🫩🚇 The Orange Line is cooked ...

🍸 PSA: Fenway brought back the ‘tini hats!!! And these styles are lowkey cuter than the OG: a butter yellow cap with a lemon drop martini and a light pink lid with a cosmo. Get tickets here!

⛳🍋 Take a swing at this sweet ticket drop. It’s title time for the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and we’re giving away tickets to the FM Championship in Norwood. FOUR lucky B-Side Members will get FOUR Del’s Lemonade ticket packages ($64 value). And if you don’t win, you’ll still get 20% off. ;) Tickets drop Saturday!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Orange Liners, it’s your time to shine whine. The OL will be OOO from Oak Grove allllll the way to Back Bay from Aug. 20-30.

Here’s what to know:

🤔 Track and signal upgrades are the name of the game. Similar to this month’s Green Line doozy, the T is looking to strengthen its infrastructure for the long haul. They’ll also cross a few other things off their to-do list, like plumbing and drainage work and MassDOT bridge inspections.

💨 The OL also has a need for speed. Remember when it hit 55 mph between Oak Grove and Assembly last year? Well, this track work should *hopefully* help it match that pace between Community College and Assembly.

🚇 You’ve got lots of transit alternatives between Oak Grove and North Station. See: The free and accessible shuttles to and fro; express shuttles at Oak Grove, Malden Center, Wellington, and North Station; and the Haverhill line on the commuter rail, which will be fare-free during the shutdown.

⏰ You know the drill: Budget A LOT of extra commuting time. The MBTA said you should account for >70 minutes if you’re traveling from Oak Grove to Downtown Crossing … on TOP of your regular commute. Bruh.

🚃 And don’t forget: the Green Line is BACK. Still need to get to Back Bay? Just hop on the GL at North Station to Copley. The MBTA will thankfully be beefing up service to keep the crowds chill.

🤑 Put your wallet away at Back Bay and Copley. The fare gates will be open at both stations, so you can walk right on.

♿ Prefer accessible vans? Ask T staff or use a station call box to get van service at downtown Orange Line stations between North Station and Back Bay, and at Copley on the Green Line. 

🙋 Have more Qs? Read more about the shutdown.

📊 “Out with the old? Nah.” — Probs how Democrats feel about Ed Markey. The 80-year-old Senator appears to be pulling away in the Democratic primary as 52% of voters support Markey vs. 38% for Rep. Seth Moulton, according to a new Suffolk/Globe poll. For context, some polls found the race was closer earlier this summer. In case you’re new here, the race is between Markey, an older progressive, and Moulton, a younger moderate. FWIW, Moulton did identify as progressive in the last debate, but people weren’t convinced … Soooo their final showdown on Thursday could get interesting …  

🎓 Mass. university workers are on the chopping block. Specifically, ~128,000 jobs could be on the line (which btw is about as big as the biotech industry) as financial woes keep rising and the reality of layoffs becomes much more real. In fact, ~400 university jobs were slashed in just six months last year, including at BU and Harvard. Plus, two colleges announced they’re closing, and more programs and departments keep getting cut. Bottom line: The future of higher ed is looking bleak.

🗳️ The city of Boston wants YOU to work the poll(s). We’re obviously talking about volunteering to be a poll worker. Duh! You can sign up now to help out the state primary (Sept. 1), the general election (Nov. 3), or both. Your job: make sure the voting process is smooth sailing from soup to nuts (think: setting up, checking voters in, handing out ballots, recording the number of ballots). Most importantly, you’ll get paid training for your assignment, plus a $160-$200 stipend for your city service. Apply here! 

🍽️ Now arriving: Two new foodie spots from old faves. First up: On Aug. 20, the Spoke Wine Bar team is opening Liars, a bistro in Teele Square ft. some *unconventional* comfort food and bev options. (A squirt gun with your cocktail, anyone?) Then keep your eyes peeled for Bottega Cannuccia, a cafe and wine bar from Via Cannuccia chef Stefano Quaresima. It plans to open this winter in Fields Corner, with a day menu of coffee, pastries, and sammies, and a nighttime selection of aperitivo, wine, and small plates. 

🍕 Did you know Regina Pizzeria was Boston's first-ever pizza parlor?! Founded in 1926 in the North End, Regina’s is still cookin’ their famous thin-crust pies in their OG brick oven, and they’ve kept the same delish formula ever since. Celebrate their 100th birthday at any of their locations!

Some people join the drama club. Others do speech and debate. But now there's a new club in town: Map Club. Let's explain: 

The group hosted a map-making workshop in Porter Square earlier this month, where random people who passed by marked their fave streets and walking paths on a plexiglass map. Those markings were then used to create cyanotypes, a.k.a. sun prints, which is an old-school photo technique to transfer them onto prints.

The club’s goal is two-fold: “To inspire and challenge the ways we think about the spaces we live and move through, and to encourage people to explore and have fun with maps!”

Lucky for us, they’ll be hosting a *free* sesh every month (their next one is Sept. 20!), alternating between a BPL meetup and an event out and about.

Some members are artists, mappers, or history buffs — but really, it’s for anyone who cares about their city (and loves a good art project). 

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🗺️ Thanks for reading! Hopefully, this’ll make us less directionally challenged.

💃 The results are in: 55% of B-Siders aren’t grooving at the clubs … Lame! But one reader wrote: “I am unstoppable when the DJ busts out the Macarena.” Live your truth, diva.

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and X. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] and [email protected].