The Post’s Steve Cuozzo, in tip-top Cuozzo form Wednesday morning, excoriates the Bloomberg administration for allowing Tavern on the Green to languish in a state of empty decay.
In a column entitled, “Cavern on the green: Shame of famous eatery’s dark decay,” Mr. Cuozzo writes:
Nearly four months since Tavern on the Green went dark, there’s no telling when maybe new license-holder Dean Poll will reopen the landmark Central Park eatery.
The historic buildings, shorn of their crystal and brass, are rotting by the week. Meanwhile, Poll’s Boathouse Café, just north, snatches up Tavern’s exiled customers.
Isn’t this nuts? Sources say Mayor Bloomberg is fed up with the shambles, but it’s entirely of his own making. He and the Parks Department decided previous Tavern operator Jennifer LeRoy had to go, whether or not it made sense.
In February, The Observer wrote about the Tavern imbroglio:
[Wh]ile a new owner and the restaurant workers’ union negotiate a fresh agreement for the concession to reopen, Tavern on the Green sits dark. The detritus of disuse accrues, and quickly: the candy wrapper litter, the overturned patio furniture, the abandoned motorcycle behind the unlocked gates.
Nothing has apparently changed. As Mr. Cuozzo notes, “[T]here’ll be no Mother’s Day in the Crystal Room, no dancing in the beautiful garden.”
How sad.
drubinstein@observer.com
