Donald Trump and Tavern on the Green

Shuttered Central Park landmark Tavern on the Green may reopen under the direction of New York real estate mogul Donald Trump, who wants to turn it into “the highest-grossing restaurant on the planet,” Trump said yesterday. According to the New York Times, Trump has reached an agreement with Peter Ward, head of the union that represented the workers there, to revive the restaurant, which closed at the end of 2009 after the LeRoy family that operated it declared bankruptcy. The city had granted Central Park Boathouse operator Dean Poll the operating license, but Poll was never able to come to terms with the union. [more]

The Department of Parks and Recreation is no longer counting on a fundraising plan that would have sold off the naming rights to city-owned properties like the McCarren Park pool and the Central Park tennis center. According to the Post, the agency removed the plan from the budget last week because of a dearth of prospective bidders. “It’s not a viable idea in this economic climate,” Benepe said. “We don’t budget for what we can’t attain.”  [more]

The Frederick Douglass Circle

Might you wonder what the result of seven long years of construction and delay looks like in the Big Apple — the answer is the vastly underwhelming Frederick Douglass Circle at the northwest [more]

The Frederick Douglass Circle

Might you wonder what the result of seven long years of construction and delay looks like in the Big Apple — the answer is the vastly underwhelming Frederick Douglass Circle at the northwest [more]

Central Park’s Police Department precinct, the Gothic cottage that lies equidistant from the East and West sides at 86th Street, is getting a $50 million makeover, according to the Wall Street Journal. But because of firearms and contraband, police officials said, the restored stationhouse will be off-limits to the public once it is completed this fall.
[more]

The Mark Hotel, the Alexico Group’s high-end hotel and residences at 25 East 77th Street and Madison Avenue, has officially reopened after a $150 million renovation by interior designer Jacques Grange. Grange gave the Upper East Side property an art deco-style upgrade, complete with marble soaking tubs, Italian linens by Quagliotti and Bang Olufson audio systems. Rates for this weekend range from roughly $495 per night for a courtyard queen-sized room to $3,815 per night for the Mark’s “premier two-bedroom suite,” a 1,640-square foot room with Central Park and city views, according to the hotel’s Web site. The Mark has 118 rooms for guests and 42 co-op apartments. [Hotel Chatter]

A second-floor duplex at the Plaza Hotel Residences sold for $2,751 per
square foot, about half the price that similarly sized units were
closing for last year. The three-bedroom unit with 4,283 square feet was sold by the developer,
Elad Properties, to a company called Paradeplatz Ltd. for $11.786
million. The condo faces Central Park in the rehabilitated hotel at 768 Fifth Avenue. The purchase by Paradeplatz went into contract in September 2008 and
closed May 15, according to city property records published today. [more]