Boston’s had a rough go lately. Over the past 12 months, the federal government has taken a sledgehammer to the city’s very foundation, freezing or canceling NIH grants, stripping universities of funding, and basically deciding that the institutions the city spent a century building are, in fact, the problem. After that kind of attack, we had every reason to cry uncle.
Not a chance.
Mayor Michelle Wu won reelection by 93 percent—after her opponent, seeing the writing on the wall, withdrew before Election Day. Tens of thousands marched on the Common. Scientists pushed back. Lawyers filed lawsuits. Then, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye clinched the AFC Championship and gave the city its first Super Bowl appearance in seven years.
The Patriots didn’t start the fire, but they sure fed it. By late January, a city that had spent months refusing to fold had one more reason to believe in itself. As if to underline the point, the rest of the world is literally coming here to see us in action. That didn’t happen by accident. This summer, Boston hosts the FIFA World Cup, the Tall Ships, and the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding—the result of years of work by the leaders, dealmakers, and civic builders you’ll find on the pages ahead. It’s the most consequential season this city has seen in generations. The city that refused to fold is about to throw the party of a lifetime—and the people who made it possible are all on this list.
Which brings us, as it does every year, to the question of who, exactly, is running this town. Each year, we set out to highlight the people shaping how Boston lives, works, thinks, and feels. This year, more than most, that meant finding the people who held the line—and the ones who drew new ones. Here are the top 150. Argue with us if you’d like—we’re counting on it. —David Bernstein
28. Bruce Percelay, Founder and Chair, Mount Vernon Company
Generated 50 million hits for the EMK’s Senate Project debate.
Few people operate at Percelay’s altitude in real estate, politics, philanthropy, and media. The Mount Vernon Company founder chairs the Edward M. Kennedy Institute while pushing it toward a bipartisan mission, and just launched Nourish Nantucket to tackle food insecurity on the island where he’s leading a new $50 million hospital-employee housing campaign. He publishes N Magazine and the Nantucket Current, recently purchased the island’s waste-management company with other investors, and still runs one of the top apartment portfolios in eastern Massachusetts.
