New York City Will Keep Rights To Tavern On The Green Name

The restaurant has been closed, the furnishings have been sold off but Tavern on the Green still lives on in the hearts and minds of many New York City diners. Now a judge has decided that the city can keep the "Tavern on the Green" name. The AP reports that U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ruled that city and not the debt holders of the bankrupt restaurant has the rights to the name. The name itself has been valued at $19 million. A three-day sale by Guernsey's auction house in January offered more than 25,000 auction items with values anywhere from $100 to $1.2 million, the proceeds of which went toward erasing the prior owner's $8 million debt.

The judge said that because the city had licensed the facility and had a hand in how the restaurant was run, including regulating the hours and manners of operation, it was the owner of the name. Last summer the city awarded the license to restaurateur Dean Poll who plans to open in the spring after spending $25 million on refurbishments. Last year, Restaurants and Institutions placed Tavern on the Green second in their list of the 100 highest grossing independent restaurants in the U.S. with 2008 sales of over $34 million.