Tavern on the Green Closing were the sad headlines I faced today after Christmas shopping. Christmas in New York means horse and buggy rides, Macy’s, roasted chestnuts and Tavern on the Green…closing.
Tavern on the Green is a famous restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of New York City. Tavern on the Green closing is truly the end of an era. Tavern on the Green closing is also a commentary on the financial picture for everyone in New York. People just can’t afford the lifestyle anymore.
Before Tavern on the Green closing was announced, the restaurant earned $38 million from over 500,000 visitors in 2007. That made Tavern on the Green the second highest grossing independently owned restaurant in the United States.
Tavern on the Green closing means the last seating will occur on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2009. It will the final time anyone will sit in the world famous Crystal Room near the windows overlooking the gardens in Central Park.
With Tavern on the Green closing, they will auction off its beautiful interior decorations and close their doors because of bankruptcy. Tavern on the Green closing made me want to cry as I remembered all the childhood Christmas days spent in New York City.
Once a sheepfold for sheep grazing Sheep Meadow, former NY Commissioner of Parks Robert Moses renovated the park and added the restaurant in 1934. Where I grew up on Long Island, everything was named after Robert Moses.
In 1974, Warner LeRoy took over the lease for Tavern on the Green, did $10 million in renovations and reopened the restaurant in 1976. When he died in 2001, his daughter Jennifer Oz LeRoy took over management of Tavern on the Green.
John Lennon was a neighbor to Warner LeRoy. Lennon’s son Sean played with LeRoy’s son Max. John and Sean celebrated many birthdays at Tavern on the Green in the 1970s. As a memorial to John Lennon, Strawberry Fields is located in Central Park just walking distance away from Tavern on the Green.
Several events lead to Tavern on the Green closing. When daughter Jennifer took over operations, she was inexperienced. In June, 2008, Tavern on the Green paid $2.2 million to settle a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit due do Equal Employment Opportunity Claims of “pervasive harassment” of minority employees and women.
The final event that lead to Tavern on the Green closing was the announcement on by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on August 28, 2009. They declined to renew the restaurant’s license. It was granted to Dean Poll, operator of the Central Park Boathouse. LeRoy management is required to cease operations and remove furniture from the location before January 1, 2010.
Jennifer LeRoy also took over the Russian Tea Room after her father’s death. Crain’s New York Business reports just 17 months after she took over the Russian Tea Room, it was closed. Now that Tavern on the Green is closing everyone is speculating about its management. I also believe Tavern on the Green closing is a reflection of today’s hard financial times.
Wikipedia reports Tavern on the Green is the finish line for the New York Marathon. Tavern on the Green was featured in several movies including Ghostbusters, Only When I Laugh, Edward Scissorhands and Wall Street.
Tavern on the Green closing makes me sad as I watch all the changes in New York City since 911. It seems the only constant in New York these days is change…
With Tavern on the Green closing in mind, here is a song mentioning the famous restaurant. Enjoy this YouTube video link of Nice & Smooth’s “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow” (listen for “I go to Tavern on the Green and have a glass of wine…” ah, the good old days…) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDk0g7IfJo
Reference:
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavern_on_the_green
- www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091213/SMALLBIZ/312139989
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDk0g7IfJo
