BOSTON (WHDH) - More than a dozen North End restaurant owners shut down their businesses for a couple of hours Thursday to protest the city’s outdoor dining restrictions, which they say are unfair to the neighborhood.
“We decided to close our businesses for two hours because we wanted to get some attention and send a message that it’s not all about money, it’s about equal rights. It’s about to have the opportunity to compete with the rest of the city of our business,” said restaurant owner Jorge Mendoza.
Citing the North End’s high density of restaurants, the city will not be issuing outdoor dining permits. Restaurant owners say the policy has forced them to miss out on millions of dollars and they say they’re being treated unfairly.
The restaurant owners have already filed a federal lawsuit against the city to have the outdoor dining rules changed and to recoup the money they say they’re losing because of the policy.
The city’s outdoor dining program was launched during the pandemic but after taking office, Mayor Michelle Wu made changes. First, imposing special fees on the North End restaurants in part because of traffic and trash pickup issues.
On- street dining was eventually banned in the North End altogether.
“In some places, it is more of a challenge,” Wu said. “Just given the density of more than 90 restaurants in a quarter-square-mile space – and for residents it requires a very different set up than would be required anywhere else.”
Wu said the lawsuit that owners filed has taken one-on-one communication with the restaurant owners off the table for now.
“We are in a active litigation as the restaurants have sued the city so that makes it impossible to have direct conversations about what a targeted solution could look like until that litigation is resolved,” she said.
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