Bryant Park Grill plans to remain open despite lease expiration while they seek litigation
Bryant Park Grill is planning to remain open despite its lease expiring.
Photo via Google Maps
The message from Bryant Park Grill is clear: they’re not going anywhere.
On May 1, Bryant Park Grill will be opening to the public, just like any other ordinary Thursday. However, the restaurant’s lease expires on April 30.
The decision to remain open comes as the restaurant and owner, Michael Weinstein, pursues litigation against the Park BID, Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), for rigging the public bidding process in favor of the Seaport Entertainment Group. According to a press release sent out by Bryant Park Grill, BPC’s Dan Bierderman “admitted BPC offered $2 million to Seaport for capital improvements and over a year of free rent – giveaways not offered to Bryant Park Grill or the other finalists.”
If approved, the release says that this move would close the restaurant for a year or long, putting the Grill’s employees out of a job. The release also asserts that should the bidding process with the Seaport Entertainment Group succeed, public money would give the Seaport a year of free rent while Bryant Park Grill remains empty; accept $1 million less in annual rent than plaintiff’s bid; and all while overlooking Seaport’s well-documented financial instability and plan to raise prices on New Yorkers.
Bryant Park Grill first opened its doors in 1995. Over the years, the restaurant has been a mainstay in New York City’s dining scene, with half of the Grill’s 250 employees have been on the team for at least a decade, while one in five has been there for 25 years.
Eater reported that last fall, Bryant Park Grill was being pushed out y BCP and hit the auction block, with Jean-Georges Restaurants being chosen out of 11 bidders, including Bryant Park Grill, to take over the space.
