A waiter carries a tray of cappuccino and cannoli to customers lounging at a sidewalk café table. Over his shoulder, pedestrians stroll leisurely through an open Hanover Street, without a care in the world.

At least that is what the North End’s Hanover Street would look like if Boston City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina (East Boston, Charlestown) has his way.

Currently, Hanover Street is often packed with honking cars and is lined with shops beside sidewalks jammed with people. From the oppressive heat of summer to the chilling cold of winter, this North End street is a hectic haven for tourists, residents and Italian food lovers alike.

Council newcomer LaMattina has a vision — turning one of the neighborhood’s busiest streets into a quiet sanctuary — but it is being met at every step with fierce resistance, despite the support of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

“[Menino] thinks both local business owners and visitors to the city would benefit from the street being closed to cars,” said Menino’s press assistant Jennifer Mehigan.

However, the proposal calls for roping off a section of Hanover Street between Prince and Cross streets, and turning it into a pedestrian mall — or piazza — like those seen in Italian cities.

“Everyone has an opinion,” LaMattina said. “But when you talk about Hanover Street everyone agrees it’s a problem area,” adding that his vision is, for now, just an idea.

LaMattina said he thought the piazza would probably enhance business on the street, since people walking might be more likely to stop.

“I want to say that 99 percent of tourists that come to Boston come to the North End,” LaMattina said. “You ask ‘Where is a good place to eat?’ It’s the first thing you say.”

He added the idea is not about bringing more business to the area, but enhancing safety in the crowded neighborhood, saying “I don’t want it to be a circus — we have enough businesses there already, I wouldn’t want to bring in vendors.”

LaMattina acknowledged the negative reaction his proposal has elicited from his constituents, but reiterated that it was only proposed that the street be closed off for a few days, only for certain hours, and that he is not advocating it be closed for good.

Frank De Pasquale, president of the North End Chamber of Commerce, said he does not think the plan will work.

“First of all I think Hanover Street needs something different,” De Pasquale said. “I think if you are going to turn it into a piazza there are going to be a lot of issues. Where are residents going to park? Where are people who come into the North End going to park and how are they going to get to the restaurants?

“It’s a great idea,” he added. “But it’s just logistics.”

De Pasquale, who owns five businesses in the North End, added that business would suffer if the street were blocked off.

“We suffered for years from the Big Dig,” De Pasquale said. “We’re just starting to get our business back.”

De Pasquale added that blocking off the street might allow outside vendors to encroach on Hanover’s businesses.

“If vendors come in, and they are selling their products the coffee-shops and restaurants aren’t going to be selling theirs,” De Pasquale said.

Bill Lee, president of the North End Waterfront Resident’s Association, said he does not like the proposal because he thinks it will only attract more people to the neighborhood and “we don’t need more people.”

He added that closing down Hanover Street would cause a domino effect with other one-way streets in the area.

“I live on Hanover,” Lee said. “There is a problem with congestion. I see it when I go out my door, I hear it through my window.”

“If you want to stop congestion, it’s very simple — get a couple policemen out there and stop people from double-parking,” he continued, adding that businesses like the double-parking because it is good for business.

A supporter of the plan, Guild Nichols, a North End resident of 20 years and founder of the website NorthEndBoston.com, said the idea could work because the neighborhood already has experience with streets being blocked off for pedestrians, as it is for Saint Anthony’s Feast.

“Personally I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Nichols said. “It’s terrible to have to walk down the street because the sidewalks are so congested on Friday and Saturday night.”

Nichols said that despite objections from merchants, residents and even the fire department, the plan was worth trying nevertheless.

“They aren’t talking about closing it forever,” he said, “It’s just a few days. I think trying an experiment is fine.”