A Regina Pizzeria worker in Boston’s North End was assaulted Sunday by a man who then fled the area, police said.Officers were called just after 9 p.m. to the restaurant at 11 Thatcher St. for a report of an assault.The victim told police that a man tried to enter the restaurant without a mask. When the worker told the man he needed a mask to enter, the man said he was “from the neighborhood,” and he pushed his way into the building.Police said the man pushed the victim against a register and punched him in the cheek before fleeing the area down Margin Street.The suspect is described as a white man who is about 25 to 28 years old.The iconic restaurant has been in business in the North End since 1926 and now has several locations throughout Massachusetts. Face masks are required in all indoor public settings in Boston, including restaurants, bars, performance venues, social clubs, event spaces and municipal buildings.Other area restaurants said they are also feeling the effects of the new rules in Boston. “People want to go out and as soon as you ask for ID, people are asking for trouble. People don’t appreciate you asking these questions. It’s not fair,” said Claudia Spagnuolo of La Famiglia.Spagnuolo has been working at her family restaurant for 62 years. She said that while January is typically slow, having to turn people away for not having a vaccine card isn’t helping. “We’re talking two or three miles and they don’t get bothered,” she said. Bob luz of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association said customers have taken displeasure with the mandates out on businesses by destroying property and antagonizing staff.“Individual restaurants nor employees certainly have asked for this, it’s the city of Boston, that has imposed this upon us,” he said. But in a city and neighborhood so heavily reliant on tourism, most owners said the new rules are doing more harm than good. “We need to be able to bring people back in, not put another roadblock up,” Luz said.
A Regina Pizzeria worker in Boston’s North End was assaulted Sunday by a man who then fled the area, police said.
Officers were called just after 9 p.m. to the restaurant at 11 Thatcher St. for a report of an assault.
The victim told police that a man tried to enter the restaurant without a mask. When the worker told the man he needed a mask to enter, the man said he was “from the neighborhood,” and he pushed his way into the building.
Police said the man pushed the victim against a register and punched him in the cheek before fleeing the area down Margin Street.
The suspect is described as a white man who is about 25 to 28 years old.
The iconic restaurant has been in business in the North End since 1926 and now has several locations throughout Massachusetts.
Face masks are required in all indoor public settings in Boston, including restaurants, bars, performance venues, social clubs, event spaces and municipal buildings.
Other area restaurants said they are also feeling the effects of the new rules in Boston.
“People want to go out and as soon as you ask for ID, people are asking for trouble. People don’t appreciate you asking these questions. It’s not fair,” said Claudia Spagnuolo of La Famiglia.
Spagnuolo has been working at her family restaurant for 62 years. She said that while January is typically slow, having to turn people away for not having a vaccine card isn’t helping.
“We’re talking two or three miles and they don’t get bothered,” she said.
Bob luz of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association said customers have taken displeasure with the mandates out on businesses by destroying property and antagonizing staff.
“Individual restaurants nor employees certainly have asked for this, it’s the city of Boston, that has imposed this upon us,” he said.
But in a city and neighborhood so heavily reliant on tourism, most owners said the new rules are doing more harm than good.
“We need to be able to bring people back in, not put another roadblock up,” Luz said.