The Gramercy Park Hotel Was Due Back This Fall. What's Holding Up the Reopening?

On May 18, a new structure appeared on the roof of the Gramercy Park Hotel at 2 Lexington Avenue. According to Our Town, the co-op next door at 50 Gramercy Park North says the structure was not in the draft construction plans it had received. Seventeen days later, the co-op sued.

That roof is the most valuable thing the hotel has to offer. MCR, the hotel operator renovating the building, describes the 7,000-square-foot rooftop bar as "the only venue with a view of the exclusive Gramercy Park." It is also the one part of the property where a neighbor holds rights that predate MCR's ownership. The renovation's next stage depends on that roof, and so does the reopening.

The rooftop was shared long before the lawsuit

For about 75 years, 50 Gramercy Park North was part of the hotel itself. Our Town reports that the hotel had more than 500 rooms in that era. In 2004 the property was bought by hotelier Ian Schrager, who had architect John Pawson convert the section facing the park into the 17-story, 21-unit co-op that stands there now.

The split did not cut every tie. The co-op kept several of the hotel's amenities, including room service, membership in the hotel gym and access to the roof. A 2006 agreement between the two buildings put that rooftop access in writing. The court docket lists it among the exhibits as a reciprocal easement and operating agreement. In its lawsuit, the co-op calls the access "irrevocable and perpetual."

So when MCR Hotels bought the hotel's ground lease from Solil Management in 2023, it took on the roof together with the neighbor's rights to it. For a while, the two sides appeared to be working it out. Court documents described by Our Town show that the hotel offered co-op residents membership in a "private rooftop club." In a March 2025 email, a co-op representative called that a "fabulous idea." Habitat reports that residents would have paid for their own food and services under that offer.

Over the following months, the co-op repeatedly asked for proposed work plans. A draft arrived in January, and the co-op says it did not show the rooftop construction. Then the structure went up in May.

How "2025" became "fall of 2026"

The reopening date has moved more than once, and the rooftop dispute arrived in the middle of the delay:

1. August 2023. MCR and MORSE Development announced that the hotel would reopen in 2025. The plan covered a renovated lobby, the first-floor restaurants and bars, all 197 rooms and suites, and a full restoration of the rooftop bar. Habitat later reported that MCR had secured a $150 million renovation loan.
2. 2025 passes. The hotel did not reopen.
3. May 18, 2026. The rooftop structure appears.
4. June 4, 2026. 50 Gramercy Park North Owners Corp. files suit against M4 Gramercy Park Hotel LLC in New York County Supreme Court under Index No. 157053/2026. The court halts rooftop construction.
5. July 2026. The hotel counterclaims for $125 million. Habitat reports that the claim covers losses from construction delay, financing, carrying costs and other expenses.
6. July 13, 2026. The judge lifts the stop-work order.
7. July 16, 2026. Our Town reports that construction is underway and that the hotel is "scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2026."

It is now November, and that fall target is the most recent date anyone has published. MCR's own page for the property still says the hotel "has been closed since 2020" and that the renovation "will" revitalize it. The page gives no opening date.

What the judge said in July

Justice Anar Rathod Patel of Manhattan Supreme Court ruled from the bench after an hour-long hearing. The ruling denied the co-op's request for an injunction and lifted the stop-work order. Habitat, citing Crain's, quoted the judge's reasoning:

"To the extent that construction is being halted, there is no dispute that will cause delays or perhaps prevent the reopening of the hotel, which is a significant prejudice to the defendants. By contrast, there is not really any prejudice by the plaintiffs that has been established."

The ruling restarted construction. It did not end the case. The co-op says the new rooftop space is a "members-only social club for guests of Hotel Operator's choosing." The hotel says the dining space will be open to the public. Our Town reports that the hotel's lawyer told the court the co-op had been offered a private space on the third floor instead, which he said "is actually going to be nicer." The hotel's position is that this space meets the terms of the 2006 agreement.

The court docket lists a status conference on October 15, 2026, and a trial-scheduling conference on April 20, 2027. If the hotel reopens before then, it will do so with the lawsuit over its signature space still pending.

Why the roof matters to everyone without a key

Two questions in this case concern far more people than the 21 households at 50 Gramercy Park North. One is whether the roof opens as a public restaurant or as a private club. The other is how soon it opens at all.

Gramercy Park itself is closed to almost everyone. Under the Gramercy Park Block Association's published rules, access goes with eligible lot-owner properties around the square. Living nearby does not qualify, and requests for public access are not granted. A key holder may bring up to six guests at a time. Anyone else sees the park from the sidewalk through the fence, or from a window above it. MCR's description of its roof as the only venue overlooking the park explains why that roof matters so much to the project.

The view from up there should be in good shape. In a June 4, 2026 update, the block association reported that the park's East and West gates, the Ruggles Fountain and the benches had been restored, along with maintenance work on the outer fence.

This is also why the hotel's history in the neighborhood draws attention to its return. Our Town recounts that Humphrey Bogart married his first wife at the hotel and that Babe Ruth was a regular at the Rose Bar. In the 1970s, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Blondie all passed through. MCR has not announced names for the restored bars or for the rooftop venue.

Maialino has a new address on its way

When the plan was announced in 2023, 6sqft reported Maialino as part of the first floor. Maialino is Union Square Hospitality Group's Roman trattoria, which had long been part of the hotel's ground floor. Union Square Hospitality Group's Maialino page now describes something else. It says Maialino (vicino) "brings the familiar trattoria classics of our Gramercy Park original to a new location at The Redbury, New York," at 29 East 29th Street, and labels it "Coming Soon."

That page does not say what will happen at 2 Lexington Avenue. It does mean the trattoria many in the neighborhood remember from the hotel's ground floor will come back about six blocks north, on a timeline set by The Redbury rather than by the hotel's construction schedule.

What has opened within a few blocks while the hotel stays closed

The hotel's restaurants and bars remain shut, but several new places nearby have filled in around it over the past year and a half:

• Bun Mee, 115 East 23rd Street, between Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue. Eater reports that the San Francisco banh mi shop opened its first location outside California here on October 8.
• Heytea Gelato Lab+, 863 Broadway, between 17th and 18th Streets, on the Union Square side. It opened October 16.
• Patsy's Pizzeria, 23 Lexington Avenue, inside Freehand New York, which is the same avenue as the hotel, a few blocks north. Eater reports that this downtown flagship opened in mid-March.
• Sandwell, 250 Third Avenue near 21st Street, serving toasted sandwiches, salads and baked goods. Eater reports it opened in June 2025 as the shop's second Manhattan location.

The next gathering of the neighborhood's longtime restaurants is coming up. Union Square Partnership's Harvest 2026 benefit is on Tuesday, November 10, at Civic Hall. Bushwick Daily reports that it will feature tastings from Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Pete's Tavern, Breads Bakery and other local businesses.

For anyone who lives near the park, a reopened Gramercy Park Hotel will change foot traffic, evening activity and the character of the north side of the square. The questions buyers and owners ask about 2 Lexington Avenue are about the same things: when it opens, who can use the roof, and what follows once it does. If you would like to talk through how the hotel's return might affect a building you own or are considering nearby, Anna Coatsworth offers a Confidential Market Consultation, grounded in more than 25 years of Manhattan co-op and condo transactions.