There’s a reason the mayors of the two cities represented in the Super Bowl make silly bets every year. (This year, New York’s Michael Bloomberg and Boston’s Thomas Menino have put up an all-expenses-paid tour to the losing city for one lucky family from the winning city.) The mayors don’t just think they have the best team—they think they have the best city.
To put that theory to the test, The Daily Beast for the second year is pitting the Super Bowl cities head to head. For Super Bowl XLVI, it’s New York versus Boston (sure, the team is the New England Patriots, but Boston is its fan hub). We used our own database of rankings and lists, as well as rankings from other reputable media outlets and data sources, to find out which city is the off-the-field champ. Welcome to the real battle for bragging rights, and read on for the full play-by-play.