Mayor Walsh’s Cargo Shorts Are Tearing This City Apart

We trusted you, Marty.

Get a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning — great with coffee!

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?

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

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.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh back in the cargo shorts, polo shirt, and Pats hat. Tells me his phone has been lit up w/ texts abt his speech — Lauren Dezenski (@LaurenDezenski) July 26, 2016

In 2014, Walsh welcomed boxers to his inaugural, eponymous youth boxing tournament at City Hall while wearing cargo shorts.

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.”