Since the onset of the pandemic in early March, one in five local restaurants in Newton have closed, according to President of the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber Greg Reibman. Four Newton restaurants spoke at the Newton City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting to express how the City of Newton can better support its local restaurants on Oct. 4.

“We're just a very vibrant, artistic, and cultural community,” Gannon said. “It was pretty easy for me to tap into this and get people to come forward to help, and I’ll tell you they came running. It was really great to see how everyone was willing to support our community.”