by Valerie Desouza Desilva and RaLucia Iacob
Take it from us waitresses Mayor Wu is wrong when it comes to the table tax she has enacted against outside dining in the North End of Boston. First off, Mayor Wu is being arbitrary. Outdoor dining was always a rolling program for restaurants to opt in or opt out at any time. Our employers, who are mothers and fathers, not some corporate Gordon Ramsey raised an issue with the extortionary tax of $7500. Once the owners raised an issue with the high price of participating, a deadline to apply was suddenly announced by the Mayor for April 10. Secondly, many in the press keep talking about sidewalk space. In the North End outdoor dining program only street space is used for dining. We should know we move the tables. Another way Mayor Wu is hurting waitresses, is that in the past the allotted space for restaurants was close to 45’ now it is only 32’. Some resident parking spaces get used, but these are only overnight spaces and they are very few, and only available to residents from 6pm until 8am. Otherwise, Hanover Street is mostly a loading zone. The restaurant owners have always paid for an equal number of garage parking for residential parking spaces they take.
The $7500 is no subsidy for Boston. It’s a tax. The family businesses of which we are a part pay for private trash removal 7 days per week. Cheapskate Mayors Walsh and Wu cut back on three day per week residential trash removal which caused the uptick in rodents to the area. Many apartment dwellers dump their trash into the pedestrian barrels; on top of the secured closed commercial bins, or onto the sidewalk no matter what day of the week it is. Wu’s fee is really an additional and illegal meal tax. Wu’s tax is redundant, and confiscatory, as Boston is already making an estimated $2800 per day in extra meals taxes on 100 outdoor tables. This is a low-ball example: 100 tables seating four with a check for $100 per seating, four times a night is $40,000 multiplied by a 7% meals tax is $2800 for 90 good weather summer nights is $252,000 in tax money to Boston. Also, another drawback for waitresses in the North End only the outdoor tables were available for use until 11pm on weeknights and 11:30 on weekends. Wu’s Watch and Ward matrons have cut those hours back to 10:00pm and 10:30pm, respectively. Wu is taking money out of the pockets of hardworking waitresses who really bust our tails to get people their favorites dishes just the way they like it. By the way, many other neighborhoods have housing close by the outdoor dining, it is unfair that Wu is only targeting the North End. We think once she is finished squeezing our neighborhood’s family business owners, she’ll move on to the others.
There are other North End myths being batted about by City Hall. Restaurant families are always cleaning. We power wash the sidewalks and allotted street space twice daily. As for North End noise, ask Councilor Flaherty about his initiative on roof decks. Nobody has ever analyzed what those roof hooligans are doing for the sound quality of the neighborhoods. Lastly, we want to say we are struggling in this economy, business life, tourist life, entertainment/eating patterns and inflation are all affecting every restaurant (every business). Most restaurants in the North End were always open for lunch and dinner. Now many, probably most only do lunch on the weekend. How do we know all these details? We live it. We are the working people picking up a few extra dollars in hourly wages or tips to help our ourselves, our kids, and our family owners keep going in this post Covid economy. This Wu table tax has had the most profound impact on waitresses, busboys, and bartenders. Come on Mayor Wu, open your eyes. It’s the waitresses, you Mayor Wu, are hurting the most in this North End fight.
Valerie Desouza Desilva and RaLucia Iacob are waitresses in the North End of Boston.
