When Pete O’Connell closed the Paris Cafe during the pandemic, it was already heading towards a century and a half in business at the Seaport. And as of last month, the owners of the building have taken over the business and are planning to just do the exact same thing — same name, same hours, same bat channel. (Of course, this with the new rules of operating the business in the pandemic.)

The new owner is Emilio Barletta, whose family has owned 42 Peck Slip (or 119 South) since 1980. They also own restaurants around the city, including (the now closed) Zanzibar in Midtown.

“We’ve been there for 40 years so we know it really well,” said Barletta. “We just didn’t want to shut off the premises.”

CB1’s Licensing Committee didn’t want to give them the old hours — till 4a — even though the local committee members said the predecessor was always a great neighbor. But they settled on Monday to Saturday till 2a and Sundays to 1a. The new owner was not happy, especially since Cipriani goes till 4 as does Pier 17. “Believe me I don’t want to have any problem with the tenants upstairs because they are paying rent,” said Barletta. “It’s hard to make a living.”