CENTRAL PARK — Tavern on the Green's food trucks are hitting the road.
The gourmet food trucks that have been parked at the famed eatery will leave on Oct. 15 so the city can embark on a "major capital project" at the Tavern site, according to Crain's New York Business.
The Parks Department signed one-year contracts last fall with four food trucks in effort to breathe life back into the Tavern, which closed in January 2010. Trucks from Ladle of Love, Pera, Rickshaw Dumpling and Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream served up fancy fare like Turkish tacos and truffled chick peas on the Tavern's former terrace.
The Parks Department told the food vendors their contracts would not be renewed because the city has construction plans for the Tavern space, but offered no further details, according to the report.
The mayor's office recently asked the city's Department of Design and Construction to prepare reports on the Tavern building's "current conditions," according to Crain's. A mayor's office spokesman told the publication that there are "no plans in place for specific uses."
The interior of the storied restaurant, once a go-to spot for special occasion dinners, was converted into a trinket shop, public bathroom and visitors' center last fall. This past summer the Parks Department hosted free movies and concerts on the Tavern terrace.
The Tavern's parking lot, once lined with horse-drawn carriages, is now a rental location for the bike rental business Bike and Roll.
