Gramercy Park Block Association - Neighborhood News #665
News from the Gramercy Park home front
Gramercy Park North Fence Repair CompleteAs you may know, in June 2012 a taxi crashed into the north side of the Park fence. In order to receive proper compensation for the fence repair, the Trustees were in court for quite some time. We are delighted to report that the restoration of that portion of the fence is now complete.
Our Dear Friend and Gramercy Park Neighbor Danny Meyer
The designer Michael Kors, right and Danny Meyer at the Modern, one of Mr. Meyer's places. Have they built empires or collections?Credit: Robert Caplin for The New York Times
Michael Kors and Danny Meyer looked a little rattled when told, at the beginning of their recent lunch, that they had been paired up because they had each built empires - one in fashion and the other in restaurants - through persistence and hard work.
"Empire?" Mr. Kors said in disbelief. "It's like that 'icon' word everyone throws around these days."
Mr. Meyer suggested an alternative.
"I like 'collection,' " he said. "There's a grabby quality to 'empire,' and it's usually at someone else's expense. That's not what we do."
A panoply of eccentric biographical data re: the culinary world's busiest C.E.O.
MEYERINO Restaurateur Danny Meyer, photographed in N.Y.C.
WHEN HE was working in Rome for his father's travel company during college, his colleagues nicknamed him "Maialino"-which means "little pig": "At first I was called 'Meyerino,' [but] over the course of the summer I would always order suckling pig from my favorite trattoria, and my name had become Maialino, little did I know."
MAIALINO" EVENTUALLY became the name of Meyer's 10th restaurant, which serves Roman fare. Pork is prominently featured.
$50 million Church Missions House at 281 Park Ave South
Aby Rosen and the Church Missions House at 281 Park Avenue South
Aby Rosen's RFR Realty is in contract to buy the Church Missions House at 281 Park Ave South, listed in April for $50 million. RFR plans to position the building as a single-tenant office building to serve as headquarters for a company looking for a high-profile space. Another option is retail on the bottom 2 floors and office space on the upper floors. The seller of the landmarked 6-story, 36,749 sq. ft. foot property is the nonprofit Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.
