» Tavern Auction Brings Out Notables; Brings In Money

Tavern Auction Brings Out Notables; Brings In Money

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

tavern-auction The Tavern on the Green auction took place this week, selling the famed restaurant’s most unique and beautiful furniture and decor. Crain’s reports that the first day of the auction experienced long lines at the registration desk and lots of serious bidders taking note of the items up for sale. The auction, held on Wednesday through Friday to help pay the bankrupt restaurant’s creditors (the LeRoy family debt is estimated around $8 million), attracted notable figures from Drew Nieporent, a big name in the restaurant industry for his Myriad Restaurant Group (Tribeca Grill, Nobu) to Regis and Joy Philbin, who were also seen at the auction’s first session. Some items generated a better-then-expected sale price, like the Tavern on the Green sign, which sold for $5,500, beating Guernsey’s estimates that the item would sell for between $1,000 and $4,000, and an Art Nouveau Tiffany glass hanging lamp with bright and vibrant colors, whose first bid was $10,000, already exceeding the projected sale price of the item (the final sale price of the lamp was $16,000, with another fetching $18,000). Other items did not fare as well, such as an ornate 16-light chandelier with clear and amber cut and molded glass, which sold for far less than expected at $15,000 (an appraisal from Sotheby’s in 2007 put the value of the chandelier at $80,000). The restaurant itself will remain dark while its new operator, Dean Poll, continues union negotiations and works out other logistics for its reopening.