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You don’t have to love Donald Trump to cheer the news he’s struck a “deal” with union boss Peter Ward that could reopen Tavern on the Green. You can even hate Ward’s greedy Local 6 and be glad.
But their pitch puts Mayor Bloomberg in a pickle more delicious than anything from the “gourmet” food trucks in the former Tavern courtyard.
Having destroyed the old Tavern for no good reason, Bloomberg is now torn.
Letting Trump revive the place from the ashes would embarrass him, as Ed Koch was when Trump saved the Wollman Rink from City Hall’s incompetence in the 1970s.
It would accomplish at a stroke what the city failed to do in two years of pipe-dreaming, proposal-soliciting, finally choosing a new operator — and then sabotaging him.
On the other hand, Bloomberg is very cozy with Ward, who made him a hero in reopening the Plaza Hotel, supported his controversial rezoning schemes and broke ranks with other labor leaders to endorse his third term.
It will be fun watching Bloomberg decide which matters more to him.
For all its lousy food, Tavern on the Green served up to 800 people at once, employed 400, and was for 35 years one of New York’s iconic celebration venues.
Most New Yorkers want it back. Another mayor would welcome the chance for redemption.
Yet, Bloomberg is being vague: “We’ll have to see,” “We’ll talk to people,” etc. But he’ll look petty to just say no to Trump.
He was so eager to oust Tavern’s last operator, Jennifer LeRoy, he dumped her for non-union Boathouse owner Dean Poll, who had no chance of satisfying Local 6.
When the talks degenerated into name-calling, the city tried to stanch the embarrassment by ending them — and leaving the site twisting in the wind.
Now, Bloomberg will be under fire to consider Trump’s proposal promptly, despite a zillion complexities.
Among them, Trump wants to rebuild the Crystal Room — hated by city officials who believed Tavern founder Warner LeRoy built it illegally when the city was too weak to stop him.
Industry insiders have long said that no sane restaurateur would take on Local 6 at Tavern.
But Trump isn’t a restaurateur. He might be sane — or not.
What’s clear is that a Tavern deal would make Trump seem like a New Yorker again — a break from his distant casinos, TV celebrity and easy-money global “branding.”
It could even make Local 6 look reasonable. But it’s up to Bloomberg to swallow his pride over past blunders and bless a deal that would make everyone else look good.