You don’t have to drink alcohol at a bar. Where else can you hang out late at night? Unless they open some 24 hour diners, that would be fun.

You're right, it doesn't- but it shouldn't have to be a incredible hoop to have to jump through either. Also acohol is a great way for an otherwise low margin business to make a great margin. Want to open up a board game place? Cool, do it downtown and sell a few beers on tap to make some margin.

You're assuming that it will be geared towards people who want to drink for hours and get drunk. There are plenty of people who would like to be able to go to a bar at say 11:45 pm, and sit there for a couple of hours having 1-2 good drinks and socialize - not getting drunk. The way Boston is right now, you really cannot do that.

Not everything has to be about it, but believe it or not many people enjoy drinking alcohol. It’s something that people spend money on. It’s heavily taxed so it brings in revenue for the city and state. Boston has many college aged people and young professionals who enjoy going out, buying a few drinks, dancing, and heaven forbid, staying up late. Bars closing by two doesn’t stop people from drinking, those who want too go home or to a party and get drinks from a fridge or cooler, it just stops local businesses and the state from making money off of people drinking. Bars in other major cities stay open later, so a proposal to keep things open later is a totally reasonable time to discuss bars staying open past 1:45 or whatever it is now.

You want places like A4cade and bowling alleys to be open so you have activities late? Guess how they make their money. Booze.