North End restaurateurs protest, ramping up the fight for on-street dining

By Peyton Benbow

Photo courtesy of Pixaby

Protesters showed their support for the North End Restaurant Association in their ongoing lawsuit against the City of Boston, which seeks millions of dollars in damages from the ban on outdoor dining in the North End. Restaurant owners gathered to speak to supporters and press at the Paul Revere Mall at the end of Hanover Street on Friday.

The original complaint was filed on January 5th by 21 restaurant owners and the North End Chamber of Commerce. On Friday, restaurant owners added 100 more pages to the complaint. The lawsuit seeks millions in damages for lost income, compensation for a $7,500 fee restaurants had to pay in order to have outdoor dining, and refunds for storage fees for items used in outdoor dining. The North End was the only neighborhood ordered to pay a $7,500 outdoor operations fee and a $458 fine for each parking spot used.

This is the second year that Wu’s administration decided they would not issue permits for open air dining in the North End. The neighborhood is chock full of Italian restaurants, but Mayor Wu noted a lack of sidewalks and parking spaces making the area “unfit to participate” in the City’s outdoor dining program. The lawsuit argues that a second summer without outdoor dining will give other neighborhoods’ restaurants “an unfair competitive advantage,” and steer patrons away from the North End. 

North End restaurant owners claim their Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by the “unequal, unfair, and discriminatory treatment of Italian restaurants,” repeatedly calling Wu’s measures “retaliatory,” and anti-Italian. North End restaurants must keep their al fresco dining on sidewalks unless they pay the required fees, while other neighborhoods can operate on-street. 

At Friday’s demonstration, the owner of Vinoteca di Monica, Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde, sat at a makeshift outdoor dining table pretending to enjoy a dinner. Mendoza, whose restaurant is a part of the lawsuit, told the Boston Globe, “[Wu] was elected to manage our affairs, she was not elected to pick and choose who wins and loses. We want a right to compete, okay?”.

Wu responded at an International Women’s day breakfast on Friday saying, “We need a targeted solution and we’re not there”. The City asked for 45 days to review the updated complaint.