Boston Seeks Private Takeover Of First Night Celebration
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston is looking for someone to run First Night, the city's annual New Year's Eve celebration.
First Night launched back in 1975, and it was run by a non-profit group for years until that organization fell apart a few years ago.
Mayor Marty Walsh says organizing the festivities is too big a job for the city to handle. The city has put out a request for proposals, hoping a private company will take over the task.
"We're really not in the business of running events like that," Walsh told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. "When you talk about events like First Night, the marathon, Fourth of July -- our department, which handles that, doesn't have the capacity to handle First Night every year."
Last year's celebration took $678,000 to produce, but button sales for admission took in only $254,000.
Outgoing Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Guzzi said First Night has had financial problems for a while.
"A year-plus ago, the only way it continued was through the private sector, to be truthful, contributing monies to keep it going," he said. "I think the idea of trying to outsource this terrific evening is a very good idea, we'll see what the marketplace says."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Anthony Silva reports: