“It is up to [Iftikhar] to monitor his customers. He brings people to that area. It’s his responsibility to monitor them,” Scali said.

But Ifitkhar said it is not realistic to expect him to control customers once they have left the pizzeria.

“What can I do? Tell the kids outside to not shout?” he asked. “They’ll say ‘What are you talking about?’”

But a disheartened Iftikhar said he had no choice but to respect the commission’s ruling.

“We’re going to close at 2 a.m. then,” he said. “What can we do? There is no choice now, obviously. If these people can’t sleep, they can’t sleep. What can I do?”

Iftikhar said that when he bought the pizzeria nine months ago, he had assumed he was entitled to the 3 a.m. permit given to the previous owner.

He said he was also unaware of the establishment’s long-standing conflict with the city.

“People have said I should find a lawyer, but I don’t do things like that. I have never had a lawyer in my life,” he said.

Iftikhar said his primary concern is paying the bills. He said the 2 to 3 a.m. window of time accounts for $200 to $300 of his daily business.

He said although he had hoped the recently opened Tommy’s market adjacent to the pizzeria would stay open 24 hours, he now worries that he will be forced to close by 11 or 12 p.m.

Between 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. yesterday, Iftikhar said he had only sold $30 of convenience store items.

‘This is no profit. It’s money from my pocket,” Iftikhar said. “Maybe when the other [Pakistani shawls and handmade goods] come in, something will sell. I just believe in working hard.”

—Staff writer Daniela J. Lamas can be reached at lamas@fas.harvard.edu.