How cold is it? It's so cold they've canceled the First Night family fireworks and the Boylston Street parade

...is that you'll be dead before the climate starts truly getting uninhabitable. I hope you don't have children.

Were you planning to actually go to this event?

Will you be willing to go stand outside for several hours to prove your point about how safe it is? (I'm not even going to ask about going to the football game - there are plenty of places to get out of the elements there, plenty of staff on hand who are trained for this, etc.)

As for the convention center? Oh please. GO put your swimmies on and join the Brownies. Safety first!

You're right about this. For many years ending with First Night 2015, the Hynes Convention Center was an essential part of the New Year's Eve celebration - both during the afternoon when it hosted primarily events for children and families, and at night when it offered movies, art exhibits, concerts, and dance halls. It was also a good place to come in out of the cold, before or after attending outdoor events.

I'm planning to go take a walk in the woods today. Here's my clothing choices (these kept me optimally warm while outside in 8F temps for 1.5 hours two days ago; they were also quite right when I went snowshoeing in the Canadian Rockies in Decemeber).

Base layer: thin cotton leggings or thermal pants (don't have leg sweat problems) and long sleeve poly or poly-wool shirt

Civil Layer: jeans and a wool sweater or shirt

Outer layer: 650 fill knee length down puffy coat with fully insulated hood (or Columbia 3 in 1 with a down inner jacket pre-warmed by resident feline); Wool stocking hat under the hood (or balaclava); wool blend scarf (if no balaclava); ski pants or wind pants.

Hands: ski mittens - sometimes, thin gloves inside ski mittens.

Feet: Merino wool boot socks; Sorrel pack boots for snow shoes or my Merrill insulated waterproof hiking boots that are the bestest snow and cold temps hiking boots there ever was.

Sweat is indeed the enemy. Breathable clothing, don't over layer, and have some way to add layers or wrap up when you stop. It also helps to strip when going into warm buildings or cars to prevent sweatiness.

IMPORTANT NOTE: don't keep piling layers on your body to stay warm - insulate your legs, too! Your top should never be insulated more than one layer heavier than your bottom. Can't say how many years it took me to figure that out, but I'm much happier for this discovery.

Maybe the city doesn't want to be (or feel) responsible for small children being outside in the bitter cold.

Also, adults get to decide to stay home; small children are taken to things they aren't interested in, and a child saying "Daddy, I'm cold" might get "it's almost time for the fireworks" rather than "OK, let's go somewhere warm."

I will say this over and over again: logic is a process operating on evidence. Just because something involves logic does not make it valid if the premises suck (see pseudoscience wahhhhrgarble comments elsewhere in this posting) Similarly, perceived faults in "logic" may not actually be faults in logic, but in the base evidence upon which it is operating.

Now to the topic at hand: The earlier events are being cancelled because they involve children and people in costumes.

I've had the pleasure of rapidly resewing costumes at the last minute to fit around full snow suits - this was when temps were predicted to be in the high teens/low 20s at parade time. That is really the ragged edge of what the often child participants in the parade can accommodate. For many in the parade, including people on stilts and costumed performers, it is simply way too cold.

People have their kids in the audience to watch the parade, too, and may not be able to keep them warm enough.

I suspect that the "logic" involved is merely the age of those involved - which isn't "logic" per se but understanding of the vulnerability of the population involved in both participating and watching the early evening events. Understanding population vulnerability involves an assessment of both the hazard (extreme cold) and the baseline vulnerabiltiy and adaptability of the exposed population. At midnight, the hazard will be greater, but the vulnerability of the participants and their ability to leave to get warm will be much greater.

They are listed in the First Night program and website as a courtesy, but they're being put on by a coalition of Boston Harbor-area businesses, nonprofits, and parks.

I was at the game, and it was frickin freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth.

from Shawmut to Davis, passing through Park Street Station a little before 1 am. My train was pretty empty, and not many people got on it at South Station, Downtown Crossing, or Park Street.