Upgrades

Two North End restaurants were granted upgraded all alcohol licenses under the new program that allows holders of restricted alcohol licenses (for example, licenses that only allow the sale of beer and wine; or beer wine and cordials) to upgrade them to All-Alcoholic Beverages Licenses. Recipients of the upgraded licenses may NOT transfer the licenses though, which have fetched up to $.5 million on the open market recently.

Recipients of upgraded, restricted/non-transferrable licenses:

Update - 10:20am 3 February

BWSC reports that water was fully restored late last night. There will be another crew onsite this afternoon to replace a valve, but service will not be impacted today.

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The northwest quadrant of the North End has seen intermittent water service at best since a water main broke on Charter Street. BWSC - through councillor Coletta-Zapata's office - reports:

The inaugural "Boston Frostival" will see a 75-foot temporary ferris wheel installed on the Greenway across from Christopher Columbus Park.

The wheel will cost $4 to ride and be open during the month of February daily from noon to 8pm except for Mondays and Tuesdays when it will be closed.

We have no idea what it will actually look like, so the attached image is what Nano Banana imagines.

The groundbreaking for our new community center is Thursday, December 4th at 11 am.

There will be a public ceremony at the new center's location - 475 Commercial Street.

Please join Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Centers for Youth &
Families to celebrate the start of construction of the new

BCYF North End Community Center!

The pool and splash pad will be closed throughout construction. At the last update meeting, the pool was set to reopen in 2028.

NEW Health hosted its annual meal packing and complimentary distribution of Thanksgiving meals November 20th. Coldwell Banker is generously sponsoring this year. In total, over 200 to-go meals were distributed.

NEW Health also hosts monthly complimentary produce distributions of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to patients.

Volunteers who would like to assist with an upcoming produce distribution, please reach out to NEW Health to coordinate in advance. See below for details:

Michelin awarded no stars and no Bib Gourmand distinctions to North End restaurants. But two local spots did earn a Recommendation: Carmelina's and Neptune Oyster.

Carmelina's

307 Hanover St., Boston, MA, 02113, USA
$$ · Italian-American

This is food that sticks to your bones, and much of it arrives piping hot in the pans they were cooked in.

In an announcement sent to parents of students, the Executive Director of the Eliot School, Traci Walker Griffith, has announced her plan to retire at the end of the current school year in June 2026. Griffith, best known as Principal Traci to thousands of neighborhood friends, students, parents, and alumni has served as Principal of the local K-8 school since 2007 and worked in BPS since 1992.

The Friends of DeFilippo playground will hold their second annual pickleball tournament next Saturaday, September 20th at 9am. The tournament is held in honor of Jerry Moretti. Registration costs $25 per individual.

The criminal case against Cornelius Ivey Williams, charged in connection with a May assault on Margaret Street in the North End, faced further delays this week as the Commonwealth was once again not ready to proceed with a probable cause hearing.