Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said Bruce
Lam, of Golden Light Restaurant on College Avenue, is being "singled
out" for "no good reason" after aldermen last month ruled that he must
stop serving food at midnight on weeknights and 1 a.m. on weekends.

For
26 years, after a failed try at serving lunch, Lam ignored city
regulations that called for him to close by 1 a.m. and stayed open
until 3 a.m. Golden Light menus told customers, "We stay open the
latest in town."

"I never had a hassle from the police or City
Hall" for almost three decades, Lam said last month when the city first
began to crackdown. "They were ok with it so I was ok with it."

After
directed police patrols requested by Alderman-at-Large John M. Connolly
made sure Golden Light closed on time, Lam said he lost 30 percent of
his business.

On Thursday, Gewirtz advocated for extended hours
for Golden Light, going up against other aldermen who criticized the
business. She presented a petition with signatures from 22 residents of
Ciampa Manor and said Lam was willing to pay for a police detail if
allowed to stay open until 2 a.m.

"As the Ward 6 alderman, I
believe this will be a significant benefit to the community to have a
police presence right on College Ave.," she said.

Other
aldermen, however, disagreed with Gewirtz's view and her tactics.
Alderman-at-Large Bruce Desmond said Gewirtz was "bullying her way
through the process" by advocating for Golden Light at a full board
meeting instead of the License and Permits sub-Committee.

"We're setting standards for a citywide policy," Desmond said. "We're trying to be fair and equitable across the board."

Gewirtz pointed out that Moe's BBQ Trolley is allowed to serve food until 3 a.m. on Professors Row near Tufts.

Other
aldermen who spoke on the issue were against extending the embattled
restaurant's hours. "Given [Lam's] past history, I don't think he'll
hold to the letter of the law," said Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane.

Ward
1 Alderman Bill Roche said he has never voted to allow a restaurant to
stay open past midnight and will continue to oppose such measures. "I
don't want Somerville to be known as a city that when the bars close in
Boston or Cambridge, you can shoot through here and get some Chinese
food. That's not the reputation I want for this city," he said.

Gewirtz
said she would introduce an order at the next aldermen's meeting asking
that Golden Light's hours be extended. "I don't think there's anything
wrong with people getting a bite to eat at 2 a.m.," she said.