News

Landmarks Preservation Commission Orders to Protect The Four Seasons

Here for good.
Here for good. Photo: Noah Kalina

There’s a new, positive development in the never-ending standoff between Aby J. Rosen, the owner of the Seagram Building (which houses the iconic restaurant), and New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission: The latter has proclaimed that the interior of The Four Seasons cannot be altered.

In September of 2014, Rosen infamously removed Picasso’s Le Tricorne in the dead of the night, and he proposed many additional changes. While the commissioners voted to allow him to replace the carpet, he is forbidden from removing the glass partition in the Grill Room, and making the upper panels between the Pool Room’s dining area and the private room operable.

What will change, though, is the operating restaurateurs. After 40 years, Julian Niccolini and Alex von Bidder’s lease is up in July of 2016, and Rosen is looking for a new tenant. “If something was designed in 1958 and it’s not as functional in 2015, you ask for a change,” he told the Times. “I’m going to restore the Four Seasons back to its glory. I love the guys but their time has passed, and sometimes something great needs to go.”

[NYT]

Landmarks Preservation Commission Orders to Protect The Four Seasons