NEWNC Approves North Square Restaurant Expansion

At the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) Oct. 5 meeting, the community elected Council voted 9-0 to support a request by Flagship Restaurant Group, LLC to expand the existing restaurant Forcella, 33 North Square to number 37 on the same street currently in occupied space.

Plans call for accommodations for additional seating in the main dining area and at the bar.

A doorway will be created through the party wall between the buildings.

“Approval from the Boston Licensing Board is required for alterations of the premises,” Roman said.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and Boston Police District A-1 Captain Robert Ciccolo were guest speakers.

The Mayor commented on the movement of the Columbus statue to North Margin Street, noting that the city will pay the necessary statue repairs.”

At that time, the Mayor claimed he knew nothing about renaming the park. “That would be a discussion made by the community.”

In the meantime, the anti-Columbus group made other demands including removing all statues of the navigator and to cancel future Columbus Day holidays, renaming it.

The Boston Arts Commission after stating that it would be “structurally unsafe” to replace the statue back in the park, it will apparently have to deal with re-naming the park.

One suggestion is to place another statue on the plaque in the park that would reflect the contributions of Boston’s Italian community

Captain Ciccolo provided NEWNC with a safety and traffic update.

“The Captain was very informative,” said President Brett Roman. “It appears the captain is doing everything right to learn more about the community,” Roman added.

The next NEWNC meeting will return to its regular schedule on Monday, November 9.