The North End/ Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) December 2020 meeting started with a series of notable reports and updates, summarized below.
Brett Roman, NEWNC President’s Report:
NEWNC will be hosting a joint meeting with the North End/ Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA) on Wednesday, December 16th via Zoom at 7pm. The meeting will hear from local elected officials to discuss state and city resources, budgets, and other issues. More information, including links to the Zoom meeting, can be found here.
The Nazzaro Center has decided to temporarily halt programming with some after-school programming planned. For more information or updates, visit here or contact Center Director, Steven Siciliano. Meal distribution continues to be provided by the center on Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm.
John Romano, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services:
In response to recent COVID-19 data in Boston, the City will be returning to a modified Phase 2, Step 2 starting on Wednesday, December 16th. To provide businesses with further guidance about what this means for the sector, the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development will be hosting webinars on Tuesday, December 15th. For more information or to sign up, visit here.
Committee Reports:
Greenway Committee: The Greenway Carousel remains open Friday-Sunday at 11am-6pm. The holiday hours for December 23rd, 24th,31st and January 1st are 11am-7pm.
Several pieces from the Greenway Conservancy’s public art program will continue to be displayed over the winter months.For the upcoming Chinese New Year, the Chinese Zodiac art series will explore Furen Dai’s A Mouse with Ears and Tail and look ahead to the Year of the Ox with Andy Li’s The Herd.
Harborfront Neighborhood Alliance: During their last meeting, the recently released Climate Ready Boston report was discussed with two of the program coordinators, Peyton Jones and Zoe Davis. Additionally, Charlie Jewell, Director of Planning at Boston Water and Sewer Commission introduced a new flood projection tool to further explore the threat climate change poses to the North End as well as other Boston neighborhoods.
Public Health Committee: The North End/ Waterfront Health clinic continues to provide COVID-19 testing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As of last week, the site administered approximately 2,600 tests with 56 individuals testing positive.
Also, the health center is running a fundraising campaign for their food insecurity program. So far, the program has spent $4,500 on grocery store gift certificates.
Last Wednesday, PPE supplies were provided to restaurants throughout the North End following the virtual “Taste of the North End” event where a portion of funds raised were donated to assist local restaurants.
