By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CENTRAL PARK — Even the salt shakers were for sale when Tavern on the Green auctioned off all its goods on Wednesday.
The debt-riddled owners of the New York City restaurant filed for bankruptcy in September, and are hoping to raise over $8 million with the three day auction. The event attracted serious antique buyers and average New Yorkers hoping to snap up tangible memories of the landmark that was once the most profitable eatery in country.
Doreen Polizzi-Downling was married in the Terrace Room at the Tavern on Oct. 27, 2007. She had her eye on some place settings, but backed away from the bidding when the price reached $1,500.
"It's like the Brooklyn Bridge or Radio City, a landmark," she said. "I am so proud I was married here."
While Polizzi-Downling is planning try her luck again on Thursday, she said she is content with a few purchases from the Tavern's gift shop.
Guernsey’s Auction House is handling the sale of the restaurant's hundreds of items, which range from mundane pots and pans to more typical Tavern on the Green fixtures like massive glass mirrors and stained-glass chandeliers.
The item on the menu predicted to fetch the highest price is an oyster green chandelier that hung above bidders in the Crystal Room.
According to Guernsey's, it was made in Austria in the 19th century for India's Maharajah of Udaipur and has a sale price estimated between $100,000 and $300,000.
For Penny Hart, president of TSC Direct and Upper East Side resident, the auction has come at an ideal time — she is moving and could use some new furniture.
"You could build a room around it," she said, looking at one of the many large chandeliers for sale.
Hart had come to the restaurant the previous night with a gift voucher for dinner only to discover Tavern on the Green ceased operating New Year's Day. She joked about adding the $500 voucher to the other relics up for auction.
Although the Tavern on the Green is now closed, its license has been transferred to Central Park Boathouse owner Dean Poll.
It is expected that the venue will operate again as a restaurant, though possibly under a new name.
