Five restaurant owners in Boston’s predominantly Italian North End section have launched an addendum to their lawsuit against the city’s Democratic mayor alleging she is biased against Italians and whites.
The original lawsuit, filed in the fall of 2022, centered on Mayor Michelle Wu’s decree requiring neighborhood restaurants to pay $7,500 in order to obtain an outdoor dining license during the summer 2022 season while the rest was free. boston
The mayor’s office said that in the North End, street dining will no longer be allowed and sidewalk dining will be limited to establishments with an “adequate” sidewalk width.
Restaurants in other neighborhoods will pay between $199 and $399 per month, depending on whether or not they have a liquor license, for the right to set up outdoor seating by 2023.
“It is commonly known that the traditional owner of a restaurant in Boston’s North End is a white male of Italian descent, and the North End is generally considered (as) Boston’s last truly ethnic Italian neighborhood,” a section of the lawsuit read
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said traffic restrictions and noise complaints have made outdoor dining impossible in the North End section in 2023.
The restaurant’s owner, Frank DePasquale, said Italian-Americans are being “discriminated against with the new rules.”
The new plaintiffs are the same ones who sued Wu’s office in 2022 over the decision to relax outdoor dining rules in Boston.
They are Jorge Mendoza, owner of Vinoteca di Monica; Carla Gomes, owner of Terramia Ristorante and Antico Forno; Christian Silvestri, owner of Dolce Fumo de Rabia; and Patrick Mendoza, owner of Monica’s Trattoria.
Another prominent North End restaurant owner, Frank DePasquale, is also lending his support to the campaign.
‘It is annoying for us to be discriminated against. It is a defect for Italians’, he said the Boston Globe.
In 2022, restaurants in the North End were not allowed to sit outside until May, while the rest of Boston’s restaurants ate on the patio in April.
The $7,500 was allowed to be paid in installments and was reduced in some cases, depending on the size of the restaurant. As a result, the city raised nearly $800,000.
The group cites the mayor’s Boston All-Inclusive Campaign as an example of bias against whites and Italians, since the ad made no mention of the North End and did not feature any Italian-Americans.
The lawsuit says the only white men in the ad were players for the Boston Red Sox.
The group alleges that the North End is not listed on the All Inclusive campaign website. At the time of writing, there is a North End section live in the place.
The lawsuit goes on to mention Mayor Wu’s jokes at the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in South Boston in 2022 in which she said, “I’m getting used to dealing with problems that are costly, hurtful, and WHITE.”
In 2022, North End restaurants were not allowed to sit outside until May, while the rest of Boston’s restaurants ate on the patio in April.
Pat Mendoza, the executive chef at Monica’s Trattoria, is among those involved in the lawsuit. Here he is pictured with actor Steve Carell in September 2022.
Boston’s outdoor dining program that began early in the coronavirus pandemic to help boost business at struggling restaurants has been made permanent, but with some tougher rules to address the unique challenges in the North End. from the city.
“Cookouts have expanded as a way to keep our businesses open during the pandemic and have become a popular opportunity to enjoy our streets and the company of others,” Wu said in a February statement.
The different rules in the North End were in response to the special problems facing the neighborhood and its maze of narrow streets, city officials said.
The North End, which attracts visitors from around the world, has the highest concentration of restaurants in the state, with 95 establishments in just over a third of a square mile.
Restaurants in other neighborhoods will pay between $199 and $399 per month, depending on whether or not they have a liquor license, for the right to set up outdoor tables in 2023
North End plaintiffs seek $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages
The lawsuit goes on to mention Mayor Wu’s jokes at the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in South Boston in 2022 in which she said, “I’m getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive and WHITE.”
The complaint does not mention the punchline of the joke which read: ‘I’m talking about snowflakes, snowflakes, snowstorms. . . snowflakes.’
Unregulated outdoor dining presents challenges related to traffic, public safety vehicle access, sanitation, and quality of life for residents. Traffic is expected to worsen this summer with major construction projects nearby.
Nick Varano, owner of the Strega restaurant in the neighborhood, was not happy with the city’s plan.
“I think it’s not very fair and it puts us at a disadvantage with other neighborhoods in the city,” he told the Boston Herald in February.
“We’ve taken what we’ve learned over the past two years to inform the ongoing program, and we’re committed to working with our neighborhoods to make this program a success,” Wu said last month.
While at least one local resident said she was relieved by the new rules.
‘COVID is over. Restaurants did well before. They’ll do fine later. We are a neighborhood, not a district where you go out dancing all night. We want to shop at CVS and go to the bank without dining al fresco,’ said Darlene Romano the world.
In the same article, the owner of Aquitaine and Metropolis in Boston’s South End described the regulations as “reasonable and appropriate.”
The North End plaintiffs are seeking $500,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.