Bryant Park Grill Positioned To Close After 30 Years

MIDTOWN, NY — The Bryant Park Grill, which has fed Bryant Park's visitors and regulars for the past 30 years, is set to close in April and will be replaced by a restaurant from celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten next fall.

The plan for the restaurant space was announced on Monday at Manhattan Community Board 5's Parks and Public Spaces committee meeting by Dan Biederman, president of the Bryant Park Corporation, which manages the park.

Biederman said Jean-Georges beat 10 other restaurant applications for the spot, including the Byrant Park Grill itself, which was petitioning to stay in its location on its website.

Biederman said the 18-year lease is expected to be signed by the Jean-Georges team within the next few days.

"They present the best combination of operating record, financial strength, and creative talent in the food and design field," Biederman said of the Jean-Georges management company, Seaport Entertainment Group.

The owner of Bryant Park Grill said the choice to go with the Jean-Georges concept will hurt the park in the long run.

"We have been steadfast members of this community for 30 years and offered to pay a higher rent than any of our competitors," Michael Weinstein, owner and operator of Bryant Park Grill, said.

"The lease they're considering with Jean-Georges would mean less funding for the park, higher menu prices for midtown diners, and 250 New Yorkers put out of a job."

The new Jean-Georges restaurant is meant to be a more affordable version of the fine dining Jean-Georges is known for, Matt Partridge, the CFO of Seaport Entertainment Group, said during the meeting.

"We're still working through the design and the concept of it," Partridge said during the meeting.

Partridge said the restaurant space would undergo $12 million in renovations, lasting until May 2026, but that the porch seating of the restaurant would open in October.

The parks department has to sign off on the nonprofit's choice of tenant. As of Wednesday, the parks department said that it will review the application for the new restaurant, but that the Bryant Parks Corporation has not yet submitted a selection for its review.

According to the Bryant Park Grill, the team behind the Jean-Georges restaurant promises to give the 250 current employees “an opportunity to interview” to keep their jobs when the restaurant reopens.

“After decades of service to Bryant Park this new operator expects us to wait around ten plus months just for the opportunity to interview for our jobs? We’re New Yorkers – we don’t want a handout – we just ask the Parks Commissioner to do the right thing and intervene so we can continue working. Our restaurant’s success speaks for itself,” Diane Giovannone, the manager of Bryant Park Grill, said.

This article has been updated with statements from Bryant Park Grill representatives.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.