😵🚇 Red Line is about to flatline ...

🐀 POV: You see a giant rat on the T … playing the trumpet? We guess we’ve seen weirder things on the Green Line …

💸 How are YOU makin’ money moves?! Side hustle-maxxing? Extreme couponing? Budget warrioring? If you’re a young Bostonian in a ~unique~ financial sitch, we want to hear how you get by for our “Money Smarter, Not Harder” series. Tell us your stories here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Buckle up, Camberville baddies. Now that all the World Cup and Sail Boston mayhem is over, the MBTA really said, “Let’s get to work.” The Red Line will be OOO between Park Street and Alewife for 10 days, from July 21-30. 

Here’s what to know:

📣 Why is this happening again? TL;DR: It’s all part of their grand plan to make sure the T infrastructure is stable in the long run. This chunk of the Red Line needs some major track replacements and upgrades, especially at Central. Plus, they’ll take care of some other items on their laundry list, like cleanings, stairway repairs, inspections, and radio improvements.

👯 As always, shuttle buses will be your frenemy. The good news: There’ll be shuttles at *every* stop between the two stations. The bad news: You’ll def need to budget A LOT of extra time for your commute. In fact, if you’re going all the way from Alewife to Park, the MBTA estimates that it’ll take at least 70 (!) minutes …

🚌 Thankfully, there are tons of bus alternatives. Jump on the 69, 87, 88, 89, 91, or 109 from Davis, Harvard, and Central to transfer to the Green Line if you’re heading to Park. 

💨 Just need to get to South Station FAST? Take the express shuttle bus from Harvard. 

🚆 Or North Station? Take the commuter rail fo’ free between Porter and North Station (a quick one-stop ride!). But if you’re going past Porter, you still gotta cough up your regular fare.

♿ Accessible vans will also be available. Talk to any T staff member to ask for van service on weekdays, instead of riding lift-equipped, coach shuttle buses. Most shuttles on the weekends will be low-floor, ramp buses.

🚃 And it wouldn’t be a shutdown without some Green Line diversions: The C branch will bypass Summit Avenue from now through Aug. 7. And a friendly reminder that Symphony is still closed … till 2029. 

🚨 Heads up, the other T lines will be taking a hit soon. Next up: the Orange and Green lines (more on those later, but you can take a peek here).

Turn your Saturday morning into a high-energy wellness social. Unlike many wellness events in Boston, a ticket to RITUAL includes your choice of workout — RITUAL Run Club, Battista Bootcamp HIIT, or Handle Bar Pilates — followed by a live DJ, a drink ticket, a cold plunge lounge, and a slew of wellness freebies from on-site vendors. 

🎟️ It’s a bad day to be StubHub (but a good day to be you). Gov. Maura Healey just announced The Great Divide Act (yes, a nod to King Kahan), which aims to lower sports and concert ticket resale prices, cut service fees in half, and protect us against scammy sellers. It would specifically limit resale prices to 110% of face value (translation: a $100 ticket couldn’t be resold for more than $110), and ban resellers like StubHub from charging fees higher than 10% of the total resale price. Take that, scalpers!

🚃 The MBTA pulled off a World Cup miracle: Be reliable … and on time. In fact, the commuter rail successfully ran 98 special event trains, carrying ~20K fans on its busiest match days and 100K+ riders total. Plus, boarding wait times got shorter over time and late-night service stayed on track, without any major safety issues. That said, the MBTA will likely not make back most of its $70 million it spent prepping for the tourney … especially since it sold only ~80% of its commuter rail tickets. 

✈️ Thanks to JetBlue, Terminal C is getting a $1 billion facelift. Think: Tall ceilings, skylights, new gates, more shops and restaurants for a bright ~European~ airport vibe. JetBlue, the primary airline in the terminal, is the one behind the reno, and wants to reimagine the 60-year-old space that’s currently wayyyyy too small to handle 30% of Logan’s passenger traffic. But don’t expect a luxe new terminal anytime soon. Construction will probably start in about a year and take another five to complete …

🍦 Meet the ~freshest~ swirls in town. Momma’s, the beloved Cambridge grocery and wine shop, just expanded to the Speedway, bringing their famous maple creemees with them. Craving something a little *extra*? Order these soft-serve nachos at Tuck’s Twists, a.k.a. a choco-vanilla swirl covered in a chocolate hard shell, with a side of waffle cone chips, whipped cream, and lots of toppings. In a fruity mood? Kyōyo Haus’ new seasonal flavors, like lychee and peach oolong, look BOMB.

🍨 Sculpt your bod, then your sundae. Join (the) MOVE’s outdoor yoga classes every Tuesday this summer and then get 20% off scoops at Uncommon Ice cream post-workout.

🤠 Nail your kickball change. Head to The Grove on Lawn on D on July 22 for a *free* night of line dancing. Don’t worry, there’ll be some easy guided lessons if you’re a newbie!

🧩 Sharpen your crossword chops. Joel Fagliano, the man behind the NYT Mini, is joining Lovestruck Books at WBUR CitySpace on July 23 for a night filled with puzzles, prizes, and BTS stories about NYT Games. 

👻 Stay on the edge of your (theater) seat. Seriously, Emily said the new “Paranormal Activity” show at the Emerson Colonial Theatre sent shivers down her spine (in a fun way!). You can catch it now through July 30. Bonus: Use code BSIDE99 to unlock two tickets for just $99!

_{Note: $99 tickets are available in Price Level 4 for performances through July 23. Not valid on previous purchases. Subject to availability.}

🛍️ Shop the sale with an ale. Get in on Night Bazaar’s two-day vintage fest from July 23-24, where you can grab bites from the Speedway, sip on Notch Brewing bevs, browse secondhand gems, AND pose for a portrait sesh all in one place.

🤘 Share your inner teenage angst. Yup, we’re talking about “Mortified” on July 24, the show where people share all those cringy, terrible, but hilarious things you wrote in your diary.

🎸Cross the river for local tunes.* Catch local bands like Somos, Fai Laci, Bay Faction, and more at NICE, a fest from July 24-26. B-Side Members get $10 off tickets. Book here.

🌭 Crown your favorite local sausage.* Taste allllll of Boston’s best sausages from Sarma, Gufo, Bar Mezzana, Formaggio Kitchen, State Park, and more at Best of the Wurst on July 25. We have three pairs of free tix dropping for B-Side Members tomorrow!

*This listing is presented in partnership with the event organizer.

Self-proclaimed "half-Asian singing cowboy" Chance Emerson is bringing his signature folk-rock sound to Best Day Ever as our headliner on Aug. 1 at PKL Boston. Born in Taipei and raised in Hong Kong, Chance eventually made his way to Rhode Island, where songwriting took over and led him to tour venues across the Northeast. He’s now bringing that same energy to the BDE stage. Need a song rec? Start with "Mine All Mine,” then catch it live at Best Day Ever. Get tickets here!

The World Cup really did a NUMBER on us. Sure, a whopping 447,283 fans attended matches in Foxborough over the course of the tourney, but here’s the data that really caught our attention:

Mass. saw the highest increase in beer sales across U.S. host cities, with a 12% jump by the end of the first two weeks — beer sales also skyrocketed by 50% on the day of the Haiti-Scotland match (shoutout to the Tartan Army), compared to the average of the prior eight Saturdays.

Hot dog fever also prevailed with orders up by 35% (guilty as charged), along with a 25% bump for chicken tendies. 

Oh, and was your Tinder flooded with fresh hotties? That’s probably ‘cause there was 40% more Tinder activity from out-of-towners for Scotland’s first match, plus a 47% rise during the Iraq-Norway game.

To the Boston PR gods that have been working overtime this summer: Thank you. <3

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🙌 Thanks for reading! Calling it now: 2026 summer > 2016 summer.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, RITUAL Boston, for supporting local journalism and giving us the best way to be a morning person … even on Saturday.

🚴 The results are in: 64% of B-Siders are *petrified* of biking in Boston. One reader wrote: “When I moved here I realized that 1. Driving in Boston is terrifying 2. Biking is somehow scarier 3. But worst of all is trying to shop at Market Basket on a Saturday.” A literal triple threat.

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