Photo: Mike Macklin/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The outdoor dining season officially began in Boston on May 1, but for the second year in a row, Boston’s North End neighborhood has been excluded from outdoor dining by the city.
Some restaurant owners held a rally Wednesday afternoon to speak out against the decision and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
“We love Boston, and we have a mayor who wants to tell us how to live in our city,” Jorge Mendoza, a North End restaurant owner, said.
Carla Gomes, owner and general manager of North End restaurants Terramia and Antico Forno, said that what they are asking for is quite reasonable.
“We are only asking for what has been given, and what has been allowed in every other neighborhood across the city. By being excluded from the city’s outdoor dining program, the restaurants in the North End are being put at a disadvantage,” she said.
“It also hurts businesses in the North End and surrounding areas,” she concluded.
Mayor Wu, however, told WBZ-TV that the residents of the North End "have been clear [outdoor dining] cannot work in this very unique neighborhood" because of trash, parking, and narrow streets.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Mike Macklin (@mikemacklinWBZ) reports
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