The Story of Tavern on the Green | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's even. here too so this is a real deal episode. of stuff you should know let's go that's. right another New York a dish yeah we're. putting them out every week now it's. been a while no I has we just did Studio.

54 a few weeks back oh yeah that's. pretty New York no I mean it's super New. York by the way I went to I sent you. pictures but I went by Studio 54 I know. I saw that it was kind of cool they. still have the the doors that say Studio. 54 they left a few iconic bits I was on. that sidewalk in front of it trying to. imagine people having sex on the. sidewalk and I got really grossed out. could oh you could Envision it oh yeah.

go you should I should have picked out a. hotter couple maybe in my mind but yeah. didn't do it no you got Dan akro as a. wild and crazy guy I saw that movie too. when I was there by the way what movie. The Saturday Night Live movie about the. the first episode of Saturday Night Live. so you saw your in your most recent New. York trip you saw there's a movie out is. what you're saying about Saturday Night. Live yeah it's Jason wrightman's new.

movie It's called Saturday night oh well. good for him I like most of his stuff. yeah if you're a fan of SNL the movie is. good enough I think did they portray. Chevy Chase like my dad taught me to. think of him the guy who played Chevy. Chase was great okay yeah was it Chevy. Chase uh Chevy Chase Jr oh God Junior. it's like when Ice Cube got his son to. play him and like cuz he looks just like. him it was pretty perfect kid did really.

well until the hospital scene where e. e's dying up until that moment I was. like this kid's pretty good for a. amateur yeah and even after that too. it's just like one brief moment and it. can be forgiven yeah I mean how do you. think you would do an Easy E death scene. huh Mr big shot I would uh i' I'd be. pretty over the top I think easy yeah. pounding on the walls and. sobbing uh yeah we were both just.

decided at the same time it's time to. get on with the episode huh yeah enough. of that so Chuck we're talking about. Tavern on the Green and I know for a. fact that we're talking about Tavern on. the Green because you recently dined at. Tavern on the Green and after reading. all of this stuff I actually am um I'm. curious to know what you thought of it. because I'm curious that's why let's. just leave it at that well have you been. did I ask you that you didn't and no so. no to both of those okay.

um uh how about this I'll save my review. of The Experience till the end I think. that's a great plan just to tantalize. listeners so let's go well we'll tell. everybody if you're not familiar with t. on the green it's a legendary restaurant. um in part because of its location it's. in one of the better restaurant. locations in the United States it's on. Central Park it's actually part of. Central Park so much so that the city's. parks department actually owns the. restaurant they just leave it out to.

different operators who want to try. their hand at making it like the premier. dining establishment in Manhattan and at. multiple times it has been exactly that. but what a lot of people don't know. especially if you're not familiar with. the restaurant is that it actually. started out as a sheep enclosure sheep. used to sleep in Tavern on the Green. yeah you know I think that the fact that. it's owned by the parks department is. the fact of the episode I had no idea. until. yesterday uh okay yeah it's it's.

definitely up there for sure in this one. uh yeah but uh sheep fold is a sheep. enclosure and for the first 60 years or. so that's what tabern on the green was. like you said uh just as a sort of a. quick recap if you want to listen to our. Central Park episode about the history. of Central Park it's well worth a listen. uh but when Frederick Law Olstead and. Calbert vo designed Central Park they. won a contest in 1858 uh design contest.

for their greensword plan part of the. plan uh called for a parade ground and a. and a very big playground right at 66th. Street on the west side of the Park yeah. and um the thing took so long to build. um I think they they were awarded the. contract for their plan in. 1858 um and by 1870 they were still. building this and they were like parade. grounds are so 1850s we don't want one.

of those anymore yeah we're going to go. we're going to turn it into a sheep. motto instead because apparently sheep. were all the rage at the time uh and I. think that actually goes to to show even. by the. 1870s New York was so urbanized that. people yearned for a kind of a pastoral. setting so much so that they made a. sheep Meadow with sheep in the middle of. Manhattan in Central Park so that people. could come you know take in the Sheep. yeah it well not take them into the.

visually. yeah uh we talked a lot about boss tweet. obviously anytime we're talking about. this period this era of New York uh Boss. twed Tweed ran the city and his cronies. uh got involved with the Central Park. planning board and said all right we're. going to do some upgrades $6 Million. worth in fact which is a ton of money. back then and today um but one of the. new additions was a really fancy sheep.

fold at 67th in Central Park West um. that was really beautiful it was. designed by Jacob Ray mold one of the. guys who uh designed a lot of the um the. actual buildings there in Central Park. of which there are not a ton of but they. all have a a distinct sort of um they. they're all sort of like Made of Stone. and they all are really kind of classy. and old school looking Neo Gothic yeah. Neo Gothic he was really into that. Gothic Revival stuff so.

uh M designed this beautiful sheep fold. and people would like you said they. would come it was almost like a like an. interactive little Museum they could. come and uh look at the Sheep they could. come and uh touch different um varieties. of wool they would Shear those sheep and. sell that wool in a big event every year. and it was like a like you said it was. like Hey you tired of the city and go. watch those beautiful Dorset sheep and. touch their their said fur their wool.

right good catch uh yeah New York loves. its unofficial mascots it loves adopting. mascots and I get the impression that. that flock of sheep was one of them at. the time so they lived there from the. 1870s up until. 1934 um and they were moved to uh. Prospect Park in Brooklyn I read. somewhere that one of the rumors about. that move was that um Hooverville a a.

basically a tenement camp that was set. up by people during the Depression to. survive in they were worried that they. were going to start poaching sheep so. they moved them from Central Park to. Prospect Park to protect the Sheep I. believe that but there's a couple of. things about that um that sheep. enclosure that became Tavern on the. Green um one of the things was that the. Central Park Zoo sometimes they would. have extra animals I guess more than. they could care for so they would put. them in the Sheep enclosure temporarily.

until they could find someone to to sell. it to and at one point there was a puma. in there with the sheep and I'm quite. sure the Sheep did not like that at all. yeah that probably wasn't a good move uh. they did enjoy their home cuz this thing. in 1871 cost $70,000 to build yeah uh. and like I said it was it was a. beautiful building they had these. Pavilions built for people to sit in to. watch and these Pavilions had these. bucolic uh pastoral murals and it was. just a lovely little scene there uh they.

even had of course a Shepherd uh the. last one to work there worked there for. the the final two decades until 1934 his. name was Frank hoey and he watched over. the herd and lived there and in 1934. that's like you said when everything. changed when Parks commissioner Robert. Moses very famous New York figure uh. said you know what this Sheepfold should. be a. restaurant yeah and should be um is a. weird way to put it because when he.

announced it they'd already started. construction on converting it yeah to a. restaurant that was a a like a tried and. true Robert Moses trick where um he's. he's well known by the way as. overdeveloping and Paving um New York. City often through vital neighborhoods. yeah um but that was just that was. standard Robert Moses stuff like well. well we've already started if you don't. like the idea sorry we've already. started and spent money on it what are. we going to do now yeah his I think his. uh big slogan was by the.

way exactly did I mention yeah did I. mention so this was uh I think in. February 1934 um the announcement came. out the New York Times read Sheepfold. and park to become Tavern CWA workers. converting old building into a. picturesque popular restaurant prices to. be. moderate yeah uh and then they also said. the remodel building will be known in. the future as Tavern on the Green. and um you know uh within the average uh.

Within Reach of the average purse was. sort of the uh the working not slogan. but just you know they wanted to make it. affordable um it wouldn't turn out you. know it would end up being I guess for. the time a pretty expensive restaurant I. think once it hit the 60s and 70s but. we'll get there um now it's you know. it's a it's a New York restaurant so. it's not cheap but it's not like some. super super expensive place yeah I was. surprised to see that um I read a 2014.

restaurant review when it opened up. again in its current Incarnation and. they were talking about like $30 main. dishes that is not bad find that in any. City yeah exactly I was yeah surprised. to hear that but I found an old menu. from maybe the 50s they were selling. martinis for like 85 cents not on sale. this was not a happy hour price this was. their regular menu yeah yeah I know can.

you imagine how much trouble we would. get into yeah exactly it's just get the. change purse out and live your life yes. so um one part of the announcement then. said this uh the park department will. not undertake the management of the. restaurant but will let it as in leas it. to an outside concession Aire by public. bidding and uh that that started sort of. a very unusual Arrangement where in New. York City we' be the landlord of Tavern. on the green and people would you know.

bid for the contracts uh and not only. bid for the contracts but uh pay a. pretty hefty licensing fee to do so yeah. that's a big one too um they would pay. an incense like myrrh and gold coin as. tribute to the. city um didn't believe that one good so. they seem to the city of New York also. seems to have gotten some free labor out. of the deal from the federal government. because the Civil Works Administration. which was a federal agency during the.

Depression that put out of work. Americans to work uh and like revamping. infrastructure you know all the stuff we. do today um they actually converted the. sheep fold to um The Tavern on the Green. they paved the the place where the sheep. used to eat with flagstones so it was. converted to an outdoor dining area you. could also dance there people wouldn't. look at you weird if you did um and. because it seems to have been an outdoor. dining venue only in its first.

incarnation in the 30s it was um I Dave. helped us with this and he tried to do. some digging and I think he's right um. that it was uh open only during the. summer because it was too cold to eat. outside in the winter in New York yeah. and they called it Tavern on the Green. because New York had a rich tradition of. taverns uh in in their past in the 1700s. they had more taverns per capita than. any city in the world and something else. called pleasure Gardens were popular in.

the 18th century um where you could you. know have a drink and do some dancing in. a very uh pastoral park- like setting. and so Tavern on the Green was kind of a. throwback to like hey you know a. throwback to the to the days of the 18th. century yeah and um I read a little more. on it I think on curbed. or I think it was curbed where they were. talking about how those taverns were. those pleasure Gardens often sprouted. from taverns so taverns played a really. big role on creating Green Space even as.

far back as the 18th century like that's. how much New York was starving for green. space that you you would have to like. hang out at a Tavern to do it so I. thought that was pretty cool as a a nod. to that tradition well their paved space. was covered in horse. crap so I imagine Green Space was a nice. respit right yeah and if you brought a. horse to the tavern people would get. really mad oh man can you imagine you. want to take a break yeah that's a great.

setup uh and then we'll pick back up in. the 1930s right after this. [Applause]. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music].

learning stuff with Joshua and. Char stuff you should. [Music]. know so the whole thing started in the. 30s when they converted the sheep fold. into the Tavern on the Green um and uh. it was eventually like it it didn't last. for very long as a a Tavern or maybe. this was during the winter truck um it. was taken over by the headquarters of. the city Patrol cpss during during the'. 40s um during World War II a lot of the.

police officers around America went off. to war they still need police back in. America so um they got volunteers. actually from the people who were still. in the country um and apparently they. made their headquarters at Tavern on the. Green uh and then in. 1943 things really started to swing I. think it was kind of a an unusual. peculiar place up until this point in.

1943 it like really starts to become. Tavern on the Green as we understand it. today yeah cuz you know New York grew. from the south upward uh and this was. way up at 66 67th Street so yeah it. might have taken a while for that to. become uh legitimized but yeah 43 is. when it really kind of started the uh I. was about to say non-stop operation as. restaurant but as we'll see that would. be interrupted later on as well but it's. at this point that it became round open.

uh dancing dining cocktailing drinking. three shots of Jin for 85 cents I guess. MH uh and it was doing pretty good you. know it was one of the most popular. restaurants in the 1950s uh they. expanded it from 10,000 square ft to. more than double to. 21,000 uh including uh the very famous. Elm Tree Room uh which you know they. built around one of the famous live Elm. trees and includ including the indoor. and outdoor space they had they could.

see more than uh or up to 1200 guests. wow that's a lot of people a lot of. folks uh I looked all over for a picture. of that elm tree room with the elm tree. there's a real dir of like vintage. photos of Tavern on the Green you think. they'd be all over the internet but. they're not yeah and I'm sure you ran. into what I did which is tons of. articles about that other Elm right next. to the outdoor dining that was recently. cut down I didn't see that no they cut. down an elm tree huh yeah it was a 16y.

old Elm and I think that it was like. this Summer that had uh some kind of. blight and that you know Unfortunately. they had to take it down but that was. not I don't think the elm from the elm. tree room okay okay good pretty sure so. by 1950 um The Tavern on the Green was. enough on the map as far as like. um like nightlife in the United States. went like PE like popular culture was. well enough aware of Tavern on the green. that they were able to sell a live album.

um called dancing at the Tavern on the. Green to Milt Saunders and his orchestra. love it and if you see the did you see. the cover of that thing yeah oh man it. is just they might as well have just. stamped the the numbers 1950 on the. cover and left it at that it's pretty. great but that was like that they sold. that record because people out who. couldn't make a Tavern on the Green. would want to buy that and impress their. friends yeah totally uh this is where. they first started wrapping the the. trees with those white lights which is.

one of the sort of signature Tavern on. the Green things yeah I saw they're up. to 10 miles of Lights now yeah I mean I. will say this spoiler alert for my. ultimate review it is a very beautiful. place to dine yeah I believe that still. um in 56 a very interesting uh thing. happened in its history when Robert. Moses found himself uh up against some. Manhattan mommies uh when he said hey. I'm going to I need a bigger parking lot. so I'm going to use this Halfacre over.

here that uh sure there are a lot of. kids that like playing over there but we. need some parking and the moms took it. very seriously and they got their kids. and formed a human barricade to block. bulldozers got in a real fight with. Moses uh he built a fence to try and. keep them out the mom's got an. injunction and uncharacteristically. Moses backed down and abandoned that and. set aside $50,000 for a new playground. that's still there today yeah the West. 67th Street Adventure Playground which.

if you see like vintage photos of it. from the. 60s there were like Mounds Made of Stone. that like I could just see a kid. slipping on and cracking his head open. with like they looked really dangerous. but I think they've kind of converted. them into something a little more safe. today but yeah it's really neat that the. tradition of playgrounds that generation. after generation of kids had played on. totally so um the first NOtaBLE. restaurant tour that took over I think.

the first restaurant tours that took. over was in the 40s and they owned the. Claremont inn and it was a super stuffy. um well-healed dining place on the. Hudson they're the first notable ones. but the first actual restaurant tour who. people had already heard of um his name. was Joe balm and this is in the 60s that. he took over the lease of Tavern on the. Green and um he was known as the CLE be. de Mill of restaurant tours which was. really saying something in the 60s yeah. and for good reason uh he ran not only.

tabern on the green but the windows of. the world uh at top the World Trade. Center eventually uh the Rainbow Room. the world famous rainbow room and the. Four Seasons which at the time when this. dude when Joe bound was running these. they were the four highest gring. restaurants in Manhattan and they were. all his yeah it's remarkable yeah I mean. that's a that's a cesil b de Mill type. yeah and if you don't know who that is. look him up right yeah so he did a a. really good job of putting it on the map.

and like we said you know by 1950 it was. already you know part of popular culture. but I think this guy really turned it. into something genuinely special for the. first time but I think most people who. know about the history of Tavern on the. Green would agree that it didn't really. become um like a gym of a restaurant um. Beed even uh until Warner Leroy came. along in I think 1974. yeah and he came along at a good time.

because the uh through the 60s and 70s. it was doing okay but it started to feel. a little bit dated and then by the time. the 70s rolled around Central Park had. become uh I don't know like how. legitimately dangerous it was but it it. became dangerous enough to where it was. sort of part of the national uh. punchline as far as like yeah go to. Central Park if you want to get mugged. right uh that kind of thing and so you. know the the restaurant fell on harder. times and uh Joe Bal was calling it The.

Tavern in the red and in 1974 like he. said uh Warner Leroy took over he's a. former theater director and this guy had. a um to say he had a flare sort of. understating things uh he ran a bar for. a while called Maxwell's Plum oh my God. have you seen pictures of that God just. gorgeous restaurant just Heaven maybe. over the top but I don't know about Gody. or not I mean I think it looks like an. amazing place to have a have a martini.

but uh it did get some like bad reviews. for just how sort of uh kaleidoscopic. and Gody it was did you see the picture. of the actual bar bar oh yeah oh my god. dude it looked just amazing but also the. dining room it was just cool too like. they had low ceilings with Tiffany um. lit Tiffany plated glass hanging down or. covering them it's just amazing yeah. yeah I loved Maxwell's Plum I would have. loved it too um it turns out also Carrie. Grant Warren batty Barbara strian they.

all loved Maxwell Plum all the best. people yeah um and one of the things. that um that Warner Leroy was known for. that he made his name for at Maxwell's. Plum was having a really eclectic menu. that was also not um uh uh exclusionary. he wanted to make sure that basically. anybody could come and like enjoy a meal. at his place and you he also didn't have. a dress code either that was a big one.

too he wanted you to just feel. comfortable uh so he had on Maxwell. Plum's um menu everything from Iranian. caviar to uh hamburgers I believe yeah. there there's a place in. Atlanta God what is the name of it I. haven't been there but the theme of the. restaurant is that it's got like five or. six different distinct Cuisines H and. that's like what it's known for and it's. even in the name of the restaurant I. can't remember what it's called. oh six Cuisines over on West Peach.

Street that's a good one thanks you got. me uh I can't remember anyway I'll look. it up and let you know yeah please do. let me know uh but uh you're right so. Maxwell's Plum was was kind of a wacky. place he took over Tavern on the Green. and he brought that same kind of. flashiness there uh his he had a quote. where he said a restaurant is a fantasy. kind of living theater in which diners. are the most important members of the. cast it's one of the few Creations that. appeal to all of the senses and one with.

which I can create my own world so he. spent 10 million bucks on a restaurant. he doesn't own right uh renovating this. thing uh to you know in his own sort of. flashy style so did you see that New. Yorker review that I sent you yeah did. you see them describing what they what. they did on opening Day in 1976 yeah so. I say take it man uh well I don't have. it in front of me can you take it sure. so they had the world's largest sunde.

7250 lb of Neapolitan ice cream there. was a 9 L bottle of champagne that had. been flown over from France it had its. own first class seat on Air France and. then there was a 16t model of Central. Park as a cake this is what Warner Leroy. did yeah um he I also saw that he was. known for wearing tafida suits or sequin. suits so yeah he was flashy to the to. the nines he was also the son of the. legendary. producer of The Wizard of Oz mvin Leroy.

which explains Warner lery's daughter's. name oh it's it. Dorothy no that'd be great no her name. was Jennifer Oz ly oh right okay yeah. that's called family tradition right. there I really thought it would be. Dorothy it it kind of should have been. Dorothy red shoes Leroy or uh what's the. what's the Witch and uh Wicked I don't. know um uh we went and saw Wicked what. eaba eua eaba I don't know I don't.

that's what Emily went as for Halloween. anyway uh the green witch from Wicked. that would have been a good name too. that's the Wicked Witch of the West I. think yeah but she had a name um. chandeliers were brought in he brought. in 15 chefs from. France uh he brought these chandeliers. in uh straight from India and then built. the very famous some may say Infamous. Crystal room which was a very sort of.

over-the-top uh room full of crystals it. was you know made of glass that was the. uh the building if you've seen the very. first Ghostbusters when Rick Moranis. yeah uh runs up and bangs on the window. before getting attacked uh that is the. Crystal room and that's the part that I. couldn't figure out like the room I ate. in was all glass as well and I think it. was just a re uh sort of a different. version of what that was exactly yes. they completely altered it for sure it. wasn't like it was in the 80s where it.

was like in its Heyday um it was also in. other movies Arthur uh one of my. favorites it was in beaches uh the scene. where they um win that dance contest. against the gangsters that are chasing. them yeah ton of movies yeah it it's. it's really a well-known um uh dining. room uh but yeah it's not there anymore. and the one of the reasons why is. because over the years Warner Leroy's. taste started to kind of seem a little. tacky yeah uh so yeah but I think now if.

they had just preserved it people I. think more people would flock to it just. because of the Vintage thing you know. well now they would cuz yeah that kind. of campy kitschy thing is uh appreciated. but at the time not everyone appreciated. it um semi-recently I I guess when it. reopened they kind of look back and a. guy named Pete Wells a former restaurant. critic for the New York Times um. described that original crystal room as. a wedding cake Palace as imagined by a.

six-year-old princess with a high. fever that is great man if you want to. read great turns of phrase just read. restaurant reviews they are so cruel but. in the funniest ways and that that whole. that whole uh review from 2014 is just. hilarious but also like you just feel. bad at the same time for laughing at it. yeah totally so um under Warner Leroy's. uh. like this is when Tavern on the Green.

became like the place where Patrick. baitman would want like a seat and. apparently the managers made pretty good. money on the side accepting bribes yeah. to to seat people in the Crystal room it. was like the place to be um and in in. not just the 80s but also through the. 90s too so the whole place was riding. high as a matter of fact I think in the. 9s it was the highest grossing. Independent Restaurant in the United. States Tavern on the Green was yeah they.

had revenues uh annually of more than 40. million bucks uh seating more than. 600,000 diners a year MH uh which is a. staggering number of people um he got a. pretty good deal uh it was one of these. things where when he came in uh the. Central Park was kind of dangerous and. like I said the restaurant was on hard. times so he was really in the driver. seat as far as sort of saying like hey. give me a pretty good deal uh mayor. edcot MH and he was pretty desperate uh.

the mayor was and the city was so they. uh let him build that Crystal uh Crystal. room without a you know getting the. necessary permit which was apparently. pretty expensive and they said you only. have to pay 1.2 million for the license. fee which apparently is a lot cheaper. than the arrangement he had with Bal. yeah and also apparently the Crystal. room expansion was illegal under. Municipal codes and they did they look. the other way without with them not. getting a a permit to build it yeah like.

they really were sinking a lot of um. faith into Tavern on the Green bringing. in a lot of revenue for the city not. just through the licensing fees but you. know people traveling to New York in. part to go dying at Tavern on the Green. that was like the the way that it was. viewed yeah should we take another break. yeah all right we'll take another break. and we'll come back and continue through. the 80s and ' 90s right after this. [Applause]. [Music].

[Applause]. [Music]. Lear stuff with Joshua and. Charles stuff you should know. [Music]. so another uh fact of Tavern on the.

Green at the time was that looy um had a. staff that was not unionized so he paid. pretty low wages uh for a long long time. um it took a walk out in 1989 over that. low pay uh for the workers to finally. get with the Union the New York hotel. and motel's trade Council uh but they. were rolling and at the time so they. could afford those wages uh and they. were doing pretty well until 2001 uh. first of all Warner Leroy died very.

sadly in February of that year then 911. happened which put a dent on New York. City as a whole yeah uh and that's when. Jennifer Oz Leroy uh Oz Dorothy um green. witch looy had had taken over uh but it. just it just wasn't happening they just. could not recapture that magic uh the. restaurant was never very well reviewed. for the food and it was starting to kind. of matter um because people weren't.

going just for the experience and food. was a just a much bigger deal and there. were plenty of great restaurants by then. so the the restaurant just kind of fell. off uh by the mid 2000s I um I saw on. Town and Country magazine the go-to. source for facts about New York. nightlife yeah um they said that uh that. the New York Times reviewed over like 23. years or something like that the New. York Times reviewed Tavern on the Green. five times never got more than one out. of four stars that's mean like that.

sounds like a vendetta almost you know I. do think it was had a bit of a bullseye. on it I'm not saying like the food was. ever like great and it was just really. unfairly reviewed but um I I do think it. was definitely a restaurant. that critics wanted to kind of poke a. hole in yeah it's just mean yeah I know. so uh I think in 2009 there was a. lawsuit in 2008 um against uh the. management um for sexual and racial.

harassment of female Black and Hispanic. employees it's not a good look for your. restaurant and then the next year the. parks department said we're kind of done. with the looy family I think you guys. have run your course and they decided. not to renew their 20-year license with. the family and so they announced that. they would be taking bids and probably. assume that this was going to be the. revamping regeneration uh Rev. vitalization of Tavern on the Green and.

it turns out that no one would go near. it they were like I don't know man that. place has a pretty bad reputation and. it's going to cost a lot to bring it. back to its glory and it sat unused for. five years I think yeah from 2010 to. 2014 it was five years not a restaurant. and uh and like you said it was just um. it was a big risk because it was a big. expensive undertaking it had never had a. great reputation I think it was always.

the target of critics um and so no one. would no one would go in uh I think they. they tried a couple of times there was a. guy named Dean pole who uh ran the. Central Park boat house restaurant he. tried to negotiate a good deal with the. tradeing Union couldn't do it for six. months so he backed out other biders. were scared away um and so while it was. vacant Mayor Bloomberg said well let's. make it a uh a gift shop uh so it was an. information Shiner and uh Center and. tourist shop and uh you know there were.

a lot of people they're like God just. this once you know sort of at least um. great uh I don't know if a great. restaurant but great New York City. Landmark has now been turned into a. chachki shop where some of the. complaints so finally in 2012 uh the. city said all right Philly step in uh we. love you down there New York City Light. what have you got for us and Jim KO ol. and David Salama from Philly got the bid.

to reopen The Tavern uh by investing $10. million yeah to sort of get rid of ly's. uh flashy thing and say let's make let's. take it back to the old school 19th. century Tavern look yeah and they really. did the actual like bar Tavern area they. did a great job with apparently they. brought in architects who were um good. with discovering the actual historic. part of any structure and they did that. they um stripped it down to its. Cathedral beams the original ones in the.

ceiling so I'll bet that looked pretty. cool it does um the bar was like studded. with like brass um nail heads is that. correct uh yep I saw brass nail heads. it's just like in the original stone. fireplace the original copper gutters. like they were all like just like they. were just brought to the four and so the. tavern Vibe of the tavern itself from. what I read they just nailed it. it was the Crystal room revamp that I i'.

I saw the most criticized um oh really I. don't remember who said it it might have. been Pete Wells who said that it. resembles an all day casual dining. option at a familyfriendly resort in. Florida uh disagree okay well you're. disagreeing with Pete Wells not me I'm. just reading a quote I found py no I. know it it is it's that is py cuz cuz. that room it is a it is a glass room. with uh that that looks out onto the the.

courtyard with those lights it's a it's. a wonderful uh room to dine in gotcha I. maybe it was because the serving staff. has to wear Bermuda shorts and golf. shirts tucked in yeah the flamingo kid. yeah that bar area is gorgeous though um. the the two guys from Philly uh Kola and. Salama um were um some say cronies the. the city sweeten the deal a bit um they. uh Bloomberg put a lot of pressure on. the trade unions to give them um a.

2-year break from having to sign a labor. contract and to defer that licensing fee. for five years which is a lot of money. uh and it turns out that uh kola's. sister was uh married to and I think. still is to a guy named Kevin Shiki who. was Bloomberg's former deputy mayor and. an executive at Bloomberg software. company but he was like that's that's. all just coincidence right yeah I mean. that's a couple of coincidences layered. on top of each other yeah that's New.

York for you so one of the big the one. of the big Parts about the reopening in. 2014 which New York was excited about I. mean this was an icon that had been shut. down and no one was sure when or if it. was going to come back um one of the. things they did was they went through. and took all of those amazing. decorations that um Warner Leroy had. installed and they auctioned them off. like you could get silverware um dinner. wear you get some of the original copper.

weather veins they auctioned off for. some reason um those chandeliers uh from. the Indian Maharaja you could buy those. too it sounded like it was a heck of a. an auction and they actually held it in. the Crystal room wow yeah I would have. lik to have known about that yeah I'd. buy a fork for sure for sure um so it. opened in 2014 and immediately every. single outlet in New York paned the. food like just panned it yeah here they.

go again uh some some quotes uh comos. potato salad uh roasted Quail that's as. dry as a week old English muffin they're. all just so py yeah um New York Magazine. said that the the salad uh is the kind. that you would get at a third rate. Country Club which Tavern on the Green. pretty much. is I know that's pretty bad not even. just a country club a third r Country. Club I mean they're just being mean I.

haven't seen any recent reviews I know. that the executive chef who was um. running the place when it opened Katie. Sparks she um left after I think like. six months or something like that and. from the restaurant reviews I read they. were saying like it's kind of. understandable like they're they're. creating these really extravagant dishes. at least on paper for seatings of like. 700 people and it's really hard to get. well-made hot food out to tables when. you're serving 700 people at a seating.

so they were at least a little bit. understanding but I haven't read a. recent review of um of of Tavern on the. Green and its food yeah so we're going. to have to rely on you I guess is what. I'm saying well here's my review. um it it was fine it wasn't like the. food was it wasn't like the food was bad. it was like oh this is gross but it's. you know it's just I mean I'm looking at. the menu here we can read through some. of these things uh appetizers there's a. crab cake there's a calamari salad.

there's a country salad honey roasted. figs that sounds pretty good sure steak. of Dorset. sheep oh man uh barata with Hearth. roasted grape tomatoes it's all pretty. standard stuff yeah uh and then if you. move on to the mains you've got some uh. diver sea scallops uh Scottish salmon. for 38 bucks um grilled whole fish for. 46 bucks rack of lamb you know fairly. pedestrian I think I if I'm not mistaken.

I had the lemon thyme chicken under a. brick did you get to keep the brick. didn't get to keep the brick uh it was a. real Tavern on the Green brick from the. old uh sheep's. fold uh or sheeps hold uh that came with. blistered green beans mashed potatoes. and a Jew for 35 bucks and it was like. it was pretty good chicken okay but you. know truffle fries shrimp cocktail it's. the menu is not not uh third rake.

Country Club right but uh I didn't go in. there expecting like New York's finest. meal I went there for the experience uh. we were in Central Park and that you. know you can walk right over there I'd. always wanted to go it was a bucket list. thing um and now I can say I've been and. I I would very much recommend to have. that experience if it's something that. like pequs your interest if it's like. I've always wanted to try chav on the. green like go try it for sure yeah think. that's how New York Magazine concluded. their review they're like it's a once-.

in a-lifetime thing if go go go once. yeah that's pretty much what they said. and they they even said if that so yeah. hopefully it's gotten a little better it. sounds like it's gotten better was the. food warm uh the food was warm the. service was good okay those are two. things that definitely got called out in. those 2014 reviews yeah my Martini was. good nice uh was it 85 cents it's. definitely touristy like I didn't expect. to go of John linen and Warren batty to. come wandering in uh so it feels a.

little toury but it was uh it was good. it was fine I recommend if you've never. been to New York and you think and. you're into the touristy thing go for. sure if you go to New York a ton and. you've never been like give it a shot. for for one of your meals uh you can. always go eat somewhere better the next. night okay okay but it's cool it's worth. going into it's kind of like a Russian. Tea Room I've never been there but I. want to try it just haven't you been. there no I've never been I think that. was also a Warner the Roy joint okay I.

thought you had been there for some. reason but like I want to try that out. just to sort of say that I've been there. and know what that experience was like. same here I've got some dining to do. yeah okay well you got anything else. about Tavern on the Green I do not well. thanks for sharing Chuck that was very. nice sure uh and uh since Chuck said. sure as everyone knows that just. unlocked listener. [Music]. mail uh you know in L of listener mail. uh we're going to do another sh shout. out to our friends at coed because they. have a very special thing going um.

you've heard us talk about coed before. there are friends that run the uh. nonprofit down in Guatemala to help. break the cycle of poverty through. education and they do really really. great stuff and they're doing a special. um stuff you should know sort of um. co-branded co-hosted stuff you should. know ex coed yeah so uh let's talk about. our call to action huh yeah so they have. a program going called The Cooperative. which you can join you just uh you.

donate $20 a month and they pull it all. together to sponsor students in their. rise youth development program and what. they're shooting for in. 2025 uh is sponsoring uh 1100 students. plus and what these kids will do will. start school in rural Guatemala and this. would be their biggest class ever so. they're really hoping that stuff you. should know listeners will come through. uh and uh add to the already donated. $1.3 million in contributions to co-ed.

just from stuff you should know. listeners alone amazing yeah yeah and uh. here's the incentive too if you set up. your gift by giving Tuesday which is. December 3rd you can get a chance to. have a virtual hangout with us on Zoom. uh we do that every year it's a lot of. fun we hang out with a handful of folks. on zoom and you know we can attest to. c-ad they're a great organization we. know them personally we went to. Guatemala and saw the work first. firsthand and they're they are walk in. the walk down there for sure uh yeah and.

if you want to know more about the whole. program we did a two-parter on coed and. where we went to Guatemala and you can. hear Jerry give a heartfelt speech in it. that's right the real Jerry so uh yeah. go forth and go to cooperative for. education.org. ysk and donate 20 bucks a month and uh. we appreciate it coed appreciates it and. the kids in Guatemala appreciate it too. great and if you want to send us an. email you can send it off to stuff.

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