North End restaurateurs are claiming that Mayor Michelle Wu used funds they paid for outdoor dining in 2022 to purchase an electric street sweeper, and they are not happy about it.
Despite the fact that the $552,000 sweeper has been used on city streets for almost two years, restaurant owners are using this purchase as a key argument to claim that the mayor has shown unfair treatment in their fight for outdoor dining. A group of 21 neighborhood restaurateurs and the North End Chamber of Commerce have made changes to a lawsuit filed earlier this year in federal court. They are asking the city to reimburse the losses their businesses have suffered and will continue to suffer due to Wu's unfavorable treatment..
A task force made up of officials, North End restaurateurs, and residents is looking at potential ways to provide on-street dining in the future. Concerns have been raised about narrow sidewalks and streets, trash buildup leading to increased rodent activity, and impacts on traffic and congestion.
Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde, co-owner of Vinoteca di Monica, and Carla Gomes, owner of Terramia and Antico Forno, discussed the electric street sweeper during a protest over the 2024 ban in front of the North End’s Paul Revere statue.
Mendoza-Iturralde and Gomes say the electric sweeper being used as a bingo piece supports the amended filing, which seeks millions from the city.
Mendoza-Iturralde said, “Mayor Wu plays political bingo. In political bingo, you have your political bingo card, and you have to fill it.”
Going into the 2022 outdoor dining, officials emphasized how the so-called “permit fees” would be redirected back to the North End, according to the suit, which cites city records.
In April 2022, the city estimated it would collect about $450,000 in fees, and with the “new source of several hundred thousand dollars in revenue,” officials chose to use a portion to purchase the electric street sweeper, the suit states.
The suit documents that in the summer of 2022, “the City awarded the bid and bought a RAVO electric street sweeper for a cost of $552,000, according to City records.”
The lawsuit claims that the electric street sweeper was not specifically used for the North End, even though it was decorated in a North End style. The city already had enough street sweepers that effectively cleaned the North End for years.
The sweeper is adorned with images of North End landmarks, such as St. Stephen’s Church on Hanover Street, Old North Church, the statue of Paul Revere, and a lamppost on the corner of Hanover and Parmenter Streets.
However, the Boston Public Works Department has shared photos on its X account that show the sweeper cleaning Causeway Street in the West End, streets in the South End, and near Alcorn Street in Allston.
The city collected $794,356 from about 60 North End restaurants that offered outdoor dining in 2022. Public works, including sweeping, power washing, and maintenance equipment, made up 86.5% of the funds that were reinvested in the neighborhood, according to the city website.
Gomes claims that people who supported Mayor Wu by not having outdoor dining will realize that the promised money intended for the North End went to other neighborhoods, not to the North End, and cites the street sweeper as an example.
She added that they will be disappointed when they find this out, and stated that they just wanted to be treated fairly.
Last year's ban resulted in four restaurateurs amending a lawsuit they filed against the city in 2022, alleging that Wu made them pay thousands for outdoor dining due to bias against 'white, Italian men'.
By last June, the restaurateurs had dropped the suit.
At a separate event on Friday morning, Wu mentioned that the city is providing as much information as possible through the court process. She highlighted how there are 'important parallels' in Chinatown, a neighborhood where on-street outdoor dining is banned, but interest there is not as high as in the North End.
The mayor stated that the city has previously been in similar situations and was found to have the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions to protect neighbors and residents regarding the use of city streets.
Carla Gomes and Jorge Mendoza speak during a press conference on outdoor dining in the North End. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
North End restaurateurs are accusing Mayor Michelle Wu of showing them no love by using funds they paid to provide outdoor dining in 2022 to purchase an electric street sweeper.
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.
At an unrelated event Friday morning, Wu said the city is providing as much information as possible through the court process. She highlighted how there are “important parallels” in Chinatown, a neighborhood where on-street outdoor dining is banned, but interest there is not as high as in the North End.
“We have been here before,” the mayor said, “and the city was found very solidly to have the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions to protect our neighbors and residents about how our city streets are used.”
