Iconic Manhattan restaurant Tavern on the Green will close its doors for the last time after a New Year's Eve gala tonight. (Flickr/manicmaurice)By Serena Solomon and Jen Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
CENTRAL PARK — “I’m going to cry,” said Sylvia Jacobs, who had traveled in all the way from Virgina to share in Tavern on the Green's last hurrah on New Year's Eve.
Fans of the iconic Central Park restaurant were out in force to enjoy the last few hours of operations before it shutters its doors for good.
Sylvia Jacobs enjoying the last few hours of one of her favorite restaurants. (Serena Solomon/DNAinfo)Joanne Blanco, a Queens’s resident who works nearby, treated her parents and sister to a last supper of Chilean sea bass, lobster bisque and molten chocolate cake
“With all the news reports I wanted to come back one last time,” Blanco said.
Blanco, who runs around the park every day, wondered how she would keep track without the restaurant.
“It’s my signal that I am almost done with a lap,” Blanco said
Joanna Blanco takes a photo of her sister, Lani Blanco, in front of a glass decoration at Tavern on the Green. (Serena Solomon/DNAinfo)The restaurant rung in 2010 with a lavish menu that was to run from 10 p.m and 4 a.m.
Once America's highest grossing restaurant, everything inside Tavern on the Green from chairs to chandeliers will be auctioned off on January 13 - 15.
Tavern's owner and daughter of its creator, Jennifer Oz LeRoy, filed for bankruptcy in September for two reasons: "The extreme financial distress brought on by the current financial crisis and the City of New York's decision not to renew our lease," LeRoy said in a statement.
The restaurant's 20-year lease will be transferred to the owner of the Central Park Boathouse, Dean Poll, tomorrow.
Even with new owners and most probably a new name, Jacobs said she would still come back.
“I intend to come in the first week to see what they do with it,” she said.
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