Businesses at Boston’s iconic Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market reopened to customers Wednesday as Massachusetts slowly reopens amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The food colonnade at Quincy Market, which features numerous food businesses, began serving customers and pushcart merchants and kiosks were able to do the same.
A special reopening event was scheduled for 11 a.m., featuring musical performances.
The state is in the second step of Phase 2 of the state's 4-phased reopening plan. It allows indoor dining to begin, increases capacity at offices from 25% to 50% and allows retailers to open fitting rooms, though by appointment only.
A key tourist destination, Faneuil Hall has been the source of debate, with activists calling on the city to change its name due to its ties to slavery.
Peter Faneuil was the son of French Huguenot parents who originally settled in New York, and when they died he moved to Boston to live with his uncle, Andrew Faneuil, according to the National Park Service, which oversees the city-owned building.
Peter inherited the majority of his uncle’s estate and business and became one of the richest men in the city, trading in fish, tobacco, rum, molasses — and humans. According to an inventory of his estate after his death in 1743, he owned five slaves.
