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Guy whose North End restaurant was cited for Covid-19 violations spent New Year's Eve at a maskless, crowded dance party in Florida, where he screamed about Charlie Baker and Marty Walsh
By adamg on Sat, 01/02/2021 - 1:55pm
From Silvestri's Facebook videos.
Christian Silvestri, whose Rabia's on Salem Street got a warning from the Boston Licensing Board last week about unmasked servers and too many people at tables, celebrated New Year's Eve at a Naples, FL cigar bar - where he set aside some time to yell about Florida freedom:
"You can't do this in Boston, baby!" he yelled. "Woo!"
"Whadaya have to say about it?!? Woo! Today's toast, Charlie Baker, Marty Walsh, listen to DeSantis, this is what he's got going baby!" And then, referring either to Cuba or Massachusetts, it wasn't clear, he yelled, "Freedom! We're not in a communist country!"
In another video from the dance floor, he yelled: "You can't do this back in the Northeast, you can't do this in Boston! You can't do this in Boston! Remember back in the day when you used to be able to do this in Boston? Get the fuck outta heah!"
Still, for Silvestri, those were pretty tame comments. For months now, Silvestri has been posting obscenity-packed video diatribes about Baker and, to a lesser extent Walsh, on his Facebook page, sometimes enough to earn him Facebook timeouts. Simply, he doesn't believe all the Covid-19 numbers and thinks Massachusetts politicians are intentionally out to destroy small businesses and the families who run them through their Covid-19 restrictions.
After Baker announced some Covid-19 rollbacks on Dec. 22, as numbers and hospitalizations surged, Silvestri complained about what he sees as the unfairness of squeezing gyms and restaurants while letting Home Depot, Target and other large stores stay open.
Well, well, well, here we are another week another rollback down to fuckin' stage 2 fuckin' step 2 go stick em up your sister's ass 2, 3, 4, who gives a fuck about stages nowadays?
He told Baker and Walsh, or as he called them, "pieces of shit," to go on unemployment to see what it's like and warned them they won't always be "Superman" and one day they'll be walking down the street and the people they forced to close their businesses and lose their homes would spot them and, well, he didn't say what would happen.
On Dec. 8, he complained about "the pussies" running Massachusetts and other blue states:
We all know that these governors in these fuckin' blue states are outta their minds! They got no fuckin' brain cells because the red states are wide open, baby, and they're havin' the time of their life enjoying life being normal while we're sitting here in a fucking cage listening to these fuckin' idiotic fuckin' pieces of shit Democrat trying to ram their [unclear] shit down our throats.
And after again complaining about how Baker was ruining people's businesses and lives, he added,
You better find some money to help these fuckin' businesses because God forbid, one day, you're going down motherfuckers.
Silvestri did not appear at the licensing-board hearing on Rabia's violations, instead sending his manager and lawyer, who, after being yelled at by board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce about the "extreme case," meekly apologized and vowed to never do it again.
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Comments
Let's hope
Let's hope that nobody in the North End keeps a close watch on Rabia's compliance with their warning and if they were to go up to the board again that no concerned citizens play this tape for them...
Kind of Has A Point
I agree you can go to Walmart and Buy a shirt but gyms are shut down. We all know why. Walmart Amazon Target Home Depot has a lot of influence and money. The town center tshirt store is loosing his business.
my bodega
is open and has been throughout the interim. maybe you're missing something here, or maybe Luis at Aggie's Market has a line with the Secret Government
You lost me after "you can go
You lost me after "you can go to Walmart and buy a shirt but gyms are closed down"
Anyways, food, medicine and construction/maintenance supplies are considered essential and anyone selling those items has been able to be open this whole time. And at this point, isn't all retail allowed to be open at reduced capacity?
Both of you can be right and wrong
Those big box stores are deemed essential, due to what they sell, but there is a point to be made about safety between all of this.
Some of these big box grocery chains are spreading COVID far more than restaurants. There’s a very popular grocery chain just outside of Boston with a big outbreak as I type this, for example. Employees have exposed 100’s, if not 1000’s of customers there.
If you want to shut down/crush businesses for COVID spread safety reasons, you at least have to acknowledge that you are accepting other unsafe scenarios as being fine. A restaurant, gym, etc. does have a point to gripe over.
Question for Mr. Silvestri
Why would I choose your restaurant over any other in the North End?
If you fail, Baker and Walsh might deserve some blame, but the answer is in the mirror. Maybe you’d have more money if you hadn’t spent money on a trip to Florida. You’re not Puff Daddy or Bill Gates just because you sell wine and veal. Other entities do that too. Hell, do you see Bill Gates at cigar bars yelling? Hell, to quote him on The Simpsons, “I didn’t get rich by writing a bunch of checks.”
I’m delighted to see a long overdue market correction taking place in Boston bars and restaurants.
Once again...
The epitome of social media tough guy pipes in.
Funny thing about Will is that while he can talk this way about a neanderthal like Silvestri here, if he ever had the marbles to get in his face, the roided up wannabe would turn him into a pretzel.
And
Your point is? Beating up people makes you a man?
Wow!
How much business does this jackass lose because he's turned his business into Covid Mary's?
His disregard for pandemic precautions speaks volumes about his likely level of observance of fundamentally basic food safety regulations.
Once again...
The doyenne of the Hub puts words in my mouth I did not say. He's not losing any business as he's got 12k ignorant followers on Facebook and his own line of swag.
Well
I'd rather be the "doyenne" than the has-been thug king wannabe of U Hub.
Sorry, but you sound like a refugee from a Affleck film set in the 1980s here - a faded parody.
Well, Swirl
I could do my usual routine about how you use this site as some sad respite from the banality of your own life, but we all know that, don't we?
Happy New Year!
Yo!
Happy new year to you, too!
Everyone's life is pretty damn banal right now, if you are lucky enough to afford that banality (and mature enough to embrace that banality). Cheers!
He still misses leg day though.....
And I would say that to his face.
Fun fact
Felons can't own a liquor license.
He wouldn't touch me.
Fun fact
I don’t think he’s on the liquor license and he would. You have a lot of experience growing up with these types up in Bernieland?
just leave this site please.
n/t
Let's set up boxing matches for Uhub comment section
My moneys on me knocking you out fool. Straight outta Bernieland.
Nope
You'd be pleasantly surprised by how civil a community and its citizens can be when they're not desperate for money because they're driven by materialism and consumerism.
my god, man
do you always lay it on this thick? lol
I live with contentment
While only spending $2,400 a month.
Consume less, folks. Reduce your dependency on employers.
omfg
you’re a risible excuse for a human
just go away please
you’re like a caricature of a mini-man
Shiva?
Is that you?
Send an inspector every day
and find any excuse at all to close it. This guy is a menace.
I strongly urge people to
I strongly urge people to post reviews on Google & Yelp about Rabia's. The restaurant is in the North End (aka tourist country) so bad reviews should help sink it.
Cancel culture
.
Totally understand that the
Totally understand that the content of this article makes you want to avoid going to this restaurant. However, writing reviews for a place you have never been to seems disingenuous.
You cannot be serious....
Not hard to write a review in this case that simply states the documented and incontrovertible facts.
People: This guy is a threat to public safety.
You: Yeah, but, isn't stating so disingenuous if you haven't been to his health hazard?
reviewing what?
If you have comments on the restaurant after patronizing the establishment, review it. If you have concerns about the restaurant's COVID protocols, report them to the BoH. Using review platforms from your computer desk to "sink" a place is some pretty weak cancel culture BS. Even 4Chan is above the whole "personal army" concept.
So, did he really refer to
So, did he really refer to Boston's mayor as Mary, or was that a typo?
Typo
Guess I just didn't hit the T key hard enough. Fixed.
And the wind... cries...
Marty
Wah wah waaah...
Headline for this guy
DIM-I HENDRIX
I'll be on the lookout for
I'll be on the lookout for this article as the "before" in one of those "before and after" COVID obits.
STAY IN FLORIDA
We don’t want you back, you seem happy there so you should stay.
NB Let the hospitals there take care of you in ten days and don’t tax our system
Says someone who
A) isn't probably from here and B) doesn't own a small business getting crushed by government regulations.
It's the virus, stupid
It's not "government regulations" hurting the restaurant industry, it's a pandemic virus that makes it unsafe for people to eat in restaurants.
It’s also
That I make $185 a week right now...before taxes.
Restaurants aren’t exactly in the budget. Maybe Mr. Silvestri should decry how high the rent is for his prospective clientele.
I was born and raised in Roslindale
And have lived in West Roxbury for twenty years.
You are advised to sit on a doorknob and spin around on it, and I hope you get the chance to sacrifice your health for the sake of business revenue just as you demand others do.
It's a tough race to the
It's a tough race to the bottom when it comes to people who own businesses in the North End, wherever they may actually or how checkered their legal past may be, but this guy doubling-down against adhering to public health guidelines in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary of his stated position puts him if not at the top of the moron class then very close. Cosplaying as a tough guy in order to sell some soggy pasta to dopey tourists is one thing, but this clown has taken it so far that he can't back down, no matter how bad he's losing, otherwise the rest of his peers will have definitive proof as to how weak and foolish he is.
Of course you don't need a degree in psychology to figure this guy out, just knowing that his employees, poor devils all of them, have been suffering through this pandemic since March and while he's busy putting their livelihoods in jeopardy with his halfwitted behavior, he still has the time and resources to jet off down to Florida of all places to celebrate the new year at a cigar bar. Never mind being a customer, anyone unlucky enough to be associated with this guy should probably reconsider their relationship.
One can only hope he quarantine's himself before returning to work.
Wow
As an Italian American I take offense at your comment that business' in the North End are all owned by people who......lets see how did you put it? checkered legal past? Excellent slight to an entire ethnic group of people. Unbelievable. I thought you losers were supposed to be woke! Watched a few too many episodes of the Sopranos have we Jay
As a non-Italian American I
As a non-Italian American I take offense at your assumption that every business in the North End is owned by an Italian American, regardless of their legal past. As a frequent commenter on many internet boards for the past twenty five years or so, I find it highly offensive that in 2021 you wouldn’t know who owns what around here or be bothered to Google someone’s name. These things have been bounced around in prior Rabias threads so it shouldn’t be that difficult.
Hey Paisan
Italian American here as well, please get over yourself.
A perfunctory glance at the business licenses of a lot these places may enlighten you.
You'll see more than a couple places that in the public eye are owned by one person and yet they don't appear anywhere on record nor appear at hearings.
Many of these LLCs and restaurant groups are "amorphous" and true ownership can be a grey area after the place folds and creditors and the IRS come looking for their money.
Many times it's a girlfriend or random investor that gets stuck holding the bag while the others start the process over again down the street.
Job Creation
All for nothing and I know I will get bashed on here but The guy does more for the city. He employs people. Gives them opportunities to pay their bills. I’m not crazy about the food but I commend him for taking a risk and creating JOBS. Biggest social contribution you can give to someone is a job not a handout. Lot of life lessons and personal betterment from going to work everyday . He pays taxes for the city which pays a lot for city services and social services. Guess what happens when these places are not here . No more money for schools and roads. Florida and Texas will become the business friendly states . Boston is to regulated to open a business during normal times with everyone shaking you down just to get a permit or license. Regardless on how you feel politically I think everyone can agree that Boston and NYC is way overpriced and the weather is horrible . I love Boston but I don’t want this place to become a Baltimore.
“Creates” jobs
...jobs, most of which he is not required to pay minimum wage, or he can pay over-worked “salaried” managers meaning the pay per hour works out to be minimum wage or below, and who knows if he employs immigrants and young line cooks who are only allowed to show 40hrs on their time card even though they work far more.
The mythic-level veneration of the small business owner as “job creator” hero as if that alone excuses all other bad behavior, justifies disproportionate tax benefits, and enables a martyrdom complex of these people needs to stop.
I appreciate small business entrepreneurs pouring their money and resources to provide amenities to our neighborhoods and communities, and I have been here advocating direct aid to affected restaurants, but creating low-wage jobs with probably 0 benefits attached isn’t really “doing more” for the city. Silverstri is no hero.
Considering how he is flagrantly and openly violating Covid rules, why should we believe that he runs a tight ship and is following all other labor, health, tip reporting, and tax laws?
Former Barback
Yes the restaurant industry is overworked but nobody told them they had to work there. A lot of the immigrants I use to work with would tell me they would work there ass off and take that money and go home with it which is a lot of money back in their home country. A lot under table cash. The North End is a gold mine to waitress bartend. A shift always covered a Bill . There’s a lot of life values learned in the restaurant industry. I would recommend anyone to work construction or wait tables before they start their ‘’career’’. You learn to deal with people , communicate, hustle , and not take things personally. Things that are great to take if you want another career. This guy generates a lot of tax money for the city. So does the rest of the North End like his place. You loose that you loose a lot of money. Same thing in Southie Back Bay Seaport Brighton. You are loosing a lot of tax money. How are they going to get that money when those places shut down ? People won’t stay here because the state will raise it on the residents because business is destroyed and work from home will be a permanent thing. No need for the expensive workspace. Eventually no downtown workforce will put a squeeze on small businesses around it . Politicians are still making their paychecks and their family in Massport and the T are collecting their Checks. as well .
Labor creates the value, my dude
Don’t confuse my objection to Silvestri being venerated as a “job creator” as an attack on tipped restaurant workers and career restaurant professionals.
Yes, thank you Mr Silvestri for “creating” out of thin air below-minimum wage jobs, but it is the labor of the staff 7 days of week that creates the value that prompts patrons to fork over their money and affords Silvestri the opportunity to fly to Florida and party during a pandemic. It’s the servers, prep cooks, line cooks, chefs, and stewarding staff that create the only reasons to ever set foot in Rabia’s.
Also, if Silvestri is promoting under the table cash, he is a tax cheat as much as job creator.
Self-knowledge
Steve, it’s a good thing that you know that you are crazy - it’s a start - but you shouldn’t take it as a license to say just anything that comes into your head. Think it through. Since you’re crazy, much of what you think you know you don’t actually know. It may make you feel better, for a moment, to get these fevered imaginings out of your head, but in the long run saying lots of crazy things will just make you crazier.
This is why I've avoided the North End completely since COVID.
Because this guy isn't an aberration.
Sure, maybe there are a couple decent owners there but from I've read and witnessed, this seems to be the consensus.
The entire neighborhood has become an embarassment.
Would this guy be your first choice for a personal trainer?
From his Linked-In page, which lists "Fitness Professional" as one of several areas of expertise:
No specifics on how cigar smoking and going maskless helps someone to better "thier" well-being.
Right?
So busy preventing breast and colon cancer, he forgot about the lungs.
Maybe someone should share
Maybe someone should share with him that some who have recovered from COVID now suffer erectile dysfunction. For realz, do yr reesurch.
Sounds like...
Sounds like he just hates fat people, but okay.
Party in FL?
Complains about restrictions but has plenty of money to party in Florida. Have to wonder if he quarantined on either end of his flight as some states require.
The word is scofflaw. But maybe that is how some of the "family business" operates in the North End? Nothing to see here. Move along.
Marty and Charlie
Are going to be reelected using Silvestri's stupid videos. If he tests positive in the near future he will become the poster child for stupid behavior.
....
What do you have someone following him around? Relax - half the North End isn’t following protocol.
Didn't your mother raise you better?
If your friend jumped off a tall building, etc.
"But EVERYONE IS DOOOOOOOOINGGGGGG ITTTT" is never an excuse, particularly when "it" happens to be potentially fatal.
Don’t really agree with the
Don’t really agree with the delivery but there’s a fair amount of truth to what this guys saying.
Big business has massively profited during the pandemic while
Small businesses have gotten the shaft.
Basically shit for federal aid and states walking around with their dicks in their hands applying arbitrary mandates while governors and other members of the elite class go visit their families and live life as normal
Report from Florida
I was in Fort Myers and Naples from December 22 to the 27th. We went out to dinner each night and sat outside but every restaurant had plenty of people sitting inside carousing at the bar without any masks on. I never wish bad things to happen to people, but I found myself on the border of thinking that I hope they all get it.
Same in Savannah GA
We've walked by packed bars/restaurants and asked ourselves "Isn't there a pandemic going on?". Just crazy.
Florida is in a terrible state
Covid's going through them like a wire through cheese. Just look at their numbers. Appalling.
I can think of another state
that currently has even more appalling numbers per capita....
I'm sighing as I wear my mask
I'm sighing as I wear my mask and roll my eyes. He must have a super hero immune system.
Rabies on Salem St.
Got it. Most certainly won’t be on my list of post-pandemic restaurants to visit. Or visit ever.
Hope this is one off the restaurants that doesn’t make it. What a jackass.
Don’t like blue states? Then
Don’t like blue states? Then no vaccine for you. The hicks in West Virginia aren’t coming up with a vaccine any time soon.
awesome reporting Adam thank
awesome reporting Adam thank you