Let Them Eat Pizza!

On Oct. 25, the Cambridge License Commission turned down a request by Mian Iftikhar, the new owner of Tommy’s House of Pizza, to restore the establishment’s closing hour from 2 to 3 a.m. The decision came after a hearing in which three local residents complained of late-night noise. The closing time of Tommy’s, which was 3 a.m. prior to this spring, has long been a point of contention between nearby residents and the different owners of the pizzeria, but the commission has only now decided to permanently curtail the establishment’s hours. We believe that the commission’s decision serves as an injustice not only to Iftikhar, but also to the thousands of Harvard students whose social lives are now dictated by the bedtimes of Sorrento Square residents.

Iftikhar contends that the commission exploited the change in ownership by forcing him to accept reduced hours when he applied for a new restaurant permit. He also says that he would not have bought Tommy’s if he knew that he would be forced to close early and lose a significant portion of his revenue, a loss that may ultimately force him to sell the business. If he sells, Iftikhar will join the ranks of many small business owners who have been pushed out of the Square area in recent years. One shudders at the thought of another Harvard undergraduate mainstay closing down to be replaced by a much quieter 9-to-5 cell phone store.

The commission should make decisions encouraging small business owners to open shop in the Square, not to push them out. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to hold the pizzeria owner responsible for noise levels on the street outside his neighbors’ residences. Iftikhar might be culpable for any noise coming directly from the establishment, but it is the job of the police to maintain tranquility in public areas.

More importantly, however, the earlier closing time is a blow to the thousands of Harvard students who relied on Tommy’s as a source of late-night food and social space. Harvard students study hard and keep extremely late hours, and there are very few places for them to meet for a night-time snack after 2 a.m. The Harvard Square Defense Fund has better causes to pursue than driving Harvard out of Harvard Square.

The commission has announced that it will not review its decision unless resident Genevieve McMillan and the Harvard Square Defense Fund tell them the noise has decreased, effectively giving McMillan veto power over the decision. The Commission should take into account the interests of 6,500 students, not only the desires of a few vocal residents who knew that they were living in the middle of a college campus. Even with an earlier closing time for Tommy’s, the corner of Mt. Auburn and Plympton Street would still be a busy place. Will the residents’ next move be to call for a general student curfew at sundown?

A demand for late-night eateries on a college campus is not unreasonable. The Cambridge economy relies on the presence of its universities and their students, and the city should allow them some flexibility. When neighbors complain about such inconveniences, they forget the many benefits a university such as Harvard provides for the area—and they forget that such benefits are only available if the annoyances that accompany them are accepted, too.