballot which = Wu as the lone candidate.

🗳️ Eight candidates are competing for four seats. All four incumbents — Ruthzee Louijeune, Erin Murphy, Henry Santana, and Julia Mejia — will join Will Onuoha and Marvin Mathelier (who both nabbed Globe endorsements) plus Alexandra Valdez and former councilor Frank Baker on the ballot. You can read more about them all here.

🗳️ Gabriela Coletta Zapata v. Andretti McDuffie-Stanziani. Though both will appear on the ballot, McDuffie-Stanziani pulled out of the race this summer, leaving incumbent Coletta Zapata a wide-open path to victory. Read more about her here.

🗳️ Ed Flynn v. Charles Delaney. Flynn, a longtime councilor and frequent foil to Mayor Wu, is running against Delaney, an Independent who, aside from his website, was basically MIA on the campaign trail. Read more about them here.

👑 John FitzGerald is running unopposed. FitzGerald was first elected in 2023, making this his second term. You can read about him here.

🗳️ Brian Worrell v. Helen Cameron. Public school employee Cameron will attempt to unseat incumbent Worrell, who was elected in 2021. Cameron hasn’t put much campaign info out there, but told Boston.com her priorities include poverty and mass transit. Read more about them here.

🗳️ Enrique Pepén v. Winston Pierre. Incumbent Pepén will take on city planner Pierre. Although the two have similar priorities (affordable housing, climate, public schools), Pierre pitches himself as a grassroots outsider who can shake things up. Read more about them here.

🗳️ Benjamin Weber v. Steven Berry. Berry is challenging incumbent Weber, who’s held his seat since 2022. Though he doesn’t have much campaign info, Berry told Boston.com his top priority is housing, while Weber emphasizes constituent services and workers’ rights. Read more about them here.

🗳️ Miniard Culpepper v. Said Ahmed. These two newbies will duke it out for Tania Fernandes Anderson’s former seat. Culpepper, an attorney and pastor, is racking up the endorsements (see: Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Sen. Elizabeth Warren), but track coach and youth worker Ahmed positions himself as a fresh face with new ideas. Read more about them here.

👑 Sharon Durkan is running unopposed. Durkan has held her seat since 2023. Read more about her here.

🗳️ Liz Breadon v. Pilar Ortiz. Voters will pick between newcomer Ortiz, a former City Hall chief of staff, and incumbent Breadon, who was elected in 2019. The two have similar priority lists, including education and affordable housing, but Ortiz wants to emphasize community-building initiatives. Read more about Breadon here, and Ortiz here.

🤔 Any other questions? You can read about allllll the candidates here. 

❄️🎿 Being a skier or snowboarder isn’t cheap. But you know what is? Snowbound Expo — a.k.a. the official kickoff to snow season. For the next 48 hours, tickets are free with code BSIDEFREE (normally $32 a piece). Shop 250+ brands, score up to 70% off gear, hit the new Winter Arcade, and hear from icons like Zeb Powell and Amie Engerbretson. It’s the best way to get your winter personality activated while still giving your wallet some time to recoup from holiday spending. Grab your free tickets now (before it’s too late!)

🍎 President Trump has made a SNAP decision. His admin announced it’ll partially restore SNAP food payments during the federal shutdown after being ordered to by two federal judges. That’s good news for Boston’s 140,000+ SNAP beneficiaries whose payments are MIA, but as of Monday evening, it’s still unclear exactly how much cash will be restored and when (it could take weeks or more). And local officials aren’t impressed — AG Andrea Campbell and Gov. Maura Healey each called on Trump to fully restore funding ASAP. 

😌 Apparently, downtown is feeling safer. Or at least, that’s what the neighborhood’s residents and stakeholders said in a new survey that dropped last week. The area has made headlines for an apparent uptick in crime in the past year, but things might be turning around: Just 33.7% of respondents said they felt “less safe” around downtown and Boston Common compared with the beginning of the year (down from 70.6% in 2024). The area also saw declines in violent crimes, syringe-related 311 calls, and overdose deaths. 

⚽ The countdown to Boston’s NWSL debut is ON. After years of anticipation, Boston's new pro women’s soccer team, Boston Legacy FC, has a date (and tickets!) for their first home opener EVER. It’s going down March 14, 2026, at Gillette Stadium, their temporary home while the White Stadium reno wraps up. Tickets (which are quite reasonably priced) are available here. Other details, like the opponent and the rest of the Legacy’s schedule, will be released early 2026. Any excuse to buy one of these cutie scarves!

 🎄 Boston really said: Deck the halls! Sure, it was Halloween four days ago, but the city has already dropped its holiday lights schedule. Here’s the deal: The Christopher Columbus Park Trellis will light up on Nov. 24, followed by the Ship at Martin’s Park on Nov. 29, and the Copley Square tree on Dec. 1. But most importantly: The Boston Common’s iconic tree will arrive from Nova Scotia on Nov. 18, and it’ll light up on Dec. 4, along with the Comm. Ave. Mall and Charlesgate Park. Here are all the deets!

The buzziest thing about the Celtics’ season so far: Jaylen Brown’s hairline. Or … lack thereof.

It all started on TikTok when some eagle-eyed fans speculated that Brown’s hairline might be painted on after it seemingly rubbed off on an opponent’s jersey. Brown’s response? To hop on a livestream where his friends would give him a “haircut.”

Unsurprisingly, the livestream was unhinged. First, Brown blamed Boston for his hair loss (“10 years of stress, the media, the championships. Y’all caused this,” he said). Then in an absolutely wild move, he left a voicemail for LeBron James asking for hair transplant advice: “I need to know, Turkey or no Turkey? And I ain’t talking no cheese sandwich.” 

As far as we know, James didn’t answer. But plenty of hair transplant doctors did. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

💇🏾‍♂️ Thanks for reading! Sounds like a case for the toupee queen.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Snowbound Expo, for supporting local journalism and already getting us hyped for winter 2025. 

🎄 The results are in: A whopping 65% of B-Siders say we shouldn’t play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. One reader said: “If the turkey ain't defrosted yet, neither should Mariah!” Well, when you put it like that …

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