Mayor Marty Walsh has some advice for Back Bay businesses slapped with citations after opening their outdoor patios for Tuesday’s post-Super Bowl Patriots Parade: next time, ask first.
“They know what the law is. … By opening those establishments they know they violated their license,” Walsh said Friday during his monthly interview with Boston Public Radio. “But to complain about it publicly? I don't understand what that is."
Five Back Bay restaurants along the parade route were issued citations after opening their patios without permission. Walsh said that the businesses needed to let the city know ahead of time if they were planning to open their patios because those spaces are not factored into the event's security plan. Though the citations carry no financial penalty, owners are required to appear before the Boston licensing board, where a decision will be made on whether or not to shut the restaurants down for up to several days.
Walsh told Boston Public Radio Host Jim Braude he had “no sympathy” for the owners who complained about the citations on social media.
“You have, for all intents and purposes, open containers on the sidewalk of establishments where people are drinking, and we want to make sure they're monitored,” Walsh said. “It might sound petty, but I think it's petty, actually, blaming the city.”
Patios are only allowed to be opened between April 1 and Nov. 1, and Tuesday’s unseasonably warm weather and large crowd sizes were no cause for exception, Walsh said.
“[Just] because you have a 60 degree day does not make it okay,” he said.
Walsh said that next year — if the Patriots win their seventh Super Bowl — businesses can ask for a “one-day reprieve” to open their patios.
“I would have no problem with open patios,” Walsh said. “If they called ... I would say yes.”
