Bryant Park Grill Squats in Midtown Restaurant; Jean-Georges Waits to Open Restaurant | Eater NY
"With its long-term lease officially up and a signed deal in place for a high-profile replacement from Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s group, the 1,000-seat glass-enclosed restaurant with two outdoor cafes and a huge seasonal rooftop is nevertheless remaining open while litigation proceeds. An employee told Eater: “We are here for the indefinite future. There’s no end date right now. It’s tied up in courts but we’re here for now, operating as normal.” Resy still shows availability for bookings and a Mother’s Day menu for Sunday, May 11 appears on its site. The restaurant sent out a press release that pulls no punches: “Initial court proceedings have revealed the rigged selection process orchestrated by BPC’s Dan Biederman that if approved would: Close restaurant for a year or longer — putting 250 New Yorkers out of a job; use public money to give Seaport a year of free rent while space sits empty; accept $1 million less in annual rent than plaintiff’s bid; and all while overlooking Seaport’swell-documented financial instabilityand plan to raise prices on New Yorkers,” it reads. The release also asserts that nonprofit landlord Bryant Park Corp. has allegedly offered $2 million to Seaport for capital improvements and over a year of free rent — giveaways not offered to the incumbent or the other finalists. The nearly 30-year-old, Parisian-styled standby next to the New York Public Library opened in 1995 and is operated by Ark Restaurants, a publicly traded hospitality group behind oyster bars in Alabama, burger places in Las Vegas, and seafood spots in Florida; Ark says the spot employs about 250 people and is allegedly one of the nation’s highest-grossing restaurants with $25 million in annual revenue. Owner Michael Weinstein sued the park, Seaport Entertainment Group (Vongerichten’s management company), and other affiliated entities in state Supreme Court, claiming the selection process was “flawed.” A separate request by the operator for an injunction to block an eviction was denied last week, giving the landlord runway; as Dan Biederman put it in an email, “Bryant Park Corporation intends to abide by the court decision issued last week and will exercise its rights at the conclusion of the current operator’s lease.” Biederman had previously told a community board that the restaurant had “gotten a little tired” and that “this is a business decision.” Park leadership projects a new, chef-led replacement could generate up to $40 million in sales, a figure presented as increased revenue for the park." - Tierney Plumb
