Mayor Wu Threatens To Cancel Outdoor Dining Season In North End
BOSTON (CBS) - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is threatening to pull the plug on outdoor dining in the North End. She sent the neighborhood's restaurants a letter Friday, as a select group of owners threatens to sue the city over a new $7500 fee.
In the letter, Wu said last summer the neighborhood had more than 300 noise complaints and that the North End has more than three times the number of on-street patios as any other neighborhood in the city.
"She is in charge. The ball is on her court. And we hope that she makes the right decision and treats us like she treats the rest of the city," said George Mendoza of Monica's Trattoria.
Some restaurant owners say they've gotten a lawyer and are ready to sue the city over the outdoor dining fee that separates them from the rest of Boston.
Wu said some residents were "at their wit's end after two seasons of unprecedented intrusion on neighborhood life."
In addition to that fee, North End restaurants would have a curfew and a shorter outdoor patio season. The city says the special rules are because this neighborhood is so densely populated with both people and restaurants.
The fight heated up on Friday as someone placed flyers on cars up and down Hanover Street. They quoted Mayor Wu saying she's used to problems that are "expensive, disruptive, and white," a portion of a joke from her speech at the weekend's St. Patrick's Day breakfast.
"This past winter was pretty intense," Wu said at the breakfast. "Trial by snow, trial by fire-fighters union. I'm getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive, and white. I'm talking about snowflakes! Snowflakes, I mean snowstorms, snowflakes."
In her letter to restaurant owners, Mayor Wu said if they don't like the new rules and don't pay, she is prepared to cancel the outdoor dining season altogether.
"If a critical mass of restaurant owners also believe this program is unworkable as proposed, then I am prepared to rescind North End outdoor dining before the start of the season," Wu said.
Restaurant owners say all the rules over the last two years have uniquely affected them and their livelihood. "It's kind of like an obstacle course running a restaurant. It's like every day they are putting a new course in," said Massimo Tiberi of Aryo Trattoria.
Wu said the North End was home to 77 outdoor dining patios, 70 of which were on public property. The Back Bay had 51 patios, with 21 on the street. There were 14 in the Seaport, seven in Roxbury, six in Charlestown and only one in Chinatown.