A North End restaurateur says the neighborhood is “at war” with Mayor Michelle Wu as eateries will continue to face heavy restrictions if they decide to provide outdoor dining this year.
The escalating conflict has triggered a group of 21 neighborhood restaurateurs and the North End Chamber of Commerce to amend a lawsuit filed earlier this year in federal court alleging the mayor discriminated against them the past two outdoor dining seasons, the Herald has learned.
In 2022, officials forced restaurateurs to pay a $7,500 fee for outdoor dining operations, while in 2023, the city banned on-street dining, limiting the al fresco option to “compliant sidewalk patios.” The North End was the only neighborhood that faced the restrictions.
Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde, co-owner of Vinoteca di Monica, said he and restaurateurs had hoped Wu would start to treat them better by bringing back full-scale outdoor dining this year, but they learned in February that their dream wouldn’t become reality.
The plaintiffs amended the lawsuit Thursday, adding in the losses they anticipate they’ll encounter in 2024, the fees they paid in 2022 and the lost revenue from 2023, Mendoza-Iturralde told the Herald.
A copy of the amended lawsuit was not available by presstime.
Mendoza-Iturralde alleged the continuance of the harsh limitations was “retaliatory” against the plaintiffs and the North End as a whole.
“The North End is at war,” Mendoza-Iturralde said, “and we are at war with the mayor, the person who lobbied us to be elected to serve us. And what is she doing instead? She is serving herself.”
Restaurateurs are demanding the city pay for the losses their businesses sustained due to the fees and ban, and declare its actions the past two years were “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.”
A task force of officials, restaurateurs and other stakeholders formed after the city delivered the bitter news of the ban last year, examining “potential pathways forward” to providing on-street dining in the future.
But the group raised concerns heard in the past: narrow sidewalks and streets, trash building up leading to increased rodent activity, and impacts to traffic and congestion, Segun Idowu, chief of economic opportunity and inclusion, wrote in a letter to the task force last month.
“Without a fully designed alternative in place, and with applications for the outdoor dining season launching shortly citywide, we are making the decision to continue last year’s policy,” he wrote.
Mendoza-Iturralde alleges the task force voted in favor of bringing outdoor dining back, but officials “favored” the North End/Waterfront Residents Association, a politically powerful community organization that has openly opposed the North End restaurants and pressed for the ban.
The plaintiffs feel they “have the right to operate equally.” The restrictions affect them economically as indoor seats lose value on sunny days in the spring and summer, and they’re losing out on extra revenue “to compensate for the losses of the winter,” Mendoza-Iturralde said.
Last year’s ban led to four restaurateurs amending a lawsuit they filed against the city in 2022, alleging Wu made them pay thousands to provide outdoor dining last year because of her bias against “white, Italian men.”
By last June, the restaurateurs had dropped the suit.
When asked why they backed out of last year’s suit, Mendoza-Iturralde said the group was much smaller than the current iteration and it asked the court to dismiss it without prejudice. Twelve restaurateurs are part of the new suit including prominent names, Frank DePasquale and Nick Varano.
“If we don’t succeed in this court, we will take it to the next higher court, and we are willing to take it all of the way to the Supreme Court if needed,” Mendoza-Iturralde. “This is an issue in which our government is attacking local businesses and putting residents at a disadvantage.”
The group has brought on Regan Communications to assist.
