Pittsfield Suspends Table Service, Reins in Activities as COVID Cases Surge

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has suspended all indoor dining and shifting back the Step 1 of Phase 3 in the state reopening process after a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

Since Oct. 22, there have been 169 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city. These cases have been directly attributed to large get-togethers in restaurants and large private gatherings held in residences and attended by individuals from multiple households.

"We have reached a point of crisis in our city that impacts our entire community. The number of COVID-19 cases have grown exponentially over a very short period of time," said Mayor Linda Tyer said in a statement. "Based on our current case rates and using the state's new calculations to determine risk, Pittsfield has moved into the red category, making us a high-risk community. We need to take aggressive action now to get us back on the right course and reverse this alarming trend."

On Thursday, the Pittsfield's COVID-19 Task Force identified several immediate actions to slow the spread of the virus in the city because of the number of new positive COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in Pittsfield. There are also growing levels of concern for the potential of further community spread. 

Beginning Friday, Nov. 13, the following actions will take effect:

• Today, Thursday Nov. 12, Pittsfield Board of Health issued an emergency order suspending table service at city restaurants until further notice.

• Local eateries will still be allowed to provide take-out and delivery service. Patrons should feel free to utilize the city's temporary "grab-and-go" zones for food pickup, which were installed this past spring throughout the downtown. These designated areas offer free and time limited space to allow for quick customer turnover and social distancing.

• Pittsfield Public Schools will transition to all-remote learning through Friday, Dec. 4.  Current elementary, middle, and high school schedules will be followed.

• Meals will be available tomorrow for children 18 and under. They can be picked up

Conte Community School, 200 W. Union St.
Morningside Community School, 100 Burbank St.
Allendale Elementary School, 180 Connecticut Ave.
Egremont Elementary School, 84 Egremont Ave.

For more information, visit pittsfield.net.

The Board of Health is issuing an emergency order to shift to Step 1 of Phase 3, which means reduced indoor capacity for all venues and closing of fitting rooms. 

• Indoor gatherings at private residences is 10.
• Outdoor gathering limit for private residences is 25 people.
• Indoor gatherings at event venues and other public spaces is 25.
• Now that Pittsfield is high-risk, outdoor gatherings are now reduced to 50.

For more information on sector specific guidance, visit www.mass.gov/reopening.

Municipal buildings will be closed to the general public. Community members can visit the city‘s website, www.cityofpittsfield.org, to manage their business needs.

Gender Diverse Community Members Talk Allyship at BCC Panel

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:45PM / Monday, March 31, 2025

Maayan Nuri Héd, left, Luna Celestia Mornelithe, Jackson Rodriguez and Jay Santangelo talked about their experiences and where they had found allyship and community.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Ahead of Monday's International Transgender Day of Visibility, community members shared their experiences with gender diversity during a panel discussion at Berkshire Community College.

"Really my goal, I think, ultimately in life is to make being trans such a casual thing that it isn't even a question anymore," Jackson Rodriguez, a teaching assistant, told a packed lecture hall on last Wednesday.

"It's just a way of being. I wouldn't say I've ever come out. I would always say that I'm just — I've always been me."

Hosted by the Queer Student Association, conversation topics ranged from gender and coming out to movies, drag, and safe spaces in the community. There are over 1.6 million trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people in the United States, "and they are going to continue to exist, whether you have a say in it or not," said QSA President Briana Booker.

"Trans people are not asking you to give them special treatment. They are not asking you to put away your beliefs and your ideas to fit a world for them," Booker said. "They are asking to be treated as they are: human beings, people."

Panelists included Rodriguez; artist and director of nonprofit Seeing Rainbows Maayan Nuri Héd;  Wander Berkshires founder Jay Santangelo, and artist Lunarya 'Luna' Celestia Mornelithe. When asked how they define gender, Héd said, "I don't," Mornelithe joked, "I lost mine," Santangelo explained it is fluid for them, and Rodriguez said gender is a performative thing that can be changed however a person sees fit.

Attendees had several questions about allyship, as President Donald Trump recently signed several executive orders targeting gender-diverse identities, including a declaration that the U.S. only recognizes "male" and "female" as sexes.

"Something I find myself repeating ad nauseum to people because it's really, really simple but so important and people resist doing it, is to have a conversation," Héd said. "Specifically have a conversation with a trans person."