Tavern on the Green

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Tavern on the Green is a restaurant located in Central Park, New York City. Of the several dining rooms, the most famous is the Crystal room with windows overlooking the garden. ^[1]

1 History
2 New York City Marathon
3 Pop Culture
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

The building was originally the Sheepfold that housed the sheep that grazed Sheep Meadow, built to a design by Calvert Vaux in 1870. It became a restaurant as part of a 1934 renovation of the park under Robert Moses, Commissioner of Parks. In 1974, Warner LeRoy took over the restaurant's lease and reopened it in 1976 after $10 million in renovations. It is currently the highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant in the United States with annual revenues in excess of $34 million and over half a million visitors a year. ^[2]

[edit] New York City Marathon

Tavern on the Green is the finish line of the New York City Marathon. The Barilla Marathon Eve Dinner, an enormous pre-race pasta party on the eve of the marathon, takes place at the Tavern. All registered marathon entrants receive free admission, and a limited number of additional tickets for family and friends can be purchased for $20. In addition to the staggering 6,800 pounds of pasta and 2,000 pounds of salad served, the evening also features live entertainment and fireworks. More than 10,000 people attend the dinner each year.^[3]

The finish line of the marathon is on the West Drive, just outside the Tavern. This finish line will also be used for the 2008 Men's Olympic Marathon Trials, which will be held in New York the day before the 2007 ING New York City Marathon.

[edit] Pop Culture

From Central Park: Play: Tavern on the Green:

"Many Broadway shows have opening night festivities at the restaurant, and the Tavern makes its way into pop culture in movies appearances such as “Ghostbusters” and the “Out of Towners” and television shows such as “Regis and Kelly Live” and “Elimidate.”"

Other movies filmed there include Wall Street and Made ^[4], Stella ^[5]
The musical title of show includes a line in the song 'Part of it All': "Ducking out of the theatre before the show's finale to get to the opening night at Tavern on the Green!"
Everyone Says I Love You
Deconstructing Harry
Ghostbusters ^[6]